Well, I've been remiss in updating my journal, so here goes!  
Birding Life List now at 210 species

I have submitted a few photos to Birder's World and received Bird Photo Of The Week on three entries (two of which are in my gallery, the third - we'll see)
[link]
My juvenile Great Blue Heron shot taken through a telescope, humor is a good thing.
[link]
[link]
From my trip to St. Paul Island, Alaska - a close up of a Least Auklet, a small pelegic bird.
[link]
and my unposted (here) photo of a pair of Barrow's Goldeneyes, posing in what appears to be a portion of their mating dance.  Similar to the first photo, this was digiscoped.
[link]

I also recently completed two wedding photo shoots, and again, I am promising myself - Never AGAIN!  While the first (Kristina and Jeff) went very well and I was very pleased with the results, the second was yet another nightmare (Amanda and Jason) for many reasons; among them - I was in the process of starting to pass Kidney Stones, so the only room that really appealed to me was, the bathroom (painful as that was!); also the setting/wedding colors were not conducive to photography, plus I do not really have the correct lighting tools to pull off an indoor wedding (I AM a Nature Photographer - call it yet another reason why I shouldn't be doing weddings - it's not really very much Nature, so I'm the fish out of water).  

Personal notes:  three weeks ago, I started the process of becoming a bionic man by having a complete hip replacement.  The process is very painful, but not as painful as having the condition requiring it!  It is a long recovery.  Prior to that surgery, I started the painful process of passing Kidney Stones (one prior to surgery and the final two after while being "fully medicated", which were slightly easier to take).  My advice to everyone - drink lots of fluids throughout your life, thus avoiding the "stones".
I hope to be fully functional in three to four weeks, at which time I also hope to be out chasing my favorite hobby - Nature Photography!  It's been a long time since I felt able to hike, thus not doing much photography.