Hooray!

I finished my LAST wedding video. It is in an envelope ready to be mailed. Yaaaay.

I have been feeling really icky about my videos, and I'm pretty sure it has to d with beign under pressure and not wanting to work on them. This morning I looked back at the last few I did and they ain't half bad. They're actually pretty good. I may do a couple this summer if the fancy strikes me, but I'm not booking anything now. Now I can just focus on teaching (and parenting, and taxes, and home repair, and...)

Only 1 left

I have only one video left to finish and it is for the sweetest nicest, funniest couple. I finished their ceremony today and hopefully can work on the creative stuff tonight and tomorrow.

I signed the paperwork, so as of Monday I am officially back in The MPS as a teacher. Some of us liken our association with the district to a bad relationship. somehow we think we love it or it needs us, but it just keeps beating us up. (as Bill put it "Dag nabbit teachers! If ya weren't so bad at teaching, we wouldn't have to beat ya up so much! But we're sorry and we loves ya.")

I had a small question about my seniority which we may disagree on, but really why do I care? I think there is some sort of principle involved. I will do my same old wonderful job teaching and they will lay me off again. It is what is best for me.

On the plus side, I am further ahead on the pay scale than I thought by about 3K. Nice.

Saturday morning

Awoke with a small hangover. We all went out to celebrate our lack of work for the next two weeks and while I didn't overdo it, I failed to take in any water before going to bed. I just came home plopped the babe on my chest and went to sleep during the movie we were watching. Peder woke me up to nurse and go to bed around midnight.

I also woke up to no internet or cable. the horror! Actually, I was pondering how long Peder would let me keep it that way. Probably all of five seconds. I guess I didn't pay the bill for 3 months and apparently Comcast doesn't like that. Babies. Since yesterday was pay day, and we are starting to get caught up financially, I got that fixed all before my hubby awoke.

On the plus side, I have another video done and it is quite nice. It is snowing, which isn't good news for our trip to Rochester, but is also darn purdy.

one down, 3 to go

I only have three videos left to complete. The realistic plan is to have two of them done by December 30th. If I can really get things done, I can have them all done by the end of the year. Then I am done with the video business. I just am not cut out to be self employed. I need outside influences to be an effective time manger, and all around sane person. I think that is one thing I like about teaching. I am always performing for a demanding crowd. There is no time to get distracted.

It's 3:20 in the morning

and I am up. I haven't even tried to go to bed yet. I am trying to finish a video I kinda sorta promised would be done on Thursday, which turned into Saturday and I seem to be thwarted at every turn. So now I am just waiting for video to export, burn, etc. I'm looking for things to do. I am so wound up, there is no way I can take a nap while the computer does its magic.

• It is sixty degrees in our house right now (don't worry, the little one is well bundled)
• I am boiling a dozen and a half eggs because they will "expire" soon.
• The timer buttons on our stove make a beep that sounds just like the wheel on The Price Is Right.

I have spent the entire day editing and feeding Relia. I haven't even looked outside. How sad is that? It'll feel so good when I have all for my weddings for the year done though. Tomorrow Peder and I will go grocery shopping and maybe for a walk at MOA, so I might just get a glimpse of grass and sky.

Another video done. My goal is to have them all finished by Christmas.
Not much to say I kinda feel run ragged today

I've said it before and once again, it proves true, even in the hypothetical, I am a better person when I have a job. Self employment just isn't for me. I need more day to day accountability. Since I have put the Associate Educator position in the "probably" category in my mind I have been more motivated.
I am editing like a maniac. I keep forgetting to eat because I just want to get all of these weddings done done done.
I've also been getting our finances back in order. Quicken used to be my favorite computer game. I'd spend hours tracking and moving my money around predicting where I'd be in the next five moths or the next five years. Since I have been partially employed and the outcomes were never very rosy, I haven't enjoyed the game as much. So now I've started downloading account information from the last 6 months so I can get it sorted and see where we really are.
Last night I finally got what we needed to do our taxes for last year. Yes, I still haven't done them for 2006. I hope the penalty isn't too bad. Our tax guy did file an extension, but I never asked what that meant. I chose to hide my head in the sand and pretend it meant as long as I wanted. I know we aren't getting anything back, but I'm also sure we don't owe more than $200 total. So it can't be that bad, right? :-s

Back to work

Yesterday's wedding went well. Due to delays with the couple, I couldn't pump until 6:30. But it worked! In fact, it was easier to pump in the car, than it has been at home. The experience gave me some new strategies!
There were several babies there around 'Relia's age. They made me miss her beautiful face. I guess Peder had a little bit of a rough stretch in the evening, and I couldn't take her right away when I got home around 9:30 because I had to pump again. She actually fussed most of the night.

Only one more wedding this year!

And the winner is...

me!

Rachel referred me to Thea, who is selling one of her cameras. I have been meaning to research the cameras and prices so I can make a good choice and a fair offer. I finally did it this weekend and in the process began looking for a digital recorder like Rachels. I found one and bid on it using esnipe. I got it for $30! This is a significant savings over $80 on Amazon.
My first significant, "I'm really gonna do this video thing" purchase. I'm so durn excited I can't sleep.

Am I crazy?

I'm feeling discouraged. Hence no posts for the last month. the women venture classes have been really helpful in opening my eyes to the realities of starting a business. I am starting to realize that this may be something that really gets started in the spring of 2007. The ultimate basics I need are 1 decent camera, (receptions are gonna suck) and a computer with a much bigger hard drive. That adds up to at least $2000. Where the heck am I gonna get that? I need to set my sights a little low and build a portfolio and a following. I am still on the hook for Meg and I KNOW this is something that is right for me. I am aching to start. How do I do this? Do I just say forget it and use up my savings? I really need to get a better paying job so I can start my "dream job"

Business plan

I worked on my business plan today. I finally got over myself and decided to write write write. I can clean it up later. I looked up other videographers in the area, and there are a lot more than I thought. My survey showed that married people appreciate video more than soon-to-be marrieds. It is a bit discouraging.

Holy carp!

Someone wants me to shoot their wedding in May! Rachel referred her to me and I met her informally. We have exchanged emails and she asked if I have a contract.

uuuuummm. Can I get back to you on that?

Damn. I really have to do this.

Begin Women Venture

Yesterday I went to my first Women Venture class. I am so excited. they were really positive. Of course, it will be a ton of work, but with support I feel more like it is really possible.
They recommended that I take their Planning to Succeed classes. I am hoping that I can use the money from the dislocated workers program to pay for the classes. So today I called John at the Employment Action Center to see what we could do

River Falls

I worked a beautiful wedding in River Falls. Because the balcony was locked, Rachel crawled up on a ladder.This meant I was responsible for a lot more. I had to mic the groom and make sure it was turned on right before the ceremony. I had to make sure I go certain parts of the ceremony and had to run out an catch the Bride & Groom leaving the sanctuary.
Rachel was stuck until all the guests left and she looked at my tape and was pleased with my shooting.
I makes me feel good. I am getting better and more clued into what Rachel is looking for.

I need to look more into equipment and what I really need to know to start doing this for real. My big question: How will I find someone to run another camera? I will need at least two to make decent videos.

Editing someone else's video

Ryan gave me the footage he shot at his friend’s wedding. I’ve started editing it and it is frustrating because my choice is between a still camera focused on the bride & groom and shaky footage of the whole room. I know he did what he could and I will work with it, but it does illustrate the need to have 2+ manned cameras.
It also helps me see what Rachel is looking for when I am shooting.

Meeting with Rachel

After meeting Rachel on The Knot, we exchanged several emails. She offered to let me follow her to a wedding she was working.

We met at her house a few hours before we were going to leave. I “interviewed” her about how she does things and got into this business. She watched my vidoe and seemed pretty impressed. She is really nice and so open & helpful
the wedding was beautiful. I got to see rachel set up and follwed her around as she figured out how to best tape the ceremony. She then showed me how to do interviews and handed the recorder over to me to get the bridal party’s comments! I was nervous about it but I did it.
As the ceremony started I sat up in the balcony with Joey, Rachel’s husband, who was running the other camera. After the ceremony I took one of the cameras and taped a bit of the couple leaving the church. It was so exciting to be part of such a big event. Rachel is relaxed but enthusiastic.
We went to the reception and wandered around taping various elements of the venue and planning how we would get the dances and speeches. Later on we went outside with the couple and took some great shots of them together. It was interesting watching Rachel work with the photographer and the couple to get good shots. I already learned a lot. I think I might want to do this for real.