I endured 2 NILMDTS sessions yesterday…nearly 3. One at
Mpls. Children’s and the other at Abbott. This is a foundation
that is so near and dear to my heart and soul yet I wish there
was no need. My heart aches for all of the families.
God has blessed me with both the talent and the strength for
the task at hand whenever I get a call. I am grateful.
Thank you to Jessica Towey for coming along to shadow.
She will be an excellent affiliate. Please pray that the
Lord give her the strength as well.

So it’s Labor Day weekend. What are you going to do with yours?

I know how hard she worked and I am so proud of
her for practically putting her life and family
on hold during the process. You literally can’t
do anything but work and train. It’s quite a
commitment few will ever know. Good job Sherrie!

Today, the elders go in for their summer cuts.
Jenn at “Clean as a Whisker” in St. Louis Park
is amazing! I hope this appointment goes as well
as last summer’s visit!
Remember these shots??

Thanks Ann C for your prayers about mom!

I’m going to try to “dive” into my diving
certification DVD & book this week!

I know how hard she worked and I am so proud of
her for practically putting her life and family
on hold during the process. You literally can’t
do anything but work and train. It’s quite a
commitment few will ever know. Good job Sherrie!

Today, the elders go in for their summer cuts.
Jenn at “Clean as a Whisker” in St. Louis Park
is amazing! I hope this appointment goes as well
as last summer’s visit!
Remember these shots??

Thanks Ann C for your prayers about mom!

I’m going to try to “dive” into my diving
certification DVD & book this week!

ya see the thing about cats is that most
won’t come when you call (hobie will)
but they will come to you when they want
to which i believe makes them all the more
special. they seek you out. sadly, when
they are done…that’s it. they hop down
and go find a sunny spot.

today, gary may or may not head back home
from south dakota (he’s pheasant hunting).
they didn’t have much luck on friday and if
that were the case for yesterday then the
plan was to come home. if the action picked
up some yesterday then they would stay and
return tomorrow. my guess is, in that i haven’t
heard from him yet, that 2 scenarios could
be taking place.

1). they knew they would come home so they
headed out early and gary’s sprint phone
won’t work and he didn’t want to call too
early from the hotel….(he has been calling
at 8am every day).

2). they “over served” themselves and are
sleeping in.

my money is on the first one.

later today i’m bringing j back here to change
her hair color and head out on the town for
a photo shoot..hopefully she’s up to head
into minneapolis!

okay, now for some fun news.
after dinner with jane and christopher last night
i called my mom, picked her up and took her to
the casino (mystic lake in shakopee).
my mom is always lucky. she furnished her
entire upstairs once on some winnings!!
but this was to be my night! now i’m not
talking car or thousands or anything but
on a $20 investment in my initial machine
my winnings grew to over $350. i cashed out
and played a little more and for another
$40, i got back $100. not bad. like i said,
i’m not quitting my day job but i hardly
ever go and i never come out ahead so that
was fun.

gary just called, they are going to stay another
day. no birds, it’s too nice, he said.
no wind, too warm…just too nice. bummer.
so one more dinner alone i guess.
i think i’ll take j home later and hang
out there tonight!
the following are some shots of j with
her many different looks to go with her
many different moods!
we’ll be adding to them later today and
i’ll be posting tomorrow the “after” shots.

anyone wanting to donate to her NYU college fund
can contact me!

have a great day!
praise Him!

dick cheney and barak obama are 8th cousins.
(that’s just weird)

hobie never ate any of his toys…check this out!
we got a new dryer yesterday (yay!) and when we
went to pull the old one out….look what we found!!

hobie and katie thought it was Christmas!
i think that we are fortunate that this never
started a fire. crazy cats! just like teenagers…
hide, lose or destroy the old stuff in the hopes that
we’ll replace it with new stuff!

hey, anyone interested in the outcome of blog action day?
click here. you can sign up to participate next year by
simply submitting your e-mail address.
someone from the university of minnesota was quoted. cool.
alright, i’ll admit it..i’ve had some time on
my hands. at times, we all do. it’s what you
do with that time that separates us. i’m clearly
in a class by myself. first there was bed jump
and now i bring you halloween fun and
granny panties by victoria secret!

on a serious note…
a good friend of mine is going down to abbott today
to meet with a surgeon to talk back surgery.
her name is nancy. she and her husband, larry, are photographers
and there is no good time for back surgery…for anyone, really.
but she’s in a ton of pain and this is an absolute necessity
for her. i ask that you take a moment now and pray that she
is comforted by what the surgeon has to recommend. and that
the surgery is a complete success! she’s been battling this
for quite awhile. the surgery is slated for friday the 19th.
thank you for your prayers. meals may be provided & welcomed
as well. feel free to contact me.

saw the sun for a minute this morning…more clouds moving in
and more rain! the southeast is turning into a desert and
we are covered with constant rainfall…should hit 60 tho’.

lens arrives today! my bright spot!

a nice day by the pool with about 40 others
from the neighborhood, lots of kids!
storms came in and blew out so quickly
that we just barely got wet then the
sun came back out. it was hot and the
party was a great time. however, a front
came through and picked up the big table
with the umbrella, ella, ella (ooops!)
and it tipped the whole table over on us!
it was the craziest sight… like slow motion
no one was hurt but the plates were flying
and the drinks got dumped, chips everywhere,
crazy. we hosed the area down and i hopped
back in the pool to “wash off” and then
we were back in business.
gary even made an appearance!
tim & laurie stopped by too.
g had her new boyfriend come along, he is
pretty neat and they are inseparable!

home around 7:30 and then we sat on scott
& jacquie’s’ front step and blew off our
target fireworks for willy until it was
bed time…..for ALL!!

fun day.
i took the day off….i didn’t take ONE
stinkin’ picture! hard to believe.

oh, i have been responding to all of the
“Bella Pictures” wedding jobs and i never
hear back from anyone…ever.
well, they finally accepted me for a wedding
on the 11th of august, a saturday. just so
happens to be another friend’s pool party
that day. oh well.
i’m researching the other photographer.
he’s from the chicago area…weird.

have a fun thursday!

oh, and i JUST got a package from
cheryl mclennan at starkey labs.
literally it was just dropped at my door!
it’s a gift/goodie bag from the gala!
nummy smelling candles and bath salts
and eye patches! i wrote a quick note
thanking her and telling her that i may
just have to shut off the computer, hop
in the tub and take a nap!
she included the program magazine from
the gala with my name under the credits
for photography…pretty cool!
thanks cheryl!

my sister’s neighborhood does a kiddie parade
here’s some shots from last year…

met mike and peggy for dinner at wildfire
last night. kind of a last minute decision
and a good one!! yum!
then we all hooked up with ron & cindy next
door at biaggi’s afterwards and visited some
more…not too late due to gary’s early morning
tee time today (6:30!). those guys are crazy!

i’m going to head over to my sister’s in a bit
and claim a lounger for the day. i told anne that
it almost feels like a hotel over there
cuz if you don’t throw your towel on a chair
early on, ya don’t get one!!

hobie is having poo trouble again, the little
dickens! if he doesn’t produce by tomorrow
morning….off he goes to the vet.
i brought him in there yesterday…he was acting
a little punky again. his bladder was the size
of a grapefruit…good lord! well at least that’s
better now…just gotta get the poo going.
yay us!!

feels weird to have a holiday in the middle of the week!
oh well, enjoy yours!
happy 4th!

it is gorgeous today…low 70′s and sunny.
this is why we minnesotan’s live here…for
the 6 really nice days a year that we get!
the rest of the year is simply designed to
keep the “riff~raff” out! but that doesn’t
seem to be working so well lately.
before they die…here’s some colorful stuff
from out front…(well, not the first one)

g’s birthday is tomorrow…card’s in the mail!

hobie & katie’s vet visit went really well.
dr. rodney toogood was just happy to see hobie
and not have to do the roto rooter thing to him
for once! dr. toogood is really great.
altho’ dr. lorna reichle is studying animal
behavior for 2 more years at the u of m and
we miss her, dr. bey & dr. toogood are really
pretty wonderful.
hobie is just under 14 pounds and katie just
over 10…they really are mostly hair!
going to change that very soon however.

my brother, scott, is coming over this morning
for a haircut. he apparently started something
that he couldn’t finish yesterday and has
called in the professional to fix it!
then we are going to head out for just a bit
to discuss what photos are needed on his
web site and also toss around some ideas that
he can consider to get his name out there!

scott is a mediator, life coach (& fitness buff)
extraordinaire …AND a 1st degree black belt!

tomorrow evening, i’ll be meeting with cheryl
maclennan of the starkey hearing foundation.
she’s flying up from grapevine texas to meet
with the photographers for the gala to discuss
the game plan. can’t wait to meet her!

one last thing…“hell’s kitchen”.
chef ramsey has another great group of
winers on his hands this season!
makes me appreciate a perfectly prepared
meal when we go out to a restaurant that’s
for sure!

try to get outside today!

there was about 15 of us and we caravaned up
and brought picnic lunches.
dr. joanna perkins, one of the doctors at
children’s in st. paul and a current board
member for the MOMF, was our tour guide.
she’s gone up many times in the role of dr.
on staff. she guided us around the entire camp!
thanks so much joanna! you are tireless!
(she’s the one in the orange shirt with the
gorgeous, long wavy brown hair!!!)

the week that the foundation is sponsoring
is the week of july 29th through the 3rd
of august. this will be all cancer patients.
my plan here is to be up there the day all the
campers arrive for sure and then perhaps
one other day.
it was quiet while we were there as it was
mostly staffers and jr. counselors preparing
for the MDA (muscular dystrophy) campers
who were arriving that afternoon.
so i think it will be really energizing to
be there when everyone is arriving and
getting settled into their cabins and bunks!
i can’t wait to be there!!
here’s a few shots from the day….

steve bringing up the rear with his
gay blackberry in his left hand!

it started out a little drizzly and
chilly but the sun eventually came out!
(like STEVE should! kidding!)

here (l to r) is steve (mitchie’s dad),
shawn anderson (from the airport hilton)
and mitchie’s grandfather, ron stanchfield.
(oh, and shawn mentioned that he wants the
hilton to get involved that week as well so
i’ll keep you posted on their input too.)

the picnic was fun and the kids ran around
for an hour…at what point in our lives
do we lose that energy!??? love to get that back!

okay, here’s something fun….
all around the camp are these little
elf homes. you open the door and there’s
furniture and stuff inside…pretty fun
for the kids!

all in all, a great day!
we can now all visualize the time
that these kids are going to have there.
the MOMF is going to sponsor
kids with cancer from the ages of 7 through 17 and
i’m most certain that this will be an annual
donation for years to come!

so, the scripps spelling bee….WOW!
i thought that all they did was
memorize words..turns out these kids
memorize roots and definition!
CRAZY how these students can pull
something out of thin air just by
knowing a word’s root origin!
and then, not only that, but they actually
congratulating their opponents authentically
after they lose. i’m amazed! wow!
most of these kids are “home schooled”
and i think that if they had been
allowed to remain in “mainstream”
schools that they would have been
massively attacked personally and/or
crucified by your everyday student.
it’s sad to say that students today
just simply are afraid of and are
threatened by those who have i.q.’s
greater than the average student.
the nerds of today are the billionaires
of tomorrow!

last night we bounced back and forth
from “so you think you can dance” to
“so you think you can spell”! big night
at the austin house!!

today…2 cancer families check
into the airport hilton in bloomington.
(don’t forget about hobie & katie’s
11th birthday today!!)

i aligned myself with a new organization
yesterday… it’s the CFPA!
“children & family photographers of
america”…pretty cool group!
i’m excited to be apart of this great
team and share my knowledge!
check them out!
here are a few of the images that i
submitted to them…

i’ll be adding their logo, the miracles of mitch
logo and the NILMDTS logo to my home page soon.
perhaps the starkey hearing foundation one as well.
all with hyper~links.