09.21.09 Update

It's a rainy Monday morning and I'm back at work after taking off a few days last week. Sorry I'm behind on my blog, I need to find about 4 more working hours in EACH the day!

I decorated another wedding this past weekend, it was a little nerve-racking as the bride and mother of the bride are in the wedding business (they sell wedding dresses). Sorry I don't have my memory stick to post pictures, which I didn't take many due to time constraints - but I do have a few from the chapel after it was decorated to post. The entire evening was decorated in white calla's, orchids & roses and dark, dark purple calla's. Big THANKS goes out again to my crew - Arielle, Brenda, Aunt Eileen, Mom & Staci. I was on auto pilot yesterday, got a few things put away but for the most part just 'moved' through the day. Mentally and physically drained plus one of my bottom wisdom teeth has decided to try to come in again - I know, I know I need to have them cut out. The frequency of their attempts to surface has increased so I may make that appointment to an ortho surgeon.

My 20th class reunion and the Art & Wine Festival at the Southern Illinois Artisan Shop is this weekend. I'm partially decorating and photographing a wedding the first weekend in October and decorating another purple wedding the second weekend in October. After those two weddings I just have photo sessions for the rest of the year!!! I've already started thinking about my Christmas cards this year and since I didn't get them out last year - I should have most of the supplies already.

Junior high baseball is ending this week. Flag football for Matthew and Katie (cheer leading) started this past weekend, unfortunately with the events I have going I'll only be able to catch the last game or two. I think we have a few weeks off before basketball begins, but not many. So between sports and my three jobs I keep busy. I don't understand when people post and talk about being bored - I just don't understand that term any more.

Number 7 [Sesser-Valier Baseball]

SV junior high boys baseball is under way. The season is going okay - we're 4 in 9 and have won the last two games! Below are a few quick pics that I took. Unfortunately the games are all at four o'clock and since I don't officially get off work until five, I don't get to attend many of the games.

You need to keep your eyes OPEN to see the ball Johnathon!

.....and somehow he caught it anyway
ready to bunt
....prepping to steal a base (batter hit a pop and both Johnathon and the batter were out - Johnathon didn't have time to go back and tag up since he was to second when it was caught)
Diving to catch a ball.
Look how happy he looks here.

Also notice the runner on the right, it was a force out - all he had to do was TAG the base but instead he threw it to first just a split second too late. In his defense, this was the first time he'd ever played third base - not that the rules are different from second to third base.

Needless to say, gum was ban during ballgames after these pictures were taken.

Oh yeah that's during the middle of the game when he blowing bubbles attempting to throw out the batter at first!

If you live in the area and want to catch a game, here is the schedule for the rest of the season (all of the games are at 4pm and home games are at the VFW):

8/31 (Mon) at Unity Point

9/2 (Wed) Home v. Johnston City

9/8 (Tue) Home v. Hamilton County

9/10 (Thur) at Carterville

9/14 (Mon) at Zeigler

9/16 (Wed) Home v. Christopher

9/21 (Mon) Home v. Benton

Weekend Plans

I'll be headed out the door in a few sec's to take pictures. Three sessions throughout today, great news - beautiful weather - a little hot for me but anything over 80 is hot to me. Met with a new bride last night, now I need to get a quote together for her and make sure everything is in order for the three upcoming weddings in September/October.

Johnathon and the SV Junior-High Baseball team are in a tournament today. Don't know that I'll get to make any of those games, but I'll try if they win the first game which just got underway as I start this post.

Sometime this weekend I need to get the basement put 'back together' after the air conditioner/furnace became plugged up and LEAKED, soaking the basement carpet (just on my side of the basement of course). That job could take an entire weekend since I needed to organize and clean it before the carpet became saturated and dad/I had to quickly get everything up off the floor - which by the way is a lot of stuff. You don't realize how much stuff you have crammed into such a small area until you have to quickly move it all! Lost some of the paper products I had on the floor along with at least one of my shelving units (one of those cheap pressed wood ones - they soak up a lot of water and swell!)

Well, my clients are here so I must go now.
Have a great weekend, I'm off to shoot pic's.

Last Christmas

I was organizing my photo files, making disk copies of raw files, and starting the process of working on everything I need to edit.

Right before I went on vacation I downloaded all of the pic files from my many, many camera cards into a huge file - basically I just dumped everything there to deal with later. Well it's now later - I was moving these into their appropriate file location based on what the picture is of and ran across these, someone must have taken my camera to the nursing homes for the Christmas party in 2007.

Little did we now how much the world would change after this Christmas.....

Check out Dreanna

Be sure to check out Dreanna's pictures on my photography blog!

Book Review: Sookie Stackhouse Series

I've finished reading books 1-8 of the Sookie Stackhouse - Southern Vampire Series by Charlaine Harris. The first book was a little slow getting going as is with many books when the writer introduces the characters and the history that pertains to the upcoming plot. I must admit, upon reading the first book I was disappointed and almost didn't continue the series but since I bought the books in a set I figured I had them already and could muster enough strength to read at least one more.

I'm not disappointed in the decision to keep reading the series, things started picking up when half the book wasn't about the who and what aspect but rather the story in general. After the third book I was able to somewhat predict the general plot in the remaining books though. There were of course things that happened while reading the books that I wasn't expecting but the general flow of the book was predictable, more so in #7 and #8. So I was able to read them quickly.

I'll buy and read the 9th book, Dead and Gone, when it becomes available in softback. My interest isn't peaked enough to pay the cost of a hardcover book - I buy a lot of hard cover books if that tells you anything. Had I not read the Twilight Saga I probably would have found this series more interesting, but in comparison this series just doesn't stack up. Twilight was the first vampire series of books I'd read, I was surprised at the similarities in vampire traits between the two sets of novels.

In all I'd give this series 3.8 stars out of 5, it just wasn't 'enough' to warrant more stars. But on the up side it was a quick, easy read that was entertaining enough to get me to read 8 books in a short period of time. I would recommend reading the books, I just don't think it'll knock your socks off (you won't be calling me saying they're the best books you've ever read).

My other blogs

Be sure to check out my photography blog and decorating blog.
I was able to get a few new posts up today!

Here's a sneak peak at the photography blog!