Free at last, free at LAST

I am Freeeeeeee!!

Ok wait, that sounds bad.

I am currently minus 2 men.
*insert predictable sad face here*

Gene went back to work yesterday after 8 weeks off from work because of a hernia surgery. At times it was really nice to have him around (we got tons of stuff done here) and other times, I wanted to smother him with a pillow. There was a lot of "let's do this today!" which means I have a lot of work that needs to get done over the next 5 weeks (before the next wedding).

And like with any good "going out with a blaze of glory" sort of event, we spent all of our weekend preceeding it, not at home, squeezing out the last bit of freedom.

A couple months ago, our friends from Kansas City asked if we would come down and shoot the grandbaby. Seems Grandma is overly smitten with one potentially spoiled little one-year-old. Don't be hatin', it's her j.o.b. to spoil. Like really.

{This made Grandma Debbie cry}



It just so happens that Duane makes some pretty mean BBQ and we were tempted with that.

Not saying we only went for the BBQ, but you know, it sure sweetened the pot a little.



So very, very many more photos of Kyla to come down the road. In the meantime, I have like literally 8,309 photos to sort and edit. Really. I counted.

We spent the night with Gene's mom and dad and visited with them for a while in the morning. We then hit a few antique stores. Tanner was over the top estatic.

You're right, that WAS sarcasm.

I was so beat. I don't know what it is, but I just can't sleep very well at Gene's mom and Dad's house, plus with Tanner there too, for some reason I worried about him all night and woke up every hour on the hour. In return, what I ended up doing was exhausting myself.

Because I was falling asleep in the booth, I took a nap in the parking lot of Subway in Weston, Mo. No, not like, on the ground, in my car. Boy it was hot too, but I didn't care. I ended up with a 45 minute nap, which apparently was what I really needed. I was sweaty, but refreshed.

Later on, I met up with the hosts of the radio show "Junk in my Trunk" a/k/a The Junk Mafia. They needed some photos for promotional materials and possibly even billboards. See this pretty girl in the middle:

That's Fancy. Remember me talking about her a few weeks back? She's one of the crew, and we became facebook friends after my visit. I read her blog on a regular basis, and she in turn stops by here too. I love her spunky go-get-em attitude, and how she loves to promote and network. It's very inspiring to spend any time around her.

She does all this while raising three young boys and one old husband. Oh, and a storefront.
I'm tired again all the sudden.

The other hosts Darren (left) and John (left) I just met. They are funny and very personable. You can tell they really enjoy what they do. They admit to frequently hitting Weston in their pursuits.

Not that I have any experience in that department.
None.

I had to really think on these shots. They aren't family, or related, or married - so I couldn't pose them in ways I was most used to. It took a little creative thinking, but we got some great pics. The above photo is just ONE of almost 400 I took that I must get through at least a few in the next 24 hours for them to use on promo materials.
But you know, no pressure there. ;p


My point to all this is this:
"whew"

It's been hard to manage Tanner off for the summer (less his Upward Bound weeks), tending to Gene and his surgery, plus keeping him entertained, attending about 6 weddings, visiting family and friends, oh and somewhere in there taking care of business.

And starting a new one... or three.

Gene and I are working on a new etsy shop, I'm going to start up a decorator/nature print business (probably this winter) and get this .... Gene is seriously wanting to start an antique mall. I'm dragging my feet because I've so very much been there done that. None of that has happened yet so don't get too excited.

The honest go God truth is tho, that even tho he drove me nuts about 72% of the time, (we slept a lot), I have ended up missing him. I'm pretty sure he misses me too.

Don't tell his boss, but he secretly called me from the bathroom today. ;P