Wednesday, February 28, 2007

What, do we live in Wisconsin, or something?

With all of the snow we've gotten in the past week, you'd think we live up North in Wisconsin or something....

According to the National Weather Service....
...AMOUNTS SHOULD FALL IN THE 7 TO 11 INCH RANGE. THE LOWEST TOTALS ARE EXPECTED TO OCCUR OVER THE FAR SOUTHERN PART OF THE AREA.

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW... SLEET... AND ICE ARE EXPECTED. VERY STRONG WINDS ARE ALSO EXPECTED. THE STORM WILL MAKE TRAVEL DIFFICULT IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE. THE SNOW IS ALSO EXPECTED TO BE OF THE WET HEAVY VARIETY...AND WILL BE VERY DIFFICULT TO SHOVEL.


This after we just got two houses shoveled out from the weekend's storm that dropped just as much. What do ya' know, ay? Snow! Ya der hey der!! Don'cha know? An' so?

Sunday, February 25, 2007

We Got a New Dog Today!!!!!!!!!!

We got the nicest, cutest, most mellow dog ever today!!!! WAY better behaved than our Golden Retriever or Black Lab. Before I show you the new dog (she's white and large, I'm not sure of her breed--she actually looks sort of like a cougar, as weird as that is) I'll show you some photos of Chumley the Wonder Dog (the Golden) out in the snow this morning. We got a big storm last night and they are forecasting another eight inches tonight!! yay!!!
The photos of the white dog are rough...I had to underexpose her in order to see any of her detail against the white snow!!









Saturday, February 24, 2007

Farmer Jo Portraits

Today Libby and I went out to Jo's new farmette so I could do some portraits of them and the new sheep and goats. We went during a break in the big snowstorm (We are supposed to get about a foot by end of tomorrow!!! Wheeeeeeeeeeee!)...it was cold and windy, but I had a great time. Oh my God I fell in love with those sheep instantly. So did Libby. She was, however, disappointed that there were no horses.
I have a bunch of the photos up on my photography site, but here are a few of my favorites.








Friday, February 23, 2007

Heartbreaker

I didn't post a photo of my new motorcycle jacket yet, and I have to show it off. It should look pretty sweet with my pink bike..... it's the Joe Rocket Heartbreaker. There are more flowers & butterflies on the lower back.

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Jello Ass

That's what I have. Jello Ass. It's a relatively rare condition, you know. Not only do I have this condition, but I have it in two ways. Double Jello Ass. That is extremely rare.
What is Jello Ass, you ask?
Ha. Well, wouldn't you like to know.

I ran a six mile tempo workout tonight. One slow warm-up mile, then three fast miles, ending with two more slower cool-down miles. It's an exercise in endurance. That's what it's supposed to do for you. Make you endure.

I am not so sure that I endured, but I did survive. I guess that would mean that I did, technically endure though....right?

Let's take a look....

Main Entry: endure
Part of Speech: verb 1
Definition: bear hardship
Synonyms: abide, accustom, allow, bear, brave, brook, cope with, countenance, eat, encounter, experience, face, feel, go through, hang in*, keep up, know, live out, live through, meet with, permit, repress feelings, resign oneself, ride out*, sit through, stand, stick, stomach*, subject to, submit to, suffer, support, sustain, swallow*, take, take it*, take patiently, tolerate, undergo, weather, withstand
Antonyms: break, cave in, collapse, give out, quit, resign, succumb
Notes: to endure means to put up with something or somebody unpleasant; to survive is to continue to live

Okay, so to endure is to bear hardship. To "put up with something or somebody unpleasant". To "stomach" it or "take" it. To "live through".

Then I guess I endured. Because it was definitely not pleasant and I did stomach it and live through it. I did not "collapse" or "give out" or "succumb".

but it gave me Jello Ass. Double Jello Ass.

Main Entry: Jello Ass
Part of Speech: noun
Definition: when one's ass turns to jello, or when one's ass shakes like jello
Synonyms: quiver, fatigue, convulse, oscillate, shake, shiver, shudder, spasm, tremor, vibrate, fatigue, to poop out, worn out, tuckered out, wasted, drained, dog-tired, soft, mushy, lumpy, squishy, gelatinous, fleshy, flabby
Antonyms: energized, strong, firm, hard, toned, rested, refreshed
Notes: Jello Ass is an unpleasant phenomenon/condition....one type is more unpleasant for the one with the ass in question, the other more umpleasant for those who must look at said ass.

That's what I've got. Yeppers. Fo'Sho. But I did my tempo run and I rocked it.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Puking Continues and FOUR Cavities

I stayed home with the girls today because Amelia is still sick. She had a moderate fever and was extremely lathargic all day. Not walking, not much talking, only eating a few saltines and drinking pedialyte and water. But then tonight she puked again. An entire cup of pedialyte came right back out onto both of us. There was a joint bath, and she's kept pedialyte down the rest of the evening...but hasn't even eaten any more crackers. So, no work again tomorrow for me. I pray she feels better tomorrow and eats something. My heart breaks for her.

Libby went to the dentist today. She was awesome as they cleaned and checked her teeth. The model patient...until Chris was signing papers at the end and she started throwing a fit about wanting candy....right after they told Chris that she has FOUR cavities!!!!!!!!!!!! She's not even four years old, and has more cavities than I've had in my entire 34 years!!!! (I've had one) Chris and I feel like horrid parents and feel like it's all our fault. And on top of the guilt, we're going to have to pay nearly 500.00 out of pocket to fix them.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Taxes, Puking Baby, and 11 Miles On A Treadmill...Oh My!

Snaps for a fun day!!!
The title says it all. I spend hours doing our taxes this afternoon, made much more difficult due to the fact that we cannot find last year's taxes for the lives of us. We have every other year since 1991 or something, but not last year. That means I do not have last year's AGI, which is needed to electronically sign your forms. So even though they are complete and successfully e-filed, we still have to get a form, sign it and get it there before they process our taxes.
Amelia is puking. She puked during the night and woke up with I-partied-like-a-rock star hair (hair crusted with vomit). Puked her lunch, too, poor thing. I feel terrible for her.
Jo couldn't run with me today for our weekly long run. I did not think it would be smart for me to run 14 miles alone in this weather because of my asthma and epilepsy. I'm going through the long process of switching my seizure meds right now, actually, which makes me feel so out of it and woozy/nauseated. They have to keep you on your regular dose of the old medicine while slowly adding more and more each day of the new one. I've been at the top dose of both medications now for a couple of weeks. Seizure meds typically make you feel pretty groggy and yucky, so now I've got double the pleasure. Anyway, now they start tapering me off of the old one very slowly, over the course of a few months. Switching seizure meds is pretty risky as every one works differently for every person. This new one may not do anything for me, it may work fine, or it could actually cause me to have worse seizures than I have normally. Plus, going off of any seizure meds can cause more seizures, too. Even if a non-epileptic person took seizure meds for a while and then stopped them suddenly, they'd have grand mal seizures. That's just how they work. SO, I thought it was smarter to run my 14 mile run on the treadmill. Can you imagine running 14 miles in one place, staring at basement walls?? Ick. For whatever reason (probably the above mentioned crappy medication change feeling) I had no energy for any of the run, my legs were shot by mile four, and I was doing some light flopping (seizures) in the hands when I passed 10 miles. I decided that 11 miles on the treadmill was plenty for me today. Those 11 were very, very slow and very, very hard.
That's it for today, folks.

We Make Kids With Rockin' Eyes, Don't We?

These were yesterday when I was working on my self portrait (see next post)... My beauties in natural light.






Saturday, February 17, 2007

Self Portrait

It was decided that the women on the workshop blog (the women attending the Audrey Woulard workshop with me) would shoot a self portrait and post for the others to see. This was to be a new photograph, not just picking a favorite photo of ourself. It should say something to the other women about who we are.
So I chewed on this for a while and decided that other than being a mom, the things that most make me me are my motorcycle, my camera, and running.
How to do an interesting self portrait which shows my connection to at least one of these things? The one thing I knew immediately was that I would not be looking directly into the camera. It would not be about a pretty smile or flashing my green eyes. It would not be about trying to pose myself just so so that I looked thinner than I actually am.
I wanted it to be creative.
So here you go.






















And another in the same vein, which I like better in some ways, but did not choose it because there is not as much pink showing, and I wanted it clear that I ride a pink bike.




















And one wearing my marathon shirt and some of my medals... There is nothing special about this one, and it's not obvious that those are medals, so I didn't choose it, either. It was a natural light shot, though, which is what I liked.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

I Think I'm Green

I don't know what is up, but I'm feeling pretty awful today. Feel really woozy in the head and nauseated. Actually left work at noon and slept for three hours without moving an inch. I would have slept longer but I needed to get a couple of orders sorted out and delivered before taking Libby in for her hair appointment.
Her pink streak had faded and dark times had fallen upon us. Alas, all is well with the world again and Libby now has a "purply pink" streak. Thank God for Sparkly Sarah, Libby's stylist...
Tomorrow night we are supposed to bring the kids up to Green Bay to play in the indoor waterpark with Libby's fiancee Ethan. Nothing like getting into a swimsuit after eating my way through February...
I'm getting incredibly excited about the upcoming workshop with my favorite photographer. Today she sent out a list of the photogaphers who are attending and we've started a discussion board to get to know one another before April. One other woman is from Wisconsin, and we will most likely make the trek together. Yay!

Sunday, February 11, 2007

12 Cold Hard Miles and New Newborn Photos

My shoot from yesterday is up on the photography site and I'm very happy with it. The baby was three days old and just precious. I think that the photos turned out as well as my shoots do in a more 'studio' type setting. But it doesn't matter what I think... Hopefully the mother will love them.

This morning Jo and I did our 12 mile long run for the week. It was cold and windy and was generally a tough run. After a lot of debating in regards to what to wear (how many layers of what material, etc) we headed out and made it a quarter mile before turning back. We each added one more layer on top and took off. Although mostly warm, I think we were both struggling a bit already at mile four. We stopped for some water and I ate a power gel somewhere around 7 miles, which helped a lot. The run ended with some tough hills in the last two miles. One was about a mile long, at a pretty tough incine, going into the wind. Not the best way to end a long run. I'm pretty sore and am glad that tomorrow is a 'recovery' day.
Finished in 2:12 giving us an average pace of 11 minutes per mile. Not too bad.

Saturday, February 10, 2007

Newborn Love

I went to the hospital this morning and did a quick brand new newborn session! Little "S" is three days old and gorgeous and sweet and I LOVE her. I can't wait to get my photos loaded up and see how everything turned out. It nearly made me want to have another....and then I remembered that you have to be pregnant. And push. Them. Out. Of There. So, no....I think I'm done with that and I'll just keep photographing them :)

Friday, February 09, 2007

I Meant to Post Yesterday......

.....but I was too distraught. Too depressed. Too despondent. Too damn upset.
I couldn't stop the constant flow of tears.
I couldn't lift my fingers and force them to type. They just wouldn't. They are sad, too.
Now Chris is taking dictation so that I can at least offer you my condolences.

Anna Nicole...... poor sweet, smart, lovely Anna Nicole....
the world is a dimmer place, for her warm glow has been extinguished.

**this is Chris now. Rebecca went off and locked herself in the God damn bathroom again and is wailing like an alien or something. I guess she's done with this. Let's just say that she's freakin' sad. I'm just glad I still have those Playboys. I'll always get to see those....eyes.

Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Faxed...twice

I faxed in my enrollment form for Audrey Woulard's workshop today! And then I realized that in my excitement I only signed half of my name. Just Rebecca L. No last name. I discovered this as I was staring at my freshly faxed form with an enormous grin on my face.
Suddenly my silly smile slid into me staring at my freshly faxed form with a foolish feeling then sinking into horror and humiliation.
I finished signing my form, faxed it in again, this time adding a note about what a ditz I am an praying that she wouldn't decide that I'm can't possibly be capable of adjusting aperature and shutter speed if I can't even sign my name...and then tell me to take my money back and invest it in a helmet and yearly pass for the short bus.

But the important part is that I am going to Audrey's workshop!!!!! In only 2.5 months!!!!

Sunday, February 04, 2007

New Newborn Session Is Up On the Site

Yesterday I had an in home newborn and family session. It went really well, I think. Some of them are up on the site....check it out!
Soul Reflection Photography

Guilt. And Ten Miles on the Treadmill.

They do not go together, the guilt and the treadmill. Just so you aren't confused.

The Guilt.
I am signing up for the workshop I mentioned yesterday...with Audrey Woulard. And it's expensive. And we really cannot afford it. By any stretch of the imagination. But Chris is 100% supportive of it, as he knows how much it will do for my photography and my business. It will pay for itself. I know that. And my family will benefit from what it does for my business. But it still feels so selfish. And every little bit of extra cash I earn from photo jobs is going straight to the workshop fund rather than the new-shoes-for-baby fund. As a mother, that seems so wrong. I'm struggling with the guilt and, at the same time dying of excitement.

The Ten Miles On the Treadmill.
Right now it is -8F outside. The windchill is -30F. So I had to do my long run on the treadmill this week. Ten miles. That is a long time on a treadmill. I have a hard time running fast on the treadmill for any distance because I get bored. Outside I get going without noticing because there is so much to look at and keep my mind occupied. The basement walls do not do the same thing for me. But today I brought my laptop down, hooked up some speakers and watched The Lord Of The Rings. Frodo kept me going. I ran ten with an average pace of 11:00 min miles. Could have gone faster but my training schedule said to do it at an 11:12 pace.

Baaaaaa Baaaaaaaaaaaa My Best Friend Has Sheep!!!!!

...and they are pregnant!!!!!!!
Go see them!!! They are beautiful, and I cannot wait to photograph them!!!!!
Farmer Jo's sheep

Saturday, February 03, 2007

Newborn Session--And A Dream Workshop!!!!

I had a photo session with a three week old baby girl this morning. I'm super excited to show the photos but am patiently waiting for parental permission :) I think we got some great ones.
It was my birthday yesterday. I'm getting old. It's weird.
It looks as though I am going to a workshop in April put on by my favorite contemporary portrait photographer (other than Annie Leibovitz) Take a look if you're not familiar with her work Annie's, I mean. (click on the photos or arrows to move to the next one)
Anyway, Audrey Woulard is my non-celebrity hero...and she's in Chicago. Check out her site or her blog
Audrey gives small workshops to teach photographers how she photographs children only in natural light (no flash or lighting equipment) and acheives color and beauty that is just incredible. She also goes over the business side of photography...and since she makes 200,00.00 a year after only being a photographer for four years, well, I think she knows. I've wanted to attend a workshop for ages and am DYING of excitement that it looks like I'm going in a couple of months. I just have to scrape up the money. I've got some serious scrimping and saving to do to pay for this....but it will do wonders for my photography and my business. Oh. My. God. I'm dying here. For real.