by Claire on February 13, 2010
Here’s a news flash for you: I’m an overachiever. That really surprised you, didn’t it? I’ve always been that way – it’s just who I am. This works out great for me in my career because I can do the work of three people in a third of the time and this keeps me employed, thank goodness. The downside of being an overachiever is that I think I can do way more than I have the energy to do.
I’m notorious for unfinished projects. Home improvements, sewing, gardening, scrapbooking, I’m not picky. I just have a gazillion brilliant ideas that I start at full steam and then somewhere I hit a snag and I stop, never to finish. For example, I still have the unrepaired patch of drywall from where I tore down a non-supporting half-wall in my family room nearly three years ago. I’m hoping that will get fixed this Spring, for sure.
Lately my work has been going hell bent for leather and that’s not really looking to slow down for a while. (Grateful, yes.) On top of that, if you’ve been here before, you know my daughter (who lives with me) is a few days away from full-term in her pregnancy, is sleeping a lot, and we’re waiting for the baby to arrive (and baby is taking her sweet time although daughter has been having a lot of practice contractions). So, on top of work, I’ve been taking her to twice-weekly doctor visits and all the other mandatory (read minimum cuz a lot is getting neglected) housework that needs doing.
So, it’s no surprise to me that I’m exhausted and my fibromyalgia is flaring something wicked. But remember I’m an overachiever, so what do I do? I sew some more. And two items (for my daughter) are finished, one (for me) is unfinished. I hit a snag on the one for me, so I hope to get back to it today and get it finished. I am too tired right now to take pictures, so stay tuned for another update soon.
Meanwhile, we got to see more in-utero really cool 4-D pictures of my granddaughter, Baby Laila. She’s too stinking cute and I wish she would hurry up and get here so I can smell her sweet baby skin.
Here are some parting pics to tide you over until I return with my finished project pics. (The first picture is my favorite. You can see her sweet little chubby baby hand that she loves to put up by her face in every picture.)
Tagged as:
family,
grandchildren,
life,
projects,
sewing
by Claire on February 4, 2010
**Apologies to my Facebook friends who have already seen these photos ad-nauseum**
My oldest daughter, Cindy, is an amazing photographer. The word “amazing” is often overused these days, in my opinion, as the go-to adjective to describe anyone or anything with slightly more-than-mediocre or impressive skills, talent, or results. In fact, I heard it in abundance the other night to describe the average Joe bachelor, Jake, on this season’s “The Bachelor” reality TV show… but I digress…
Back to my daughter. She really is a talented photographer. It’s in her genes. Her great-uncle (my uncle – my father, Jim Conant’s oldest brother) was Howell Conant, renowned photographer of Princess Grace and Prince Rainier Grimaldi of Monaco. So, it’s not surprising that she picked up the talent. I have been encouraging her for years to start her own business, but it’s hard when you have little ones at home and no seed money to get started. (Benefactors, anyone? hint, hint…)
This last Sunday, my younger daughter Stacy, the preggy one, and I packed up a bunch of my fabrics and together with Cindy and her hubby, Cody, (primarily them) we set up making a makeshift studio and played around with lighting and backdrops so she could take Stacy’s pregnancy photos before baby gets here. Cindy caught some lovely photos, even if we didn’t have the best lighting or professional backdrops. We had a BLAST and laughed a LOT. I’ll do a separate shout-out to Cody once Cindy sends me the fun pictures she took of him.
Here are the pregnancy photos she took of Stacy. We’re really happy with how they turned out, and I think this weekend, if the weather holds, we’re going to try some outdoor shots.
This one is our all-time favorite:
The scar on her belly is from her gastric-bypass surgery she had several years ago.
I love this one. These are the hands of her two nephews and niece. Left to right, clockwise: Cayden, Elise, Evan.
Evan’s hands.
How precious is this? Evan adores his Auntie Stacy.
And the photos wouldn’t be complete without Stacy’s doggie, Trixie in them. She even had on her finest dress in honor of the occasion.
Tagged as:
conant photography,
family,
genealogy,
howell conant,
life,
life events,
Photography,
pregnancy photography,
princess grace
