Deuces

There wasn't any negotiating involved. My daughter and I sat on the kitchen floor with a bag of Dum Dums, her small hands clutching it tightly, possessively.  I asked her to choose one for me and as she carefully sifted through the bag of flavors, I anticipated her M.O. "Do you want a brown one?" she quizzed.. To which I unenthusiastically huffed, "sure", while rolling my eyes. Sayler likes to give me the flavors she does not like, and that is how I ended up with a boring butterscotch dum dum, and she ended up with an amazing cherry dum dum. We enjoyed our suckers while this video uploaded to YouTube.  Lloyd and the infamous #icebucketchallenge It was fun watching Lloyd pour a bucket of ice over himself for charity, and less fun watching his mood deteriorate when I told him we'd have to film it again because I hadn't managed to capture the video. Obviously I did capture it and I wasn't trying to be a prankster...I just really thought I ...

This is the moving on slow, This is the gave it a go, This is the end by now I should know. This was the stop-start, This wasn't for the faint-of-heart, This was the almost-fell-apart. This was the bounty loss, This was the unexpected cost, This was our catch, so quickly tossed. These are no-more-moments, These are no-more-days, These were my unknowns' Unexpected delays. "Urban Light" outside of LACMA, Los Angeles- and more spectacular in person.

Corbin, I don't know what it is but I can't stop missing you.   And you won't know it because you don't read my blog (in fact, I don't think anyone in our family reads my blog, assuming they even know it exists...)   But Corbin I want you to know you've been a great older brother.   We don't have that much in common, actually, aside from the humor that causes us to be boisterous and loud and try to dominate conversations with others (especially one another).   We both always think we are right.   You are more apt to apologize than I am (but to be fair that's because you can be quite cutting at times, the way an older brother can be, where I would never dream of causing you hurt).   You are more of an introvert to my extroverted tendencies despite my unavoidable need to withdraw when I feel swallowed whole by the world around me.     You don't like when I withdraw, oftentimes trying to pull ...

Our friends from England came to stay with us over the weekend so we decided to participate in America's favorite pastime: baseball. I didn't even have to tell her to make a crazy face.  #telepathy #geneticallywired Laura's first Dodger game... "It's kind of like 'Rounders'..." Took this photo as Kemp homered in the 9th inning. #worthit. #lostanyway

My house is in disarray... The painting, door hanging, fall planning and summer wrap-up projects going on all at once... I don't quite know where to start to put my home back together... But the nice thing about cleaning is that you find long lost favorite CDs like my OMD singles album.  Score! I need to go pick out a grey color for my accent walls which seemed like such a joyful endeavor until I made the mistake of kicking up my heels after work. Now I want to go nowhere. But the idea of my walls not being completed in the coming days is... Well, it's not an idea I want to ponder. And so it is... And so at some point my home will not be in disarray any more... Oh please, let these days in disarray not ruin my spirit... #hidinginmybedroom #avoidingthemess #listeningtoOMD

I woke up only slightly disoriented.  The slow, methodical hum of an oscillating fan lulling me between the awake and still-asleep... It was 2 a.m. I thought of my daughter first. I didn't know where she was.  But I knew she was close.  Was my husband worried? I hadn't called to let him know we wouldn't be coming home.  I was still in denim jeans, hugging my waistline tightly, and a plaid shirt that suggested I had spent an evening at a country bar. But in fact I had spent the night at my moms.  It was one of those spontaneous trips- Leaving my husband to paint with the solitude and quiet he deserved. Leaving him to not have to share, for too long, his painting tools with an all-too-eager toddler, despite how much they both have been enjoying this summer project: I was thankful Lloyd was getting a night to himself.  I was thankful he was using his night to make my walls the shade I can't get enough of lately...  I felt lucky. And I enjoyed being at my ...

Today is Saturday. I will start the day with coffee and blogging and getting my little girl ready for gymnastics class. I will take time to thank my husband for working diligently on a bathroom update- tearing out its guts, pulling up the cost-effective and hideous vinyl and builder-box vanity sink in a sad maple hue that accented an equally drab sink. (Forgot to take a "before" shot).  Here's our gutted bathroom: And here's part deux: Lloyd managed to get quite a lot done while Sayler and I enjoyed summer nights away with friends... Lloyd eeked out some handiwork one night this week while Ariel took me to a Dodger game (her idea: a girl after my own heart) We saw her boy, Yasiel, homer and my guy, Clayton, complete the series win against the Braves... It was a week of working, careful planning, focus with occasional stares out the window to watch delicate hummingbirds visit our crepe myrtle tree and hibiscus... ...