Favorite Friday

Favorite Friday will be postponed until Monday, because I really haven't taken any pictures this week.

I am busy tearing my studio apart for tomorrows wedding. See all of you on Monday. Have a great weekend.

Random thoughts

Happy Tuesday everyone. What a weekend! I'm so glad it is over. We got a lot done over the weekend outside, because the weather was absolutely amazing. I have all my flowers planted, but I think I already have to replace some. Bummer, but apparently I picked up some bad Snapdragons for my pots.

Well, I had decided that I was going to attend my local Memorial Day service, but yesterday is the one day my alarm clock (Trinity) decides to sleep past 6:30 a.m. On the one hand, woohoo for a child that decided to sleep to a normal hour (8:10 a.m.), but on the other hand I was sad about missing the service. We did make it to the parade, though. They did things different this year. Normally they have the parade and it ends at the war memorial in the yard of our courthouse. This year they did services at all the cemetaries, then one at the war memorial, then one for servicemen/women buried at sea at the lake, then finished with the parade. It was a bit odd for me, but nice all the same. We had a cool hearse from 1856 in our parade this year. Wow, talk about history and emotions - I had a hard time composing myself. Good thing I had Trinity, because she kept me grounded talking about the ponies.
I enjoyed the parade immensely, but I had to call my nephew shortly following to bitch. You see I take Memorial Day seriously. I use it as a day to honor my Dad and those servicepersons who have died and are currently serving our country. My nephew spent 22 months in Iraq and is home now. He is in the National Guard and runs a unit near me. I had to call to get the name of our local commander, because one of his soldiers is a FREAKING IDIOT!!! If you volunteer to be in a parade and you are in uniform following the American flag then you can have the common courtesy to NOT BE TALKING ON YOUR FREAKING CELL PHONE!! Our parade route was 15-20 minutes long. I can just about guarantee that whatever he was talking about could have waited. It was disrespectful to our flag, to our veterans and to his uniform. My nephew is known for making grown men cry and he actually said he would take care of it, because he thought I would put him to shame. That's how pissed off I am.
Okay, but enough about that. It is cold here today. All weekend I could go without a jacket & today I have a turtleneck on, my winter jacket & my space heater going. I want the sun to come out again.
Trinity only has 7 days of Montessori left. I'm a little worried that she won't adapt to going back to daycare. She really has thrived since we made the change. I hope she doesn't regress this summer.
Okay, that is it for now.

Favorite Friday

Favorite Friday is back. Sorry about last week. Trinity only lasted half a day at school before wearing herself out. She's back to her normal self, so I'm back taking pictures. Here is a family I took:
Have a happy & safe Memorial Day weekend. I'm going to try to be outside as much as possible, so I don't think I'll post over the weekend. If you have a chance, please take in one of the many beautiful programs on Monday that honors our fallen veterans. I'll be there sobbing like no other as this will be the first year my Dad's name will be called out. I've always loved the Memorial Day services, but this year I'm dreading it a bit. I haven't decided if I'll do our local one here or drive to Fort Snelling where Dad is buried. Not sure I'll decide until Sunday, but I'm sure I'll blog all about it. Have a safe weekend and hug a veteran or current serviceman if you have a chance. My heart goes out to all of you who have lost someone special or has someone serving in a dangerous situation. You are all in my prayers.

Standing on my soapbox

I was Twittering this morning and was directed to a new blog entry on one of the daily blogs I read (Suburban Turmoil). It was about brag hags and from there I was directed to a Today show interview/story about Cocktail Playdates. I now feel the urge to blog about cocktail playdates. In the spirit of full disclosure I must admit to the following list of items:

1. I have never been to a Cocktail Playdate.
2. This is the first I had heard of Cocktail Playdates.
3. I rarely drink.
4. Alcoholism runs in my family.

Okay, that being said you probably all think I’m going to bash these mothers, well I’m not. I actually do not see anything wrong with this practice. The psychiatrist that the Today show had on kept spouting about how you cannot effectively parent if you have a cocktail. I would have loved if Meredith Viera would have asked her if she stopped drinking completely the day she became a mother. Because according to this psychiatrist as a mother we must NEVER EVER have an alcoholic beverage. To do so automatically puts our children in danger. I do not see the difference between having a cocktail playdate and having a glass of wine at home while fixing dinner. If a mother is at home and getting drunk and neglecting her children, then obviously that is not the situation I am condoning. I’m talking about a glass of wine or a margarita or a cosmopolitan. The psychiatrist or Meredith asked about what would happen if the child got injured and had to be taken to the hospital – uh, call 911. Isn’t that what you would do if you were at home? Is there anything different between having a cocktail with friends at a playdate and going home and going out to dinner with your husband, having a glass of wine and going home to care for your child(ren). I say there is not.
Again, in the spirit of full disclosure I will admit that I have drank alcohol in front of my daughter. Okay, so to add to that I will publicly humiliate myself by admitting that just last week I did so and she got ahold of said drink and started to drink it herself before I saw her and grabbed it away. I think that part of parenting is teaching our children how to make smart choices. I’ve had more alcoholic beverages in May (3) than I have the previous 8 months (0). I think that teaching Trinity that once she is 21 that drinking can be done responsibly by example does not make me a bad parent. And to all of you cocktail playdate having moms – I think you are teaching your child(ren) how to make smart choices. Also, can I come too?

Trinity Tuesday

I had to leave early last Friday so I didn't get my usual Favorite Friday post up. Since it was going to be of Trinity, I've added a couple extra today. So, here are a few of my SweetPea from our trip to Missouri for her uncle's graduation. The first one is of her wanting me to take a picture of the flower when I wanted to take a picture of her.

Here is Trinity napping between the graduation ceremony and dinner. She just looked so peaceful.
And finally, here is one of the two of us. Neither of us look that great, but my camera did not like the lighting conditions of that gym. Even with my flash, I got horrible photos.
Thanks for checking us out. I've got some things coming up that I'm anxious to blog about. I just need to find time.

My lesson in fortitude

I caught a glimpse of what type of person Trinity is going to grow up to be. I have heard about parenting being like wearing your heart on the outside of your body, but I've never really 'felt' it until today.
Trinity has had a bug since yesterday morning. She's thrown up a few times, has eaten almost nothing and is unbelievably lethargic. She just isn't herself. She is obsessed with her fever and taking her temperature. So far we've kept the fever in check, but I'm trying to let it run its course. She is dehydrated and weak. Earlier today I had to carry her downstairs to the bathroom.
Just a few minutes ago she had to go to the bathroom again. I think of this as a good thing, at least she isn't that dehydrated. I ask if she wanted me to carry her. Her response was a weak "No." She was wobbling down the stairs and so I asked if she wanted me to go with her. She muttered "Nooo, I can do it." After a few minutes I got concerned so under the disguise of getting something to drink for myself, I went downstairs to check on her. From the bathroom I hear "Mom, what are you doing down here?" Uh, busted. After she finished and we got her some more strawberry Gatorade, we headed back upstairs. Trinity was ahead of me and crawling up the stairs on her hands and knees. I asked if she wanted me to help her and she said with tears in her voice "No, I will do this myself." I had to stop to get a grip. My breath caught in my throat. This was her, my child not allowing adversity to stop her or get her down. This was the person she was going to grow into. I am only keeping the tears in check because I don't want her to think she is sicker than she is.
I could not be prouder, I can not believe I created this amazing being. I learned today what it feels like to have my heart outside my chest. There it is for the world to see, my heart in the form of a 4 year old who will not be taken down by anything, especially not the flu.

Short update.

I'm sorry there was no Favorite Friday. I spent almost 8 hours in a car and was exhausted by the time we got to our destination. I also didn't put any photos on the laptop to post. I can't even promise a double post this Friday because Trinity is sick and I'm at home. I doubt any of you want to see a puking child, so I won't take pictures until she is better.
Our trip to Missouri was nice. I wish I would have done a little more research on the hotel, because it wasn't the greatest. It was fine, but we kept the window open most of the time because it smelled. I realized that even at a happy event like a college graduation there are some mean nasty people. I won't go into details because the two people don't need encouragement in their behavior.
Trinity had a great time and loved hanging out with her Uncle Josh, who she hasn't seen in a couple years.
Mother's Day was once again spent in the car. It wasn't so bad and it was really nice getting home. We played Chutes & Ladders, Gone Fishing, Memory & Go Fish after dinner. It was a great time.
I'll post again once Trinity is feeling better.

Lucky me!

I always have teased my Mom that I'm the luckiest kid out there. My Mom's birthday & Mother's Day are always in the same week. I get to go shopping once and forget for another year. The same was true for my Dad, but this is about Mom. My Mom was the only stay at home mom of any of my friends growing up. Can you believe that? It always bothered me for some reason, but now I see the benefits it has bestowed upon me. My Mom can't cook for anything, but her baking is the bomb. She made homemade bread, cake, donuts, cookies, candy - you name it she could bake it. Everything from scratch, too - not shortcuts in our house. There was nothing better than coming home from school and the house smelling of fresh baked bread. Oh, and there was always a loaf about to come out of the oven, so snack that day would be warm bread and melted butter (real butter, not margarine). Oh, they must serve that in heaven.
My Mom wasn't much of a disciplinarian. I don't remember her ever raising her voice. The only time she ever spanked me was when I was 4, ran out of paper dolls, so I used her window shades. Yeah, I wasn't the smartest 4 year old that day. When she caught me I had realized the error of my ways and thought I'd make up for it by taping the shades back together. She busted me before I finished. She grabbed the tape first then decided I needed to be spanked. Uh, yeah, in the heat of anger she forgot she was holding the tape. My butt figured it out almost immediately though. Thirty years later I can still recall every detail of that moment including the look of disappointment in her eyes. Yep, that was it the only time my mother ever spanked me in my life. I was, however, grounded often. Interestingly, I am probably still grounded as my mother's favorite length of grounding was "indefinitely" and I don't ever remember being ungrounded.
My Mom had brain surgery 5 years ago and there have been some residual effects that have made her a bit difficult to deal with at times. It wasn't such a problem when Dad was alive, but the last year has made it more of an issue. I love my mother more than anything and I just wanted to give a little shout out to a woman who taught me that raising children is by far the hardest most rewarding occupation out there. I love you Mom! Happy birthday & happy Mother's Day!

My Day

I'm thinking about my Dad a lot today. I think because I had a rough day. I hate fighting with my husband & I did it twice in one day. Big fights, too not just a small disagreement. The studio was also vandalized and I had to deal with my landlord and an incompetent police officer. I generally have a great respect for our police officers, but this guy just looked at my window and said "You know you can wash that off, right." Yes, thank you officer, but seeing as this isn't my building and half of downtown was spray painted I thought you'd like to write a report or something. My Dad and I are (were?) very similar. We're both stubborn, always right and smarter than people give us credit for. He wasn't home often when I was growing up. Mom stayed home, so Dad worked all the time. He never had a normal 8-5 job. But when life threw me a curve ball I always knew that I was safe if Dad was around. He was very hard on us and didn't show affection, but I knew nothing could get me if my Daddy was home. I was never scared of monsters in my closet or under my bed, because I knew they were more scared of my Dad. I rarely had bad dreams if Dad was sleeping in the room under mine or down the hall. I just knew I was safe. My husband usually makes me feel that same way. I think that is why I knew he was the one I was destined to be with forever. I knew I was safe when he was with me. If my husband is away or working late I can't fall asleep, I hear things, my head fills with irrational fears, I'm tense and I get scared. As soon as I hear his key in the door I immediately relax. I know I'm okay. Since DH & I are fighting today I am missing my Dad. Because I don't feel safe. I feel adrift and alone. I feel like there are monsters under my bed and I don't know what to do. I have never felt this, because I've always had either my Daddy or my husband to protect me and today I don't. DH isn't home so we can't work this out, Daddy isn't here and I'm scared that if I go to bed, into the dark that the monsters will get me. I now know they are there, lurking, waiting and I can't face them - not alone.

Favorite Friday

From last Saturday's wedding, this was just a really small wedding and they came to the studio to have some nice shots taken.

Dear Client:

My dearest and most favorite client (note sarcasm):

When I took your photos and told you your proofs would be online on Friday (on Friday not by Friday) I must have been unclear. For that I apologize, I hope this note clarifies my meaning. "Online on Friday" does not mean call me 8 times on Thursday checking to see if I have had a chance to put them online yet. In fact, by calling me 8 times on Thursday before 5 p.m. I actually spent more time listening to your messages and returning your calls than I did working on your pictures. I apologize in advance that your pictures are going to be delayed. However, due to an overabundance of phone calls today I will not be able to get my real work done until tomorrow or Monday. (And partly because I really want to piss you off.) In retrospect, were the 8 calls worth it?

Yours sincerely,

Neda

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Penny had this on her blog and I thought it looked like fun.

You Are a Question Mark

You seek knowledge and insight in every form possible. You love learning. And while you know a lot, you don't act like a know it all. You're open to learning you're wrong. You ask a lot of questions, collect a lot of data, and always dig deep to find out more. You're naturally curious and inquisitive. You jump to ask a question when the opportunity arises. Your friends see you as interesting, insightful, and thought provoking. (But they're not always up for the intense inquisitions that you love!) You excel in: Higher education You get along best with: The Comma

What Punctuation Mark Are You?