puzzlers

So Brenda leaves us with many questions.

Why do you cut your hair?
Why the bread scattered on the floor?
Why the screaming when there's music?
Why do you scrape holes in the wall?
Why do you enjoy flooding the bathroom?
What's the obsession with sleeping bags?

But tonight I'm just wondering-

Why the mug?

morning report

...Gives you the long and the short
Every grunt, roar, and snort
Not a tale I distort
On the morning report

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"Hey Brenda, what's your snowman's name?"

She hardly looks up from her legos-

"Frosty"

Duh.

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And where did this little snow beauty come from?

 Let's get a close-up of that perfect face, shall we?

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The little prince is celebrating this NO-SCHOOL day by catching up on his beauty sleep.

Mike is working in his PJs.

And I'm not wearing pants.

...On the morning report!

fools, victims, or musketeers??

Well, whatever they are- they've been left to stew about it all night...

Poor, poor Suzanne...

I am exercising my rights as a done-with-school, I-do-what-I-wanna-do adult and ditching the book I was reading.  (Stubborn Twig by Lauren Kessler)  I may finish it one day.  I may not...

I will, however, report my thoughts on the book thus far-

BOOOORING.

(This may expose my unsophisticated self, but that charade ended long ago, right?)

A quite interesting story.  Really!  But it felt a little... textbook.  Add to that dryness the occasional jab at our far-from-perfect, but well-meaning, government and I'm going "nyahh".  Can't they highlight anything the government did right??

SO... On to my next literary conquest!

Sweet, sweet Suzanne (featured here) has lent me "Horse Boy" by Rupert Isaacson.

Already the prologue has given me chills and a watery eye.

Sweet, sweet Suzanne might not get this one back.

Poor, poor Suzanne...

weapons of mass ....quantities?

  I think my daughter has a dark side...

Itineraries and me. ...and Garret

I think Garret and I were both lost in thought during our run today.  (remember this post?)  He was relaxed and staring off into the farm fields and I was thinking about the day we had his official diagnosis.

in preschool, age 5

By the time that day came (two weeks after his 2nd birthday) it wasn't a surprise, but on the hour-long drive home from the doctor's office I had a good cry.  (Not a heaving-and-thrashing sort of cry, but a calm-surrender cry.)  I hadn't lost my son, -just my vision for him.  That's not so bad...

Luckily I'm not a must-have-a-plan sort of person.  Predictability can be boring!


Just like today...  We headed east and let the wind (almost literally) direct us along the country roads.  Not a bad trip.  Not bad at all.

(OK, my legs are a bit sore from pushing a 9-yr-old up those hills...)

completely Thursday

We were watching How to Train Your Dragon when Brenda suddenly breaks into song-

"I love Mommy,
I love Mommy,
I love Mommy,
hey, hey, hey, hey!"

I'm not sure what inspired this sudden burst of praise, but why analyze it?

(teehee)

Went shopping today.  I don't get all the hype over Ikea, but Target never fails!   (Hey Solana, you like my purse?  Come on, say it.  "PUURRRSE"  haha!)

(ahem)

I met a gal, earlier this evening, who is looking to find other parents of children with special-needs.  She has been far too isolated and the stress has rudely taken a toll on her health.  We commiserated, rolled our eyes, laughed, and connected.  I'm going to get her out running and she's going to have the kids over to see her alpacas.  Fun, huh?   

(I'm not sure what an alpaca is.  A llama, right?  Why don't we just call it a llama?)  

I suspect I've made a new friend... :)

(yawn)

Oh, and here I've stayed up too late again.  Bad on stress.  Good on blog.  Bad on running schedule.  Good on Seinfeld reruns...

(snort)

almost

 

 Suzie's next to me, sharing some fresh, warm brownies.  Mike made them 'cause he's sweet.  Almost makes me feel bad for CRUSHING him (barely) during last night's guys-vs-girls card game.  (Thank you Harry and Cheryle for the lovely evening!)

Almost...

awwwwwww...

I believe Garret was 6 when I snapped this picture.  It was early evening and the light was perfect.  I could have tried to "photoshop" the dirt off but Garret has, for years, loved to rub food, dirt, socks, etc over his mouth for the pure joy of texture.  (I like to rub wool on my face.  How 'bout you?)

Anyway, I was just working on archiving and organizing old pics and this one surfaced.  It makes me think of that song Richard Dreyfus sings to his son in Mr Holland's Opus.  

..."Beautiful Boy"!

the answer-

The rectangle is the access door to the crawlspace.
The squiggly circle is the light.
The water is the water.
And Mike is our hero, fixing the pump.

How do I end this post?

Brenda surprised us with a drawing of one of our latest "adventures".  Care to guess? 

Here's a hint:  The rectangle is a door and the person is mi amore...

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Now everyone say "hello" to my friend Darcy. 

Hey Darcy, do you remember this picture???

To commemorate my recent 32nd birthday Darcy and I toured this lovely, historic home in downtown Salem.   We gushed over the rich woodwork, swooned over the painted-glass windows, and gawked at the tiny dresses on display.
She found a couch she wanted to take home and I found a few light fixtures that may (or may not) have fit under my jacket...

 It was enchanting!

...as were the cupcakes she made for me-

carrots?  -STARBURSTS!!

I dedicate the last cupcake to John Travolta since he was the topic of our very first conversation, that warm day at Ricks College. 

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I'm almost embarrassed to admit that my birthday celebration continued further...

teehee.

Say "hello" to Sheri, Monica, Solana, Sara, Anna, and me! 

We seem a little confused.  Which picture now?  Funny or serious??

Anna and I almost share our days of birth which always justifies an out-of-the-ordinary girls' night.  We had many-a-funny glances thrown our way as we scrambled through Goodwill with the challenge to dress another person for $5.  (Thanks to me, Sheri is looking kinda "come-hither" in her leopard print...)  Then it was off to dinner and Red Robin (yummm) for some indulgent delights. 
 

How DO I end this post??

not sure.  But I better be a good girl so karma keeps such good friends in my life...

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P.S.  Do you need another hint about Brenda's drawing?

retirement plan-

In honor of the numerous blizzards that are littering the country right now, here are some pics of Brenda playing in the great snowstorm from, what, 4 years ago?

'Cause here in Oregon we've been enjoying some lovely sunshine and crisp mornings...

ALSO yesterday I turned, uh, 32.  (I had to do the math real quick.)  It sounds like such a mature age and at 20 I thought I'd have it all figured out by now.  But often I feel like I'm scrambling just as much as I ever was.  So is the magic number 39? 46? 55?

I was chatting with some friends yesterday and I shared my master plan to devote my elderly years to nothing but donuts, tv, and a super-soft lazyboy.  ABSOLUTELY NOTHING ELSE.  I figure that I'll live a good life and at some point/age I'll have earned the right to be a complete slob.  Sounds reasonable, right?  The problem is, every year I age I realize that I'm still the same person.  (Shocking)  So, if this is me at say, age 85, then you'll probably still find me goofing off with friends at church, running down these lovely country roads (in a hovercraft), hobnobbing online, shopping at all my favorite antique/junk stores, tackling house projects with Mike, and pretending to garden.  I'll still be enjoying some amazing, futuristic television... (the Office in 3-D, with a controller that changes the plot like in a choose-your-own-adventure book?)  But all the donuts?  I ate far too many M&Ms yesterday (birthday calories don't count) and a fresh fruit smoothie sounds better...