Feb 26, 2011

The Latest and Greatest

The other mothers at playgroup are totally jealous of me. 

Lil' Bit has taught himself how to pee pee in the potty by watching his big brother.  SCORE!  That is so awesome!  He did it the first time the other morning.  I got Big Red up for school and he took his mandatory morning bath.  About the time he was ready to get out, Lil' Bit woke up and wanted to get in the water.  I let him splash around as his brother finished up getting ready to head for the bus.  Once he was thoroughly water-logged, he climbed out and spent a little time wrapped up in his towel. He was watching some Curious George au'naturel while I supervised Big Red heading to the bus stop from the front porch.  When I came back in, he ran to the bathroom, lifted the lid, lifted the seat, stood on his toes and peed!  It was fabulous!  I clapped & cheered and he was so proud of his accomplishment.  So far our success has occurred at times when he's already running around nekkid.  I'm not pushing the progress and letting him set the pace.  I don't think it will be long at all and diapers will be thing of the past.

We have VIP Status at the Urgent Care Center 

The past couple of weeks have been interesting, medically speaking.  First, Big Red has had an ongoing battle with ear infections that have led to 3 after hours visits, multiple scheduled appointments, 4 hearing tests and a referral to an ENT.  Currently, he has both an external (similar to swimmers ear) and internal ear infection.  It's looking like he may be a good candidate for tubes if we can't get things under control soon.  We should know something my March 10th on that.

Lil' Bit decided it would be fun to take on the corner of our dining room table - head on, literally.  He has a fabulous cut on his eyebrow that's about 3/4 of an inch long.  Handsome got him all cleaned up and Lil' Bit handled it like a champ.  I placed a call to our pediatrician's office to ask if they could take a walk in for stitches.  The lady who answered asked where they were put in, and when I replied with, "they haven't been put in yet, we need some," the tone in her voice became very serious as she explained to me that I needed to go to the ER right away.  We ended up making a trip in to Urgent Care for some medical grade super glue and steri-strips, which the Bit removed within minutes of getting in the car.

Over the holiday weekend, the boys were out on the trampoline and Big Red ended up rolling his ankle.  After a few minutes with an ice pack, we could see it rapidly swelling.  Handsome loaded him up in the truck with 5 Years Old, his favorite stuffed beagle, and headed again to the Urgent Care Center.  A few x-rays determined nothing was broken.  Big Red worked his hardest to get a wheelchair, crutches or at least a couple days out of school.  He was not successful and after a couple of days of dramatically limping he was itching to run and play in the yard with his friends.

I am falling back in Love with Photography 

I haven't been taking pictures consistently since I began working full time with the military, almost 2 years ago.  I did a few sessions for repeat clients and a couple of creative projects as I had the chance.  Overall, I just didn't have time, I was essentially a single parent, working full time, remodeling a house and doing volunteer work.  With all of that going on, I wasn't moving in the direction I wanted to go creatively.  I know my customer service suffered and I felt burnt out. 

Since I am no longer on orders, I've been giving a lot of careful thought to going back into the photo-biz.  I no longer have a studio so I'm hesitant to pursue portraits.  Outdoor sessions are wonderful, but I don't know many locations nearby that I could use and there is always the issue with weather.  I got so spoiled having my own space.  I'm leaning towards focusing on weddings.  I love weddings and I believe there is a lack of quality photographers at a reasonable price point.  I don't want to undervalue my work, but at the same time, I couldn't afford wedding photos and that sucks!  If I can find the balance between what I need to bring in and what your average young couple can afford, I'm all for it.

I am pursing Fine Art.  There is a gallery here in town that I have submitted samples to.  Once the images are juried, I find out if I've been invited to hang prints, for sale, in the gallery.  I'm hopeful.  Even if I don't end up selling any, it would be cool to have some of my work on display.  I've been taking photos around town as I have the opportunity.  I've also been going through my old images and editing the ones I think have promise.  I really enjoy the creative process and finding interesting subjects.  I think it may be just what I need to get that spark back.

Sorry it's been so long since my last post.  Thanks for stopping by and I promise, I'll post again soon. 

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