Crossed fingers for luck

The projected $27 billion dollar budget hole is causing a stir in Texas.  It means that the state will not be able to fund the public school system at its current level.  A list of potential staff cuts is circulating. 

There are a number of things the public is doing to voice their opinion to Texas officials. There is a rally and march at the capitol in Austin on Saturday, March 12 at 11:00 starting at 12th and Trinity. And there is a giant letter writing campaign.

Here is my letter to Governor Rick Perry and other elected officials:

I am writing to encourage you to support the public schools of Texas. Our minds are our most important asset. To put anything else before education is a preventable disaster. 

Without education there will be nothing new to take us forward and nothing to sustain our present. Our past could be forgotten. 

And for what? Because some budget line was more important than teaching our children how to think. Because our priorities became selfish economic goals and our school systems became a public daycare. 

With a strong education only the best is possible. Without it, the best is only hope and some crossed fingers for luck. 

Please put Texas's schools at the forefront of all itineraries in the interest of our children, state and as an example to the nation.  

• Use the $9.3 Billion Texas "Rainy Day" Fund to support public schools.
• Sign the paperwork for $830 Million in federal aid for classroom teachers.
• Fix school funding laws to be fair to all districts and to our growing student population. 

Sincerely,

Carissa Byers 

The Golden Car

When they handed out the blocks of wood for the Cubscouts Pinewood Derby race, Penn and I stared at one another with wonder and excitement at the idea of building a car.

I checked out a book from the library and bought a saw and told Penn we were going to make the simplest design possible.  I wanted the car to be made by Penn and his seven year old hands but still be "rollable" so that he'd have a chance against the scouts whose dad made their car for them. We took turns sawing and didn't make it to the end. The next day our handyman happened to be out and we let him finish the cut with his power saw.

Penn sanded it and drilled holes and stuck weights in and filled it with putty. Then he sanded it and painted it and we attached the wheels. He wanted to add a black stripe and somehow the painting tape pulled up the first coat. This required more sanding and more painting and the stripe didn't make it on there because I got my days mixed up and we turned the darned thing in a day early. For this I feel a little sad. He really wanted to put that stripe on.

We dropped it off for its official weighing. It came in at 4.8 oz. The scout master said, "Hold on a second, I've got something to show you." He pulled out the winning car from last year, mounted to a plaque. "I just wanted you to see that your car is exactly like the winning car from last year." Penn is listed as car number 7 in the lineup. Lucky number seven. Then the scoutmaster placed Penn's simple little car on the foam lined shelf next to six other intricately cut and painstakingly painted cars.

The race is next Saturday, and thanks to a very sweet client for rescheduling our shoot in Fort Worth, I can go watch Penn.

Garbanzos for life

Today I needed a quick lunch and made a delicious bean salad in less than 10 minutes from items I ALWAYS have in the pantry. I warmed a can of garbanzos and splashed it with olive oil and rice wine vinegar. Then I threw in some sea salt, cracked pepper, curry powder, cumin, chopped spinach and mashed a few fresh garlic cloves. Ta da! Completely delicious.

Christina and Adam's Engagement

Christina and Adam have a beautiful wedding planned! We enjoyed a great day at a sparsely filled Arboretum for their engagements. I love all of these shots! We'll have to wait until after the wedding for the bridal portrait reveal since Adam hasn't seen the dress yet. ;)

Sardinista Revolution

Sardines have a stigma I can't put my finger on, but most people I know aren't eating a lot of them. In fact, when I asked the internet how I should prepare a can of sardines the responses I got can be summed up as "ew."

But sardines have long been the talk of the town among top chefs for their flavor, super healthy nutritional value, affordability and sustainability.  In fact, I recently shot a whole plate of fresh sardines at Dallas's highly acclaimed restaurant,  Lucia's. Sardines are a good idea for food.

I want to eat sardines. I want to make a can of them taste good. I started today with my first can. I dipped the oily, boneless, skinless fishes into panko and fried it a bit on each side in olive oil. I laid it on a bed of spinach and raw mushrooms and drizzled Ginger Mandarin dressing on top. Daniel said, "Pretty good. Pretty darned good."

And it was. I don't know if I'll make it again, but I was certainly inspired to try more things. Maybe Mark Bittman's pasta dish, or maybe I'll move on to the fresh ones.

Royalty

Poached eggs are king in this house.

Tacos with sprouts

This taco is actually prettier than it tastes. (Although it was really yummy.) It's scrambled eggs and tomatoes topped with Monterey Jack and home grown mung bean sprouts on a mayonnaised tortilla. I think I could improve it by sautéing the tomatoes and sprouts together instead of the eggs and tomatoes. 

Aunt Kay inspired cookies

I mentioned Daniel's Aunt Kay's chocolate chip cookies last month. As a family I don't think we will ever consume so many cookies in so many shameless sittings again. Her secret sauce is using a Hershey bar instead of chocolate chips. SHE IS SO RIGHT. Here's my favorite recipe:

Soft and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from Martha Stewart

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
  1/2 cup granulated sugar
  1 cup packed light-brown sugar
  1 teaspoon salt
  2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  2 large eggs
  1 large Hershey's chocolate bar, cut into pieces
• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and baking soda; set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the butter with both sugars; beat on medium speed until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low; add the salt, vanilla, and eggs. Beat until well mixed, about 1 minute. Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.
  2. Drop heaping tablespoon-size balls of dough about 2 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.
  3. Bake until cookies are golden around the edges, but still soft in the center, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let cool on baking sheet 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. Store cookies in an airtight container at room temperature up to 1 week.

McGowans

We all know that the 9 month mark is one of the golden months of babydom. Baby Jaylyn is no exception! Cute and cuddly and full of soft baby smiles and nuzzles.

A walk in the park.

Ringo and I walked the .2 miles to the park near the lake and I let him off leash to romp through the empty fields along the woods. Ringo is a 5 year old, friendly, medium sized dog who is well socialized, stays near me and reliably comes when called. But the animal control officer doesn't know all that. Nor should she care. And I'm grateful I was just given a warning for having my dog off-leash. As he rolled onto his back and showed her his belly she did comment to him, maybe even regretfully, "I know buddy. You're just having fun."

But I'm sad that this trail is being partrolled by animal control and police because it is so remarkably empty, secluded and perfect for letting your dog run.

McClure 2010 vs. 2007

I shot little Malcom at the end of last year and one of his photos reminded me of a photo I took of him in 2007. I thought it would be neat to see them side by side.


You might know the McClure's if you've ever put on an event or gotten married in Dallas. Richard owns A Very Special Day which does Video, Lighting and Dj. I've shot a lot of fantastic weddings with him and he is amazing! Not a hitch in any event and beloved from start to finish. It was a pleasure to shoot a portrait of his family.

Penn and the Piano

Penn plays the piano. from carissa byers on Vimeo.
Penn Smith, 7 years old.

For Christmas last year I gave Penn one of the first books I learned to play the piano from, recommended by my wonderful piano teacher (who I'm totally friends with on Facebook!).  He was excited at first, learned a few songs well and then quickly lost interest with his mother teaching. I understood and he stopped playing for almost a year. I am not a perfect piano player, but I'm not bad either and certainly adequate enough to teach 6 and 7 year old Penn beginner piano for a while. Also, I'm free.

He's recently picked it up again AND is excited about me teaching! He asks if he can wake me up early so he can learn another song. He finally met a song yesterday that was difficult and cried about it. "I know it," he said, even though it was obvious he didn't. I made him learn it, tears and all, because there will be no crying and quitting in my house over one measure of music. In the end, of course, and many nose blows later, there were smiles and a powerful feeling of accomplishment.

As parents we sometimes think, "I'm not going to do it like my mom and dad." Often this comes because of an injustice we felt as a child.  It's funny that when I have that thought I find myself being much harder on Penn.  My father was an amazing parent. But if I'm being perfectly honest, I had it way too easy.  But who's complaining?

First Grade Issues

Today I wrote this letter:

Dear Lakewood PTA, 

I am writing to make aware that the boys bathrooms in the first grade mod have been closed to boys. This decision was made without any communication to the students or parents. They now must go outside by themselves and into the main building and walk all the way to the other end of the school to go to the bathroom. If you have ever made this walk you know that it is a journey. 

On November 15, I contacted Ms. Thompson asking if there could be another janitorial stop in the first grade bathroom and a reminder to the first grade boys about cleaning up after themselves because I had gone in the bathroom with my son and stepped in urine. I feel Ms. Thompson took this to the extreme by not contacting me back and closing the bathrooms altogether. I have emailed, called and met in person with Ms. Thompson and she says she will not return the bathrooms to the boys on the grounds that it cannot be power washed.  She also says that the urinals make the other bathroom cleaner, but yesterday I took photos of the puddles of pee around the urinals proving this is not the case. 

I think it is unsafe for 1st graders to exit the building on our unsecure campus by themselves and I think the bathroom they are forced to use now is unreasonably far away considering there is a bathroom built especially for them in their building. It has already been reported to me that boys have wet themselves because they couldn't make it to the bathroom in time. I cannot find a single parent who agrees that taking away the boys bathroom is a logical or safe answer. 

I believe that rather than take the boys bathroom away from first graders, the solution should be: 

1) Communicate the needs with the first grade boys. I have a first grade boy and I am confident that 7 year olds are absolutely capable of being responsible for themselves in the bathroom or asking for help if they need it. 

2) Mopping the floor in the same manner as they mop the girls bathroom. This is adequate sanitation. 

I have communicated with Mr. Victor Lopez at DISD but at this time Ms. Thompson is refusing him as well. He is a remarkably sweet man and says hearing from other parents might help. His number is 972-925-4626. 

I would sincerely appreciate it if there is anything you can do to help our first graders receive access to their bathroom. 

Kindest Regards,Carissa Byers

Better in the attic than the closet

Him: Do you hear something?
Her: Nope. 

[Repeat 50 times.] 

Him: [Eyes become shifty. Spittle flies from mouth.] That! You didn't hear that?!
Her: Nope. It's the wind. 

[Repeat some more.] 

Him: [Frothing. Frantic.]  Stand here and listen above my desk.
Her: OMIGOD I HEAR SOMETHING! 

Him: Thank god! I'm not crazy!

Okay, so I exaggerate a little for effect. But we've been doing this for a while. Finally I heard it. We went into the attic to investigate and Lo! Definite mouse evidence. Also we saw one.

Today we laid traps. As I went to set one down, something yellow and once animal like caught my eye. It was a SKELETON. I promptly handed over trap laying duties to the man and commenced squirming. 

The photos are too gross to post here so you'll just have to click the links.

Kennedy-Marvin's

Kevin, Deborah and kiddos are one of my favorite families and the funniest bunch I've ever met! You've seen Kevin on this blog before as he's a long-time friend of Daniel's. But having the whole bunch officially in front of my camera is a treat. Thanks Kennedy-Marvin's!

Nosh

Last year I shot Nosh, Chef Avner's Eurobistro on Oaklawn, for Modern Luxury Magazine.  Any day you get to shoot a whole fish is a good day!

Champion of Breakfast

Breakfast this morning was homemade rye, goat brie, a poached egg and sprouts. I'm really into sprouts these days and we're growing them ourselves! I'm finding sprout gardening really rewarding while my other garden sits under snow in the back yard.

Snopocalypse 2011

It's been a week of snow and ice for our part of the country and no school. Outside of missing some photoshoots and playing the wait-and-see game with rescheduling, we've had some fun outside. You can see here what our neighborhood roads look like. My car is stuck on our mountain/driveway of icy goodness and Daniel's surprised us with a flat tire on the one day we thought we could get out. We've seen enough abandoned and sliding cars and hilarious helicopter news coverage to feel like it's best if we just wait this ice part out a little.


Ringo is pretty much the happiest dog ever right now. He loves the snow and cold weather. His bestie, on the other hand, is miserable.






We are blessed with wonderful neighbors and friends and spent today outside around the fire sipping coffee and spirits and eating lentil pie and chocolates. We played in the sun and snow, played on the sled and built a snowman and really only the tips of my toes felt the nip and that was only well into the 2nd hour of being outside.














Did I mention how happy my dog is?

Click here for more photos.

Click here for Daniel's.