New Blog Location

Come find me here...
http://www.luckyredhen.net/

Perhaps I'll figure out how to fix all the formatting issues here, but find my musings at the new location until then.

New Blog Coming Soon!

We're going to shake things up around here...





or just get back to blogging,





finally;





one of the two.





P.S. You can kind of thank Kim for the jump start.
(Said she was tired of seeing Captain America
everytime she came to Lucky Red Hen . net.)

Captain America and, um, Mrs. Captain America?

ComiCon attendee as Captain America

ComiCon attendee as, um,

Mrs. Captain America?

At Emerald City ComiCon last weekend,
we saw some crazy costumes!
Go to http://www.crankleft.com/ for LOTS of

PHOTOS

from the event.

You can also find the Jack Burton Adventures graphic novel
(only 5 bucks)
and t-shirts for purchase (those are 18 bucks).

Saw a Sonny Bono impersonator outside!

Stan Lee, Spiderman creator, shaking a fans hand.

Lou Ferrigno, The Hulk, who was SOOO NICE

and had soft hands (he was my favorite part

of the entire ComiCon...

I was so nervous to be around him

- absolutely star struck!)

Jeff Lewis, The Guild, was fun to visit with.

Aaron Douglas, Battlestar Galactica,

acted like he was mad, but he wasn't.

He was nice :)

Robin Thorsen, The Guild,

was GORGEOUS and very

fun to visit and photograph.

The highly securitized

(can you tell I made that up?)

Leonard Nimoy, Spock,

was smiling (at $60/autograph

I'd be smiling too, winkwink).

Wil Wheaton, Star Trek TNG,

was proudly talking with a fan

of his Canadian hockey team

at the recent Olympics.

I'll Still Ride - Redmond Motorcycle Accident

Yesterday was unlike any other I've had before.

It might have been life changing. It could have been life saving. I don't know which.

We were heading 20 minutes away to the in-laws for Sunday dinner when we approached a motorcycle accident that had just barely happened. There was still a plume of smoke from the crushed bike several feet away, with a steady stream of broken yellow bike parts.

Some knob drove through the wreckage, crushing some of the pieces. What? They couldn't be bothered with going around?

Traffic had stopped. Two guys were standing a couple feet away from the injured biker. He wasn't moving. One of the guys was on his phone when I noticed the bikers arm move. The bystanders didn't move closer, so I leapt out of the car, flipped off my slippers, and ran over in my socks to kneel close and provide comfort and advice to be still. I spoke into his helmet face opening so he could hear me.

His body was twitching in percussion with his arm movement as his eyes rolled back into his head. There was a little bit of blood on the pavement and some spots on his face, but I didn't notice other obvious injuries. It seemed he was in shock as he seized so I talked to him calmly, telling him to stay with us, help was on the way, we're right by him to keep him safe. I rubbed his torso, thinking that if his extremities were numb and in shock, then he might feel my touch if he couldn't hear my words.

His twitching stopped, which made me nervous because the movement was a sure sign that he was still alive. Again, I told him to stay with us, we're right here, help is on the way. I feel like I kept saying that over and over. I told him and the bystanders (one was on the phone with 911) that I was going to reach into his pockets for his cell phone to call family (probably not the best thing, looking back) but found his ID instead.

His name is Shawn (Shaun, Sean... I did not get a good look at his name, the guy on the phone read it to me).

Then he moved his hand toward his helmet to try and pry it off. "Shawn, leave your helmet on. You must keep your helmet on. Put your hands down and be still. Shawn, help is on the way, you're going to be okay." He rocked his legs to one side and moaned as if he were trying to get up. I kept telling him to be still, "Shawn, you need to be still." It took a moment but his movement stilled. Finally, he looked right at me.

"Hi! You're doing great. Just stay still. Help is on the way. We're right here with you. You're doing great. Stay with us." I smiled and hoped he understood what I was saying. I want to believe he did.

"What happened? What's going on?" Shawn asked, confused. I told him he was in an accident with his motorcycle but help is on the way and he'll be fine. "I wasn't riding today. I didn't get on my bike today," he replied. "Well, you did because I see it. It's a yellow bike. I have an orange Harley. I'm a biker, too, that's why I stopped to help you. You're going to be fine, just be still. Can you tell me your name? My name is Shannon. What is your name?"

"Shawn."

"Alright, Shawn, we're right here with you and the ambulance is on its way. Just be still, you're doing great!" I tried to sound encouraging, positive and full of hope.

He'd sharply blink and look around, again try to take his helmet off. He rubbed his forehead, smearing the blood, luckily not revealing an open would. He reached for his gloves, wanting to take them off. "Would you like me to take off your glove, Shawn?" He said, "Yes."

As I unstrapped his glove, I found it was soaked. I got nervous that there was something bad underneath, but it turned out that the black & silver ring he wore on his right ring finger probably caused a cut, the source of the wetness. Looking back on it, perhaps I should've kept the glove on, but he kept trying to get it off and I wanted him to stay still. He would lay still for me, so I took the glove off. The other glove was too far away, so I told him he'd have to wait for that one to come off.

"Who are you?" he'd ask, looking at me. "I'm Shannon. I'm a biker too. I stopped to help you stay still," I tried comforting him.

He'd keep asking what happened, and I kept answering him the same as before. "Where am I?" I told him we're next to the Home Depot, on the street behind the store. "What happened?" he kept asking. "How did I get here?"

I was glad he was conscious and talking. His eyes were alert and the color in his skin seemed pink enough. He finally stopped trying to move, except to bend his knees and move his arm once in a while and seemed fine listening to me. I kept talking, trying to keep his attention. I told him when I heard the sirens approaching, "I hear the sirens, they're getting closer and almost here! You're going to be fine, you're doing great."

A Redmond, Washington police officer arrived. He saw that Shawn was alert, talking back to me and lying still. He radioed base and I handed him Shawn's drivers license. He went on to take care of the traffic situation, I guess (I say that because I wasn't paying attention what others were doing around me).

When the paramedics arrived, the EMT asked him to squeeze his finger. The gloved hand could a little and the ungloved right one barely moved. I told the EMT, "His name is Shawn. At first he was twitching with his eyes rolling back in his head. Once he stopped he tried taking off his helmet and moved his legs, trying to get up. I couldn't find a cell phone but gave the officer his driver's license. He's been talking and following directions."

Eventually I stepped away, professional life savers were there to take over. I gladly backed off so he could get care...

Portraits for Haiti | Helping Those Devistated by the Recent Earthquake

Some of my awesome photographer friends and I want to do something to help the Haiti earthquake survivors so we came up with a plan to donate our time and talents in exchange for your donations.

On Sunday, February 21st,

Kim Charie

Jessica Hanaumi

Jenna Karwoski

Amanda Mays

Emma Smith

Julie Watts

or

yours truly

will take some gorgeous pictures of you, your family, your teen, you with whomever... you get the idea.

The mini session will last for 30 minutes and you will get a disc of edited images by March 8th. Appointments are being taken on a first come, first served basis (ten spots already filled up). At least a $50 donation is required and ALL proceeds go to Haiti relief efforts (value is at least $350).

Email PortraitsForHaiti@jfkstudios.com for an application and information.

EDIT: The location is in Renton. As of 2/19 at 10:30am I have a few spots left: 3:30, 4 and 4:30. This is a SCREAMING deal because you'll get at least 10 high-res files ($500 value) for just $50+ Haiti donation :-o

My Husband Treats Me Like A Princess

Have I told you lately about how GREAT my husband is to me?!?

(sounding shocked) I HAVEN'T? :-o

Here's a little synopsys at midnight thirty, well past the time I should've been in bed...

For Christmas, we discussed that we didn't need to buy each other presents (except for the red enamel cooking pot I would've bought for myself at Costco and gorgeous silver and red earrings, that I happen to be wearing at this moment, that I told him to buy for me while at Pike Place Market last month; and he said he'd like new underwear, ooh - exciting gift).

But he lied.

Yes, I'd like to announce my husband is a liar.

But, I forgive him. Know why? Because I am spoiled, that's why! It's not like we're loaded with cash (far from it, like a lot of people out there), but he treats me like a princess in non-monetary ways and I can get what ever I want (honestly, and I speak this from the heart, I try REEEEALLY hard not to pull the I-know-you'll-let-me-because-I-can-get-whatever-I-want card).

So I got him a bunch of underwear (woo hoo) and made him a double-layered flannel blanket.

(Want some more honesty? The blanket... I sewed two rectangle pieces of flannel together about 1/2" from the edge all the way around.)

What'd that liar *snerk* get ME (you ask, since this is the POINT of the post)?!? A new (refurbished, that's ok) computer that can handle my photography business (you know, the one I've been meaning to start, FOR YEARS) and some lighting equipment that Glazer's recommended I might need (yes, he drove DOWN to their store, talked with the sales guys and decided on 3 items he thought I could use to better my biz).

Me ... underwear and two pieces of fabric stuck together (no stocking... I thought we weren't doing them)

Him ... new computer, lighting equipment and a pop-up reflector (as well as stocking stuffers of goodies)

There's more good news...

Was it today, or maybe yesterday? I don't remember, the days have been a blur. Ben looked me in the eye (now I think I remember it was yesterday, but that's beside the point... back to my point), and told me that he'll do WHATEVER IT TAKES to help me to make my photography business a success! He explained that I could make appointments whenever I want to and he would be home from work by the time the kids get off the bus so I don't have to work around their school schedule (not that I'd do that every DAY, or very often, but it sure was a HUGE relief to feel that obstacle shatter in my favor). I've got free reign to use my Saturday's for wedding and portrait shoots (however, I'm still a mom and wouldn't just spend every Saturday away from my kids/family, but that helps me to better coordinate my schedule to maximize my time to benefit both my family and clients... win/win!)

So there's my mini-shout about my great hubby ("Hi, hubby!") It's just about 1am so I should scoot off to bed. Ben's at his folks house watching a movie with his brother's and BIL, so I know he won't want to wake up too early tomorrow with the kids either ;)

Awe, teamwork... isn't that nice?

I love you, Ben! Thanks for my GREAT Christmas! Hopefully I'll make your birthday special than Christmas (more underwear?).

Baby Calvin's Pics Made Into A Memory Book

Today I'm cheating by using someone else's blog to do my work ;)

I share with you a love story about a baby who was supposed to share this Christmas with his family in person... and I get to say that my talent, that the Lord has blessed me with, made it possible to help them heal and remember him. I cried.

EDIT: Dudes, I should really catch up on my blog reading (I follow too many people, time to pare down). Amy posted a picture of the necklace I made for her with Calvin's picture on a Scrabble tile. She liked it! Yay :)

Drea's Going to Mexico!

As you can tell (by the title of this post), Drea is going to be in Mexico for the holidays (she left 15 minutes ago, wah!) In hopes of safe travels for her and her family, I dedicate today's post to her FIRST date dance that happened a couple weeks ago. (Psst... I miss you already! Thanks for my Christmas clock.)

Sometimes I get a wild hair and take on projects I don't even know how to do. Case in point: I told her I would make a fascinator (fancy hair clip with feathers) to match her dress and since I was doing that I should go ahead and whip up some matching earrings and necklace. I'm crazy, I know, but I think they turned out pretty fantastic :D

Warning: These images were taken with a lame point-n-shoot that I don't really like using. Carry on.

Here's the "fascinator" hair clip...

The earrings and necklace...

Her cute smile and the necklace up close (and blurry)...

Her friend, and date, Reid...

Reid cooking the meat for spaghetti sauce...

Aren't these brown eyes TO DIE FOR?!?

Drea with our friend, Bella, and Glen like a monkey on her back

Glen (my partner in crime, and by crime I mean board/table games like Wackee 6)
with his date, Dom(inique), and their perfectly hued outfits!

Drea, hurry back!

My Friends (family) Portraits at The Farm

Gosh, this post got buried from LAST summer :-o Dangit. It's funny to see because everybody looks older now. But there's a reindeer in one picture, so it's fitting to post it so close to Christmas! This is also the place I've been working the past few weekends (starting Black Friday) selling Christmas trees! Ho ho ho! But now I'm done, the tree season is winding down. I was mostly cashiering, but once in a while ended up outside directing shoppers to their perfect tree (or the Honey Bucket, "Back of the parking lot, folks," whatever might be needed at the moment). EDIT: Added their TV footage from QFOX NEWS on the Christmas Tree Farm at the bottom.

My bro-in-law, Jake, welded this reindeer critter.

This next pic is Drea recently, for her yearbook picture (it had to be straight forward with neutral background)...

These two are recently engaged to be MARRIED!!!

Pablo's smile makes his eyes disappear, and I wouldn't have it any other way!

Jana looks GREAT here, but she looks even BETTER these days!

David's away serving a church mission.

I love this pic of them in the tree field.

Driving Me Crazy

You know, I've been replacing my blogging with continual Facebook updates. That, apparently (*ahem*AJ*ahem*), isn't satiating some (including myself) and I've realized my blogging needs to pick back up again. I think I'm funny; funny enough to write stuff down on my blog for others to see and get a tickle out of it. I'm SEW funny (get it?) that I used to have an email address stating that fact. Wink wink. Nudge Nudge. But, and there's always a butt (misspelling intended), I'm a bit irritated at the way my posts are spaced improperly. Is it me? Am I the one that's improper? (Yes. Sometimes I am improper. It's inevitable and I sometimes try not to be and sometimes I am fine not being ~ geez, did that even make sense?) There is so much to blog about that hasn't been fully divulged via Facebook. In no particular order, we've got:

1. my little bro visiting us (not for the first time) with his ex-carni, tattooed girlfriend (who we adore, she's rad) for the first time over Thanksgiving leftovers (Jake's stuffing was THE BOMB)
2. me working at the Christmas Tree Farm on the weekends for extra dough while having started Slim Fasting (working hard for 8-10 hours straight keeps you from being hungry)
3. crafting up a storm holiday gifts with my sister-in-law, mother-in-law and soon-to-be-sister-in-law to sell at an anticipated venue that earned us a whole $12 in sales (that blew)
4. soon-to-be-sister-in-law (we're so excited and it's about dang time)
5. Jack and Piper doing so very well at school; Jack is on a basketball team and we're looking into a Jump Rope team for Piper
6. the Humane Society dog, Maggie, we accidentally adopted (she has bowel issues, great)
7. my irritation with underarm hair
8. the ache I have for missing my friends (nobody wants to hear that, wah)
9. how selective I am at adding Facebook friends; really, I want to KNOW you to add you (I make friends EVERYWHERE ~ one of my dear friends is getting married next week to his dream girl I helped him win over; he was our waiter at my favorite restaurant and we have an AWESOME story). Without warning, I delete friends if they SPAM my other friends.
10. I'm going to launch my photography business in Washington, finally!
11. the cold weather means I don't see my riding buddies as much, but we had some good times this summer and fall riding around Western Washington!

So, I guess I need to be blogging more and Facebooking less. If I look at blogging as a way to journal my life (which I think is IMMENSELY important, I just don't do it), then I might actually do it more often.