And I thought my Informant adventures were over . . .

I thought I was done with anything Informant-wise even though they were to continue filming at the courthouse in Decatur on Saturday morning. My personal "informant" called me Friday to tell me. But I had a wedding reception which I was shooting at 5:00, so I decided I didn't want to spend my entire day in Decatur just waiting in hopes of seeing someone famous. Not that waiting isn't fun, because it's one of the biggest thrills I've ever personally experienced. Maybe that says how completely boring my life is, I don't know? But still, I've really really enjoyed the past week of celebrity watching like hugely.

So I still left my house at 3:30 to meet my bestie (a.k.a. my wedding assistant), Heather, at her house before we went on to the reception. Of course on my way to Heather's I had to stop for some coffee at Starbucks. That stop really threw off my next plan. Pure craziness, I tell ya.

While sitting in Starbucks drive-thru, I see a big tour bus.
I knew it belonged to someone in the Informant. Not sure who, but I had seen it on location at the shoots. So what do I do but follow the crazy thing. It ends up downtown where they were filming at the courthouse and there I see tons of huge tents set up and all the same trailers and trucks that were there on Tuesday.
So I called Heather and told her I wasn't coming to her house, asking her to please meet me downtown because I had some other important business. (hehe)

I park my car and just walk up to the tents. There are no other fans or "regular" people there but me and two other women. I see these two women standing near two men who appeared to be looking at a paper and talking.
I walk up closer and realize it is Mr. Steve Soderbergh and Gregory Jacobs. They look up, see me, see that I have a camera and ask if I wanted a picture. I was thinking "um, yeah!", but said, "yes, please!". One of the two women standing there said "I was next!" really snottily. Hmph! Well, I'm sorry but, the nice man asked me himself! It's not like I was budging in line. Of course I let them go ahead. Mr. Soderbergh and Mr. Jacobs obviously intended to stick around for a picture for me. . . and they most certainly did! I asked some bystander to take the picture, which was a total risk, but I felt it was worth it :c) And so here it is . . .

Steve Soderbergh (to my right) who is the director (and who has also won an Oscar and has directed all the Ocean's movies, Traffic, to name a few). And then on my left is Gregory Jacobs who is the producer and was the producer for all the same movies, Erin Brokovich and so many others. This moment was almost as big as Matt Damon . . . possibly bigger . . . well, maybe not? :c) Here's Mr. Director doing some taping himself:

He also signed my book for me. Heather called me a 5-letter "b" word for this one because more than anything this is what she wanted. Even though I love her, she'll have to wrestle me for it. :c)


I then decide to just wait around. In the meantime, Heather is on her way and just about there. She makes it in time to see Scott Bakula from afar and Matt Damon before he leaves. Here's Matt with a group of young girls. He really like the children which is really awesome. Doesn't he look adorable from the back?? :c)
At least I got to see him one final time in person.

A few minutes later Mr. McHale comes out. He comes over to see us. Only a few of us there. A total flirt he was and so adorable. I think he is my new boyfriend :c) He asked why I was so dressed up and I said because I was about to go photograph a wedding. So he signed my book and here's what he wrote (mine's on the left):

Which was much better than what he wrote to this chick (on the right). I even got a "'heart' Joel" on mine. :c)
He squeezes me. Yep, he's my new boyfriend.
Heather and Joel.

What a fantasy brought to life all of that was. It really was incredible. I wish more of my friends could have been there with me, really truly. But now it's time to get back to reality. The crew of the Informant are now on their way to Springfield, IL for 2 days of taping and then on to Hawaii (Oahu, actually) to finish. What a great way to end filming, eh?! The actual movie comes out next March. I absolutely cannot wait, and even if the premiere isn't here, you can guarantee I'll be going to the movies in a red carpet dress anyways.

Thanks for sharing in this adventure with me. I've loved the enthusiasm you've all had for me . . . with me. :c) Now back to my life.

(You can see more of my pictures from yesterday at my flickr account.)

Matt Damon . . . here??!

Never in a million years would anyone think that Decatur, Illinois could be famous for anything but Firestone (remember the recall?) and ADM's smog. But this week they are famous for Matt Damon. He is in town shooting a movie . . . in Decatur, Illinois . . . my hometown . . . it's pretty crazy. My friend, Vickie, knows a girl who is an "extra". And this morning I received all kinds of pictures from his shoot this week. He was downtown shooting a "snow scene" at an old Firestone tire shop that I've driven by a million times.

Remember the Ice Storm of 2006 and the apartment our family stayed in for 9 days? Well, that building back there behind Matt (I mean, "Mark Whitacre"), over his left shoulder, is where we lived.








Oh, why is he here? He is in a movie by Warner Brothers called "The Informant" based on the book "The Informant" which is about a man named Mark Whitacre, who was a top executive for ADM, my father-in-law and husband's company. Mark was an informant for the US Government for price-fixing in other big companies and in turn ended up being caught as a price-fixer himself. Boy, was he in trouble. He went to prison, blah blah blah . . . this was a big big thing. Not only because he committed a major crime, but also because he lived in a small farm town of 1800 people. This was BIG NEWS for our area.

Now, as you can see, it's turning into a movie and Matt Damon is the star. Sorta unreal, eh?

One of the craziest things of all is that Alexis happens to be in town this week and tonight she and I are heading downtown to "our" place for dinner. That is, if we even go to dinner. We know where he's staying, we both have our cameras, do you really think we'll go eat? Hmmmm . . . maybe ;c) So tonight should be interesting and fun and exciting and hopefully we're lucky and run into Matt . . . I mean, Mr. Whitacre :c) And we're going to ADM also . . . hmmmm . . . maybe we'll see him there? He is to still tape there . . . hmmmm. . . .

Oh my goodness, I am such a complete freak (as Alexis would say) :c) That's okay . . . gotta make the most of the exciting parts of life, right? :c)

Here's some more pics . . .





Update: I posted more info in the comment section!

"Trail Mix"

We just had Easter (probably like most of you) yesterday afternoon on Neil's mom's side. It was really nice. Lots of kiddos. I made fruit pizza which was too pretty not to take a picture of! I had a piece for breakfast this morning. Mmmmmm . . . (All the food and conversation was very good! Hope you all had nice Easter celebrations as well.)

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Remember my face pain a week ago? It turned out to be a sinus infection! I have 2 or 3 more days left of my antibiotic. I feel sooooo much better. That was absolutely no fun at all (and very scary)!

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Today I finally see a doctor for my back pain. I'm now seeing a neurosurgeon. Hopefully it will all go okay. I'm not really nervous because I don't think it's anything serious. I just want to get it fixed and the chiro isn't helping that area of my back at all which tells me it's not mechanical?? I'm just ready for today to be over with already. (I also have my "yearly". Blech.)

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Last week was a really successful week for us with potty training. We went all week long wearing big girl undies with no training pants or the like! We either went bare booty or underwear. (Maia, not me! I always try to be clothed!) Night time is a bit harder, so we're wearing diapers to bed still. But I know we're on the right track because this is how it went down with Noah. Noah was trained when he was ready, and I think Maia is following in his same "I'll do it when I'm ready" pattern. Yayyyyyyyy!!! What will we do with all that extra diaper money?!

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The kids got an Easter package in the mail from their cousins,
Ella and Adi. And guess what?! Mommy got a little treat, too, from Chel. It's the cutest little giftie ever and I can't wait to plant the seeds :c) Thank you, darlin'!

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My weddings start back up in 3 weeks!

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Remember how I said I wasn't going to do anymore weddings or else very little?! Well, I really do have a hard time saying no. I have nine. Totally better than 15+ which is what I did every year for a few years. But it's still too many. I really seriously am not taking any next year. (PLEASE hold me to this, friends!) Neil and I both decided last night that it would be a good idea. Now if you're a friend or someone who has lots of really different fun ideas, I might possibly be swayed. (hehe)

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Next weekend I get to see Corie! She's coming home for her BABY SHOWER! Then 2 weeks after that I get to do her maternity photos!! (She'll be such a beautiful subject, too. Okay, so will Keith, her hubby, but I think Corie's going to be glowing a teeny-tiny bit more?)

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Over the weekend I got my hair cut (only like a 1/2 inch) but I also got it colored and thinned out. I have soooooo much hair so thinning it out totally changed how it looks and feels. I love it. Noah told me I looked "pretty". If that doesn't make a mommy feel good, I'm not sure what else would! He's such a sweet boy.

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Neil and I rented our first movie in probably 2 years . . . the Holiday. I remember Corie and Keith telling me about it a while back, so that was the one I chose. I can't wait to see it. The last time I saw a movie at the theater was with Alexis and Jamie. How long ago was that, girls?! Well over a year, wasn't it?

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I was about to buy this chair last night, but then thought I'd ask your opinions on it. I always feel confident in my purchases when it comes to cameras or lenses or clothes or paint colors. But a desk chair which could change the way my back feels forever because I practically live in it, well, that's a different story! I tried out a whole bunch after my hair cut at Office Depot and Staples on Saturday. I definitely do not like the big frumpy cushy executive chairs because they are not made for sitting at a desk staring at a computer screen for hours on end kind-of-work. At least not for me and my back. I need high lumbar support big time. I hope this one will work. I want to order it online because it's free shipping and I have a $30 off coupon when ordering online. (at Staples) You can't beat that. Any suggestions or advice? Why am I so nervous about this purchase?

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Oh, and I forgot to add that I hope to post an entry this week on something photography-related! Alexis's gizillion trillion questions to me when about to purchase her new (awesome DSLR Nikon) camera a while back stemmed an idea in my head to turn those questions and answers into an informative post for you. So look for that this week!!