We arrived in Austin last night and promptly went to Whole Foods to get dinner in an attempt to detoxify our bodies from all of the fast food we have consumed in the last few days. Don't know how much good it did, but at least my body got reacquainted with vegetables and fruit.Saw the house for the first time this morning. It is definitely big and needs a lot of work. It's almost only cosmetic work, but it is a little overwhelming to someone as lazy as me. I am glad to finally be here after so much build-up and feeling okay about it all, if not a bit overwhelmed (but, really, when am I not?) Will share photos as soon as my tech gear is up and running again in about a week. I am SO glad my parents are arriving on Thursday night to help us unpack and clean. My parents are the most neat and organized people I know. they constantly look at my home environment and shake their heads as they mutter to themselves that they have no idea where they went wrong. I try to assuage their concerns by reminding him that the whole nature/nurture thing explains everything. After all, the first time I saw my birth mother's house it all fell into place. You can eat off my parent's floor but you can't even FIND my birth mother's floor at all. We waited a full 24 hours before having bbq. We ate at Rudy's tonight and it was YUMMY.
Everyone is a Winner!
written a couple of hours ago. . .I am sitting in El Paso, Texas in a Chuck E. Cheese where EVERYONE IS A WINNER! and man is it depressing. It is the perfect finale to our day of fine dining that started with IHOP and MacDonald's. Ben is of course in seventh heaven. At least I get to sit here drinking root beer while Josh madly chases Ben around the joint. We have been on the road for four days now and it is getting a bit stale. I feel like my butt has re-molded itself to resemble the front seat of the Subaru. Josh has been driving the whole way, which is good for us all because I have this little tendency to fall asleep at the wheel. The only problem with this system is that I never get to choose the music since I am never the driver. This does not stop me from complaining ceaselessly about his choices though. Ben is being really good as are the corgis. Especially considering the fact that we are packed in the car like sardines. I must now offer a public apology to all of the minivan-with-dvd-player-owners I made fun of for all of those years. I now aspire to BE you. At least Josh had the foresight to buy a portable dvd player for Ben. That thing is saving my sanity. When we were driving into El Paso I had the sudden urge to see a movie. I then cleverly thought that we should drop off Ben and the dogs for some adult supervision at our friend Armando's parent's house. Never mind the fact that I have never met them. Who wouldn't want to take care of a complete stranger's toddler and dogs? I mean REALLY? I have to interrupt this tedious monologue to report that on the multiple tv screens in this joint a human dressed as a dog and playing a guitar is singing "I've Been Everywhere". Johnny Cash is definitely turning over in his grave RIGHT NOW. I don't think this is a scenario that the 'man in black' could have ever foreseen. I am having one of those "I can't believe this is my life" moments. It is all just so surreal. WE NOW LIVE IN TEXAS! T-E-X-A-S ! ? AND I have a two year old BOY with another BOY on the way. How did this happen? How did I get HERE?
You Say It's Your Birthday
Yes it's true. I am now forty years old. F-O-R-T-Y. When my mother turned 40 I walked downstairs and saw her sitting at the kitchen table in her bathrobe with a cup of coffee in one hand and her chin resting in the other. She looked really. . . well. . . bummed. I was twelve. Can you believe it? I am now the same age as she was then and I have a two year-old. Just the thought exhausts me. Mom made a really nice dinner for us last night and then we sat outside debating US immigration policy with my dad. It was THAT exciting!Today I bought myself a pair of Crocs because what middle-aged (egad!) woman doesn't deserve her first pair? Then we piled back into the car (torture mobile) and headed to Tucson. I truly do not know how people survived before air conditioning much less cars. I suppose they were smart enough to stay put. Once we settled in our hotel room we were excited to get out and about for a bit until we realized that we could not leave the dogs in the room (hotel policy). Josh suggested we leave them in the car and I told him that was a splendid idea if we wanted to have roasted corgi in a few hours. So we ordered over-priced room service and Josh and Ben promptly fell asleep at 8pm on the Saturday night of my 40th birthday. I quietly sang "Happy Birthday to me" while feeling really sorry for myself. Then I pulled out my flashlight (that only works when I press the power button continuously) and started to read my new Laurie Notaro book. It could have been worse. The a/c could have been busted. p.s. To all of you who sent birthday wishes, I thank you. The rest of you are out of my will.
Finally...on the Road
The stuff has been packed and loaded and we have begun our journey southeast. Yesterday was LONG with the movers coming and leaving around 2 and then we scrunched into the car (baby, dogs and all) and headed down to shangri-la to my parent's house in Indian Wells. It was a LONG ASS car drive. So today we are catching up on some seriously needed sleep and yummy food (my dinner last night of fries, Swedish fish, and orange soda was less than optimal) and Ben is getting his grandparent fix. We might hang out here an extra day since we have it so good here and then we are headed for Tucson. Stay tuned...
Ben and Theo
We had dinner the other night with Ben's oldest friend Theo. Not that this is much of an accomplishment since, after all, they are only two. We will miss seeing Theo grow, but hopefully we will get really good with a webcam.
On a totally different note, I was at Starbucks (oh so conveniently located IN Target) and I ordered my usual caramel macchiawhateverthefucko. The guy behind the counter looked at my big ol' belly and asked me (at 8:30 AM) if I wanted decaf. DECAF!!!? He could lose his life for less. I gave him a look that said 'under no circumstances do I want decaf and if you so much as utter one more word I will end your days'. It's one of my better looks.
This is so NOT what I should be doing right now. But I am an artist of procrastination and must push everything off as much as possible. Josh will see this and then I will lose all credibility when I talk about how hard I worked today. Damn that RSS feed. Two days and counting...
Last California Photo Session(for a bit at least)
Yesterday I photographed my friend Amy's family.
What fun they always are. I am going to miss them.
Insanity
I can't believe we are getting in a car in 72 hours and moving to Texas. I am SO freaked out. And of course I am so overwhelmed that I am getting NOTHING done. I don't know how people do it. I am a stress case. So there won't be much posting in the next week or so. I will be on the road or locked up in a padded room. The next time you hear from me I will be in Texas and hot as hell. But I think I will do okay in a state that has the motto "Don't Mess with Texas".
What a Face
in portraits
9 Days and Counting
in portraits
until we leave for Texas. Thought I'd start getting ready by upsizing my drink size.
Miss Claudia
I took pics of my good friend Rebekah's kids yesterday. It was great fun, but getting the three kids to stand together was impossible. They were burnt at that time. I would have done the group shots at the beginning but one of the twin boys didn't want to get out of the van. Kids!
Anticipation
in portraits
Failing Child Proofing
We have done little to no childproofing in our house. Ben has been such a cautious child that there never seemed to be any need. The ONE thing that we managed to do was to put a child lock on the cabinet under the kitchen sink, keeping Ben away from the cleaning chemicals etc. I was terribly proud of this one accomplishment. Then Josh said the other day that he saw Ben walk over to the cabinet, take off the child lock, get something out of the cabinet and then re-attach the lock. Once again, feeling like a most excellent parent.
New Hat
The Problem With Denial
For many years I have used denial as a coping mechanism. And it does a pretty good job. I find it ironic that I, of all people, utilize this way of making it through the day. Being a glass-half-empty-kind-of-girl, this seems like a contrary way to cope.Lately I am having trouble with it though. I am leaving my home and friends and family in ten short days and I haven't made any effort to see people before I go. You can't schedule a goodbye if you don't really think you're going anywhere. And goodbyes are SO hard. I prefer the French way of saying 'à la prochaine', meaning 'until next time'. It's so much less...well...sad. So to all of my dear friends who I have not contacted to say goodbye I offer my sad excuse of denial and want you to know I will be thinking of you often and most certainly missing you more.
We Made Mud Pies Today
And We Jumped
I Can't Believe It
Two weeks from today we are leaving the Bay Area to make our way to Austin, Texas. I can hardly believe it. I have lived here all of my life. I have lived in other places for months at a time but I always knew I was coming back here to live. This time I don't know. It is scary and exciting. Every time I try to write or think about it I shut down. Like now. I'm going to bed.
Busy as a Bee
I have been so busy lately that I haven't had a chance to post some recent session shots.
I have been having so much fun with these families.
A Funny Thing Happened on theWay to the Forum
Ben was in the crib the other night and he was supposed to be going to sleep. He called for Josh, which is of course just a stalling tactic. So Josh went in there and gave him what he wanted and then walked out to the living room.I said "What did he want?" Josh replied, "Nothing. Well, literally speaking, he asked for a pickle."
LOVE
This very sweet couple indulged me when I found this National Geographic cover in their bathroom. Too bad I caught her in a blink, but maybe it works.