May have bitten off more than I can chew...

...those of you with school-aged children will know where I'm coming from on this topic. Most of us get really excited when our little ones are old enough to head off to preschool. First come the school supply lists, the scholastic book orders and depending on where they go, sometimes you'll get a snack list sign up sheet or maybe even a fundraiser. This is all very exciting...until it happens year after year after year after...well, you get the point. Our first double dose was last year when Jonathan started kindergarten. Both he and Ashley were at the same school, so we got twice the paperwork in their weekly folders, twice the book order forms, fundraiser forms, remembering to deposit money into their lunch accounts, paying an extra fee online if I didn't remember to send that check in on time for the lunches. This year, it was deciding to pay for a brand new flute for Ashley, paying for yearbooks, school t-shirts, mandatory PE t-shirts, band fundraisers, PTA fees, remembering to help with homework, fees for their CCD classes, snack sign ups for that, and lastly any and all things related to whatever sport we sign them up for. Jonathan's swim lessons are the least demanding beyond price. You pay for the session, get 11 lessons, you use them up and you pay all over again for another session. Ashley's volleyball, while a little more involved, *is* closer to home and costs less than swim lessons so it does have it's advantages. This being her fifth season, I decided to go ahead and coach. She hasn't really made a big deal about wanting me to, but I thought about how much I like teaching (or instructing in this case) and I also thought it would be a great way to get to know some more of her friends and parents too.

Ashley's third season volleyball professional photo

The problem: Drew is at this "super-clingy can't be satiated" phase from about 5-7:30 p.m. when I may have practice with the team. This is the *only* reason I am hesitant about coaching. I think the overall experience is going to be great. I've seen how the parents come to practice, stay and help the coach out, offer to get the shirts printed with the girls' names. It's just a really good sense of comraderie. This is also the season that if the girls are really good they can try out for their middle school teams, so I feel like I'm getting in at a formidable time as far as coaching goes. She will be considered part of the 7th grade team in the spring because they bump them up to what grade they'll be in fall. Ashley's even helped me write up a practice schedule with warmups, stretches and exercises. I've been asking her input on what kinds of exercises they should do, what season did she like best and with what coach. What did she like best about the practices and she's excited enough that she wants to be my assistant coach. Ok, so maybe a mini assistant coach considering she'll be on the team, but I'm definitely not opposed to taking help...even from my 11 year old, lol. I think it'll be a lot of fun and give me a chance to see Ashley in a different role from our usual mother-daughter one.

I have to admit, I'm having a lot of fun being a parent these days. I look forward to Jonathan's swim lessons, I can't wait for Ashley's volleyball season...who knows what Paige will get involved in...only time will tell.

This is a random post, but I don't want to be responsible for...

...those of you wandering around singing the wrong lyrics to Across the Universe. So, I leave you with this lame attempt of a Friday evening post, lol. Set the music list below to Across the Universe by Rufus Wainwright and enjoy! And yes, I realize it *is* a Beatles song. ;)

Hugs to everyone! and Happy Palm Sunday :)

Words are flowing out like endless rain into a paper cup,

They slither while they pass, they slip away across the universe

Pools of sorrow, waves of joy are drifting through my open mind,

Possessing and caressing me.

Jai guru de va om

Nothing's gonna change my world,

Nothing's gonna change my world,

Nothing's gonna change my world,
Nothing's gonna change my world.

Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes,

That call me on and on across the universe,

Thoughts meander like a restless wind inside a letter box they

Stumble blindly as they make their way Across the universe

Jai guru de va om

Nothing's gonna change my world,

Nothing's gonna change my world,
Nothing's gonna change my world,

Nothing's gonna change my world.

Sounds of laughter shades of earth are ringing

Through my open views inviting and inciting me

Limitless undying love which shines around me like a Million suns,

it calls me on and onAcross the universe

Jai guru de va om

Nothing's gonna change my world,

Nothing's gonna change my world,
Nothing's gonna change my world,

Nothing's gonna change my world.

How much smaller could my world get?

So, on Wednesday I took Jonathan to swim lessons. It must take very little to *wow* me these days because there was a complete camera setup inside and some really "cut" looking athletes walking around. I had to sign Jonathan up for a new session so I asked the lady behind the counter what all the fuss was about. I couldn't help it. After doing wedding photography for a while and with my renewed interest in photography, I just had to ask! So, she goes on to tell me that they're finishing up their third day of filming a Nike commercial for the Olympics. I promise you one of those guys looked SOOO familiar to me. Now, I'm not much into remembering things like who was part of the Olympic swim team in 2004, but it bothered me so much that I actually went online looking for some clues or pictures. I couldn't find anything.

These are times when I'm proud to be an Austinite. If swimming is your *thang* and you do it well, this is honestly the place to be. The University of Texas puts out a LOT of swimmers who go to the Olympics. To the best of my recollection the coach at UT was also the Olympic coach in 2004. Not that I expect my children to have the talent of an olympian, lol, but if they should become that dedicated to their sport, this is a good place to be!

Keeping up with the Joneses

Since getting my dSLR camera a few weeks ago I've been having a lot of fun taking pictures, but what's more, I've discovered how much more I have to learn with all the new technology jargon and lingo and hoopla. SOOC and RAW, post process, etc. are all terms I'm having to learn with respect to my camera. It's a bit of a learning curve right now, but I'm learning to (ok, re-learning) tweak my photos before posting them...slowly but surely anyway. It's one thing when you're paid to take pictures and another when you have to remind yourself to take the camera out to use it! It's been just over four years since I decided to return to the world of "hobbyist photographer" and leave the paid gig part of it out of the picture. Anyway, I'm going to try to incorporate my pictures into my posts and maybe play around with them a little before posting them. My page layout is flooded with *so* many different kinds of things, so this is a small attempt to get it more organized - behind the scenes anyway.


So, how is this keeping up with the Joneses?? Well, when you post as frequently as I do and get to know all these other lovely ladies who blog and photograph it tends to keep me focused and on top of the things I want to accomplish. If it weren't for Emily's blog (yeah, a shout out for ya!), I wouldn't have gained a renewed interest in photography. I had been wanting a new digital camera for almost three years, but since I put the professional thing away, it didn't make a lot of sense to buy a new camera, particularly since they can get pretty costly. After reading that thread on BBC though, I made it a priority and started researching and asking questions. For my level of "expertise" it made sense to go with the Canon 40D. I opted out of getting the flash for the time being and whenever possible I like to use natural light, but I also have my Bogen with my Sunpak 622 on standby for those more "portrait" type pictures I want to capture. It's been a lot of fun rediscovering my passion. I am loving working with photos in PhotoShop. I'll never forget the guy who showed me how to use it. His name is Dave Rossman and he was the photographer in my small hometown. It was my first photojournalism internship - this would have been back in 1995. Hard to believe that's been almost thirteen years ago!! I had a lot of fun learning about photography from a computer standpoint - I even remember the old school negative scanner and having to use the lupe to find the "best" negative to scan in. It took so long to scan, it made more sense to pick one using the light table and the lupe first.

The elusive Spring Break...

We never do anything for Spring Break...and I mean never. Call it a tragic side effect of Neil's job, but March is usually one of a handful of "hoppin" months in the fence and deck industry. So, to miss a day is to essentially choose to miss out on sales. This year, Spring Break snuck up on us. I thought it was next next week, not starting today! I actually wanted to take an extended weekend, head up to a state park for some camping. Maybe it's a little ambitious considering we still don't sleep nights through...ok, *I* don't sleep nights through. Ok...me *and* Drew.

I found out earlier this week that for the first time, possibly ever in Neil's career, all of his vacation time was used up. Each March 18th-ish, he gets his vacation time "restocked". It equals three weeks time off, but apparently between our trip to Myrtle Beach, his trip with his brother to Vegas last June, flying up to Virginia for his lil sis' wedding, time off for visits with his folks and the birth of Drew (which only ended up being two days off of work), it was all used up. That means we have to wait until the end of this month for vacation time to renew. It kinda stinks because I want to make family vacations more of a regular thing. I'm hoping we can put something on the books in the meantime. If the camping thing doesn't work out, maybe a trip to Sea World or maybe a theme park. We took Ashley to Busch Gardens years ago and stayed for three days...we had a blast! Jonathan's now the same age she was then, so it'd be a lot of fun to see him on the roller coasters and thrill rides.

I guess in the meantime, we'll have to plan out vacation time to include Spring Break next year. So, while I'm a little bummed right now, I know we'll plan something fantastic for next year.