RotK and Shtuff

• We are going to The Return of the King tonight. It's a bad night for it. I hope I get more in the mood before 7, because the extended version is like 5 hours long. And we already paid for our tickets, so... good mood go!
• Editing is going well. I am currently working on 2 business headshot sessions, one small family of a mom and son, and 1 large family. I think I've finally mastered my editing time calendar. I used to overbook myself and not really know why--I figured out I have to leave adequate time between shoots to account for my editing time. Like, more time than I thought. I started to do less time in between, and rushed the editing, but I felt like I didn't have time or space to grow or explore new editing techniques. I've had to learn to say "no," or "I can help you, but not for 6 weeks." It's hard sometimes when I might lose business because I don't have enough time. But hopefully the time I spend learning and developing increasingly better editing skills will make up for that down the line.
• I'll post some pictures from what I've been working on as I finish them.
• House is messy because life is hard.
• We're planning a trip to Idaho to visit family for the 4th. We'll also be spending a day at Lava Hot Springs, which I'm looking forward to, even though it will be busy.
• Oh! I went to a Dinner Club with one of my friends from my old office last week, and it was such a good time! I'm glad I went. I made frog eye salad (my mom's recipe, of course). But it was just nice to eat and talk with some ladies--some I knew, some I didn't--who were genuinely nice and trying to do the best they can. I'm totally going next month. Each month is a different theme, and we all bring different dishes, like potluck.
• I'm reading The Unremembered, by Peter Orullian. My book club chose it also, so that kind of works out--which is lucky because it's sort of long. I was excited about it at first because it's supposed to be an epic fantasy, and the cover is actually way cooler than a lot of fantasy covers. I can tell it's the author's first full novel though. It's a pretty neat story and I'm liking it. But I don't think I would've recommended it as my book club's first fantasy genre novel had I read it beforehand. Oh well. I get to host the get-together in July, and it's going to be awesome either way.
• Trevor is doing a lot of homework and getting A's. I'm trying my best not to distract him or invite him to do fun things when he should be studying or doing homework. This Lord of the Rings business isn't helping the last couple weeks though. It's throwing us off.

Books

Mmm, I love to read.

Just wanted to share that with you all today.

I was thinking about that last night as I was watching The Two Towers in a theater (yeah, that's right, it's 2011), and realizing I really just want to read the book again. And then I realized I have too many other books to read. I have too many books I want to know, too many subjects I want to learn about, too many adventures to go on to repeat that one again just yet.

I think I'd love it if my work paid me to read a novel from 8am to 12pm, then I could do normal work. I'd be okay with that.

This is sort of related more to mathematics than to literature, but yesterday I listened to that recording of a customer on the phone with Verizon disputing a charge on his bill. Long story short, nobody at Verizon understood the difference between .002 dollars and .002 cents. It made me stop and think about how grateful I am for my education (however long ago it was), and that I was taught by teachers who cared (for the most part) about my welfare. They taught me the basics, but also helped mold my brain into something that can understand beyond what I've been taught. I love to learn. I want more of it. I think that's why I crave reading so much, is because I really don't have the opportunity to learn scholastically at the moment.

Books are amazing.

What's happening

• Trevor started school on Monday at SLCC. He's taking math and english right now, and I'm jealous and relieved it's not me at the same time.
  


• Trevor is working 3/4 time at At Home Heros as a dispatch person.
  


• I started a new job on May 23rd at Wagstaff & Crawford downtown. This was a pretty awesome promotion that included a pay raise, my own office, benefits, and I'm not the lowest employee!



• I have my first business headshot photo session booked for this month. It's with my old work.



• I paid my first photography income taxes in March. That is a sucky concept.


• We paid off some credit cards, and got a student loan. Nice trade. Not.



• We now have use of our second bedroom, which we've turned into an office. We're totally taking advantage of it and using for pleasure, photography business, and Trevor's writing. I even sewed curtains with this fabric:

• Trevor is delving more into writing as a hobby, and I'm super impressed.



• In February and March I started a family cook book which I'm taking pictures for. It's been put on hold while my regular photography has picked up. But I think about it a lot :) That counts, right? I frequently feel the urge to photograph food and am trying to make it a higher priority and a part of my business model.
  


• We bought an iPad this week! It won't come in the mail for another 2 weeks, but we are now officially iPad owners.
  

• We went to CONduit a few weeks ago; it's a fantasy/science fiction writing convention. It was pretty enlightening and encouraging. We met a TON of authors, and got a lot of helpful info.



• I've had a ton of photoshoots: www.facebook.com/photosbybecky


• That's all for now.