No PJ Sunday

So I'm lying in bed watching CBS Sunday Morning (my Sunday ritual) hoping my neck will start feeling better, when my older son calls me to tell me that his car died. I get dressed, drive around the corner-fortunately he was not far away- and start trying to figure out what it wrong with it.

To make a long story short, after a couple of hours of testing the battery, looking at the alternator, jiggling wires, -all with the help of my buddy Brian- we found the culprit. We were just about to give up when he happened to touch a screw connected to a black box on the interior of the body. After we took it apart we found a scorched wire which we were able to fix fairly quickly.

While we were still on the "high" of a successful car repair, we decided to change the fuel filter on my Honda. Then, of course, I figured I might as well sweep out the garage. That led to having a couple of beers and a cigar on the back deck.

Upside? I didn't have to change the battery or alternator on the Volvo, completed a necessary repair on the Honda, swept out the garage, had beers and a cigar with a good friend.

Downside? I had planned on serving my inner nature and staying in my PJ's all day and watching golf on TV.

Now finally, I am in my PJ's ready to eat some tacos and watch a movie with family. Wait.....What?.....the vacuum cleaners broken?

Screw it, start the movie. M

Christy's studio shoot

Earlier this week, Tanya contacted me for some pictures of her daughter, Christy. Christy has an audition with Disney this Sunday and needed some photos to take with her. Kind of hard to say no to Tanya, who is one of the amazing team moms for my younger son's high school football team.

They came over this morning with a couple of outfits and Christy's guitar and we had some fun in the studio. Christy, who is 13 years old, seems like a normal young lady when you first talk to her. When you put her in front of a camera, she turns into a very confident and mature young model. It was amazing how easy it was to take pictures of her. This was a far easier and better experience than I had anticipated.


Here are some of the photos from the shoot this morning...













Good luck tomorrow Christy! M

Joshua's new outfit

Just a quick post. A couple of weeks ago, Joshua had a Sadie Hawkin's dance. We bought him a new outfit for the dance and for my brother's wedding which is coming up soon. I took him into the studio and snapped a few photos, but I only uploaded them to Facebook. Some of my family and friends are not on Facebook and check this blog for new photos of the clones. I apologize for overlooking this, so here are the pics...

Even thought both my boys are pretty snappy dressers, it's nice when they put on some dress clothes for a night on the town. M

Superbowl Party '09

Traditionally the superbowl party is held at Chris and Melissa's house, but this year they were unable to host due to remodeling being done in their basement. This gave us the chance to invite many of our friends who had not seen our new house yet (new to us anyway, two years ago). It was also a nice opportunity to have two of the brides whose weddings I'll be shooting this year stop by and get better acquainted. So we put a new chiminea in the back yard, fired up two of the grills, and opened up the doors. The turnout was fantastic. Apologies to those who did not get a seat, hope you had fun anyway.


I grilled some chicken and hot links, and the guests brought other dishes. We had everything from elk summer sausage, to some sort of Pittsburgh sandwich that Melissa brought. I don't remember what they were called, but they were yummy! Thanks to everyone for bringing so much delicious food, I won't be cooking much this week.


Most of the guests were rooting for the Arizona Cardinals, but we had some Pittsburgh fans as well. I think most of us figured the Steelers to win, yet cheered on the Cardinals because they were underdogs. I personally did not want the Steelers to have more Superbowl rings than my Cowboys. Oh well, we will just have to catch up now. Are you listening Jerry Jones?


It was a lot of fun visiting with everyone who stopped by...

During the evening, I grabbed the guests and took them into the studio for some quick, fun shots...

Got some captain in ya?...

Babies alway steal the show.

Proud grandparents.


Melissa kept talking to excited family members right through the shoot.

75% of the golf team.Goofy brothers-in-law.Who's the photographer here?Cynthia and I had a great time. Thanks to everyone for stopping by. M