Good News: My Baby (the D40) can be fixed. It has a faulty power circuit board and switch
Bad News: It's going to cost $175 bucks + tax. It's worth it, though, because a used replacement D70 would cost nearly twice as much.
Good News: Since the D40 is salvageable, I ordered my Tamron 28-75 f/2.8 lens today -- the one I've been wanting oh, FOREVER. Woot woot! I'll be stalking the Big Brown Truck for the next couple of days until it arrives.
Bad Stupid News: I've spent the last week trying to login to my business bank account with no success. I didn't have time to call customer service to find out what the heck is going on until today, so I just let it go--but that didn't keep me from trying EVERY DAY. I figured their system was just slow on the uptake.
Good (albeit stupid) News: It turns out there was nothing wrong with my account; I was merely typing in my EIN number incorrectly all this time. DOLT. It wasn't until I got on the phone with the customer service lady, then when asked to confirm my EIN number, I actually had half the sense to pull out the piece of paper from the IRS that has my EIN number on it to confirm -- and sure enough, I was typing in the first two digits wrong. DOLT.
Bad News: I slipped and fell and really jacked myself up today when I stopped in our local auto parts store to buy wiper blades for my van. I mean I BOUGHT it. It rained today and of course they forgot to mop up the wet spots on their concrete floor. I made it two steps inside their door and WHOOOOPS. My leg, my knee, my neck, my back....I'm all screwed up. I can't wait to get home from work and take a flexeril and a hot shower. I know tomorrow is going to really be fun when I wake up.
Good News: It rained today. Woohoo! Yeah, even after slipping and falling due to the rain, I'm still happy because we really need a good soaking.
Really Really Really Good News: The Boy is, pretty much, potty trained! He's still in diapers at night, and probably will be for some time to come (hell Katie still wears dipes at night because sometimes she has accidents) but for the most part, I can claim he is, indeed, POTTY TRAINED! Woot woot woot woot! I can't even begin to describe the mixture of disbelief mixed with pride and relief I feel about this whole potty training extravaganza. Why? Because he's just so darn stubborn...and I didn't think it would ever just "click" for him like it did. I figured it was going to be a struggle to get him trained. But it wasn't. I'm still kind of in shock when he just up and goes and sits on his potty and does his thing. We're all so stinkin' proud of him.
Well, as much as I would LOVE to supply all my adoring readers with a pictorial recap of the Kenny Chesney concert on Saturday, I regret to inform you that my beloved Nikon D40 bit the dust this weekend. The jury is still out as to whether or not it can be resurrected from the dead. I am so sad. I loved this camera. It was my first DSLR, and the perfect little camera for taking out and about with the kids. My D300 is lovely and takes stunning images, but it's huge and heavy compared to my D40. So much so that the D40 got the name "Baby" and the D300's name is "Big Bubba." The D300 is my "work" camera, meaning it doesn't get taken to parties and such, because it's the bread and butter. My D40 was relegated to backup body when the Big Bubba came on the scene in January. Now, who knows what will happen. I find out tomorrow if it can be repaired. If not, then I have to take all the $$$ I was saving for a lens and find a used backup body since I have a wedding in two weeks. I very well can't shoot a wedding without a backup body; I don't think the bride and groom would find much humor in my showing up with ye old Kodak Point and Shoot as a backup. Yeah. That would be funny. NOT.
But the concert was, well, HOT. That's all I remember. It was friggin HOT. And not Paris Hilton "hahhhhht." No, it was FRIGGIN HOT. 95 degrees, gazillion percent humidity. Nasty hot. Icky hot. And the lineup this year wasn't nearly as awesome as last year's. Gary Allan. Leann Rimes. Sammy Hagar (WTF????? Yeah, I know. Apparently he and Kenny are good Cabo neighbors or something like that. I think Kenny just felt sorry for the old fucker). Keith Urban (yum. Hotness on a stick.) and then his royal hotness Mr. Kenny Chesney. Never fails to disappoint, that one.
And while I won't bore you with the details about the assholes sitting behind us who failed to see the fun in getting up and DANCING AT A CONCERT...let's just say we had some decent fun, albeit hot as hell, and hope next year's lineup will be better than this year's. And hopefully next year we'll get seats where we won't be surrounded by big giant asshats who wouldn't know a good time if it sat on their faces in wiggled. Grrrr. But we'll just leave that one alone and pretend someone in our party didn't throw beer on said asshat (dare I mention said asshat physically PUSHED two members of our party in the back, and kicked one with his foot, commanding that they sit down? IMO, he should've gotten DUNKED in a vat of beer for being such a jerk.)
But I'll say no more. I'm still in mourning about my beloved camera. Booohoooohooo.
Testing out my new LilyBlue actions and presets...so far I'm in love! I love the vintagey feel!
ETA: forgot to add this hot one of my hubby!
Little Man is really getting the hang of this, I think. I could not be more thrilled, honestly!
After our short early afternoon trip over to PA to deliver a print order, we came back home and without my even asking him if he needed to go, he came in the house, went down to his little pot and took care of business. I wasn't even aware until I heard that potty start singing "BAH BAH BAH BAHHHHHBAHHH BAHHH!!!!!!" A short while later, we were invited to our neighbor's house to go swimming...Mr. Man did just great with the potty, minus forgetting to "point it down" (he's a sitter...he still hasn't figured out the whole "standing to pee thing" just yet), and he peed on their bathroom rug. Yikes!!!
Just a little update on The Boy as he conquers the world of potty training. Yesterday he did great -- one accident all day. I was crazy proud of him. Today we had a playdate, and despite my asking him every 15 minutes if he needed to go potty, he still had a poopy accident...and then after the playdate he had a pee pee accident. Sigh. But the good news is he's not in diapers except for at night, and I can totally deal with these minor little accidents. The point is he's finally "getting it" and not fighting me and asking for a diaper like he was before. Yes...ASK for a diaper. Not kidding. I would try to put him in undies and he would say "NO NO MOMMY, I WANT MY DIAPER!!!" So he's not doing that anymore...which is just wonderful.
But I have to share this freaky little thing that happened last night when I came home from work. I get home pretty late -- around 1 a.m. I was downstairs on the computer checking on a print order I submitted. I should preface this by saying that we have that one Fisher Price potty that plays music when you pee in it. It was to my left, about 3 feet from my desk, and all of the sudden it decided to start singing to me. Just totally out of the blue. It freaked me out! So I look inside, and what do I see but this tiny little turd sitting in the bottom of the bowl. Obviously he's mastered the part about putting his bizness in the potty -- but hasn't quite figured out the emptying or, at the very least, letting us know that he's left a little present behind.
Tune in tomorrow for the next installment of As The Potty Turns...
My mother-in-law obviously possesses some sort of magical power that jumpstarts my children's interest in potty training.
To make a long story short, potty training has been completely non-existent in this household. Well, minus the several dozen videos the Boy watches on YouTube about it every so often. Other than that, The Boy had pretty much decided that he was perfectly content with diapers, and failed to see the need to put his waste elsewhere. But something happened this past weekend when my MIL took the kids to the shore Thursday night. She notified us on our arrival late Friday evening that Jon had peed four times in the potty and pooped once. Neither of us had been successful in even getting him to SIT on any one of the five potties (two adult-sized, three child-sized) in our house. With Katie, I recall getting a phone call at work one Friday night shortly before her third birthday saying that Katie had went potty on her own five times since I had left for work. How? Granny promised she could have chocolate covered pretzels if she sat on the potty. Well, we tried the same tactics with Jon, many MANY times, but he just wasn't getting it.
But, something obviously clicked for him this weekend. He's now relishing his new accomplishment and enjoying wearing his big-boy undies (the same undies that are now too small because we bought them nearly a year ago, with the hopes that it would jumpstart his interest. It didn't, obviously).
I've learned (now twice) that potty training is just one of those things that you really just have to sit back and let them figure out. One day, it will click for them, but if you press the issue, it will become a battle, and then you're really screwed. I'm thankful my MIL was able to get through to Jon finally, just as she did for Katie. I was beginning to feel like the potty thing was something Jon was resisting simply as a matter of power -- he knew I wanted him to go on the potty, and he knew so long as he resisted, he'd have the upper hand. Taking myself and hubby out of the equation was essential in garnering his attention to the matter...and once he figured out that going potty was something that would bring him MUCH attention, he was all "ah-hah! Now I've gotcha!"
We were away last weekend and then came home to some very sad news. Our dear friends' lost their 21 year old son in a tragic accident. It's been a tough time all around, and one day when I have my thoughts gathered about and the words to describe those thoughts, perhaps I'll blog about it, but right now is just too soon. Right now, the shock of it all is just sinking in and things are still quite raw. The funeral was only yesterday, and to be quite honest, I didn't expect for it to hit me so hard, and I can't recall a funeral more difficult to bear besides my own mother's and the one recently where our friends twin boys were born prematurely. But, when I saw all the collages of pictures of this boy's short, precious life, and his parents and three siblings standing beside his closed casket, it just hit me like a huge punch in the stomach. It was all I could do to hug the family and then get myself out of the church to compose myself. There are more details to the story than the accident in which this young man's life was spent, but right now is not the time to discuss them. Right now we all just need time to collect ourselves and figure out how we're all to carry on after the loss of this dear young man.
Just have to share some pics of our little garden...we're loving it and we're totally hooked on gardening. My hubby is already planning to expand the garden next year. He says he wants to grow sweet corn. Dare I mention we live in your typical 1960s built, totally suburban, split-level style, less than a 1/4 acre per lot type of neighborhood? A corn field would really work with that type of landscape, don't you think?
Yeah, I can see our neighbors now giving directions to their future visitors. "Um yes, make a right on Elm, hang a left at the at the cornfield in front of the yellow split-level."
But I digress.
So here are the pics. I think my Grandpa's pride is shining down from heaven. I asked Shawn if he wanted me to take a picture of him in front of the garden... he said "why do you want a picture of ME in front of the garden?" I said "well, my grandpa used to take one every year, so why not...might be good karma." He thought no...
So here's the kiddos with our very first harvest...two yellow squash and a zucchini. And Katie and her new haircut. And Jon with a squash up his nose.
Yesterday was Katie's big dance recital. She did great and we were so proud of her and our little neighbor, Miss Kayla.
Here's the little collage I made up from the studio pics I did yesterday morning before we departed for the big show. I apologize for the Tammy Faye/Little Miss Sunshine makeup...I'm not a fan of it, but that's how you have to do it for dance recitals. When she's older, they have to wear fake eyelashes...I'm certain I'll have to hire someone to help me with that when the time comes because I can't even go within two feet of super glue without gluing my fingers together.
Ugh. Why must Vox automatically sharpen pictures? They look so crispy on here...it drives me mad!
First, my sweet, adorable, beautiful nephew, B-Man. He really can't look anymore like my brother, honestly. But I do see quite a bit of his beautiful mama in him, too, so no doubt this kiddo is going to break many a heart...sigh...what I wouldn't give to see this sweet thing and smooch on him, but he's all the way out in Missurah :(
Then, some shots from today of my two knuckleheads...I was practicing shooting on a white background...the goal being to actually get it WHITE straight out of the camera. This is no small feat with a budget lighting setup. Basically, to get the white background white (without lighting it its a putrid shade of gray...), you have to aim at least one (two is better) strobes at it and blow it out (overexpose it). So I aimed my two portable flash units at the white background and used my regular strobe as my main, and by george, I think I got it!!! Could you accomplish this without the lights on the background? Yes, but you'd be spending several hours in Photoshop afterwards...so better to get it right SOOC (straight-out-of-camera). I'll be upgrading my lighting equipment very soon, so in the future this won't be so cantankerous.
So here we have The Boy, currently a.k.a. Hee-Haw or Ozark, because (a) the missing teeth, crazy cowlicks, and numerous freckles bemoan such a moniker, and (b) you have to strap him down and sit on him to put his shoes on most of the time. The Child hates to wear shoes outside, and rips them off the minute he walks in the door. But he is darn cute if I do say so myself...course I'm a bit biased....
And then we have our little diva-in-training, doing her best Hannah Montana poses...
