When Facebook brings you clients.....who are long lost friends...

I sat down at my computer one afternoon, logged on to my Facebook, not really expecting to find much. It was raining buckets that day and I was bored out of my mind. The internet always seems to subside the boredom...

You know, I've always said that the Facebook's and the Myspace's are pretty awesome at putting you back in touch with people you lost contact with over the years. That's how I re-met my Mr. Wonderful after 17 years, reconnected with my old high school band director who was a pretty big influence in my life, and Lord knows how many other friends that I lost contact with when Life happened.

I never would have thought that I would gain clients out of it. But it just kinda happened that way.

So....back to the boring day.....I logged into Facebook and had a new friend request from someone with a name I didn't recognize. (Which, let's be real for a second, has happened to me far too many times. You see the name right in front of you but you have NO CLUE what face it belongs to.) So, I was puzzled. I racked my brain for a few minutes and decided to click on the name -- just so I could see a larger picture.

About 12 seconds later, I squealed. OMG! Are you kidding me!?!??! Where has she been? Where is she??? What is she doing?

The picture belonged to one of my best friends from 8th grade on. We did almost everything together....we played basketball together and went to dances. We walked to school together and wrote notes to one another. We told secrets about our bad-kissing boyfriends to each other.

We even had really bad perms and mall bangs together.


Oh yes. That's Staci on the left and me on the right....well before flat irons, tweezers, and suntan lotion. I was so gangly and un-coordinated -- a rubberband had more finesse than I did at that age. So much so that this was the only year that I played basketball. Ok.....attempted to play basketball.

That was 1991. A loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong ago 1991.

Now she's a wife to a pretty lucky guy and a mom of two beautiful children who have her eyes.

And me? I was the lucky photographer who got to take their picture.

Our shoot lasted for a little longer than 2 hours and it flew by like it was only 10 minutes. We chatted about kids, about life, and what happened after high school. We walked around that park like we were back in our hometown walking down Ludlow Street laughing at some of the things we did, the boys we chased, and the memories etched in our brains.

2 tickets to the gun show

It's no secret that we live in a Scarlet & Grey household. If I've said it once, I've said it a million times....."we eat it, breathe it, and sleep it". It's on our walls, it's on our dishes, it's in our hearts and our bathroom.

Saturday night when we got home from our gazillion hours of pee-wee football, the Football Fairy had left a little surprise in the mailbox for my wonderful Better Half:


Yes, you saw it correctly. 2 tickets to the OSU vs. USC Game-of-the-Year. One for him and one for some really cool chick. (Um, me.)

And it's also no surprise that I have about three dozen people who are, right now at this very minute, plotting how to put me in a wheelchair, make me go temporarily blind or impair me attending this game in any way, shape, or fashion.

Regardless of what he says or thinks, I'm actually pretty excited for this game. Not just to eat pizza at Adriaticos, or to shop at the book store on High Street either....it's a night game. Under the lights. There is just something about those lights, the smell of hotdogs, and the sound of the whistles that still makes me excited.

Granted, I was a "band geek" and got excited for a totally different reason, but I still got excited on Friday night. That counts, right?


Admittingly, football wasn't always my favorite sport. (I know, shameless confession.) I used to LIVE for basketball season. But, on Saturday, I noticed myself getting excited watching peewee football. Really! Peewee! Not just because I have a son playing....in fact, at times it had little to do with him. Watching a true team sport -- where everyone has a job to do in order for things to happen -- is exciting. I found myself getting aggravated at officials or people trying to talk to me. I even jumped out of my seat quite a few times.

I think basketball just got shoved out of first place.


Now....if I could just get a picture with Brutus.......



PS. If I come up missing before September 12th, please interview Ted S. or Tom H. I'm not saying they'll directly be involved....I'm just sayin'......

Six

Today, the little big man of the house turns 6.

Six.

I've never met a kid quite like Bryce. From the time his feet hit the floor in the morning, to the time he lays down at night, he is going 100 miles an hour. Literally, physically, mentally, actually. I'm not certain where he gets his energy (or where he stores it in that little body of his) but it's non-stop -- barely breaking to eat lunch. Just once, I'd like to have a smidgen of his energy when I clean the house....or my office.

And he's tougher than nails. Not just physically, but his attitude. He ALWAYS tries to do everything himself before ever asking for help and will not stop until he succeeds. Sports, games, combination locks, you name it. He'll do it.



Six facts about the Six-Year-Old:

* His favorite color is red. Buckeye Red....not red, not redish, not crimson, but Buckeye Red. "There is a difference", he says.

* A little over a year ago, he shot out the back window in my truck with a BB gun.

* We call him "Dash" here at the Halfdozen House because of how fast he can run. The only time you'll catch him is when he's sleeping. Trust me, I've tried.

* He lives for football and wrestling and is an animal at both sports. Against guys or girls, he's just as fierce.

* He hates tomatoes. "They are the sickest."

* He lost his first tooth a week ago.

Happy Birthday, Chicken Head.

The First Week....

To say that "I've been busy" since I quit my job would be a complete understatement. A HUGE understatement really. I'm not sure how I managed to have a full-time job, chase four kids around, try to keep things in order at home, cook, clean, laundry and so on, and still have time to sleep. And quite frankly, it's been a sad eye-opener as to what I wasn't able to do because I had a full-time 9-5er that my wonderful boyfriend picked up the slack on. How that man managed to do all that he was doing while I was working and still run his own business amazes me.

So anyway, remember waaaaaaay back when.....when blogged a list of everything I wanted to do once I quit my old j.o.b. and started full-time photography:

paint new "office" (and the laundry room while I'm at it)
organize office
update website
research marketing/advertising
nose pierced
Picture Fizz Facebook???

The only two things on this list that I've managed to cross off so far is 'organize office' and 'nose pierced'. Not really changing the world yet, but hey, it's a good start.

This atrociousness that I referred to my "office" was so far outta control that it took nearly 3 days for me to get thru it. No joke. In my defense though, some of this chaos was caused by cleaning the back of my truck out before going on vacation and bringing home 3 boxes of useless crap from my Corporate America office job. Hardly my fault, right?

I can remember being in school and having self portrait project after self portrait project after self portrait project. You'd think that after all that Me Time in front of the camera, I'd be used to it. Sad truth is the only picture of myself that I actually like is my driver's license. Go figure.

And the only reason why I converted this to B&W was so no one saw the awful grey in my hair right now. Yeah, "dye job" isn't anywhere on that list....

My Grandma told me that if I got my nose pierced that she'd promptly remove me from any inheritance that I am currently willed. Oh don't worry, if I've done all I've done in my life and she still hasn't disowned me, them I'm good. Or maybe it was the fact that I kindly reminded her that I will be the one looking after her when she's withering away in a nursing home. (As if I'd ever put her in a nursing home....)

PS. Where'd the dimple come from?????

Moving on......................

I have somehow made forced myself to make my bed the instant my feet hit the floor. Every. Single. Day. My mom (and Grandma) would be so proud of me. I never believed either one of them when I was 13 and they told me that "it just feels better getting into your bed when it's been made all day". They were right though -- it does feel better.

Sometimes it's the little things that I accomplish in a day that make me feel like I've tackled something huge.

One of my favorite parts of meeting the couples that I photograph, is hearing the stories of their love....how they met, what interests they hold together, etc. One of the things that couples share with me is their own language between each other. Things that they say or do to one another that a stranger may not understand but make perfect sense to their partner. Sometimes is a gesture or a look and other times it's words, but regardless, it always means something.

Chris and I have our own language.... "it goes both ways". That's what we sometimes tell each other instead of saying "I love you". With us, it truly does go both ways....our love, our respect, our happiness, our adoration of one another. Our effort, our commitment, and our friendship.

"Our" song has a line that says "it's not what you've got, it's what you give". We remind each other of this all the time. It's not so much what you have in a relationship, it's also what you give to your partner. Equal parts. And our cups equally runneth over.

Seemed fitting for it to be the on the wall of the place we see last before going to bed, and first thing when our eyes open in the morning.

Three weeks ago, I lovingly kissed my boyfriend good-bye to football season. We love football here at the Halfdozen House. We eat it, sleep it, breathe it, heck....even the boys fart it. Chris coaches Brenden's fifth grade team as he's done the last 3 years and Bryce is a rookie this year. So, needless to say, three nights a week and every weekend are consumed with Green and Gold.

Both of the boys had their premier football games on Saturday afternoon. Since this is Bryce's first year playing we made a pretty big production about his first game EVER. And he couldn't have looked anymore adorable in his uniform than what he did that day. He was like a helmet with legs!

Our big, bad running back is also turning 6 this weekend, so we had a little party for him Saturday night.

6....oh to be six again....

Beauty

Before I left for vacation I went over to my best friend Heather's house for a Pampered Chef party. I'm not sure what it is about Pampered Chef, but I could spend a fortune on that stuff. Maybe it's because I think that just by purchasing their gagets it'll make me a better "cooker" as Harley calls me.

I always try to show up to Heather's functions way early so I can just hang out with her for a few minutes before anyone else gets there. It seems like the times we get to spend together get fewer and fewer. Life just gets crazy.....

So anyway, while I was there I thought it'd be a great idea to grab a couple of quick maternity pictures for her. I think I had a total of seven minutes before people started to show up. I was able to snap a few:

Heather is due in 2 weeks and 5 days (I only know the exact date because I talked to her yesterday and she is soooooooo ready for this pregancy to be over). Just like last time with Kase, they aren't going to find out the sex of the baby until she is born. Yes, I said she. She as in girl. I am adamant that this child is a girl...no real reason, just do.

I will be (and have been) waiting for this baby to get here. And you can bet your sweet toosh that I'll be at the hospital when she's hours old, camera in hand, taking pictures just like I did with Kase.

There are still times that I find myself in a reality check, thinking to myself "oh my gosh, we're parents". We aren't the 14-year-old lifeguards anymore. We have mortgages and responsibilities. There are diapers to change and softball games to cheer at. There are dinners to fix and jobs to do.

Funny how life happens right before your eyes and you don't realize it.

Aftermath

I absolutely love to travel. I love seeing new places, the character that makes those places unique, the people, the sights....all of it.

What I DO NOT like, however, is the aftermath. The unpacking, the laundry, the putting everything away, the laundry. (I know, I already said that, but there's so much of it I had to say it twice.)

As if summer wasn't obvious enough, it literally slapped me in the face as I was doing our Aftermath Laundry:

3 girls + 8 bikinis = AYKM?!?

This picture would make my Grandma slip into cardiac arrest. I can hear her now: "What on Earth do three girls need 8 swimming suits for?? You can only wear one at a time!!"

PS. I have a gazillion images that I'm going to be editing over the next week, so check back for some of the World Series!

PSS. That Wall of Pictures behind the banister is our stairway. It has 105 pictures on it, goes from floor to ceiling, and none of the frames match. No, really. Pictures from my childhood, Chris' childhood, the girls, the boys, our families, and our friends are all on this wall. I love this wall. But I hate to dust it, so I don't. =)

Vacation Day 4

Aside of my education on the weather and it's craziness, I've learned that the "dirt"down here isn't really dirt. It's more like clay. Really red, gritty, clay. And to get that "crud" (as one of the locals called it) out of a ball uniform takes a miracle and some sort of Billy Mays product. I worked for an hour trying to get that stuff out of Taylor's uniform today and never really succeeded. Especially out of her socks....which I'm all about throwing them away anyway.

The girls are playing their little suntanned fannies off. They played two games on Tuesday -- lost the first one and won the second. Wednesday they played one and won it. Those were pool games and didn't amount to a hill of beans in the tournament. Not even for a seed. Yesterday we played 2 games and won both of them. Those were tournament games so, we needed them to win. It's double elimination, and so far we're going strong in the Winner's Bracket. We play again today, so keep your fingers crossed.

This is what I mean about loving reflective surfaces. This is Kara. Kara is one of our pitchers. Kara's dad, Shon, is one of our coaches. If you look real close in Kara's sunglasses, you can see her dad coaching in a player sliding into third. I have lots of pictures from Day 5 but have just been too busy to get to them....

I've also learned what it means to be "waterlogged". We've been pretty lucky in our playing times -- which I won't complain about. So far we've been done playing and at the beach by 1. Not bad when you're playing in the southern heat and humidity! So anyway, we get done playing, stop by the condo to change into our suits and spend the next 5 hours at the beach. Then, as if that's not enough sun and water, we head to the pool for another hour or so. So, yeah, no wonder why I have sun poisoning, huh!?

I sat at the pool on Wednesday and watched a mom with a special needs daughter. She was in a wheel chair when I first saw them and when I caught up with them again, she was pool side with her mom. Her mom had her securely tucked between her legs while she was blowing up a floatation device. She had this system down to a science. She'd do everything she needed to do -- even get in the water-- and never let go of her daughter. She made every attempt to make sure her daughter had just as much fun as anyone else in the pool. And it was obvious by the smile on her face that she was having a blast.

About the time they were packing up to leave, a big sister walked in with her Down Syndrome brother. They walked over and joined a group of The Sister's friends who were poolside. They all welcomed The Brother in with hugs and high-fives. After a few minutes they all got in the shallow end of the pool and started to play a game of handball -- including The Brother. Even from across the pool where I sat at the deep end while Harley splashed beneath me, it was easy to tell that they were going out of their way to make sure he was included and part of the fun. They bent the rules for him and continued to let him bat well after he struck out.

As I sat there and watched him interact with his sister and her friends, I felt so proud of that sister. I wanted to run up to her and give her a big hug and tell her how amazing I thought she was...even if I didn't know her name. It made my heart swell.

Watching them, all of them -- the mom with her daughter and The Sister and Brother -- made me feel so lucky to have what I have. I am able to go on vacation with my two daughters -- my healthy and happy girls, loved by so many amazing people, unique as two girls can be. I'm no different than these other people that I had watched nearly all afternoon.

It made me feel so blessed and thankful for what I have, that the kids are all healthy and happy, they we have amazing people in our lives. It took me back to the day in Taylor's doctor's office when I learned that hard lesson.

I believe that God put those people in front of me as a reminder. Like a little Post-It note with a little message reminding me to be thankful. And I am.

Because I am so incredibly blessed for my life and those in it.

And I'm ready to go home to see the rest of my "life".

Vacation Day 3

I am not ashamed to admit that I have been whooped by an 11 year-old and a 7 year-old today, so you only get one picture.....and you'll have to wait until tomorrow for a more elaborate post.


PS. I love reflective surfaces.

Vacation Day 2

Today was pretty much more of the same...sun, pool, sun, beach, sun, rain, sun, beach....you get the idea.

What I've learned about the weather in the south is it pretty much changes every 10 minutes. It's the weirdest thing. It can be sun one minute and a shower 3 minutes later....while it's still sunny. And as quick as the rain came in, it's gone again.

The other thing I've learned is don't even bother with make-up or hair. The humidity is something like 2000% during the day. This morning, at 10:15am degrees, it was already 87 degrees. Disgusting.

So, to battle the heat and humidity, we camped out at the beach. Duh.

Taylor has learned the art of body surfing. She can ride a wave in from pretty far out, just by acting like a board. And Harley...well, she's dug in the sand more the last two days and built more sandcastles than I ever thought possible. By the time she was done, she had a mini Vegas, right on the beach.

Tomorrow starts business....the Softball World Series.

Vacation Day 1

Even though I got up yesterday at 4am, drove 14 hours to the beach (a trip that was only suppose to take 12) and was up until almost midnight last night, I still got my happy, vacationing butt out of bed this morning at 6 to watch the sunrise.

Someone (a-hem) had the brilliant idea to take the girls to the beach first thing this morning to search for seashells. Well, and I wanted to watch the sunrise. So, it was a win-win.