Jen gets in tonight and we have a wedding to shoot tomorrow. That means tonight we need lots of relaxing, warm blankets, and hot cocoa to gear up for a chilly day of shooting. See you tomorrow Claire and Jon! Have a good weekend blogees.
Friday, December 4, 2009
merry merry
At the end of a long week things are calming down a bit around here. I got a new cell phone. Computer is working as needed. Christmas decorations are up. I'm sitting and plugging away at work. Spruce scented candle is burning. All is well.
Jen gets in tonight and we have a wedding to shoot tomorrow. That means tonight we need lots of relaxing, warm blankets, and hot cocoa to gear up for a chilly day of shooting. See you tomorrow Claire and Jon! Have a good weekend blogees.
Jen gets in tonight and we have a wedding to shoot tomorrow. That means tonight we need lots of relaxing, warm blankets, and hot cocoa to gear up for a chilly day of shooting. See you tomorrow Claire and Jon! Have a good weekend blogees.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Judy French Fry
When my mom is not busy bailing me out of bad days (see yesterday's post), she is a high school journalism teacher. She is also a really talented writer. I've been trying to convince her to write a book about her childhood adventures. A little while ago the students on her newspaper staff asked her to write for the paper. I'm just proud of her so I thought I'd share it here...
Fifty years ago, in working class Kansas City, Mo., if you had asked a little girl, “What would you ask for if you could have anything in the world?” she might have asked for a Chatty Cathy doll or a Barbie doll or a pair of those little plastic high heels with the elastic straps.
As for me, I wanted Renters. I thought of them that way, as a proper noun. I prayed that a family with a daughter my age would rent one of the brick bungalows on the other side of the creek that ran through my side yard. I would kneel by my bed and ask for a miracle: that when I woke up the next morning, Renters would be living in the house and a little girl with a pony tail like mine would knock on my back door and ask if I could play. It didn’t happen.
I grew up, the youngest of four, in unincorporated north Kansas City. My house sat on two acres of scrappy land sandwiched between the Starlite Club Saloon and a creek on the sides, and highways in front and back. No neighborhood, no neighborhood kids. What had started as a small farm where my parents raised chickens, cows and a garden, over the years became less farm and more mini-industrial complex, where my dad did welding jobs in the evenings and on weekends. Every day he went to work at 7 a.m. at Builders’ Steel Co., and came home at 4:30.
I loved 4:30. I would listen for his old truck to come barreling down the driveway. He would open the back door, his green work clothes dirty and a black line around his forehead from the welder’s helmet. He’d kiss my mom, then pick me up with one strong arm and snuggle me onto his lap as he sat in a kitchen chair. We had a little ritual. I would check his pockets until I found the pack of Juicy Fruit gum he always carried. When I found it, he would tickle me and give me a piece. Mama would hand him a cold Hamm’s beer and he’d take one long pull, then let me have a sip. Or two. I loved the unlikely pairing of the beer and Juicy Fruit on my tongue, along with his smell of sweat and steel.
With the older kids off at school, I was left at home during the long days with our cats and dogs and my mom. At five feet tall and 100 pounds, she did laundry every Monday, in the basement, with a wringer washing machine. She carried baskets of wet sheets and clothes up and out to the clothes line in the back yard that stretched 20 or 25 feet. Tuesdays, she ironed and baked. Mama made sack lunches for my dad and all of us kids every day as long as anyone was going to work or school. She refinished furniture and painted walls and put up wall paper. She defrosted the refrigerator, scrubbed and waxed the linoleum floors weekly. When we still raised chickens, she cut off their heads as I held their feet, then she would pluck them and singe off the pin feathers. She was a whiz with numbers and kept the books for my dad, paid bills, did the taxes. For fun, she sewed most of our clothes.
Left to my own devices, I had trees to climb and frogs in the creek to poke and catch. There were litters of kittens to be dressed in doll clothes and pushed around in the doll buggy. But what I really wanted was to be a cowgirl. I had a red cowboy hat and a holster with two cap guns. I had a name for my cowgirl self— Judy French Fry. I don’t know where that came from but it had a nice ring. I wanted to ride the range and drink coffee by a campfire with my sidekick. Without a Renter, of course, I had no chance of having a real sidekick. Sandy, my red mutt, tried, but he was easily distracted.
One particularly slow day, in my quest for a sidekick, I found a big, curved stick about my height. I named her Cooley Stick. I would drag Cooley Stick around as I trotted on my imaginary horse, Gumption, with Sandy close behind. Cooley and I sat around imaginary campfires, drew pictures in the dirt and drank water coffee from old tin cups. Cooley listened to my stories and watched as I took target practice so I would be ready to scare off coyotes in the night. Cooley bunked with Sandy out in the chicken coop.
Sadly, when my family got a load of Cooley Stick, Gumption and Judy French Fry, they were merciless. I don’t know that I ever saw my mom laugh that hard again. I should have prayed harder for Renters.
__________________________________________________________________________
See what I mean? Please start on that book mom!
p.s. Today I dropped my cell phone in the post office parking lot and ran over it with my car. Oh Lord, Coom By Ya. If you need to reach me email is the best way.
Long Live Judy French Fry
Fifty years ago, in working class Kansas City, Mo., if you had asked a little girl, “What would you ask for if you could have anything in the world?” she might have asked for a Chatty Cathy doll or a Barbie doll or a pair of those little plastic high heels with the elastic straps.
As for me, I wanted Renters. I thought of them that way, as a proper noun. I prayed that a family with a daughter my age would rent one of the brick bungalows on the other side of the creek that ran through my side yard. I would kneel by my bed and ask for a miracle: that when I woke up the next morning, Renters would be living in the house and a little girl with a pony tail like mine would knock on my back door and ask if I could play. It didn’t happen.
I grew up, the youngest of four, in unincorporated north Kansas City. My house sat on two acres of scrappy land sandwiched between the Starlite Club Saloon and a creek on the sides, and highways in front and back. No neighborhood, no neighborhood kids. What had started as a small farm where my parents raised chickens, cows and a garden, over the years became less farm and more mini-industrial complex, where my dad did welding jobs in the evenings and on weekends. Every day he went to work at 7 a.m. at Builders’ Steel Co., and came home at 4:30.
I loved 4:30. I would listen for his old truck to come barreling down the driveway. He would open the back door, his green work clothes dirty and a black line around his forehead from the welder’s helmet. He’d kiss my mom, then pick me up with one strong arm and snuggle me onto his lap as he sat in a kitchen chair. We had a little ritual. I would check his pockets until I found the pack of Juicy Fruit gum he always carried. When I found it, he would tickle me and give me a piece. Mama would hand him a cold Hamm’s beer and he’d take one long pull, then let me have a sip. Or two. I loved the unlikely pairing of the beer and Juicy Fruit on my tongue, along with his smell of sweat and steel.
With the older kids off at school, I was left at home during the long days with our cats and dogs and my mom. At five feet tall and 100 pounds, she did laundry every Monday, in the basement, with a wringer washing machine. She carried baskets of wet sheets and clothes up and out to the clothes line in the back yard that stretched 20 or 25 feet. Tuesdays, she ironed and baked. Mama made sack lunches for my dad and all of us kids every day as long as anyone was going to work or school. She refinished furniture and painted walls and put up wall paper. She defrosted the refrigerator, scrubbed and waxed the linoleum floors weekly. When we still raised chickens, she cut off their heads as I held their feet, then she would pluck them and singe off the pin feathers. She was a whiz with numbers and kept the books for my dad, paid bills, did the taxes. For fun, she sewed most of our clothes.
Left to my own devices, I had trees to climb and frogs in the creek to poke and catch. There were litters of kittens to be dressed in doll clothes and pushed around in the doll buggy. But what I really wanted was to be a cowgirl. I had a red cowboy hat and a holster with two cap guns. I had a name for my cowgirl self— Judy French Fry. I don’t know where that came from but it had a nice ring. I wanted to ride the range and drink coffee by a campfire with my sidekick. Without a Renter, of course, I had no chance of having a real sidekick. Sandy, my red mutt, tried, but he was easily distracted.
One particularly slow day, in my quest for a sidekick, I found a big, curved stick about my height. I named her Cooley Stick. I would drag Cooley Stick around as I trotted on my imaginary horse, Gumption, with Sandy close behind. Cooley and I sat around imaginary campfires, drew pictures in the dirt and drank water coffee from old tin cups. Cooley listened to my stories and watched as I took target practice so I would be ready to scare off coyotes in the night. Cooley bunked with Sandy out in the chicken coop.Sadly, when my family got a load of Cooley Stick, Gumption and Judy French Fry, they were merciless. I don’t know that I ever saw my mom laugh that hard again. I should have prayed harder for Renters.
__________________________________________________________________________
See what I mean? Please start on that book mom!
p.s. Today I dropped my cell phone in the post office parking lot and ran over it with my car. Oh Lord, Coom By Ya. If you need to reach me email is the best way.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Coom By Ya
Today was one of those days. I started the day peppy and cheerful but by 10:00 I wanted to pull my hair out. You know those days when you know that everything going wrong is not the end of the world or even that important in the grand scheme of things and you keep telling yourself that, but inside you want to scream and run away to Cabo? Yeah...it was one of those days.
I found out this morning that my computer was malfunctioning. When I burned client's photos on to a disc for them it could only be read on MY computer...not. any. other. computer. This is bad because well...thats kind of what I do and its kind of my busiest time of year.
I did manage to make it through the day without totally losing it. Perhaps because there were little reminders along the way that helped keep my perspective in check. I was messing around with my computer trying to figure out what the heck was going on while Marlie colored next to me at my desk...
me: Huge sigh
Monkey Pants: What's wrong mom mom?
me: Oh sweetie, mom is just having a hard time. My computer is kind of broken and I'm trying to fix it.
Monkey Pants: I help you mom. My turn help you mom mom.
So cute. It made me tear up a bit
What is a 30 year old girl to do when she is on the edge of a melt down? Call my mom of course. She ran interference and then talked me down off the edge.
When I told her about Marlie offering to help me she reminded me of something I did at about the same age. My mom had gotten hopelessly lost and was really late for a soft-ball game. She had been driving around for a long time and started to cry. From my car seat I started singing "Coom By Ya"..."Someone's crying Lord. Coom By Ya." I had forgotten about that story. It was a full circle moment.
So at the end of a very long day as I was cooking dinner, confirming that I am in fact the worst pancake maker that ever lived, I started singing a little Coom By Ya. It made me smile and helped me refocus. And you know what? The day got better. I enjoyed our burnt pancake dinner, we went to Target together, and went and got our Christmas tree. Also, I think I fixed the computer problem. Not too shabby.
I'll tell you more about my mom tomorrow. She's great.
I found out this morning that my computer was malfunctioning. When I burned client's photos on to a disc for them it could only be read on MY computer...not. any. other. computer. This is bad because well...thats kind of what I do and its kind of my busiest time of year.
I did manage to make it through the day without totally losing it. Perhaps because there were little reminders along the way that helped keep my perspective in check. I was messing around with my computer trying to figure out what the heck was going on while Marlie colored next to me at my desk...
me: Huge sigh
Monkey Pants: What's wrong mom mom?
me: Oh sweetie, mom is just having a hard time. My computer is kind of broken and I'm trying to fix it.
Monkey Pants: I help you mom. My turn help you mom mom.
So cute. It made me tear up a bit
What is a 30 year old girl to do when she is on the edge of a melt down? Call my mom of course. She ran interference and then talked me down off the edge.
When I told her about Marlie offering to help me she reminded me of something I did at about the same age. My mom had gotten hopelessly lost and was really late for a soft-ball game. She had been driving around for a long time and started to cry. From my car seat I started singing "Coom By Ya"..."Someone's crying Lord. Coom By Ya." I had forgotten about that story. It was a full circle moment.
So at the end of a very long day as I was cooking dinner, confirming that I am in fact the worst pancake maker that ever lived, I started singing a little Coom By Ya. It made me smile and helped me refocus. And you know what? The day got better. I enjoyed our burnt pancake dinner, we went to Target together, and went and got our Christmas tree. Also, I think I fixed the computer problem. Not too shabby.
I'll tell you more about my mom tomorrow. She's great.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
little J
Little J came over a few weeks back for a shoot. At first he just kind of stared at me. He was probably wondering what in the world I was doing...
But pretty soon he was all smiles...
LOVE this one....
Too cute!
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Thanksgiving was wonderful. It was really relaxing and laid back and that is my kind of holiday. And now...on to Christmas!
This week is pretty busy with work, but I am determined to squeeze in lots of decorating and crafting and drinking hot cocoa and just general merriment. I love breaking out the spruce scented candles, decorating the tree while listening to Christmas music and wrapping up gifts with crisp wrapping paper. What is your favorite part of getting ready for Christmas?
But pretty soon he was all smiles...
LOVE this one....
Too cute!
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Thanksgiving was wonderful. It was really relaxing and laid back and that is my kind of holiday. And now...on to Christmas!
This week is pretty busy with work, but I am determined to squeeze in lots of decorating and crafting and drinking hot cocoa and just general merriment. I love breaking out the spruce scented candles, decorating the tree while listening to Christmas music and wrapping up gifts with crisp wrapping paper. What is your favorite part of getting ready for Christmas?
Friday, November 27, 2009
black Friday sale!
I thought I'd hop on the black Friday band wagon and offer a great deal on name collages. Looking for a fun, personalized gift for someone this year? Name collages make great gifts. Check it out (go to the shop page). Spell out a last name or just a fun word that makes you think of that special person.
Now for the deal! If you buy a collage today and enter SHIP as the coupon code you will get free shipping. That means you get $10 off of your order. Pretty sweet deal. Its just for today so click here to get your order in!
I'll be out of town today and not around to answer name collage questions so here are a few common questions and answers...
1) How long does it take to get a collage?
We ask that you give us about 2 weeks
2) Can I pick out my own letters?
We haven't figured out a great way to do that yet. Just let us pick them out. Trust me, we'll make it look good.
3) Does the collage come matted and framed?
Yep. Clean white mat and simple black wooden frame.
4) Where are the letters from?
The letters are from signs, old and new, all over the state of Missouri.
5) Do you gift wrap?
No, but we can include a card with a message from you.
Have a great weekend!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
thankfulness + a black Friday hint
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we have grand plans to be a little lazy, watch Shane play some football, eat some Turkey of course and spend time with a lot of people we love. I'm thankful for a ton of things this year. I'm very blessed, my heart feels full.I'm taking some time off the next few days. I'll be away from my computer and phone until Monday. Except for Friday morning that is, when I post a little black Friday deal for you so check back for that!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Kevin + Lauren + McKinley
Last weekend my friends Kevin and Lauren and their little girl, McKinley, met up with me for a shoot. It was their first time back to the studio since her newborn photos and oh my gosh has she gotten pleasantly plump and seriously adorable. People...get ready...she is really stinking cute.
I mean seriously! It took all my strength not to put her in my pocket and take her out later for a cheek nibble. I LOVE baby chubs.
Then we headed outside on this amazing fall day. And took some luggage with us...
And my favorite chair...
Kevin and Lauren have the greatest smiles...
My new favorite spot...found this place randomly a few weeks ago..
Oh my word. Such a cute baby! Thanks friends!
I mean seriously! It took all my strength not to put her in my pocket and take her out later for a cheek nibble. I LOVE baby chubs.
Then we headed outside on this amazing fall day. And took some luggage with us...
And my favorite chair...
Kevin and Lauren have the greatest smiles...
My new favorite spot...found this place randomly a few weeks ago..
Oh my word. Such a cute baby! Thanks friends!
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