Mourning the loss of a favorite pasttime...

I've thought a lot since having children that one thing I always loved to do (and still do, really) when I was a kid all the way to my college years and even into my married life was to prank call people.

MAN, I love to prank call people.

It used to be such a simple way to totally annoy other people anonymously while completely amusing yourself to the point of almost peeing your pants. What could be more fun than that? Really?

With the invention of *69 and Caller ID, I'm afraid that calling the neighbors to ask questions like "Is your refrigerator running?" and the bowling alley to inquire about whether or not they have 12-pound balls and, if so, how they fit them into their pants are falling by the bad joke wayside. I have to admit, I've mourned this for quite some time. How can childhood be the same without being able to call someone and ask if I.P. Freely is there?

Some of my favorite episodes of the Tonight Show are when Dave Letterman steals random things from the TGIFriday's across the street from the Ed Sullivan Theater and then calls them afterward to say he's holding the item for ransom. Funny, funny stuff.

I just wonder what has replaced prank calling for teenagers today? Prank texting? Leaving anonymous comments on each other's My Space page? Who knows. I'm sure it's not nearly as amusing as calling Target and asking them to page a customer named "Mike Hunt." How could anything ever compare???

Dear Tina Fey:

I love you.
That is all.

Mother's Day

For Mother's Day this year we went to our favorite little breakfast restaurant nearby and had some awesome pancakes, French toast, scrambled eggs, etc. Afterward we drove up to Lake Arrowhead and hiked around for a while before going to the lake and wandering around the village shops for a couple of hours. It was a nice, leisurely morning. On the way down the hill I wanted to look at the pictures on my camera and ended up making myself carsick -- not to the point of actually puking, but definitely to the point of feeling woozy and like I was turning green. Add two whiny kids in their carseats directly behind your head that keep dropping whatever their treasured toy of the day was and begging me to pick it up again and again... that part = not so fun.

We tried for a family portrait, but only managed to get half of us into the picture.



Ainsley started melting down a little at the end of our hike because she wanted to walk it herself, which is totally fine, but not in the parts where there was lots of loose rock next to a cliff edge. She is so not afraid of things like this I kept envisioning her sliding down the hill and rolling and tumbling to the bottom. Next time we'll do a flat, safe, desert walkabout or something.



Jed and the kids got me a new tripod as a gift, too. I haven't really checked it out a ton yet, but it does lots more things than my old one did. Yay!

A SAHM's Dream Come True...

I used to wish for diamonds and Cristal and trips to the French Riviera. Now I wish for maids and chefs and chauffeurs. Five minutes of peace so I can drop a deuce after my morning coffee would be nice, too.

Not good for my self-esteem...

Avery has come into a phase of brutal honesty. She constantly tells me things that challenge my view of myself.

In the morning, she comes into my room to find either me or Jed. I'm usually already up and maybe gone walking the dogs. But if I'm still there, she'll get into bed and cuddle with me. Once we're all comfy and snuggled together, she'll say something like, "Mom, your breath stinks. You should really brush your teeth."

Yes, I know dear. If you didn't wake up so early I might have already showered and gotten those important things done.

This morning while I was changing clothes she said, "Mom, kids don't have boobs. Adults have boobs, though. Yours are big and droopy."

Uh-huh. That's because you breastfed every three hours for a year, Avery. I blame it on you.

Last week in the dressing room at Target, she said, "Mom, those pants aren't going to fit you. You are all fat and chubby!"

I guess I can count on her to really tell me like it is...

It works the other way, too. She tells me on a regular basis, "Mom, you're so beautiful and precious. You're my precious darling."

Love her, that little stinker.

(click to enlarge)

Working with RAW -- my next step...

I'm trying out RAW files for my photography. Not sure if I'm sold... the files take up so much more room than fine .jpg files. But here's an edit I did today that I thought I'd share. If I were to print it, I'd print the CS3 edit, not the B&W with texture... just for fun.

So heartbreaking...

I recently photographed a woman named Heather who runs mom4life.com. We took maternity pictures in some local spots around town and I was really happy with the results. She found out yesterday at 37 weeks that her baby boy no longer had a heartbeat. Another friend, Sarah, contacted someone at the "Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep" foundation to help photograph him once he's born. I feel so heartbroken over the thought of this happening to anyone, but especially someone as wonderful as as Heather. I don't feel like these photographs were taken in vain -- I feel like they're all the more special now. Just such terrible news...