RANDY'S BOAT TRAILER ACCIDENT PHOTOS

WRECKED BOAT TRAILER (08.31.08) Randy was rear-ended while stopping to turn into the convenience store. These are the photos of the boat trailer he was pulling at the time.

The back end of the truck didn't get as much damage because the trailer took most of the impact. I am very glad it was carrying this trailer. I can't help to think how much worst Randy's truck and he would have felt the impact had it not been there.

Can you believe this?

Randy actually had our point and shoot camera with him to take a photo for the blog that I will post later. It was a photo directing the evacution route, an image I felt worth documenting. He didn't think to photograph the other vehicle, but if you look close in the first image in the far left upper corner you can see the other vehicle. It was totaled.

View the next post for more info about this post and how Hurricane Gustav is affecting us. We are leaving to go to B.R. to pick up our kids.

~~ja~~

HURRICANE GUSTAV

Today is Wednesday, September 3, 2008, two days after the Hurrican Gustav made landfall and two days after Labor Day. What a holiday this was!



Days before the Hurricane we started hearing the warnings from the different media sources.



Friday evening Natalie's other grandmother drove to St. Francisville to get Natalie so that we could share her this Labor Day weekend. The plan was for me to take her back to B.R. on Labor Day. Randy also listening to the Hurricane information and planned evacution plans mentioned to me that surely they know that she won't be returning until Tuesday or Wednesday...probably Wednesday. He had heard that they would not be letting people back until then. And so far this is what has been true. (at least this is as we heard it on the radio)

I started this post first thing this a.m. It is now lunchtime and we have intentions of going to Baton Rouge. After Randy made it a few phone calls, we have been told that we can get to B.R. We plan take some gas to Cameron and Brittany and bring Cameorn's car back home on a trailer. It won't crank.

Earlier this morning I was getting really sick with worry about them. Some reports are that B.R. may be w/o power for another week and some may be as early as the evening. Late yesterday and this morning, we had not been able to get through using cell phones which is pretty much the only means of communication right now. We were getting concerned if they had enough food. Because they have been out of power longer than us. So I knew their refrigerated food must be spoiled by now. But more than anything at the time, we just didn't know since we had not talked to them in while.

Finally Randy got through. He kept trying because he didn't won't to go to all this trouble to go get them and then for some reason they not be there. At first Cameron wasn't that concerned and said they were fine. He seemed to think they would soon have power because a lot of LSU did. So Randy, Cari and I still contemplated what to do.

We decided that once Randy tries to get something set up so that he could bring Cameorn's car back on the trailer that we would leave to here to get them. We would take gas for Brittany's car and bring Cameron's back on the trailer. Normally the trailer thing would not be that complicated, but just days ago Randy was in an auto accident involving his truck and a trailer. Sunday afternoon he was on his way to the lake to get the ski boat out of the lake before the storm came. He was pulling the boat trailer. He decided to stop at the 84 (our convenience store...you know the one...everybody has one...the one they always like to shop at their convenience). So Randy needed to get a few things and he decided it would be easier to stop now on his way to the lake rather than coming back pulling the boat. Traffic was very heavy because of all the evacuation traffic. Because of pulling the trailer he could just pull up in there like he normally would. He continued to watch his rear view mirror for traffic behind him...all of sudden he heard brakes screeching and looked up to see someone was coming at him. He braced himself to the steering wheel. A truck hit him and tore the boat trailer that he was pulling and his the backend of the truck and also the trailer hit. So now he was has to see if he can get his hitch to work so that he can use it to pull another trailer.

That's where we stand at this moment as I type this. Many people in this area have been out of power though I think many have been restored. School has been canceled at LSU for the rest of the week. Cari's school was cancelled for Tuesday and Wednesday, but we still aren't sure about Thursday. We have had a generator here for about 24 hours now. It is giving us enough power to wash, use computer (obviously), keep refrigerator running, lights and ceiling fans (no A/C). As much as we're missing air conditioning, it is much easier to sleep under ceiling fans than it was the night before w/no air moving.

It has sort of been like a "snow-day" w/o the snow! We played scabble Monday evening by lantern. Yesterday evening (after Randy finished helping others), we watched movies in the bedroom (not using our big TV). It has been an interesting and different last few days!

Overall I think Lousiana got it pretty tough with all the fallen trees and power lines. The impact wasn't as strong or dramatic as Katrina, but the overal spreadage and power outage has been much worst for the state of Louisiana.

I a few images that I will add later, but first I will probably add the boat trailer images since those are the only that I have ready.

Thanks to everyone who saw this storm coming and prayed in advance. It has been yucky! But it could have been so much worse

~~ja~~

REMINISCING...

YOU MUST HAVE BEEN A BEAUTIFUL BABY... This image was caputured about 3 years ago. She was about a month old. Her smiles were coming more and more often. I soon discovered that darling little dimple as I continued to fall in love with this new little bundle of joy!

It was September before we got birth annoucements out. The photographer's stuff always gets put on the back burner because she is too busy with everyone else's portraits!

What a contrast newborn baby and almost 3 yr. old...

A PAGEANT PHOTOGENIC STYLE PHOTO...

I have no desire to get back into pageants (like I did when Cari was little), but we did put Natalie in a local pageant. Can you believe we did NOT win photogenic with this. This is what would win in the typical pageant Cari entered. This image has a little more retouching and contrast than normal portraits, but this is was the style for photogenic entries.

THIS WAS THE BIRTHDAY WISH THAT I HAD IN THE LOCAL PAPER BEFORE NATALIE'S FIRST BIRTHDAY. We never got around to doing a birth annoucement in the same local paper. I guess we were all adjusting to life with a new little one. So I wanted to do something special and this was what I came up with...the above image. To view it larger so that you read the text, click on the image.

The next three images are the images used in the ad.

She is approximately 2-3 weeks old in this image. I don't remember exactly which because I had to do the session twice to get the images that I was trying to capture. When we wanted her asleep, she wanted to be awake. When we wanted her awake, she wanted to sleep. Yes, a typical newborn portrait session, but since she was "ours", we could try again. I am so gald we did, because these are some of my most favorite images ever!

This next image is from her 6-month portrait session. She was such happy baby...which made everyone who loved her and took care of her happy too!

This one was done about a week before her official one-year portrait session that I did in Hot Springs when we were there on vacation. It, too, is also still one of my favorite images!

The last few weeks I have found myself reminiscing about the last few years...I wonder why!








As I was doing this I found myself staring at some of my most precious images that I have captured over the last 3 years.

And of course, I want to share this with you:

Okay, I goofed again.

I starting writing before I added the images and the images always come up above the text when I do it this way. Sorry...

~~ja~~

NATALIE DIDN'T CRY!

For the 2nd day in a row, Natalie did not cry when Brittany took her to her daycare. I was going to post it here yesterday attaching the link to Natalie's World with the rest of the story, but my day slipped away from me.



Actually, my day went late into the night. I am starting to feel better and get re-motivated with my new business plans that I hope to announce soon.



But for now, I am still extremely behind and since I got caught up in blogging, I stayed up late to create some sample birth annoucements for a client. I did follow through on a promise. I never intend to lie...life has just been a little overwhelming lately and I don't always come through for myself and my clients. That makes me sad too, but I am trying to get over this sadness and get going again.



Again, thank you to everyone praying for us. I know this isn't like a sick child or parent, but it is matters of the heart. That little girl has been my heart and now a part of my heart is missing.

Okay, I am getting back to work.

I promise!

~~ja~~

ABOUT ME...

SIX RANDOM THINGS ABOUT ME

{like anyone really cares}

I was tagged by Casey for this game "Six Random Things about Me," Here are the rules: Link to the person who tagged you, mention the rules, tell six quirky, yet boring & unspectacular things about yourself, tag six other bloggers by linking to them, and then go to each person's blog and leave a comment letting them know they've been tagged. [Shonda I copied your rules for this game. I hope you don't mind. Of course, I changed the name to "protect the innocent". Okay, that just sounded silly...oh well. And oh yeah...I don't know how to do the link thing...okay I guess I should add that I am not that bright on some of the blog stuff too!]

1. I don't like to say no. My kids and husband don't buy that. But I like to avoid confrontation. I hate to let people down. No is a very complicated word in my vocabulary. It is all a part of that avoiding confrontation thing. Sunday before last, Bro. Dan said that we should be Peacemakers...okay, I think I am, I avoid confrontation. I try to keep the peace, but after he explained the difference in a peacemaker and peacekeeper, I realize that I am a peacekeeper. I like for it to all just go away. Though I am going to try harder on that one, Dan. It all definitely made sense.



2. I get a little obsessed with the laundry. I wash everything in the washer (all kinds of shoes, hair bows, and all sorts of things one wouldn't think you could).[Nicki, I do dry clean clothes need to be dry cleaned!] Of course, you do some things very delicately in the laundry bags. However, most of those things do not go to the dryer. Some people would do two different loads: darks and lights. I would get about 10 different loads out of that: good clothes light, older clothes light, khaki's and grays, good clothes dark, older clothes dark (the good clothes always in cold water and the older in warm) and then there's the delicate loads of dark clothes and light clothes too. These don't go in the dryer at all. I also like everything folded a certain way and hung up a certain way. I take extreme care to all new clothing. I like things to stay new looking. I take just as much precaution to a shirt that I bought on clearance for $3.00 as to another one (not on sale for $30.00). [Does this apply to you too, Shonda?]



3. I used to be an extremely organized person, but never felt organized enough. My friend, Cheryl, said that was the trait of a organized person. Over the years, I feel like my life has gone to chaos and that I am not organized at all anymore except for particular things like the laundry which is why I think it is so important to me. I guess it really is one of those OCD things. Since there are so many things in my life that feels out of control, laundry is something that I can keep under control.



4. I hate to do a single thing. I multi-task almost everything. [Does this sound familiar, Casey?] I always have 3 or 4 windows open on my computer. If one things seems to be taking to long too open, I go to something else. If I am folding clothes, I watch tv (new type shows in the a.m and CSI'S or Law & Orders in the evening). If I do work in the kitchen, I listen to the radio and I usually do that while also running back and forth to the computer. It kills me to get in the car to drive. So that's a good time to make conversation on the phone with friends that I talk on the phone to on a regular basis like Pam, Cheryl or Mom. If I am not talking, only driving, I feel like it is such a waste of time.



5. My favorite flowers are daisies and daffodils. I think that tells a little about my personality. Roses and other flowers are pretty, but I see them as sophistication. Daisies are so simple and down-to-earth. I think I am too.



6. I always make my bed. It's sort of like the laundry thing. It is one of those things that make me feel like the rest of my life is a little more in control if my bed is made.



7. One of my favorite ice creams is Black Walnut. I rarely buy because I am sure I would be the only one here to eat it, but it reminds me of my childhood. It was (and may still be) my daddy's favorite. From time to time, he would say let's go get ice cream. My mom didn't buy it at the regular grocery store with the other groceries. I guess it was sort of special treat. We would go to this particular convenience store (West Side Grocery) and buy a 1/2 gallon. Just the smell of it takes me back that particular time in my life (time of childhood innocence). These days I get it at convenient stores too...you know where they have about 12 different big tubs of ice cream and you can get it in a cone or bowl. I always get a cone. I usually do this on our way back from shopping trips to Monroe at a convenience store in Rayville. I don't know the name of it, but it is on the right side the road on the way home.



8. I had a great mom as a child. She didn't work though she thought she should so we could have more. I always thought I would because I wanted my kids to have more. When my child was born, I cried everyday for two weeks, after much debate, I gave my two week notice. I also became a stay-at-home mom like my mom. After about year, I worked part-time. I did love the fact that my mom was there when I came home from school. She was such a great listener and loved hearing about our day. I also like be available for my kids and granddaughter even though I do still work by working at home I felt like a stay-at-home mom. It makes me feel like I am here for my kids. I am often distracted so I don't know if they feel like I am really here for them, but I do try.



9. I was a pageant mom. I bet that's one some of you have never heard about me. It's hard for me to believe now. I think I also have an addictive personality (something I think runs in my family). I never felt that pretty as a child (not that I really am...that's a whole other story). But I think I felt pretty when Cari did well. But as I got into it, it just got deeper and deeper. I wished I had the money back and sometimes I wished I had never taken that road, but I as I look back I learned many things in life through it. Pageants are really much more about competition just like any scoring type sport (like gymnastics). It is based on preparing, practicing, and competition. Cari was (and still is ) a beautiful child, but God even then, kept us humble. She never won, won, won. She might win, then get 1st runner up and then not even place. Often those people who did win, win became undesirable people. I thank God for helping me keep my head on straight. But the biggest thing I got out of pageants was my photography. I discovered photography. My very earliest days as a professional photographer was photographing headshots and sometimes portfolio images for Cari and other pageant kids. I also met some really great people and some of the them became my best friends. Most of them, too eventually burned out too because of what it really is. It is all a little superficial just as most people think, but it is a whole lot more to it than people realize and everyone isn't crazy...though it does begin to drive you crazy at some point. (lol) One day I will have to scan some of my photogenic photos from those days. I am still very proud of the images I created along with hair and make-up done by friend and with beautiful subjects to begin with. My philosophy on this is...naturally beautiful, but hair, make-up and great lighting means gorgeous!



10. I am an overdoer! What does that mean? I over do everything. I think that's why I feel like I am going nuts these days. From business to my love for my granddaughter. I don't know how to do just a little or to give the short version or condense a story. For example, look at this! This is suppose to 6 unspectacular things about me. I am well over six. I could go on and on about this one too, but I think you get the point.


11. I got First Place at the Literary Rally in 1983. Guess what it was in! You would never guess so I will tell. Home Economics...I wanted to be a Home Economics teacher, but even then that was a class that was beginning to fade away. I remember the year I took Home Ec. IV that all new high school students were taking Home Economics differently...like maybe a semester Child Care, Nutrition, Home Furnishing and Fashion, etc. I changed my mind being a Home Ec. teacher because I feared the job market. But instead...


12. I started a major in a two-year Daycare Management program at ULM (which was Northeast at the time). I dropped out within the time to get your 3/4th of your refund because I just didn't know what I wanted to do. Later in life while my 2nd child was an infant I did have a Home Daycare for a few years. Funny, uh?


13. I THINK MY ADDICTION IS MY OWN COMPUTER. I can't get any work done because of the computer, but I can't work without my computer. Boy, doesn't that sound like a contradiction. I will elaborate. I know you must be interested to hear the rest of this one too. I can't do work that's not on the computer because my mind has a chance to think about other things. Like when I am making my bed or folding clothes (meticulously, I might add...lol), I start thinking about other things I need to do. Like buy something for the house or for Natalie, so I need to run to the computer to shop online. Or when I think about a new disease or just anything, that I need to research. With the Internet, we literally have the world at our finger tips. I look up everything from party planning (recently: the wedding, Fiesta birthday and 16th birthday party--that's coming up this year) to shopping and selling on ebay from hairbows to college books (I bought Cameron's biology book through ebay last year). Ebay is so cool and so addictive. While I am working on the computer, I shop, organize, advertise and even blog! Blogging is addictive too! If you haven't figure that one out yet!

So, as you can see #10 applied here too. It did ask for six unspectacular things...I guess that's okay since I have 3 blogs now. There I go again about the overdoing thing. I don't know that many people to tag. I am not good at doing the links, but the only person I know with a blog who has not been tagged would be my Brittany: http://www.natalieintigerland.blogspot.com/ and maybe Nicki though I think she has already. I think I remember reading hers a while back, but I didn't realize that was it. I think she is an overdoer too. I think she did one for each member of her family. Maybe I will do that too later. But Nicki, if that wasn't what that was, your tagged too. Everyone else has already been tagged or they are people that I don't really know. Yes, I admit it. There are a few blogs that I watch that I don't even really know the people...come on, admit it...you do too!

So if you made this far, I am stopping. It took me most of the morning off and on to do this. I have much to do today. I am feeling better today. I will make another short post about that later.

~~ja~~

A FEW IMAGES FROM THE LAKE...

I am posting just a few images from the lake on this blog. Most of them will be on Natalie's World: http://lalalanataliesworld.blogspot.com/2008/08/finally-lake-images.html

This is one of the first images of Natalie and her Poppa fishing.

Cari and Alexa on the jet ski...

Natalie "cheesing" for the camera. I think this after we took her for her first ride on the jet ski. I am not sure she enjoyed too much the first time, but she did the 2nd time.

Edited to say:

www.ainsworthremembering.blogspot.com is the web page address for this blog. I just looked at this and I now realize that the above image is the only that I have it correct. I need to create me a new brush in photo shop like I did for my other two blogs. It is so much simplier...not to mention that I should get it right each time, huh? LOL

I really don't like just posting images w/o anything on them because they are so easy to still. I just have take to time to do a new brush for this one too.

Cari and Alex just before going home.

To avoid duplicating my blogs...posts that involve Natalie will still be on Natalie's World. Since this day involved Natalie most of the story and images are there. I will say she had a fun day. She was completely happy all day. I don't remember not one complaint out of that little girl all day. And if you know her very well you know that is saying a lot. But after all, the day was pretty much full of everyone entertaining her from swimming with her in the lake to fishing with her to riding the jet ski. I don't even think she complained when it was time to go home.

She didn't even complain about wearing the life jacket all afternoon (once after we put it on her, she wanted to take if off, but explained to her we would have to go home if she took it off...that was it...not another word about it). I know we all felt comfortable with her wearing it the whole time...we knew if she got too excited running and slipped and fell into the lake that all would be fine with her life jacket on. In fact, I noticed a little burn mark on her upper leg (almost her groin area). I realized it was the strap of the life jacket. Man, did I fell bad. Maybe we should have had it a little looser. I was so surprized that she never complained about the rubbing. I guess she was too busy having fun!

I am so glad that we had this fun day with friends and family.

~~ja~~

MEMORY CARD

Could your 3-year old recognize a memory card?

I don't guess ours did either, but almost. I guess it makes sense for a photographer's child or grandchild to recognize or think she found a memory card.

Yes, I know I should be posting images from the last week's event. They're still coming, but I want to include this little story before a few more days pass by and I forget it. They came home just days after moving the B.R. Brittany's car broke down and Cameron's needed some maintanence work done.

While Natalie was in my room, she picked up something that she thought was a memory card. I wasn't even aware that she knew anything like memory cards existed. We never talked about them before. I am still not sure if she know what they do, but this is how it went:

• Mimi, here's your memory card. (Natalie)
• No, that's not a memory card. That's Poppa's cell phone battery. (Mimi)

Too funny, huh? I guess between all the converstations of "let me get those images off the memory card", "I need to get another memory card", "don't forget the memory card", etc. that shes couldn't help to learn about memory cards.

They (children) definitely learn when we don't even realize it!

~~ja~~