I'm a business owner.

So, it's official.  I've registered my photography business with the state of Pennsylvania!  A huge step in the process and one that basically makes it, well, official.  My head is spinning with all that I have yet to do.  I need to put the final touches on my website, finalize my contracts and releases, finish my pricing list (which involves actually making a decision on what to charge - so hard!!), create my business cards and marketing material, and open an Etsy shop to sell my still life prints.  I couldn't sleep last night with all of these things running through my head.

I got a call from a friend of mine who is having a baby any day now and would like me to do a newborn session for her.  Of course I jumped at the opportunity to shoot a newborn but this has upped my deadline for getting my business in order.  I had been planning for September 1st to be "open for business" but it looks like that's going to happen a few weeks ahead of schedule.  Which, is actually ok.  It forces me to get it done as I am a serious procrastinator at times and work best with deadlines! 

Did I mention that my head is spinning?  In case I didn't, it is.

School

So much going on as of late.  The twins start school in 11 days - ack!!  As much as I've looked forward to this monumentus occasion on those days when they've been driving me crazy, I'm so sad.  The thought of them being gone everyday, ALL DAY makes my heart ache.  Plus, it just seems that they're too small/young for school.  How will they navigate through an entire day without me?    *sigh*    I know they'll be fine and I know I will, too.  And, don't get me wrong,  I will most certainly welcome the extra time and freedom.  It's been a bit crazy being a stay at home mom to three kids five and under.  But, life is going to change drastically soon and I know that I'll miss the craziness.  And, I'll miss them.  A lot.

We moved into this house when the twins were eighteen months.  It honestly seems like yesterday.  I remember being so excited to be here.  A house with a quiet street where they would be able to ride their bikes without the worry of a lot of traffic and have friends to play with and just enjoy being kids.  At that time I was working three days a week in the office and two from home.  I was a great schedule and I was thankful for those days at home with them.  Oh, the things we were going to do together!  It seemed like the three years that we had ahead of us, before they would start school, was an eternity.  I'm still not sure how we got here so quickly.  And, without doing half of the things that I wanted and planned to do. 

We're joining the ranks of back to school shoppers this weekend to pick up any and all necessary items for school.  I'm struggling a bit with this as my daughter has developed her own personal fashion sense and it doesn't come even a teeny bit close to mine.  We went shoe shopping last night and her choice of shoes made me cringe.  Every pair.  Thankfully, none of them came in her size. Whew.  I know that I will probably not be quite as lucky tomorrow.  I also know that I should just let her buy what she likes.  EJ, so far, doesn't seem to care much about shoes or clothes.  I can still influence him.  At least for now.

A First Birthday Party

A certain little girl with strawberry blonde hair celebrated her first birthday last Saturday.  There was a lot of  pink, a lot of sunshine and a lot of people who love her there to celebrate her day.

Your Eyes

It's so easy to take them for granted.  So very easy to just expect that they'll always do their job.  That your sight will always be there.  Until one night, when you're on the computer and you see black spots floating across your computer screen.  And, you think to yourself, what the heck was that?  You start to rub the screen thinking that it must have been dirt.  Only to discover a few minutes later that it's not. 

Then, you remember how earlier in the day your eye had felt like there was something in it.  And actually, while you're thinking about it, you realize that it still hurts.  And, you're freaking out a bit because your seeing spots.

This was me on Thursday night.  I tried to put it out of my head but my eye continued to hurt all day Friday.  Friday night I made the mistake that I make far too often.  I googled my symptoms.  I guess it could be viewed as a good thing because it did get my arse to the eye doctor the next day as I had self diagnosed myself with Uveitis.  Which, as I found out yesterday afternoon after a visit to the eye dr., I do have. 

Uveitis is an inflammation of the inner layer of the eye.  It feels as lovely as it sounds.  Uveitis can be caused by a variety of things...  some very benign and some very serious.  It is often a result of an auto immune disease like rheumatoid arthritis or MS.   And while my dr. did mention that those diseases as being a cause, he didn't seem concerned.  He gave me a prescription for eye drops that should, hopefully, take care of the issue.  No follow up.  No additional testing.  He said I should be feeling better in a few days.

If you google Uveitis, however, it paints a different picture.  Cataracts, glaucoma, blindness, MS, other auto immunue diseases.  It's not a pretty picture.  And quite different from the "take these drops for a week and you'll be fine".  I should really learn to stay off of the internet. 

Oh, and the best part?  While I had mentioned in a previous post that I was planning to wean Piper from nursing before my beach trip, I didn't follow through and spent that weekend pumping.   She happily went back to nursing when I returned home and I was planning to let her self wean.  Until I got my Rx for the drops yesterday.  I forgot to ask the dr. at my appointment whether or not they were safe while nursing.  And, by the time I got to the pharmacy, the dr's office had closed for the weekend.  So, while we were down to only nursing two or three times a day, we were all of a sudden forced to abruptly wean.  While she seems ok, weaning is painful.  And, this is now in addition to the pain in my eye.

Lovely.