pink nostalgia

more snippets

More random bits of conversation that are funnier without context.

"The internet is in Colorado."  (This one reminds me of Jessie.)

"I just bought a book!!!!!!  To read!!!!!!"

Alex: I'm a great pourer!

AAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"I want the Kung Pao beef...I'm feeling a little nutty."

"Did I really just try to eat my applesauce with a pen??"

J about a coworker: You didn't know that she's more of a man than I am!

E: I gotta loosen up my life jacket before I pass out.

Alex: Hey Dad, do we have Wifi in the truck?

"I have three bad decisions on my body."

" I DO look good in Daisy Dukes!"

"Popcorn is so unpredictable."

Alex: ...and I have been gassy this week.  I recommend Pepto.

"It's all fun and games until someone busts out a highlighter."

"Growing to love and loving to grow."

"Do you want a head massage?  It feels good.  It also works your shoulders."
 

"My belly would beat me to death."

"I feel like a warrior!"

"I'm sorry, it's 12:01 right now and we close at noon..."

"There's half a tank of fun!"

 

Further snippet reading: office snippets, snippets lately, and recent snippets. 

leadership

Ethen had a basketball tournament last weekend.  His team is usually in the "big" gyms now that he's in 8th grade.  This means a few things: taller bleachers, more fans, and the players sit with their backs to the fans between the bleachers and the court.

For both of his tournament games, his team played in the "small" gym, which meant these things: the players sat on the opposite side of the court facing the fans, we sat on the floor two feet from the court, Jason was on high alert to keep me from getting pinged with a basketball, and my favorite...we could see his leadership on the court.

He called plays and responsibilities.  "I got shooter!  I got shooter!"  "Gerrard, call you've got shooter!"

He gave slaps on the back after every freethrow.  He gave high fives for everyone coming on and off the bench. 

 

 

He told his teammates where they should be.

He hustled.  He worked.  I don't think I've ever seen him so intense for so long during a basketball game.

J and I would lean into each other periodically and I would say, "Did you see him just check on Josh?  His teammate goes down and he's the one to check on him."  J wore that quiet pride all day.

 

Alex was proud of his brother, too.  He asked me multiple times, "Did you get that picture?  Let me see!"

Way to be, #3.  Great leadership out there.

31

 I blocked out 3 1/2 days to scrapbook, and really the only scrapping I did was to finish this page. 

The rest of the time I painted a canvas and watched: Friday Night Lights, The Witches of East End, Vampire Diaries, Bitten, and Grey's Anatomy. 

All. weekend. long. 

Oh, and The Originals. 

I might go back and add 20 more feathers.

Like always, it looks better in person.

You can see the other birthday-year-pages here: 27, 28, 29, 30, 32.

how to: army fort birthday cake

Alex's birthday was this week!  I'm really digging the tradtion of homemade theme cakes.  The boys anticipate them.  : )

Alex asked for an army fort cake with camo icing just like last year (which translates to army green).  The only problem was...what does an army fort look like to a 9 year old?  And how does that fit in with a cake??

J helped a lot with the positioning of barricades, men, and equipment.  J vetoed the helicopter on TOP of the fort and the rocket-launcher guy, because, you know, it has to be realistic.

J had the idea to "reveal" the cake to Al once we were done that night rather than try to keep it hidden until family celebrated with us the next day.  That way, I could get genuine reaction photos instead of next-day cheesy smiles.  We moved it from the kitchen counter to the table when Al was in the shower.

So...what does an army fort look like to a 9 year old?  Apparently this one passes muster.

Happy birthday, Al!!!!

why i stopped blogging

This is one of those things that you don't really realize until you say it out loud, and then you're like, "Oh.  That's how I feel."

I feel drained.  The blog drains me.

I put so much heart into it and don't get anything out.  I used to have a husband who would laugh at my blog jokes.  We would reference it in daily conversations.  Y and I used to eat lunch together every day, and running out of things to talk about, we talked about the blog.  We disected it; we brainstormed.  I used to bounce ideas off of Jessie.  She would approve the really personal posts.  My mom used to send comments or texts about each post.  Then we'd talk about it again in person.  She would proofread for me.

[used to...used to...used to...]

I just don't get that anymore.

I don't have anyone to talk about the blog with.  No one is saying, "Hey, I really wanted to see a post about blah, when will you write it?"  It's like getting stood up.  By your boyfriend.

So much of my life in the last several years (uh oh, this is where it turns serious) feels like giving, giving, giving.  And not the good kind where you see the orphans' smiling faces, but where first it's a pinky, then it's a thumb, then it's your whole arm and it's kind of like...how much more can I put out there without getting it back?  How much will you take before you give me something, too?

(Perfect.  Now I'm crying.)

So maybe I need to use the blog for another purpose.  It's never been to get comments, likes, etc., but it's also never been to get nothing.  Actually, at first it was an attempt to break into the scrapbooking world.  That dream is dead; no harm, no foul.  Then it was this thing that everyone huddled around to talk about, i.e. Twilight or the new hush-hush office romance.  Then it was keeping people updated with my huge life changes - divorce, apartment, hot complicated boyfriend, two part-time-pseudo-step-kids.

But now it feels like nothing. 

So...why am I doing it?

Well, it IS good for recipe archives and how to shorten a necklace.

Maybe just getting the pity party out of the way will do the trick.