Chocolate Haze: The Next Morning

I woke up to a headache the next morning. And my mouth felt a little cottony. Three too many long island ice teas, I thought regretfully. Drinking wasn't something I often did. Especially long island ice teas. I made a mental note not to do that again anytime soon. Or ever. Then I dragged myself into my bathroom and gulped down a few aspirin with a glass of water. I brushed my teeth and my tongue and headed downstairs for an attempt at breakfast.

The smell of eggs and coffee made my stomach turn over a little so I grabbed some saltines from the cupboard, turned off the stove, and made my way quickly back to my bed to lay down for a few more hours.

Around noon I woke up again and felt much better. I ate some oatmeal and drank some orange juice and then grabbed my camera case and got to work sorting through wedding pictures. I had been at the wedding reception (and wedding) yesterday for my friend Callie because: a) we were roommates in college and b) I was an extremely cheap, i.e. free, photographer. I had actually been done taking pictures last night and already said goodnight to Callie and was about to leave when my empty stomach had propelled me towards the dessert table.

As someone who shoots photos at a lot of weddings and receptions, I have learned the hard way how many calories those amazingly good tasting appetizers and desserts have hidden in them and try not to eat at all when I am on the job. Sometimes I make it without eating anything and sometimes I cannot seem to escape without indulging. Last night was almost one of those nights that I was sucked into the dessert table black hole.

I tried to avoid thinking about the reason why I had avoided that temptation. Once I really began working on the photos, which I had uploaded from the memory cards to my computer, I did forget about Nick. Cropping and editing all the photos and picking out the best ones for Callie and her new husband, Brad, was engrossing and I spent the rest of the afternoon working on it.

Finally, I had a good collection of 200 images that I posted to my website under the password I had selected for their wedding. I sent Callie an email telling her how wonderful the wedding had been and what a beautiful bride she was, sent her the password to access the online album, and asked her to pick out the ones she wanted me to make actual photos of and put in her wedding photo album. I knew she and Brad were going on a cruise for their honeymoon and so I didn't expect to hear back from her soon about the photos but I knew I had captured some great shots and that she would love the photos of the wedding. I felt the satisfaction of a job well done.