Well yesterday sure was a big day. I had no idea that being featured on The Secret in the Sauce would be so huge, and it was totally fun. Again, I want to thank all of my guests who popped in to read and say hello yesterday. I sure enjoyed all of the comments, and I am pretty sure I've read them all so far. Thank you so much for your input and for taking the time to write.
I got a bunch of fun questions, so I thought I'd try to answer some of them here today.

Back in February, I wrote about meeting
Herbert. It was one of my three blog entries that was featured yesterday. I seriously had no idea when I wrote that just how many people would end up reading and commenting.
A week or so ago, my boss sent me back to that same Wal-Mart to pick up Tootsie Roll pops for an activity that we were doing at work. And what do you know...guess who I ran into in the candy aisle? That's right, it was Herbert. He was buying more candy to share with others. He didn't remember me from when we first met, but I sure remembered him. I told him that I told a few people (heh!) about his lovely story and that he had sure brightened up a lot of people's days, just by chatting with me for a few minutes.
He said that he's really enjoying the spring weather, and is glad that the Reds are back playing again. We talked about the starting rotation and how the bull pen needs some help. I asked him if people were continuing to be kind to him, and he assured me that they are.
You can bet I'll be looking for him the next time I'm there. I'm sure I'll see him again, and I'll keep you posted on how he's doing. He's just such a dear man. I don't know how I got so lucky to have met him that day.

Another post that was featured was
90 Minutes in Prison. Needless to say, this one was nothing like writing about Herbert. As I read it again yesterday, I realized that if you don't visit here on a regular basis, you wouldn't have any idea how I ended up spending half of my 2008 birthday at
LCI.
Even though my real "day job" is being the marketing communications person at ACME, I also do freelance photography on the side, primarily doing commercial work for local non-profit organizations.
One of my favorite photography gigs is doing the annual report photography for a great organization,
Crayons to Computers. C2C is a free store for teachers that teach in underprivileged areas/schools. C2C delivered nearly $9M in supplies to local schools during the 2007-2008 school year. They do amazing work, and I'm thrilled to be a part of such a great program.
While most supplies are donated and distributed "as is", they do have some educational toys that teachers can choose that are specially created for C2C. For last year's annual report, we tracked the manufacturing of one of C2C's "turn and learn" math toys. These particular toys are fabricated and assembled at the LCI prison as part of their community outreach program, and therefore my friend Heather and I ended up at LCI so that I could take photos of the assembly for the annual report.
Believe me, that trip to LCI was quite something, that's for sure. If you didn't get a chance to read my entry about touring the prison, I hope you will. It was an experience you can believe that I will NEVER forget.
90 Minutes in PrisonSeveral people also asked me what kind of camera and equipment I use. I have a Canon 40D digital SLR, and in my bag I have the following lenses:
Canon 50mm 1.4
Canon 85mm 1.8
Tamron 17-55mm 2.8
Canon 28-135mm 3.5-5.6
I've also been able to borrow the Canon 24-70 2.8L from photog friends
Grant and Deb, as well as
Jessie in the past and I love love love it! Maybe one day I'll get my own. But don't fool yourself, you don't need big fancy schmantzy equipment to take good shots. I also love to use my "baby camera" (Canon SD 1000 Elph) and it gives me shots like these:
And of course, you know I love my Blackberry and that I've been known to take a pic or two while driving....
Anybody want to book me for some portraits? You help me, I'll help you! Seriously, though. If you're in the greater Cincinnati area and you're looking for some portrait work, give me a shout. I've got bookings open throughout the summer available. Just sayin'.....

My trifle recipe seems to have been a huge hit. So for you food fans out there, if you try any of my recipes, please drop me an email (there's an email link at the top left of the blog page) or leave a comment here and tell me what you think. And for the reader who assumed that I serve food like that
limoncello trifle to my family on a regular basis.....I assure you I don't. You can ask my friend
Jan and she'll tell you. We rarely eat dessert around here, so that was a rare and really tasty treat. If you want dessert daily, you need to visit HER house! She's always baking up something sinful while I'm at home trying to cut fat grams from a bowl of bran flakes, because that's how I roll.
And finally, it's Tax Day. Ugh. There is not a day on the calendar that I detest more. In four days, it'll be Termite Day. I detest Termite Day too, but not to the extent of Tax Day. In five days, the worst week of the year will be over for 51 more weeks, and that's a really good thing. So to celebrate the passing of yet another Tax Day and as appreciation for all the love you have given me this week, I've got a $20 Target gift card to give away to somebody who leaves me a comment today. I'll pick the winner tomorrow at random, so be sure to leave me a comment and check back tomorrow to see if you are the winner!
Have a super day!