I Don't Know....I'm Just In A Really Weird Mood....

I was supposed to have all this free time.  My kids were supposed to be in school, and I was supposed to have six hours a day to myself to do all that stuff I haven't been able to get to, like.....

Cleaning out the garage.

Cleaning out the playroom.

Cleaning out the kids' rooms.

Catching up on all the Glee I've DVR'd.

Taking a shower on a regular basis.

Putting a thought together in my head.

But, a funny thing happened on the way to my solitude and immaculately clean house......


Sick Kids

There have been 21 days of school this month, and I've had kids home sick for 5 of them.  That's 23.8% of the time.  Now, my daughter, I kind of understand.  She's never been in school before, and there's always that time when they start going to school that they pick up every friggin' germ that come across the alphabet carpet.

BUT

My son was sent home one day because his eyes were watering and he felt like he was going to sneeze.....

Seriously?.....The school nurse said that it was probably nothing, but that he really didn't seem like he was feeling too well.

I told him to rub some dirt on it and get back to class.

She made me come pick him up.

Prince Charming

Evidently, because both of the children are in school 76.2% of the time, I must have all this free time on my hands.  Right?  Just standing around....doing my nails....catching up on Facebook...

...well, maybe that last one, but not the others. 

So, it's kind of become our morning routine for him to ask me what I have going on for the day, me to rattle off a few things, and then for him to come up with some project or activity that he thinks I can squeeze into my schedule, like...

"Hey, do you think you can make some jam today?"

or...

"Why don't you come down to my yard and harvest all of the garden."

or....

"If I bring out the ladder, can you re-paint the house?"

I was trying to get the garage cleaned out.  It was on my list.  It's been stuffed full of all kinds of crap since Charming moved in.

Senior pictures of his old girlfriend.

A black velvet, lace trimmed key chain holder (You totally thought that was going to end differently, didn't you?).

My old pom-poms.  

("Wait!  Don't throw those out!!  I might need to do a cheer!"
"You were on drill team."
"Doesn't matter.  Pom Poms girls always stick together.  Give 'em here...now.")

He never really thought cleaning out the garage was that important a job, since this was just a 2-3 year home for him before moving on to his next house.

It's been 15 years.

It's time to clean it out.  I've been begging him to help me with it, and he finally got bit hard enough by the organization bug and agreed to have one of his workers bring a flat bed truck to haul all of the crap away.

Yes, I said a flat-bed truck.  Seriously....

My job was to go through everything, and his job was to designate which flat-bed truck would be used for the job.  When he arrived home a few mornings ago, I met him at the stairs.

"Hey!  Have you been trying to get a hold of me?  I've been in the garage."

"Ummm...yeah.  How's it goin'?"

"Oh...good.  Yeah.  I need you to look through some of this stuff, though."

He didn't look too impressed at my progress.

"What have you been doing?  It looks the same in here."

"Oh, yeah.  No.  I've been going through boxes.  I cleaned out those two and went through all of those pictures."

"That's it?"

"Well, there were a lot of pictures.  Look at this one I found.  Do you remember that bra?"

"......................Were you blogging?"

"No........Yes.  But it was just a quick one."

"Ugh!"

He has no appreciation for my creative endeavors.....which he just refers to as I don't know where you get this stuff....

Dead Rats

Yes.  Dead rats have found a niche in my life this week.

"Mom!  Come see this really amazing thing I found in the backyard!"

I must have looked skeptical, because he followed up with

"Don't worry.  It's not a live rat."

What the hell!?!  Where am I living that this could now be a viable worry for me?  I used to shop at Nordstrom and have acrylic nails painted red.  I wore black suede heels and drank lattes.  I dated a really cute guy with a new house that he was going to live in for a couple of years before moving into his next house.  What happened?  How did I get here with mud on my flip-flops, a rip in the seam of my yoga pants, and the threat of rats in my backyard, alive or dead?

Fuckin' chicks.

Football

I love football.  I don't always understand it, and that sometimes irritates my beloved because if I have a question, I ask it.  I have a lot of questions about football, and guys who love watching football really hate answering questions about football while they're kicked back watching football.  I have found, however, that when you ask the questions naked you get a much better response.  I'm just sayin....

Fortunately, I don't have to understand football to photograph it.  Which I have been doing.

A lot.  A lot a lot a lot.

I never say how many pictures I take, but when you get a 25% return on a single game of 296 images....well....you know....that's a lot.  And it takes a lot of time to go through them and post them and then check back every few minutes to see if someone's liked them or commented on them.  You know how it is.

In fact, trying to find non-football pics in my folders right now...it's not happening.  I found five.

This one.....

Annndddd....these:

And technically, that one on the far left of the sleeping kid, I took at football.

It will end soon, I know.  Although, they're playing really well, so I'm sure there are playoffs in our future which will take us until just before Thanksgiving.

Crap!  Thanksgiving!  It's too fast.  I can't keep up.

The Meat Thing

It's not going well.

I made a pot roast.  And I ate it.  It was good.

Then I felt gross.

So I made chicken chili.  I ate that, too.  It was spicy.  And oh so good.

I didn't eat the ribs, though.  And I'm not making meatloaf.  Although, if I can convince him to ask me naked, I might consider it.

The Conclusion

"Where do you get this stuff?"

"I'm being creative, boy of mine."

"Well, stop it.  You're making me look stupid."

Fine.  Whatever....Love Bundle Boy.

The end.

And I love ya'!

~Lisa

Project 52 ~ Week 39 {Man vs. Nature}

I was at football last night.  I'm at football every night.

And, if I'm not at football, I'm watching football....or listening to football....or sitting next to someone who's watching and listening and discussing football.

Football has become my life.

In fact, 3 out of the last 5 pictures that I've done for this project have been about football.

Make that 4 out of 6.

This little guy was giving us the smiley eyes all evening long, and then...just like that...he was zonked.

Rain?  Wind?  Cold?  Dark?

Who cares?!

None of that matters when you've got dad's lap and an umbrella over your head.

Kid - 1, Nature - 0.

The Great Big HAZEN Image Extravaganza!

So....I made an announcement last week that I'm not shooting football for Hazen anymore.  I don't want to get into it again, but I've decided to "celebrate" my time with the team by re-releasing the best of the 2009 and 2010 season images for viewing and purchase.

It kind of makes me feel like Disney....

Here's the deal:

The Best of 2009 

The Best of 2010

All of the 2011 Pre-Season

Released for viewing and purchase

until

October 15, 2011

After that, they're going back in the vault

(that's the Disney part....)

The second part of the deal goes like this:

Any prints, products or packages that are purchased by 

Friday, September 30th

will be discounted

30%!

Looking forward to hearing from you!!!

Click here to view the image galleries

Love, 

Double L

Project 52 ~ Week 38 {The Eyes Have It}

I had such a plan for my images this week. 

All about eyes.

It's in the eyes.

The eyes have it.

Great theme.  Amazing potential.

I worked with my niece on it over the weekend.  She has beautiful eyes. 

Long, delicious lashes.  And she was lovely to help me out, because, really....she just wanted to, like, play and stuff.

And, as much as I found these to be divine and everything this week's theme was about, I still took a look around the game yesterday, just to see what else was out there staring me in the face.

I found these guys.....awesome.

And these guys.....great.

But, when this kid jumped in front of my lens, I just put it down and walked away.

Got it.

It's not expressive. 

There is absolutely no artistic vision in it what so ever. 

I didn't line it up or use any kind of selective focus. 

No creation went into it other than firing off 7 shots in a second.

And....

It.

Cracks.

Me.

Up.....

All night long I was sitting on the couch just giggling.

"What?  What are you laughing at?"....because Sunday Night Football just isn't that funny.

"I just keep thinking about that picture.  It's...so....BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

So, to that wonderful kid with the great big, blue eyes.....I love, love, love you for helping me out with my project this week.

Your eyes ROCK!

How 'Bout Them Highclimbers

Dear Guys~

 I wanted to tell you myself, but you may have already been told.  I wanted you to hear it from me, but you may have already noticed.

It's football season, the greatest of all seasons, and you are all hard at work.  

Pounding and blocking.  

Getting better and stronger everyday.  

For ugly, vulgar reasons that have no place on this page, I have decided to resign my position on the sidelines, and will no longer be there with you as you play your games.  

This has not been an easy decision for me, nor is it one that I have taken lightly.  I have loved every minute of being a part of this team--however great or small that part may have played out for you. 

Watching you grow from a sophomore to a senior. 

A JV guy to varsity starter.  

Documenting your transformation from high school kid to Summer Soldier to Superhero.  

Allowing me to be there for those moments has been your gift to me these past 2 1/2 seasons.  

During the off seasons, I missed you.  

During the pre-season, I was excited by you. 

And during the game season, I was awed by you.  

Your power and strength.  Your pride and brotherhood.  

The way you came together, bringing in those younger and less experienced, helping them grow into a valuable member of this crew.  You are all remarkable young men and it has been my distinct honor and pleasure to share the field with you.  

You have made me a better photographer, and a better football fan.

I will always have a special place in my heart and my lens for this team and this most wonderful group of guys.  I promise that you will move on, and your lives will be as amazing as you make them, and your memories of me will fade until all that's left is 

"There was a lady who took the pictures....," 

but, I will always remember you and the immortal numbers I now recognize as "yours".  

You are AWESOME!

You are AMAZING!

You have forever answered the question:  

Who's Hazen?

Now, go out there and kick some ass!

With love,

The Lady With The Camera

Project 52 ~ Week 37 {Momentous Moments} or My Weekend In Numbers

Days in my weekend:  2 1/2

Football games I wanted to attend:  2

Football games I actually attended:  3

Football games that I attended that I actually watched because my kid was playing:  1

Pictures taken during the game:  289

Kids on the team who smiled or gave me their best football face for the camera:  6

Times my kid smiled or gave me his best football face for the camera:  Ha!...as if....

Pictures it took to make this compilation:  4

Kids I know in this compilation:  0

Football games we watched on TV:  8

Times that Prince Charming flipped from the actual game to the NFL Red Zone so that he wouldn't miss anything important going on with the other 132 games being played around the league:  55 (I really can't confirm that, however.  It was happening way too fast to count....)

Times I cried during the 9/11 tribute commercials during the football games on TV:  4 (Robert DeNiro, man....he got me every time.)

Baths or Showers taken by my two kids:  5

Baths or Showers taken by me:  1

Jars of pickles made:  24

Quarts of Marinara Sauce made:  5

Loaves of bread used making Prince Charming his first batch of Sunday Football Bruschetta:  2

Eggs laid by the chicks:  8

Bottles of Hornsby Amber Draft I consumed:  6 (2 a day...only in the fall and only when I watch football...not too bad.)

Normal TV decibel while watching Sunday Football:  40

TV Decibel we turned it to when the Sunday Night Football song came on:  17 (Faith Hill rocks the party for the third season in a row....)

Images edited:  71

Images left to tag & edit: 1,146

Times I wished that Monday morning would just hurry up and get here so everyone would go back to work and school and leave me some peace and quiet already:  47

How grateful I am for you sticking through this 'till the end:  Immeasurable 

XOXO!

Project 52 ~ Week 36 {Thirst for Knowledge}

One of the major rules of engagement for this whole Project 52 thing that I'm doing, is that the images we submit to the group have to be taken within the week of the theme.  You can't use something out of your archives.  You have to do it that week.

They check.  Metadata and all that....They're sticky that way.

We started back to school last week, which means that all of my great "Back to School-I need to learn-I'm hungry for life and thirsty for knowledge" images are set with the wrong date. 

I could cheat and change it,

but it's a lot more fun to make my kids leave the house early and hoof it school really fast so I can take more pics for my project.

"Mom!  You're going too fast!  I can't run that fast!!"

"Come on!  We're going to miss it!!  I gotta' get this shot before the bell rings!"

"Do all the other moms have to take pictures like this or is it just you?"

"It's just me.  Lucky you.....Now get those feet movin', boy.   We got work to do.  I gotta' thirst, kid!"

"Can't we just drive?"

"No.  This is fun.  Fresh air.  Sun on my face.  It's good exercise."

"I'm a kid, mom.  I don't need that like you do."

I thought about that for a moment......then I had to pick up the pace.

"Mooooooommmmmmm!!!!!  WAAAIIIITTTTTTTTT!!!"

Punk.

Screw Them...They Didn't Get This Shot.

Some names have been changed to protect me from being slanderous.....

I had an amazing opportunity last weekend to photograph a varsity high school football game on an NFL field.  I'd been in the stadium before, but never on the field or in the locker rooms.

The fact that the game fell on the Saturday of Labor Day weekend was....well....kinda' sucky.  We had a date with the beach and this forced us to put it off by about 18 hours.  I know that doesn't sound like a long time, but Lord help anyone who tries to come between my beloved and his beach walks.

Just don't.  Don't even try it.

But, because he loves me more than beach walking, and he knew what an incredible chance this was for me, he bought a couple of tickets and drove me down to Seahawk Stadium early Saturday morning.  I can't call it The Clink, and since it's not Qwest Field anymore, I have no choice but to refer to it by the name of the team that plays there.

Clink.

Anyway.....It wasn't until after the game that I got a chance to talk to Prince Charming, and, can I just tell you?  He was PISSED!

"Did you hear that!?  The whole time over the loud speaker!?"

"What?  No.  I was on the field.  I couldn't hear it.  What was it?"

"The whole time they're announcing over the loud speaker about Whosits Photography taking the pictures of today's game and if you're interested in purchasing any pictures just visit WhositsPhotography.com.  I mean...what are we even doing here!?!"

I'm not an attorney.  I don't think well on my feet.  My great debating skills end at "Uhhhhhhh....I don't know," which was all I could say.

"Uhhhhhhh............"

"How many parents do you think will go there to buy pictures instead of to you!?"

"................I don't know."

But I kept thinking about it.  I mean, if the high school athletic association that sponsored the event was advertising another photographer, that guy must be lucky enough to have some kind of mondo contract with the athletic association meriting such loud speaker advertising.

Right?

But....I kept thinking about it.  I'm the one who's great with the comebacks an hour after the discussion is over.

And you know what?  Here's my comeback.

I know where I was on that field.  And I know who was around me.  I know what shots I got and what I had to share.  And let me tell you...

When this guy named Chris, a senior who turned out for football for the first time this year, put on his gear for the first time, and walked through that tunnel for his first varsity game, playing it on an NFL field....I was the one walking with him.

When the newly appointed captains joined hands and walked to the center of the field for the first coin toss of this season....No one else was there snapping their faces but me.

I was the only photographer in the locker room when the guys were getting ready, putting on their eye black and checking themselves in the mirror.

Or having their helmets adjusted and getting flirty with the camera.

No one else.  It was just me.

When the coach gave a sideline interview during the warmup.  Got it.

When the fans went crazy over a play that Whosits Photography was shooting, I pointed my lens at the fans.  They like to see themselves, too.

The Drill Team? 

The coach who was trying to look serious, but was really just giddy with excitement, and I made him show me his smiley face....and he did....'cause I'm his older sister and he always has to do what I say?

The concentrating face during the timeout talk on the field ?  All me. 

When, during the game, one of the brotherhood was seriously injured and had to be carried out on a stretcher in an ambulance, I told their story as they saw it unfolding in front of them.

And when those boys sat in the middle of that NFL stadium during their stretching, trying to act all tough, and like it was just another game....

I saw their anticipation.

I saw their awe in recognition of the magnitude of their surroundings.

Now, I'm not all about tooting my own horn.  I hate people who do that.  So, really.  I'm not tooting my own horn.

And, as someone once reminded me, I don't get the Sports Illustrated cover shot.  I'm not that great. 

WhositsPhotography.com might be great.  And they may have gotten 67 great action shots of the game.

But, I got the essence of team. 

So...when they're looking for it, you'll know where to send them.

Love,

www.doublelphoto.net

Project 52 ~ Week 35 {Lazy}

In the true spirit of the theme this week, I've waited until the very last minute to post this.  I've had it on my To Do list all week, but have put it off until today.  Just because.  I felt like being lazy that way.

I haven't felt very lazy this summer, though.  I've been going Mach 2 with my hair on fire for two and half months.

(And P.S..."Mach 2 with your hair on fire"....Can anyone name that movie?)

Anyway....I don't feel like I've been lazy, but on the flip side, my entire house if covered in a furry layer of dust.  I can't see the floor in my daughter's room.  Our playroom looks like the toy section exploded.  No one has pressed clothing.  Our linen closet is completely bare.  And all of my plants are wilting...even the front pots that Prince Charming chopped off his arm to pay for.  That was a fun discovery...

"What happened to these!?!  When was the last time you watered them!?!"

"Ummmm.....yesterday?"

"No."

"A couple of days ago?"

"I don't think so.  This dirt is cracking."

"I know I watered them when I planted them."

"That was like two months ago."

"Wow...they've held up pretty well, then."

"No more plants for you."

You know, like he's the Soup Nazi or something.   Except with geraniums.

Where was I?  Oh right, lazy......

In fact, before I started writing this, I was in the middle of cleaning the bathroom.  So far, I've wiped off the light bulbs and bleached the plunger.  Then I got bored and had to stop.

I might go to Costco.  I'm supposed to make a pie.  I have to pack for the beach.

But....whatever.

Lay--to the--ZY!!  You know what?  This already feels like too much work.......

Later, Gators.

L.

Happy School Year!

The day I became a mother for the first time was the most amazing day of my life.  No kidding.  I'm not trying to be cheesy or smooshy. 

It was truly The. Most. Amazing. Day. Of my life.

 
I will always remember how my heart felt the first time I saw that little face.  That little body.  It still looks the same to me.  When I look at the pictures taken that day, I can see the boy that he is today, and I am awed.

The day I became a mother for the second time was also amazing, in a different way. 

I was nervous about having a daughter.  Boys I knew how to deal with, but girls?  Not so much. 

And I'd heard about that Mother-Daughter thing.  My own Mother-Daughter thing was wonderful, but I wasn't sure I'd be able to duplicate it with my little girl.

She was beautiful.  Like a little doll that I could dress up in little matching outfits with little perfect shoes.

I adored her with every ounce of being in my heart.

The day I became a mother was the most amazing day of my life.

The day I became a mother of two kids who are in school full time....


....Well, that makes me just.....FREAKIN' ECSTATIC!!!!

HAPPY SCHOOL YEAR!!!!