Road Trip!

Heading to my home town with Joe-Henry and my sister today. Charley can't make it because he has to work, but will get two glorious do-nothing quiet days in the house to play guitar and watch entire seasons of Battlestar Galactica.

I love taking the drive, and I love seeing my brother and his daughter and her sweet family.

I'll bring back lots of stories, and pictures I'm sure!

Until then: love your life, sing your song!

things I love

things I love
Originally uploaded by anniemcq

my boy; his big finger; his thoughtfulness; his feet; his rub-on tattoos; the way he curls up into a little snuggly ball in the morning; the little octagonal window that casts an octagonal beam of light onto our beat to crap wooden floors. My heart is full. To bursting.

That popping sound you hear? Now you know what it is.

Summer 2009 - free association

baseball
laundry
catch
grass
mowing
broken
trimming
raspberries
eating
tomatoes
blackberries
baking
cobbler
cats
crazy
iCarly
boredom
Wii
friends
grief
beauty
sunsets
pink
gold
breathtaking
camera
snap
whir
satisfaction
sex
laughter
tears
gratitude
happiness

aging
perfection
love

Our Summer of Baseball

The song is "Pop Fly" by Justin Roberts

Heaven's New Guitar

This was in 2006 when he was 91. Thanks, Les. You changed the world of music, and we are richer for it.

You MUST Check Out This Blog

Last night at baseball practice, a mom friend mentioned this blog. It's by a local mom, one I see every day at the school I work at. I LOVE this blog. During these tough times, when stress seems to be a constant companion, it's a gift to see someone looking at the brightside. I'll be visiting daily:

See for yourself

Taking It Literally

The title of my blog, that is. Man, I've been lazy about posting. Probably because I'm too addicted busy playing Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook. But it's been down since yesterday, so, hey, why not catch you up on the insanity fun here at our house.

Joe-Henry is growing like a weed. A sassy, lazy, back-talking, mood-swinging weed. With gas. I could set my clock by the tantrums he's having. Every day at 5. Whether he's had a day chock full of playdates and fun or he's bored out of his mind. I'm finally catching on that I need to give him a really good snack at 3:30. So his stomach isn't empty for the knock out drops.
He has trouble falling asleep at night, and it's the only time of the day he really wants to talk to me. "mom, wasn't that funny when...." Needless to say, I've been falling asleep on my feet. I miss the newborn days when he cried every hour on the hour, because then I could just pop him on the boob and he'd quiet down and go back to sleep.

Yesterday, I finally met his elusive "girlfriend". I call her elusive because we've been trying to set up playdates that she doesn't show up for. We managed to bring her over to our house yesterday, where she immediately wanted to take him into his room and shut the door. She's six. AND adorable. So, I told them they needed to keep the door open, and while they played in his room, I found it a convenient time to scrape all the caulk from the adjacent bathroom tub. A job I'd been meaning to do, and it's easy to listen in and make sure there's no funny business. But apparently I wasn't hawk-like enough, because JH informed me that there was a kiss, "but just on the cheek". He cannot lie to me, though, because as the words came out of his mouth, his eyes fell to his shoes and he melted into a puddle of goo. "OKAY. It was the lips, but really quick. Not a long kiss. I hardly felt it."

I was really hoping this wouldn't happen until his teenage years.

Anyway, I took a picture and would post it here if he hadn't been explicit in his instructions "OKAY. You can take our picture, but DON'T POST IT ON YOUR BLOG." I will leave you with this visual description: she's a full head shorter than him, she's beaming like a blushing bride, she has her arms around his waist, and he looks like he's about to burst from happiness. Oh, and he also looks about 30.

What else: Charley is continuing to plan like a demon for our Scotland trip in the fall. I have been looking up primary schools in Edindburgh in order to have a class project exchange for JH's third grade class. It should be the trip of a lifetime.

Swimming lessons go along with JH thrashing like he's mad at the water, baseball is a blast (the one shiny bright spot right now for all of us!), and the weather has blessedly cooled down. For about a week it felt like someone left the door to hell wide open. It was in the 90's at night, and we have no airconditioning. You aren't supposed to need it in the Pacific Northwest.

So,that's about all she wrote for now. If you're still reading, I imagine you're yawning from boredom, and I'm starting to twitch, so I'm gonna head over to Facebook and see if Bejeweled Blitz is up and running yet.

Nope. Still down.

Well, I guess I could always do laundry or dishes. MWAH to you all! I'm off to make more scintillating memories!