ready or not...?

Please view image large for more info -- these go in the U.S. Mail tomorrow!

You may have noticed that I haven't been able to update and participate on Flickr as much as I have in the past. Well, hopefully this will help explain things a bit better. I've missed catching up on so many of your streams and hope with the site up and live, I'll have a bit more time to cheat the clock in the upcoming weeks.

This was honestly not something I was sure I was even ready to do for several reasons.

In a lot of aspects regarding the technicals of it all, I know I'm not entirely 'there' yet. I've still got a lot to learn. Every session I've done has been viewed as portfolio-building and experience-garnering in my eyes. To quote what my profile has read for months regarding the topic, "Time creates experience, and experience creates professionalism and mastery..." I admire pros on Flickr every day - I'm honored to be inspired by and learn from them. I have no illusions that I am yet their equal.

And looking at things with a much more narrow scope, I have a 2½-year old and a 1-year old. Free time is not exactly something I have in abundance. "Part-time" availability is putting it mildly.

However, sometimes there comes a crossroads where you just have to toss that proverbial coin up in the air, check the Magic 8 Ball, consult the Ouija board, and trust the answers they give you. My answer came in the form of a strand of cheap plastic beads, an old tiara, and a bottle of champagne that had been sitting in the fridge for months.

If you watch "My Name is Earl", then I guess you'll understand that karma conspired to change my life that night.

I hope.

[ I know a lot of you that view my Flickr stream are locals so I just have one small request / favor: Fictional names were used for all of the children that appear on my site. Please honor this and do not specifically 'name' or point out and make special reference to any face you might recognize. I - and Google - thank you! And special thanks to -Angela. I wouldn't even be on Flickr, or anywhere close to where I am now, without her and the YaYa's.]