Day 1824

Today was pure misery. My cold was worse than ever. I don't have a fever anymore, but I seem to be having all the other symptoms concurrently. My nose was running, my throat was sore, I had a headache, and my sinuses were congested. I kept sucking cough drops all day long so I wouldn't break into coughing spasms and frighten our customers. After a while the sweet cough drops started making my bad tooth hurt. Yikes! Then my shoulder started to hurt from holding the heavy camera for such a long period of time. Santa wasn't in much better shape than I was. He claimed that he was all over the cold he gave me last week, but I didn't believe him. If he didn't have a cold anymore, why was he still coughing? Even our imaging wizard, who crops and prints the photos on the spot, was coughing and wheezing. He claimed that he just partied too hard last night, but I think he caught Santa's cold too. We were a mess today.

The photos looked just as professional as they always do, but I think everyone was dying to get home and take a long nap. I was so loopy that I took several photo sequences without a memory card in the camera. I had to go back and do the photos all over again. Santa had his beard on crooked several times and we had several computer crashes that might have just been operator error. We were all tired. At least tomorrow is our last event for the year. One more of these to go and we're all finished. I hope nobody books us for Valentine's Day. I don't think I will have recovered by then.

I've noticed that we're doing a lot more family portraits this year. It's probably a sign of a bad economy when people decide to go to a pet photographer for their family Christmas pictures. Several families didn't even bring a dog with them. I'm curious about these families and wonder why they ended up choosing me. I don't ask questions though. That would be rude. I just try to take a family portrait that would make their grandmother proud.

When I was complaining that I kept waking up at night with a terrible sore throat, by doctor gave me this nasal spray and told me to takes it every evening just before I went to bed. I still don't know what the stuff is, but it actually works. Every night I've been taking it, I've slept soundly and didn't have much of a sore throat when I woke up. I though about using the stuff today while I was shooting photos, but I wisely decided to read the warning label first. "Causes Somnolence" the label said. "Do not drive or use machinery while using this product." Well that explains why I slept so well. Reading further, I noticed that the clinical trials for this product weren't even finished yet. Jeez. I don't think my doctor has ever met a pill he didn't like. I'm not going to be taking this stuff much longer.

Tomorrow's location is traditionally where most of the Dalmatian owners go for their Christmas pictures. I'll probably see some old friends tomorrow, but I'm still glad that it's our last event for the year.

Cookie is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day