Say cheeeeeese...Mother's Day 2008!

Elementary School stages, when in use, are frantically photographed/videoed by at least a dozen parents so the results can be dragged out at holidays and when subject child brings home a potential spouse.

So, it always amazes me that each school I've been to has a more craptastic sound and lighting system than the last.

My daughter's school does not break that pattern. (If any upper-management from a large oil company just HAPPENS to be reading this right now, PLEASE make a note for your next donation cycle.)

So, it was with some grumpiness today that I managed to do some extreme editing and get one lousy-but-usable picture out of the 15 digitals that I took during my daughter's chorus performance at the end-of-the-year talent show on Friday. You are looking at the result on the top of the page (my daughter is front row, second from the right).

Sadly, the pictures of her earlier performance weren't even salvagable nor were any of the ones I took of my landlord's son (She's out of town).

Luckily, my Mom will just care that it's a picture of her granddaughter on stage. Actually, that's the same reason why I played around so long with the pictures. It didn't matter that the faces are now grainy and spotty as a result...it just matters that I can see my baby's face doing something that she loves.

It's a mom (and grandma) thing.

So Mom, for all those times you made us stand there with frozen smiles until you got the picture just right, then you'd put them in the album anyway when my eyes were closed...I get it now.

Happy Mother's Day!