Warning: This Post is Very Dry

Hello there, friendly blogger fans. Can you tell I've been busy getting back into life and getting caught up on the things that went to the wayside during the weeks I was gone? Well, we're still here, plugging along. Today was my day off, and again, I'm just amazed at how much I get done, and how much more able I am to handle life when I have a TRUE day off. Suprisingly, even though I haven't written anything for almost a week, I really don't have a lot to talk about.
I redesigned my website, just changed a few things around. Let me know what you think. Still, I am very open to constructive criticism for making it better. It's great... I actually have about 6 things booked already for this fall. Of course, they are for friends and other people I know, and I won't make much (if any) money from any of it, but it will definitely help me get 1) some more stock photos, and 2) my name out there. I'm thinking of having t-shirts made up with the business name so my husband and my kids can be my walking billboards. I'm probably going to get a polo type shirt too, to wear at the various shoots so anyone attending the event will know who I am, and how to contact me if they need a photographer in the future.
Hopefully, this thing pays off. I'm really having a good time planning, and expending some of my creative energy. I told you this would be a boring post. Maybe something cool will happen tomorrow.

Back Home Again In Indiana

Well, I'm finally back home. Anyone who thinks that training seminar is relaxing should go... I'm exhausted! I'm sure a large part of that, however, could be contributed to the fact that the "hospitality room" (ie: endless supply or alcohol, whether you want it or not, at absolutely no cost to you) was a nightly affair. Seriously. It was like competetion drinking. A lot of us said we were going to check right in to a treatment center when we got home to manage the detox. I'm serious.
I didn't get drunk drunk at all, in fact, I just got a little tipsy one night, it's just that constant intake, over time, that makes you tired. Geez. Those people from New York really know how to party. But anyway, I feel like I made some really good connections and learned a lot about how the pros do and have done homicide investigations. It was definitely worth it, but it also feels good to be home. Kudos to Brian for managing this household without any help whatsoever from me, and thanks to everyone who picked up the slack (Auntie!). I wouldn't have had this opportunity without your help and support.
On to other news... I had my first official "sale" today! Whoopee! And it was a big one too! An acquaintance ordered a highly customized, 30x40 canvas wall hanging print of the fireworks picture from my earlier post. It turned out absolutely BEAUTIFUL... I hope he was as thrilled with it as I was. I am using D&M Imaging for my printing, and I have to say, I was THOROUGHLY impressed with their work. Plus it makes me look good too...
Alright. I'm tired of being on the computer. Thats all for now...

Stoked

Alright, I'm stoked. This seminar totally kicked ass. I can't go into tons of detail right now, but I'm putting in a few pics, and I'll let the internet do the talking. The first picture is me (of course) with Dr. Henry Lee. The second is a picutre of me, again, with Dr. Michael Baden (left) and Dr. Lowell Levine. I have to say, it's humbling and honorable to be side by side with unarguably the best of the best in your profession. I'll expand on the experience when I have more time (I have to get to the banquet...).

Well, I'm back at training. This time, though, I'm a little farther from home than I was before. To the tune of approximately 781.38 miles. No, opportunists, my husband is still at home, so don't even try to break into my house.
Here I am in lovely Albany, NY at yet another Holiday Inn. I'm about to go check out the ammenities here, but thought I'd let my faithful bloggers know that I'm gone. This time I get a room mate (woo hoo). I told Brian I only have two requirements... that she likes men (or, man, at least) and that she speaks English. This is just for my own protection. Not that I have anything against people who don't meet these criteria, I just feel it would make the week very long if I had to share a 6'x6' bathroom with a Russian dyke... how's that for the imagination?

Fun With Editing Software

Here is my newest, and probably biggest accomplishment thus far with Adobe Photoshop...

What Dancing Hookers and Piss Have in Common

Yeah, I knew that title would get someone's attention (sorry Sherri)! Let me preface this blog with the disclaimer that: I have had exactly ... 6... drinks in the past 5 hours. Believe me when I say, it feels like about double that because I'm tired. I'll explain.

I am at training in our beautiful capitol city while I've left my darling husband home to manage the monkeys. I left Monday afternoon, and will not return home till about dinner time Wednesday. Needless to say, I feel a bit guilty about leaving them home to deal without me, but on the other hand, it's really not that bad. On to my title...

Again, I apologize for the rude title, but it really is what the day has been about.

After dining, the guys from work that I'm here with and I went out for dinner. Well, we ended up at a microbrewery, and unfortunately, I was slightly unable to control myself. We indulged in a few drinks, and oh yeah, dinner. We proceeded to downtown, where we found ourselves in a few more bars (how does this kind of shit keep happening?). I got carded at one, and to the dismay of the poor server, I had the audacity to ask him if he carded me because he really thought I was under 21, or if he carded me because he thought he'd flatter me and get a bigger tip... he answered that it was a combination of those reasons. Ok. I can live with that. I used to work for tips, I know how it goes...

SO ANYWAY. We were in the city. Yeah, the one that has the dancing hooker kiosks (see "I'm better now" 8/7/07). I was describing the kiosks to my co-workers and how strange I thought they were. Well, someone else was apparently in agreement, because they were gone. All that remained were stone pillars where the dancing hooker kiosks once proudly stood. My co-workers thought I was nuts... there were clearly NO DANCING HOOKER KIOSKS ANYWHERE IN THE VICINITY OF THE CITY. Thanks to Ozzie (the doorman at some hotel), he verified that I was not in fact nuts, and that he never realized the dancing hooker kiosks no longer existed. He actually walked to the street corner, looked down the block, and remarked, "wow, it's not there anymore! They must have moved it!" Yeah, like to another city. Funny trick, Mitch. Way to clean up the city!

On to the piss. Brian said that his day has consisted of, well, piss. Vincent pissed his bed last night. Then he pissed on the bathroom floor. Apparently his explanation was, "sorry daddy, I couldn't make it to the bathroom."

Anyway. When Brian got home from the barn, got done mowing two lawns, and finally settled in, he learned that the dog opened the patio door while he was gone, entered the living area of the house, and figured it was perfectly acceptable to piss right on our couch cushion.

What the hell is happening? Has everyone lost their mind because I'm not there? Can't I leave for one minute without all hell breaking loose? By the way, where the hell is my Discover card???
I continue to search for these answers.
Until tomorrow...

A New Leaf

I could go on and on about what a great time we had at Brown County, but I won't. I'll just say that the weather was perfect, I spend another entire weekend looking at a horse's ass, that no one or no thing got even one broken bone, and that I didn't see one mosquito due to southern Indiana's extreme drought.

All in all, a pretty damn good time, if you ask me. Oh yeah. And we burned rather easily through a case of Blue Moon and two bottles of wine. And two porterhouse steaks, three baked potatoes, a can of corn, a roll of sausage, a dozen eggs, a bag of hash browns, and two sticks of butter. Yeah, we ate (and drank) like kings.

On to the new, and our biggest accomplishment recently. I'll preface this with the fact that I have always had a problem with people who have kids, then take them to daycare for 10 hours a day, 5 days a week (or more). I never understood why you'd have kids so you can work to pay someone else to raise them (sorry for all of you I have just offended... it's just one of those things I never understood). With this in mind, I should advise that our schedule is rather hectic because of my beliefs. My husband and I both work 40 hours a week, and have successfully played tag-team for some time so that the kids are being raised by US, mostly anyway. Sure, we go out from time to time, and take mini-vacations a few times a year by ourselves, but for the most part, we have done the vast majority of the parenting thus far.

As you can imagine, this is at times rather challenging to maneuver and it's a lot of work. Recently at work, we were talking about child care and those types of things. The other two guys I work with who both have young kid/s also have wives that work days, like them. They both use sitters/daycare. One, in fact, still takes his son to daycare even if he is on a day off (ie: Monday = day off, Kid = daycare). This concept was very bothersome to me, until I started thinking how nice it would really be to have an honest-to-God day off. Because my day's off always consist of getting the weeks chores/shopping/etc done with two preschool age children in tow, a day off really just meant a day I didn't have to go to the office.

With this, a friend of mine who I have known for several years declared (unsolicited) that she wanted to start babysitting (she's a stay at home mom). This got my mind rolling. I started to think, it might actually be a GOOD thing for the kids to go somewhere else a few times a week. That way they get exposed to other environments, other rules, other kids, and I have a few bloody hours that don't include 1:00 am to get some stuff done. We set up a thing where she watches the kids two days a week, which encompasses one of my "days off" and one of Brian's "days off". We have been doing this just for one week, and I already feel a difference in how I feel. On my "day off" it was truly that. I had a whole day to do whatever I felt needed to get done. And it was amazing how much I accomplished! I forgot how fast I could move when it was just me! I even got in a 3 mile run, which truthfully, hasn't happened in a while.

By the time I got the kids, I felt refreshed and accomplished. I found my patience had increased greatly, and that I was more able to deal with the shenanigans a LOT better. Who says money can't buy you sanity. I'll tell ya, that was the best $32 I have spent in a very, very long time.
And I'm even getting over the guilt of dumping them off on someone else. She's being compensated, which is good for her and for me. The kids had a blast, and were worn out by the time they got home. Maybe this isn't so bad after all....

I'm Online!!!

My website is up and running. Please view it at jenniferlynneventphotography.com. I need to see hits on this thing when I check the stats, or I'm going to be really bummed out. I'll post on our vacation later. Right now, I'm taking full advantage of the fact that the kids are at the sitter to get some other stuff done...