I really wanted to go see the new Alice in Wonderland movie tonight with Michael and Brenna. The left a while ago to go see it at the IMax theater. I decided to pass on going for a couple of reasons. Reason 1. My stomach has been acting a bit funky since yesterday. I don’t know if I am fighting a virus? Or if its something I ate, but the baby must have a touch of it too because she has been mostly miserable. That is NOT cool. Reason 2. The baby has been mostly miserable, and I would need to take her to the theater with me. I would NOT be one of those people who take a baby/child into a theater and keep them in there while making noise, and with her being so little, and also not feeling great, I just wasn’t comfortable going.

I wanted to have costumes for all of us–Quinn as the Tea Mouse, Brenna as the Hatter, Mike the March Hare and myself the Red Queen, or the Caterpillar. I just didn’t anything done except Brenna’s Hatter costume. Michael pulled pieces from his closet to do the March Hare…all he needed was scruffy ears and whiskers! Dang it…we ran out of time.

But Brenna’s costume came out killer good! I realized when I was sizing the pics down that she forgot to put on the purple cravat. Ah well… I will have her put it on for studio pics.

   I love costuming. I could have done it for a living. Don’t think I could do it here in Harford County though and relocating to New York City or California permanently wasn’t for me.

Weighing In: Today Quinn is 5 weeks old, and today I got down to what I recall as the number closest to my pre-pregnancy weight. Nice! It doesn’t mean that I have reached my goal weight. That is a much longer range goal. Due to the multitude, or plethora, if you will, of problems I had with my back, neck and shoulder in the year to 18 months prior to being pregnant I gained 30 lbs back from the weight I had lost. Bah freaking BOO. Dang but as hard as it is to lose weight its that much more easy to gain the weight back. So. Not. Fair. My neck and back have been pretty good since I was pregnant and since I had Quinn, so I am praying that with supplements and taking care of myself as I should I can keep the nerve pain and pinching away. Too many car accidents, horseback riding spills and mishaps jacked my spine up to the point where I have developed quite an extensive amount of arthritis and degeneration in my spine. S U X greatly but at this point I am working on not losing any more movement and halting the degeneration. Lots of Omega Fatty Acids and supplements to repair the damage. The weight gain came from sitting about not moving because of severe pain when I did well, pretty much anything. Walking, gardening, sewing…it all hurt..so forget about bike riding, swimming, tennis. Feh.

I started at about 188lbs before being pregnant and wearing a 14-16 in jeans. The day before Quinn was born I was at 229 lbs. I am back down to 188 lbs as of today. I keep bouncing 2-3 lbs up and down from the 188lbs, but its staying right in the 188-191lbs range.

I notice several things about keeping the weight loss continuing:

1. I need to make sure I get up at a decent hour and eat 3 good meals a day with good protein and good low glycemic snacks.

2. I MUST drink at least 6 big glasses of ice cold water a day. At LEAST. And the more I drink the more I crave it. Not bad for it being winter and COLD. I figure it will be a lot easier to do as the weather warms up.

3. I have been taking Fenugreek to keep my milk supply up for the baby. When I slacked off on it the weight loss slowed down. Hmm. I started researching and saw that some people claim that Fenugreek helps reduce the glycemic load of some foods. DING DING DING. OK…Fenugreek after each meal it is! When I started being diligent about that, the weight loss picked up.

4. Take my vitamins and supplements. When I am not taking them, I feel funk, don’t want to eat right and well, ick. Not good for my spine or general health to be a slacker..and not good for Quinn either since she is getting my nutrition for me. So, NO SLACKING on my vitamins and supplements.

5. It really helped when I was able to get out and walk. We have had 2- 3 feet of snow on the ground continuously for the last 3 weeks, or the temperatures outside were in the teens. Brrr. I was going to the mall and walking a couple of times a week. I am sure that helped, even though it made me bleed more as I was healing up from Quinn’s birth. The bleeding did stop about 3 weeks after her birth and I am all healed up now. So , dur, I need to exercise. No surprise there. My body is super efficient at conserving calories. If I do not move, I do not lose. In fact, I will gain. Dang it all. I might not be sporting what society deams today’s ideal figure, but dude…in a famine I will outlive all those skinny bzatches! buahahaha I don’t need to eat much to survive and my body is good about conserving and utilizing what I do consume. Don’t hate. ;^) Bad thing now is this week the clutch blew on Michael’s car and well, we are going to have to pray in funds because they aren’t there right now. He is having to use my van until the car is repaired so I am stuck at home.

I won’t get started on that because its too depressing to contemplate for too long. I will rest in that God knows our needs…He has never failed to supply for us…I have prayed and given it over to Him and will continue to seek Him. I refuse to stress about the car. Onwards and upwards….

My goal for my weight is that by the end of the summer (hopefully sooner but I will be realistic on this) to lose to 150-160lbs. I want to be in a size 8-10 pants, so I am not worried about the number on the scale as much as how I look. I am 5’6″ and carry a lot of muscle mass. The charts “say” I could go from 120-140lbs. Umm well.. at 120 I would look anorexic and I don’t know how realistic 140 could be for my particular body type. If I can get down to 150 I will know I will be at the point where I can schedule to get this darned hernia repaired that got MUCH worse with this pregnancy. Also from my initial weightloss (from wearing a size 22-24 down to a 12ish) I am desperately in need of a tummy tuck. This gal is just too white for her skin to stretch back after many years of carrying that extra weight. This isn’t just a vanity thing, my skin is a mess and …well, its really not pretty or healthy. :^/ I am just glad I didn’t have a tummy tuck BEFORE I was pregnant with Quinn. I know I can lose two pants sizes off my hips and stomach with a tummy tuck. I can’t express how frustrating it is to NOT be able to get rid of this mess through diet and exercise. Bah. Or how bad it is to get rashes and skin irritation in the summer. Or winter. Or whenever. Enough of that but you get the idea.

Sew’n and Such: I love to sew…crochet…make clothing, costumes, etc. I do make clothing for myself, Michael and Brenna, but having a little one again to sew for is giving me major “itches” to sew. The clothing is so fun, makes up so quickly and, face it…making clothing for someone that doesn’t yet have an opinion as to what the clothing looks like is a major plus. I can decide the color, style, print, etc. without a battle, boo-boo lip or disappointed look sent my way. Sew, er, so while I have a year+ of this option available to me I am going to take advantage of it. I have been scouring the net for free patterns and voraciously reading blogs by those sewing for girls/babies. Wow. LOTS more out there than when Brenna was a baby! Could it be that the web has created a bit of a sewing Renaissance? If so, that is an incredibly awesome thing. I have found a bunch of neat things to make for Quinn, and also my niece who is 6. If I am ambitious I might make something for her baby brother, who will be 2 in July. Patterns and instructions for things such as a kimono shirt/dress, making a dress from a man’s dress shirt, 1 hour sundress, pillowcase dress, twirly dress are the things I have found that immediately come to mind. I will have oodles of options of things to make. Not to mention that I still have all the patterns I bought/used when Brenna was a babe, or for my niece, or for friend’s babes and grand-babes. I also am sort of swimming in fabric. Ahem. That is a topic in and of itself. ;^)

Designing Interiors: Quinn’s crib and dresser,etc. are in our room since we have such a large bedroom. Readying the room for her furniture meant we could get busy working on our room as far as purging, rearranging, etc. One of the things we did was remove the headboard on our king size waterbed. I was really over the 80s style headboard…after almost 20 years we had gotten our money’s worth from it and it definitely was no longer a style I was enamored of–bookcase with mirror, etc. It wasn’t ugly…just…eh. My long dresser also has a similar style topper to it. That is going to be removed and replaced with a long rectangular mirror that is edged in black iron swirls. There is a head board we are looking at at Ikea that is also black iron swirls that costs under $100. If the head board isn’t wide enough I am going to widen it by adding wooden posts to either side and stain them the honey pine color to match the rest of the bedroom set. I also want to get an iron blanket stand. My pine one has some “issues”–namely that where the feet attached is stripped and will not stay together. If I can fix the pine one I may use it in the back bedroom. If not, it will be tinder for the firepit out back when the weather warms up. For the walls it looks like we may paint the room an orchid color or a dusky orchid. I would like the colors in the room to be sage green, cream, and orchid purple. The curtains are a darker sage green. I am going to make covers for the sofa and chair in a cream color and stamp tone-on-tone cream on it…probably ivy leaves or some such. I found a neat tutorial about using well washed canvas drop cloths to make sofa covers, curtains, etc. I have been wanting to use an off white canvas or denim for the covers so the canvas is a great idea. As the weather is warming up we will work on the walls. This weekend we are redoing the waterbed as some of the board have warped underneath. NOT a good deal if that were to collapse.

Gimme Some Green: Last year my intention was to make sure we put in at least tomatoes, peppers, salad greens, cucumbers and a few salad herbs. I even bought a few tomato plants. :^/ They wound up not getting in the ground, languishing and dying in their pots. Terrible! I have never done that before. Since we have had snow on the ground for most of the last 3 months, again a highly unusual occurance, the normal February itch to start gardening is much worse than it normally is. Catalogs from my favorite seed and plant vendors are coming in the mail tempting me. Emails from seed suppliers and gardening experts tease me mercilessly. A friend who is on Facebook that lives in the Pacific Northwest posted about starting on her Spring gardening chores, which unleashed a storm of envy in me as I looked out the back door at the two feet of snow still on the ground. How I wish I had done some Winter-Sowing! I guess with all the snow on the ground, I still could do so. The difficult part would be finding soil to use that isn’t frozen. Or even at this time of year trying to find potting soil in the stores, other than in 10lb bags. I have oodles and oodles of seed and plenty of containers, but without soil. Or heck, not even being able to see the ground, it will be a bit difficult to put the containers out.

OK I am off to try to place some orders for clients while the baby is sleeping. I really could use a nap already though. Quinn didn’t rest great last night due to waking up with gas pains. I am falling asleep while I type this. I guess I should have napped while she was…hrm…

I, unfortunately, am not one of those persons who is either highly motivated or highly organized to start preparations for things way ahead of the appointed time. I don’t decorate for Christmas at Halloween or even Thanksgiving time, no, I wait til the week before, and on some occasions we have put the tree up on Christmas Even.

What? You have never done that?

Oft times I am sewing or finishing the making of, and definitely the wrapping of gifts right before walking out the door to a party or dinner date. The planning, thought processes, and beginning execution of a project may start way earlier than the deadline, but the completion rarely happens before its at the “Oh holy crap” point.

Hey, at least I am honest about it.

And I am trying to get better about it.

So with the above confession as to my procrastination/slackerneess/slothfulness it should come as no surprise that the due date for baby Quinn McKenna being January 13th, the crib was assembled yesterday. And I haven’t yet purchased a crib set/made a crib set.

Now there are legitimate reasons for this, surprisingly.

First of all, we planned to have the crib in our bedroom, which is quite large and will accomodate it nicely. So the hot-mess that is/was our room has had to be rearranged/cleaned/purged prior to assembling the crib. Michael has been working like a fiend at work, I have been not-so-healthy-feeling-great and it wouldn’t be quite fair to make Brenna do it all, now would it? In our reworking the never-painted-or-fully-decorated-by-us (read that as plain white walls with no prints or anything up) we have decided to update the room, and fairly inexpensively at that. The long dresser which was purchased for me by my mother when I was 12 or so has a very country mirror and shelf top. That is going to be removed and replaced with a pretty cool iron edged Pier One mirror we purchased for the dining room but changed our mind about (opting for a different Pier One arched mirror which we have to hang yet due to the complexity of the operation). The similar style 90s book-case style headboard of the bed will be replaced with an iron head board (likely one we like from Ikea). I will then skirt the bed to update it and camo the useful but outdated Captain’s Pedestal that the oh-so-incredibly-comfortable and warm-in-winter King Sized Waterbed rests upon. I plan to eventually purchase an iron quilt/blanket stand. This Summer I want to make several bookcases and storage items for the room, paint them flat black to coordinate. Our bed clothes are green, curtains are green and the carpet (ugh) is rose. I hope to replace that or at least downplay it as much as possible. Three of the walls we are thinking of painting a dusty orchid or aubergine, and the stairway wall will probably be the lighter tan that is in the Family room below. We have new curtain hardware that is just waiting for painting to be done to be hung, and I have a photo that I took of a violin that I will frame that will be the first piece of artwork to adorn the freshly painted walls. The sofa and loveseat, freebies and well made but worn, I will make cream colored covers for and accent pillows in green, plum and cream (the three colors we are trying to implement into the room). If it comes out in reality the way I “see” it, it will be bangin’. The bathroom I may do in cream and a purple family color but lighter as the room is small and has no windows.

Why they didn’t put a danged window in the room I have NO idea but it frustrates me intensely. Hrmph.

So there IS actually a plan in the works, now just to implement it. Kind of exciting to see how it will turn out. I have other ideas also, such as making a quilted wall hanging of some sort, taking a series of photos to mount on canvas and turn into wall art, etc.

The “family gallery” wall will go in the living room on the other side of the house on the stairwell wall that we have to paint red, also this Spring/Summer. That gallery will be all black and white and sepia images in decorative frames more in keeping with the style of the furniture and such in the room.

So back to the crib. Here is an image of the crib my mother in law so generously purchased as Quinn’s gift for us:

Its a convertible crib that goes to a toddler bed, toddler day bed then a full sized bed. We have to purchase the rails for the full-sized bed and the rail for the toddler bed, which we will do this year to make sure we get while its still available. I am seriously lusting after the armoire that matches it, but its likely I will get the long dresser first, then the armoire and the nightstand. Point being I love the set and even if we don’t use it for Quinn’s room it will make a spectacular spare bedroom set. It was funny that after we got it home I realized that style-wise we have at least 4 other pieces scattered throughout the house that have similar lines. The two tall cabinets in the dining room, new bathroom cabinet in our bathroom, and a chest in the living room as well as the dining room table. Guess that means we are consistent in some regards taste and style wise.

I keep going back and forth as to whether to purchase a bedding set for the crib or just go on ahead and make the whole thing like I did with Brenna. I definitely will make Quinn a biscuit quilt. Brenna loves hers and still uses it (I made it large). But I love the Cocalo Baby set pictured here:

And keep going back to it. I found it for around $132 online, shipped, for the 6 piece set. In actuality I would just like to have the skirt, crib, rug and wall art. I wish they would allow a piece meal purchase of the items but, no such luck. With gift monies we received it would only mean an additional $25 or so out of pocket to order the set. Michael and Brenna like the set a lot too and think we should go ahead and get it. I may just go on and plunge ahead since I consistently return to it every time I look at different sets that are out there. Plus the fact that she is due to arrive in less than two weeks. Even if she likely isn’t going to sleep in the crib yet doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like that corner of the room all decorated and pretty and ready to show off. 

OK that is a little pretentious but you know how good it feels to have something finished, attractive and all set up.

A friend of mine has a dresser that she was just getting ready to re-home, so I am going to get that from her in the next week or so to use for Quinn’s clothes, and like other pieces in the room, I plan to paint it this Spring. I am thinking I will paint it white then do a crackle finish in black over it. Keeping the furniture in the room either that finish or the dark color that is similar to the crib will make a nice look. I don’t do “matchy matchy” with furniture, but things do need to coordinate so I don’t get the twitchies when I look at everything.

I will take pics as we progress on the room plans, but thought I would empty my brain of what was knocking about in there this evening, er, morning.

Insomnia. Ugh. Its 4:30 and I have only slept two hours tonight. Again. I am so ready for her to get here so my body can, Lord willing, get straightened out. I didn’t have these issues with Brenna so I am not sure what is triggeriing this other than the pregnancy. WAY over it and ready to do jumping jacks to encourage her arrival ASAP. ;^)

‘Cept my back would kill me…I just REALLY do not want to go late like Brenna did, which I thing my OB wouldn’t allow at any rate. AND God knows I do NOT want to be induced. I am taking Red Raspberry Leaf and Evening Primrose Oil (which I take anyway but am increasing that) so I am praying these these encourage my body to go go go…

Soon soon soon…

Foto Friday

I love sunflowers! They are so sunny and happy. The fact that they bloom at the end of the summer when everything else is giving up the ghost is just an extra bonus.

Usually to see fields of sunflowers we have to drive over the state line into Lancaster County, PA or go up around the top of the Chesapeake Bay onto the Eastern Shore of Maryland and Delaware.

This year, a farm right up the road from me planted what has to be a hundred acres of sunflowers where the fields border the road. Mr.Calary that owns the farm leases the farm out to a local farmer who instead of corn or soybeans, planted sunflowers as the main crop.

I don’t know about how much the farmer enjoys the sunflowers but I know that I have heard a lot of people talking about these fields and how pretty they are.

I made a push today to get to the fields and take pictures before they were harvested, and I am really glad I did.

Very image heavy post so if you are on slower connection these may take a while to see…

The mushrooms are from our front yard. :^)

Jamaican Supper Mahn

I was trying to come up with something different from my usual bag of tricks to make from the chicken breast I was thawing for supper tonight, while still utilizing what I have here at the house. Not a huge problem as I generally have an extensive selection of herbs and sauces and what-nots. The final decision after tooling through recipes on the net was Jerk Chicken. I hadn’t made Jerk Chicken/Beef/Pork in quite a while and this just sounded really good to me. I added in Basmati rice, cooked red lentils, corn, yogurt with cucumber and lemon, and na’an bread. And I made enough for tomorrow so its a win-win.

It was a hit! We all made quite the lil piggies out of ourselves. lol

Oh and umm… if you cook this inside, be sure there is ventilation. It took opening 3 doors and 3 windows, plus a fan to vent the house. lol The marinade tends to smoke a smidge when cooking.

OK well more than a smidge. But its well worth it.

I would have taken pics but I was on my feet for quite a while as I made this and I was D O N E by the time the food was. Bad photog I am . I will take pics next time round….

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Red Lentils

I simply rinsed them well and made sure there were no stems or odd pieces in there. Common occurance with lentils! I cooked them with vegetable consume’, onion and garlic. Powdered is fine. Cook until tender.

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Cooling Yogurt

Plain yogurt….slice a nice firm cucumber into it (bite sized pieces), and squeeze a half of a lemon. Stil well. Perfect foil for the slightly spicy chicken.

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Na’an Bread (Indian Flat Bread)

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

From the cookbook, “The Sugar Reef Carribean Cookbook,” by Devra Dedeaux.
This is great made with boneless chicken breast, pork and even fish. Thicker chunks of a firm fish is best.
Serve this with flat bread (naan or chapatis), rice, yogurt with fresh lemon juice and cucumber slices, corn on the cob….oh MAN…goooood stuff!

* 1 tablespoon Ground allspice
* 1 tablespoon Dried thyme
* 1 1/2 teaspoons Cayenne pepper
* 1 1/2 teaspoons Freshly ground black pepper
* 1 1/2 teaspoons Ground sage
* 3/4 teaspoon Ground nutmeg
* 3/4 teaspoon Ground cinnamon
* 2 tablespoons Garlic powder or fresh
* 1 tablespoon Sugar
* 1/4 cup Olive oil
* 1/4 cup Soy sauce
* 3/4 cup White Vinegar
* 1/2 cup Orange juice
* 1 Lime juice
* 1 Scotch bonnet pepper (habanero) (in a pinch I use habanero sauce from a jar)
* 3 Green onions — finely chopped
* 1 cup Onion — finely chopped
* 4 to 6 chicken breasts

“JERK: This method of cooking pork and chicken dates back to the Carib-Arawak Indians who inhabited Jamaica. After capturing an animal and thoroughly cleaning and gutting it, the Indians placed it in a deep pit lined with stones and covered with green wood, which, when burned, would smoke heavily and add to the flavor. But first, the carcass was “jerked” with a sharp object to make holes, which were stuffed with a variety of spices. The holes also allowed heat to escape without loss of moisture.
The results were superb. The meat was not only wonderfully spiced, but moist and tender.” (Note: Sugar Reef is a restaurant in Manhattan) Seed and finely chop Scotch Bonnet pepper. Trim chicken of fat. In a large bowl, combine the allspice, thyme, cayenne pepper, black pepper, sage, nutmeg, cinnamon, salt, garlic powder and sugar. With a wire whisk, slowly add the olive oil, say sauce, vinegar, orange juice, and lime juice.
Add the Scotch Bonnet pepper, onion, and mix well. Add the chicken breasts, cover and marinate for at least 1 hour, longer if possible.
Preheat an outdoor grill.
Remove the breasts from the marinade and grill for 6 minutes on each side or until fully cooked. While grilling, baste with the marinade. Bring the leftover marinade to a boil and serve on the side for dipping.

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F R U S T R A T I O N

Or Shaking The Dust Off My Feet

In addition to my own portrait and wedding client photography I do photographic editing for other photographers and a couple of graphic artists/design companies.

Well..
WELL..
As of yesterday one photographer is permanently off my client list.

The job of the day was to edit an image that is for a magazine cover that is local to her area. I have edited images for this magazine for her in the past.

Now let me preface this with saying that this woman really does not have the tehchnical aspects of photography down. Do we all make mistakes? Yes. Are we perfect? No. Do we all need to grow and change and evolve in our professions? Absofreakinlootly. I won’t lie and say that I personally do not have room for improvement.. heck yes I do…
BUT..
If you are putting yourself out there as a professional, asking professional prices, using professional equipment, etc. you have the responsibility to work in a professional manner, behave as a professional towards clients and peers, and produce work of a professional caliber.

She continually fails in all three of these areas. And no, its not _just my opinion. I have actually had multiple occasions to speak to and deal with other professionals that have run afoul of this gal’s ….temperment and work demeanor.

I have put myself out there to be helpful to her in that I given her advice on how to better her imaging (per her specific request). I have helped her with computer issues extensively. I have helped her repeatedly with advice with photographic equipment, lighting, graphic design, and on and on and on.

I have had to set hard lines on appropriate times for her to expect to communicate with me. She continually will call me at 8,9, 10,11 o’clock in the evening wanting to discuss jobs. On my days off, during dinner, during family time. ::blink:: Hello?!

She just doesn’t listen to advice. She hears, but doesn’t do a blasted thing to implement the advice that is given. So why in the heck ask in the first place…?! I DO NOT GET IT. And to quote Anna, I can’t think like that.

So yesterday I edited an image for her for the cover of the magazine. In talking to her she told me that the client said the image was too dark, that there was no separation between the people and the background, and they needed the top extended to allow for the copy and logo for the magazine cover. This was via Facebook chat.

One other thing I Have Asked REPEATEDLY is to EMAIL ME SPECIFIC instructions. Give me all that I need for the jobs (additional images for compositing, layouts for magazines or design, etc.), client requests, time frame that client needs the image(s). You know… STUFF THAT MAKES SENSE to complete a job. Duuuhhhh. Yeah. This is not done 5 out of 7 times.

Now…let me tell you about the image:
1. It was shot it in JPG instead of RAW. That means that extensive editing (which this image desperately needed) it is going to block the colors and shadows up (meaning they will lose information and when the image is printed it will not have good detail), and the highlights will blow (all detail will be gone in the brightest areas).. She said she forgot to set the camera correctly…not cool when you are being paid to photograph people for a client, for an image that is going on a magazine that will have 50,000 copies or more printed.. Not always a big deal because we ALL make errors. Except—
2. The image is VERY underexposed. By about a stop and a half to two full stops (meaning it needed twice the amount of light it received to expose the image correctly). The image was hot at 200 ISO @125sec/4.5. The camera used is a high end camera that can be set up to 3000 ISO without showing grain. She screwed up the shoot. The background is almost black…the mom has black hair and there is no separation between her and what is behind her. Her eyes are black holes…as well as the kids.Dead eyes are an image’s bane.The mother’s head looks like its floating in space. Just a poorly executed image all around. She is a professional?! Learn to use a freaking reflector, bounce card, flash or SET THE DAMNED CAMERA the way it should be set.This is a continual problem with this person….its not a once-in-a-while-oops. The flipping camera all but sets the shot up for you. All she had to do was trust the camera’s meter. Oh but she doesn’t know HOW to use the camera’s meter because she won’t read the instructions. Or take a class. Or do anything that makes sense. Gah.
3. It must have been raining slightly because the subjects have rain splatters all over their clothing. One of the children has a dirty face..his shirt is full of lint and crap and bleh. These are things that should have been checked for BEFORE the shoot. It wouldn’t be a big deal except, SHE NEVER CHECKS THINGS BEFOREHAND!!!! But then she wants me to fix them AND doesn’t want to pay for my time.

OK so those are the big things. It was just a bad image.
I did what I was asked to do. Its still not a great image, but it looks substantially better. As good as its going to get with what I was given.
So I uploaded the edited file and she came back with questions/tweaks. I answered them. She asked. She didn’t like the answers because basically she wanted the image to look like she gave me, but…. better. Ummm… there was no detail in the shadows. And the image is mostly dark tones because of how it was shot, where it was shot and that the image is underexposed.

OK the image looks like crap, you want it to stay looking like crap yet, do what the client wants? You can’t HAVE IT BOTH WAYS.
I didn’t say that to her. lol I just answered her questions.

Then she called me.

It was almost 8 o’clock. This isn’t WORKING HOURS WOMAN. Working hours are 10-6. What. The. Hell.

She called to say she liked the way the “tones, color and clarity” of the original image was more than what I had given her edited. Ok that isn’t a problem BUT the image HAD no tones, color, clarity. It was so underexposed that the mom had the floaty head thing going on, the skin tones were muddy and nasty, the background was black, etc. etc. She started going on about how “Let’s go back to the original image and just do this..and give them that, and etc. etc. Basically saying she wants me to redo the whole image. That she didn’t ask me to do what I did.

I didn’t kowtow to her… I said you DID ask me to separate the people from the bg. You told me on Facebook that the client said there was no separation. You asked me to extend the top. Now she doesn’t like the extension. And now she has something else for me to use. So I was frustrated and said “So basically I need to redo the whole image?” She starts going on to say that I did other than she requested (which I didn’t) and I disagreed with her on it. Not arguing but not agreeing with her. This is a _constant_ issue with her. C O N S T A N T. And that is why I was frustrated. Every single edit I do for her we go through this. She asks for something, I do it, then she decides that isn’t _really_ what she wanted. I am expected to redo it in a short amount of time, and for very little money, and with a lot of bitching.

She goes on to tell me that I am yelling at her (???) and being unprofessional (!!!!) among a bunch of other mess. I then said No I am not yelling, (and Michael was here and HEARD me and I was NOT yelling). I am frustrated. You aren’t understanding why what you want won’t work, and I did what you wanted and now you want me to redo it…AND that isn’t what you told me the client wanted. I just do not want to redo the image three times.” She really has no understanding of what can be done with images and when I try to explain it to her she doesn’t FREAKING listen. She wants what she wants, and she won’t DO what NEEDS to be done to GET what she wants.

She then proceeds to say I am yelling at her. I said NO I am not..but ok.. I apologize if I seem to be yelling because I am frustrated. I just am trying to get you to understand what you can get out of the image.

Meanwhile she is talking over me..and tells me to “Shut up!”.

What. The. Freaking. HECK. ????????

I said EXCUSE ME!? OK..Done…Good bye. And I hung up the phone.

Fifteen minutes later I sent her a letter and told her that she crossed the line one time too many times. That while she may have accused me of being unprofessional but that she blatently was disrespectful professionally and as a friend. I told her that she could use the edited image, or not, that I wouldn’t bill her, that our association was over and that it was time for her to find another editor. I then proceeded to delete her from my Facebook friends list and deleted the FTP account I used to transfer files to and from her.

DONE DONE DONE. After almost three years of her BS I have severed all connections with her.

I am so frustrated… what the heck is with people?! Why is this acceptible behavior to? Why are there people who believe they have leave to treat others with disrespect and to talk to them with less than simple courtesy? I have NEVER told her to shut up–and man I have had many occasions where it was well deserved. I have never been rude to her. If I was even close to wanting to do it, I wouldn’t…its unprofessional and immature. If she thought I was being offensive or something similar, I would apologize to keep the peace. This time was beyond the pale though. My husband in 24 years + of us being together has NEVER told me to shut up. I have never said that to him. (I might have _thought_ it LOL as I am sure he has but who doesn’t at times? *G*) But my point is that I will not be on the receiving end of that treatment, not _even_ when someone is paying me to do work for them. The few hundred dollars I would make over the next couple of months SO. NOT. WORTH. IT.

Did I also mention that I give her exceptionally good prices that are WAY too low? Because I am trying to be a blessing to a small business? Yeah… so much for being appreciated. ::snorts in disgust::

I am pregnant. I have a business that will be exceptionally busy for the next three months. I have a family and friends that are deserving of good things from me. I can’t give good things when I am being fed crap and stressed because of dealing with an overly demanding, unreasonable, disrespectful, disorganized, medication needing personality.

This summer I promised Mike that if she started up again with me this Fall that I would not edit for her anymore. I had already decided that before he asked me to please not let her drive me crazy like she did last year. Last year the holidays were m i s e r a b l e because of her lack of organization and how demanding she is (unreasonably so…all due to her poor business practices). I was not sleeping, having anxiety attacks, etc due to her. THAT IS NOT my personality at ALL and this year I am not risking my sanity OR my health or the health of the baby for a measly couple hundred dollars. NOT worth it.

Man I held it together on the phone but when I got off the phone I lost my religion. I really could go all rogue bzatch on her. She sent me a reply to my email and I am not even going to open or acknowledge it. I had a friend go into my email account, read it and delete it. She said its a good thing I didn’t read it because it would have pissed me off. LOL

I don’t need to have the last word, but in this case I am having it. I am not going to replay or respond to any emails. I will not accept any phone calls. I have deleted all her files off my computer. I am going to wait a month and then I am throwing out the 2 1/2 years of files I have backed up from editing for her.

I am so glad I am not like that. I am far from perfect but I sure don’t leave devastation in my wake like this person does. I have talked to other people who have association with this gal who have had these same problems and worse. I have heard her talk about people and discuss situations where these same issues recur over and over with her clients and with other photographers and her husband and her son and her friends and etc. etc.  

2010 will be a good year. A new baby. Out with a huge stressor in my life. A wonderful family. Amazing friends. A career that I enjoy. A wonderful home. A great church.

I do not want or need people who enjoy drama and create drama where ever they lay their feet. I am “shaking the dust” off my robes and sandals and am leaving that “town” behind me. I am ok with that. She isn’t, obviously, because she had some snarky nasty reply to email. W H A T E V E R. I have to consider the source. Its not a good source. Its an unhappy source. Its a source that is never content. Its a source that is always looking at other people and wanting what they have and one who ever finds contentment in anything.

I am not wired that way and never have been. Thank. God.

Wow…Just Wow

As I said in a post a couple of days ago, I am not normally the world’s most patient person. But I do know how to walk away. I do know restraint. I do know the lines of acceptable behavior.

Obviously, this winner of the “kindler, gentler older gentleman” award knows no such thing.

Stranger Accused of Slapping Crying Child At Store

http://www.kansascity.com/440/story/1420563.html

We have all been distracted/irritated/annoyed by children out of control. By the parents who are out of control and screaming. By a whining toddler.By an annoying child. Its my observation that  95% of the time the true issue is the adult with the child and how they are handling the lil un. If a child is that miserable or is misbehaving, remove them, distract them, feed them, soothe them, and in the case of the sometimes whiney or hard-headed children, discipline them.

But…

BUT… COMON!!!!!

OK so what I am saying? If some sumna gun (hey I am being a good girl and editing myself) touched MY child? His photo wouldn’t look so purty. I would have taken my self and jumped his nasty butt, stomped him with my size 9 feet, then helped him up so I could do it again.

Then I would have called the police.

Don’t mess with the bull or ya gonna get the horns.

What. The. Heck.

What is going on in our society that an adult of this age would DARE lay his hands on a 2 year old little girl?? HOLY WOW!!!!