bird droppings and the secrets of the universe



Love your life (even though you don't have a dishwasher). This is my meditation as I try to erase dinner from two nights ago off our slow cooker while Eli does a figure-8 of some sort between my legs.

I am convinced that the secrets of the universe will be uncovered by one extremely, perhaps manically, organized individual. I bet Jesus, the Buddha, Ghandi, Bill Gates, and Ryan Seacrest were/are all very organized people. I mean, think about it. The Last Supper? That was one hell of a dinner party to pull off -- even with only one type of carbohydrate and alcohol as the main course. And commentating American Idol, I mean, come on, people. That takes skills.

I will never know the secrets of the universe, because, a truly organized mind is just not in my genetic code. But, oh, how I try. Like today, for instance. I did all these things:

Woke up, with Eli in tow;
Made coffee and sandwich for husband;
Scarfed a Fiber One bar while child watched morning television while eating bananna;
Drank said coffee;
Did photography work on computer while child watched more morning television;
Prepared gourmet lunch of turkey in pita bread for self and child;
Sat and ate lunch with child;
Answered lots of questions while eating said pita;
Took said child outside to play;
Decided to weed an overgrown flower bed;
Watered flowers and vegetable garden;
Cleared other rocks and weeds from behind house;
Kicked ball with child;
Swang (swung?) with child;
Held garden hose while child ran under and around it with endless fascination;
Pondered dirty dishes in sink;
Hung bed sheets on clothes line to dry;
Lured child inside to take nap with promise of cool pop;
Started cleaning kitchen and re-organizing pantry while child (miraculously) fell asleep on the floor eating said cool pop;
Transferred child to sofa;
Continued in kitchen;
Completed pantry;
Cooked dinner;
Fed self and child;
Called husband to say 'you can come home now';
Said to child, "No more cool pops or banannas until you eat more of your dinner."
Greeted husband at door with toy steering wheel in hand. Don't ask.

I was feeling smug.

I had accomplished so much today.

Then, as we headed out for an evening walk, a bird crapped on my head.

I give up.

into the wild



We're going on a bear hunt;
...we're not scared.

::

Aunt Jenny, I found my wires, so your video is coming soon!

And, yes, people, I know he will kill me one day for all the potty pics. But I'm okay with that ;-)

no comment



So, one of my fave photography sites, Shutter Sisters (linked here), is starting something new and adding a 'no comment' section, where bloggers will post a photo(s) that really and truly require no explanation.

Here is my first contribution...

peonies



More about these later, but I just wanted to post one of the many photos I took today. Aren't they just lovely?

it's been rainin' frogs here



Seriously, it has. Sunday night, the wind blew so fiercely, I thought we may lose our roof. And yesterday, it rained so much, I thought I may lose my mind...

with

a

toddler

in

the

house

all

day.



And then, the sun came out today.


Hooray for the sun!

poppies!

We now have this painting by the wonderful Stephanie Bast proudly displayed in our dining room. It's the first piece of art Shaun and I have purchased together (for our 31st birthdays!). Yay for us and for independent artists! Go check out the rest of her work and buy something ;-) I will post some more photos of the painting in its new space soon -- once it stops raining and I have some good natural light to work with!

Happy Friday, everybody ;-)

i don't like oysters...



but the shells are pretty ;-)

p.e.a.c.e.

boy





And, I made the daily click again over at Shutter Sisters for my dogwood blossom photo ;-) I am obsessed with taking pictures of flowers and blooms of all sorts lately. Perhaps because it is spring and there are lots of them all around me.

Will be back with more soon. Happy Tuesday...

bowl full o' plums



I'm going to start posting more daily photos here, I think. Maybe it will help me find some inspiration to write more. Like the writing prompts I used to give my 10th graders...ha!

I rarely take the time to just play around with creative photography set-ups, but we were in the backyard the other day, and while Eli was flirting with the idea of digging up my freshly-planted herb garden, I decided to pluck some plums from our tree to do some still life shots. I love still life because -- surprise -- it doesn't move unless you move it. It's wonderful. So when we finally came inside, I plopped the plums in a little olive oil bowl and set them on the seat of an old chair handed down to us from Shaun's great grandmother. The fabric's got a great greenish-yellow, scrolly pattern, and I knew it would look great against the deep red hues of the plums! And it did ;-) It was an interesting 'session' with Eli perched right next to and at times with one leg hiked on the seat. I think it will be a while before I can take him along on a real session as my assistant.

According to our neighbor, the plums aren't edible, so after I was done with them, I let Eli roll them all over the house. And then I noticed the plum insides starting to ooze from the tiny bulbs, and I had a vision of this bright red juiciness smeared all over our freshly painted dining room walls, so we chucked 'em. Quickly.

:::

Shaun's mom (Eli's Granny) arrives today and will be visiting until next week. Shaun and I are looking forward to some time, sans the kiddo, to eat, drink, and be merry. It's my birthday on Sunday, and his was a month ago, so we will be celebrating both. And, I've been dieting (and lost 4 pounds last week...woop, woop), so I'm going to splurge on something decadent. I am licking my chops at the thought. Yum. Yum.

Oh, yeah, and for those of you who watched Idol last night, is it just me, or does Neil Diamond have a lazy eye?