The New Year is out of the starting blocks, and I’ve already checked several of my January goals off my list.

1. Started submitting writing again
2. Got my studio un-Christmastized and shot my first sitting
3. Located a company to manage my emails to you guys (they are going to be so much prettier and more functional as well as actually getting to you–your spam filters dislike me even though you end up calling woefully about missing specials.)
4. Identified the coolest web gallery software EVER where you can “sticky” images and put several up at a time to compare images. Go look at a sample gallery! (Just click on any image to make it big, then drag it around.) I’ll be redoing my Fun Prints Web Site from the ground up starting next week.

But I only have one actual New Year’s resolution this year–and I’ve done it every single day even though Elizabeth is miserable because of it. Here it is:

I hereby resolve, on this 1 January 2008, to make my youngest child, Elizabeth, age 5, eat one vegetable every single day, no matter what it takes.

So far so good (well, depending on if you’re sitting next to me in a restaurant–not so good on your ears.)

But she’s eating green things. For the first time since she was TWO.

Your resolution may involve eating less. Mine–eating MORE!

It’s that time of year where I break out my Christmas tree, pull out the Santa hats, and prepare for the onslaught of holiday portraits. Every year, families who come back season after season ask me, “What’s new this year?”

Well, this year it is *supposed* to be my Ho Ho Ho props. I saw these on a Christmas card last year and loved it. And since I had already created the elaborate Not-Frosty snowman out of grapevine for the outdoor shoots (and some families will opt to use him outside the house), I thought I would keep it simple for the studio shots. The Ho Ho Ho was perfect. Families could do it. Big kids could do it. Even babies. Cute all the way around.

Until I started working on the prop.

Arrrghhhh!

First was the massive search for just the right H and O. Big, but not too big. Sturdy but not heavy. And most of all, I wanted to be able to glue the H and O together to make it easier for small children. The original shot I’d seen had them separate, with a child holding a letter in each hand, but with my age clients, we’d probably see as much “OH!” as “HO!” 

I finally spotted just the right thing at JoAnns, but with “Halloween” taking up many of the H and Os, I had to drive all over town to find three sets. Then I had to search for paint (I wanted them red and sparkly). Just today, a mere 48 hours before my first scheduled shoot, did I finally assemble all the supplies.

And nothing’s working. The H and Os won’t stay together. They’d never survive the kids who would handle them. The paint is too thin, not glittery enough. It shows all the flaws in the letters. It doesn’t pop the way I want them to for hand tinted black & white, which is how I envision the final images. I’m giving up for the day, well aware that if I don’t finish them tomorrow, they won’t be dry in time for Friday.

Humbug!

I’ll cheer myself up with a couple of my favorite images from all the outdoor shoots. I’m remembering now why I love photographing babies and kids–they don’t worry about backgrounds, props, perfect pictures, or that Christmas card shot–they just have fun. I’m lucky that I get to play with them almost every day and most everybody comes out of their photo shoot laughing.

I’m not very superstitious. I might believe in signs and symbols, but mainly that’s because I think we can act on what we want to see and believe, much like we read a horoscope and take away only what applies to us.

But two days ago, when a black cat took the trouble and danger to dart in front of me on Bee Caves Road, I admit to feeling a chill. As his sleek little body dashed across the four-lane road, he actually turned to look at me for a moment, as if to say, “Fear me!”

I immediately began counting the bad things that happened.

Remember how happy I was to find the box that just fit my contest entry, therefore making me feel positive and happy about submitting the book?

The day of the black cat I went to the post office to mail off a second entry, this time a novel. I picked up the flat rate postage box, same as a few days before, but when I tried to shove the manuscript box inside it, it DIDN’T fit.

I then noticed an almost identical box next to it, same markings, slightly larger, which didn’t say “Flat Rate.”

I had a terrible feeling I had done something very stupid.

The post office lady confirmed it. I’d mailed a regular postage box with a Flat Rate label. I had underpaid by probably $4.

I asked her what would happen. She was very sympathetic, because if the box gets returned, the contest deadline will have passed and I won’t be able to submit it–therefore wasting all the paper and printing and postage. “Well, if you’re lucky, no one will even notice,” she said, plastering labels on a pile of photography portfolios. “The minute I saw these new style boxes, I knew this was going to happen–people would do exactly what you did–mix up the flat rate box with the regular ones.”

She expertly flipped the envelopes over, already noting they were photographs and stamping “do not bend” all over them. “But the good thing is, the people who empty out the parcel slots aren’t trained for the windows, so they probably won’t notice either. It might get through.”

“What if it doesn’t?” I asked.

“I will sit postage due for ten days at their post office, then get returned.”

“Too late to send it back.”

“Yep.”

I thanked her and left the counter.

On the way back home, in almost the exact same spot on Bee Caves Road, a fuzzy white cat darted across the street. I slammed on my brakes and couldn’t believe it. Another cat? Another dash across a huge road?

I drove on, wondering about this, if the white cat negated the black cat. Or if the white cat meant my luck had turned back to good.

It’s been six days since I mailed the first contest entry with the wrong postage. In the next week it will either be returned or I will get the post card saying it was safely received.

NOW you can wish me luck.

Sometimes it’s fun to be a photographer, as I get to capture people’s events for them. There have been many happy moments in my friends’ lives lately, and I am pleased to have been able to be a part of them.

Baby Kayleigh got a surprise shower (of course she didn’t see a thing, still in Mama’s tummy!) The games at this shower were, well, a little different than anything I’d played–other than the “guess how big a string will go around the mama-to-be.” Which I always win. And did this time. Ha! I have a foolproof method.

But they had a “smell the diaper” game to guess what was in it…I scored rather poorly, only getting “chocolate” and “jam” correct. (I SWEAR there was vinegar in one.) Then four lucky friends got to have a race swilling apple juice from baby bottles. And let’s not forget the blindfolded baby food spooning contest, where couples fed each other. Sam and Lisa were *not* to be denied that prize and shoveled apple sauce as though their life depended on it.

And of course, Kayleigh herself made an appearance finally! She’s a beauty!

Our friends Sean and Tessa had their baby Kate baptized this past Sunday at St. Katherine’s Catholic Church. We know it was a bittersweet moment without Corey, but so many family members, coworkers, and friends came to see little Kate on her big day!

Otherwise the outdoor pictures for the Fall Special are going well and I’ll post some when I get a chance! I’ve been a bit swamped with a run on “First Steps” images. But I’m not nearly so busy as I’ll be when the Holiday Portraits start.

Ohhh, did we have fun at the movie fest I hosted last weekend.

I didn’t really expect to get so fired up about it (Sam and Lisa definitely helped get the spirit going.)

We watched movies from 2 p.m. until 12:30! We had an enormous collection to choose from, but our final list included:

• The Audition (Japanese torture horror)
• Poltergeist (They’re Here!)
• The Devil’s Backbone (Suspense/ghosts/war-torn Spain)
• Gingersnaps 2 (Angsty teen girl werewolves)
• The Hills Have Eyes (Genetic mutants preying on travelers)

We had an all-red food buffet. Favorites were Sam and Lisa’s cut apples dyed red even on the inside, the “scab” cookies with white chocolate “bones” and the blood-red twinkies brought by Emily. I’m still not sure about that red ranch dip, though.

I never thought I’d make it through ten hours of horror movies, but I was ready for more! I’m ready for more marathons, for sure! The projector worked out very well, and I love parties!