Knock, Knock..

When opportunity knocks I tend to open the door, greet it, and offer it tea then hide under the table in the kitchen because I am scared to actually embrace the opportunity before me. Eventually I coax myself out from under the table and walk back in with my head held high and knock the challenge right out of the park but those few seconds are scary.

I received an email last week that sent me spiraling. A friend thought I resembled a model on a fashion website and he sent it to me as an FYI. We talked and I showed it to some others who agreed the unknown model and I had a familiar “look”. So on a whim; I emailed a photographer I know who does amazing and very expensive work to see if he would recommend a photographer that could update my head shots for me. I wanted equally amazing work for a less expensive price- I do have a mortgage to pay. His response shocked me. Yours truly, will be a photo subject for him at the end of the month for a series of 70s inspired photos. They will be used in his latest movie project and his life's current passion.  I do not know what they will look like but I trust him and am truly humbled he thinks I am up for that challenge.

You introduce me to a 6 foot girl that did not ever have the idea of modeling in the back of her mind and I will introduce you to a liar. It is in our DNA. I played around with the fashion industry in my twenties but did not concentrate on it as a profession. At 36, I am thinking it would be fun to revisit for a bit. I am too old for runways in exotic places and that actually takes quite of bit of pressure off because no one will see it as a failure if that level is not attained. More importantly, I will not see it as a failure.
I feel like a kid the night before Christmas. I am so freakin’ excited I cannot stand it. Stay tuned for pictures at the end of the month.

First Lesson in Physics

It is always allergy season in Austin, Texas. If you are here more than 5 years you will find something to sniffle at…it is that bad. So it is appropriate that Ella at 5 ½ years old is developing allergies.  This process is similar to a rite of passage in many cultures. Some tribes tattoo, some pierce skin or bind feet but in Austin we give Claritin to our kids. It is a small price to pay to live in beautiful Austin.
Saturday morning at 4AM Ella wakes me up to tell me her nose is stopped up and she “cannot get air in there”. I gave her some decongestant and slathered her with Vicks vapor Rub. Had it not been 4AM, I may have teared up while doing this. I cannot count how many times my mom lathered me up with that stuff. The next morning I always woke up smelling somewhat like bacon. It was gross but it worked.

I applied it under E’s nose and tucked her back into bed. She drifted back to sleep. The next morning she woke up and said, “Mommy, your stuff didn’t work.” She explained that one side of her nose was still “not working”. I asked what side she slept on and she smiled and said “THIS one!!” Then it clicked that the “stuff” moved over to the side she slept on and basically she thought that was REALLY cool.

I cannot and did not take credit for God’s design. It was a true delight to see E connect the dots and have the light bulb above her head go off. I love those moments. For me, the trade off for not having a baby to hold anymore is the moments like that one where something intangible is understood. The look in E’s eyes was priceless then the moment was gone and she said, “well, that stuff smells funny.” It was back to reality.