Ever feel like Dorothy in the cyclone because your life is just so hectic? Someone told me recently if it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have any luck at all. Boy does that feel like it!

In the last month my camera *poofed*, putting me into a horrible bind and crippling my passion for pictures. I will say that the benefit to that is all of your kind support. I am amazed by just how many people came out to offer their condolences and make me feel good about my pictures. I love photography very much, but I struggle with feeling as though my pictures are not anything special. I know I’ve posted about wanting to enter contests and never actually doing it because I cannot find anything I feel will matter. You all tell me how great my pictures are and it gives me such a boost!

I do not have near the money to replace my camera yet. I wish I did for there is a 50 dollar discount this week! *SIGH* 

Then my house flooded and I spent time literally stashing things where ever I could. And a month later, it is all still there.  We lost our carpet, but nothing of real importance. I’m still finding out what’s been damaged and needs to get cleared out, but lucky for us it was things like some essays the boys wrote and scrapbook paper (not pages) and that sort.  Welcome to messy disarray. The carpet came out immediately and giant fans went to town and the professionals sprayed anti-mold stuff everywhere. They gave us a month for full drying before our landlady could put in new carpeting. So we left the furniture where it was (most on lifts from the floor dudes, and the stuff stashed where ever and figured the furniture could get moved closer to new floor time.

I immediately flew to Arizona to shoot photos for a wedding and that was one giant whirlwind in and of itself! I’m still editing the over 1000 photos I took there. My plan for this weekend is to make a major push through that. I’ve currently got about 100 prepared for the couple and probably 700 more to go through.  Weddings are a lot of work, but it is so wonderful to be able to share in someone’s happy day and to capture it on film. (For those who still have not seen any, look at some of the portraits on my flickr.  Sir Caliban set up a feed from flickr on LJ you can follow as well to see new posts.)

Flying home, I only had a couple of days and it was Balticon time. I spent the weekend fighting the sinus problem I always get from hotels. I stayed in a hotel one night in Arizona and it was enough to set me off so all of Balticon I hopped myself up on Sudafed and fogged my way through the weekend.

In the space of that little time between arriving home and going to Balticon our central air finally got fixed. Thank goodness. About a year ago my landlady sent someone in to “fix” it and this guy removed the air filter and told me that was my problem. It seemed odd plus with Caramon’s week lungs from the cancer I questioned needing this. The tech swore up and down that we did not need it, removed it, and said not to put a new one in.  Very bad. If you have a tech do this, he’s a quack. Get a new air filter anyway.  I will say that the AC worked the best it had ever worked.  It still doesn’t work that well and this guy supposedly “fixed” it a few weeks ago. I personally think there’s something more wrong, and they have yet to admit what it is.  She installed the unit in August/September of 2005 and we still have problems regulating the temperature in the house. With the 105 temps of this past weekend we were lucky to keep our house at 80 when it was set to 71.  Fixed? I don’t know. My landlady, however, wants to take the repair fees out of our deposit for “neglect”. Honestly I would like to fight her on this but don’t have it in me at this time. We will see what happens over the next few months. I am very unhappy.

She came in about two and a half weeks ago to measure for the new flooring and spent the time complaining about how much stuff we had down in the lower level of the home. It is our family room, our storage room, my photo studio, and the boys school room. As we live in a split foyer, the downstairs is not a “basement”, but actual living area.  She complained heavily about not knowing if she could put flooring down. I think furniture would take us not long to move with some help from our friends and we could easily move it for the days we got new flooring. I also think it is of no business of hers.

She also complained about the length of our lawn. Again. After she left I went and measured the blades of grass. Four inches. I keep telling this woman that is an acceptable healthy length for grass. This is the the third time she’s complained about the length of the grass.  One time was actually involved with the flood.  Why didn’t we mow the lawn that weekend was her question.  The six inches of rain that fell was my answer.

Last Tuesday she served us notice that she was going to terminate our lease, with no real reason given. I do not know if she’s irate over the grass, how much money she’s had to spend on her house, or if she wants to sell it. No idea. She didn’t even say in the letter we were horrible tenants or anything. Just that she’s terminating the lease.  As we are month to month now, she can do this. So off we go into house hunting lands. And the flooring is not going to come until after we move out. She did cite she felt it would “be to hard with all of your stuff.”

Two days later Joram went to play at a friend’s house and got bit by a snake. Oh no, he can’t get bit by a garden snake. Not him. He got bit by a copperhead so off we go to the ER.  He is fine now, but talk about a crazy adventure. He and I are both seeing doctors to follow up. Him for the snake bite, me for the pain sleeping on the ER caused my already messed up back. This morning we follow up his finger and then I go straight to the chiropractor. Not that we can truly afford either, but we can’t afford to NOT go!

So here we are.  I’m in the midst of mass insanity and it doesn’t look to get any better any time soon. But, it has pushed me to a conclusion that I need to do something more.  I need to get off my duff.  Moving and new cameras do not pay for themselves.  I know I posted the base cost to replace my camera equipment already. Ouch.  Moving is even more than that! Scary.

Everyone tells me time and time again that I need to sell my photos. That I need to sell my photography skills more.  So I am.  I wish I had time to set up websites and whatnot to promote myself more, but I just don’t. Not with having to house hunt and pack in such a short amount of time and attempting to wrap up my other projects.  (I was given till the end of July. Now I’ve moved in 14 days before so I can do this no problem, but…)

I plan to make available my landscapes. My pictures of DC, VA, and that sort of thing. I’m trying to figure out what I can charge to successfully cover the expense of printing and mailing.  I also have a fund raising idea of setting up at a park and allowing people to come and pay me $10-15 for one post and an 8×10 print. Something that will be of great service to families in need of family portraits as well as put a small amount in my pocket to go towards new camera/moving.

Many of my photographs I can print wonderful 8×10, 10×13, and 16×20’s. I will work this weekend to make sure the ones that I think are likeable are on my flickr.  I have my photographs tagged, but I will set up a group of landscapes.  I struggle with the cost of some sites that automatically do this for you.  I wonder if people would really pay that kind of money for my photographs, but it would sure make things easier if I didn’t have to do the work. 

So that’s my crazy life and my photography scheme to make some fast cash.  Feel free to sound off. 🙂  (Or claim what photos you want by looking at my flickr.)

For now, think I can go somewhere over the rainbow and hide from life in the Emerald City?

–Lady O