Sunday, August 31, 2008

weekly winners: august 24–30

weaving

lettuce flowers

feelers

pollination

those eyes

at the park

swinging sleepily



Thursday, August 28, 2008

I'm not wearing any pants

A couple of weeks ago, Lindsay over at Rock and Roll Mama was giving away a copy of Stephanie Kuehnert's I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone. Readers had to leave a comment on this post stating the name of your all time favorite band. On Friday, August 15th she would use the random number generator to pick a winner. That's it. Easy-peasy. I left my comment—The Beatles (with Pink Floyd coming in a close second) and mentioned that I should win since the drawing would be held on my birthday.

Well, apparently the little gnomes that run the random number generator felt the same way because my number was picked! This morning when I checked the mail there was a package from the USPS leaning up against the house. My book had arrived!

As soon as I had the package in my hand I knew I had to blog about winning. And aren't all posts better when accompanied by a photo? Why, yes they are, so here is a shot of G-tot, me, and my prize taken with Photo Booth moments after checking the mail. It may not be the most flattering shot of me but I don't care. This is reality at its finest people.


I hadn't showered yet, my hair is all funky, I've got a stupid look on my face, and I'm wearing the oldest shirt I own (that I still wear). It just happens to be the perfect shirt for this post.

It's my Pink Floyd concert shirt from their 1994 tour. It's full of tiny holes and is so ragged looking that I only wear it to bed—but it is one of the most comfortable shirts I own. Plus, it has sentimental value. Over the years I've owned dozens of shirts from concerts I've attended. And over the years those shirts have disappeared. Gone is my Motley Crue shirt from the Dr. Feelgood tour. Gone are my Anthrax shirt from the Headbanger's Ball tour. Gone are the Bulletboys, Metallica, Poison, Skid Row, Pantera, Tesla, and Faster Pussycat t-shirts—along with so many others.

I have just three concert shirts left—a Ted Nugent shirt from my very first concert (I was just nine years old with my Dad at Cobo Hall in Detroit), a Tom Petty shirt from a concert JQ & I went to in 2002, and my beloved Pink Floyd shirt. Which I wear all the time. I fear the day when I pull it out of the dryer and it's in shreds.

So, up there in that picture I'm wearing my Floyd shirt 14 years after I bought it. Oh…and I'm not wearing any pants.

I don't hang on to the shirt merely because of it's comfort factor. I hang on to it because of the memories entwined in its fibers. Memories that are full of music. Music has this amazing ability to touch our lives in so many ways. So many important moments in my life have a soundtrack connected to them. It sounds like that's also true for Emily in I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone. According to Lindsay, "Stephanie Kuehnert delivers a raw, pitch perfect story of a daughter longing to connect to her mother through music." I can't wait to start reading. Thanks, Lindsay!

Happy Birthday to me!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

working girl

Today is my first official day back at work since the end of July. I left the house at 8:00 this morning and won't finish up at work until 10:05 tonight. G-tot conveniently kicked off my day by waking up at 2:30 this morning and refusing to go back to sleep until around 4 a.m. In our bed. Which means I got a scrap of bed for the next 3 hours while I tried to sleep.

Should be an interesting day. Keep the coffee coming.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

turn the page

This past Thursday I earned the right to cross a big goal off not only my original 2008 goals list, but also my more comprehensive 101 in 1001 list (making that 23 things completed). Read 10 books in 2008. I'm super excited about achieving this goal well before the end of the year because, while I read lots of books every year, I don't usually get (or make) the time to read just for me. No kids books, no technical manuals, no design theory or academic books—just a good old-fashioned novel that sucks you in and leaves you wanting more.

I read some great books this year and I really think I owe a lot of that to setting this goal for myself. I read some classics and got swept away by a band of contemporary vampires. As I finished each book I couldn't wait to pick the next one to immerse myself in. I've become a library junkie and find myself wondering how many books I'll actually finish this year.

Several of the books on my list were chosen based on recommendations by all of you. Please keep them coming. Vegas Princess emailed me a huge list today and Shades twittered several titles last night (which I really need to write down or something). Of course there is always Good Reads but I have yet to add a book I've read, much less peruse what you've all read. It's so much easier when you bring the information directly to me. So just leave your suggestions in the comments for me won't you?

What's that? You want to know which 10 books I read to complete my goal? Well, okay…since you asked.
  1. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (finished 1.30)
  2. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (finished 2.3)
  3. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling (finished 2.8)
  4. Animal Farm by George Orwell (finished 2.15)
  5. Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (finished 4.12—my least favorite of the bunch)
  6. 1984 by George Orwell (finished 6.24)
  7. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (finished 7.8)
  8. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer (finished 7.30)
  9. Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer (finished 8.14)
  10. Breaking Dawn by Stephenie Meyer (finished 8.21)
Have you read any of these? What did you think of them?

weekly winners: august 17–23

strainer head—I don't think this will ever get old

unwelcome garden visitor (I know, pretty disgusting)

kudu at the zoo

zebra in black & white (is that redundant?)




Friday, August 22, 2008

maybe I should go to La Tomatina

During the last half hour of G-tot's nap today I went out and picked some veggies from our garden. Cucumbers, green peppers, jalapeños, and tomatoes. Good God the tomatoes. I had to go back for a third container I have so many tomatoes. And I'm not talking about big beefsteak tomatoes either. I'm talking little 1–2 inch Cherry & Golden Pear tomatoes along with some Romas.

Need proof? Here's a picture of what I picked just now. The cukes, peppers, and Romas are in the basket. The two bowls are all Cherry & Golden Pear (with the exception of a few jalapeños).

This is not an accumulation of several days harvest. Trust me, there are many more on the counter & in the fridge (cukes & japs only in the fridge) that I picked the other day. Nope, this it just what I could pick in that 30 minute window before G-tot woke up. The gallon of milk is there just for a size comparison. Everyone knows how big a gallon of milk is, right?

It's not like we planted a ton of tomato plants either. Just six. Two of each variety. Now I need to figure out what to do with all of them.

Does anybody have any good tomato recipes?

infected

Holy crap. It has been one hell of a week.

Sunday night, G-tot came down with this awesome snotty-nosed, cranky-ass virus that put him in poor shape for the next few of days. So much so that I couldn't even get him to nap without holding him the entire time (which translates to 2 hours of productivity each day out the window). It was painful. Although, not as painful as getting up with him at 3 am until 5 am for three nights. Well, two nights because we opted to let him sleep with us on the third night in an effort to get a little sleep ourselves. Which sort of worked except for the fact that I ended up sleeping on a sliver of the bed sideways and then had a wrenched out shoulder the next day.

G-tot is such a sharer and Wednesday night he gave me his infection. So, yesterday I felt like crap. Today, it's JQ. Fun. Of course, JQ is a trooper and will complain the least of the three of us. Such a tough guy.

Tonight we are going to my boss's (wait…is that right? Bosses? Boss's? Bosss'?) house for dinner. Tomorrow we are thinking about a trip to the beach. Sunday my Mom moves. And then next week? Back to school/work for all of us…which I'm totally not prepared for.

It's been a long week. How about you?

Sunday, August 17, 2008

weekly winners: august 10–16

I took very few shots this week in comparison to last week. A full two-thirds less. Sure, that's still almost a hundred photos, but the difference is huge. On top of that I only shot on three days. I've been experimenting with some different subjects and lighting so a lot of what I shot will be heading for the trash. Here's what caught my eye and made it through this week:

reflections

inspections

painting


finger painting diptych (click on thumbnail for a better view)

roots

vintage tuning pegs

test-tube

apple dumpling



Saturday, August 16, 2008

growing up—16 months

Dear Gideon,

It's hard to believe that in less than two months you will be a year and a half old. Time is going by so quickly and in the blink of an eye you'll be all grown up. It really is difficult to imagine life without you in it, as if life before Gideon is a distant memory. Those days have made me who I am today but every one of these last 512 days has been more because of your place in it.

16 months—July 24, 2008

As always, you've done lots of new things this past month. Your vocabulary has really increased and each week you master new words. I adore the way you say "Hi" and "Bye" with and give a little hand wave with them.


You have learned to climb up the slide and go down by yourself. First by running down the slide without a care that you would land flat on your face if Daddy and I weren't there to catch you. And then learning to sit on your butt. You still get caught up if you're bare foot but we're working on that. Just remember to lift your feet.



One of the cutest things you've done this month was relayed to me by your Dad. One evening Daddy grabbed the camera and said, "Come here Gideon. Take your picture with Daddy." You proceeded to run over to him, put your arm around his shoulder, and when he pointed the camera at the two of you and said, "Say cheese", you went, "Cheese". Several times. This shouldn't surprise me for two reasons. One: we take a lot of pictures of you. Two: we eat a lot of cheese.


We like to do the itsy bitsy spider together. You really only do the spider part but that's enough for me. Any more and the cuteness might just blind me. You love to color and freak out with excitement if you see the container of crayons. Once you spy them there is no changing your mind as to what you want to do. MUST COLOR NOW.


You learned to drink out of a straw this month and think that is just too cool. This is the type of thing that just wows me. How do you teach somebody to drink out of a straw. You can't really and yet here you are doing it on your own. You've transitioned so effortlessly from a bottle to a sippy cup that I shouldn't be surprised. But that's one of the wonders of who you are. You never cease to amaze me.


Each day that I get to be with you teaches me something. How to be patient—especially after telling you to stop unrolling the toilet paper for the hundredth time. How much love there is in the world—my heart has expanded in ways I never knew possible. What the world looks like when you are just three feet tall—which can be pretty scary when there are dogs bigger than you eagerly trying to lick your face. The world is a pretty amazing place when you look at it with fresh eyes. How lucky I am that you've given me this gift.


Love and kisses,
Momma

Friday, August 15, 2008

"NA NA NA NA NA NA You say it's your birthday!"

JQ here, commandeering the temple to bring a very special birthday wish to my very dear, very old wife.



Happy birthday!

G-tot and I Love you very much!










This picture has nothing to do with Pixies birthday but I thought it captured her gentle, loving spirit. She loved Mr. Chickapoo so much......




She spent several years as a hamster.

Consider this a bonus birthday gift.

Monday, August 11, 2008

bad monkey: minutes of fun for the entire family

On Saturday a small package showed up in my mailbox. It was from the Artificial Duck Co. My Blogography gear had arrived! It is really nice stuff. The cards are very cool. The shirt is so soft and I love the quality of the screen printing. I imagine this shirt will be in regular rotation on my days off of work.

On Sunday it was unseasonably cool here in Toledo, so I threw on a pair of jeans and my new Bad Monkey Button Shirt. I was showing it off to G-tot and pointed out Bad Monkey. Then I showed him the sign and the red button. We pondered what would happen if the button was pressed. G-tot pressed it and I hopped up and made a big noise like I was exploding.


Which was a HUGE success. For the rest of the day, anytime G-tot was within arms reach of me he was seeking out that button to push. If I didn't make the noise quick enough he was there to supplement my delay with a "bam".

Since I'm a lazy ass, at the end of the day I took off my jeans and bra and crawled into bed with the shirt still on. The first thing G-tot did when he saw me this morning was press the red button.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

weekly winners: august 3–9

Bear with me today folks. I shot over 300 pictures last week and had a hard time winnowing them down to just a handful of favorites. Trust me when I say there are many more than this in my library asking to be shown to the world. Be thankful that I'm not making you look at every single one of them. The shots are shown in chronological order this week. Enjoy!

playing with grandpa

white cosmos

sleepy boy just needs to sit

stopping for a quick sip

amidst the butterfly walkway

watching Daddy put on a puppet show

air plants on a log

green envy zinnia as a sunrise

zinnia phalanges (this one's for Cruel Shoes)

mr. silly


Thursday, August 7, 2008

morning glories

A little update on the morning glory seeds I planted this season. You may remember that the plants are from the seeds that I harvested by hand from last year's plants.

I had never used seeds that were harvested by hand. For that matter, I had never harvested seeds before. I had no idea if they would grow at all. I kept the seeds in a white number 10 envelope tacked to the bulletin board in the office through the winter. When spring rolled around I sorted them into several smaller packets of seeds. I sent out seed packets to four different people in addition to a large pile of seeds that I kept for myself. I'm not sure if any of them had any success with their packets. I think the heat was too much for a couple of them. But here in Toledo growing conditions are perfect.

Let's have a looksy shall we?

May 23, 2008: The little seedlings are transplanted around a small iron trellis. You can see two out of three pieces of twine tied to the trellis that lead up to a small hook at the peak of the garage roof. They give the vines something to grow along in addition to the trellis. Along with the morning glories are a few moon flowers that I grew for evening blooms.


August 3, 2008: The same area from a slightly different angle. You can see the vines trailing up the twine now. The peak is just out of the frame above the wind chime (one of my favorite wedding gifts. It has a beautiful sound and is hand tuned to the Key of E). The two large pots hold lettuce at three different stages of growth (sown every few weeks or so to extend the growing season).


June 5, 2008: To the right of G-tot are a few of the seedlings that I planted along the perimeter of the fence. JQ has some mad trimming skills because not one of these babies were hacked down to little nubs.



July 11, 2008: They climbed the fence nicely but not as fully as I expected them to. When they hit the top of the fence the vines would use each other to climb and get completely jumbled together. I've spent hours unwinding the vines and redirecting them down and back up the fence. It's almost meditative and once you start it's hard to stop.



August 3, 2008: Overflowing and flowering like crazy.