Catching up

So the wedding on Saturday went pretty well. I had none of the stomach issues I was so worried about having, thank goodness! I'm thinking lighting is always going to be an issue at weddings. This one in particular was a little tough because it was in a country club and the ceilings were covered with some kind of stuff that wouldn't bounce light. So I had to do some stuff with my diffused flash pointed directly at people (not the most flattering) and I used my pocket bouncer some and I used a combination of both the diffuser and pocket bouncer together. I really need a wide angle lens and a full frame camera for these kinds of affairs. I'll most likely be buying this lens soon. I'm not really sure how I'll like it. Guess we'll see. I'll be getting the older model 5d and the 24-105 f/4 L in a month or so. I'm thinking I might sell my 30d and my 28-70 and get a 40d for backup. And....I still want to get a lensbaby. And maybe a good 50 or 85 mm prime. Not sure about all that stuff yet. Anyway, who cares?

The pit bull next door is becoming quite a nuisance. She has jumped into our yard three times now that I'm aware of. She's gotten out of the yard almost every day lately. I've been calling animal control every time I see her out. Is that kind of tattly of me? Yes but I don't care. Her owner told us this evening (after she jumped in our yard to play with us) that he was going to get some kind of rope to tie her to in their yard. And I'm wondering how long it's going to take him to actually do that. It's been over a month since she started getting out of their yard and they haven't done anything about it yet. They don't even have a collar on her. I wouldn't be at all surprised if she's never even been to the vet in her life. I feel sorry for her. I really, really do. They are a horrible family for that dog. On one hand I want to pet her and give her some attention but I don't want to encourage her to jump the fence to play with us.

I'm excited about a newborn session I have coming up on Friday. It's going to be so cool!

I might be photographing a birth soon! I'm very excited about that. Hopefully it will work out for me to be there. People get weirded out about birth photography. They think that you actually take pictures of the emergence into this world. Um...yuck. No, it's everything else surrounding the birth that you photograph. And then of course lots of pictures of the baby just as he/she takes that first breath, screams, cord cutting, weighing, excited grandparents...... all that fun stuff.

I'm thinking about just taking off for the entire month of June or July. I need a break. I will definitely need a break by then. I need to get away for a couple of days. I will need to start getting our house ready for homeschooling Jackson. I will also be getting curriculum stuff situated. I am so ready to not have to sit in those pick up/drop off lines at the school anymore. Those lines are horrible! That's really why I'm doing it, you know.

We will be getting our house painted soon. It's way overdue. Phillip and I knew what colors we were going to use but I think we lost our color swatches. Back to square one. And I want to get some very basic landscape work done....like a hedge and a tree. Maybe a cactus. Just kidding about the cactus.

I think I might be finally honing in on what I actually love to photograph. I like photographing people of all kinds but I love photographing babies in the 9 month-15 month range and teenage girls. Is that weird? (Generally speaking) Newborns are probably a little tricky. I'm not really sure about that yet because I haven't done that many newborns. 2-4 year olds are tough because they never stop moving. 6-10 year olds are tough because they've been taught to say "cheese" and are very self-aware and it's hard to crack that and catch who they really are and not who they think you want them to be. And men and teenage guys are just plain difficult. I've run across a few men/guys here and there who were naturals in front of the camera. But generally speaking, they don't have a clue how to look natural in pictures. I hope this doesn't offend any of you men out there.

Mikey is starting to learn colors. He likes blue and likes to point out anything that is blue. He says is like "bwuah!" And he can identify some other colors but can't really say them yet. He is saying "eggs" but it sounds like "as*." We like to get him to say it over and over again. Bad parents!

Jackson has been sick a lot lately. He has missed at least 8 days of school this year. I'm not sure why he's catching everything under the sun. I'm taking him to the doctor on Wednesday to alleviate any guilt I feel about letting him remain sickly for so long.

I've been packing on the pounds since I started working at the preschool. Not taking the time to eat a healthy breakfast and snacking on various kinds of preschool snacks is starting to take it's toll. I think I've gained 8-10 pounds since I started working there. I think the entire 8-10 pounds is in my upper thighs, butt, and gut. I don't want to buy new jeans one size bigger and I'm getting the unattractive "her thighs are too thick for those jeans" wrinkles in my current jeans. Time to do something drastic. I've eliminated sugar from my coffee but it might be time to cut out candy and exercise. NOOOO!!!! Some might say, "Who cares?? It's just 8 pounds!" Well, 8 pounds becomes 15, which becomes 45 and so on and so on.

I'm beginning to realize that I am much more of a rule follower than I thought. I'm not happy about this. I thought I was a rebel. A free spirit. I'm really disappointed to learn that I'm not. I need to work on that.