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Monthly Archives: May 2006

Refreshed

I’ve been in a funk. Just couldn’t get myself together. Couldn’t motivate myself for anything. Even scrapbooking was just totally unappealing. The house was a mess, the kids were watching too much tv, I was just feeling blah about everything.

You know what’s the perfect fix for a time like that?Family

VACATION.

Yeah baby. My husband and brothers all decided to take a bike trip down the Oregon/California coast. They planned to ride about 120 miles a day. (snicker) Pretty lofty goal. Something to really shoot for. And something that sounded like a horrible family vacation to me. Spending my days corralling 4 kids by myself while waiting for him to finish riding so we could move to another hotel just wasn’t my idea of fun. Then, somebody had the brilliant idea of renting a beach house so that we could hang out and vacation, but not have to follow the ride. The women and children would go there first, then the men would stay meet up when their ride brought them there. As it turned out, by the time we went to the beach house (my vacation started a few days later than Dave’s), the men were ready for a break and headed over early.

It was so fun. So nice to hang out with everyone. That was the first time our family had been all together in one place in years. It was nice to hang out in a home bigger than mine with all of my favorite people. :) Eating meals together, playing with each others children, taking pictures, talking…good stuff.

While I can’t say I’m all gung-ho and motivated, I’m not in the funk I was. Hopefully I can ride this high tide as long as I can before sinking back into another funk…

May 30, 2006 - 4:09 pm Hilary - I am fairly sure if you logged onto AIM more often, you'd jump out of your funk -- oh yeah, and don't over-schedule yourself, silly!

May 30, 2006 - 5:16 pm tifsmith - oh seeing this really makes me know i need a vacation. so glad you had a good time. three cheers for camp funk-be-gone!

May 31, 2006 - 7:13 am Julie - That sounds like so much fun Shannon! The background of the photo looks breathtaking. I wish I could visit your part of the country sometime, I'm obviously not around any ocean...just lots of big lakes and rivers!

May 31, 2006 - 8:07 pm Jami - Thanks for letting us crash at your house!

June 1, 2006 - 5:57 pm Jill P. - Oh wow, that would take me out of my funk for sure! Good for you, your family is beautiful- can't wait to see some good layouts!

June 3, 2006 - 8:54 am kent - WOW - when you said we rented a beach house for a couple of days I thought for just your family not YOUR WHOLE family! How awesome. I am so glad you did that!

June 6, 2006 - 5:11 pm Stefani - Isn't Bodega Bay awesome? We rented a place there on the beach for a scrapping retreat and it was the best vacation ever. Isn't it fun hanging out with family?

bursting with pride

And WHY am I bursting with pride?

Ah…that is a good story. Well, not really, but I’m telling it anyway.

So today I took The Littles to the school and we had lunch with The Bigs. It was the big walkathon. I wasn’t there to volunteer, like they’d asked us to. I thought I had plans. But I finished what I had to do early enough that I found myself in need of lunch. And they had offered barbeque lunch to parents…even suggested that we come eat with our kids that day. So who was I to turn down lunch? For the price of a couple bucks and the effort of walking a couple blocks, I was able to partake of a lunch with my children which I neither shopped for nor prepared. My favorite kind of lunch.

After a delightful lunch spent sitting in the sunshine (ok…i lied…it wasn’t delightful…but I neither shopped for nor prepared it, so who am I to complain?) The Bigs both took off for recess within five minutes of our sitting down. You can see who won in the Mom vs. Recess match, it wasn’t even close. So I gathered up The Littles and headed home. As I was rounding the corner of the playground, a ball was sent over the fence and across the street. It was the ball that Matthew and a bunch of kids were playing a game with (soccer? I don’t know).

My chance to be the hero.

And hero I was. I fetched the ball. I sent it over the fence with a good, high kick. And the oooohs and aaahhhhs and cooooolllls that such a kick received filled my heart with pride. I know…not difficult to impress a bunch of first-graders with an easy kick to a bouncy ball, but I’ll take it. For a moment, I was cool. I heard Matthew’s voice in the group "that’s my mom" and other kids saying "Matthew, your mom can kick good!" as I walked out of earshot. Yeah. Not much. Not really that cool. But as I said… I got a lunch which I neither shopped for nor prepared.

May 19, 2006 - 6:39 pm joanna - You're such a cool mom, Shannon!! Love your story! and hope I never come in contact with your awesome kicking skills! : )

May 19, 2006 - 9:43 pm Katy - that is cool Mom.. way cool. ;)

May 19, 2006 - 10:52 pm Laura Vegas - don't you just love when you're thought of as the "cool mom"! and how easily impressed the young ones can be! if only they remained as easily impressed when they got to the teenage years! lol!

May 20, 2006 - 8:04 am april - Why am I picturing you making yourself a SuperMom cape this weekend!? ;)

May 20, 2006 - 4:10 pm Hilary - You are seriously a rockstar. AND QUITE A BALL KICKER. :)

May 20, 2006 - 4:10 pm tifsmith - bless the neither shopped for or prepared lunch. that's my favorite kind of lunch too. :) i love it when i overhear that i am a cool mom. it's pretty rare, but i love it. and i could never get it from kicking a ball. laughter maybe but not cool mom. cause i would most likely miss the ball and end up on my behind. and really thats not very cool.

May 20, 2006 - 6:27 pm kent - Cute story! You ARE a cool Mom!

May 20, 2006 - 10:08 pm AmyG - totally made me smile. :)

May 26, 2006 - 11:27 am doris - yay shannon! :D

Relief.

I taught a "Photography for Scrapbookers" class at a local scrapbook store last night. I signed up, thinking it would be cake. No kits to make. But once I started planning it, it dawned on me that this class would just be me. Talking. In front of a group. For 2 hours. What the heck was I thinking? So I tried to think of everything I knew to tell everyone so that I could take up the allotted time. I made a few enlargements of my pictures and put together a handout and brought some pages as examples.

Well, no one died of boredom, at least not while they were still in the store, so I’ll call the class a success. Except for the whole nervous sweating part. That sucked. But I feel good, it was a total relief when it was over and everyone was still alive. If I teach it again, it will be much easier. I hope.

Check that off my list of things that was stressing me out. Now all that remains is the yard getting worked on, because it’s layering the entire house inside and out with a fine layer of dust, cleaning the house before I have family vist (27 people!), and packing for a short vacation to the beach. :) Oh yeah, and random proofing-ordering-photography-business stuff. But the class was a heavy weight. Glad it’s over. :)

May 18, 2006 - 11:34 am Hilary - What's going on with your house? You are a busy gal-- 27 PEOPLE AT YOUR HOUSE? TELL ME THEY ARE NOT STAYING OVER NIGHT!!! TELL ME THAT!!!

May 18, 2006 - 12:40 pm Sande - I bet you were FABULOUS! If I lived closer I would have been there in the front row with my notebook and pen! You rawk!

May 18, 2006 - 1:24 pm kent - Shannon Montez is that you???? This is your long lost friend Kent. Can you fit me into your photogrpahy/house cleaning/yard fixing schedule some time? :-)

May 18, 2006 - 6:01 pm tifsmith - i bet your class was great. i have to admit that i am glad it is you having company, and NOT me. my house is soooo not company ready right now. not even close. have a great time at the beach. and take lots of pics that you can use at your next class. :)

May 18, 2006 - 6:32 pm Robyn - Shannon, The class was the best. I loved seeing all of your photos and layouts, (especially the before and after, wow!, cropping who woulda thought)you are one talented girl! I am shocked to hear that you were in any way nervous or sweating! You were a pro, obviously at ease talking about something you love so much, uh... photography and those gorgeous kids!!! Really it was a great class and I am looking forward to this weekend where I will get off that PROGRAM mode and try some new things. Thanks! Robyn

May 18, 2006 - 8:05 pm Lisa Damrosch - I'm sure you were FABULOUS!!!!

May 22, 2006 - 11:24 pm Diane Robson - darn, darn, darn...I wanted to take this class. I bet you did great.

May 27, 2006 - 10:26 pm Robyn - I bet you were Fabulous girl!!! Sounds like a great class!

May 29, 2006 - 11:13 pm Kate - Oh man I so hear you- I did my first class not too long ago- 1 hr lecture plus 1 hr layout- totally stressed me out!! But it went well so it was all good. Glad to here your was good too!

Grumpy.

Do you ever have so much to do that all you want to do is….nothing?

Yeah…that’s me right now. Plus, it’s hot. We all know I don’t do well in hot. Bring back the rain.

Went to the mall today and came home feeling totally defeated. How could there be an entire mall full of stuff and NOTHING that appeals to me or if it does, of course it doesn’t fit properly? Every time I step into that place I come home feeling bad.

Add that to the grump pile. And now Franklin’s awake, after a very short nap. I guess I’d better go grump elsewhere… :)

May 16, 2006 - 3:58 pm Jami - Hey, I think this is twice in a row that I commented first!!! I'm so awesome. Anyway, I just got back from the mall like 5 minutes ago and i feel THE SAME WAY. So frustrating. Lots of cute stuff...that would NEVER fit me. I thought I needed a swim suit for the "COAST CLASSIC" but now I'm just thinking that I need a baggy t-shirt and shorts and I'll swim in that :(

May 16, 2006 - 4:21 pm Hilary - I hear you, I've been feeling this exact same way lately... just need something to get out of the funk...

May 16, 2006 - 8:20 pm april - I can SO relate to that! ;)

May 16, 2006 - 10:34 pm stephanie thiel - 1. would welcome the rain...the best excuse for a funk 2. my 'do' list is so long...staring at the walls reamins the only thing I've accomplished (quite successfully) 3. went to the mall...tried on tons...bought the cute stuff that I'd fit in IF/WHEN I lost 10 pounds...REALLY screwed-up my attempts at Oprah's Debt Diet! Oh man...I am certifiable!

May 17, 2006 - 8:16 pm doris - total YES on the opening sentence . . . :D and LOVE these family pics . . . WOW . . . :D

May 17, 2006 - 10:08 pm Laura Vegas - i'm in a funk lately too! maybe it's the sudden change in weather we had ... i'm not that far from you in cali! we went from weeks on end of rain ... to 90 degree heat! that can't be good for anyone! i have so much i want to do ... and yet i have no desire to do anything!

Velcro Butt

I.can.not.move.

I have been so lazy of late. I haven’t been to the gym in too long. I’ve spent way too much time at the computer. It all started with me trying to get my website going. And all that other stuff that comes along with getting a business running properly. So I’ve had a good excuse. Until now. I really could/should be doing something else. But since the velcro butt is stuck to the chair for the time being, I’m going to share some favorites from my recent sessions.Charge_1

I love the look she’s got here. She knows she’s in charge. It’s like she’s got this little inside joke going on there, some evil genius grin or something.  :)

25cherry I got a lot out of this one that I really loved. But for today, I’ll just share two. Again, the baby ruling the family. They crack me up. :)

28cherry I love the lovey-ness of it. :) And the golden light. Though I love the b&w version of this too.18danika

So it’s family Wednesay here. I have some fun individual shots too, but I love it when I can get everyone together, being themselves. Fun stuff. :)

I’ve got to get moving now before I’m permanently stuck to this chair….

May 10, 2006 - 10:45 am Janet Ohlson - I am LOVING these! Very nicely done!

May 10, 2006 - 10:51 am Kim Cherry - Ohmigosh....it's US!! Had so much fun during the shoot, and even more fun drooling over the pics! Can't possibly choose. (and yes, Noah definitely rules our family - no doubt!!) Just a testament to how talented you really are Shannon :)

May 10, 2006 - 11:07 am Hilary - Hope your butt doesn't fall off when you get up:)

May 10, 2006 - 1:37 pm Carrie - beautiful photos! I had NO IDEA there was an actaul name for what I have...Velcro Butt. Perfect.

May 11, 2006 - 5:53 am kellicrowe - these are wonderful! my fave is #4...mommy being mommy and looking pretty :) kellicrowe

May 12, 2006 - 10:37 pm Wanda E. Santiago - Beautiful photos as always!! Hey Beautiful Have a wonderful Mother's Day!! Hugs Wanda

May 13, 2006 - 12:00 am Laura Vegas - velcro butt!!! too funny shannon! good to know the actual name of my condition!

May 15, 2006 - 4:35 pm Jlyne Hanback - HOLY CRAP these shots are freakin' amazing!!!

June 1, 2006 - 7:22 pm Layle Koncar - INCREDIBLE photos, Shannon! Love 'em!

Jury Duty

I got my first summons for jury duty today. For some reason, I’ve always wanted to be called to jury duty. Especially to get picked as a juror. Not sure why…too much TV probably. I understand that as a full-time caretaker to young children, that gets me out of jury duty. But part of me regretfully checked the box that says I’m ineligible. Someday, maybe in my retirement, I’ll get to waste several days bored out of my mind in a jury box. Not sure why I felt that was blog-worthy, but I guess if that’s all I’ve got, that’s all I’ve got. :)

Hey…and today’s the last day for the fundraiser. The total is over $10,000!! That is SO amazing!! If you haven’t donated yet, go do it now…it’s your last chance! :)

May 8, 2006 - 4:53 pm Hilary - I've always wanted to do it too. Makes my mom mad that she always got them when she had kids, and now doesn't.

May 8, 2006 - 7:56 pm Alison - Dude...I have always wanted Jury Duty. I got called once, but we were moving cross counrty like 2 days after my summons arrived. Shucks to you! Here's to hoping your time comes again soon, and that it's a JUICY one!

May 8, 2006 - 9:09 pm Alana M - My brother just got off a 7 week long trial in downtown SJ...and it ended in ahung jury...so you may want to skip this joyous process for now...

May 9, 2006 - 6:29 am Erica - You are a freak.

May 11, 2006 - 9:02 am kent - You know what??? I got a jury summons this week too!! Weird huh? We could have served on the same jury together! :-) I am checking the kids box too and I hope I get off - I mean they put it for the late june- hello? Kids are out of school!

Happy NSD!!

Today is National Scrapbooking Day.

For those of you who don’t scrapbook, I know you’re probably gagging right now.

But if you DO scrapbook, go play over at 2 Peas! I just finished hosting my hour at the online crop and it was lots of fun. Here I am, saying hi, eating cupcakes.

Enjoy this holiday. Because it’s a very very important one. :) Nsd

May 6, 2006 - 4:03 pm jami - Hey, I like your hair A LOT. I haven't really seen a full picture of it I don't think. Very cute!

May 6, 2006 - 4:11 pm Hilary - You are a freak.

May 6, 2006 - 7:52 pm kent - Hey - check out my ode to NSD http://kentgirl.blogspot.com/

May 6, 2006 - 8:43 pm Alana M - It was fun to play and even more fun to win!!

May 7, 2006 - 10:53 am Jessi - Mmmmmmmmmmmm.......that cupcake looks good! I'm diggin your hair too! :)

May 7, 2006 - 10:56 am staceykingman - What's National Scrapbook Day?

May 8, 2006 - 5:31 am Erica - I didn't get to play along Saturday (big :-() But I *do* now want a cupcake - thanks a freakin lot.

Happy Birthday Baby!!

Franklin is two today. I can’t believe my baby is two. Crazy. It’s been an awesome couple years.

I really can’t believe how much I’ve enjoyed having him. I loved all my kids. Loved the little babyness of them. But even moreso with him I think. I just felt good. Comfortable in motherhood. And with my experience, I knew how fleeting this time would be. I really do think I’ve enjoyed him as much as I could for the whole time he’s been with us. It makes me really happy that I can honestly say that.

Off to make cupcakes. But I’m leaving you with a picture of him being born…just to commemorate the occasion. :)

Born1 Happy Birthday little dude!!!

May 5, 2006 - 2:45 pm Erica - He was born with teeth?!? Wow, woman...color me impressed! Happy birthday F-Dawg!

May 5, 2006 - 3:10 pm Hilary - Happy birthday Franklin!!!! I can't believe it's been 2 years!

May 5, 2006 - 3:11 pm Hilary - Oh, and... who took that picture of "him being born?"

May 5, 2006 - 3:56 pm Lisa Damrosch - Happy Birthday Franklin....what a cutie!

May 6, 2006 - 12:07 am Sophia - Happy Birthday to Franklin! GREAT photo! I'm doing some blog catching up and wanted to say that I've missed you! Sophia

May 6, 2006 - 5:49 am karen - happy birthday franklin!

May 6, 2006 - 7:51 pm kent - Aww - he is two already!!! Happy Birthday!

May 7, 2006 - 6:47 am Alison - that is seriously funny, dude. Congrats on keeping him alive this long, and Happy Birthday, F!

my life may be in jeapardy…

how the heck do you spell jeapordy? jeapardy? I’m usually pretty good with spelling…huh… oh well.

So Dave has signed us up for life insurance. I know, we should have had it long ago. We did have some, but we wanted more. Dave’s dad sells insurance so he got us all set up.

Today we went to get some crazy exam that they require. Blood drawn, urine analyzed, blood pressure, all sorts of medical testing… You’d think they were getting ready to clone us. Which I’m not going to rule out. If you see someone exactly like me someday and it’s not me, you can blame the insurance company.

Anyway…it was funny to see Dave get stuck with a needle for the first time in over 10 years. How can it be that during the last 10 years he got ZERO needles, while I’ve had so much blood drawn and IVs and all that crap that I can’t even count it? Anyway, he was such a baby it made me laugh. He got all woozy. Said his arm hurt for a good half hour afterwards. He’s not usually a wimp, but I think that word might be appropriate today… don’t kill me for saying that, Dave! Then again, I’ll be pretty valuable once that life insurance kicks in… :)

May 3, 2006 - 9:50 pm stephanie thiel - So totally bummed! Your class is the same day as my 8yr old's 'bridge' ceremony (Brownie to Girl Scout). If I skip out on that my head would be on a platter! If there's anyone who needs a digital 'education' it's ME! Please...Please...teach it AGAIN soon!

May 4, 2006 - 8:20 am Julie - you crack me up Shannon!

May 4, 2006 - 9:00 am Hilary - Dave, I can think of a particular trash bag commercial appropriate for you......... sad (shaking my nurse-ly head).

May 4, 2006 - 9:27 am kent - So funny about Dave! Yeah after having babies nothing really shocks you anymore.

May 4, 2006 - 10:04 am joanna - jeopardy -- I only know this because of the TV show. ; )

May 4, 2006 - 7:37 pm Lisa Damrosch - men are wimps....LOL!!

May 5, 2006 - 8:32 am april - We changed all of our life insurance around at the first of the year and it didnt kick in until March 1st. I told Kevin he couldnt do anything stupid or dangerous (like go to work!) until March 1st! ;)

Poor, neglected blog.

The problem is, I have nothing to say. I bore myself, no fair of me to go boring others. I just didn’t want to inflict that kind of torture on anyone. That said, here I go, inflicting such torture.

I’ve spent a LOT of time on my stupid computer last week, trying to figure out how to get a shopping cart/gallery function up on my website. Oh…I should link that…ahem…my website. Anyway…I’m not exactly the most technical-minded person. So each thing is a challenge for me. But I think I got it. All except for the password part. So people can’t actually get in to see their pictures. Which means, then, that I didn’t get it. Still more work to do. Or just give it up and forget the whole thing. But that would mean I wasted a whole week working on it, so dag gummit, I’m going to get it right. Eventually. I just hope it doesn’t take another week.

I had two photo shoots last week. Lots of fun. Great subjects, good weather. I’m liking this whole gig. Except for the computer part. That is the hard part. Oh…and to top it off, my computer is threatening to die on me. Keeps freezing up for no reason. I.cannot.live.without.it. So, as much as I just trashed you, computer, please love me and don’t die.

The charity thing…did you donate yet? The total is over SEVEN GRAND and there’s still a week left. GO SCRAPBOOKERS!!! That’s awesome.

Oh…and one more thing. New Garden!! Fun stuff. Still. I don’t think it’ll ever get old.

I need to take a look at this page so I’m posting it here. A page of my hot husband, who hates getting his picture taken and is usually either very grumpy looking or blinking or wearing sunglasses. Thankyou

Ok. That’s it for me. If anyone died of boredom I won’t be held responsible. YOU need to be responsible and close the window before you die of boredom. It goes both ways, see.

May 1, 2006 - 9:43 am Kim Cherry - I had so much fun on Saturday!! Cannot wait to see the results. GREEEAAT layout! As I've told you, I am so inspired by your work. Really. Truly. For reals. You rock! Yes, I read you're blog almost daily. No, it NEVER bores me!! ;)

May 1, 2006 - 10:06 am Hilary - I am gasping for breath, but i made it through. Good pic of Dave.

May 1, 2006 - 10:15 am Moriah Bettencourt - Just letting you know... I'm still breathing & I read the whole thing. I was feeling lucky this morning when I got up so gald to see that luck paid off! LOL We should have lunch, I'm down in your neck of the woods every weekday now 9:00-2:30

May 1, 2006 - 10:33 am stacey kingman - Believe me, I cannot stand boring. :) I read the whole thing. No boring to be seen...

May 1, 2006 - 5:35 pm Jen - Boring? You can't possibly believe that. And if you really do...YOU ARE NOT BORING!! I love coming to your blog. And I visity your website for photographical inspiration (is that real english?).

May 3, 2006 - 1:32 pm Alison - loved that layout in the garden. Very, very cool. My husband is also a goon in pictures. When I say he is ALWAYS blinking, it isn't even an exaggeration. ALWAYS.

May 4, 2006 - 9:25 am kent - Cool layout!! Glad the photo busines is going well!