Bring On the Bacon and Fill Me Up

What a day, what a day...at least it is a Wednesday, the perfect day to play Choose and Defend Wednesday! I have not been very domestic lately, so I thought maybe a rather domestic Choose and Defend could be nice.  So let's do that. Let's say it is time to prepare dinner and you are given a choice by your  *husband, girlfriend, mom, son, roommate...whoever!* Tonight you may either...

Cook the Meal

OR

 

Clean Up After

Which task would you Choose? Why? Defend your choice!  Choose and Defend :)

Happy, Happy Birthday, Baby

My baby, Daniel Handsome Lad, is 16 today. Unbelievable! Somehow, I had a much easier time as my older kids entered each new stage of their lives. But with my youngest, who trails his sister by 4.5 years, I have found each new phase both familiar and entirely new. I guess the slightly skewed view came because both he and I were traveling through territory already occupied by four others before him. He watched (and continues to watch) his older siblings intently, trying to see what to expect and how to behave. As for me, I could pretend to be jaded by now, but in truth every child is so different that going through an experience with one scarcely qualifies you to go through it with another.

Baby of the family. Aw!

Over the years, Handsome Lad has given me so many good times. He is very smart and funny. Nowadays, he seems to be focusing on the funny and using the smart to avoid all but the most passing glance at boring, boring school work. He fancies himself a man of style, an auteur. He remains commitedly hipster. He's actually pretty awesome, but also pretty frustrating. Hoping the next few months will bring some maturity that will aid him in finding his path...

Here is is from a distance, hanging out with his girlfriend.

So, here's to my baby, my Handsome Lad, the light o' my life. Happy 16th Birthday :)

This Musical Message is For I Naturally Fled

You Fix the Ribbon in Your Hair

It is Saturday, so I am here to post my Saturday Scavenger Shots. This week's word, chosen by Tara @ Eclectic Spaghetti , is DRAW. What a great word! I love to DRAW. But don't DRAW any wacky conclusions. Like singing, DRAWing is something I enjoy, but it isn't something to boast about.

Still here are a couple of examples of things I have DRAWn for fun and as part of my work.

Here are a couple of springtime images I created using the high tech medium of multi-colored die-cut card stock and crayon on white card stock. As you can see, I DRAW with only marginally more competence than the toddlers I work with.

 

Let me DRAW you in with another fine example of my work. As you can see, I have mastered the blue sky, the green grass, and the lovely orange sun. DRAW your own conclusions about the bear shown here. Could be a self-portrait I reckon...

 

I hope this weekend DRAWs out long and lovely for you. If you haven't DRAWn anything lately, please take a moment and just do it. It is great fun and quite relaxing.

 

Now to see who Tara will tag for next week!

We Let Our Hair Grow Long

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor. Would you be mine? Could you be mine?

That's right! This week's Choose and Defend Wednesday is all about neighbors. We all have them. Maybe you live rurally, or just comfortably, and your neighbors are some distance away. Maybe you, like me, are an apartment dweller living cheek to jowl with your neighbors.

There are good neighbors. I have some myself. And then there are the dreaded bad neighbors. Everyone has a least one, don't they?

So, my question for you today is - Which bad neighbor would you Choose? And why? Tell us all about it!

Noisy Neighbors

OR

Nosy Neighbors

Two bad neighbors, one choice. Which bad neighbor would you be more able to tolerate? Choose and Defend!!!

This Musical Message is For I Just Have to Remember

When You Are Gone

Thank you to the super-est of super men, Jasen @ Swamp Gas & Moonlit Reflections for choosing this week's Saturday Scavenger Shots word - STONE. It felt so right, as I am currently in the process of turning my heart to STONE! Perfect :)

The word STONE can feel negative (STONE-y silence), or positive (she is strong as a STONE, my Rock of Gibralter). And of course...I would not feel so all alone. Everybody must get STONEd.
All this descriptive stuff. But my STONE will be literal today.

Here is some STONE in my life -

This is a street island festooned with STONEs set in cement (which is really more STONE). So we got your STONE up in here.

At this house, they surrendered to the fact that lawns are a rich man's game in Southern California...people forget that it is basically a desert here! Go ahead...just make your yard into a STONE garden. I think it's kinda cool looking, but not very hospitable for lounging around on.

 

Here is a grouping of large STONEs at the front of the apartment building next to mine. Kids or young folks, as we oldies would say, like to sit on the big STONE to wait for their friends to pick them up or to talk on their phones in a sort of privacy.

 

As you can see, there are plenty of non-rolling STONEs around...none of them gathering moss! As a couple of my favorite song writers would say, "Well, it's a STONE soul picnic for the early resigned." Whatever that means...I don't know...it sounds cool.

 

That's it. Let's just hope that we can avoid the fate of  Tessie Hutchinson. Get it? Get it?!?!  Um, now we'll see who Jasen tags.   

 

Happy Mother's Day to all you badass mothers out there! Keep on fighting the good fight. ♥

And I'm An Honest Man

On Tuesday when I did my "Ick" post, I mentioned that there are also good things to report. So, let's go there, shall we?

My first piece of good news is that my daughter, Girlie Girl, recently finished her certification course to become a Massage Therapist. She laid low for about a week. Then, she got an interview at Cielo Mio Spa & Salon and got herself a job! I'm very proud of her for finding a place so quickly. She has such an outgoing, friendly personality. I'm sure that helped. Also, she's practiced her massage techniques on me and she's very good. So, yay Girlie Girl!

My second piece of good news is that my son Social Animal, after spending some time after high school working and slowly making his way through courses at Citrus Community College, decided to make a move to the big leagues. He applied to four very good University of California schools - UC Santa Cruz,  UC Santa Barbara, UC Berkeley, and UCLA. He was quite surprised when he was accepted at all four. So, he had to make a decision. Fortunately, his first choice offered a HUGE fee waiver, which along with a PELL Grant should mean he can just go to school and not worry about working much, if at all. So, in the fall, Social Animal will be heading off to University of California, Berkeley! He has plans to earn a BA in Philosophy. I'm so excited for him. I admit to being a little nervous, just because this will be the farthest away (about 400 miles) that any of my children have ever lived. 

The future is bright for Girlie Girl and Social Animal!