back to routine

4/52 for my self-portrait challenge.  Incidentally, I bought the top three bracelets at Amani Ya Juu in Nairobi, when I traveled to Kenya with ONE.  Amani is an organization that trains marginalized and refugee African women in various crafts, to help them get their footing.  If you like these bracelets, you're in luck -- they have a website.

So now that Alex is back to school, I'm able to get back to my usual routine.  Is it me, did the summer seem extra long this year?

(Of course, the fact that Houston is still experiencing triple-digit heat might have something to do with my perspective.)

I have to admit that while I certainly love having Alex around, being able to have the house to myself during these past few days is quite blissful.  Although most people think I'm an extravert, the truth is that I really enjoy working in solitude (perhaps I'm an ambivert?).  As a result, I'm feeling rather grateful to be back to my everyday life.

In fact, there's quite a bit I've been grateful for this week.  I've got a new post up at my weekly gratitude blog over at Babble, Bliss Your Heart, with images of everything that has made me smile recently. 

And speaking of making me smile:  someone on Twitter alerted me to this, a stop-motion video featuring my homeland of Trinidad.  The music is a bit over-the-top (okay, a lot over the top), but the imagery is some of the most beautiful I've seen of my country.

Timelapsing Through Trinidad from Kevin Huggins on Vimeo.

And with that, have a great weekend, friends.  See you next week.

(P.S.  If you've signed up for the Chookooloonks Path Finder, you should have received a couple of emails from me by now.  If you haven't, please let me know at karen@chookooloonks.com, so we can fix that over the weekend, before we begin on Monday!)

(P.P.S.  Also -- please check your spam folders, if you think you haven't received emails from me, just to make doubly sure.)

Image:  Photographed with my Nikon D300, 50mm lens.  aperture 1.4, shutter speed 1/125, ISO 500