Hello, I Must Be Growing Now

Well, it finally feels like summer here. The temperature is heating up after a lovely, cool, breezy June & early July; swimming lessons & baseball practice have begun; the berries are ripe. And my son is either a) exhausted, b) sobbing, c) screaming, d) hungry, e) bored, f) growing like crazy so all of the above. He is also incredibly sweet and snuggly at times, like this morning. This morning at 3:00. Until 4:20.

Seriously, sometimes I think there must be something wrong with the way I'm parenting. Surely other parents don't have to deal with such an argumentative child when telling them to turn off the tvcomputerWii? Surely other children are eager to help around the house and takeouttherecyclingmaketheirbedpickuptheirtoyscleanoutthecatlitter? Surely these children would be thrilled to playa game or go to a movie and not just want to layhereandwatchtv? (Yes, I'm being facetious. I know other parents go through this.) I feel like if I look closely, I can see everything he's learned melting out through his ears.

But oh, when I step back! I can take in how HUGE he is. His legs are SO long. Which makes me laugh, because my husband and I are not known for our supermodel gams. He has our short-ish torso on top of these STILTS. He doesn't have any growing pains, but his KT leg is giving him more fits than usual, getting tired and heavy. I know that it drags him down at times, but I also know he will use it as an excuse if he doesn't want to do something. Going to the grocery store?! "Mom, my leg gets too tired! I can't!" But he can manage to stand in the outfield playing baseball for an hour and a half just fine.

It doesn't help that he has developed a crazy sweet tooth. Not that I let him have all the sugar he wants - I'm no fool. I know that pouring sugar down his throat when he is going through these growth spurts is the equivalent of pouring a tanker of gasoline on a campfire.

Yesterday, I think I saw the worst of it. It started in the usual way: time to get off the Wii. It's a lesson you'd think he'd have learned - he had to go 5 days without Wii, computer and tv because he was disrespectful and not listening when I told him to stop. He'd been on for over an hour, he was turning into a robot. When I gave him 5 minutes to finish his game and told him to come outside with me and read a book, he went sort of nuts. "MOM - there are BEES out there. WASPS!!! I'm NOT going out there". When he made it outside, he cried like crazy. When we came inside, he cried even more - screaming, yelling, SOBBING. I walked away to the dining room, where I tried to gather myself, stacking the mail, trying to breathe. Charley called, and when I tried to tell him what was going on, he said he'd let me go so I could deal with it. I misunderstood - I thought he was giving me the brushoff instead of actually letting me go so I could deal with it. It was my last straw. As I stood there stacking mail, and JH continued to yell at me from his chair in the living room, I said "I quit". As I turned to head downstairs for some peace and quiety, JH turned up the volume, and the sobbing started in earnest. "MOM!!! I LOVE YOU - YOU CAN'T QUIT! YOU'RE THE BEST MOM EVER!"

You know, that shitty parenting sundae just isn't complete until you top it off with a nice, juicy guilt cherry.

But lest you think I'm wallowing, don't worry. I think we're through the worst of it. We actually had a great afternoon after all the sturm and drang. I think maybe he just needed to let it out. He hasn't really cried like that in a long time. And I've noticed since our friend Annie's memorial service, he's been extra clingy, so I think, in addition to all the crazy growing he's doing, he's processing some pretty huge emotions as well. We all are.

Daddy's off today, so JH will get some quality time with him while I go to work this morning. And hopefully, he'll sleep in. So far, so good.

transformation

In Flight I
Originally uploaded by anniemcq

Stay
open
to
seeing.

Because,
oh,
what
you
will
see.

for dayna

Strictly Ballroom

For Robin. Have a great day, my friend.

Cheers!

Raspberry Chapeau

Raspberry Chapeau
Originally uploaded by anniemcq

it's summer. the raspberries are huge. also, I'm going a little nutty.

The Results Are In...

I love it. It's totally wash and wear, although Brittney did use a curling iron on three pieces on top that are stick straight, but I can handle that.

She's phenomenal that Brittney. If you are in the Portland area, give her a jingle at Parkwest Studio.

A New Me

Ladies and Gentlemen. I am bored with my hair. I'm bored with my shlumpy body. Yawnyawnyawn. So the first thing I'm going to do when I get my ass up out of this chair is take a shower and go pick raspberries. And ride my bike. And workout with a superhunky personal trainer. In my mind.

But first, I need your opinion. It matters to me. I'm getting a hair cut tomorrow. I always go in and give her sort of a vague description of what I want, and she always does a great job. Honestly, she makes me look better than I should. Or actually do. Then when I get home, it all goes to hell. And I'm yearning, as I always do this time of year, for something short and easy to care for. Something I could just run my fingers through and be done with. The cut I have now is a really good cut, and when I leave the salon, it looks fantastic because she actually styles it. With a flat iron and everything. But here's the thing: I have a great natural wave in my hair and I NEVER use the flat iron. Well, maybe I'll use it twice in between haircuts.

And the thing I've noticed is that my hair texture has changed. It's straighter and heavier on top (meaning flat) and wavy on the bottom. Kind of like my body shape. Also, I've got jowls now. I'm really hoping that someday soon, jowls will be in fashion. Like super-puffy collagen lips. I fear, though, that it won't happen.

I"M TRYING TO AGE GRACEFULLY, I REALLY AM. IT'S NOT WORKING. So help a girl out. Help me pick a hair style. I don't know how to put a poll on my blog, so just leave your comment and I'll do the math myself. MWAH. You are all such lovely, beautiful, young people.

Here's me now: notice the gigantic forehead. The angle really detracts from the jowls, but look at the lovely EYEBAGS! And yes, I know, a haircut cannot do anything to take away those eyebags. but still....



We'll call this one A.

So here are some other options:
Option B. This pert and adorable Meg Ryan do.


Option C. Lithe & Lovely Mandy Moore hair



Option D. Spunky Martina McBride



Option E No One I Know



Option F No One I Know 2



Our last hope, uh, option G



OH!, and if you have a minute you should run over to my friend Robin's blog, because not only is she an amazing writer, she has super cute hair, but I'd be afraid to go that short, so just go and read her blog because she's a lovely person and an amazing writer!

If you have more important things to do with your time, I understand, but you SHOULD REALLY TRY TO CONSIDER THIS BECAUSE I'M GETTING MY HAIR CUT TOMORROW MORNING AT 9:00.

Big hairy love to all of you.

Summer. It's official.

Do you remember when you were a kid, and summer days went on forever? There wasn't a time to wake up or go to sleep and days unfolded with a delicious, lazy richness? That's how our last couple days have gone. Charley was off yesterday and wanted to paint one of his kilts. He had a serious wild hair, wanting to have everyone in the family contribute to it, making up a sort of family tartan. I couldn't really picture it, but I trusted his idea and went along for the ride. It was a balmy, breezy eighty some-thing degree day, and we had a blast being all crafty. You can see the results of it here.

Then we needed to catch a bite to eat, so we hopped in the car and headed for our favorite local burger joint, Burgerville, and there, standing in line was my brother! He'd taken a bike ride and was going to call us but had forgotten his cell phone.

So we convinced him to ride down to our picnic spot: across from Pearson Air Field.

It was a gorgeous summer evening, and there was a run going on,

so we ate our burgers and then cheered on those who were chugging along in the heat.

Charley headed back to work today, and JH has a friend over for a playdate/sleepover. I was cleaning out my closet, when I happened to look out the window at our garden. The raspberry bush looked like it was on fire, there was so much fruit!

So after I snapped a few pics, I grabbed a bowl and filled it up with a bumper crop of ripe, juicy raspberries.

Now, I guess it's back to the bedroom to finish the project I started. But I just had to share. If you ever happen to make it to Vancouver, USA, meet me here,

and we'll have a picnic! I'll bring the raspberries!