*tap, tap, tap*

Oh look, this thing is still on. It seems I took an accidental break from blogging, which then turned into a less-than-accidental break, but, well, building a business is proving to be the hardest and most wonderful thing I have ever done. But here’s the actual truth. I miss telling my stories here. This silly little life of mine gives me so much material that I find myself constantly saying, “Self, you really should write about this!” and then I don’t because when you’re running your own business there’s always something to do — planning, shooting, editing, ordering, delivering, marketing. You guys, I have even learned to use the phone {for actual talking} {you have no idea how huge this is for me} because clients prefer talking things out which I have learned to appreciate, even if I don’t agree. I can’t help it, I love email, especially since it comes with a paper trail which is super important when you have 40+ clients and sessions on the go.

I’m back. That’s it.

There’s no drama or hoopla or anything else really. I’m a storyteller, through and through. With my camera I tell the stories of my clients. With my fingers I tell the stories of ME.

Last night Isabella insisted on baking. Now, on a regular old Wednesday night (school night) a stronger parent may have just shut that idea right down, but since I knew I had a couple hours with the Waisbrod Bar Mitzvah ahead of me, and because HELLO this is Isabella we are talking about and it’s almost impossible when her stubborn nature gets an idea into her head. So, she “baked.” Now, you’ll notice I wrote “baked” instead of baked, because, well, the texts started pouring in from downstairs. We don’t have brown sugar! We don’t have white flour! We don’t have eggs! And yet, she persevered. And this morning there’s something in my kitchen but I have no idea how it got made, and I’m pretty sure it’s not edible.

So, guess what I’m doing this morning?

Oh yes, I’m making sure I hit up the supermarket to buy staple food items so at least if Isabella bakes, I get something delicious out of it.

And, you know, so we are prepared in case of a zombie apocalypse, because the 14 boxes of Chocolate Chex that I smuggled across the border last month are only going to last so long. Also, not only are we finally getting Nordstrom in Canada, apparently we now also get Chocolate Chex. I spotted it at Walmart this week and did a tiny little happy dance and worried for a second that I was embarrassing myself but then I realized that I was, you know, in Walmart.

It’s amazing how un-un-employed I am.

My family still makes GET A JOB! jokes, though. And, well, they have a very good time acting out this epic Jack Nicholson scene from Carnal Knowledge. You want a job. I got a job for you. Fix up this pigsty! You get a pretty goddamn salary for testing out this bed all day. You want another fifty a week? Try vacuuming. You want an extra hundred. Try making the bed. Of course, these are jokes, mostly, but I’m still getting a little anxious about these three tuitions I have to pay for. (I want to pay for) I’m so happy with the school choices we’ve made for all three of these kids. Thrilled, even. But those dollar signs flash in front of me and then I get hot flashes. So many flashes, you guys.

But I honestly haven’t even had time to look for a new job, since I have been working more than consistently since June. I know the momentum can’t keep up — mostly because of the weather changing (I’M BEGRUDGINGLY WEARING A SWEATER TODAY) and no one wants to do family photoshoots in the snow even though family photoshoots in the snow are beyond adorable, but also because of the burnout factor. The kids are back in school now so I am actually finding myself mildly less of a short-order cook and chauffeur. Mildly. Because since school started there’s been at least one early dismissal and at least one late start and at least three basketball tryouts and one doctors appointment where my my entire family was deemed “MEDICALLY BORING” which is probably the best compliment I’ve gotten in a really long time.

So, there’s a smidgen of extra time around here, which I’m hoping to use to watch the new season of American Horror Story because after a few seasons of meh, I’m feeling confident. I even found myself with a whole 30 minutes to myself which I used to try on all of my jeans from last year which I’m telling you is never a good idea for anyone but Goodwill, because they are getting themselves three heaping bags of jeans I’ve finally stopped convincing myself I will one day fit back into. And I have that extra time to use in this space here, to tell you all of the exciting (read: mostly unexciting) things that aren’t happening in my life.

Maybe we aren’t just medically boring.