Joey and I had some lovely time together today. I had the studio scheduled today so I brought her in as my model. We took some great pictures of her wearing various hats. There are about 6 pictures that I want to print--perhaps I'll hand-tint some and send then to grandparents as Christmas gifts. My pictures from Bone Head Tuesday turned out good, too. There are about 5 or 6 of those that I want to print. I figure that if I have a ratio of 1:5 exposures that I really want to print, I'm doing pretty good. I still have half a roll of film in my camera that I need to finish that off so I can develop it. I did some experimenting with long exposures but I forgot to do my stop action stuff I wanted to do. I can set up a space for that at home, though. I was thinking it might be fun to do it in the backyard one night when it's not wet outside.

When I was posing her, she said "Mom, this isn't very comfortable." I told her that many of the best photos were taken when the model was uncomfortable. She was shocked that that a picture would look good if she was not comfortable. But the contact prints proved my theory.

After the photo shoot, Joey helped me develop the film. She liked doing the washing, especially, but the agitation every 30 seconds was big fun, too. I was happy to let her help out.

The best part of the day was when we walked to the cafeteria for lunch. We had a lovely chat along the way. I ran into a friend who sat with us for about 10 minutes. Joey was very polite and told me she thought my friend was very nice. It was just a great time together and she had a lot to talk about.

When we returned to the photo lab, she watched me develop a few prints and was absolutely fascinated with the process. I didn't want her to spend too much time in the dark room with all those chemicals so after she got to see the process, I stashed her back in the empty studio with a Game Boy, a CD player, some new markers and a new diary. She loved it! I was impressed with her ingenuity--she started writing a "chapter book" and finished about 6 pages of a story that has some potential to it. It's a very involved stroy for an 8-year-old to write.

Joey was tremendously patient during the afternoon printing cycle. I needed to get my contact prints done and it took about 2 hours all total though she was in with me for about a half hour at the beginning and then helped me during the last 15 or 20 minutes putting the prints through the dryer. She really liked that part--watching the pictures go in wet and watching them come out dry on the other end.

Ed was invited to a Starcraft marathon tonight and I told him to go ahead and play. He would have stayed home if I wanted him to but I think he needs nights like this to detox from work. We had dinner together and then he took off. While we were eating dinner, though, Joey told Ed how much fun she had at "Mama's Work" today. That made me smile. Joey and I watched TV for awhile and then we went to the grocery store. She was wonderfully chatty the entire time and I loved it.

After our shopping excursion, we had made chocolate milkshakes and then "spooned" together on the couch and fell asleep. I loved waking up 45 minutes later to feel her small, warm body cuddled up against mine while she slept the blissful, peaceful sleep of childhood. I realized when we were at the grocery store that the face of Osama bin Laden staring at us from the cover of the National Enquirer meant absolutely nothing to her and I was glad of that. I was glad that she could fall asleep next to me feeling utterly relaxed and peaceful and secure. That, my friends, is how life should be.

--L