Self-pimpin'

After weeks of not posting, I'm in serious red-alert blog-world mode. Either I'm thinking, "Oh foo, that would be totally hilarious to write about, and Jee-ZUSS, you know people want to hear about that thing again!" Or I'm obsessively clickin' through my blogroll and looking to see who's updated. Why don't you guys update three or four times a day, like Perez Hilton? How hard is it? I mean, COME ON, slackers, I needs me some news.

I think the big problem is that I've been at this computer more or less all day, working on designing wedding albums for my many bridies. (I want to hate this, because they totally aren't paying me enough... but they're all so cute and dewy-eyed and excited, and you can't hate that. It would be like hating a puppy.) Here I go, inviting trouble, but what do you guys think of these? They're covers, so imagine that you've taken the books, opened them all the way up, and done what your librarians told you never to do: dared to lay them down, thereby cracking the spine and reserving your seat at Satan's left hand.







I'm not a very funky designer, but then again, I don't know all that much about design software. I can Photoshop a picture until it's damn near ready to hang in the Met, but creating something big and colorful and multi-part makes my palms itch. Ideas? Comments (and oh God, be gentle. I've been doing this all day, and anything too intense is likely to make me weep)?

Oh, also: that gray rectangle is where the Asukabook barcode goes. It's not up to me, unfortunately.

Oh, also also: the photos on the back of the blue cover are from their engagement session. And really, none of the photos are permanent - final cuts will be up to the bride and groom, so I'm just crossing my fingers and going with whatever.

Thirty days of eventfulness in 3000 words or less

I have to be honest: one of the main reasons I'm posting right now instead of snoring on the couch with my mouth open and half a can of Diet Coke dangling from my fingers is because I was sick of looking at myself walking through Springfield. Was it just my computer, or every time the page loads, was I briefly replaced by an all-white Homer Simpson? I am so not Homerish, thankewverymuch, ergo, new post! Booya!

So things have been nuts, as usual. The photos from all these weddings have been steadily getting better, or maybe it's me that steadily getting better - every single one has been, if nothing else, a learning experience. And I haven't had a really bad day yet - no bridezillas, no psychomoms, no major injuries.*

* Okay, that's a lie. I did a wedding here that involved me climbing a fire escape and shooting down from a penthouse roof. The shooting part went fine, and the pictures were fairly cool. Witness this, a lucky one of which I am undeservedly proud, since it was just a question of timing the downstairs lights:



My luck ran out on the way back down the fire escape, when my heel caught in the grate and I fell down the last few steps. Would have been fine, except that my precious little open-toed shoes (with reasonably low, sensible heels - I'm not stupid, just klutzy) sliced across the top of every single one of my toes. My feet looked like hamburger for two weeks.

But overall, seriously, every event has been great. I've got one more this weekend and then I'm off for a few weeks, so I'll have time to get those books done and breathe a little before the fall schedule starts. God, I love this job.

On the home front, last night Norah informed me that she would not be sleeping in her crib anymore. This isn't such a big deal logistically, as my childhood bed is already in her room and we had planned to move her into it eventually. However, every time we suggested even taking a short nap in the Big Girl Bed - even yesterday afternoon, for heaven's sake - the souls of dead weasels took over her body and we were beaten with our own limbs. So to hear her say, "Mama, I sleeping in that bed now please? Now I will do it?" and watch her climb up and flop down right in the middle, and then MIRACLE OF MIRACLES watch her teeny little eyes close like she was sedated... that was some kind of jawdropper. Today I took her to LnT and let her pick out her own sheets - after talking her out of the ones with the NC State Wolf on them ("he wearing a sweater! dog is wearing a sweater! that's so funny! I have it please PLEASE!") we ended up with pink polka dots. Oh well, she's happy, I'm happy.

I wanted to bitch a little bit today, because things haven't all been sunshine and daisies. A couple of weeks ago, I miscarried at about seven weeks pregnant. I didn't mention it, and I wasn't going to, because a) it sucked and I don't want to talk about it anymore, and b) I'm actually dealing with it fairly well, and c) I didn't want you, internet, to feel like you had to come up with something to say. It was a fairly horrific experience - aside from the physical issues, the complete loss of control was the worst, knowing that every second my body was expelling something or other that really ought to stay in, and there was nothing I could do to stop the process. The aftermath was more of an irritation than a grief process - haven't I been through enough, haven't I had enough to deal with, without adding in two weeks of this symptom or that one? It's over now, and I'm getting back to normal (okay, smarties, as normal as I ever was) so don't worry. I'm okay.

I'm finding it hard to bitch, though. After writing all that out up there - photos, jobs, Norah and her infinite ability to make me say "aww" - I felt like maybe it wasn't a bitching day after all. I'm better than I was two weeks ago, which is enough to brighten me up considerably. I'm lucky. And I'm happy.

Nonos is asleep right now, finally taking that nap completely of her own accord, so God knows I should be doing something... work, or laundry, or eating jellybeans, or something... hmm...

Like you haven't done it