Sorry, there is no A La Carte Menu!

Despite being Valentines Day, Saturday blended into the rest of the week quite normally. I had a list of things I needed to accomplish, and no sappy holiday was going to stop me. Don't get me wrong, I like Valentine's Day, but somehow after the "I Do" was said, the "I'll try," "I'll be late tonight honey," "Sorry, I have a headache," and of course "The kids!!" often take precedence.

We had swimming lessons, a haircut, and a photo shoot (which I forgot to schedule) that day. Here was the plan: Hubby would take Potter to swimming then get his hair cut for school pictures later this week. I would call the studio and schedule birthday photos for Scooter. Brilliant!

I tried a new studio this year (mistake #1). I should have gone to reliable Kiddie Kandid's, but they were a little out of the way for everything that needed to be done. The studio had an opening for 10am. They mentioned on the phone something about bringing a few pair of clothes. That's weird I thought. I don't usually change my kids for birthday photos. Besides, I didn't have the time to even look for another outfit. I just realized Scooter had grown out of his dress shoes and would need to borrow his brother's school shoes for said "photo shoot."

So we arrived at the studio, or should I say "Sport's Illustrated?" I could add up on my fingers the number of photos hanging on our wall of Scooter, I was not prepared for this craziness. The photographer just kept clicking and clicking. After she finished we were brought to a big screen T.V. to view our photos. Literally, there were over 60 pictures to view. I was overwhelmed.

I was asked to narrow down my favorites by choosing one picture out of every three. When we had finished, the photographer showed us the package they offered. And for only four hundred dollars it could all be mine.

"Four what?" I asked. "I came here for a birthday photo, I don't want all these pictures!" (Although they were of my child and incredibly cute)

The photographer explained to me that they only sold custom packages.

"Can I see your price sheet for a la carte packages," I sweetly asked.

I guess that wasn't the question to ask this woman because she then replied by saying: "We do not do A La Carte Packages. We only do custom packages!"

So I was trying to make a deal with the devil. It wasn't the first time, and certainly won't be my last. It literally took another half an hour to get my my total down to $99. They were finally singing my tune. The truth was though, I wasn't sure who was wearing who down first.

"Ninety nine dollars...SOLD," I yelled. The studio was silent. Apparently they do not appreciate stimulus package humor. The photographer rang up my order then told me it would take about 30 minutes for my pictures to be done. "Dear Lord," I thought. I needed to come back.

On the drive home I thought about the many ways I could explain this fiasco to my husband. Luckily, cupid stepped in and reminded everyone that it was Valentine's Day. Hubby was very forgiven even sympathetic. (Boy do I have a good guy).

We finished the day by going out to dinner with Potter and our new Sport's Illustrated cover model. There's never a dull moment on the Brennan Ranch. Hope all your Valentine's Days were just as exciting as ours!