Some Assembly Required

More secrets revealed

That sounds like a tabloid headline, doesn't it?  Sorry to disappoint but I don't have anything sordid to reveal.  However, I am ready to share a pretty huge project that I've been working on for the better part of this year.

 

I seem to have started a business!  On the one hand, I feel like I'm not quite sure how that happened.  One minute (last January) I was just wondering about whether I could actually pull off a photography business and thinking I would "test the waters" in 2008.  The next minute I was getting referrals from friends who let me do practice shoots on their children.  As the snowball got bigger and bigger, I realized I needed a formal business in place. 

Let me state the obvious -- starting a photography business is a whole heck of a lot of work which has nothing to do with the actual picture taking.  Sitting here right now I am frankly amazed at what I've managed to accomplish in the past 6 months. 

Now that my photography web site has launched, I feel official enough to share.  I am truly at the beginning of this voyage but I'm really excited to see where it will lead. 

I apologize for neglecting this blog lately. It has definitely taken a back seat to some of the other things going on around here.  Once the dust settles a bit I have several sewing and paper projects waiting for me.  Also stay tuned for a new blog I'm working on that will be focused on the photography side of my life. 

Family fun

I'm back from the reunion, all twenty-two visitors are gone, and I'm slowly catching up on life.  I say slowly, because in a fit of frustration, I decided I needed to upgrade my computer right now and you all know what that means.  Yes, an endless time-sink transferring files, troubleshooting, plugging and unplugging components.  Ugh.  Thank goodness my hubby is great with computer stuff.  As soon as I get through this, I know its going to be fabulous.  I'm just trying to focus on that. 

I have a ton of pictures from the reunion which I'm slowly editing in between swearing at my computer.  For now, I'll share just one along with a quick story.  When you live in California and the rest of your family lives in the Midwest or on the East Coast or in the South Central part of the country, you tend to get lots of jokes and comments about living on the "Left" Coast.  Or all the hippies that you must hang out with.  Or all the tofu you must eat.  Yeah, yeah, I can take it and I'm even willing to admit that I harbor a bit of a hippie soul and frankly I do like tofu.  Even so, I decided to use the reunion as an opportunity for a bit of payback.  Look what I made for everyone to wear on their visit to the Left Coast.

Oh yeah!  Now that's tie dye baby!!  Ah revenge is sweet.  And it sometimes makes for good photos.  Click on it -- its better bigger.

In other news, I've been digging into the super fun August Lime Tart Half Tart kit and, while I can't say tooooo much, I think I can share few a little peaks of the Half Tart with you.

 

And speaking of peeks, and since I'm feeling guilty about being a bad blogger, here's a peak of one of the many way-too-cute new releases coming out from Just Johanna's Odd Bird Planet.

I have seen the whole range of stamps she is coming out with for Halloween and let me tell you I cannot wait to score some of these.  The creativity just blows me away!  Johanna will be making the release available on August 1, so we don't have to wait too long thank goodness!  If you want to receive the new release announcement, get on over and sign up for Johanna's newsletter here. 

Until next time . . .

Spring break

Elements of a vacation-at-home:

sleeping in
pancakes
bare feet
Lego Star Wars
manga
dog park
endless laughter

This one

Mr. Easygoing with the long hair, the big blue eyes and the killer dimple. 

When I opened this photo I could totally see the teenager he is going to be.   

Delicious

This is my friend's 10 month-old.  Just wanted to nibble on him!

He rocks

In more ways than I have words to describe.  Thank goodness I have pictures.

They laugh

And they goof around.

And we call it walking the dog.

Got Lemons?

We sure do -- to the tune of about 500.  Through absolutely no effort of my own, our Meyer lemon tree put out a bumper crop this year. 

I had never heard of a Meyer lemon before we moved to California 15 years ago.  While widely available here, I don't think they are exported much to the rest of the country.  They are thought to be a cross between a true lemon and a Mandarin orange.  I believe it because the fruit is big and beautiful while the juice is sweeter and less acidic than a traditional lemon.

Just picking the lemons took me about two hours.  But now what to do with them?  I immediately made Lemon Bars, an annual lemon harvest tradition. 

That took care of about 10 lemons.  (I leave out the limes when I make them with our lemons.)  Only 490 left to go!

Next up:  lemonade.  With the promise of fresh lemonade as a reward, I had an enthusiastic and quite skilled assistant on the lemon press.

    

No one has been allowed to leave this house this week without a bag of lemons.  I took them to neighbors.  To the school (the teacher wants to make lemonade on Valentines Day.)  I sent some to the hubby's office.  And still I had two full bags left.

So today we pressed the rest and I froze it in one cup quantities in freezer bags.  Better than frozen concetrate -- homemade lemonade all year round! 

Fighting the funk

So, I have to admit that I've been in a bit of a funk lately.  This is so not me, especially at the holidays.  Usually, I get almost giddy at the holidays and thrive on all the hustle and bustle.  What happened this year?  Seriously, I don't know.  I feel like I've been just putting out one fire after another for weeks now with no time to think about what I'm doing or why I should be enjoying it. 

The fact that we are traveling for the holidays isn't helping anything.  I hate to travel.  (Wow, I actually admitted that.  I'm such a homebody.)  I hate to fly.  And I especially hate traveling and flying at Christmas time.  Getting us all packed (with snow gear no less), getting all the holiday gifts finished and mailed in advance, arranging for pet sitting, plus a gazillion other things has my head swimming.

I made the executive decision not to get a tree this year, due to said travel.  I was thinking that decision would help cut down my stress level and let us focus on the trip.  Maybe a mistake, however.  Last week, Caleb came up to me with his big blue sad eyes and said, "Mommy -- no advent calender (nope, I never got that going either), no tree -- its like its not Christmas at all."  When I finished flogging myself emotionally, I vowed to him that I would "Christmas up" the house on Saturday.  And I did.  Even though I was thinking about all the other things that weren't happening instead. 

Although we still didn't put up a tree, I did put up a bunch of real pine garland, our favorite Christmas items, twinkle lights and the stockings.  And you know what -- after I finished I felt so much better!  Still stressed, but in a more cheery way.

Another thing helped up the mood a little bit.  On a lark, I sent the amazing Tara Whitney a photo for a little contest she is running on her blog.  This morning I saw that she chose mine as one of the top 21 (out of, I think, over 400).  Now, the rest of those photos blew me away, and I don't think mine is getting many votes, but I really don't care!  I loved my shot and I love that it made her top picks and that is enough to put a huge smile on my face.  Here's my photo:

If you are so inclined, head over to her blog and check out all the entries and vote for your favorite!

Finally in the mood-enhancing department, today's weather is cold and overcast.  Yes, I do love my crappy weather.  There is nothing like a gray day to make me feel cozy and happy inside.  Weird, I know, but right now that's a good thing.  I wish I could be baking cookies or sewing but instead I'm wrapping up some packages and making the mad dash to the post office.  Wish me luck.

Flying on the Beach

Caleb's class had a Thanksgiving potluck at the beach on Monday.  It was my favorite beach weather at my favorite beach.  Cold, overcast, misty, enchanted.  Best of all, the ocean had created a sand ledge near the water, creating the perfect and irresistible conditions for beach flying.  I present a tutorial.

Test:

Launch:

Fly:

Land:

Repeat!