Hanging Out in Mirror

I have been able to breathe a little bit this weekend. Even though last weekend was a long weekend--which usually means EXTRA time to sleep in and fill my hours with whatever my heart desires--such was not the case. Thanksgiving wasn't particularly stressful, and I can't even say I was busy, in the way that I am busy during my work weeks. But there was definitely lots of activity, and on Tuesday I was already ready for another weekend!

I am housesitting my mom's place while she is at some sewing/threading workshop in BC. My role is that of caregiver for her ailing 19-year-old cat, Fred, and boundary-setter for Diesel, who I brought down this weekend (see August posts for more info). Diesel has established his alpha status through hissing. Not so much the "you are Other cat and therefore evil" hissing so much as the "just to let you know I'm here now" hissing. Akira did the same thing when he was at my place right up until yesterday! Fred, on the other hand, hardly even notices that he's here. Partly because I don't think he can physically see Diesel unless he's up close, and partly cuz I think he's too old to care. He's lived with several cats in his life time. What's one more?

Except for a walk to the general store, I haven't even ventured out of the house, and don't plan to until it's time for me to return to the city. I have spent a lot of time editing photos, looking at photos, and researching photos.

My mom found a bunch of slides in her packing/unpacking (all circa 1970-1980), and gave them to me. I thought it would be beneficial to put them onto CD, since I haven't seen the likes of a slide viewer since I was in elementary school; to ever view these photos, they'd have to be updated technologically. What I didn't realize was that to scan slides to CD is $1.25 per slide (and that's lower resolution). $213 later, I have a CD full of mostly so-so photos. SIGH. Some of them are a bit interesting, as you can see, but for the most part, these were not my dad's best photos. 90% of the photos had a horizon that was off by 3-5 degrees (and always in the clockwise direction); I am still trying to figure that one out. Ah, well--ya live, ya learn. I have done some basic editing on all of them, but may go back to a few in time and recolour them and what-not. I was having fun making the trees on a mountain landscape picture look a better shade of green (instead of green-black), but to do the entire picture properly would have taken more patience than I have the time for right now.

I have also been looking at lots of photos today, because I have been asked to do the photos at a wedding next year (!). Yes, I have agreed to do the photos, knowing that I have almost a year to gear up! That started today by looking at the photos of friends who have their wedding albums on Facebook and getting ideas, as well as looking through some galleries of professional photographers. I visited their sites mostly to get ideas of pricing, because I need a reference point; being an amateur, I need to price appropriately (it is fricking expensive to hire a professional photographer, did you know that?!).

One of the families I do respite for was disappointed in their recent wedding photos, so I get to 'practice' on them in the spring--they'll get all dressed up again so I can do the close-ups and creative shots that they are missing. Until then, I will be doing a lot of playing with portraits and light and all that fun stuff!

Anyway, I think I'm off for a relaxing bath before bed. I am swimming with my girlies tomorrow, and my legs are currently in no state to be seen in a bathing suit. I need to go remedy that.