We have a video security system and every once in a while it picks up some interesting shots of animals in our yard. I find the ones of the birds trying to nest near it amusing. The deer caught me a little off guard; we never see deer this far into our yard and out of the protection of the woods. We also see hummingbirds and turkeys.

I had the distinct honor of attending IEEE Sections Congress. Sections Congress is only held every 3 years and brings together IEEE members from all over the world to set the direction of IEEE, engage is networking, and get some serious training. Since it is only held every 3 years they tend to pull out all the stops. They had a few speakers that I found to be very outstanding. The first was Grant Imahara from Myth Busters, who is a member of IEEE. Grant detailed his career and experiences.

From July 1st until tomorrow, Jen and I have been on (and will be) on vacation. It's been an awesome (and tremendously unstructured and un-Jen-like) break from what has been a very crazy work schedule for both of us lately. We put the dog in the kennel and have had the opportunity to just wander and take trips on a moment's notice. These have been a great chance for me to really get to exercise my new 30mm F/1.4 lens (birthday/anniversary gift from Jen) and take lots of great (and even more awful) photos in cool places, so I'll get right to the links:

• Bonfire on my birthday
• Overnight Trips to Vermont and Maine
• Lunch in Boston at the Top of the Hub restaurant
• Hiking in Horse Hill Nature Preserve
• And still more pictures from our garden...

Tomorrow, we're aiming to go kayaking in Silver Lake. I'm sure I'll get some pictures, but then it'll be back to work, so it's entirely possible you won't hear from me again in some time. Sorry in advance!

I'm gonna make this quick because it's about 3:15am and I'm finishing up what I wanted to do tonight before bed.

Old news: Jen and I went to Denver a bit ago and visited with Erin and met her new-to-us boyfriend. We spent some time in Rocky Mountain National Park and then headed to Red Rocks Amphitheatre for a Steven Page/Guster/Big Head Todd concert. Jen and I were exhausted by the time Big Head Todd came on, so we couldn't stay the whole night, but it was a blast.