do bad things really come in threes?

Okay... so in the whole scheme of things this isn't bad stuff at all... but little things add up and get to you. Today I got my letter from the State Fair letting me know that my photos did not place and to come pick them up. Okay... that in and of itself doesn't bother me too much. I seriously don't understand the fair though.... my first year of entering, after having my camera about 5 months and knowing nothing about how to truly use it, I got a big ol' blue ribbon. Since then, after frames and frames of practice, lots of research and reading, etc.... I get nada. Don't get me wrong.. I'm not throwing a fit... I'm just confused... it seems like the more I know the less I know... does that make sense. Now I also do realize that the State Fair of Texas has a HUGE number of entries and although my photos this year were technically better than before, I see that they lacked that something special that set them apart. I've been working so hard on the technicalities that I've lost a bit of the art... aaah... someday I will find balance!

Anyway back to my bad things in threes... I'm just lumping them together because they are all competitions of sorts and they all announce the same week... the State Fair was supposed to mail out on the 5th of September (but they were early as usual), calls go out for the MM Idea Book tomorrow morning and MMM calls start on the 5th. Now, I seriously don't expect anything from either of the remaining two, but not making the cut always stings a bit no matter what you're expectations are. However, like I've said before, I have to play along! I'm definitely more upset with myself for not trying than I am for not making it.

No pictures today. I thought about getting my camera out but it just didn't happen. Things are a bit crazy here getting ready for our weekend away. I have to figure out which lenses I'm bringing plus I need to locate all of my compact flash cards. Those things are strung out all over this house.

I did do some scrapping but again, I can't post it. In looking through photos to scrap today I did come across this one that I had never really looked at from our 2peas photo playdate in June... I edited one similar to it but after closer inspection, I think I like this one best...
There was something else I was going to ramble on about, but I can't for the life of me remember what it was. Oh well.. it's late. Have a great weekend and I'll be back with lots of Sea World pics on Monday!!