being sick is good for you!

Oh life, you’re so funny.  I can’t beLIEVE I didn’t trust you when you got me sick with fever and chills, and then followed up with headaches, no energy, and a hacking cough!  But you knew what you were doing, didn’t you?

This is the photo message I sent Kels the night I got violently ill while she was on call at the hospital. I was a poor sickie that missed and loved her a lot.

While I was sick and, for the most part, in bed all week, my little butt muscle was getting to rest.  No P90x workouts for me!  Then, Life,  just as you thought I might be getting better enough to start working out again, you delayed me a few extra days, just for good measure.  Well played!

sad bruised pinkie

(Value your pinkie fingers…  They are more important than you might think.)

Anyway, I see now that all this time of “rest” has been good for my overworked piriformis muscle, so… good timing, Life!  My physical therapist thanks you!

I’ll leave you with a slightly happier visual image, one that makes me smile every time I see it:

Yup, Kelsey had to write herself a note to remember her pants.  Sure, it was to remind her to get a second pair from the dryer for some important event, but I’ve kept it up because it conjures instead an image of a pantless wife, catching herself just in time on the way out the door.  It also reminds me of my brother, who has always considered pants ‘optional’.  Love you both!

puppy love

This past weekend we dogsat for some of our new friends at church.  They have a golden retriever named Bay, who is about two years old and full of energy.  We were thrilled to be able to watch him for the weekend, since we’re going to trade with them and have Harriet stay with them over Christmas.  (We used to send Harriet to kennels while we were on vacation, until we realized we had tons of friends who either a) wished they had dogs and wanted to take her for a weekend or b) had dogs of their own and wanted to trade petsitting.  Since then we save at least $20-$30 a day while we’re on vacation.)

this is Bay.

So Bay turned out to be an awesome playmate for Harriet.  He was much more high energy than her, and enticed her into playing at least four or five times a day.  This pawing, nibbling, and rolling around looked adorable as they did it, and ferocious in still shots!

The best part about having them both around, though, was that they got so much energy out!  It really made us wish we had another dog for Harriet.  Then, you know, Bay ate a Christmas ornament I made when I was five, and barked SO loudly whenever he wanted attention, and grabbed our shoes whenever he could.  That helped us with the wanting.  Thank GOODNESS he was so cute, and made up for his shortcomings by letting me practice my pet portraits.

Another outcome of the weekend was that we realized what a good dog Harriet is.  Sometimes I think we forget how well trained she finally is… we take her calmness and listening skills for granted.  Well, consider us reminded.  I love our dog.

this is Harriet's "I'm being very good and ignoring that crazy, crazy dog!" look

Playing with control

Saturday I went in to Boston to meet with an engaged couple to talk about photographing their wedding.   This couple found me courtesy of Miranda’s blog (thanks Miranda!), and I’m pretty excited about shooting their wedding in the unique MIT Chapel next August.

After the meeting, I was reflecting on the whole photography business thing.  I really like that I do it.  I know back when I was in the high art world (at the Center for Photography at Woodstock) it was silently looked down on as not true art and all, but I really appreciate the opportunity to find as much beauty as possible in my surroundings for a whole day.  I like the creative challenge of trying to capture sincerity and authentic love, as well as the fast-paced, every-lighting-situation craziness of the day.  I like how doing photography professionally keeps me in the game, and sharpens my skills for my personal work.

Me with my fancy equipment at a wedding. (Photo by Michelle Neal-Dimery)

 

I also like how I’ve done this whole thing enough that I really do feel confident that I can handle any situation, and I have an answer for almost every question.  This bride was the first I’ve met with that actually did ask me for more details than I supplied, such as how I back up my work, what kind of lighting I use for indoor photography, and how long it takes for the photos to get to them.  Actually, I think this was the first bride I’ve met with that’s told me they’ve met with other photographers.  I’ll be honest, I was sweating a bit by the end of this meeting.  But I also felt good that I had presented myself well and was able to meet all of their needs.

Photography is such an interesting mix of being in control and giving up control.  Now, depending on how well you know me, you may or may not know that I really like to be in control.  I didn’t realize this until I met my lovely wife, who helped me learn all kinds of things about myself.  So I like that fact that I’m more in control when it comes to photography than I’ve ever been.  I’m constantly getting better and better, and I have fewer and fewer surprises when I look at my photos.  But part of the magic of photography is that you do sometimes capture things you couldn’t fully see when you took the photo… the intuitive composition you didn’t consciously decide on, the way the sun made a rainbow-sunburst in the background, the softness of the background when you’re f-stop is low.  So being open to the happy accidents or the un-see-able details is also a big part of photography.

Anyway, the upside of not finding a job yet is the development of my photo business.  It really has been a joy to be able to give it the time and attention I’ve been wanting to.  Plus, it’s been a real lifesaver these past few months!  I love the fact that I can bring in family income from this skill.

Now- anyone out there getting married?

PT stands for…

So far this year, PT has stood for Part Time jobs, the lifeblood of my job hunting.  But now I have a new PT in my life: Physical Therapy.

Before I really jump into things, let me just say that this post is a little boring, cause who really wants to read about someone else’s ailments?  As such, I’ll go ahead and treat you to a fun photo of my frostbite in it’s current stage.  I’ll talk about this more at the end.

So anyway, the pain in my butt (no, literally, the pain in my butt) started a little over two months ago, when I was driving back from a derby game in Pennsylvania, and it hurt so much to sit in the car for a few hours that I had to have someone else drive.  There was never one dramatic incident where I had injured it– no shattering pops or snaps or anything– so I couldn’t really figure out what it was.

I had a couple massage therapists and a chiropractor look at it… they all thought there might be inflammation in my gluteus medius, the smaller muscle under the gluteus maximus.  The unfortunate thing about that area is that the sciatic nerve runs through it, so I was getting these shooting pains down the back of my leg.

Anyway, basically I kept thinking it would get better, but as time when on, I realized it wasn’t.  Then I finally made the decision to find a local doctor, but I delayed another week or so when it felt better for a couple days.  Really any time I thought of calling the doctor, I would think, “Well, it isn’t hurting right NOW… maybe I was kind of making it up.  Maybe it’s gone this time.”  Then, 15 minutes later I’d be gasping and getting up from the dinner table, and I’d realize I was being dumb.

So I finally did get myself a local doctor, who prescribed me physical therapy for my pain.  Surprisingly, going to the doctor was strange… for someone who grew up with a Dad as a doctor, and who is now married to a medical student with a doctor mother, I found it strange that it felt strange, too.  I guess this was the first time in my adult life that I’ve sought out a medical professional and gone to them without knowing anything about them.

Anyway, it was stranger still to go to physical therapy, because I had NEVER done that before.  I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.  Once I got over the shock of the co-pay, however (my insurance card doesn’t list any co-pay, but apparently there is one), it was an overall good experience.  She did all these tests and movements and things on me, and told me my piriformis muscle is inflamed, and that there is something funky going on with my SI joint.  I’m going to learn more about it next time, and she’s going to give me some exercises and stretches I can do to help.  Hooray for getting better!

Ok, now that you’ve made it through the saga of my broken butt, let’s just mention again how crazy it is that I got FROSTBITE on my THIGHS.  What is up, legs?  Not doing so hot right now.  Apparently I should have worn more than these spandex running pants when I ran that 8k on Thanksgiving.  I’ve learned now that with temperatures like that (-5 degree windchill), long-term exposure (it took us just under an hour) can really wreak havoc on the skin… all the blood goes to your important organs and your hard-working muscles, and frankly the skin is last on the list of important parts.  I will not make this mistake again, because frostbite is REALLY PAINFUL.  Hooray!

Ok, that’s all the time I’ve got for leg drama at the moment.  Thanks for putting up with my old-person-esque ailment rant!