Time for an update

Good Morning! It is time for an update I guess. As always, there are lots of things going on here.

First off, I had a really nice visit with my Mom a couple of weeks ago. She seems in good health, and even more importantly, in good spirits. She is working on another novel. (Keep in mind, I went to visit on her 84th birthday!). Anyway, along with visiting Mom, I got to see my sis Dorothy. It was really great. I sure miss having family close by sometimes. Then again, sometimes I wonder if we'd get along so well if we DID live close! Well, it was just 2 days, but a real treat for me.

Katy, Josh and the baby are all well. He (Will that is) is quite a chunk-. But a happy, content little fella. They hit gold their first try.
Katy is working a little more on her house. She has decided to put a back splash in her kitchen and is painting tiles to put up. Wow, full time job, new baby and husband. I wonder if I was that crazy when I was her age. Now it just seems like a bunch of steps-(buying the tile, cleaning, painting, curing- and the worst- Renting equipment to cut the tile). Good for her- just please don't ask me to help.

Joey is doing ok considering the circumstance. He'll be in Clermont Co until July 6. Jillian is looking for apartments. I really hope they can keep working on their relationship when he's out. She is a good person, and good for him. I hope he realizes that.

Bari Ray is deep into summer stuff (after only 1 week into vacation). He is in Drivers Ed, I guess the test (THE TEST)- and I don't mean the ACT or SAT's is coming soon. Although, in the last 2 consecutive weekends, he took the ACT and SAT's. The best news here is he made First Honors this last quarter of school. Good for him, I'm really proud he has done so well - - if only he could get the Eagle Project off and running.

Madeline is sleeping at the moment. She had her Recital last night. Friday night was Rehearsal. Both nights are really long --L-O-N-G- - - . But she did really well. There were 40 dances, and she was in 9. That was a lot of costume changes- sometimes with only 2-3 dances in between. The good thing (REALLY GOOD THING)- is that with 9 dances, we didn't have to sit through 3 hours of recital and watch our daughter dance in 1 or 2 dances. That can be really hard. One thing about the studio that Madeline dances for, the director has a lot of different styles of dance, so the whole thing is pretty entertaining. Add on little bitty girls in ginormous floofy dresses, and the cute factor is certainly there.

Sammy went to a carnival with Jillian instead of the recital last night. I had a bit of communication breakdown there - he could have gone, but I thought it (the carnival) would last longer, or they would stay longer or something. Anyway, he missed it, and I probably feel worse than he does. So, last night, while we were all away, he wrote in his summer journal! I was so surprised, I didn't even know he had a summer journal. Sam said that if he writes in it all summer, he'll get a prize when he goes back to school in the fall. Well, good for him. I'm really proud. I don't think even Jillian knew he had a journal.

Yesterday, before the Recital, Bari and I had a wedding to shoot in Eastgate. We started around 12:30. Actually, we started around 1 because the groom and groomsmen (and grooms family) were late. The nice thing was that the couple choose to see each other before the wedding, so we were able to get lots of pics of them early in the day.
I was a little worried about the time, because we (actually- Bari) were supposed to shoot the recital, too. The wedding was supposed to be early in the day- originally it was about 2 o'clock- (no prob to get the recital too). Then, sometime about a week or 2 ago, they changed it to 4:30. Ok- not too bad. It was a Baptist wedding, they are usually 20-30 minutes. That means the wedding is from 4:30 t0 5, I could stay for about a half an hour of Alter Returns after the wedding, and then zip to Winton Woods High School for the recital. Bari would be done early (about 7 when the wedding was at 2 in the afternoon)- and meet me there, and finish up. Well, when the time changed to 4:30- we knew he wouldn't be done till 8 or 9. No prob- I'd start, he'd finish. WELLLLL- -- we got the Pre-Bridals (pics before the wedding) done (even with the half hour lost) and got to the church. The mom's came down the aisle at 4:30- - - good - - - -THEN they had a slide show (no kidding) and it lasted 15 - 20 minutes (NO KIDDING). At that point, I knew I was shooting all of the recital alone. Yey for me. Thank heavens Bari and I practiced the night before at the rehearsal, and (although pretty nervous) I was fairly confident I could do this. So, as of 10 this morning, I still haven't seen most of my pics, but I'm hoping they are not out of focus. And I'm glad I had the chance to shoot and gain some confidence behind the camera. Well, we'll see how confident I am AFTER I see the pics!!!!

Next weekend Bari and I will be in Lexington to go to a Photography Seminar. I'm really looking forward to that.

BUSY - BUSY -BUSY