Counting Pennies....

So..... now that the holidays are over (and they were wonderful) we find ourselves in a bit of a tight spot.


Both currently unemployed.


And so, if you could add us to your daily prayers and well wishes that would be wonderful. I was (like usual) working 2 part time jobs and subbing daily at a school near home, but with the economy the way it is right now there were less and less people going out to eat and more and more nights when I would go home with less than $20.00 in my pocket. (Now, I am a fantastic waitress, its not bad service that was resulting in low tips.) Keeping in mind that waitstaff makes just over 4.00/hour as their base pay and that their wages rely on tips I thought that I would be better off finding a job where I could at least be making minimum wage. As I have been managing the bar in Brockport now for 4 years I was hoping I could find a management position...... I hoped wrong. Its tough for people to get references from my previous employment as a manager when the business was seized by the IRS....... I have since applied to wait tables again at 8 different places, applied to be a bank teller as that is what I did to help pay my way through grad school, and re-applied to be a substitute at now 14 different school districts....
its frustrating, and heart breaking, and nerve wracking and I think I might explode in the near future....

and to top it all off, the plant where he works just laid off another 200 employees. And despite collecting unemployment and applying anywhere that his skills may enable him to work, we are not making ends meet.

So we pray. And I cry. And life goes on. But our blessings are still there in black and white. We have a full freezer, a wood burning furnace, supportive family, and a fledgling photography business that is doing well. (we just booked another August wedding, which makes a total of 8 weddings for this coming summer!!!!!)

So keep your fingers crossed, we're hopeful that things will turn around soon. And lets all remember to count our own belssings, (which is one of my new years resolutions...less whining, more blessing counting.)

Strapless Bras

Ok so I had an interview this morning for a LTS placement at a semi-urban school in central NY...and I ironed my pants and dug around in my closet for half an hour for a shirt to match them, finally choosing a boat neck white top with pretty beading around the neck. But, my bra straps showed, and against my better judgement I put on my strapless bra. I know I have ranted and raved about these before but seriously ladies, lets put our heads together and come up with something better. What idiot invented the strapless bra? It wasn't long before said bra was wrapped securely around my belly. So, I tugged it back up as would probably happen another dozen times. I hate these things. Not only do they create mono-boob, but they are either too tight or too loose and not at all comfortable. Has any one stumbled across the perfect strapless bra? Let me in on your secret please! (Do note I have tried the silicone self-adhesive ones and if you aren't afraid that they will rip your nipples off later these are definitely the way to go).

Moving right along..... does any one want to wrap my christmas gifts for me? :-)

Changes....

Starting with the title of my blog. Better, yes? more accurate anyway.

November already?

Wow. Fall came and went in a flurry of excitement. I'm not truly certain that I am ready for it to be almost December and shhh.....Christmas. Anyway... I am in the process of reapplying for a billion non-existent teaching jobs in the hopes that one opens up in the not too distant future. I loved loved loved my long-term sub placement and I cried like a baby when I left. I had fantastic students and wonderful co-workers who made my transition from scared-to-death-new-teacher into someone actually capable of teaching.

Our photography business is off to a flying, running, crashing start. We have no idea what we are doing, or how to go about making a business work but we have had really great reactions from the people who we have worked with and we have SEVEN weddings booked so far for 2009. Of course eventually we have to officially create a business, and figure out our new taxes and organize ourselves, but for right now we are floating around in the bliss of immediate successes.

I have been planning on how to get the family that is currently blessed with my constant presence to actually do some of the things that they say they are going to do.... for instance paint and upkeep the barn that is slowly falling down. They are buying new animals (cows....lots of them) and trying to make money farming again, thus I believe that the barn should at least look like a barn. So.... (be forewarned....) I started planning a "paint-the-barn" party. To which I plan on inviting everyone we know, people who use the barn, people who love the farm, family, friends, people who really owe them for all the nicey-nice-ness that they give out all year long..... and they think I am CRAZY. But imagine with me: early next summer, music, good food, good drink, good company, lots of paint brushes, all leading to----- beautiful barn. Why not I think. so....your invitations will be in the mail :-)

We had a wonderful weekend. The boys took me rabbit hunting and it was the first time I have ever seen a valid reason for having their high-strung-poorly-trained beagle cuteness around. It was amusing to watch the boys be so excited as the barking beagles ran in circles around them waiting to catch their first glimpse at a speeding bunnie. And as morbid as the whole event is, the look on the faces of grown men as they first see the rabbits come bounding out of the woods is priceless, pure joy and excitement. Cousin John was here for the weekend, got himself a freezer full of venison, even if it made Traci mad. :-) We had a fantastic lunch with grandma before he headed off to Albany, we always love his company and I think the men were really glad for the extra male bonding time they were allotted because he was here. And the fact that mom actually cooked dinner.

Today I am at my mother's house about to enjoy yet another home cooked meal as she has invited my grandparents down for supper. Its bound to be a week full of family and love and togetherness that I so so so needed after the fiasco of a month I have created for myself.

So life is good and love abounds. Happy Thanksgiving.

really.....

Dear Makers-of-Midol:

Do not screw with women with PMS. You don't know who you're messing with.
Your tamper resistant, foil-wrapped packages do not fool me. I know that you use super glue to hold those pills in place. Not wise my friend, not wise. Do not force hormonal, homicidal women to wield both scissors and knives to open life saving medicines. Do not tease those on the brink with taunting "tear here" labels. I am warning you....

Love, Molly

Busy, busy, busy..... a photo recap.

Look at my little Luke man. He's getting so big.....Love his shirt....even if his mom dresses him in leggings.....
The harvest moon, the fall leaves.... my fave season.
A quick weekend trip to NYC. We went over Columbus Day weekend, since I HAD NO SCHOOL on monday!!! yay! With my mom and her friend Katy. It was our annual Chick-ation.

Zack and I are considering adopting a dog. I want something big, that will scare away the bad guys, but really be a cuddle bug. What do you think of him?

I have been crazy busy with life lately. Here's the beautiful cake from Josh and Ashley's beautiful wedding. I took pictures for them, they are wonderful, all is well with the world.....

Below is a sign near Ground Zero in NYC.....I did not take the stairs.......

Its fall. My favorite. This is the end of DeRuyter Lake. I love love love home.
Hanging with my mom in Brockport. It was a much needed girl bonding day.

I know photos are crazy and out of order....but so is my life..... in rochester still until November 4th, then hopefully finding someone to rent my house..... cross your fingers.

Hello, I am your photographer......nice to meet you.

YAY. We are pumped. Check out our website..... but please note that its a work in progress and we have no idea what we are doing and we are using a cheesy website builder because of that......and yet we are still pumped.

:-)

here is said cheesy website!

Celebrate! :-)

We signed the contract this week to take pictures for our FIRST wedding!!! Pompey Hollow Photography is on its feet and we're so so excited. We bought champagne to celebrate. We spent a fortune on new equipment and a website! I broke down and bought photoshop..... :-) I stayed up until way past my teacher bed time playing with it. I figured out how to leave one piece of a photo in color while the rest is black and white. I should be sleeping but our very first pay check for our very first wedding is in the bank and I can't sleep!!!!! I have to be up in 4.5 hours to go to work....and then work at the bar as well....... :-) yay!

100th post and nothing to say

School started!!!!! I am teaching 9th grade at an unnamed suburban school, and it has been wonderful thus far......with the exception of getting up at 5am and one student who greeted me by saying "Yo Miss W, how old are you? Like 38?" I'm happy and busy and there's money in my bank account......

Life is good.

so......

... my dog has fleas. Badly. And I’ve scrubbed her and sprayed the house, and given her the meds from the vet….and she still has fleas. Which was fine until they started biting ME. So we’re working on that, but not before she gave them to my mothers dog Duke. Now Duke is old, and fat and has fuzzy, thick, impossible to see fleas, fur. So he was itching and scratching and unable to lay still. And my mom noticed that he was scratching and scratching in the same spot all day. So we started to investigate, rolled the giant tub of a dog onto his back and searched his tummy for bug bites. We looked, and combed and pulled, until finally my mom found something. It was red and black and slightly raised. It looked like a tick bite and we were pumped that we finally found what was making Dukie so uncomfortable. My mom squeezed it, and picked at it to see if the tick was still in there…..Then we found another one, and my mom was starting to get nervous that maybe we should take him to the vet. We cut all the fur off of the bites and sprayed them with anti-itch spray. Poor puppy. The second one was about three inches down from the first one, so we kept looking. Then we found another and another…….strangely they were evenly spaced around the perimeter of his tummy…..they were his nipples.

….Duke does not have fleas….or ticks. Only bald patches on his tummy where we cut off all the fur. We’re really smrt.