Happy Birthday Mumma!

Today was Mumma's real bday although the official party isn't til Sunday at her place. Since it was Friday, she was in town anyway & Grandad came down to have supper with us.
We had cheese burgers & also chicken nachos so everyone was happy and everyone ate their supper AND got dessert (hot fudge brownie sundaes!!!!)

We're saving most of her presents for the party on Sunday but the girls each gave her one small thing & they had made her some fancy items in the Art Shop earlier today too.
Honey chose a framed picture of Max to give her.

Sweetie got her some Brazilian Watermelon bodywash
Lovey gave her some Lindt chocolates in a ladybug box, mmmmm chocolate!!!

A very good unofficial party to say the least! At supper we were talking about golf and Grandad mentioned that it was good exercise when Sweetie piped up "well, not WATCHING it Grandad!!!!" good point Sweetie, you got him there!

Happy Birthday Mumma, hope the rest of your night went well!! We love you!

Homecoming!

Although I had a great big exciting weekend away, it was so nice to come home too!

Unlike most trips to the states, I didn't do much shopping. Once we stopped for the coffee junkies at a Starbucks & I noticed a shoe store next door. I made a beeline as both Murray & I were in need of new sneaks. Buy one get one 50% off was just the thing!

One of the big highlights of a long day of boring travel & sitting around on planes & waiting for flights was a chance encounter with none other than PRINCESS PAMELA!!!!!! I couldn't believe it when I saw her at an elevator inside the terminal. We were both waiting for our final connection to get to our respective cities. She helped me do a little shopping for the girls, encouraging me to buy them funky winter hats. Then we got to sit down and have a bite to eat and a proper face to face visit. It was awesome!!! I got to practice the self portrait technique I learned on my weekend away LOL

The girls were pretty excited to see me and to find out what I had in my suitcase for them! The new hats were a hit, except Sweetie's is the wrong size so I have to figure out how to exchange that.... anybody flying through Toronto anytime soon????? Hers was an adult size instead of a kids. I had no idea they even came in adult size!!! Dang!

We had some nice reunion time before they had to get to bed but it really hit the spot. Murray had had quite a weekend while I was gone. They woke up frequently in the night crying for me, Honey came down with a bad flu and he was under the weather himself with a cold. With all this going on, he deserves huge kudos for surviving and for managing to keep the house in decent order! He's like a really cool guy!!! To even let me take off for 5 days is pretty huge. To be willing to go solo for the duration was impressive. To resist calling in reinforcements when everything went to crap was phenomenal. My husband ROCKS!!!!!!!! Love you hawney!!!

Sleepless in Seattle

Now I know how that movie got its title! I spent 3 days there (well, near there!) and I did not come home well rested! It's been almost a week since I got back & I'm stilly fighting to stay awake at points during the day. The trip was amazing! It was a photography retreat with workshops and shooting practice. I had THE best time and learned soooooooooo much. There was one other hobbyist there and the other 9 women were hot shot professional photographers. One of them gets hired for destination weddings, as in, someone's getting married in Jamaica and they HAVE to have her so they FLY HER down there to shoot their wedding. That concept blows me away and left me feeling more than a little intimidated!!!

I got more and more nervous as I travelled to get there. My thoughts ran along the lines of : I didn't have any close friends from the board. I wasn't a pro. I wouldn't fit in. What was I thinking? They're not going to want me there. My gear isn't as good as theirs. I don't know as much as they do. They're going to think I'm a loser. No one will hang out with me. I have no business going to this weekend with so little experience and knowledge. I have nothing to share..... I only know how to clean!!!!! (so I did, haha!)
On and on the self doubt nagged away at me all day long as I sat in airports, plane seats & finally the bus shelter. With the delays, I was a nervous wreck by the time they came for me. I was so prepared to be shunned that I was completely shocked when I was greeted with hugs when I finally arrived at the lodge. I was stunned that anyone had bothered to wait up for me. I could hardly speak. Shona led me downstairs to show me my room and called me "roomie" and it dawned on met that maybe things would be ok after all!
The next day was amazing as I was treated me with warmth and they shared everything they had, from equipment to information and laptops & phones! I was not prepared to be treated like one of the gang and I was overjoyed to be accepted as if I were an equal. I can't tell you how exciting it was to go out and start shooting Friday morning as we tried out lighting equipment and practiced on each other.
They welcomed me and encouraged me and made me feel a million times better about myself and my skills. I was so in awe of all their professionalism that I never expected them to be so open, down to earth and free with me. Knowing them now, I have no idea why I thought they'd ever be standoffish or exclusive but that was what I had in my head.

Everyone went out of their way to make sure I was included in everything going on, they checked to make sure I understood whatever was being taught and generously let me use everything I wanted to try and I am so grateful to them all.
I'll never forget my weekend there and am sad that we're all so far apart. I hope we can have another weekend like it again some time. This trip was such a boost to my self esteem. Their encouragement and support were absolutely wonderful and I feel like I really grew as a person and a photographer as a result of my time there!
It was so helpful to have this hands on experience and to rub shoulders with these gals! So many times when I'm practicing at home, something stumps me and there's no one to ask. This was a huge benefit this weekend. I would have at least 3 pro's around me at all times and could bounce ideas, get input and suggestions from them constantly.
Some people also brought along their studio lighting equipment and and remote controls and let us try them out. We took them outside and everywhere around the lodge and I got a real feel for how those work. (My "want" list has grown considerably ha ha!)
I could do shots over and over to get what I wanted and I looooooooove this one below of Shona.
and Missy was a gem the whole weekend, taking me step by step through off camera flash techniques, loaning me her stuff to practice with and even a sweater when I got cold!
Everyone was so patient when I had questions or got stuck on something, and everyone was always helpful with everyone else. It was an incredible weekend and I miss these gals already! We're having a blast sharing pics & reliving our weekend through facebook. If you're a friend of mine there, you'll notice I've been tagged a bazillion times this week!

Discussions have already begun about next year's get together, hopefully I'll be able to make it. (if I have any money left after getting some bees, pocketwizards, a softlighter, a beauty dish, light stand.... la la la la!!!!) Murray's not going to let me work for peanuts anymore if I buy all this stuff LOL