I amuse myself

Thing 1 and I created a way for anyone who’s curious to know at a glance what’s for dinner.
A damn cool magnetic whiteboard slapped right on the front of the fridge.

Last week it had things like:
shakshuka
and
lemon garlic shrimp with pasta
and
breakfast
Oh! And macaroni and cheese because Thing 2 requested it when she was here.

This week our menu looks like this.

I didn’t feel like giving any fucks when it came to food.

The only reason Monday and Tuesday have real things is because the menu gets written on Wednesdays after grocery shopping.
We have food in the house.
Frozen veggies and meats. Pantry staples. Some fresh produce.
Enough to last nearly two full weeks.
I just didn’t have any real interest in planning meals.
Gonna be flying by the seat of my pants.
While that would normally freak me right out, I’m embracing it this week…

More than anything, I amused myself.
It was worth it.

Categories: around the house | Tags: , , , , , , | 13 Comments

grateful for joy and sadness

Thing 2 and Boyfriend M were here last weekend.

Thing 1 was thrilled to see her sister!
Baby K was excited to spend time with her Auntie!
Loads of peek-a-boo, story reading, block building, and media table play. (dried beans are excellent for sensory play)

Friday saw us at 2 Silos.
Even though it was chilly, the sun came out and we enjoyed our beers.

Saturday Thing C and Thing G came over.
We played Bye Felica, Uno, and Phase 10, and had burgers and dogs for dinner.
YBW and I had all the joy at all of our kids in the same place at once.

Thing 2 went through my shoes and took home four pair. (less things for me to move)

Thing 1 drove her sister and Boyfriend M to the airport Sunday afternoon.
Baby K cried when they drove out of the driveway.
So did her Birdie.
A LOT!

I was making leftovers for my lunch Monday and asked Thing 1 when we made that particular meal.
She told me it was Wednesday, because “they came on Thursday. As short as they were here, it felt like an eternity.”
She’s right. They weren’t here all that long, but it felt good and long.

I’m sad they’re gone, but chock a block full of joy and gratitude they were here.
My cup runneth over!

Categories: on being a mom | Tags: , , , , , , | 6 Comments

would you rather – quatrième partie

be a pirate or a ninja
Pirate. Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and Geoffrey Rush made it look so damn fun! (and I’m way too clumsy to be a ninja anyway)

live in Harry Potter’s World or Narnia’s world
These are two of my all time favorite book series how can I even choose!?! I think I’d give up being a Queen of Narnia for the ability to do magic. Oh good Lord! What if I was a Muggle? Or worse! A Squib?
OK I’ll choose Harry Potter’s world if (and only if) I’m a witch. If I’m can’t be a witch, Queen of Narnia beats Muggle any day.

be able to breathe underwater or to breathe fire like a dragon
My initial impulse is to say dragon fire. And I mean why not?
But honestly, if I didn’t have to come up for air, I’d never stop swimming and exploring bodies of water.

be able to see long distances or hear things that are far away
My hearing is not so great and I have 20/15 vision, so I’m going with hearing things that are far away.

sleep on the floor or sleep on 10 mattresses
Princess and the pea me. I’m past my floor sleeping days.

“Who Put This Pea in My Bed” by Patti Ballard from my personal collection

Categories: me | Tags: , , , | 8 Comments

a tune for Tuesday vol 98

The more I hear this song, the more I love it.
Check out Post Humorous by Gus Dapperton and let me know what you think!

Please listen responsibly.

Categories: music | Tags: , , , , | 2 Comments

favorite things: November edition

Time for a game of favorites.
Y’all wanna play?

What’s your:

favorite advice
trust your gut

favorite outdoor smell
a no-win tie between: freshly cut grass and that crisp smell in the air in Autumn

favorite quote
“Among those whom I like or admire, I can find no common denominator, but among those whom I love, I can; all of them make me laugh.” ~ W H Auden

favorite card game
Phase 10

favorite thing about a rainy day
wearing my monogrammed rain boots

favorite Dr. Seuss book
Fox in Socks

favorite store
depending on the day, it’s either Home Goods or Target

favorite day of the week
Monday
I like the beginning of things…

favorite punk band
The Clash

favorite gif

Please play along, what are your faves?

Categories: me | Tags: , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

it’s all happening

The foundation footers were poured Friday last at the new house!
We went over there Sunday morning to take a look around.


This is the back right corner of the house looking towards the front, the rise in the foundation is where the garage begins.

Y’all!

Categories: around the house | Tags: , , , , , | 9 Comments

a tune for Tuesday vol 97

This is an old The Temper Trap song from 2008, but I heard it just last week and fell in love (all over) again.
Have a listen and let me know what you think about Sweet Disposition.

Please listen responsibly.

Categories: music | Tags: , , , , | 5 Comments

hatching thoughts

My brain currently is all over the damn place.
If you’re not ready to handle a brain dump, I encourage you to look away.
You’ve been warned…

*****

I’ve been considering words.
Specifically the word wallow.
It’s not actually onomatopoeia…but it totally sounds like what it means.
I love that!
Also twinkle.
Twinkle sounds like it’s meaning too.

*****

I felt like my 2019 planner was my worst purchase last year…then I had a thought.
Lipstick.
Lipstick, (or lip gloss) is actually the worst 2019 purchase.
All those new colors. Hidden behind masks.
I expressed this thought to Thing 1.
She disagreed. She reasoned that a 2019 planner can never be used again, but lipsticks are good for a while. They’ll be able to be used in the future.
She may have a point.
Of course she asked me just yesterday if I thought I had enough lipstick in the ditty bag in my purse, so…

*****

Waiting for election results was interesting.
We made a conscious decision not to watch news coverage.
I checked the results each morning and before I went to bed.
Saturday came and Biden is our president elect.
Now, I don’t care what side of the aisle you’re on, this vote counting process was something to behold. Every vote, cast in whatever form, was counted.
It may have gone ‘your’ way, it may not. But either way, that’s democracy at work, y’all.

I also kind of love that the Count became a meme.
Like her Auntie Thing 2, Baby K loves Count von Count, especially his laugh.
Ah! Ah! Ah!

*****

Family stories.
I think most families have weird stories, but I pretty much only know my own.
Here are some of them.

My great aunt was engaged to a man but they never married because he died.
Only he didn’t really die. He knocked up another woman and had to marry her.
My aunt told everyone he died and remained unmarried for her entire life.

Grandaddy was in the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) in Alabama in the late 1930s. He met my grandmother, a local college student, they began dating. He contracted polio. When the university found out, they told the her she must stop dating him or leave school. With a semester to graduation, she chose to leave school and marry him. (he had no lasting effect from the polio)

My dad was adopted when he was five, before that he spent most of his childhood in foster homes. He had only a few memories of being with his birth mother.
One was vivid enough it stayed with him his entire life. They were in the kitchen and my dad was sitting in a high chair. His mother and a man (his father?) were fighting. His mother hit the man upside the head with an iron skillet. Blood spattered into my dad’s oatmeal. He never ate oatmeal the rest of his life.

*****

Remodeling construction finally ended.
The work was good, but the management and communication were shit. I won’t have this company back in my house. That’s OK, two bathrooms with brand new finishes are happily in use and we’re back to some semblance of normal around here.

*****

As much as I love Hocus Pocus, it is actually a terrible movie.
Though I am actually Winnifred Sanderson. Not that I want to consume the lives of little kids to stay young, beautiful and alive forever.

But that I’m pretty much fed up with everybody coming back in here with their bullshit while simultaneously coming back in here with my own bullshit.

*****

I’m so sick of being sick.
I’m sick of being tired.
I’m sick of being in pain.
Do not get Lyme disease, friends. It fucking SUCKS.
Four-hundred-sixty-two-thousand days left in a twenty one day cycle of antibiotics.

*****

Thing 2 and Boyfriend M arrive Thursday afternoon.
So! Excited!

*****

I’m absolutely heartbroken about the death of Alex Trebek.
May he rest in peace.

*****

Letterkenny.
It’s laugh out loud funny.
It’s head-scratching confounding.
It’s ridiculously low-brow while remarkably intelligent.
It’s brilliant and obvious at the same time.
It’s streaming on Hulu, and I encourage you to watch it!
Pitter patter.

Categories: me | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

zero stars do not recommend

I have Lyme disease.
Zero stars.
VERY bad.
Would NEVER recommend.

I’ve been so sick, y’all.
These symptoms are no joke.
Fever and fatigue, headache and joint pain, and general malaise.
I can’t concentrate enough to read or write. I’m just kind of going through the motions. Lots of television and lots of lying low while Baby K plays.
I joke about being a whiny complainer, but I’m actually not. I’m the kind of girl that pulls herself up by her bootstraps and keeps on getting after it.
But this? This is me being an actual slug with lots of daytime resting and going to bed early while still getting after all the things.
I have been assured I’m not being a whiny crybaby, that I’m handling being sick and tired with grace and dignity. I think my family is more kind that truthful because I feel like I got run over by a truck.

I’m on day nine-hundred-seventy-six of twenty one days of doxycycline. (seriously, just kill me)

Ticks. What little fuckers! I hope the one that bit me suffers eternally in tick hell.

That’s what I get for being in the out of doors though, right?
We went for a shoot day.
A beautifully sunny fall day at Fairview Cemetery in Culpeper.
Leaves just beginning to do their Autumn thing.
YBW, Thing 1, and I had our cameras. Husband N and Baby K wandered about.

Is it worth it to suffer for my art?
Probably not.
I’m going to go take a nap now.

Categories: me | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

would you rather – trois parties

visit the doctor or the dentist
Doctor! I hate going to the dentist.

clean the kitchen or clean the bathroom
While a clean bathroom is uber-sastisfying, a clean kitchen is even more so.

run a mile that was flat or walk three miles uphill
Three miles uphill. Ain’t nobody got time to run…

feed an elephant or feed an alligator
I wanna do both!! But I’ll choose elephant because it’s probably a bit safer.

a pet dog or a pet cat
KITTIES!!
I will pet a cat on a train
I will pet a cat in the rain
I will pet a cat in the house
I will pet a cat (but not) a mouse
I will pet a cat here or there
I will pet a cat anywhere
(Props to Dr Seuss)

Now it’s your turn!

Categories: me | Tags: , , , | 4 Comments

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