ReddKatt's Xanga

Umm.. hello

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 02:54:50 GMT

I Am Here..I Am Here...I Am Here...no, really I am...

Ok I am still a bad bad blogger. ::sigh::
I promise to do my best to post something at least once a week. Its not that I am overly busy (at the moment) and its not that I am boring or haven't been doing anything, I just haven't had the motivation to post. Sad isn't it?

Baby Quinn is due January 13th and I am MORE than ready for her to arrive. My body is telling me, well mainly my back (old car accident and horse riding injuries) that "OK Katt...we are done now aren't we?" Umm ok ... if I can do anything to direct her arrival I will do so!

This Winter was a pretty busy one for me for my photography. Seems that all my clients waited until the last moment to place orders. Courtesy of the economy I am sure. That pretty much took up October and November and the beginning of December.

December...I will be glad when its over. In three weeks I lost two of my dogs: Shia and Perry. Shia came down with a sudden illness that turned out to be a tumorous disorder in her intestinal tract/stomach and we had to make the hard hard decision to let her go. She went from seemingly fine to three days later, gone. My heart is still broken over the loss of my beautiful girl. Perry had been suffering with an inoperable tunor on the exterior of his eye. Nothing we had done restricted or reduced the tumor's size. Due to the pain he was experiencing from it, the constant bleeding and the fear of his bleeding out from the tumor, we had to let him go 2 1/2 weeks after we lost Shia. September 2009 will _not_ go down as a shiny happy time for us. I am slowly dealing with the grief without constant tears and a huge lump in my chest. Its so hard...Perry I had time to prepare for, but it was still so so hard. Shia was out of left field and she totally was my heart dog. ::sigh:: Sweet Reilly was lost for a bit without his companions but is slowly adapting. My hope is to get a young rescue Keeshond or puppy this Spring/Summer. It will give us time to acclimate to having a newborn in the house to wait until then. Oh and well, saving up for the cost of a pup if that is the route we go. I want another female and Reilly needs a young, playful companion to romp with.

Christmas ...I made several gifts, none of which I photographed. D'oh. Crochet slouch hats and scarves; a tutu, wand and headband; rice hot/cold bags; a nummie basket; a sugar cookie basket...and there might have been something else but my brain is fried tonight and I can't recall off the top of my head. I was scrambling to get gifts completed due to all the stress of going from working constantly to dealing with the dogs being sick/losing them...we didn't even decorate this year. Wait, I did put a wreath on the door! Go me! heh I was going to do light decorating and the dogs' illnesses blew us totally out of the water. Seeing that we are still setting up for Quinn's impending arrival, which, Lord willing, will be in two weeks or LESS, I really couldn't go full bore and expect to get the decor up and down in a timely manner. We are all ok with it, actually. Next year we will "do 'er up" as we usually do. :^) Quinn will be old enough to look at all the purties, and that will make it fun too.

OK that is a quick update from me. I will post again soon, I PROMISE. I have missed you all, but I _have_ been reading some blogs, even if I haven't commented!!!

~Katt

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:10:53 GMT


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. :^)

Friday, September 18, 2009

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:30:45 GMT

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....

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.

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.

Na'an Bread (Indian Flat Bread)

Ingredients:

1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast

1 cup warm water

1/4 cup white sugar

3 tablespoons milk, plain yogurt or buttermilk

1 egg, beaten

2 teaspoons salt

4 1/2 cups bread flour

2 teaspoons minced garlic (optional)

1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:

1.	In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.
2.	Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.
3.	During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.
4.	At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared. *

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.

F R U S T R A T I O N

Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:22:16 GMT


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.

Friday, September 04, 2009

Fri, 04 Sep 2009 02:04:59 GMT

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!!!!

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 17:29:23 GMT

Photo Thursday

I haven't posted pictures in a while. I think today is a good day for it. Most of these are from late Winter and Spring...before I was pregnant and sick sick sick. Now the Fall is coming on, hopefully I can get out and DO again. I miss shooting just for fun.

I had a hankering to do a still life for a photo challenge on Facebook. The violin was the product of the challenge. I want to do a series of images with instruments for cards, art portraits, etc. I have an antique piano, a harp, a banjo, a bowed psaltry, Michael has guitars out the wazzo, and the list goes on.

The walking paths by our house are wonderful. This is the meadow path behind our house that the Parks and Rec keeps mowed for walkers/hikers/cyclists. I love this image of Brenna and Becca.

Forsythia. I love this yellow in this spring flower.

Magnolia blossom from the antique, big old magnolia tree in front of our house.

The meadow behind our house. This part of the meadow is very marshy due to the beavers that have built dams a bit downstream. This is a gorgeous area with old dead trees that bald eagles and kites roast in, red tailed hawks and hundreds of species of birds.

Spring flower from my garden. I think this is a hyacinth. I am blanking on the name of this flower at the moment.

Have a great day! We are off for haircuts.

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 23:06:22 GMT


Randomness A bullet blog based on a random string of consciousness: : I am now five months pregnant, and starting to feel uncomfortably when sitting in a chair, lying in bed, lying on the sofa. I am just not very comfortable. Urgh. That is not good. I haven't gained but perhaps 10 pounds, so I guess it is the way/where/how Quinn is sitting in addition to the dratted hernia I have right below my sternum. I will be getting the hernia fixed after the baby is born. As well as having a tummy tuck. I am glad that I didn't get the TT prior to getting pregnant with Quinn. This whole thing with that poor girl Jaycee in Calfornia has me sickened. My personal opinion is the skeezebag deservers the death penatly--as does his wife. Not only did they destroy this girl's life, and her family's, but these two little girls that she bore. The information that is coming out about this is more and more sickening, reviling and revolting. It makes me want to cradle these three girls in my arms, pray over them, soothe them, just pour healing out. Obviously something is wrong with these people (abuser and wife) but sane I believe, yes. They were sane enough to conceal their crimes for so many years...now they should pay the ultimate for their perversions. The proposed health care bill... eep. Eek. Yikes. I am hoping there is enough ground swell resistance to it to force Congress/Pres/yadayada to rethink/rework/redo the whole shebang. It definitely will NOT work the way the current proposal is laid out. Face it: the Feds are not good at keeping their own grass mowed, so what makes them think that they can take care of others yards? Yes health care needs reform---but the current proposal is incredibly jacked up. H1N1 Vaccine--so far its voluntary. So. Far. There are rumors of possible fines for "non compliance", the vaccines being given to kids in school, and various workplaces making taking the vaccine mandatory as well. ::blink:: No thank you. Not doing it. Too many side effects. Its too different from any current vaccines. Its untested and there are a lot of bad effects from it. I am not drinking that Koolaid. Speaking of vaccines..have you seen the news about the effects of the Gardasil/HPV Vaccine that is being pushed so insanely on tv for girls aged 12-17? You know..the whole " I want to be one less" campaign. S C A R Y stuff...in some cases (and way too many cases) healthy girls are having the immune systems and health destroyed. "There have been some cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome, or GBS, reported after vaccination with Gardasil. GBS is an autoimmune disease that cause seizures, paralysis, tingling, muscle weakness or numbness". Another example of a vaccine being rushed into application with too little accurate and valid testing behind it. What is up with this push for RFID tracking tags? These are tracking tags similar to what is used in pets, and like what the Feds want put in livestock. It seems a number of Ohio hospitals are using these in bracelets & anklets with newborns. OK ... that is fine, I guess. As long as I have the option to NOT let my child wear that thing. It may be "safe" but its MY CHOICE and I do not want it on my newborn. Some states now have these in drivers licenses, and the new passports have these in them. I remember reading a couple of years ago how they were using these in...IN ...criminals in Great Britain. And that the military was planning (or may have already done so?) to implant soldiers with these as a means of identification. Man I am SO not comfortable with how this is headed. I can so see the present administration implementing this as a new "ID" means with the National ID Card (which no doubt will have a chip in it). How long until we MUST have it...til we have no choice? Until we can't buy or sell without this implant? I wonder if it is going to be implanted in the back of the hand or the forehead? Sound familiar.... I am totally creeped out by where this is headed, is what I am saying. I have been craving chocolate ALL freaking week. And I have felt kinda crapola physically. I guess my hormone levels are going through another twist ::munches on small Dove Bar Bite with almonds: I am freaking LOVING the weather this week. Last week the temperatures were in th mid 90s with 75% humidity. Hello August in Maryland. This week the temperatures are in the 70s with probably 30% humidity. L O V E it. And my pregnant person appreciates it greatly too, TYVM. This is my favorite kind of weather. My poor old man doggie, Perry, has a nasty growth on his eye. He has had something small on it for years, but we kept it under control. Suddenly this thing exploded and has gotten humungous. I will take him to the vet to have it removed, as soon as the funds come in. Meanwhile the poor guy is fussing with it constantly. I know he has made it sore and irritated, and other than keeping a surgery cone on him so he can't mess with it, until the funds come in I can't get him operated on. ::sign:: I have been praying for a month that the funds come in soon... I know it will cost $300 or $400 with the tests, anesthesia and such. Dang it. I don't begrudge spending the money at all, I just have been so slow businesswise, and bills have been so tight, I do not have it. It makes me so upset but I don't know what else to do. I numbed the area and removed as much if as a could (with a scalpel) but they are going to have to excise part of his eyelid and stitch it back together in order to get rid of the "seed" of the growth. I looked it up and can't recall the name at the moment, but its not likely that its cancerous, and it is operable. Its just likely to leave him scarred. Poor sweet boy. This dog is so gentle and sweet wouldn't hurt a fly and suffered so much abuse before I rescused him from the shelter. It grieves me so badly that I can't get this taken care of right now. I really need to redo my photography site. I tried to log in to the admin side yesterday and nothing would com eup! Awk. Something in the template php programming got totally bumfuzzled. Thankfully, the template vendor responsed quickly and one of the guys reloaded the admin end for me---an hour or so ago I received an email that they had repaired the issue. Woot! Its all working now so I can put current work on my site. Thing is I REALLY wish I could set the site up completely differently. lol What's stopping me? Money, time and energy. I have more ambition than energy, more ideas than time... drat. D R A T I really would love to photograph a bunch of high school seniors for my site. My plans were to do a "push" for this this summer. Unfortunately getting sick from being pregnant put a major kink in my mojo, so right now I have few if any seniors scheduled. ::booboo lip:: I guess there is always next year.... I want to make a cake or brownies or cookies...BUT... I am out of eggs. I have zero energy to run to the store, Michael is cutting the lawn, and Brenna doesn't drive....and there you have it. This .. THIS is another good reason to have built a small coop and have gotten chickens this year, but I didn't. See the above bullet for the reason I did not build a coop OR get chickens this summer, as I had intended. So...now I got no cake. Or brownies. Or cookies.Drat again. Foiled again. What the HECK is going on with Facebook? Since it got hit with a virus a couple of weeks ago their chat has no worked right consistently, the site is lagging and acting freaky, pages and such won't load... COMON what the HECK!! . I enjoy Facebook but holy RIDICULOUS its been acting demon possessed. ::grumpy face:: I really need to get on the stick with my sewing projects. I am so far behind I don't know that I will ever catch up. But I have been keeping the dishes caught up pretty well! Yeah me. Not something I am usually good at being consistent with. The only dishwasher in our house is the "two handed" kind. The job is thankless and I swear, no sooner is it caught up than there the sink is filled up again. :^p~~ Think that is enough for now. Feeling a bit tired. Probably the chocolate.

Wrath Withheld

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:43:29 GMT


If you know me personally, you would know that I am a person of a myriad of talents and accomplishments.In general, tasks come easily to me that I put my hand to. This isn't something that I have managed by sheer force of will, it just happens that this is the way God wired me. I acknowledge this and give credit where credit is due. But I will be honest in that not everything comes easy to me.I am not perfect, never have been and never will be. I am a work in progress... I am a procrastinator. I am inconsistent in tasks such as house cleaning and maintenance; projects which require a lot of follow up often just... sit far too long; following through on things to completion (think LOTS of UFOs (unfinished objects) in the craft/sewing room and many pieces of fabric that will _someday_ be made into a tasty goodie)is not my strong suit. I have more ideas than ambition to finish them. I enjoy children but prefer middle schoolers and high schoolers to large crowds of toddlers (I think its the endless hyperness of them that gives me the twitchies?) and ... I tend to not be the most patient person in the world. No I am not generally a total bzatch, and I can walk away when I should, both good things. If someone pushes me into a corner AFTER I have warned them repeatedly and without doubt to lay off/back off/let off, and its going to get UGLY. Rudeness by cashiers or service people? Oh no...it doesn't go unremarked or just "let slide" unless its a rare day. I am not nasty or common, but the person knows in no uncertain terms that their behavior needs serious modification, and I am not above going to a manager or supervisor to make sure the behavior is brought to light and changed. At present I am dealing with two individuals in my professional life that have pushed and pushed and pushed, and I am about to GO OFF. Let me see if I can talk about this without revealing too many details.... In a professional relationship, there are manners of dealing with work-a-day procedures that need to be followed in order to complete necessary tasks efficiently, correctly and without issues arising that later bite you in the arse. I have set up protocols with clients to ensure that my arse stays unbitten. TYVM. I do not enjoy having to redo jobs for clients or dealing with problems arising due to lack of organization. While the areas I cited above apply in my personal life and hobbies, etc, they DO NOT apply to my professional associations or work that I do for clients. For some reason I have a couple of clients who think its ok to do whatever-the-hell-the-want and don't care how it affects me or anyone else. Here after I will refer to these two individuals as Dumb and Dumber . Ok perhaps that isn't the nicest moniker but if I called them what I really feel most people would be uncomfortable reading what follows. When I begin a job for clients I ask for certain information in order to complete the job correctly. I need files to do this. I need to know what needs to be done. I need to know when its needed by. I need to know any special instructions. And when its complete and I have provided the completed items I would like to know that they received the files and that everything is ok. I then bill the client for the completed job and ask for payment within 7 days. Are those things really too much to ask? Very reasonable, no? Dumb and Dumber both are either too disorganized/mindrotted/something to provide me with the above information no matter how many times I have asked for this information before starting a job. The last several jobs I have done for either of them have resulted in my having to redo items because if incomplete instructions, lack of followthrough on the requested information or total disorganization on their parts. Every FREAKIN TIME I try to reign these two in and get them organized they act like I am The Most Unreasonable Bitch On The Planet. They have no idea how Unreasonable I am about to get. The amount of money I make from D&D is not worth the stress they are causing me. The only thing that has prevented me from going all bad-ass on them so far is the restraining hand of Holy Spirit. Now before you go "there"...I do NOT let anyone walk over me. I am doing my best to be an understanding person and cut people slack because face it, we all have "moments". Unfortunately the "moments" of these two individuals have stretched into months. My husband has said "PLEASE do not let them stress you like last year. You were sick and stressed and you can't get like that again. Its not good for you and its definitely not good for the baby. I agree with him. In fact, just typing the above line my heart squeezed in my chest reminding me of the crap I went through over the busiest part of the holiday season. I am used to high pressure work: I handle it well. I handle it efficiently. I am a "foresite" person. I see the whole picture and all the ramifications, have a good long-range view without being myopic or telescopic to the point that I can't see anything else around me. I generally have patience with people who aren't wired like I am. I don't expect perfection from anyone. I just expect an effort. And a measure of cooperation. It really isn't too much to ask when I am giving a lot: time, good prices, a lot of effort, a lot of work. This past week...no.. the past three weeks both of these individuals have irritated me to the point that I have had to get up and walk away from the computer, not answer the phone and bite my tongue so I didn't say or do something on impulse that would bite me in the ass later. You can't push someone over and over and not expect a negative response. The nice response is going to be " I am sorry. For the foreseeable future I won't be able to do work for you. WIth being pregnant and having my own work, I have to set something aside. After praying and thinking on it this is what I have to set aside." If I react with pregnancy hormones the response is going to be "Guess what? I am D O N E. I can't work with disorganized prima donas that think that the world stops to stand up an bow because they are walking by. I do and do for you and you expect more and more. You refuse to listen, you expect me to do what you want no matter what the consequences are going to be, then when the VERY obvious negative happens, you get pissed at ME?! What the hell. FInd someone else to abuse. I am OUT OF HERE." While the 2nd response isn't as professional MAN would it be SO MUCH more satisfying. muahahahah Oh and by the way, Dumb and Dumber leave a trail of irritation and devastation around them constantly, so it is NOT just my association that is rife with trouble. I just happen to have cut them more slack for longer. Guess what? The slack in the rope is G O N E. Now its a noose..and they are about to hang themselves with it. I am not cutting them down next time it tightens, and I am not above kicking the stool out from under their feet either. Swing baby swing. Wrath Withheld for too long can become a very venomous thing. The danger gets greater andthe bite and sting when delivered are more likely to be fatal. My fangs are out and sharpened, and there won't be an antidote for the bite this time.

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream....

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:05:45 GMT

Or hell just perchance to sleep.

I have had major problems sleeping for over a year. It comes in waves and is caused by a mishmosh of reasons. Nasty pain in my neck and shoulder and occasionally back is the biggest culprit. I have finally found a combination of herbs that are helping my pain but I am still a bit limited in what I can do without aggravating the old injuries (car accident damaged my back and neck). Unfortunately a side effect of the pain is trouble sleeping and a totally wacked up sleep pattern.
All this to say that I slept from midnight to 2am last night, then couldn't get back to sleep until about 5:30. Argh. I have been a bear all day. I am trying to clean my bedroom (and I mean clean, not straighten...its a total disaster, and even that is being far too kind). My house is such a mess because of the issues with my neck and back---pinched nerves really do a number on one's groove ability to "do". So the dust is thick in my room as well as a couple of other rooms upstairs that have been sadly lacking in being tended to. I HAVE to get this house in shape before Quinn arrives in January, and actually way before, because what if I can't "do" later on in my pregnancy? Not to mention that the holidays are crazy busy at the best of times, and my photography business picks up starting in September and goes on clear through to 2nd or 3rd week of December. I want the major things in the house taken care of before the end of September. The biggest things that are immediate needs are my bedroom and closet, Mike needs to whip his music room back into shape, and there is a bit left to do in Brenna's bathroom where we renovated. THEN the back bedroom--which right now is at storage point. That will have to be done sooner rather than later, actually, so likely next week I will be working on that. I spent about 2 hours in there the other day and well, it doesn't look like much of anything was done (hanging head). I can't believe I let my house get to this point. But my aim is to NOT let it happen again once its whipped back into shape. I don't expect a showcase home, but not being embarrassed if someone stops by is a nice compromise no?

Til later...wish me luck. I stopped to take a break from cleaning. My plumbing friend is going to come by tomorrow instead of today (YEAH!) so that Michael will be home to help him for whatever need may arise. That gives me a reprieve and helps me mentally SO much. I was having a bit of an emotional meltdown realizing how much I need to straighten to not be embarrassed when someone comes into my bedroom. :^p~~~

Kathie

Persnickity Plumbing

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 08:10:11 GMT

Suddenly the shower in the bathroom attached to our bedroom decided to start leaking from under the water pan.
Apparently, the type of connections the former owners used when installing said shower will occasionally loosen.

???

I am wondering what is wrong with good old-fashioned plumbing pipe like is in the older part of the house. After all the hell that people went through with the Quest pipe, you would think people would go back to copper and steel piping due to its longevity and trustworthiness.

Apparently I am mistaken.

Today our friend Mike who is a plumber is coming over to look into the issue and repair the problem for us. Lord willing it will be an easy repair. He is also going to install the new sink and cabinet in our bathroom. That means I can paint said bathroom and work towards laying the tile floor or have someone else do it. I think the mastic isn't something I should be fussing with while pregnant, so I may call Brian and find out what he would charge to lay the new floor for me. There is vinyl in there now (blech) and I would much prefer ceramic tile. Vinyl is the bane of my existence I tell you...every piece of vinyl in this house has gotten damaged and is a pain to take care of. Give me good old ceramic tile, slate or stone....something that lasts for half of forever and looks good even 10 years from now. Vinyl that is 10 years old...not so much. At least not so much for those of us that are hard on flooring!

Now to decide what color to paint the bathroom. I am leaning towards lavender and cream, which will coordinate with the sage green, cream and lavenders/purples that I am slowing incorporating into the bedroom. If only I could lay a wood floor and get rid of the blasted rose carpet. Why the people we bought our house from didn't believe in neutral carpet colors I have NO idea. Rose upstairs and forest green downstairs. Mostly it works with our color liking, but I would SO prefer wood flooring, or again, stone or tile. Unfortunately with the size of the rooms in this house to flip everything over it would easily cost $20k to refloor the (counting) 6 large rooms, wait...6 large and 1 small, that have carpeting. For people with dust allergies carpeting is a bad call. For people with three furry dogs its a really bad idea. For people with a baby on the way, this people is hating this carpet more and more. Drat.

Guess when the "ship comes in" the flooring will be one of the first things to change. I keep watching the horizon for that ship...if the tide turns soon perhaps a well laden ship will be able to ride in nicely and bless us. :c)

Insomnia has me in its grip again tonight...two hours of sleep then I had to get up to eat. Three hours later at 5 am I am still awake. Maybe I will be able to get back to sleep now if I go up and take a Benadryl capsule. I need to get some sleep so I can get up and clean the bathroom for Mike to do his plumbin' thang today, and also clean the laundry room up so he can get to the pipes through the drop ceiling. Oh and finish cleaning my room which is hell-on-earth because I am massively behind in house maintenance.

Til late peeps...hope y'all slept better than I did this evening!

Kathie

ReddKatt's Xanga

Umm.. hello

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Foto Friday

Friday, September 18, 2009

Jamaican Supper Mahn

F R U S T R A T I O N

F R U S T R A T I O N

Friday, September 04, 2009

Wow...Just Wow

Stranger Accused of Slapping Crying Child At Store

Thursday, September 03, 2009

Photo Thursday

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Randomness

Wrath Withheld

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream....

Persnickity Plumbing