Sewing Our Time Away

I cleaned. I sewed. I gardened. I cared for Amelia. This is the simple review of my week. Exciting! The most exciting part was the doggy poo-poo incident. Ewwww! My stomach is still turning over that. Sunday I was conversing with Justin, complaining about how dirty our house was. He said it seemed pretty clean when he got home last week…yes, it was. I took three days and cleaned each level of my house with a fairly thorough hand. Amelia’s eating station is covered in yogurt splatters, dried macaroni, and crusty remants of this and that. I dismantled the whole area and cleaned her chair, the high chair, walls, base boards, and floor. It was gross. The next day her corner looked like it was never cleaned. Luckily, I bought two yards of thick clear plastic to put under her chair. Hopefully, cleaning will be a mite bit easier. My craft/computer/exercise/photo studio was a disaster. Once it’s clean I feel like starting another project which in turn creates another disaster. Lovely circle of disaster messes.

I had FHE with mom and da boyz. She invited Amelia and me over for dinner and a lesson. James and Miekka showed up around dessert for a little while. We heard about the Lance’s mega Disneyland trip and then had another photography lesson.

Tuesday I met with a local photographer and visited her studio. Her studio is in her basement as well. She had some pretty good ideas, like her backdrops on ceiling rails, prop ideas, and her lighting set up. One day I want to invest in strobe lights because they are much brighter and the light temperature is whiter. She also showed me some cool Photoshop tricks and explained how she runs her business. I may go to a conference next week, Bellies and Babies by Sandy Puc. She is an amazing infant photographer. Mostly, I felt like upgrading my entire set up after leaving Mary Kim’s home. Justin helped me research getting a business license through West Valley City. We also discussed in depth my vision for my photography. It is a little intimidating to have a business and be responsible for expectations. After worrying about my set up and wanting to spend $5,000 or more I decided my worries were bunk and put them to rest. The bottom line is that for now we will get the license (because you have to register if you make $1,000 or more), upgrade Photoshop, and get an external hard drive. Thanks Mary Kim for your time! It was very educational to visit your studio.

My friend Catherine came over Wednesday to keep me company. We went over a new crochet pattern she purchased and talked. It was nice! I love when Catherine visits! Justin came home that night right before Amelia went to sleep. She enthusiastically said, “Dad, Dad” when he walked in and gave him some nice snuggles! My mom said that Amelia called her sometime on Wednesday. Mom related that Amelia said, “uh-oh, uh-oh, Maw-maw? Maw-maw!” Mom really enjoyed her conversation. She fake burped on the phone to Justin sometime last week as well. For now the fake burps are funny…LOL.

Thursday was a rainy day. Amelia and I scheduled lunch with Justin. We ended up eating a German Café dining on spaetzle, gravy, potatoes/cabbage, and brats. The meal fit the rainy day perfectly. During lunch we discussed more photography business stuff. I decided to take some classes at SLCC or at the NY Institute of Photography when time permits. I love going to school! Justin finally met with the Firm partner about a possible foreign rotation. The partner was very vague but promised to look into it and get back to Justin. I got the feeling the guy just brushed Justin off. Mom hosted a small family party for Jeremy’s 15th birthday. He is a funny guy. I am glad he is my brother. We call him lady’s man 217!!

Friday morning I did a photo shoot for a lady in my neighborhood. She recently moved here from Idaho and is looking for work in music or theater. She needed some professional head shots for a portfolio. I had fun experimenting with the lighting and even braved a white background, using some tricks Mary Kim showed me. The white background turned out well, considering. The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent preparing for Cub Scouts. When the time came not one of my four Bear Scouts showed up. Little stinkers. We were going to play box golf and learn about planting a garden. Charity and crew showed up around 5 pm. Charity had to open the home she is representing for some potential buyers. Later we had dinner at the new China Gourmet across the street. It was very smorgasbord. The best part was their fruit selection.

Justin and I helped mom pack up their rented trailer for her move out to Jordan. This is part one in a three-legged journey. She will spend the next 3 weeks in DC sorting and preparing their belongings for shipment to Jordan. After that she will be back here until July 4th, when the whole family flies to Jordan. Dad flies in from Jerusalem on Wednesday, he will be all over the place until he is on leave starting the 24th of June. As the time gets shorter, saying goodbye (again), gets more difficult. Justin made me take a nap afterwards. While he napped I went to Walmart, cleaned, and started sewing an outfit for Amelia. I put the finishing touches on around 10:45 pm. We took a three hour break for pizza at my Mom’s. James and Miekka were there as well. Today I made a fruit pizza and took it over for a dessert party at Mom’s. They (Mom, De-bo, and Jared) drive out early tomorrow morning.

Amelia decided that naps are for the dogs. Maybe eating dog poo made her think this. Mind-controlling, no nap-taking dog poo. Bummer. Starting Wednesday she only took a short morning nap (30-45 min) then no sleep until her bedtime. She must be growing or cutting new teeth. Her top left tooth is FINALLY visible. Amelia is a funny kid. She loves walking around holding onto my two index fingers. She is pretty fast! As mom says, out little girl is a live-wire. Yippee! She is so nice to hold. I love making her laugh. We roll around on the ground, I throw her all over the place, and we play crawling games that fill our home with laughter. The other day Justin was sitting on the floor playing on his laptop, which was on the coffee table. Amelia motored around the coffee table and Justin about 5 times trying to figure out a way to get his laptop. It was hilarious to watch her try to figure out the best way to infiltrate the obstacle. She is so obvious sometimes but clearly thinks she is being mischievous.