I actually had a little free time this evening so I decided to use the camera for something other than snapshots tonight. Poor camera, she’s so sad, it’s been like using a racehorse for pony rides.

August’s SPC theme is self-portrait with pattern. I realize it’s technically still July, but I’m going ahead with the new theme because it’s easier and I don’t have to leave the house to do it. I don’t get to leave the house at all much any more, and if I do I’m never alone. Feels a bit like I’m under house arrest at times. It’s oddly confining and some may think it strange that I’d say that since I’m naturally somewhat of a recluse, but it’s different when it’s my own choice I guess.

(large version)

Oh, poor me. When I was a kid and acting like a pitiball, my mother would mock me mercilessly. She’d probably repeat some part of what I just complained about in a snively voice, followed by “boo hoo, I feel for you but I just can’t reach ya.” Man I hated it when she did that and I hate it even more that every time I whine a little bit that’s the first thing that pops into my head now. I didn’t actually even understand what she meant but I did know that I sure wasn’t going to get any sympathy.

Mom wasn’t big on sympathy in general, she was pretty tough at times and I always attributed it to her being German (because that’s what my father told me not because I was gifted at stereotyping). Well, I suppose it cut down on a lot of needless attention seeking and hey, no one can ever accuse my sister and I of being mollycoddled. Not that anyone has ever even come close to labeling me the victim of mollycoddling mind you, I just wanted to use the word.

Thanks to our friends Nina and Lisa for the planning and Scarf-belt for sharing her house with us, Alex had a wonderful birthday party / shower on Saturday.

He hauled in a good amount of loot and really wore himself out making the rounds and being lavished with all that attention.

(This is the only photo I have, Auntie Nina has all the good ones.)

Yes, today was Alex’s 1st birthday and he celebrated with a delicious cupcake.

He wasted no time shoveling this new delicacy into his face.

High on sugar, it was hard to pry the birthday boy from the party as he insisted on telling ”just one more joke.”

Here he’s entertaining everyone with one of his best “farmer’s daughter” jokes.

Poor guy always cracks himself up just before he gets to the punch line, he’ll get the hang of it.

 It would seem that the wee boy has really taken to his new Gramma and she to him. The first day he spent a lot of time staring and analyzing this new person but by day two he was all smiles and giggles, although you can’t tell by these particular photos. The more “fun” ones are on my mother’s camera and I don’t know where she put it so I’ll just have to make due for now.

 
F.Y.I., cream cheese and peach jam is very smile worthy.

It’s been a month since I’ve gotten to play with Photoshop so I decided to really go to town on this week’s self-portrait challenge.

Continuing on with this month’s theme of “elements,” I thought I’d illustrate exactly how hot this shag rug I call hair feels to me some days.

Regarding my hair, my mother is coming for a visit in a few days to meet Alex and she hasn’t seen me since I started growing it out last fall. My parents really don’t prefer longer hair on me so I hope she can just ignore it and play with the wee boy instead. We’ll see.

As you can see in this photo, H is wearing the wee boy in a backpack which she does with ease. She frequently walks for miles with him on her back and with the dogs in tow. While she was at work last week I thought, hey, maybe I could go for a little walk with everyone too, it looks easy enough why not give it a shot.

Had I lost my mind? The “not so wee boy” weighs 22lbs and did I forget that H is probably a distant cousin of Arnold Schwarzenegger? Look at the muscles she’s got, of course she walks around with him like it’s nothing, she probably even forgets he’s back there.

So I strapped him on my back and set out for a walk. At first it wasn’t so bad, I definitely knew I was hauling a heavy load but I could manage it, or so I thought. I probably got about two blocks from the house when the strain first set in and then Alex started leaning to the right to see around my big head which began to tax my weak middle-aged right knee. I went another block and realized that I better turn back immediately or I’d never make it home.

I pretty much felt like this:

Then the dogs started lolly-gagging and I had to beg them to please hurry up and do their business because I was going to crumble to the ground at any second. Then the big one decided to poop. Without thinking, I squatted down to get it and when I went to stand again I couldn’t get up. I began to see stars from the pain and then luckily the fear that I’d have to ask some stranger to help me up must have given me a burst of adrenalin because I suddenly summoned every bit of strength I had and managed to stand back up using only my left leg.

I then ruthlessly dragged the dogs home as quickly as possible, hobbled up the front stairs and made it home alive. There was a whole lotta cursing on the way home, I hope Alex still only understands Spanish.

The moral of the story is “hey, moron, they make these nifty things with wheels on them nowadays to carry your kids around in, give it a shot and leave the bionic stuff to someone else.”

(Gratuitous flower photo from the farm.)

Yes, somehow the wee boy has come down with croup. The cough is terrible, I can’t imagine how bad he feels.

It looks like my blog and all of my internet activity for that matter are going to be suffering from a serious lack of attention for awhile. I decided a long time ago that I didn’t want to turn the blog into just another person’s day to day account of what their kid is doing so that leaves me with very little to say at the moment.

However, tonight I can’t seem to fall asleep. I’ve been laying in bed forever thinking that at any moment I’d be out but it’s just not happening. This is a real bummer because I thought my insomnia problem had vanished when Alex showed up. I’ve been all proud of myself and as a matter of fact, just a few hours ago at dinner I was boasting about it. Stupid fool.

I finally decided to just get up and go sit out in the back yard (I use the term loosely) to look at the sky. It was all quiet, not a creature was stirring, or so I thought. How this happened I’ll never know, but something hit me in the head. This is a big fear of mine because of my rat’s-nest-like hair. I’m always afraid of a big bug flying in there and getting tangled up etc., but I remained calm and told myself it was just a falling leaf. Deep down I knew the weight of whatever just hit me was greater than a leaf. Slowly I put my hand up to feel around my hair—nothing, nothing, nothing—uh oh—something—something gooey—something slimy—something wet. Something shit on my head, “you must be kidding” I thought. But no, I went inside to look at the smear on my hand and it was indeed a very large quantity of birdshit. 

What the??? What birds are out and about at 1:15 a.m. just poopin’ up a storm? My luck there’s one insomniac bird out there and it lives at my house—little bastard.

Well, that’s my story, not that exciting but at least it didn’t involve baby naps or the number of raspberries it takes to make Alex smile. I guess I’ll try to get some sleep but I know I’ll still be paranoid that there’s bird poo hiding in a curl somewhere.

This month’s SPC is is about the earth and your connection with it. More specifically the element that you most connect with: Water - Air - Earth - Fire

Today Mr. Alex and I decided to go out and sit on the ground in our tiny backyard.

He gave me about 15 minutes of peace while I shot these and then he was back to his regular napless, sleep-deprived cranky self, complete with the new and improved “fists of fury.” Today he head butted me and gave me a bit of a bloody lip, ah, what will tomorrow bring?