So now what??

Okay. I'm going to warn you, I'm angry and I'm venting.

So I had (not have) a wedding scheduled for 7/12. It just happened to be this guy I dated in high school. I do admit I was stupid for 1. waiving the deposit, 2. telling him he could return the contract when they were ready, and 3. trusting him in the first place.

We booked this wedding back in October, right after they got engaged. I've been trying for a month atleast to get in touch with him to do engagement pictures (part of the package) or atleast get him to tell me where and what time the wedding was. He emails me back today, finally, and they're using a "friend of the family" (what am I??) who is a wedding photographer, and that it's been paid in full for a while now.

Yes, today, two weeks before the wedding. Unfortunately, I do know him well enough to tell when he's lying. I think he's known for a while, and I think he's put off telling me about it. Seriously, I turned down another wedding because of his - another wedding at full price - and now, nothing.

I can't even begin to tell you how angry I am. At first I wanted to return his email and chew him out and call him every name in the book. My standard rule is to wait 24-48 hours until I calm down to address something like this. Lauren and I have been discussing this quite a bit tonight, and I realize that I've mixed the business and the personal. It's hard not to do when someone appeals to your personal side (as an old friend) and you trust them (as a friend), then cancel at the last minute. It's certainly not professional for me to tell him he's a slimy asshole of a liar. I have other friends whose weddings I have treated the same way, and so far everyone has been equally respectful and things have worked out well. I don't want to have to change how I do business, especially for the good people I know and work with.

So, what do I do now? Do I charge a cancellation fee? Charge him for the wedding? I don't have a signed contract, so I have nothing to hold over him. I'm sure I won't get the money out of him - is it wrong for me to let him know that this was an underhanded and disrespectful thing to do? I mean, I'm sure he knows that, but I don't know that he cares. Normally I would decide to not burn any bridges because people always need pictures, and I appreciate referrals. This time, I don't know that I'm concerned about it.

Any suggestions??? Seriously, whatever opinions/ideas/suggestions anyone has are welcome and appreciated.

AARRRGGGGHHHHH. Thanks for listening to me vent.

I couldn't say it better...

This is me at work. Okay, it's not really me, but it could be. This is one of my favorite scenes from Six Feet Under.

Just in case you missed it...

Most of the original cast of Rent was on the Tony's and sang 'Seasons of Love'.

Love, Love, Love. :)




We got back late from Louisville - I was upset that I missed most of the Tony's, but I did get to see 1. Rent, and 2. Patti LuPone win best actress, which made me happy. She's done a ton of stuff on Broadway, including a kick-ass Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd two years ago. I'm a geek, I admit it. I'm kind of a gay man, I know... but I grew up around this stuff. Being a child of two musicians has its effect on people.

So much to blog about!

I have my PC back!! Yeah! That also means I have a gazillion photos to catch up on! We went to Louisville for Father's Day - I got some unexpectedly cute pictures. We took this riverboat cruise (complete with Elvis impersonator and lunch), then headed to Joe Huber's Family Farm in Starlight, IN and hit the kids' farm and petting zoo. There is also a winery there, but we skipped it this time. (Can you believe it?)



So, here are a few fun shots from this weekend. In the middle of our lunch and his performance, Elvis stopped to ask Evan to trade him sunglasses. Evan didn't know what to think. We saw a double rainbow on the drive home in Franklin, IN. Also, our tigerlilies are have bloomed (yeah!) and there was one with a grasshopper on it today. And I just happened to have my camera in my hand. :)



Enjoy!

reduce-reuse-recycle

One thing I love about Lauren is that he is committed to being earth friendly. Even when I first met him, before we ever heard the term 'carbon footprint' or labeling everything 'green'... he's been into recycling... probably since I was in high school. He's very good about finding ways to reuse things we buy (plastic bins, newspaper, etc.) and if we can't use it, we'll recycle it.



One thing we've agreed on is that buying pre-owned products is another way to recycle (or reuse). We're big on craiglist.com, goodwill and ebay. We have an old playground set that we bought from a farm in Indiana somewhere - it's a little faded, but the slide is still fun for the boys. We use coffee grounds and eggshells to nourish the flowers, we have a little natural (weed) patch in the backyard to keep things natural, and we're big on borrowing from the library instead of buying. I'm all about canvas bags and walking wherever we can.



So, with that being said, I think I'm a little addicted to ebay. I've got this good job now, and y'all know I'm more of a jeans and t-shirt girl than I am a panty hose and skirt kinda girl. The last few years I've mostly had jobs where I can get by with jeans, sneakers and even flip flops. So now I'm in a place where there is no casual Friday... and we can't have "sockless feet." I hated that women were wearing hose under their summer shoes... open toes with a seam across them (eww). I now own three pairs of those hideous things. It's too hot for socks!

Back to ebay. Because I love cheap and pre-owned, it's become a little addiction. I bid on six shirts tonight for $30 (including shipping). Any of these shirts would have been $30 new, alone. Ebay is a dangerous, dangerous world. I mean, I type in a brand name, a size, and all of a sudden there are hundreds of listings for all kinds of inexpensive things. It's a crazy world.

Hi, my name is Melissa, and I am an ebay addict.

Animal House

I am supposed to be editing pictures. I have not yet started. I would much rather be in bed. I am in the office, and the boys just got out of the tub. Evan just ran in, wearing only his towel and my flip flops, and stood in front of the fan and tooted... not once, but three or four times. He also laughed very heartily.

This is so typical of my house. Someone help me please???

Whoa, it's been that long?

Okay, okay, I've been busy! Plus, my laptop is in for repairs, which means if I want to check my email I have to leave the boys alone somewhere else in the house... while I'm holed up in the office. We all know where that gets me!

Not much is new here. With all the rain our basement has leaked twice in the past week, as well as the basement in Lauren's office, aka my "studio." So, I left work early last Wednesday - I was going to head up to the hospital in Carmel where my grandfather had emergency surgery Tuesday night. Instead, I ended up dragging over a load of backdrops to wash. I was very lucky - all my lights and other equipment were up off the floor, so just the backdrops got wet (they were hanging on the stands). My black and brown ones were fine, but my brand new white one (used once) was pretty badly stained by the darker ones. $20 at the cleaner's fixed it, though, so I'm considering myself pretty lucky.

We're heading out of town for Father's Day to Louisville - Lauren wants to get away for the weekend. We're going to some jazz restaurant that's also an art gallery, and we're also doing some riverboat lunch on Sunday. It should be fun. :)

I hope everyone is doing well - hopefully I'll update again soon!