Let me tell you how my mind works.

[altarflame]

(This was meant to be posted last night but I had uploading problems so it's about 12 hours late)

I'm sitting here at the computer quantifying all the awesomeness that was today and feeling all psyched about everything in the world. A few examples:

-I have a washing machine again, a real one that works right here in my house!
-I made a great dinner that was ready at an early hour
-Went swimming, woohoo!
-found some more really promising agent leads who are seeking just the kind of thing I have ready to go
-Filled out my fafsa form online for school this fall and saw that we readily qualify for enough aid that I'd have money leftover if I go - MAYBE I could even take 2-3 of my classes online and get workstudy when the kids are in school, and do my schoolwork at the job like workstudy jobs let you do, and like make money WHILE getting an education.

BUT LET ME TELL YOU. All those bullet points occured prior to an hour ago and I was still not only not happy, but miserable, then. This was just another day in the doldrums of darkness through which I could not see any positive thing as I struggled to be productive in all those ways listed above.

Then I had sex.

And now the sun is shining again. And the birds are singing. And all the furry little woodland creatures are cavorting with glee.

Not a joke.

---

These are not the best pictures. But some long time readers will remember similar "sharing a chair" pictures of these two from 5-6 years ago and the contrast gets me. They are just...so big! (hotel room in Lakeland a couple of weeks back)


It's not even like "big" anymore, they're so OLD.


And what the hell is wrong with these three?

I mean seriously, that picture.

A & A had their own li'l table nearby. Being old.


Jakey, wet from a splash pad on some playground equipment.


Isaac, my SEVEN year old, on his SEVENTH birthday <3 We were out to dinner just the three of us...


Shaun, Grant and I went to Beer and Burger Joint in Miami Beach. B&BJ is a chain and if you have one near you...you should DEFINITELY go.


Grant's had prosciutto on it.


Mine had goat cheese under the thickest bacon known to man.


Sweet potato fries I was dipping in bourbon bbq sauce...OM.


"Portabello fries" salted up...I could have made a meal just of these. And I think Annie will be some time soon.


The Illustrious Shaun Wright, + jalapeno cucumber...stuff.


Then we hit this place and I got a chocolate dipped cone full of butter pecan...yes, yes it is an "off" Eat to Live month :p



What kind of horrible mother would purposely pose her kids facing into the worst and most directly timed sunlight and make them look up at a camera just to laugh and laugh at their protests and tell them, no, they really do have to stare into the glare because SHE IS THE MOM, as they get all aghast?


What bitch of a mom would cackle and say "Oh yes I can!!!" when the oldest starts talking about justice and how she can't do this to them? Just to get funny pics of them squinting?

(can you believe how attractive Aaron is? Wth man)

Eventually this game got boring and I let them get up. Plus the trolley was finally coming.


Nosering.


We took the trolley to the farmer's market. Clearly this picture is from a farmer's market. More shocking is that it's of a nearly FOUR YEAR OLD ELISE. All of my kids are so big, so old, blah blah blah but really...can you believe it? I'm not always sure I can believe it. Lately, it seems like maybe childrearing is just a phase of my life that will be past one day O_O


Giant tooth gap. Also, whenever I see Isaac in very bright sunlight I sort of expect him to spontaneously burst into flames.


Stuntman Aaron.


Silly Annie.


My myspace angle.


My new homemade purse.


My clone.


Wildflowers from Bea Heaven farm (that the bees make wildflower honey from). Some are on my bar.

Comments

[the-great-maker.livejournal.com]

I'm just a random reader who you don't know at all, but have often wondered (sorry, I'm sure it's been covered before!) who is Shaun? As in, what relation to you?

Sorry just being nosy!

Btw, I always love seeing your photos!

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

He's no relation whatsoever. He's a random hanger-on :p I went to high school with him and then he became Grant's best friend after graduation when Grant was single and that's about it. My kids definitely love him and he is very much a part of the family...

Thanks :)

[the-great-maker.livejournal.com]

Aha!
Thank you :-)

[ariellejuliana.livejournal.com]

I just read the whole menu for B&BJ and am now SO HUNGRY. I am about to grab the baby and drive to Miami, man.

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

Oh I have already told Grant that about two months into my next ETL month THIS is going to be what's driving me absolutely nuts, FOR SURE. MMmmm...

Are you sure there isn't one much closer to you? I guess you probably checked while you read THE ENTIRE MENU :p

[ariellejuliana.livejournal.com]

It looked like there were only two total, both in FL.

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

Oh! Sorry :/ I knew there were two locations here but my sister told me that it was a chain and that someone in NY might have one and I just took her word for it.

[evrydayjnglbtch.livejournal.com]

Wow...Have we rly been efriends for almost 7 years? Both Jimmy and Isaac where babies when we started talking- Isaac is now 7 and Jimmy turns 7 Tuesday. BANANAS
Time, it just goes and goes...

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

YES! I have a few mutual friends on here that came in when I was pregnant with Isaac, like Jillene, Dama and Jenne, and a couple that I "met" when he was a baby, like you and Heather. It is crazy!

[the-waker.livejournal.com]

Wow, I now feel old and very lucky to have known you ladies so long :) I can't believe Jimmy & Issac & Autumn are all so big.

[yolen.livejournal.com]

Good gravy, llok at your kids, being huge and stuff! Ay, ELISE! SO BIG! And I read what she said about your brother, LOL forever!

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

She is funny - we were just scrolling through this entry and when I got to the pics of all five of them sitting down together (without my saying anything mind you) she started yelling "Too bright! Too bright!" :p

[yolen.livejournal.com]

Ha! The little ones have a way of bringing on the LULZ.

[phoebebeast.livejournal.com]

Oh those mushrooms.... were they as yummy and batter-y as they look???

I think I read somewhere earlier that you were sorry about cutting Elise's hair. Though now she looks like a mini female version of Jake - and so gorgeous!

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

Yes. Yes they were.

I do regret it, because I did it to make brushing and combing easier since she was having major scalp issues (scaliness and oozing) that has since been rectified...but her curls are still gone :/ I know what you mean, though.

[noelove.livejournal.com]

i love your freckles. Also that sucks that your Y childcare is shitty. Ours is outta hand great. I wish you could have my girls at our Y. they rock my world.

[keilababe.livejournal.com]

OMG that first "looking into the sun" picture is so great. I would totally buy a card with that pic on it. I can't believe how tall Elise is. Wow.

You going to school sounds really exciting! I can tell you from experience that it's much easier to go after you've passed "college age" or whatever.

Way off topic, do you shop at Publix? I got an email with this link.
http://www.savingsuppersolutions.com/
Meals you can make with whatever is on sale at Publix that week.

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

Also, that's why I included that one blurry shot of Elise...she IS so tall! All of them are just...growing up! I freaking swear, the nerve!

I've been trying to just shop at BJ's because it's so much cheaper if I can keep to it (wholesale club), but I like Publix a lot and we have one like half a mile from my house so I will definitely check that out! And link my sister, who basically lives at Publix. Thanks :)

[babyslime.livejournal.com]

Do you realize you have preteens? PRETEENS!

[altarflame.livejournal.com]

I do. I really do. From my daughters' curves and menstruation and moodiness and height and BO (OH MAN IT IS SO BAD SOMETIMES AND HER HAIR IS GREASY LIKE 24 HOURS AFTER WASHING O_O) to my son's group of half a dozen 8-12 year old boys on bikes that hang out in my yard calling me ma'am (WTF?). *sigh*

She's on her period today and is NOT comfortable using tampons yet and we all wanted to go swimming. I offered several solutions (her going to my sister's house or staying here with Bob while the rest of us went among them) but she ended up opting to sit by the pool with a frappuccino, reading and listening to my iPod and acting angsty.

[babyslime.livejournal.com]

Ah, poor thing. :(
When I had my first period the FIRST thing I did was ask my mom to teach me (verbally, just for anyone who is wondering) how to put in a tampon. She refused, saying it wasn't good for me to wear them and she certainly didn't want me to wear them with my FIRST period! She was still kind of a huge hippie and thought they were awful... which they are, but I didn't really care at that time of my life. She told me to wait until I'd had several periods first.

Then my first period ended up lasting an entire month... in the last week I was like, "Okay please mom, this is getting ridiculous" so she bought me a box. She demonstrated with her hands how to correctly insert it, talked about the angles and stuff and I figured it must be easy as pie. I must have read the directions ten times... but it still took me THE ENTIRE BOX of trial and error before I could get one in. I didn't spend very much (read: ANY) time down there prior to having a period. O_o

[the-leh.livejournal.com]

Despite having classes in school that showed us how to use tampons with those visual models of a cross-section of the female reproductive system, I was still a bit perplexed and didn't get the angles. I was so nervous I was tightening up unconsciously. I had to have my best friend walk me through how to put one in (using the super slender kind) on the phone. She told me to think of palm trees in order to relax and explained exactly how to do it. That's friendship, right there.

[babyslime.livejournal.com]

PS. My 7 year old occasionally gets acne on her cheeks and is just - JUST - starting to get a little bit of smell to her armpits sometimes and it makes me SO NERVOUS that she's going to hit precocious puberty. I mean, she's still stripping off her clothes to play at night! I'm so acutely aware of the stat that says 1/5 white girls has their period by age eight. Other than me, my entire family of women were early bloomers (my mom at 12, her mom at 11). I had the first sign of breast buds at 9-10 but everything stopped with the PD, so I would have been early as well had I not been afflicted with the endocrine problem. This whole shit freaks me out.

[the-leh.livejournal.com]

Wait a minute, they are....grown up! They're still 5 and 6 in my head. WHAT HAPPENED? Has that much time really gone by?!?!?!?!?!?!

I had the exact same experience yesterday. Had a great day, then I had sex. The clouds parted and the angels wept and the sun shined down upon me. HAPPYHAPPYJOYJOY.

LOL@myspace angle. Cracked me up. I love the myspace angle. Great nosering.