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7 for Sunday
1. Tuesday this week was insane. My day looked like this: everyone up and fed, out to school, came back and facebooked that day’s blog post, edited 6 pictures while choking down breakfast, got my hair highlighted, went to the bank, went to Pilates, went to A&S pork store and the camera store, ate lunch while driving, picked up Timmy from school, went to the stupidmarket, picked up the big boys at school, took big boys to the orthodontist, came home and put away groceries, took Timmy to t-ball and stayed for 15 minutes, drove Jack & Patrick to their baseball game and stayed 15 minutes (picture below is of Jack at bat), went back and picked up Timmy at his t-ball game so John could go to the big boys game to coach, came home and cooked dinner and edited till 3am. My mondays usually look something like this but this was particularly bad.
2. A new little bsquared offering. A cute little keychain with a picture from your session and the bsquared logo on the back. (sorry about the eh pictures of the keychains. I need that macro lens!) Everyone who is doing a shoot with me gets one keychain included with their order as a little thank you. Additional keychains can be purchased for $5 each.
3. A few shots of Patrick outside of Sushi-ya. Had the camera, it was nice light and there were some good ‘urban decay’ stairs. Couldn’t help myself.
4. Have a new little dream. Ok, so it’s not so little but it’s still a dream. There’s an old dilapidated house in town that I eye everytime I pass it. It’s a 2 family old victorian on a residential and commercial block and I want it. There’s a (potentially) amazing wrap around porch, a huge yard in the back that I could landscape just the way I want for shooting outside. It would be so cool to turn it into the bsquared studio! I have such visions for it, but not the funds to buy it. But you never know…
5. Bought Timmy some new games (all educational) and they are so fun. He really loves them and of course, there are pictures.
6. Just have to make it thru this weekend, next week and weekend and then I’ll be cutting back to working only one day a weekend. Which is a really good thing- I’m exhausted!! I also have to get to work on the bsquared Sept-December shooting schedule. That should be up around the 1st week of June. Stay tuned…
7. It was a struggle to get to 7 today! I haven’t even touched the pictures from Jamaica yet but had to post one of the boys. Yah, mon. Respect.
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timmy’s 1st t-ball games
It’s official. Everyone in this house is all about the baseball. Well, everyone except for me- I just take the baseball pictures. Timmy started t-ball and although he missed the 1st two games (one cause he was getting over the whole asthma thing and the other cause we were in Jamaica) he finally got to start this week. John is managing Timmy’s team (isn’t he the best daddy?!) and still coaching Jack & Patrick’s team. Makes things very interesting when both teams play on the same night.
Anyway, here are some shots from Timmy’s first 2 games.
Yes, he really is that little compared to other kids his age. Kinda sad. (Timmy and his BFF Jack. Jack’s dad is one of the coaches for their t-ball team.)
Love, love, love the tongue hanging out all the time. And the head that is just too little for the batting helmet.
Jack & Patrick have been helping out during the games on 1st and 3rd bases. Although for this game we had to leave after 15 minutes cause their game was starting. Again, those nights are very interesting.
Jack at bat and his littlest brother Brady (aka my boyfriend) with their mom/my friend Jen. Jen’s going to be starting her own business very soon. I’m not allowed to share what it is yet, but I promise I’ll let you know as soon as I can. I’ll be helping out with some pictures for her website and product so you’ll definitely see everything on the blog sooner or later. And yes, Jen was the one who was my first bsquared employee who is now leaving me already to concentrate on her own venture. I’ll be introducing you to bsquared’s newest assistant soon.
Really, could the kid be any cuter? I know I’m biased and all, but seriously.
I’m off for 8 shoots over the next two days- wish me luck!
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10 for Tuesday
As usual, the pictures have nothing to do with the 10. Just something nice to look at. They are just a few from a communion this weekend where I took pictures and we were also guests.
1. I don’t know if I’ll make it all the way to 10 today. Do my best though.
2. We are off to Jamaica (the island, not Queens) tomorrow until Sunday. At least I am. Waiting for clearance from the doctor for Timmy. More on that in a minute. I have my Xanax all ready for the flight and I’m really looking forward to a great weekend down there with sun, sand, and a fabulous wedding to shoot! Have I mentioned that I love my job? I’m going to Jamaica to shoot a wedding. And someone’s paying me to! Unbelieveable!!
3. If you didn’t read yesterday’s blog post, just a quick recap. Timmy spent the night (from 9pm to 2:10am) in the ER at Winthrop. His asthma was really kicking up despite nebulizing him with Albuterol all day on Sunday. He was really wheezy and sounded tight and was panting/retracting. And needing another treatment every 2hrs instead of every 4. It was pretty scary for both of us but they took really good care of him at the hospital. It was craaaaazy busy in the ER last night. He seems to be doing a little better and now has a prescription for oral steroids in addition to the albuteral via nebulizer every 4hrs. Plus the generic zyrtec and the a/c on full blast in his room. I’m hoping it helps.— UPDATE: Just back from the Dr. and we are good to go to Jamaica. Timmy too. The wheeze is gone! Still have to nebulize every 4hrs today, every 6hrs tommorrow, every 8 on Thurs, etc. and stay on steriods for another 2 days. But he’s better and I’m so relieved.
4. Saw the oddest thing possibly ever in the history of seeing odd things. I saw these 3 large african american men in the parking lot of Target today. They were kinda scary looking (and okay, before you get all politically correct on me- they weren’t scary because they were black guys, they would’ve been scary no matter what race they were) and big and tough and tattooed and gang looking. But… they were flying kites. In the parking lot of Target. Huh.
5. Not sending Timmy to school today so looks like I’m missing my highlights appointment (which I really could have used) and Pilates (which I also really could’ve used). Hope to reschedule for when I get back.
6. Patrick has lost 3 teeth in the last 2 weeks but needs to have another 4 pulled according to the orthodontist. The kid is going to be the toothless wonder.
7. Just saw my cousin (cousin in law technically) on TV in an SNY commercial. The ‘ball buster’ one with the cops in the store. Go Billy!!! Tried to find it on YouTube but couldn’t.
8. Not sure if the blackberry will work in Jamaica or not. So if you email or call me while I’m away you may or may not get a reply. If not, I’ll get back to everyone on Monday or Tuesday. If I don’t die in a firey plane crash that is.
9. Just booked 5 shoots in the last 2 days. Not many spots on the calendar thru the end of July. The Sept-Dec calendar will be available at the beginning of June so be on the lookout for that.
10. Good music makes editing go much faster. In heavy rotation on my playlist at the moment: Tighten Up (the black keys), Kandi (one eskimo), Shimmer (fuel), Sweet Disposition (the temper trap), Avalon (roxy music), Waiting for somebody (paul westerberg), Skinny Love (bon iver), Let Go (the turn), I Turn my Camera On (spoon), Shoot you Down (apb), Long Black Veil (Dave Matthews), House of Cards (radiohead), Watching the Detectives (elvis costello), One Tree Hill (u2) and about a zillion more. What are you listening to?
Hah, I made it.
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10 for Tuesday
*disclaimer: none of the pictures in this post (other than the first one) have anything to do with the subject matter. I just liked them and they are new so they are in the post today.
1. Having a bit of a mommy crisis. The boys are really wanting to hang out with their friends on their own, but I’m not a big fan of that at this time. By hanging out on their own I mean heading up to the pizza place or walking around town with them with no destination in mind. Apparently quite a few of their friends are doing this as of late. Uh….no. Absolutely nothing good can come of that in my opinion. They are TEN! Not to mention the fact that they are TEN. Are you getting that they are ten? I have no problem dropping them at the pizza place or movie, or another actual destination when I know some kind of parental supervision will be on hand. Not hovering, just on hand. I mean, do I really think that at ten they have the capacity to get themselves out of a possible sticky or dangerous situation all on their own? No. Especially not with a bunch of other 10 year olds they would be hanging out with making the same possible bad decisions. And I’m not saying any of the kids that are hanging out in town are bad kids. I just don’t think they are ready. And if they are ‘hanging out’ and walking aimlessly around town at TEN, what the hell will they be doing at 13? Where do they go from here?? So true what they say, the bigger the kid, the bigger the problem. Ugh, being the mom is hard! And with middle school starting in September, I know it’s only going to get harder.
2. Looks like the bsquared calendar is getting pretty booked up thru the end of July. If you are thinking about booking a shoot for the summer, you may want to do that soon. Here’s a link to the current calendar which is constantly updated: http://www.bsquaredphotography.net/?page_id=6157 I may end up having a number of times available on 5/23, so if you are interested in that date, just shoot me an email and I’ll let you know if it becomes available.
(working on a little sunflare)3. The bsquared calendar for Sept-December will be available at the end of May or early June. I’ll put up an announcement here on the blog, on Facebook (on both my personal page and on the bsquared page) and will send out an email if you’ve contacted me about setting up a fall shoot.
4. I’m leaving in a week and a day with the whole family to Jamaica (the island, mon. Not Queens.) to shoot a fabulous destination wedding. Just going for the weekend but it should be an awesome, awesome time! Can’t wait to take THOSE pictures and or course, tons of the boys on the beach too! Of course I am not at all looking forward to the flying part of the trip but I got my new Xanax prescription and I’m good to go. Ok, maybe not good, but hopefully not as bad as usual.
5. I am about 7 shoots behind in editing, which after the weekend with 6 shoots and 1,731 pictures taken is really not so bad. But you know I’d rather be caught up!! If you are waiting for your shoot to be posted, I promise it’s coming soon. Working as hard as I can. Oh, and that doesn’t include the 8 orders I have on my dining room table I still have to pack and get out to clients. Those are coming too!
6. Had Timmy’s CPSE meeting last week which went really well and I’m so happy to say that he is ‘graduating’ from PT and OT at the end of this school year in June! After spending 4 years (between him and the big boys) in that waiting room, I couldn’t be happier to be done. He’ll definitely need some OT help once Kindergarten starts but I’m pretty confident that the school will give him the extra help he needs with writing and grip. The OT in the building is really nice and seems like she is really on top of her game and already knows Timmy and what he needs. Omg, kindergarten! Really?? I still cannot/refuse to believe it.
7. On the Kindle front- recently finished The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. Eh. Could’ve totally done without that one- it’s like the same book as the last one, just with a different setting. (The DaVinci Code I really liked). Took me forever to read it cause I just wasn’t invested in the story. Now onto Horns by Joe Hill (who is Stephen King’s son and an excellent writer) and I am loving it. One of those can’tputitdownandcan’twaittoseewhathappensbutdon’twantittoend books. His other book, Heart Shaped Box, was great too. Definitely recommend both. Still have about 12 books in the Kindle on the ‘to read’ list not to mention all the ones out recently I still want to buy and read. You know, in my free time.
8. Been doing Pilates twice a week over at ABSession in town(this will be my 3rd week) and I’m really really enjoying it. Been doing personal training with Karen (who is kicking my ass. In the best way possible.) and I really like it although it’s safe to say that I am miserably out of shape and completely spastic. But that’s okay cause I know that will change. Eventually. Well, maybe not the spastic part so much….
9. Did a shoot this past weekend for one of those “we should have been friends already” people. Jen was awesome, as were her three gorgeous girls and is a great bsquared PR agent –before she’s even seen her pictures!!! She is also a very talented makeup artist and I am hoping to introduce her to some of my upcoming brides or anyone who is looking for fantastic makeup for a shoot with me, or just an event. If you are in need of a fantastic makeup artist, email me and I’ll hook you up with Jen! She’s going to do my makeup for my own shoot (which I hope to do in September- have lots of ideas on that one) and I can’t wait!
10. Ok, so I’m finishing up writing this post at 2:28am. Why? Because I fell asleep in the black hole that is Timmy’s bed from 9pm-11:30pm and now I’m wiiiiiiide awake. Stupid, comfy, warm and cuddly black hole. I can’t escape your clutches.
11. (I know, it’s supposed to be 10- so sue me. It’s my blog. I’ll do what I want. Mleh.) If you head over to the bsquared photography Facebook page (link to your left) and “like” it (now you don’t become a fan anymore, now you just like it. Semantics but whatever.) two things are going on:
– If I get to 500 people who ‘like’ my page, I’ll be doing another bsquared photography gift card giveaway. I think I’m over 452 now so we’re close. Tell your friends to ‘like’ it too and we’ll get there soon!
-I have a new topic up on the discussion board (to find that, just go to the bsquared facebook page and look at the top of the page where you will find a discussions tab. Click on that and you’ll be there) about offering a new product to bsquared clients- an accordian mini book. I’m looking for some opinions to see if there is any interest in these as add ons to your bsquared shoot ($50 for a set of 3 books). If you leave a comment on the discussion board mini books topic, you could get a set for 1/2 off. Can’t wait to hear what you think, so leave me a comment today.
Hope everyone has a great Tuesday. Go take some pictures!
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10 for Tuesday
1. I got John some luggage for his birthday last week. Why luggage you might ask? Well, the man has pretty much everything else and will NEVER tell me what he wants for his birthday. Other than the $12,000.00 Rolex that isn’t in the budget at the moment. He has this ridiculous dinky duffle bag that he takes all the time on our trips with no wheels or anything. So after hearing him complain about the bag, I bought him a new wheelie bag. And pretty much from the moment it’s been here at the house, Timmy has decided it’s his. In the funniest way possible.
Oh, and it’s muggage, not luggage. Just so you know.
He made me take him for a walk outside while inside the luggage. Too freakin funny.
2. My first week on the cleanse diet/weight watchers I lost 4 lbs. Not bad- I’ll take it! Only 46 more to go although I think I gained 2 back over the weekend…
3. Timmy at the dinner table this week: “Mommy, you are my princess”. Melt! And some of his other sayings that are my favorites lately: Yeddow (yellow), tippitty top, ear muffins (ear muffs), renember, nudgie (for nuggie), it smells funky in here.
4. Started Pilates last week and I really like it. Although I’m sore in places I didn’t even know existed. I’ll be going twice a week for private training sessions with Karen for the next few months and am actually looking forward to it!! We’ll see about that after this weeks ‘real’ training sessions (last week was just an introduction, this week is the real deal. Oh deeeeer.)
5. Monday’s are the suckiest, craziest day of the week for me. Just a slice of my day: after going to bed at 3am Sunday night, up at 8:15 brought all boys to school (forgot Timmy’s backpack so had to run all the way home to get it and get him back in time- just made it), came home and answered/wrote 23 emails, blogged and facebooked the post, return 6 phone calls (with a bunch I didn’t get to), burned 6 discs, edited a shoot, uploaded 3 shoots for printing, packed 6 orders- 3 of which were packed to be mailed, decided I need a very part time assistant, balanced my checkbook, started editing another shoot, got Timmy from school, went to PT/OT where I paid bills for an hour, went to Subway for my lunch (at 3pm), came home shoved lunch in my face in 7 minutes, left to pick up the big boys at school, took Timmy to CATS and while he was there went to A&S Pork Store, dropped off two client DVDs, got Timmy, got gas (which was literally 1 gallon short of completely empty), came home again, said bye to the big boys and John and Grandpas who were leaving for the Mets game, made dinner, gave Timmy a bath, put him to bed and am now writing this blog post and working on editing a shoot. I loathe Mondays.
6. Looking forward to the 6 shoots coming up this weekend. And hoping against hope to catch up with the 6 shoots still to edit before the weekend. Haha- pretty funny, no!?
7. And it seems as though I have found my very part time assistant! My good friend Jen will be starting today (praise god!) and helping me out with lots of behind the scenes work so I can spend more time editing and less time running around. She’ll be helping me out one or two mornings a week with packing orders, ordering supplies, emailing clients with pick up information, picking up finished photos at the camera store, filing clients papers, obtaining photo permits, shipping orders at the post office and the like. I’m so excited to finally have some help and the wait is nothing but self imposed. I’m pretty much a control freak and hate giving that up at all. But I know Jen well and we are made from the same anal-retentive cloth so I have no worries!!
8. I have Timmy’s CPSE meeting this morning which is really just a formality since it looks like he’ll be ‘graduating’ from PT and OT at the end of the school year. I still want to get him speech but they aren’t giving it up. They did tell me at the Kindergarten screening that he is flagged for speech/articulation for next year. Better late than never I suppose, but seriously if they had just given it to him already he would’ve been done. Grrrr.
9. The big boys have been going to Coach Bryan at Batting 1000 in Freeport for a few months now and the difference is huge! He’s a great coach and the boys (even Timmy) just adore him. He’s a funny guy with a great way with the boys. When I walked in one day and forgot what the boys were wearing, I looked at them (from the back, from far away) and didn’t think they were my kids!
Timmy starts Tball in a few weeks so Coach Bryan pitches him a few sometimes too.
Coach Mike often works with them too and the boys have come such a long way with him. They were SO scared of him in the beginning but they know that when he gives you a compliment you really earned it. My favorite Coach Mike story is that a kid came in to the place with his mom carrying his equipment bag. Mike asked the mom for the bag which she gave to him and he promptly opened up the door to the outside, and chucked the bag into the 2 feet of snow in the street. He then told the kid- ‘now, go get it. your mom doesn’t carry your bag’. Love that!
10. Can’t wait for tonights LOST episode. I’m so hooked again (not that I ever wasn’t but now more than ever). Loved the Hurley/Libby episode last week and the whole crossover to the alternate reality. And everytime they show this week’s preview with the Willy Wonka narrative in the background (‘theres no earthy way of knowing, which direction we are going…and they are certainly aren’t showing any signs that they are slowing’) I get the chills! I’m going to be so sad when the series is over and they had better give some kind of answers when it’s all wrapped up or I’m gonna freak out!!