While that might be true, I'd like to say that a particular picture (which you'll see at the end of this blog) was worth about 17 attempts before we finally got it right on the 18th try! Haha.
We were in a rush, running late as usual, and--because the morning was absolutely gorgeous with its radiant sunshine--I suggested that we try to snap a picture of ourselves in front of the house before we left.
It would only take a minute, right?Maybe not. A few things would need to happen first.
The screen door was having difficulty and insisted on being fixed first. That certainly took a while. And it was unexpected. And it got our fingers dirty. And we had to go back in to wash our hands.
Second, the mail in my mailbox was overflowing with junk mail and needed to be emptied before we left. So...back into the house I went, quickly searching the pile for bills.
Third, before we could put the camera on its automatic timer, I realized that I needed some sort of stand onto which it could sit (so that my camera wasn't sitting on the ground).
So, back into the house I went, to clear off a little table in the Prayer Room and bring it outside.
I set the table in the perfect place, and got Michael and Macy into the perfect position. But, just as I began to set the automatic photo timer...
Fourth, my very generous neighbor (from two doors down) decided to ride by on his giant leaf vacuum just then, sucking up the beautiful blanket of orange leaves I had hoped would be in the picture (hence why I cropped the photos so much).
His kindness was unexpected but very appreciated, and so I quickly wrote out a check to show my gratitude.
Fifth, the neighbors (right next door) decided to come out and see what was going on. They are such wonderful people, and they were eager to hear how we were doing. So...we had even more reason to pause on the photo-taking task.Sixth, my other neighbor then turned off and dismounted the loud vacuum machine so that more conversations could ensue. I introduced Michael to him. They shook hands. And both Michael and Macy were now FAR from being in the position into which I had previously posed them.
Seventh, the neighbor's dog then came over to check out the commotion. Macy went nuts, jealous now for our attention. Oh, what a fuss everything had become!
At this point, others became aware of what we were originally trying to do on our own, and so everyone kindly volunteered to take the picture for us.But first, there would be a debate on who should take it; and, next, there would be a run back into the house to get reading glasses.
And then, would they mind if we took a posed shot of them with their dog in front of their house? It'd be great for a Christmas card!
At this point, I just began to lose it and... giggle!!
What was supposed to take only a moment had become a HUGE ordeal.
We were now, incredibly, 30 minutes later than the 30 minutes we were already late.
Eventually, it seemed that we were ready to have our picture taken. Finally! We posed, and smiled, and smiled some more. But Macy ducked behind us, turned in front of us, laid down backwards, licked our fingers, and did all that she could to make the ordeal even longer.
In the end, I exclaimed, "Don't worry about it! We really must be on our way!"
We hugged and parted ways with everyone. I felt sorry for calling a time out, but I also felt grateful to have such involved, always-ready-to-help neighbors.
Later that night, I found this on my camera -- and was delightfully surprised. I think it will have to do. :)
