i guess you get what you pay for?

when entering my house (or apartment rather, or my mom's house...whatever), one might think my son is still 3 months old because that is the latest professional picture we have of him and ourselves for that matter. i made the command decision to get some new ones taken upon noticing a deal at my neighborhood wal-mart. i'm sure that tells you where you this post might be going. here's a hint: nowhere good. so, i get the kiddies all dressed up for easter. this originally was just going to be luke's photo shoot to commemerate his 2 years of life. i figured people might want to know that i have another child, though, so the sopester got all gussied up as well. i had made an appointment two days earlier for 10 am, but in true tara fashion i was running a little behind. this was partly because i was trying to leave as late as i possibly could so that luke's hair wouldn't move and the rest of him would stay remotely clean. blah, blah, blah, drive, drive, drive...we get to wally world and their up-scale photography studio at maybe 3 minutes after 10. i was a little surprised to see a pair of ladies sitting in the waiting room. i wondered if that meant there was more than one studio...nope, hmmm maybe they're going to make them wait for me...first mistake, i gave them the benefit of the doubt. no, there was just one studio and no, they were not waiting. they, apparently were walk-ins who got first priority on my appointment time because i was late by 3 measly minutes. now, don't get me wrong, i was willing to own up to my tardiness, but seriously! shouldn't they have some sort of window? people have kids for goodness sake...and we're not all martha stewart (or larissa) who is organized enough to arrive early with mess-free snacks and brain-stimulating activities that keep the mini people occupied without getting wrinkly or, in my son's case, bruised or scraped in some way...hence we've had to wait this long in the first place. luke finally healed from the injuries that kept occupying his face for the past 6 months. these were supposed to be 2 year old pictures if you remember.

anyway, moving on to the um...annoying, yeah, i'll go with annoying woman behind the counter at said picture-taking establishment. she proceeded to tell me that the ladies that were currently sitting in my spot arrived before me (duh) and therefore, they would be going first. (not duh...what?!) that is apparently the policy there at the cheapest place to one-stop shop in america. lets just say i tried to reign in the frustration that filled my entire being at that moment, signed her little paper, and asked how long it would be until i could bring my perfectly coifed children back for their session.

"oh, it'll just be a half-hour."

"awesome...just enough time for luke to look like a homeless child...i mean, we've got some shopping to do so we'll be back."

great. whatever. we left the picture place and headed toward the candy because my son was not going to cooperate without a little sugar. we purchased some bribery (for those of you much more responsible mothers out there...i apologize for this portion of the unfortunate tale). we picked up a few more things and on the way over to the other section of the store, mom looked at her watch and let me know that it had been about 25 minutes, so we changed direction and headed back toward the scene of the original crime so as to assure our place in line. we arrive at the waiting to room to the smell of cigarette smoke and the realization that not only are the ladies not done yet, but they also haven't even sat down to pick out their prints. long story short, the lady that told me we'd be waiting no more than half an hour, took her sweet time going through each and every pink, fluffy easter dress clad/naked picture of the poor, unsuspecting babies that stole our place in line...so...an hour later, we left. now, i pride myself in the fact that i'm not a disgruntled customer. i patiently wait for distracted, unaware servers at restaraunts, i have only sent food back once to the cook based on the fact that it was uncooked chicken, and i buy things that have flaws without forcing the poor cashier into giving me 10% off my purchase. okay, okay, okay lets stop the madness already. this story is way too long and way too lame of a memory to keep it going anymore.

lets just say that walmart is lame, i'm never going back (well, for picture-taking anyway...i'll definitly be there as soon as oreos go on sale) and i decided to try my hand at a little photography on my own. the kids were already dressed and it was just a matter of time before the whole effect would wear off and dirt would take its place so i walked the lukemeister down to the play structure in the backyard and snapped these little beauties. pictures taken, no harm done i suppose.

ps i guess photos for 7.99 are just as non-existent as a free lunch.