I'll be spending the 4th of July with friends setting up a pyromusical at a private party thrown by one of our pyro club members.  He asked me for some songs to script the show too and since he's around my age, he enjoyed my selections of songs by Shooting Star and April Wine.  He asked me to video the show also so I will post the video here when I get it rendered.

We're adding three models to our Model Team and the most recent we did a shoot for resulted in a massive boost to our Facebook page likes and interaction with our social media apps.  She appears to be very well connected and we think she is going to do very well representing our studio at her school.

Here is an image from her recent session with us.

We also did a mailing to all of the seniors at our two local high schools and have seen a big boost in website hits and inquiries.  Things are really looking good for our business this year and we are expecting to be pretty booked this summer and fall. 

Jodi's grandmother passed away Friday before she could get there which obviously was hard on her.  There will be no services so I decided to stay home and work the weekend.  Our next planned visit to St. Louis is the middle of September.

Jodi is heading to St. Louis today to see her grandmother for the last time.  She has been moved to hospice and will likely pass in the next week.  She has had dementia for some time now and recently, two falls have hurt her severely.  The last one was very bad as she fell down their stairs, breaking a bone in her neck, bleeding on the brain and several broken ribs.  The injuries sustained combined with her dementia have left her unable to swallow.  She has a DNR which includes no feeding tube so at this point, they are giving her an IV for fluids and pain medication to ease her pain. 

I am working both days this weekend as we will be running production on the day shift both days.  Our products are in demand and we are also trying to stockpile some trucks so we don't run out on the dealer lots while our truck plants make the changeover to the new model later this year.  That conversion will start at our Michigan plant next month and then we are to re-tool around our Christmas break.  It's going to be very busy here and of course I will be working during the time I would normally be off.  I do like double time on top of holiday pay though.

I've been remiss in updating my personal blog, however, I've been pretty timely on my other blog so be checking that one as you'll be thoroughly entertained....if you aren't a liberal.

JD had his MRI yesterday and he'll have a followup appointment with the orthopedic surgeon soon to hear the results.  He apparently hopes to pitch again at his new school, much to my dislike.  I'll leave it at that.

We have our new landscaping planted around the patio and across the 5 window bay in the back yard.  We spent a small fortune on shrubs and perennials at the nursery to plant it and we have it almost completely mulched.  I need to go get more to finish it up but I must admit, it looks pretty darn good.  We also purchased a Japanese Maple and planted it near the front of the house in a shaded area.  Here's a couple photos of it in its new home. 

On Father's Day, Jodi accompanied me to a gun show to purchase my Father's Day gift.  I didn't see anything I wanted that I could get cheaper elsewhere so we left empty handed.  I looked at a S&W M&P 45 compact which I may get as a new carry weapon.  I also like the S&W 1911SC but at $1300, I think I'll get that later.  I might have bought a Remington 700 AAC-SD in .308 if I could have found one at a good price but I didn't see one at all.  I did get a $9 hat while there.  I know, big spender. 

Last night we had a photo shoot for our newest model team member and tonight we have another model team member interview as well as two potential clients stopping by to discuss a senior portrait session with us. 

Although the Cardinals lost 3-2, we had fun at the game last night.  The weather was perfect and it was fun to hang out with a bunch of people from work and go to a ball game with JD and Megan.  Half the stadium was red and the other half blue.  The Royals stadium is a great ball park.

JD saw the orthopedic surgeon yesterday and after a physical exam including range of motion tests, the doctor thinks he has a torn labrum.  Not what we wanted to hear.  We are now waiting on them to schedule the necessary tests to confirm his suspected concern.  If confirmed, surgery would likely be needed.

Tonight we have tickets to see the Cardinals and Royals game.  Storms are in the forecast for today so hopefully they will be cleared out by evening.  Wacha goes against Ventura, the Royals 100 mph young phenom so I'm guessing we'll see a low scoring game.  I know JD is excited about going tonight and he and Megan bought new Cardinals gear to wear to the game.  Jodi and I will be wearing our Cardinals jerseys.

It was a short weekend after working on Saturday so my list of accomplishments in my time off is rather short.  I did finish off the landscaped wall in the back by cutting a natural edge on both ends and then finished the mulching.  I may try to do something similar to an area in front of our bedroom's 5 window bay.

I also set up all of my new studio lights and worked with the programmable controller.  I am not a tech guy and I'm going to admit that my technical aptitude is a bit iffy so I was a bit concerned having read that the controller can be a difficult learning process.  I watched a couple videos online and I was able to grasp most of the basics.  I can now control all of the lights from the controller, powering them up and down and also I can use the flash meter for setting exposure.  This will be a big time saver in studio as walking to each light multiple times to get the exposure where you want it can be frustrating and time consuming.  I can do all that from the palm of my hand now.  I still have more to learn but I've begun.  I'll be working more with it this week.

Today I'm ordering a 4'x6' softbox for the studio.  I think it will be a game changer when it comes to my lighting style going forward.  I'm also going to incorporate more composite and sportrait type work into our business model.  It will simply be another reason our clients choose us for their senior portraits.

We're going to the Cardinals/Royals game on Thursday evening with a group of former St. Louisans that now work at my plant.  JD and Megan are going with us and I'm looking forward to seeing the Cardinals play for the first time in 7 or 8 years.  Yes, I'll be wearing my Cardinals jersey.  I hope it still fits!