We had to leave home without finishing the costume. Seventeen papier mache quills left to tack on but I ran out of glue for the glue gun. When we arrived at the lake for the carnival, we stumbled onto the costume judging stage. Around forty children were decked out and fidgeting in their seats. We coaxed Ford onto the stage and he just stood there when the the kids began to parade in a circle around him. But following Ford were many ooh!s and aa!s, and he ultimately won first place! Twitching those creepy claws of his. He is so proud.

Honorable mention goes to Ford as Samurai. Here, searching for treasure in the hay. School Halloween party.

I walk Ford to school every day. School’s been going great.
Today when we rounded the corner of the playground, the boys yelled, “FORD’S HERE! FORD’S HERE!” and stampeded to the fence to wait for him. Closer to where we walked was the little playhouse, and a cute little girl in pink and white, with straight blonde hair heard his name and walked out towards us. Ford lurched forward from the jogger so he could annunciate through the veil of chain-link:

“I’M *NOT* YOUR FRIEND!!!”

She heard this, didn’t flinch, and turned right-side-round back to the playhouse. I watched her tell the other girls what happened. Or that Ford is a little prick and I hope he never calls again. That bastard.

UPDATE:
It has been over a week since I last posted this, but I forgot to mention that, on the following day’s walk to school, Ford picked yellow wildflowers for this sweet little girl. When he arrived at the gate, Ford climbed over his friends to hand-deliver them. Alas, she didn’t want to hold them all afternoon, and Ford wondered why not. Still, they are new friends.

My little corners, here and there.
Nobody but me would put Rosemary the pony in her own stable for the night, nor would they place Bird the fish next to the lava lamp during the night to stay a degree warmer:

Nobody would go to sleep at night without putting the lily pad sculpture back together again and tuck it aside, either. And here is the Christian coloring page that Damon gave me and that I laughed at on Sunday after we argued about the importance of the church to religion:

I enjoy feeling a tad more like gentry when I see these putters beside the entrance, along with my homemade cedar walking stick. Offset by a huge walking shoe collection (of which mine dominate):

These little green clogs are a gift from mom on a trip to Amsterdam a few years ago. Damon keeps accidentally throwing them away and I somehow manage to rescue them every time, my sixth sense (or what I call my Unwanted Clog Sense) kicks in. I prefer these to remain nested by the front door, even though nobody can currently fit into them.
The last photo is the wild card; the tabletop is a good reflection of my spirit tonight: slightly cluttered but creatively content. I am building a wild boar head for Ford with papier mache. This is for his Snifferator costume WARNING!!!! CREEPY!!!! But he insisted and I think it’s way cool anyway.

I need to recharge my sense of wonder. While I was watching a squirrel outside on a limb, I reflected on my dull reaction. I thought my appreciation would climb if I travelled to another continent on another hemisphere.

These are an exhibit of tedium but the children enjoy them. Chas left toothprints, do you see them?

Working in the office.
Multitasking, usually involving children. Here, with Chas:

Working as he is headed towards the power strip:

Pause,

A moment of peace while I work:

Distracted:

I need to clean the upstairs. Wait! what was I working on?

How important is it, really?

Self Portrait Tuesday

It’s hard having conversations with other parents at the playground when I have to keep eyes on Chas. He is fearless and out of control. Ford and Chas are so different at the playground. Chas’ proprioception keeps surprising me; he always seems to correct himself when he starts losing balance; just when I think I have to step in and save him, he saves himself. Mostly. And he has more self-confidence in his physical ability than Ford did at his age.