Back to School-Hurray!!!

As much as I love Summers with my son and family, the first day back to school feels like a new beginning for me too! My son is entering 4th grade and was raring to go this morning, complete with some Bo practice (gotta get up the macho) before the bus arrived. I have tons to blog about (I'm very behind actually) and lots of work coming up, but you've gotta love the first day of school!

This is Sergio, our new Bus driver.

My life is a Carnival Act!

Can anyone relate? I'm constantly juggling all these hot plates above my head! But as of next week, life really will be a Carnival, a Carnival Cruise that is. We are going on a vacation to Nova Scotia with my entire family. My amazing Mom is taking all of us! I mean all of her daughters, our spouses and kids! How cool is that! Frankly it comes at a fairly crazy time in our lives. We will return from Canada and turn right around to go up to New Hampshire, so we will be out of the office until after Labor Day. Somehow when you have kids you have to give yourself permission to stop working and enjoy life. We want to provide the most fulfilling life for our son that we can, and that means being there to experience the day to day stuff as well as a little splurge every once in a while. When I think back on my own childhood, family vacations were really special. Not because they were so extravagant or exotic in location, but because we were all experiencing something new together. The fact that my Mom wanted to do this for all of us just shows you the kind of person that she is. We are very close. In fact, my husband and I bought the house that I grew up in from her. It's sort of weird how you find yourself morphing into your parents as you get older. Maybe someday, I'll have the opportunity to do this for my son and extended family. So we will be checking emails from our private balcony in our stateroom between daily excursions around Halifax and St. John. Whooo Hooo! I can't wait to get a picture of my son as we are boarding the ship. He's about to burst with excitement. Here are a few pictures that I borrowed (sorry to the photographer who shot them) from Carnival's web site.

This is what my son is most excited about-the water works of course!

Our crash pad with a view!

Karate Summer Camp

It feels like it's been a long hard Summer with much still to accomplish. My never ending list. We're in heavy duty renovations (not so much fun), work has been busy and I have felt really disorganized since my house is under some construction. I needed some time for me.

I had the opportunity (and challenge) to attend Karate Summer Camp. I am a member of the USA Seishin Karate Club, and we had a weekend camp at Deer Lake Scout Reservation in Killingworth, CT. I knew that we would be training hard with classes scheduled all day, including free swim, gourmet meals, completely rustic housing and running at dawn. Excuse me, I said running at dawn! Hello... I don't get much done before a gentle rising and several cups of coffee. Well things have certainly changed around here. I quit smoking (part of the plan and doing great!) and even managed the run at dawn without losing the pack. I was thrilled to be somewhere in the middle. Training in the wilderness was fantastic. We met new friends who traveled long distances to be there, trained hard, ate well, slept even better and all left with a feeling of accomplishment. It was great and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I took pictures when I could between classes.

The lake is beautiful!

Our humble housing was actually quite comfortable, especially after a long day.

Our fabulous Chefs!

Games at sunset!

The next day, I realized how long it's been since I've experienced dawn. It was so peaceful and beautiful.

My Sempai, more training and even a Japanese game like our smash the pinata!

Mark and Patti Clifton, our hosts, have been rescuing orphaned deer for years, but I could not believe how tame this little female was. She actually kissed my lens!

Summertime Scenery

I've had the pleasure of working on a fabulous commercial assignment this Summer where I'm shooting at some of Fairfield Counties most gorgeous properties. My clients campaign is not public yet, but some of these images will be in both print ads and on their web page. I did some panoramic shots for fun and even did one down by my river where we have been swimming nearly everyday. Sort of feels like your own private spa in the woods. I love my river!

Daniella & Thomas Wedding

Daniella and Thomas had a traditional Greek Orthodox wedding. My first Greek Orthodox ceremony and I was thrilled to assist my friend Richard Esposito. During the ceremony all of the bridal party, parents and all, circle around the alter several times. The church was beautiful and colorful and the reception was at The Waterview on Lake Zoar in Monroe Ct. The whole affair was steeped in Greek tradition and had a certain formality to it. From the Greek dances and beautiful gowns that all the women wore, down to the buffet of fabulous Greek food, this was a beautiful event.