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"Holly tastes like chicken" (...Holly is the Black Lab)

Hello Chicago!!

Well, I'm on my last leg of the trip. I'm in Chicago and will fly home late this afternoon/early evening. I can't wait to see my family :)
I ran four miles by O'Hare this morning in extremely humid weather. Ouch for the lungs, otherwise good.

SO it's been a weird 12 hours.... I came home from dinner and took of my shoes and went over by the head of the bed to discover a wet floor. Gross. We stay in very nice hotels, so this was odd. Had it been Mo's Highway Motel it would be expected. Then, I kept hearing weird noises...no biggie, it's a hotel you know? As I was working, laying on the bed, I kept feeling like something was brushing up against my leg, but nothing was there. When I went to bed at 11pm I turned off the tv and closed my eyes. About fifteen minutes later the tv turned on by itself. Eeeeek. I didn't sleep all that well.

Edited to add: I got out of the shower and grabbed my towel...and thanks to my OCD behavior checked it over before using it...thankfully, since I found a short curly black hair (you know the ones) stuck to it.

Edited AGAIN to add: I forgot one more thing...when I was out running at 6am, I came across a large puddle. So i tiptoed around it on the curb. In the middle of the tiptoeing, however, a car drove by and sent up a splash all over me..the likes only seen in movies.

Hello Minneapolis!

I had my first on-site visit with one of my accounts today in Cleveland. Now I'm in a hotel room in Minneapolis, ready for my next visit tomorrow...then off to Chicago tomorrow afternoon for one more on Thursday. So far, so good! I'm glad that things are really starting to get going with my new job.
Chris' parents are taking both girls for the weekend...Chris and I are planning on riding our bikes to Madison to hang out, as long as the weather holds out. We're excited to get out for a ride and have some 'us' time!
Ran about three miles in downtown Cleveland this morning...and got lost. :) It was fun, though :)

Three States, Three Days, Five Flights

I'm writing from the airport in Cleveland...first stop on my whirlwind tour of the Midwest. I'm meeting my boss-man in baggage claim, as he's joining me on these first three visits to my accounts. Tomorrow I'll fly to Minneapolis and then on to Chicago after that. I'm excited to be getting into the meat of the new job!
I shot a wedding on Saturday and am very happy with the results. I put 12 of my favorites so far up on the Soul Reflection blog if you'd like to see.
Ran eight miles yesterday with Jo (on her birthday...she's now as old as me) and it was HARD for me. Seriously, I'm really struggling on runs lately. We made the big decision to take next year off of marathons. After three marathons, I need a break to get inspired once again. Instead of training for the super long race, we're going to focus on mid-distance events like 15Ks. I'll still do the half-marathon next month but after that it will be a change of pace (literally) as we go for a little more speed and shorter distances. Maybe that will get me excited about running again...

Monkey's big day

Amelia turns two next month....I can't believe it! It's too early to send out, but I made invitations :) What do you think?

Missing: a runner's ambition and drive. Reward for safe return

This happened last Summer, too. By this I mean losing my dedication and ambition regarding running. I have no interest in running long. I ran eight on Sunday and it went well, but I didn't want to do it. I don't want to run during the week, either. I do it, but it feels more like drudgery. It's burnout. I'm sure of it. Last year after my marathon I had no interest in running...no ambition...no drive. After months of running really, really long runs (15-20 miles on Sundays) even eight miles seems daunting. I'd rather just sit around and eat. Isn't that supposed to happen in the Winter, not Summer? I'm doing well with eating well and concentrating on Project Tenspot, but I'm not very happy about it. Maybe I'll feel better about it on Friday when I weigh (it had better be down a few). I don't know what's up. I have my half marathon next month and I don't even really feel like running it.
Someone, please, find my drive and ambition and return it? There will be a hefty reward.


I have been extremely busy with work lately...the new job is picking up (and going well) and I've been crazy busy with photography sessions. I did a newborn session that I'm happy with on Saturday...There are two posts with photos from it on my SoulReflection Blog if you're interested. :)

I just checked my running log and since I started keeping track in January 2006, I've run 1,015.83 miles. That is pretty unimpressive. I feel like a big lazy blob! :)

Weddings, Weddings, Weddings....

I am very busy with photography right now, which is wonderful...but makes for long days, since I'm also working my new job which is starting to really pick up. For the last two weeks I've been staying up very late every night proofing wedding photos from two weekends ago. Something like 450 photos :) I am very happy with how they turned out, and I put some samples up on my Soul Reflection Blog...check 'em out :)
I have another wedding in two weeks, and yet another three weeks after that. I also have an appointment tonight and a newborn session on Saturday!!! I'm amazed at how my photo business has taken off in the last six months. I have had some wonderful clients who have really spread the word for me.
Between a great new career and my photography, I'm very blessed professionally.
And I'm obviously blessed a thousand times over with my amazing family. Amelia is saying more and more words every single day and just blows me away. I cannot believe that she's only two months away from her 2nd birthday. And Libby is getting TALL. It seems as though she's grown two inches overnight. She's got her streak of funky color back in her hair (after much begging) and this time it is bright purple :) She's such a freespirit and I love it. She's definitely my girl in that way....good thing, too, or nobody would believe she's mine since she looks so much like Chris. Amelia looks nearly exactly like I did at her age, with the exception of her eyes which are ALL Daddy.

Speaking of dads, mine would have been 85 on his birthday a week ago. My God I miss him. It's been nearly three years. I just got a land line for the office and the last four digits of the number they assigned me are the date he died...weird, huh?

MIA

I haven't posted to my blog in ages! I think it's been over a week....unprecedented! I was on the road for business all of last week, and I shot a wedding last weekend. So once I was done with work each day I'd move on to the grandiose project of proofing all of the wedding photos. I'm nearly done...I think I only have the ceremony left to do. I'm shooting another wedding in a couple of weeks, so I need to get this done and move on to the next one! THEN I have another wedding about three weeks after that one. I think that's it then.

I totally wimped out on my long run this weekend. I was planning on running 10 miles on Sunday, but was so tired and feeling wiped out that I skipped it all together. I'm not proud of that. Today I'll try and run 6 or 7 to make up for it a bit, then I'm on to three weekday runs and one long run on the weekend. Today marks day one of Project Tenspot. This is a high importance project I'm working on....to lose ten pounds. I'd like to pull it off within two months. I think I've managed to gain a few, so want to lose those and a handful more. So far, so good today...but I need to learn to embrace the growling stomach feeling again!!!

I'm going to post a few of the wedding photos on the Soul Reflection Blog sometime today...so if you're interested in seeing, pop on over there.

Dungeon Runnin'

I ran eight miles outside on Sunday and it was hard. I did them fast (for me) and alone. My asthma was horrible and I spent the entire run wheezing and making noises which scared away baby bunnies and squirrels. I usually do longer runs with Jo, which makes it easier since she can tie a rope around my waist and drag me along behind her. I asked a few people along the way if they could try the rope technique, but they declined (while running away). I made it home that day, immediately falling into a dripping, limping, wheezing heap.
Yesterday was a rest day (except for the recently reinstated ab work) thankfully, since I was feeling a bit like Jello brand gelatin in a glass bowl on a skateboard on a 7.5 % incline...well decline.
Today I was still feeling sore in my left knee, right quad, and tight in both calves. Unfortunately I was scheduled for five miles. There is also the week-long headache to further complicate things.
I forced myself to get on the dreaded hamster wheel in the dungeon. I could not find my inhaler but I ran anyway...don't tell Chris or my doctor.
Managed to suffer through the five miles, the now-familiar noises escaping from my lungs. This time, however, there were no horrified small mammals. Instead I saw centipedes, spiders, mice, and dust bunnies running for their little lives. Doesn't running five miles in place in a dungeon sound like a blast???? Like, for sure...it was totally rad!!
It's been four hours now, and I think I'm nearly done sweating. And I figure that my legs should start holding me up without the broomsticks duct taped to them within a couple of hours.

Bigger

I thought I'd show a couple of the photos on the storyboard from the last post a little bigger. (these are also on the Soul Reflection blog, but I wanted to show them off here, too..
It only took the promise of ice cream to get some smiles. :)

Libby the goofball

I took a bunch of really fun photos of Libby yesterday so I made a storyboard of them. If you want to see it larger you just click on it :)

Maxie and Me

I LOVE my new bike. She is so easy to ride...light, nimble, incredible cornering. Yesterday we took a ride and stopped by Chris' parents for about ten minutes. His mom took a couple of photos....isn't she tough and cool and hot??? (Maxie, not the oaf sitting on her)

Maxie is coming home to mama!!!!!

Well, her name is Maxie. The bike. She is fast, tough, sleek, German, and black and grey... just like our old dog, Max. He was a retired sled dog from a prestigious German line of sled dogs. He was the coolest dog. So sweet, so beautiful, so fast and he had a similar sleek and different look as the bike. So Maxie she is!!

AND

She comes home to mama tomorrow!!!!!!

I was going to get her tonight, but the universe was against me and it stormed. I'm praying for nice weather tomorrow!!!!

Where's the bathroom? (and other thought-provoking questions)

Tomorrow is my first day of the new job. The process leading up to the job offer was such a long one that it doesn't seem real that it's finally here. It's also a very different type of first day. Generally on the night before a first day at a job I'm fretting about what to wear, who to sit with at lunch, where the bathrooms are, how much I have to learn, and whether or not I'll like the people with whom I work. Tonight, however, It's totally different. It's a strange feeling. I work from home when I'm not on the road and so far the only things I'm sure of are 1) I'm going to training in Charlotte, NC for one week later in the month and 2) Tomorrow I have to go and buy some office equipment, arrange to have a land line installed for the office, and switch my cellular plan.
I find myself wondering things like:
*What time should I get up tomorrow? ....it's not like I have to be at the office at 8am like one would when going to a new job in an office.... but I guarantee I'll feel guilty tomorrow morning if I am checking email or reading a magazine while I'm waiting to hear from my boss.
*What to wear? .....Should I wear a suit to the office supply place to feel like I'm actually 'working'...or perhaps run my errands in my favorite pj's?
*Who do I eat lunch with? ....Chumley would be my preference, but he's become gassy in his old age.....
*Where is the bathroom? ....okay, so six months in this house have let me grow accustomed to the floorplan....but what about at Office Depot????
*Do I have to listen to easy listening adult contemporary during the workday or can I get away with some Twisted Sister? I mean, I don't want to bother the guy in the next cubicle...
*What time is my lunch break? ....Can I eat at my desk or is that against policy? (I've heard that the lady who cleans the office is a real bitch)

I'm excited to get going and get into the rhythm of the job. Once I'm busy (and I'll be busy) I'll figure out what works and what my typical office day will look like. Until then, it is a strange feeling.

I have cool kids

I have been blessed with the coolest daughters. Funny, smart, strong, creative...and on top of all that they are damned cute. I took these photos this morning. There are more on the Soul Reflection blog if you're interested.

Well, that was fast....

Daisy is sold already! 1.5 days on the market and sold her for 1200.00 MORE than what the dealership would have given me. 700.00 MORE than the reserve price I listed on eBay. And the woman buyer is from 20 minutes away, which is awesome!!!
Beemer, here I come!!!!

I need a name for her. She'll be black with a small amount of white and pink pinstriping. (her photo is two posts down the page) Please leave a comment on this post with your suggestions!!! Do I want to stick with the flower theme?

EDITED TO ADD: I agree with Coty...she is not a sweet flower like Daisy. She is hot and fast and needs a name that reflects just that. SO, if you know any hot and fast women that my bike should be named for... ;) Don't leave without leaving a comment (click on the link at the bottom of this post...)with your suggestions. Pretty please?

Guess who used the potty????

My monkey girl!!!!!! Amelia has been saying that she needs to go potty, but we didn't have the potty chair up yet and she freaked out when we held her on the big toilet. Chris brought up the potty chair and sat her on it when she said she had to go potty but she didn't go. Chris went to get a diaper and she had sat down by herself and peed!!! WooooHoooo!! She is 22 months old :) I'm a proud mama!!!

Daisy is for sale!!!!!!

My gorgeous friend, Daisy, is for sale.... Never thought you'd see the day, did you? If you've been under a rock for the last couple of years, Daisy is my pink motorcycle.






































I will be very sad to see her go, but it looks as though I'm going to be getting my dream bike. I have wanted a BMW motorcycle for years. My dream BMW model is the R1200R.
I put a deposit on it yesterday to hold it. And went to the bank today. As soon as Daisy sells, I'll be riding the Beemer home. This one is black with a little white pinstriping...the perfect partner for some pink pinstriping. This is the bike:


















I listed Daisy late last night on eBay and within 20 hours had three people email me expressing interest, 8 bids, and a current bid of nearly a thousand more than the 'reserve price' I set (the lowest I'll take). A woman from Oshkosh is coming to see her in person tomorrow. Crazy stuff.

If it all happens, I'll need to come up with a name for the new girl!


**PS... there are photos from yesterday's session on my Soul Reflection Blog. She's a beautiful 9 month old and I'm very happy with the images.

Glamour Shots

I still haven't been running. My lungs are just now starting to clear up, after three weeks of nastiness. I haven't run since the two times in Orlando 1.5 weeks ago. I'm obsessing about how I'm feeling like a big tub o' lard and am dying to run off the OCD and some of the tub. Hopefully tomorrow.

I have been focusing so much on developing my natural light photography that I've not touched my studio lights for months. I thought I'd spend a little time in my basement studio to knock the dust off.
Here is Chris' Glamour Shots-style portrait....



















And a couple of the dogs. Chumley, the Golden Retriever, is 10 1/2 years old and Holly, the Black Lab, is 4 1/2.