• personal

    just need a few hundred

    more hours in a day. To get even a dent into my to-do list.

    Sorry I have nothing to post today. I’m in the middle of editing 2 shoots, countless Florida pictures, working on some Valentines stuff for clients and for me, have a baby announcement in the works (yeah, that would NOT be an announcement- like I’m making one, but an announcement made of paper with someone’s baby on it with her information. Definitely don’t want any misunderstandings there.) Also, still have to make our family coffee table book from 2009 and 2008 (never quite did manage to get around to that). Not to mention a week filled with dentist, orthodontist, electrician, Kindergarten registration appointments, reading at Timmy’s school, Timmy’s birthday & party to get set up the rest of the way, babysitting to do and to arrange, and the usual myriad of other stuff to do.

    Need more time. But unless I can figure out a way to beam myself over to the LOST set, I guess I”m stuck with the usual 24hrs in a day. Which is really just NOT working for me.

    Well, at least there’s one picture that I had already edited to post today. He looks so grown up in the shot on the left.

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  • personal

    10 for Tuesday

    1. Sorry for the late posting. Was up til 3am last night trying to get more stuff transferred from the original PC to the new imac. Got more done, but not 100% all of it yet.

    2. Working on a bunch of new home improvements around here. First on the list, a working fan and overhead light in the living room, a new fan for Timmy’s room, and moving the wireless router and modem upstairs. Chris (our electrician) has been fabulous and very, very patient. And meticulous. And he’s been back several times because it seems the new fan in the living room is slightly posessed, turning on when no one’s in the room.

    Here’s what the old “scrapbook room” looks like now with the old PC and Mac G5 now taking up residence there. Still have to get the printer set up up there, but that’s next.

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    3. Next on the home improvements list is getting rid of the broken, “ghetto” sink. The replacement is on order (ok, Joe?!) and should be here soon. Then to get the sink in my bathroom fixed so it stops leaking….

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    4. Then onto the couches in the den. We bought them at IKEA about 10 years ago and they have held up amazingly well. (as an aside: when I recently went back to IKEA for something else I looked at the couches and found my model. Wow, it’s so cheap looking now! It’s so much smaller and not nearly as coosh.) The frame and overall couch is in great shape, but after 10 years the fabric is fraying/ripping and the cushions are flattening. Not to mention the ground in boydirt that won’t come out no matter how many times the carpet cleaner guy comes over. So…I’m between getting a brand new sectional Pottery Barn couch with removable/washable slipcovers and getting the original couches reupholstered. If I go the reupholstery route, I’ll be looking into slip covers as well. It’s just hard in that room cause of the deep navy blue walls- not a lot matches except for dark blues and creams. Creams look pretty, but you know the rest of that sentence which ends with ‘boydirt’.

    5. Need a new rug for the den too. It’s getting threadbare. Which stinks cause I love that rug and can’t find another one like it. Still need coffee and end tables for the living room and real furniture for our bedroom. These are further down on the list. Also hoping to invest in a big screen flat TV (and therefore a new console to put it on) for the den. Wow, this is going to be a very expensive year!  And the hardwood floors on the 1st floor could definitely use a freshening.

    6. LOST tonight!!! 3 whole hours of it (ok, one hour is a recap but still THREE WHOLE HOURS of LOST!) Do you hear the angels singing??  I already asked John to help the boys out and get them to bed tonight so I can just sit and watch. Can’t wait!!!

    7. Been doing a bunch of photography lessons (both group and private) for people who have DSLRs and want to learn how to use them. I think they’ve been going really well and people seem to be learning a lot. At least that’s what they are telling me. Here’s a recent student and some of the crap on the table that we practice on working on exposure and depth of field.

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    8. Looking to possibly do a little charity work during the month of February. Have a really good idea on how to donate thru photography but still waiting to hear back from the foundation to see if they are interested. If they aren’t, there are about 1,000 other charities to donate to. Stayed tuned for the announcement either way.

    9. Timmy had his 5 year old checkup today which went well, other than the shot. Temper tantrum anyone? He’s still in the 15th percentile for height and weight. Oh well. He’s still delicious, just tiny.

    10. I’m happy (really, really happy after last month’s debacle) and so proud that BOTH Jack & Patrick made all district chorus. Yea!!!!

    And cause a post is boooring (well, this one kinda is anyway) without pictures, here are the boys in the bicycle/surreywiththefringeontop that we rented (and was so fun) in Sanibel Island and a cool gate that I liked.

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    Happy Groundhog Day. Stupid shadow seeing groundhog.

  • personal,  school

    singing at the islanders game

    The boys school was offered the opportunity to sing the National Anthem at an Islanders home game. And although both boys tried out, only Jack made it. You can’t imagine the level of disapointment for Patrick (and long it went on for). Part of me (the mommy part) wanted to just ask the music teacher (who I adore) to just stick Patrick in there too. But the less emotional, rational side accepted that he didn’t get a spot and we would all just have to deal with it.

    Be prepared, I’m whipping out the soap box for a minute here.

    The way things are in school and well, really in life these days just pisses me off. The whole ‘everybody wins’ attitude is just beyond ridiculous. Not only does it totally denegrate the success of the ACTUAL winner and minimize the joy of winning (cause if everyone wins, who cares who the real winner is), it doesn’t give these kids a clue on how to deal with dissapointment in life. And life? It’s sometimes really dissapointing. There is really only ONE first place. That’s the way it is. If they gave everyone who raced in downhill in the Olympics the gold medal, what sense would that make? Did everyone win? Do you get an Olympic medal for trying your best?? Or showing up unprepared but everyone should feel bad for you and you should win anyway?  And if there is one job or one spot available for a college applicant- does everyone who applies get it? Do they make extra jobs or extra spots available just because you tried? Nope. So why should it be that way in school? Because of this nonsense, no one knows how to win graciously, without gloating, or without feeling guilty that everyone didn’t win. And certainly, no one knows how to lose. Everyone has a sense of entitlement that they SHOULD win, just cause they showed up. Sometimes even giving your best isn’t enough. And that’s life. Deal with it. And maybe we should let our kids know that too and stop shielding them from dissapointment cause it’s only coming back to bite them. As they grow up, they need to learn how to deal with not winning. Cause it’s gonna happen, probably more often than not.

    Soapbox is back in the closet. Feel free to leave your thoughts in comments.

    And here are some of the pictures from the singing. They aren’t great. They wouldn’t let me on the ice to get any shots, so I had to shoot from the other side of the ice through the scratched plexiglass and without a real zoom lens cause they don’t let you in with professional cameras with a serious zoom. So, here’s the best I got.

    The kids all worked really hard and sounded great!

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    Daryl Strawberry was there accepting an award for his work with Autism.

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    It was a good game, but with no fights. Bummer cause that’s my favorite part!

  • children & families,  travel

    the trai family

    A little backstory here to set the scene so to speak. Dean and I were friends way back in high school and lost touch after that (although we were both in Florida for college, just different schools). We reconnected on Facebook (of course) and I guess he’s been following my blog. When he saw that I was going to be down in S. Florida in December/January he asked if I would be willing to come over to his ‘side’ of the state and do a shoot in Sanibel/Captiva. And although it was my vacation after a craaaazy few months I thought it would be so fun to do. Besides, I had never been to the west coast (sad but true, even after living in Fla for 5 years!) and we made a family trip out of it.

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    Met Dean’s lovely wife and two gorgeous daughters. And it was so great seeing him after all these years, too.

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    When the first picture of the shoot is the one on the left (look at that yummy light!) you know it’s gonna be all good.

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    The girls were sweet and so gorgeous. Could’ve taken their pictures ALL day but we were racing the sunset, so there was limited time.

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    The little one is such a pip. We went out to dinner after the shoot and all she did was walk up to me at the table and smile. Of course when I asked her to smile (or did silly things to get her to smile) it was like pulling teeth. Stinker!

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    The older daughter is so SO smart. And beautiful and sweet. Great combination. She also rides horses (quite well I’m told). She has such a beautiful spirit that totally shines thru in all the pictures.

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    The water was really pretty cold (you can see it on their faces as the tide came up) but the beach was so beautiful.

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    Such a happy couple!! And thanks Tami for the shells!!

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    I had such a great time hanging out with you and taking lots of pictures for you. Dinner at the Bubble Room was the perfect end to the day and I’m so glad our kids all got along so well.

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    Hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I loved taking them!

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  • bsquared business,  personal

    6 for saturday

    1. Gave my blog a little face lift (botox? nip/tuck?) to celebrate my almost 1 year anniversary over here. New crosshatched grey background and a new header. Do you like it?

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    2. It was so hard to choose pictures for the header. I didn’t want anyone to feel left out, but with the huge # of shoots I did in 2009 it’s just not possible to put a picture from every shoot on there. Maybe I’ll update it again in a few months, give everyone a spot. But tried to represent a little of everything I do.. little kids, big kids, families, babies, weddings, parties, big groups, the band. Am I missing anything do you think?

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    3. ipad, iphone, kindle- in a quandary. When I saw the ipad debut this week, my first impression was ‘iwant. now.” But on further consideration, I’m not so sure iwant. What I really want is an iphone but can’t do it until they are off AT&T and on Verizon. And god knows when that is gonna happen. I think the iphone would really work out well for me.  As for the ipad, I’m not sure my 40 year old eyes will do well reading on the backlit ipad instead of the e-ink on the Kindle. I spend far too much time on the computer as it is. And I loooove my Kindle, wouldn’t be able to give it up. Would like to see the ipad with a phone, a camera, a way to change over to e-ink for reading books. You listening, Steve Jobs?

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    4. Went to the ‘Taste of Rockville Centre” fundraiser tonight and had a great time. Lots of friendly faces and even made a few new friends (and maybe even a new client or two). Kathy, Keely & Suzanne- great job, ladies! (I know more people worked on the night, but those are the ones I know!)

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    5. Trying out a new babysitter today. A boy one! The boys are so excited as he’s a big Mets fan. Should be a hit all around. And he’s a triplet!

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    6. Lots more travelling coming up soon. Disney next month and then a girls weekend in South Florida in March, and the wedding I’m shooting in Jamaica in May. I’m so, so miserable with this cold weather and can’t wait to be back in the sun and warmth. Or maybe we could just skip ahead to July? Global warming my ass.

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    Off to a shoot this morning witha really fun family, now expecting their 4th child. Pictures soon….

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