fall is here

what are your favorite fall things
to enjoy and indulge in?
we went to a corn maze last night . . .
more on that later.
so funny!

look closely

a picture of a loving couple
on vacation in san francisco?
perhaps.
well, yes.
technically, yes.
but, what else do you see?

consiter this
little encounter
i had in the ladies restroom at the airport
just a few hours previously:

young girl walks out of toilet stall.
and stares.
at me.
mother is distracted
and without looking at the girl
just sort of reaches behind her
to grab her daughter's hand.
effort failed.
little girl is stopped in her tracks.
staring.
at me.
did i already mention that?
and stuttering,
"that girl . . . that girl . . . "

me?
oh, i am smiling.
using my magical kid eye contact powers
that are probably really only
magical by my standards.
little kids are probably actually
scared out of their minds by my
squinty, smilely eyes
and my crinkled nose.
mothers probably think
i am plotting to steal their child
and sell her on the black market . . .
or Ebay.
it is understandable.

but this girl is not scared.
it is more like she is entranced.
with me.
again, not common,
but understandable.

and she is trying to speak.
but full sentences are not forming.
i have those days.
totally get that.

"that girl . . . that girl."
mother continues to mindlessly
try to stear the girl
out of the cattle pen
that is internationally,
without fail,
every airport women's restroom.
the girl continues to stand her ground.
words begin to flow.

"that girl. THAT GIRL!
is she . . .
is she a PIRATE????"


now, take a little peak at that picture again.
enjoy.
happy weekend!

by the way, if you have not seen
this show
yet,
you MUST check it out.
some people are getting all
chatty about
"child labor" . . .
UGH!
can't we just live, people?
live and enjoy and just STOP
always looking for something
to beef about?
anyway, i laughed out loud
BELLY LAUGHED
three different times
during this show.
and i was watching it alone!

"your E is too big!"

i just LOVE talking to my neighbor, jodi,
over the fence in the backyard.
i makes me feel so retro and cool.
despite all of the obvious glitches,
there were some really good things about
a woman's reality back in the first part of the 20th century.

jodi: sara is being weird. she better be getting her period.
me: WHAT?!?!?! (sara is 10) what's going on?
jodi: she is just being so mean to everyone. she has unrealistic expectations of the world in general.

(in the background, loud, angry, slam-y noises coming from the kitchen where sara is doing the dishes)

me: (thinking of band-aid-y solutions) i have some strawberries and whip cream.
jodi: that would be good. i will send her over. she could use the time with you. and i could use a break.

so sara and anna came over . . .


we scrapbooked . . .

and then i got THIS face:

sara: (thumbing through my heidi swapp alpha rub ons) you don't have a little e!
me: (inspecting the delinquent 'E') that's little.
sara: no! not little enough
me: (confused) but, it came from the same place as all of your other letters. and they are all lower-case.
sara: but it is too big! it is so much bigger than all the other letters in here!!!

oh, so that is what jodi meant by unrealistic expectations and standards for the world.

but what i love about 10 year olds is that they are still young enough to take some redirection of their volitile energy.
for instance, when sara was hovering and being mouthy while i made dessert, i simply said,
me: hey sara, why don't you go rearrange the pillows on my couch. (sure, it was lame, but give me a break - i am not a mom yet!)
sara: (thinking for a minute) OKAY!!!!!

having a new art room makes a girl creative and happy!

the new office/reading room/writing room/art space/loading & dumping zone
is almost complete and mostly functional.
i LOVE being in here!
pretty things happen as result of organized art supplies
and a table to make art on that does not require
one to move her piles of bills
and paperwork to various places of the house
in order to create!
much much better!