Monday Mania

Ah....Monday. When did I become the person excited about Mondays? Oh, right...when my "weekends" turned into two 14 hour plus days of work with six hours of fitful sleep in between. Mondays involve lots of work too, but I can do that work barefoot and I can delay taking a shower and I don't have to be *nice* to anyone. Score one for the hermit.

So in honor of the fact that it is Monday. I'm going to bullet through a list of things making me ri.dic.u.lous.ly happy today.

• Fresh Basin: This is the color I picked for the new office walls. For my scrapping friends, it's almost identical to the blue green Hambly uses on their dots overlay. For my non scrapping friends, think aqua with a little more blue. It is VIBRANT. I was SCARED TO DEATH. But it looks AMAZING!! I'm going to be making (gasp...MAKING) some corally red pillows to go on the cream colored sofa that will be making its home in the new office. I am so pumped about this color combination. I may just take up residence in the new office and never leave! Pics coming soon!
• Three Weeks: Three weeks today I will begin the proofing process on our final wedding of a 13 week stretch. We have one more wedding, but that's not until New Year's Eve. For the record, agreeing to a 13 week stretch was a very bad idea. Next year I've set our schedule to include at least one weekend off every month. I believe this will make me a much happier person. Love.
• Mama Claus is coming to town: My mother, Florida resident for the past 16 years, will see SNOW on Christmas. She's coming HERE!!!!! Of course this means she's going to whine whine whine about how COOOOOOOOLD it is, but that's okay. I haven't spent a Christmas with my mother since 2003, and before that I hadn't spent a Christmas with her since 1999. That's what happens when you work in television. No holidays off. No travel. So yeah, excited!
• Quilts!: I have a new love. I've been a comforter girl for a long time. I always thought quilts were too "country" for my taste. And then I began looking for something for my new guest room. And I became obsessed. So thanks to my good friends at Overstock.com, two beautiful quilts will be arriving at my door in 5 to 10 business days. One will adorn my guest bed. The other will go on the master bed. Along with new sheets and pillows. Yes, I spent too much money this weekend.
• Fall: It's here. The leaves are amazing and make me happy to be alive. It's chilly in the morning but warms up during the day. The air smells different. Now, I know there are some fall haters out there (cough...Sara Smith...cough) because it means an end to flip flops and the fast approach of winter but to them I say....just embrace it. Seize the day...and the pumpkin spice latte....and the hot apple cider. We'll tackle winter when we have to, right?

Now I'm going to go make the to do list for today. And since it's Monday, I get to look forward to yoga. And when I say look forward to yoga, I really mean look forward to the last five minutes of yoga that involve laying on a mat in the dark.

Happy Monday!

Um, yeah...

So it's been a while. Life is busy. And it's going to get busier. Lots of good stuff going on, but still. I kind of want to say, "Can you just wake me up in November?" but the truth is I know November will be busy too. And December. And January. In February it will be too cold and snowy to do anything.

So yeah, busy.

But I have been taking pictures. Lots and Lots of pictures. Many of which you can see on the photography blog. You know about that, right? I don't feel like linking here. But if you don't know where it is...let me know :)

I should share some pics here, no?

Here's a few images soon to fill the pages of my september 2008 album:

9/6/08: Yes it is possible to spend 7 dollars on tomatoes. But they're worth every penny when they come from the tomato people at the farmers market.

9/10/08: I should have taken a picture of the look the postal employee gave me when I walked in the door with this stack of boxes. Luckily, they were all prepaid and good to go. I don't think she planned to be very nice to me.

9/15/08: Yoga. Week 2. I'm still not bendy, but I'm working on it. And I didn't laugh this time, even when one of the guys in our class was breathing like Darth Vader.

9/16/08: Lunch date with Luke and Ang. Near death experience involving acorns. While I was happy to see Luke and I were color coordinated...I must now buy him some orange and blue attire to make up for the clear presence of garnet and gold here.

9/17/08: I have a thing for the moon. I mean not in an, "I want to be an astronaut" sort of way. Too much science involved in that. More like, "Isn't it cool that everyone sees the same moon?" kind of thing. So I was super pumped to see the moon hanging out over my backyard when I let Walker out to pee yesterday morning.

So that's that. Today's picture is likely to be my new hair cut. Provided it isn't awful. But I love my hair guy, so I have high hopes.

Happy Thursday all!

Postcards from the Edge: Midweek Edition

To whom it may concern:

There are several issues of late that require prompt attention in order to prevent the total and complete loss of my sanity. For the sake of time and easy reference, I will list these issues in bullet form.

• Issue 1: Personal Accountability: When did it become socially acceptable to make your poor decisions someone else's responsibility? What purpose does this serve? Nobody is made happy when this happens. Nothing is corrected. So let's all put our big kid underwear on and act like grownups.
  
• Issue 2: Weather: Why must it be so lovely outside when I have 500 images to edit? Likewise, why must the forecast call for rain ALL WEEKEND when I am scheduled to drive 4 hours to shoot an engagement session.
• Issue 3: Packers Coverage: They won on Monday. Number 12 didn't suck. It's now Wednesday. I have heard about how he doesn't suck now for 3 days. Tomorrow we will begin the coverage about whether or not number 12 will suck against the Lions on Sunday. Is it possible to have one day a week where we're not talking about Aaron Rodgers? And while we're at it, I don't think he's cute. Please don't perceive this as anti-Packers. It's more that I am tired of the SAME STORY every. single. day.
  
• Issue 4: Window Screens: Can we make them stronger? Because I'm on the verge of putting bars on my windows to prevent the dog from jumping to his death. If stronger screens are not feasible, I'll take stronger drugs for both myself *and* the dog.
  
• Issue 5: Using Your Words: A personal note to the yahoo currently on Hannity and Colmes: you sound stupid when you call the show host an idiot and a fool and spout phrases that involve the words "g-- d----" I may never agree with your point of view, but I will respect you more if you can express your views using an educated vocabulary.
  

Thank you for your time and attention.
Sincerely,
A girl on the edge, who is still sore from Monday night's yoga torture, but looking forward to next week for the relaxation benefits alone.

Bring on the Bendy

I will start by saying in theory, yoga is contrary to just about everything I am.

Yoga promotes peace and stress relief. Dude, I worked in television news for more than 5 years. You will find no peace there. Now I follow brides around all day trying not to loose my mind when I'm herding cats for formal portraits. It's even better when the cats are drunk. Stress relief? What's that?

The idea of me, totally unflexible stressed out ME, taking a yoga class...well, let me know when you're done laughing. But last night, I did it. I walked into the Y with my mat over my shoulder and took my first yoga class. You can blame Barb. Or rather, blame the sleep deprivation that inspired me to say this would be a good idea when she brought it up.

What can I say about the yoga experience? Well, I had a couple of major fears going into it. First, the laughing. I laugh when I'm uncomfortable. Which reminds me of the time I started cracking up when one of my best friends in high school puked in the parking lot. I felt terrible for her, and yet I couldn't stop laughing. So knowing that I was going to be a fish out of water in said yoga class, I was very very worried that I was going to bust a gut. I told Barb I would be unable to look at her throughout the class because it would contribute to the laughing.

My second fear involved bodily functions. It's quiet in there. There is lots of stretching and contorting and "relaxing every muscle." I live in fear of being "too relaxed" in the yoga studio. You know you know what I'm talking about.

I am happy to report my bodily functions fear was unfounded. I kept it all under control. Now the laughing. Well. I couldn't help it! Somehow Barb and I wound up facing eachother. In a pose that involved standing on one foot and touching the ground with your hand and the other one was up in the air and well...it was ridiculous. And it started off as a quivering lip that I bit really really hard. And then it turned into a giggle, which I tried to disguise as a cough. I don't think anybody bought the coughing. I calmed myself down with thoughts of how humiliated I would be to be kicked out of my very first yoga class for being a disruption. For the remainder of the evening I was very conscious of making sure Barb and I were never facing eachother.

Perhaps next week we'll have to stay on opposite ends of the room. Yes, there will be a next week. If for no other reason than for the last five minutes of the class you get to lay in the dark and breathe. And if I ignore the instructor talking about floating on a raft and I forget about the guy with the hairy armpits laying just a couple of feet away from me, that five minutes is worth 55 minutes of yoga torture.

So, bring on the bendy. A little downward dog never hurt anyone right?

Report Card Time...

Now that it's September I thought I would go back and evaluate my progress on my August Goals...

Oh, and I decided giving myself an F on anything would be too harsh...hence the incompletes. :)

Food:I want to track my points every day this month.

Grade: B+

I've been really good about tracking. The only exception was Angie's little get together this weekend. It's hard to track those snacking type evenings.

I want to get all of my water in daily, at least 6 glasses

Grade: A

I am a water drinking queen. I am also almost entirely pop free!

5 fruits or veggies every day.

Grade: A

I think summer really helps me get the fruits and veggies in. I can't resist fresh produce!

Try one new recipe a week.

Grade: B

I think I tried 3 new recipes...pretty close to one a week.

I'd like to lose 2 pounds a week for a total of 8 pounds over four weigh ins.

Grade: A

Made it, with a little extra.

Exercise:Four trips to the gym every week.

Grade: Incomplete

This goal is being carried over to September. I didn't make it to the gym last month, at all.

Walks after dinner with the dog 5 nights a week.

Grade: Incomplete

Poor Walker. I had good intentions.

Edit 200 photos a day Monday, Tuesday and Thursday to keep up on weddings.

Grade: B

I was doing really well until we got towards the month. I'm hoping to keep this up through September.

Blog at least 20 times in August.

Grade: D-

6 blog entries. Not quite 20.

Plan a fun date night for Karl and I.

Grade: Incomplete

Planning a date night would involve my husband actually being in town. September is looking better though. So we'll carry that one over too.

September goals to come this week...