my crazy, somewhat hectic, life

So, again it’s been several days since my last blog post.  I actually began writing one yesterday,  but after about ten paragraphs realized it wasn’t really going anywhere….  just a long vent.  LMAO  So I shelved it.  The fact of the matter is simple really.  Life has been somewhat hectic lately, and I’ve just been feeling overwhelmed and exhausted.  After the dog show this weekend it should calm down again.

I head out tomorrow for Swift Current.  The dog show is taking place at the fairgrounds there, so please feel free to come on out and have a look if you live in the area.  I’ll be showing a wonderful Chihuahua named Neddie.  He’s already earned his championship, but is now competing as a “special”.  You’ll know him when you see him…  he’s a lovely, stocky, tri-colour.  And he’s all boy.  LMAO  He’s a complete charmer, and is such a sweetie… a trait passed down to his pups.  Something I hope to see first hand this Summer when he is bred to my blue tri-colour female, Roo (Rooty Toot has made appearances here in the past).

Anyway…  I have continued taking a photograph every day, and will compile them all into a long blog post when I get back.  Promise.  🙂

Take care everyone, and be kind to one another.

Sandy, the Sea Wee

Sandy, this is everyone.

Everyone, this is Sandy.

Say “hello” Sandy.

Sandy saying "hello".

Sandy is proof that some things do stand the test of time.  She was the first of several Sea Wees released in the late seventies and early eighties.  I believe she was released in ’78 or maybe ’79.  She was one of my toys when I was little.  One of the few that survived the “mom purge” of ’89.  LMAO  You know the “mom purge”…  it’s when mom boxes up all your stuff to give away or sell because you’re too old for toys.  😉

It may not occur to some, but while Sandy is highly collectible (or would be if she were looking better for her age), she’s also got a pretty darn good ecological footprint for a plastic toy.  She made it through me, through my brothers and sisters, and will likely live through the wee girlie too.  She may not have been created from sustainably sourced materials, or created by a green company by workers under a fair trade banner, but she has survived life as a toy for over three decades.

Sometimes being eco-friendly can be as simple as appreciating what you have.  In this consumer driven culture we need to step back and realize that we purchase far more than we need.  And I’m not pointing fingers on this point, I’m guilty of it too.   It’s hard to avoid.  It’s likely that if you have the resources available to be reading this blog, that you have far more than you need.

I’m feeling a little philosophical tonight…  kinda wondering what potential we have as a society when we value so little.  Appreciating what we have is a good place to start.  Even those of us who have little, really do have MUCH.

Maybe we need to start a buy nothing week.  Say the first week of every month.  Groceries don’t count…  food purchases would be allowed.  But one week a month, of buying nothing that isn’t driven by need.  It would be a start.  What do you think?

Catching up. :)

Okay, here’s the last several days.

The Ninth – The wee girlie waits in the front yard for her Pop Pop to pick her up for an overnight at the lake.

Waiting for Pops.

The Tenth – Jennifer and Jacob’s wedding.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…  I HATE shooting posed portraits.  They are lifeless and stale.  Not at all my style.  But it was their wedding day, and posed portraits are what they wanted.  Who am I to argue?  So I smiled and laughed with them as I arranged the traditional wedding portraits, one, after another, after another…  I started getting a little buggy…  so I flipped them around.  LMAO  It made things much more fun.  😉

Say Cheese!

The Eleventh -“I can do it myself Mommy.  I don’t need your help.”  Here’s the wee girlie, putting in a quiet time DVD without my help.  😉  And for those who are wondering, it’s Slim Pig…  on loan from the library.

"I can do it!"

The Twelfth – The beginnings of Lily-Ann’s “Strawberry Day” dress.

Strawberry Day is the wee girlie’s birthday.  I’ve called her my little strawberry since the day she was born… and so it just seemed like a natural to refer to her birthday as Strawberry Day.  This year she has requested a princess party.  Two of her favourite things right now are princesses and excavators…  a princess party is much easier than an excavator party so I wasn’t about to argue.  😉  That said, we needed a princess dress, complete with sparkles and tulle galore.  It should be quite lovely.  I’ve devoted two evenings to it so far, and easily have another full one ahead.  I can be so domestic at times that I scare myself.  LMFAO

The beginnings...

The Thirteenth – Mommy’s Day!

Yep, I took a lunch date with a couple of my dearest friends today.  Damon is home on holidays for the next couple of weeks and was here to watch the wee girlie…  so when asked, I jumped at the chance.  It’s not to often I get time like this to visit with friends.  So here we are; Jenn, Susan, and myself (of course they stuck me out front) heading back home after a great lunch.  A much needed treat that I’m very appreciative of.  Thanks so much Susan, thanks so much Jenn.  I love you guys.  Today meant a lot.  🙂

Girlfriends!

So… there we are.  All caught up.  Take care everyone, and don’t forget to tell those who matter most to you that they make a difference in your life.  It’s always a good thing to hear, and something many of us don’t take the time to say enough.

Night.

apologies…

I haven’t been an active blogger the last few days.  By the time night rolls around, and the wee girlie is asleep, I have been absolutely exhausted.  Lots going on.  I don’t have a photo for you just now… but did want to take a quick moment to post and to offer my apologies.  Life catches up sometimes and a ball inevitably gets dropped.  It just so happens that the particular ball that I end up dropping in life’s busy moments is my blog.  So… I do hope  you’ll forgive me.  And I do promise to get photographs posted for every day that I’ve missed.  As usual I’m still snapping a daily photograph, it’s just the posting of said photograph that ends up delayed.

Crazy Saskatchewan Weather!

Well, we hit some crazy weather while out on the highway today.  It was this crazy four minute storm sandwiched between beautiful blue skies.  Just nutty.

Seriously, we were driving along only a couple minutes outside Saskatoon.  Blue skies, fluffy white clouds.  Then BANG.  Dark skies, and visibility of only two or three feet ahead.  We got pulled over just in time for the visibility to clear and for hail to begin pummeling us. Then as quickly as it came on, both the hail and rain lifted.  Blue skies once again.  It was absolutely bizarre.

After the Rain!

I took this picture right after the rain stopped.  You can see the dark clouds lifting as if they’d never been there at all.  Click the link below to see (and hear) the hail.  This photograph (with no rain) was taken only seconds after I stopped shooting video.  Crazy crazy crazy.

http://www.facebook.com/video/?id=532787352#!/video/video.php?v=421246082352

Gotta love Saskatchewan!  😀

Preview…

Here’s a sneak peak of what I’ve been (and continue to be) working on.

Preview (the "about me" page)

At the doctors office.

We stopped by the medi-clinic today, just to have a spot checked.  I think the wee girlie may have gotten bit by a tick or spider and wanted to have it checked, just to be on the safe side.  The doctor let me know what to watch for, but I’m guessing it will all be fine.  But figured with a bite it’s better to be safe than sorry.  🙂  Anyway, here she is… hanging out in the waiting room.

In the waiting room... watching cars.

Later we took a bit of a video.  I thought it was pretty cute.  It takes a few seconds for her to start, but it’s worth waiting for.  🙂

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x04-t3RU0y8

Enjoy.

Photography Website Burnout

Yep.

The title about says it all.  LOL

I LOVE photography.  The process of capturing life.  Small perfect moments that we might have otherwise missed.  Gifts.  Vital and full.  Real, transparent, true.  Honest.  Beautiful.  It makes my soul sing.  I truly, truly love capturing life.

What I don’t love, is building a photography website.  I don’t like that I need to market myself and my skills.  I don’t like discussions of price points, and packages.  I don’t like the BUSINESS of photography.  LOL  But apparently it’s one of those necessary things that you just deal with so that you can have as much of the JOY part as possible.

So today I’m a little burned out.  Not on photography.  But on the website I’m building to share the business end of photography.

One thing I did do today that I am kinda excited about (and that IS part of the business end of things) was to come up with a really cool photography package.  I’ve called it the “Make it Right” package.  And it’s all about giving people what they hoped for to begin with, when they ended up with generic, boring, cookie-cutter family portraits from an in-studio photography sitting.  Check it out at http://www.facebook.com/tdfoto.  And make sure to give me a “like” while you’re there.  I’ve already given away one portrait sitting, and plan on making many more draws in the days to come.  All you have to do is “like” my page to enter…  and there are prizes for local AND long-distance folks.  So I do hope you’ll drop by and give me a “like”.  🙂

Night all.  Gonna go watch my baby sleep for a while.

me... face burned and pixelated from staring at my computer.

Oh hey!  I still haven’t told you about all the awesome stuff coming up this summer with the Green Party of Saskatchewan.  We’ve got some great things in the works that I hope you’ll all be a part of.  It’s going to be a great year, and this summer is going to get it kicked off right.  But I guess you’ll have to wait a little longer to find out all the details.  😉  hehehe…

Night all.  😀

Just being cute…

Here’s the wee girlie, just being cute.  🙂

just being cute

I had a lot I planned on writing about today.  It was a busy day.  BIG Green Party of Saskatchewan board meeting.  Lots accomplished.  Really exciting plans for this summer.  But it’s late, and I’m tired.  So you’ll all just have to wait…  LOL  I do feel bad for not sharing tonight, but not so bad that I’ll lose sleep over it.  In fact, I’m f alli n g  asl  e ep as  i  t yp e…  go o d  n i g  ht.

🙂

At the co-op.

Here we are, getting groceries.  🙂  We live such an exciting life.  LMAO

Getting groceries at the co-op.

Now here is a question for everyone…

I took a video on my blackberry to go along with this photo.  But silly me, I took it vertically not horizontally.  Anyone know a real quick and simple way of switching the orientation so it’s not sideways?  LMAO  I’d love to share it with you all, but currently it orients on it’s side.

Now for a couple links worth sharing…

I’ve started digital scrapbooking.  It’s easier on the environment, is more economical, and can be done in a limited space with limited amounts of time.  This month I was invited to be a guest member of a designer’s “Creative Team”.  So for my contribution to her Space Base kit, I’ve built a couple of quick pages.  You download them, and then pop your own photographs into the spaces provided.  🙂  Hope you like.

http://lauramariescraps.blogspot.com/2010/07/quickpage-freebie.html

I’ll let you know when she posts the second quickpage.  🙂  It’s equally cute.

The second link is to my new facebook page.  I’ve started a page for my photography business.  As many of you have already seen, I too shoot snap shots just like anyone else.  But as you’ve also seen, I can also shoot beautifully.  I love photography.  I truly do.  I am working on a new website to showcase some of my work, but figured a FB page would serve as a good spot for people to check me out in the mean time.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/TD-Photography/107161642668748?ref=ts

I will be offering prizes when we hit 25, 50 and 100 “likes”.  So click that little thumbs up button to get your name entered into the draw.  And hey!  I’d be thrilled if you shared the link with your FB friends.  The more “likes” the more prizes will be awarded…  which only increases your chances.

So that’s it for today.  Going to go downstairs and cuddle with my man for a little while… maybe even watch a flick before turning in for the night.  Take care all.  🙂