Tid Bits

For starters let it be known that I have a butt load of stuff to do today. That fact alone means that I shouldn't even be wasting time on the computer much less writing a blog! Plus I don't have a whole lot to write about. I'm just lazy sometimes and I really don't want to do the dishes.

So Ter and I are going Whale Watching! We are going to the San Juan Islands in the Puget Sound and hopefully gonna see some orcas! That in of it self is super exciting to me but I'm also stoked about boating in around the sound! I love water and the coastlines around here are my idea of heaven! Not only do we get to go out in a boat for the tour but we have to ferry to the islands in the first place. Sweet! I never thought I'd be doing some of the things I've done lately.

You know the ONLY reason I wish Terry & I were super rich is so he would stop worrying. He can suck the fun out of something so fast just by silently bitching about how much money we don't have. He'll only say one thing about it then be withdrawn for the rest of the evening. Hence the silent part. I affectionately call him The Fun Murderer. He is cute, though.

Less than a month till my VA trip. I'm excited and freaked out all at the same time.

Excited because:

a) My flight layovers in Chicago for about 4 hours, where my brother lives so he's gonna come to the airport to see me. Yeah!

b) Karen's wedding (the whole reason I'm going to VA in the first place) is gonna be attended by my surrogate family for PA, The Kalgrens.

c) I get to see my VA friends.

d) I get to eat at my favorite Mexican place! REY AZTECA, here I come!

Freaked out because:

a) I like to fly but I'm scared to fly.

b) This will be the first time I've ever gone anyplace completely on my own. You know with out Terry or my Mom. I know it's pathetic.

That's one of the reasons I wanted to go so much. I don't do stuff on my own very much and I really want to be able and not scared to do things with out my security blanket. (aka Terry)

Well the house is pretty much done. I need to clean it and take pictures and I'll post them in the next day or so. (Hopefully, If I can get my lazy ass off this computer.)

Uno Ass Man

So I don't remember if I got into what's been happening at work since my old boss was canned. In short we got a new manager and he's been doing great things for the studio. His boss, our district manager Michelle, who is a huge pain in the ass, wanted him to pick or hire an asst. manager. So naturally since I have no desire for the position they asked me. I respectfully turned it down.

Let me explain: Terry and I are finally at a place in our lives where we can do things we want. Go places, have kids, spend real time together and I don't want my job to interfere with that. I'm simply trying to gain experience so I can go on to have my own studio someday. Not shot to the top at the Sears Portrait Studio. I'm quite happy being a peon. No one bugs me, I don't have to deal with most problems that come up, blah blah blah. And the pay isn't that much more than I'm making now.

So anyway they hired two new girls to fill they lack of employee void. One to be a part time peon and the other to be asst. manager. Well low and behold the part time peon is awesome. Fast learner, great customer service, good with kids, the works. We love her. The A.M. on the other hand dreadful! She's bad all around. She's essentially good at nothing as far as the studio is concerned. And I'm pretty sure she had never picked up a camera in her entire life before she was hired. WTF!!?? To make matters worse. The part time peon is moving, Sara is going to collage, I'm going on vacation, and the boss may take another job. ALL in less than a month!

The boss has finally wised up to how crappy she is and has asked her to step down from the asst. position. Which she happily did. Then they came right back and asked me to take it which I agreed to (if you want something done right do it your self, right?) Well now that I've excepted the district manager is telling my boss that "The Asst. has to work Sundays and nights" of which I do neither. Seriously, you're going to pester me to take a position I don't even want and then throw in conditions? I think not! So I told my boss to tell his boss that if that's the way it's gonna be she can shove that position strait up her ass. (That is exactly what I told him! FYI)

He's yet to tell me any new news but will see. I may be the Uno Ass Man (#1 Asst. Manager) I may not be. Either way I'll be alright. Trust me!

Update: I've talked to Trae (the boss) since I posted this and he said that he doesn't care what Michelle says he's just happy I'm the A.M. I guess I'm the Asst. Manager. Okey Dokey.

My Art

These are a few of my pictures. It's been awhile since I've shot for my own pleasure with the move and all but if ya'll would like to see more of my work you can visit my site on Deviant Art. http://subgirl512.deviantart.com/

~ Cloudy Night ~

~ Guess Where ~

~ Terry ~

~ Set Sail ~

~ Quiet Time ~

~ I'm all man, Lady! ~

I have so much more but I don't want to inundate my blog with pictures! Feel free to visit my DA page. I'm getting more creative with photoshop so some don't really look like photos but they are. Except my drawings of course. Drawing is not my first artistic outlet so they arn't great. But they're not bad. Enjoy!!

Epiphany

I am an artist! Everyday I sell my work to people. Everyday I have people tell me how great my photographs are. How could I not see it before? All this time I thought that I wasn't there yet. That I wasn't doing what I love only on the path to it. Practicing if you will for my future as a artist selling my photographs to people who love them. DUH! For so long (sooo lloonngg) I've felt like I would never be where I wanted. So when I finally got there it took me a little while to realize it! I am a paid photographer! People love my work! People request me!

I shot a family with an autistic little boy. Before I started the mother said as long as he's in a picture she'd be happy. "It'll be hard" she said. This was the first autistic child I had ever met and I treated him like any other child. I made him laugh and smile. He gave me five. It was great. AND I got great shots of him and his little brother together. When I was showing her the pictures she almost cried. "I've never gotten them together in a good picture before", "I can't believe how good they are", "He never touches anyone", "Look at him smile!". That was a really good day! I'm tearing up a little telling ya'll.

I have so many good stories like that. That's just my favorite.

I still want more, I want my own studio, I want to do outside family portraits and pet photography. And I still want to shot stuff for myself (and maybe sell some of them, too!)

It may not be exactly how I thought it would be but it is really good! I am a photographer! I am an artist.

Home Improvements

As we are not loaded people we have to do any home improvement projects when money and time allow. We have done a few but the house itself is not complete. As in I'm not taking pictures and showing it off yet. So, Mom and anyone else who is waiting for pics your just going to have to wait a little longer! But here are a few pics of our first few home improvements.

Bedroom light fixture before

and after

It only took putting it up and taking it down 3 times before everything worked like it should! Pretty good I think! I got to tell ya I love a ceiling fan.

Dining room light fixture before.and after.

Yes, its pretty much the same fixture but the color is better and its hung a little higher. Terry kept hitting his head on the old one. Plus we hate gold plated stuff.

Living room window treatments before

and after.

I HATE mini-blinds. They were white and dirty and moldy in some places. And none of them seemed to work like they should have. So we replaced them with accordion blinds that match the walls better. They don't have string you just push them up! I love them. As you can see Snoopy enjoys the big window as well. That's all for now more to come soon. Hold your horses Mom & Dad!

So Undeserving

Steph is one of the most responsible people I know. Although they have not always been winners she tries to make important decisions for the right reasons not the easy reasons. Now I'm not saying she's perfect or an angel. But she is a good person. Next to Terry she's my oldest & closest friend. I love her like she's my sister. She is my sister. In all the years we know each other our friendship has never faltered. We're as close today as we were 13 years ago.

So understandably I'm so pissed on her behalf. She has a sister that has lost her fucking mind and an ex that refuses to grow up and except any responsibility for all the shitty choices he's made. Now before I rant know that I love the sister and the ex-boyfriend very much.

The Sister has had a very rough few years. Her poor excuse of a husband killed himself (drug overdose) right after Christmas, his awful parents preceded to make her life miserable after he died (and before for that matter) she is now a single mom who was forced to move back home and live with her dad at 29 years old. I can see where you would go a little nuts. However life goes on and you need to suck up the crap and deal with it. She's acting like a 18 year old. And for some reason people think she's Steph's responsibility. "You need to tell you sister....."

The Ex-Boyfriend, well he's a whole separate blog, but the Cliff Notes version is he makes really bad choices that are almost always emotion based and damn the consequences. Even though they've been broken for almost 2 years now and he's fathered a child with another chick she is still cleaning up after him. Mostly because he just doesn't give a damn about anything. She just can't seem to get out from underneath his issues.

I want her to come live with us for a few years but I don't know when she'll be able to afford it. She can't seem to keep her head above the water. I hate that I can't help her more. She needs an emotional break. Washington would be a nice getaway for her I think!