Stillwater Shoot 2008

Okay, first of all I must mention that it
was indeed NOT the Mississippi (even tho'
it's fun to spell!), after the shoot we
headed out aboard the Jubilee II on the
St. Croix river. I have NO idea what I was
thinking when I posted the Mississippi
but I just wanted to get that "blonde
moment" out of the way. You know, St. Croix,
Mississipi...220, 221, whatever it takes...
There.

No matter, we had the best day to shoot
around Stillwater. First we worked our
magic on the rooftop of the Public Library
then we moved to a park near by and the Museum
with a pretty cool wall and like this old, round,
gunnery thing with some mighty great lighting.
Thanks to Mark Kiefer for arranging for and
leading this model shoot.
Here are some shots from yesterday...
















It was really fun to go out and just shoot.
I would love to go soon and do it again!
Any takers!? Contact me via e-mail.

Shooting in Stillwater

Stillwater

I'm heading up to Stillwater in a few
minutes for the day. Shooting with colleagues
from my TCPPA group and then heading out
on a boat cruise on the Mississippi.
I'll be gone most of the day but I'm looking
forward to getting out of town and shooting
for fun. I rarely get the opportunity.

Better leave time to fill the tank!!

Have a blessed Monday.
Mom's manicure looks awesome and so does she!!

Bernadette & Michael

Wow! Another stellar day! Gorgeous blue skies,
the humidity gone, a cool breeze, one of the
most darling country churches you'll find
anywhere and a sweet, sweet couple that are now
Mr. & Mrs. Bruzek!
Congratulations to Bernadette & Michael!
(click on the "view all images" button
to see a larger slide show)

Check out the Church!

St. Mary of Czestochowa. Just outside Delano, Minnesota

Taken with my iPhone.

Taken from my NILMDTS post

(I posted this yesterday and I wanted to
place it here as well. Hope you don't mind)


I got a call from Jessica this morning.
She asked if I knew who was on call in the
West today?..."no one." I said.
So I ran down there.

I entered the PICU (watch for TONS of construction
around the Mpls. Children's block. It's bad!),
Mother, Father and Daughter...sitting on
a love seat behind the curtain that surrounded
M's bed. Already in her parent's arms, I layed
my bag on the floor, and started right in.
When I left, other family members were arriving.




As I was leaving I looked to my right and saw
some familiar faces. Sadly, The Family whose
twin daughter I photographed in January and whose
other twin I photographed the homecoming for a
couple of months ago was back at PICU.
Seems Danza has gotten sick. I asked if I could
come over and say "hi" and they motioned me over.
I got up close to Danza and said a get well prayer
for her and the parents told me that they would
keep me in the know. I'm so glad I took this session!
Here's Danza from her homecoming session!




Please pray for both these families.
____________________________________________________


I have a wedding out in Delano today. Thank
goodness the storms are out of here and they
took the heat and humidity with them!
We are all breathing a sigh of relief!

Here's a shot out my mom's hospital window
the other day...



I walked down to the end of the hall
and introduced myself to the hospital's
President, Mike Baumgartner to tell him
what a fabulous staff he has!



Later, on my way to Excelsior I snapped
this shot out my car window! WOW!



Gotta run.
Enjoy today!

Long, Hot, CRAZY day.

Took a session at Mpls Children's
this morning. A 4 year old girl.



I have to write more later...
My day got away from me.
I'll tell you more on Saturday.

Moved my Mom today from St. Francis
to St. Gertrudes! YAY!!!
Then a meeting with Urban Ventures,
Then a bout with the weather....again.

Mom's great!!

I've got a wedding all day tomorrow.
I'll post more on Sunday!

Peace.

S.

Mom is moving on Friday!

Just found out, while I was waiting out
the storm at St. Francis with her today,
that they are moving her to St. Gertrude's
tomorrow! YAY! This is HUGE! She can now
begin to rehab her back and get back on
her feet without that darn walker or IVs!

the storm was crazy! I took some shot but
I have to save them for tomorrow cuz I need
to get my act together to get to Excelsior
for the big "chick night"!
Meet us at Haskell's at 6:30.

Girls Night Out in Excelsior!

Every Thursday is Girl's Night Out in
Excelsior. This week is even better
because it's "CRAZY DAYZ" too so there
are tons of special and deals up and down
Water Street! Like buy one get one wine
at Jake O'Connors! Drawings and % off
clothing in all the stores...it's fun.
I'm sure I'll be Twittering from Excelsior
tonight with the all the gals.

I stopped out to see my mom last night
after dinner (thanks Gary! DE-LI-CIOUS
pork tenderloin, garlic toast & red grapes!).
My brother, Mike showed up shortly after
with gorgeous hydrangeas and tabloid mags
for her..so thoughtful!

She seemed a bit out of it. Still hasn't
eaten much but they took the catheter out
(again) which is good and they put her back
on IV nutrients and fats...oh, how I wish
I could be hooked up to a fat IV drip! I just can't
seem to keep my fats up! ;)

Well, we sillied around a bit and then
broke the code on the computer in her
room ("for STAFF USE ONLY") next to her bed
and went to FREE SLOTS.COM
and my mom TOTALLY came alive!
She starts in...."Go to Mystical Wizzard..."
It was sooo funny.
We kids think that Mystic Lake Casino should
be sending my mom flowers or a line of
credit or something! :)

National Night Out 2008?

Well, not in Eden Prairie, Minnesota anyway!
The city of Eden Prairie has made the decision
to pull out of the NNO event. Why, you ask?
Well, check this out... the founder, Matt Peskin,
has been pocketing MILLIONS because cities
pay to be a part of NNO.

This year, my fair city is throwing it's own
"Eden Prairie Night Out"! Yay us!
I mean, c'mon, it's about a city coming together
and "taking back the night", right?
So, that's what we intend to do! And all for
the cost of some brats, chips & brownies! :D

Here's some shots from last year..
This year it takes place on Tuesday, August 5th.
Well, actually it the first Tuesday in August
every year! We'll share the same date as not
to confuse folks on our street!





July 9th!!! WHERE IS THE TIME GOING????????!!

Okay, random thought....
Have you ever sat down and talked to your self
at say....age 9, 16, 24 and told your self that
things would turn out okay? It's such a calming
feeling to connect on that level.
We often tell our children, nieces, nephews and
friends that things will work out but how about
YOU? Give it a try.

Have a peaceful day.

Friends at last!

Hobie is finally playing with Boo. They like the new tower.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLOG!

First things first...today is my brother, Tim's
FIFTIETH birthday and that even, officially, means
that I am old as well! YIKES! I mean, really,
parents are 50 not siblings, right?

Next, it's my blog's 2nd birthday today.
Let me see if I can find my first post....
Yep, here it is.

Funny how time flies. Well, not so much funny
as it is scary, really.

I visited my mom yesterday and when I arrived
Kiki, Owen & Reese were there in the room.
Owen had come down to have the staples
removed from the back of his head (he lost a
battle with a rock at a campfire a week or so
ago when his chair tipped backwards). We all
walked with mom down the hall to a seating
area where we sat for about a 1/2 hour and visited.
Then we all walked back to the room and at
that point Reese decided that she'd had enough
so the 3 of them left and I stayed and ordered
mom some lunch, consolidated her flowers and
trimmed her bangs. She looks like a new person
but now she needs more flowers (if you are heading
down to see her!).

She's not eating much these days and if she wants
to get to the rehab facility she needs to get off
the "TPN" (nutrition in an IV bag). They keep
her hooked up to that because she needs her
nutrition to get stronger and altho' she's
getting up more and walking further, she still
needs to EAT!!!!! We should all have that problem!
I managed to eat all of the chicken in her
chicken/penne pasta! When I left I told her not
to lie to the nurses or the aides!

Oh, funny thing....my mom will kill me.
I didn't want to leave my camera in the car the
other day so I brought it in, right?
Then I decided to snap a few shots of my mom
as she was awaiting her CT scan. This is the
final shot in a sequence of 2...hmmm, just 2?



2 steps forward, 1 step back.
I'll keep you in formed of mom's progress.
Thanks for all your thoughts, prayers & cards.
Bonnie, I'll deliver yours later today.

Cory Barton is coming by today. I'm so excited!
She's my web designer and we have been working
a ton on updating my site. I've been dragging my
feet due to all that's been going on but I assure
you all that it will be completed very soon.

Have a great day!

Fun on the Fourth!

Here's a slice of my fourth of July fun
with my family & friends at Anne & Pete's
home. By far, the most fun I've had on
the fourth of July (in this country) ever!

Lazy Sunday.

I was at the hospital late last night waiting
for my mom to go down for another CT scan.
I got home around midnight. Problem was that
I was all set to take a much needed nap when
I got the call to go down and sit with mom.
So, today...I rolled out of bed just in time
to see Rafal Nedal win Wimbledon and the Twins
sweep whoever it was they were playing.
Bottom line, I slept for about 15 hours.
I have not had a Rip Van Winkle day in a very
long time...it felt good.

Mom's good. I think they will be making a
decision to move her very soon.
I'll post some 4th shots later. It was amazing!

Hope you all had a fabulous holiday weekend.

Kurt Jorgensen Band.

Baker's 4th BASH!

Boo sunning himself!

Happy Independence Day!

Gary left for Cannon Falls this morning.
He and his buddies have a standing ritual
every year that includes an early morning
round of golf, the Cannon Falls Parade and
a shot of Blackberry Brandy in honor of
Jimbo's dad.

This year, however, a change was instituted.
The gentleman decided to move the round of
golf to tomorrow morning~that way they could
make a later t-time. In the past, the t-time
needed to be early enough to ensure that they
could get the golf in and still procure a prime
viewing spot for the noon start of the parade!
Boys are silly.

I, on the other hand, have decided to stay back,
lounge around and make my way over to my sister's
& Pete's 1st annual 4th of July bash.

They hired the Kurt Jorgensen band to play from
6 to 10. Yes, I made certain that she contacted
the city of Chanhassen to get a permit so we're
all set to go!

I saw my mom yesterday for a few hours.
The took the catheter out, stopped the dilaudid
and she was up and walking around (with the walker)!
This, my friends, is the best I've seen her since
before the surgery! We are looking into a couple
of interim care facilities near by that she can
go to for her rehabilitation. One is right by me
the other is on the St. Francis campus. Both are
wonderful and she could go as early as Monday!!
YAY!!!!

I'm on call for NILMDTS today. I elected to take
the holiday because I thought trying to make
phone calls to 30 people on the 4th of July
would most likely yield no one so I just took
it for myself. I'll have my phone at my side all day!

Last night, we had an impromptu gathering in front
of our house...the street actually. Many of
our neighbors had fireworks and we started
blowing them off in the middle of the street
(we just had our driveway seal coated!).
I ran to Costco at the last minute last night
and bought one of their giant packs of lovely
"Minnesota Issue" fireworks...that's sort of
CODE for "nothing goes in the air". So, mostly
color and noise with no real "wow" factor.
The kids had a blast and the adults, well, we
had a blast too!

Jacquie, thanks for sticking around and talking
with me by the fire after everyone had gone in.
I love you! Our friendship means the world to me!



Have a safe and gratitude filled day!

Burgers for tomorrow!

Jennifer & Chris' slideshow

I thought I would compile a slide show
for Jennifer & Chris from last weekend.
Here it is. Enjoy.