finished with the cookies!

picture this....
around 11 o'clock last night, we wrapped
up another year of christmas cooking baking!
yes, that's right, not "holiday baking"....
CHRISTMAS COOKIE BAKING!

this was, however, an abbreviated year and
we only went for 2 days instead of the usual 4.
okay i guess, we just had to really keep at
it and not get distracted.
unfortunately, that meant cutting back on some
of the items due to time restraints.
we apologize in advance for having to skip
some of your favorites...
here's me on friday night trying to get a jump
on things..(we normally go friday, saturday,
sunday and monday...anne arrived saturday around 9:30 am.)



here's a crowd pleaser....the infamous
peanut butter blossom..



my brother tim's favorite, the raspberry
almond thumbprints...



a large tray of all of the goodies together...




it kind of felt like we were just getting started
and then we were boxing things up and cleaning!
sort of sad, really.
we look forward to this every year and had it not
been for my sister's surgery tomorrow and
her helping a friend move things up from arizona
we would have gone all four days.

we really got a lot done in 2 days!

me personally? i think we had better start to
train in the nieces on this whole production for
when we decide that our backs can't take it anymore!!

the TCPPA holiday gathering is tonight in bloomington.
they've hire a magician...should be a fun gathering.
tomorrow evening is my PUG holiday dinner at biaggi's!

tomorrow i will spend the 1st half of the day delivering
cookies! yum.....

day 1 cookies!

picture this...
last year we celebrated our 10th year
of actually getting together for dedicated,
purposeful, Christmas cookie baking!
we're pretty sure that we've been doing it
longer, it's just that we only started keeping track
of everything 11 years ago. no matter....
several years ago, anne and i had determined
that it was no longer about the cookies anymore!
just good, clean, silly, LOL, pee your pants, fun!
we have even been know to chart the first
laugh attack on our folder that contains all
the recipes.

once completed, we distribute all the cookies
to people and places that we have either done
buisness with or done business for.
and for me, some salons that i have worked
at in the past.
others include my web designer, my photo lab,
my vet and my emergency vet (saved hobie's life
a year ago!), the gal that folds towels at my gym,
my dentist, my PUG group...that kind of stuff.
it's our labor of love and let me tell you, folks
can't wait til we show up on the door step!
oh, and this year i'm adding my networking group
and my friends jay and jill...i will be bringing
a huge tray to auction off at their next two fund
raisers for the surgery and one for them as well.
i brought one out to jay last year when he was still
at the courage center in golden valley.
i'll post photos later or tomorrow.....

post op check up today

picture this..
a warm up is on the way.
just in time for cookie baking!

gary goes in today to see his
surgeon and get information
on what is to come and what he
can do and when.
gary has been pretty down lately.
he's frustrated that he can't do
anything and i think that he fears
his shoulder will not be the same.

i try hard to explain that this surgery
was different from the last 2 that he
has had and that he was told that the
rehab and recovery for this one would
be much more intense and take much
longer. he's just not happy.
hopefully dr. teynor will shed some
light on this for him today!

tornado in london yesterday!?? CRAZY
check out the pix on netscape.

i'm going to star some cookies today
in that my sister was delayed in leaving
phoenix so she won't even get back to
town until later today.
i plan to work on one that i hate making.
it will be a suprize to her because we
decided last friday that we would skip it
this year! tee hee.

plenty of photo ops this weekend!

supposed to be 40 tomorrow and 30 something
on sunday! nice.

more later.....

day 8-thursday

picture this...
getting up in front of a room full
of people that have been assigned
to come and listen to you as a part
of a sentence fulfillment...a bit daunting, no?


my brother is speaking again
at the carver county court house
today. he spoke a couple of months
ago and i went to photograph him
for future media usage.
he speaks mostly to folks that
have to attend as a part of their
sentencing, thus making the crowd
a bit less interested in what he is saying
and more interested in how much time
has passed. not an easy task or assignment
for him, but he's really very good and very
engaging. everyone seems to enjoy scott.
and why wouldn't they, right?! :)

gary fong released his "crome dome" today.
it's only useful with the "cloud" lightsphere...
so i'm not going to purchase this one.
i love my amber dome and the original so i'll
stick with those for now!

update..i have yet to hear from "bella pictures"
that company that employs photographers from
all over to have as a "bench" to select from.
i think i'll send out another note...

TCPPA holiday party this coming monday evening.
our PUG holiday get together tuesday night @ biaggi's!
let the parties begin!!!!

gary has his post op appointment tomorrow morning.
we will find out then what he can start doing as far
as rehab on the shoulder....

gotta run......

day 7-wednesday

picture this....
i think it would have been a whole
lot easier had gary had his surgery
on December 1st!
day 7 on the 6th??.....crazy!

feeling remarkably better, gary
and i sat and watched the victoria's
secret "very sexy" show last night!!
damn, i need to get some more duct
tape for my mouth!!
oh, wait, that's right, i'm not twenty
anymore.... :)
we enjoyed some yummy cabernet
and....yes..a few hershey's kisses!
it's not like either one of us is
sitting around waiting for a call for a
big contract with VS!! right??? :)

today, i have yet another networking
meeting...this one is back at flagship.
oh, sorry, i mean, "lifetime".
today, dave is speaking. he's our
accountant. i've GOT to get together
with him and discuss my 2 businesses!!

by the way, i made some nice contacts
yesterday at the event that i shot at the
eden prairie center. namely a gal who
kind of runs things at the epc and was
interested in the fact that i shoot events
as well....who knows what may come of that!?

anyone interested in attending....jay magee
is having a small benefit at "beef-o'brady's"
in waconia this sunday during the vikings
game....from 11-4. i'm going to try to get
away for part of it (in the middle of cookie baking!).

more tomorrow.

day 6-tuesday

picture this....
gary had some dental work done
today...2 and 1/2 hours of it!
i told him to bring a pillow along
for his shoulder and he forgot so
he is in some big pain this afernoon.

i just got back from photographing the
1st annual food distribution put on by
Here's Life Inner City, Lift Up America
and Hope for the City in the Eden Prairie
Center parking lot. Tyson was a
huge contributor. Channel 5 came out
to cover it.

Lens Crafters also did a "Home Town Day"
in conjunction with the food distribution
where they gave free eye exams, glasses
and contacts to about 30 children.
the Minnesota Vikings were there so
i bounced back and forth from the parking
lot to Lens Crafters next to Sears on the
lower level. Brrrr, it was kind of cold out too!
that chris kluwe is quite tall!
patrick body, ray edwards & will hunter were
there and isaiah harris, a player developer,
was also in attendance....guess he's got HIS
work cut out for himself!!!

here's the parking lot and all the food!!!



of course santa was there too!!!



one lucky young lady with her new frames!!



at the end, time for a question and answer period
with the players...




Doug, from Life Touch, was there covering
it also...i met Doug a couple of years ago
at the 2nd annual MiracleKids Triathlon in
Chanhassen. it's always fun to bump into
photographers giving of their talents!

It was a great event and I will be apart of it
every year from here on out!
thanks john, for including me!

day 5, monday

picture this...
gary has decided that he can drive
himself down to work. idiot!
i could not convince him otherwise.

quite clearly, he is feeling better (for
those of you checking in on his progress).
he's no longer having to sleep upright in
a chair and he's down to just one medication.
he did feel a little woosey by the time he
returned home and asked if i could finish
his errands for him....see! i was RIGHT!!!
idiot! i love him, don't get me wrong, he's
just a man that thinks he can beat this thing!
ya know?? deep down, men are really big
pussies! :)

enough about that.
my sister has traveled to arizona to help
a good friend move furniture up here
to a townhouse. they thought a little
"thelma & louise" trip sounded fun.
have at it, i said!

we'll start christmas cookies on friday here
at my house this year. i'm kind of excited
to not have to move everything to her house.
altho' it's always been fun to wake up with
the kids there...good memories! :)

tomorrow morning i will be photographing
an event at the eden prairie center for an
organization called "here's life inner city".
they are collecting and distributing food to over
43 churches/agencies that serve the poor and
providing eye exams/new glasses for kids at
lens crafters as well.
a couple of vikings players will be there including
the kicker chris kluwe!

go to www.hlictwincities.org for more information.
i'll post photos tomorrow...have a great day!

day 4, sunday...

picture this...
everyday gary gets a little better!
everyday he can sleep a little longer
at a strretch. he even got in the shower
yesterday. that made all the difference.

yesterday afternoon i could clearly sense
that gary was getting restless so i offered
to go out somewhere to grab a bite.
i called my brother tim and asked if
he would like to join us in his maiden
voyage and of course he said "yes".
laurie, his wife, was stuck in st. louis missouri
for a few days with her crew waiting for
additional de-icing equiptment so she just
came straight from the airport to biaggi's.
they really have the best pizza!
it went really well with my murphy goode
cabernet!

today was pretty routine...
got up, prepared a french press, went out
and got the paper, got on the bike,
went to Westwood's 11 o'clock service with
the majority of my family, came home to see that
the viking were sucking....again!
(i said the day was pretty routine, right!?)

so we decided that a movie was in order.
we shuffled through the dvds that his
brother brought up the other day for gary's
recovery period and thought that even
"nacho libre" would be better than watching
the vikings butcher yet another sunday!
my take? they were about dead even...i mean parts
were funny and i enjoyed all the spanish but
if you ever find yourself trying to decide between
"nacho libre" and anything else?...get anything else!
even if you are a westling fan.

got a little snow today...more of a dusting, really.
altho' i acutally heard paul douglas say "a decorative
snowfall" the other day...what's with these guys anyway?
snow is snow. it's either on the ground or falling from the
sky. it's like the chicken and the egg deal...what's
more, a "dusting" or a "coating" my money is on
"coating"....WHO CARES!!!!

what i do know for sure right now about any amount
of snow is that i will be having the pleasure of
removing it myself this winter....gary get's the season off!

day 3...change dressing

picture this...
gary had a much better day yesterday.
still pretty confined to the porch and
i'm certain that he'd love to get in the
shower at this point...good thing i have
a shampoo bowl! :)

we'll change the dressing today and
get a look at his incision....YIKES!

ran into donny rix last night at anne
& pete's. he was there having a "bump"
with pete. donny mentioned that he
is in the running for a rotator cuff
surgery so i stayed and chatted with
him about some stuff and gary's goings
on.

i was at anne & pete's cuz anne and i had
to do our annual cookie bake, shopping run
and we had to do it last night cuz she's
flying to arizona today and won't be back
until the day we start and we like to get
that out of the way before we actually get
into the whole process.
friday night proved to be the night to do it
too! NO one was there. we usually go on the
monday morning that precedes the weekend
that we bake....this is really quite an operation.
i brought my camera along and got a couple
of shots of us shopping..apparently cub foods
doesn't care if we take photographs in their
store! most places these days find it suspicious
and at LEAST ask why you have a camera...ya know?
not these folks.
here's some of the big fun we had at cub foods
in excelsior last night....




making an oatmeal cookie this year
that's new...



make sure all the eggs are in good shape...




be sure to bring a list and STICK TO IT!!




gary ordered a new sling yesterday...he's having
it overnighted so that he can have it today....
he's pretty excited about it!
oh, get this....
i went out to get the paper and gary's
sling was at the door already.
i mean.....holy hanna, couldn't they
have gotten here any sooner?
that was nearly same day.....
from california!

gary's mom is working on a custom
shirt for gary so he won't have to lift his
left arm...we'll market it if all goes well! :)

day two...

picture this..
gary didn't sleep at all last night!

i woke up at 6 this morning and went
right out to the porch where gary is
camped out....he was awake.
i asked, "how did the night go?"
gary responded with...."do you have a gun??"

he hadn't eaten anything throughout the
night....i told him that his pain meds
wouldn't be very effective on an empty
stomach......he asked for a peanut butter
sandwich! so, yum, breakfast of champions!!

i got him all situated and i headed off to
the gym and then the grocery store to get a
bunch of stuff for him to have at his
fingertips.
i've got photos to post, just can't get to it
right now...i'll place them up on this entry
later today.....

i'm sure he'll be up to visitors soon.
if you have any oxycontin...bring it along...
you know....tis the season....
frankinsense, murr and pharmaceuticals! :)

okay, here's gary, all optimistic about the day,
the surgery and the future (thursday morning)




here's gary thursday afternoon (post op about 3 hours)
still all "blocked" so no pain, just worry about the
rehab....nothing for 6 weeks! certainly not what
he expteded to hear....

gary's surgery day

picture this...
if i could have brought my camera
i would have.....but due to HPPA,
that would be a "no".


got up early, and headed to
fairview southdale at around 7.
what a cool new facility they have
now...it's been open for about 4 years,
they said.
TERRIBLE coffee (thanks ladies auxillary!)
i left mine in the car thinking i was
going to take him in and head back home.
nope.

all is well. altho' dr. teynor said that
gary should have done this a couple
of years ago..it was pretty bad.

so, i'm just camped out here at home
waiting for the block to wear off
and the babying to begin! :)
more later....

the big chill...

picture this...
well, no snow (as usual)
but considerably colder!
it's perhaps not going to
even get into the 30's the
rest of the week. yuck, it's here!

so is the plethera of new musical
artists butchering some of your
favorite classic holiday songs!
like..."santa clausizzle is comin' to
town"! nice
maria carey always does a nice
job jazzing up the classics too! jk.

anyway, today my network group
is meeting out at jeff stone's
place of business out on smithtown
road near excelsior. jeff is an auto
broker extraodinaire! :)
next week we'll meet back at
flagship (sorry, it'll always be flagship
to me!)

my cats love to lay under the christmas tree.
just as soon as i put the old latch hook
tree skirt (that the whole family worked on
in '81) goes under the tree, katie gets right
under there where she stays as long as it's
there....hobie just goes under to bug katie!

well, stay warm everyone!

thunder and lightening....

picture this....
what a crazy night and morning!
rain, thunder, lightening....

MUCH needed rain, however.
it's been sooo dry so this was a
welcome site and quite unusual
to hear the thunder this late in the
year.
the wheels are supposed to fall off
overnight and over the next several
days. YIKES!!

gary's surgery is thursday....early morning.
rotator..yuck.
june and garrick fly back to england
that same day in the evening.
it's really been terrific having them here.
i just burned them a CD of all the images
that i shot while they've been here.

oh, went to gerri & jim gefre's on saturday
night for a get together...there were about
6 or 8 couples..really fun!
turns out that their daughter, kathryn has
contracted the chicken pox!!!!
gary thinks that he hasn't had them.
i'll just die if they cancel his surgery AGAIN!!!

a blog in need.....

picture this...
i helped my brother's father-in-law
get his blog published today!!

here's his address:
grick.blogspot.com


and here's gerick...with his
bride, june (nicki's mum)


i shot this at my brother's home
this afternoon after church.

here's the whole fam......



here's one with my brother's eyes open....




we had the greatest afternoon.....
got garick's blog up and running.
i'm certain that i'll hear from him regarging
his log-in information! :)

sorry this is soo late. i spent the day
with my brother scott and his family
and we just had the best time!

i wanted to be sure to capture some
shots of them while they were here.


monday, i'll be "shooting" eva...a family
friend's daughter...so darling ..can't wait!
i'll post some of eva later on monday.
have a great weekk...pray for gary's
surgery on thursday!!

love to all!

jacquie, call me if you need my computer!!!!!

kiki's birthday!

picture this....
it's kiki's birthday!
happy birthday girl!

yesterday, i went out to cologne with
mike, kindra and owen to cut their
christmas tree down.
we were at "z's trees" out near 140 and 284.
i sat in back with owen. he is so
funny. i brought him a snow
globe....he LOVES it!!



took a tractor out to the actual
site where the trees are, hopped
off and walked around until they
spotted the perfect one!!



the ride out was a little chilly so we sat really close and huddled!




thanksgiving at the baker's!!
here's the adult table! gary and i didn't
make the cut!



here's june (nicki's mum) & gary taylor
all the way from england!



here's gary cutting his first thanksgiving
turkey! he was an old pro!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

picture this....
june and gary stopped over yesterday.
it was so great to see them.
june is an animal nut too and wanted
to come by and see the cats!

well, happy thanksgiving everyone!!
gary and i are going to hit the gym
this morning...we want to start the day
by working off part of one of the meals
that we will be having today!!

first, it's off to northfield to see gary's
family...then to chan to see mine and eat
more turkey! it's tough performing twice
on thanksgiving!

i am thankful for my family and that
we all live so close to one another.
it makes for many get togethers and
for that i am grateful.
i am thankful that we are all in good
health and love each other endlessly!
i am thankful to be a child of God and
follower of Jesus Christ.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

thanksgiving eve......

picture this..
it's been almost 6 months since
i started this blog. wow the time
just whizzes by!

supposed to be 60 degrees here
today...unbeLIEvable! doesn't quite
feel like thanksgiving around here but
you won't hear many people complaining!
that's 'fa shizzle'!!

gary informed me last night that while
in mexico, we get a bunch of extras due
to the room that we have reserved at the
royal porto real in playa....such as
a mini cooper, free international calls,
premium liquor in our room and
turn down service in the evening...
how cool is that??!! :)

i've got a really full hair day today
so i'm going to keep this one short today!

safe travels everyone!

june and gary arrive today!

picture this....
the brits land around 3 today!
i'm so excited to see them.
gary wants to learn more about
"blogging".....so cute!

um, i just realized that in 2 & a half
weeks my sister and i start our
marathon cookie baking!
we've gone as many as 4 days straight!
i usually stay there and just haul
all my pans & stuff there.
gary gets to be a bachelor for the
weekend.
this has become more about
the memories of doing this together
than about the cookies over the years.

channel 5 got wind of it one year (thanks to
my mother-in-law) and they came out to
film us during their morning show.
we stayed up all night to prepare for them.
it took me a week to recover from that one!
God, we have fun. i have to keep reminding
myself of that, cuz things get pretty hectic
and we start to get serious. not this year!
(we say that EVERY year!)....seriously!
we plan to lighten the schedule and back off
of some of the recipes! last year we called
it "the year of FUN!" and it really was.
this is all a labor of love....we bake for 4 days,
and then give it all away to folks that we
do business with and friends and neighbors.
everyone looks forward to it!!

the brittish are coming!!!!

picture this...
tomorrow at this time, nicki's
mum & gary will be about 3 hours
outside of minneapolis!
they will be joining our family
for their first thanksgiving ever!
boy, are they in for a treat!
i wonder if they have been
practicing reciting "pumpkin pie"?!

i popped by to drop off my nieces
enlargements that she selected from
her shoot earlier this month and they
are now prominently displayed up
on the mantle.
put a few more foils in both of the
girls hair, making one darker and the
other lighter....they were surprised and
happy!!

caught just a glimpse of the viking's
game yesterday....they were up 13-10...
not for long...i had to shut it off.

doing some hair tonight to make up
for the thursday evening that i will miss.

i'm excited for thursday! it's also supposed
to be almost 60 degrees!!! pretty crazy!

kindra, i'm working on moving my friday
appointments so that i can join you guys
on your tree hunt! can't wait!! :)

i've been putting up an artificial tree for
years now. maybe it's time to get a real one.
wonder how the cats would behave?????
hmmmmmmm............

canon class a disappointment...

picture this...
i head to the front of the rather
large room and share a table
with a gentleman that photographs
hockey games for buffalo.
most of the folks there own either
the 20, the 30 or the 5D.
this class was designed to teach
the innerworkings of these cameras.
not what i went there for.
i attended this class to find out
which of these models might suite
me better as a wewdding/portrait
photographer. this was not covered.

people were busy jotting down everything
the speaker said. from what "noise" is
and how to avoid it to composition to
what everything on the camera body means
and does. amatuer stuff. who knew?
well, that's 4 hours of my life i'll never
get back. lesson learned.
i'll stick to www.dpreview.com and the other
forums from now on.

vikings play in miami today...wonder if
they'll win? i guess i'm not really caring too
much these days...(sorry kip!)
it's hard to watch them week in and week
out play so poorly. this is not what
i expected from childress.
therefore, in the hopes of gaining some
time back that i lost yesterday sitting through
that canon class, i may skip watching them
play today....then i'll come out even for
the weekend! :)

update on the boxing match for january...
my sister got home that night (friday), got
on line and ordered 4 more tickets!!
so, bonsante vs vanda on january 12th! :)
this is CRAZY!