Wednesday, January 31, 2007

hobie's procedure

picture this...
i took hobie in at 7:30 this morning to
have his procedure done.
they will sedate him and manually empty
his colon/bowel....ick, right?
whatever works! the enemas were clearly not.
so, anyway i drop him off and find that there
is a kitten ahead of hobie that is having one
of it's eye's removed (perhaps ickier!).
this is a stray from the humane society that
they have been working on for a month to
get healthy enough to have this surgery.
my veterinarians work with the humane
society of hennepin county and donate all
of their time. isn't that wonderful?
i remember going in once and there was
another young kitten (stray) that was giving
birth to a litter and needed help. shari was
holding one of them and it was sooo tiny!
i just love the folks up at anderson lakes vet!
i think i owe them a pizza...maybe tomorrow! :)
i'll give the hobie update tomorrow.
i took this last night...



network meeting today (every wednesday)...
did i mention that we moved from flagship to
the offices of the eden prairie chamber of commerce?
well, we did that just after the 1st of the year.
it's a really nice fit.
flagship was taken over by braham and the
"lifetime fitness" empire and made it impossible
for us to continue meeting there....so, on ward
and upward!

my newest addiction? those flippin' candy hearts



i can sit and put away a bag in a day...
why must these companies put seasonal stuff out
so early? don't they realize that there are addicts
out there? it's just not fair. okay, i admit it, i enjoy sugar.
otherwise i guess i'd be sitting here telling you
that i can put away a whole bag of apples, right?
NO!!! those are out all the time...there's no attraction!
don't you get it?! it's like, i never eat hershey's kisses
until the pink foiled ones hit the shelves.
BRILLIANT marketing, that's what it is...bastards!
i'm certain there must be a 12 step program for sugar.

enjoy the rest of january.....
65 days 'till bert blyleven's & my birthday! :)

Monday, January 29, 2007

still no poo....

picture this...
poor hobie. he hates dr. rod!
enema after enema after enema.
nothin'! today, dr. toogood will
attempt one last series of enemas
with hobie and then schedule him
to be sedated tomorrow for what
they like to call a "manual evacuation".
sounds horrible, doesn' it?!
he had it done a year ago last fall.
not sure what's up with that, but
soon he will have relief. he acts
normally, which is good and he
doesn't mind the car ride (on my lap),
i just feel so bad for him.

enough about poo.
had a "scrummy" cup of soup at
"the general store" in minnetonka with
kristin yesterday.
kristin had to run new paperwork down-
town to dissolve her marriage to alex.
a very sad day indeed. i miss that couple!
they gave it a go for nearly a year after
their separation, but no go.
it's always sad, no matter who is the leaver
or the leavie.
i was glad she had time to visit with me,
she's gone a lot....
why do i have friends that are gone a lot?
hmmmmmm. hey, wait a minute!
i know what you are thinking....but
you know what?? i didn't pick their jobs!!
i met these people before they took these
jobs!!! :)

while i was there, i ran into
a familiar face. a cousin of an
old friend that i used to work with.
katie...she's due any minute with her
2nd! katie, it was really great running
into you yesterday!

sorry dean! timberwolves broke the phoenix
sun's 17 game winning streak!!! :)

off to the gym....oh, and drop hobie off at
the vet!

enjoy the warm up today.....13!!!!

deep freeze continues...

picture this...
yesterday's high of "9" occurred at 10pm.
so arizona...i'll see your measly bursting pipes
and raise you "black ice"!
and don't ya just love it when folks from
warmer states say...."well, but you're used
to the cold weather."
um, yea...NO WE AREN'T! that's like saying
that you get used to spinters and slamming
your fingers in a car door.
what's more accurate is that we "prepare" for
the cold....we'll never get "used" to the cold.
just wanted to get that straight!

hobie is going into the vet again this morning
so i'm warming up the car! (SEE! i'm just preparing
for the cold!)

meeting with my friend kristin today, haven't seen
her since before christmas i think.
her hair is so long that we all call her crystal gayle!
i e-mailed her last night to see if she had gotten
her tour bus back....we laughed!
i had to explain it ot her cuz she hadn't seen
the story....pretty funny!
stay warm...more later....

Sunday, January 28, 2007

"j" and the new "do"...

picture this....
wake up one day and say....
"i feel like going with a whole new
haircolor today!"....and then call your
aunt and see if she has it!
here's "j" after her november color/shoot;



we got together yesterday for the
transformation.....relax! it's a "demi" color!
over time it will fade out as it grows out.
it's not permanent. i couldn't do that to her mother!







we had fun. she loves it. and more important,
her older sister gave her the thumbs up!
i'm pretty certain that she's looking forward to
showing it off at school tomorrow!

can't think of a good segway from gorgeous hair
to distended bowel so, well.....there ya go...
hobie returned home yesterday afternoon from
seeing dr. rodney toogood and we will return
on monday for more treatment.
his spirits are up and they were able to get some
of the "poo" out but there's lots more.
he's our little million dollar cat....love him, mean it! :)
we just want to go from "super bowel" to "pooper bowl"
this week! keep him in your prayers!

hey, a jay magee benefit next weekend in cold spring, mn.
spaghetti dinner @ the great blue herron at 5pm on the 2nd.
did i mention that he is off to see dr. lima in portugal
in february...his surgery was moved up! yay.
pray for jay too, his wife jill and their families & friends!




brrr...another cold one today...stay warm.

Friday, January 26, 2007

deep freeze....

picture this...
okay, it's freezing! it's the end of january
and it's finally freezing! with february just
around the corner it seems a little easier
to take for some reason.


gary found a really great ongoing
thread about cat shaving.
it's on someone's blog....please go
to http://neoncobra.blogspot.com
and check it out. it's pretty hilarious!

"j" is coming over today to redeem her
christmas gift of "hair color & cut"!
this'll be fun. i take some before and
afters of her to share on tomorrow's
blog.

i'm considering spending the night 2night
at my sister's to horse around with her
and my younger nieces. i haven't done
that in a long time.


some folks have their "super bowl"...
well, we have the "super bowel".....
hobie is having tummy (well, really it's poo)
problems again...cat's.....can't live without 'em,
can't get them to poo! ;)
oh, and it's always over a weekend too,
so the cost escalates! yikes!
i'm going to bring him up to see the gang
at anderson lakes veterinarian this morning.
more on that later.....

stay warm today!

dani's hair...

picture this..
dani b. is coming over today for
some color and a cut. i shot her
senior portraits last summer out at
the arboretum.
she has a fraternal twin, carly,
whose portraits i did out there as well.
here's one of the 2 of them together....



here's dani...she's a fabulous dancer!
she goes to nationals soon down in
orlando, florida. the competition will
air here at the end of april on espn!!
good luck dani (and the whole eden prairie team)!




well, it's friday, and we are expecting yet
another day of abnormal temps...warm temps!
35 is predicted and frankly, it's sunny out
for the first time in days so that's all that
matters to me right now.
this will be another day to be sure that you
have enough windshield washer fluid
on hand!

more later.......

Thursday, January 25, 2007

let GO already!

picture this...
michele bachman.
hanging on the president for 24 seconds!
even in fast forward president bush looks
uncomfortable! rather embarrassing for
the state of minnesota. well, it was a slow
news day, what can i say!

gary's off to a rehab appointment this morning.
he goes every thursday and he's improving the
mobility of his left shoulder every day...
still putting! :)

hobie, relaxing yesterday...



i got an e-mail yesterday from an old friend
(diane fredeen) who just got married last friday.
they are planning a marriage celebration this
summer in parker, south dakota (about 4 hours
from here). she wants me to come out and
stay and photograph the ceremony!
she is going to be involving all of the animals
including riding her horse down the isle
(quite clearly an outdoor ceremony!)
they are going to put gary and i up at the lodge
(pheasant hunting lodge..gary should be pleased!)
and we'll stay a day or two and join in the fun.
notable will be that i shall not be wearing my
traditional suit that i usually wear to all of my weddings,
but rather jeans and cowboy boots! yeeee haw!!
i am so pumped about this one...can't wait!
june 23rd is the date.
oh, also notable is that she has hired me before
the arrangements to have port-a-potties on site!!!
smart woman that diane!!

have a great day and remember.....


(a gift from my good friend jacquie.
who, by the way, is onboard with my southwest
art/spa.....i think i'll add alpakas too!!)

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

owen...

picture this...
here's my other nephew, owen.



he's been a little under the weather right now.
kiki sent me this photo that she took the other day
and i played with it a bit.....
a little "noise ninja" and paper toner conversion
from "nik"...gotta have filters! :)

i want to go over and help kiki with
her camera and go over some stuff
(there's that word again, carston!)
like focal plane, depth of field, iso's
and other technical information to ensure
proper exposures.. it's tough when
you are outside with flat light, bright
white snow, falling snow, and a dark
jacket and hat...but we'll get to the bottom
of it all as soon as mr. o is feeling better.
hopefully this weekend!
oh, maybe not, it's only going to be in
the teens this weekend....drat!
we'll work inside! maybe up at the studio! :)
kiki..let's work on a backdrop for him!!

here's one of me, taken by my sister...



i told her that i wanted a shot for this blog
to post in my profile or on the front page.
this was taken after the bonsante fight at the
target center on the 12th....at the friday's in ep.
i had it set for a 2nd shutter flash and, well....
we'd had a couple of glasses of wine hence, it's
a little soft...pretty flattering really! :)

jacquie, nice talking to you yesterday!
i want you to take some more shots this
weekend also....i need one for my bio page
for "bella pictures"....miss you.
can't wait to go to jabz with you!! :)

hey, i found some images of cards that i made a couple
of years ago....anyone want to get together and
make valentine's day cards!!??

Monday, January 22, 2007

"dream girls"~out...

picture this...
here's kyle..he lives across the street.
he and his sister anna came over
last night to show gary and i that kyle
had lost his first tooth!




we gave anna a dollar when she lost
her first tooth so i think kyle was
jones'n for a buck (kidding suzie!)

enjoyoing another warmer-than-normal
week this week which is nice!
problem there is that you canNOT keep
your car clean...such a frustration!

gary got his putter out last night and
preceded to "air~put"!
he's getting pretty excited about his
progress thus far in the shoulder rehab.

"dreamgirls" loses out on best picture
nomination?....hmmmmmmm
gary and i are voting for "the departed"
to win for best picture....what do YOU think?!

i have the wonderful opportunity to
photograph a cancer family that will be hosted
this weekend at the airport hilton for some fun
(provided by the miracles of mitch foundation!)
i'm so excited to meet them!

have a great day.

ben...

picture this...
here's ben, my nephew.



he's quite the snow boarder!
i learned a bunch of new terms
yesterday afternoon as i photographed
him in his back yard doing all of
his favorite jumps and tricks!






then he had me grab his video camera
and film some jumps too.
i rather enjoyed filming as well...
who knows maybe i have a career in
videography as well!! (not!)

i have to get busy enlarging these for ben.
gotta go.....

Sunday, January 21, 2007

my appologies...

picture this...
i spend the evening with my networking
group (eden prairie business connections),
we enjoy a dinner at bar abilene and then
we popped over to "comedysportz" at
calhoun square for the early show.
i....didn't bring along my camera!
i actually had it out, charged and ready too!
i'm such a loser.
whenever i think about bringing it with me
for something....gary always says...
"you don't need to bring that do you?!"
and then i leave it behind......i'm sorry
i didn't bring it with me this time.
we had a great time.!
i will forever, from this moment on,
bring my camera with me where ever
i go and for what ever i want whether gary
likes it or not!!!

"comedysportz" is just like the show
"who's line is it anyway"...pretty funny really!
i'd go back again.

i'd never been to bar abilene and i would go
back there again also...awesome tex/mex!

gary got lottery tickets today....i did not.
funny thing about that...he said i'd be on my
own if he won...why is that??? why does money
change people!? i'd share if I won!
i mean, all he did was purchase a few tickets
and he turned into this greedy bastard!
(not really).....

scott and nicki passed their 2nd black belt
screening! one more and then on to their
black belt test in march!!
great news!!! congrats you two!!

gary didn't hit even one # in all 5 of his
lottery tickets! guess he's stuck with me for now!

here's a couple of fight night shots from the
bonsante/vanda fight on the 12th....
you have to go sometime! it's pretty electric!
over 8000 attended this time..gues the word
is out! (1st one there was only 5K)





and here's gary, pete, anne & i (taken by our
bartender standing on the bar!!)

Saturday, January 20, 2007

big lottery money today!

picture this....
i think the lottery is up to $208 million...
wow! what would YOU do with all that?
i would start with giving westwood a large
chunk, then i'd get all new camera equipment!
yes, in that order! :)
i don't really have any debt, so i guess i'd
like for gary and i to travel and then i would
also set aside funds for my nieces & nephews
for education. okay, so i might try a little
"restylane" and a little mini face lift! i mean,
let's be honest, right? we all want to do a little
something but it's too darn expensive!! :)

but the biggest thing would be what
nicki and i talked about yesterday for her
birthday visit (which, by the way DID turn into
another "3-hour tour"!!)
we want to open an art~spa facility in the southwest!
so i think i would like to fund that as well.
buy a chunk of property and throw a huge,
beautiful lodge on it with a barn for horses
and other animals for the guests to ride, feed etc..
art classes, photography classes...
day trips, spa services and fabulous food & wine
and a kitchy little gift shop! oh, and beds with
the highest thread count sheets ever made!!!
ahhhhhhhhh...okay, who wants to come!???
i think i'm there already!

nicki nad i had a 2 hour birthday coffee visit at
dunn brother's followed by a quickie lunch at
"jake o'connor's". this time i had the fish & chips..
another delicious dish! i just love that place!
it was PACKED!

here's what 43 looks like! pretty darn good!!




nicki & scott had another screening for their
black belts last night....should find out soon how
they did. they'll test in march if they passed this
screening and one more (to be fair, i should say
"when" they pass!!)

i'll dig up some images from the fight a week ago
and post them tomorrow!
have a great weekend!

Friday, January 19, 2007

happy birthday nicki !

picture this...
today is my sister-in-law nicki's birthday.
we are going to meet later this morning for
some "coffee talk" at one of the dunn brother's.
who knows, it may turn into another
3-hour tour!! feliz cupleanos, nicola!

okay, time to fill you in on what we did
on our visit to arizona....are ya ready?

we decided to stop off for a bite on the
way to suprise and we had never been
to an "in & out" before so we thought
we'd give it a go...pretty sure i won't hit
one of those ever again.
maybe because i didn't get the "double-
double"....everyone seemed to be ordering
that. we each got the #2 (cheeseburger, fries
& a medium drink...limited menu).
i didn't taste any meat and the fries were
like giant shoe string potatoes...not a fan.
here's an unsuspecting customer i shot while
we were eating....



got to dean and lois' and got settled at
their friend "feliz's" place a couple of blocks
away. feliz has this really great "casita"
attached to her home that she offered us.
it was really fun.




lois prepared a yummy dinner for us and
we just sat and talked the evening away.
here's dean...



and here's lois. we went up to the "white tank"
mountains for a bit of a "rock study" for lois...
she is an amazing artist and works with
watercolor and pastels.



this area is growing so fast. there are now plenty
of places to go near by...no more driving up bell
to the highway to get a bite or a glass of wine.
we found a really great sports bar "brookside" and
stopped in...shocker....it was happy hour, 2-6.
we split a small pizza and a couple of beers and
told chris (the bartenter) we'd be back the next day!






the next day we decided to hit some of the model
homes at Trilogy @ Veletcia, those images are on
gary's camera...i'll post some another day.
there are some really great shots of interiors.
really nice stuff, cool ideas. lots of color blocking
on the walls too.

we hit the new cardinals stadium, just missing
a tour (rats!) but i got some nice exterior shots....
this new stadium had a field with real grass
that rolls outside. very cool!! it still had the
florida and ohio state logos on it when we stopped.








that's enough for today...gotta get ready to
meet nicki.
have a great day!

Thursday, January 18, 2007

heading home...

(some of the following was written on 1/17)

picture this....
i'm now officially detoxed from blogging!
but it won't take me long to get off that wagon!
i just spent the past 3 days without internet
service...if you can believe it!

minneapolis airport wants about 8 bucks a day
to connect to their network..nice.
couldn't log on at gary's dad's or felize's place.
i survived.
it's just that i have determined these past few
days that i really look forward to writing...
it's like therapy really.
even gary's dad mentioned that the other day
as i sat down to his computer to post something.
it took me about a half an hour to recall my
login information and when i finally got about
6 or 8 paragraphs in...blogger dropped my entire
post.....photos and all! i almost cried!
i had no choice but to just let it go.

so i'm sitting at the starbucks by our gate at the
sky harbor airport in phoenix...out flight is in
about an hour. 'spose they'll board in 30 minutes
or so.
gary's down the way at a bar in that starbucks
does not have a "vente" bud light in a bottle
and i can't get a tap cappuccino...
so we are separated for the first time this trip.

i'm afraid that due to the lack of time right now
that i will postpone some of the details from
our trip for tomorrow.

but what i can tell you is that while we were here
and you folks in minneapolis were getting dumped
on, the lovelyl residents of phoenix and "outlying
areas" (as lois puts it!) enjoyed a record 3-day stretch
of coldest temps EVER!
we told everyone that it would warm up as soon
as we got back on the plane!!

(1/18)
I'm having difficulties catching up with this blog.
I have many photos and not enough time at
any one stretch to post them so I will post them
along the way over the next couple of days.

tomorrow i plan to get everyone caught up!
we had a really nice time in Arizona visiting Dean & Lois.
we will stay longer next time and take in some
spring training games as the new ball fields
are nearly right across from there development!
golf in the morning and baseball in the afternoon.
the time went way too quickly....as always.
thank you Dean & Lois for everything!!

Friday, January 12, 2007

fight night!

picture this...
i just realized that it was helen's birthday
yesterday (my mom's mom).
she was born on 1/11/11.
she's been gone about 10 years now.
i remember whenever we went to my
grandparent's home, in golden valley,
i would always run to the kitchen
where joe (my grandfather) had installed
a small pull out drawer under the
cabinets...there was always some sort
of fun snack in there and i could reach it
so i would always help myself.
sometimes a cookie but mostly i remember
fig newtons........

okay, i thought it was cold yesterday.
this morning?? feels like the coldest in years!!
i had to pop out and place my "c'mon in!"
sign on the door (which i do when there's
in-climate weather and the door needs to stay
shut) to let my clients know that there's no
need to ring the doorbell or stand in the cold,
rain or heat!

i received a call from a bride to be yesterday.
she'd gotten my name from the great folks
out at the arboretum in chanhassen....a really
terrific facility! if you don't already have a
membership for the arboretum, i stongly
suggest it.
i have a "photographer" membership out there
which allows me more opportunities to get out
there and photograph anyone, anytime and in
large groups without my clients having to pay
the gate fee....it's nice. every season there is
something new to see and every year they
celebrate with different themes throughout
the grounds which really makes it new and
different every year.
so "memlia & sam" are getting married out there
in september and are shopping around for
photographers...i hope i can help her out.
she hadn't been to my website yet but planned to
and i hope she checks out my blog as well!
"hi melia! keep me posted on your plans!"

still working on the images from new years eve
at the minnesota miracle event.
we (board and volunteers) met last night to
discuss what we could do better next year!
watch out! big changes and you won't want to
miss it next year. tickets will be limited to 500
so get 'em early!

heading downtown tonight for the big rematch.
bringing the camera along......hope they let me
in with it! :)

kate and jeremie's 1st anniversary is next sunday.
here's some warm photos for the day from the
florida keys last year!








stay warm

Thursday, January 11, 2007

brrrrrrr...

picture this...
we have had such a lovely fall and winter
thus far, it's actually crazy that it's nearly
the middle of january and i'm just beginning
to mention cold weather...single digits for
lows this weekend! yikes!

really not much to report here today other
than the wine and cheese at ron & diane's
tonight for all the volunteers of the "Minnesota
Miracle" event this past new years eve.
we're all getting together tonight to discuss
how it all went this year and what we should
change and what went well...that sort of stuff.

oh, that reminds me, i have a client (friend) that
is hosting a foreign exchange student from
germany and his favorite english word is "stuff"!
see how many time YOU use that word today
and how many different meanings it has....
it's pretty funny really! thanks carston for the
eye opening observation!

tomorrow is the big boxing rematch against
tony bonsante and matt vanda at the target
center! anne, pete, gary and i are going!
tony is the guy from shakopee that was on the
reality show "the contender" with sylvester stalone....
hey, does anyone ever name their kids sylvester
anymore???? a rather odd name, don't you think?
say it like 20 times....it's really weird then. :)

i'm hooking up a thing called "skype" on my laptop
so that i can make calls from anywhere in the world
for next to nothing. anne & pete used it when they
were in australia and figi this past summer.
they'd just use this voice over internet thing and it
was like they were in the next room..no delays
at all, it was really great so i thought i'd get it
ready for mexico.

i'm trying to hook up a couple of weddings while
i'm there...i just love that! working vacations!
nice way to pay for all the don julio! (kidding!)

anne, this is for you......hope it gets you through
the cold weekend! 3 & 1/2 months or so and you'll
be opening your "ool"

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

the new iphone is out!

picture this....
i've been patiently waiting for apple
to come out with their much anticipated
"iphone". well they announced it at
macworld yesterday in san francisco
finally. it'll be ready for purchase in june
of this year and set you back a cool 500 bucks!
it's sooooo coo!
the unfortunate part is that they have decided
to align themselves with (of all carriers) cingular!
well, that wait is over thank goodness.
i'll go forward with my other phone selection.

PUG meeting last night (pictage users group).
we worked on "branding" our work by
bringing samples of our work and have others
categorize by what comes to mind when you look
at the body of work of each of the photographers
in the group. a fun excersise.

here's jason, our gracious host of staja studios.
his wife, stacey, was away in florida for a wedding.



here's some of tanya's work that she brought along
for the exercise...she's really great and i'd love to
work with her someday.



this is bill, heidi (our newest member) and erika (blonde)
looking at some of jason & stacey's work on display



it was a smaller group this time but nonetheless
we always have a great time when we get together.
the group stays focused on the profession of
photography and it's realated topics,
the direction and growth of each of our businesses,
and the wellfare of our pug group as well.

i'm so glad that i discovered this group.
these are all really terrific people and fabulous photographers!

next month the spotlight studio will be "staja studios"..
jason and stacey will speak and share more of their work
and how they came into the business of photography.

stay warm...

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

jake o'connor's...

picture this...
a three hour lunch at jake o'connor's in excelsior...







never in my life have i indulged in
a 3 hour lunch...i mean, sit, order, eat,
talk, drink, talk, order desert, talk...
then the cappuccinos came and we talked
more so our waiter brought us more coffee
and at 1:30 we decided that we had to go
until 2 making it a 3 hour lunch so we talked
even more!! pretty certain that we solved all
the world's problems...funny, we ran out
of time to solve our own tho'....hmmmmmm.

first, a pint of "hoegaarden" a belgain beer..
super cold and crisp, very good. kind of like
blue moon, if you've ever had that one...



no "starters", just straight away to the main course.
i ordered the "beef and murphy's stout pie".
OMG!!! can't wait to have that again!



nicki ordered the chicken, ham & leek pie.



topped everything off with a flourless
chocolate baileys molten lava cake.
super "scrummy" as garrick in england would say!



jake o'connor's is presently taking off 15% of
your total food bill as an "'opening" discount.
please go there and indulge yourself in a little
irish pub encounter. i'll definitely be back!

thanks nicki!

oh, and i would like to wish two very terrific
people a happy birthday!! jacquie & dean!!

Monday, January 08, 2007

monday's with nicki...

picture this...
downtown excelsior has a brand new
pub called "jake o'connor's".
nicki and i are meeting for an early
lunch there today...i have not beeeen
but several folks i know and scott
& nicki have also already been in to
check it out. i'll bring my camera along.
it's rather new...less than a month i think.

church was fabulous! joel began
a new series on faith in the work place
as a new ministry begins at westwood
dealing with that very topic.
i have decided to have them e-mail me
weekly as a sort of charter member.
it's tough sometimes when you work
alone most of the time to share your faith
in that i don't have co-workers anymore.
i've got no one to cover for me when i wish
to go out and take in a class or meet
someone for a lunch. but what i will do
is simply make time to meet people
whenever i can...i love connecting with
people even out from behind my lens!

speaking of which, thank you pam (& co.)
for meeting yesterday afternoon for a
session of family shots...i had a terrific
time even tho' i think it was about 80 in there!







gary has an appointment today with his
physical therapist and his surgeon to see
why all the swelling is occurring in his shoulder.
he continues to do his exercises and i think
he should back off a bit...

Sunday, January 07, 2007

bonsante vs vanda

picture this...
correction; the fight that i mentioned
yesterday is on FRIDAY night, not saturday.
it's friday the 12th! see you there.
we'll be in the 3rd row right by the ring!

nearing tax time, again!
seems i'm always mailing out taxes!
15th is quarterly and 5th of february, sales
and use tax is due for all you procrastinators
out there! yippee!

ordered a pocket wizard today. should be here
next week. i haven't felt the need to sync up
a slave thus far, but i'm in the mood to push a little
so there ya go...i'll be experimenting with that soon.
waiting on some new umbrella/flash mount brackets too.

yesterday i popped over to the complex where i'll be
shooting today. lower ceilings upstairs, higher ones
downstairs, a great staircase with some fabulous light.
deb assisted me there in that this is a senior complex
and has a security entrance and she (as my folks
would always say...) didn't know me from adam.
i mean, you can't just waltz in anywhere wielding a
camera these days and not arouse some sort of suspicion
ya know?
i handed deb my card and told her i'd see her sunday.

i've arranged to meet tanya villano (from my PUG group)
tomorrow evening at a TCPPA class at the Hennepin
Tech Center here in eden prairie...we meet the
2nd tuesday of every month for speakers, competitions
etc...i just love that it's close by!
this one is an awards ceremony for the print competition
from november and we get to meet the new president
of our association.

enjoy your sunday.

praise Him.

Saturday, January 06, 2007

slept in...

picture this..
i slept 'til 10!
gary seriously thinks that i maybe
switching to the feline species!!
but noteworthy here is that i had
absolutely nowhere to be and the
thought of getting out of my warm,
cozy bed just wasn't a priority!

my meeting with scott yesterday
ran about 3 hours.
and altho' he and i talk often we
rarely get the opportunity to meet,
sit and talk. it's a connection of a
different level. and a nice one.
i highly suggest getting together
with a family member and setting
aside time one on one to talk.






scott owns and operates a family mediation
practice. he's married with 2 teenage daughters
(i know, yikes, right!), he's heavy into fitness,
loves the lord, recently gave up coffee (the whole-
the body is a temple thing) and i love him with
my whole heart~even tho' he is a dog person!
thanks for the coffee, scott~hope you enjoyed your chai!

i have a client whose hobbie is many forms
of pottery and here is a piece that i got from him...
he's very talented! (i have a lot of creative friends
and clients!!~birds of a feather, right!?)





gary got back from winner, south dakota yesterday.
he was pheasant hunting one last time.
well, not really hunting, cuz he can't (with the shoulder
and all) but he went along for a change of scenery
and it was something to do...he's been quite bored
with himself as he's been nursing his left shoulder.
he failed to bring along his camera (dope) so
all he could do is TELL me about the 2 MOUNTAIN
LIONS that they encountered and the COYOTE that they
had to shoot in order to save mike's hunting dog!!
gary said it was the best trip ever....50 sunny and no wind.

tomorrow i'm photographing pam, her mom and her
daughter..a generational shot of sorts so i'm going
to pop up and take a look around at the surroundings
and find a couple of nice spots for them.

oh, next saturday i'm heading to another boxing match!!
i told you, it's become my new guilty pleasure!
this time, i'm bringing my camera!!!!
have a great weekend!