ya know you make me feel so real...

(very typical friday night activities...)

i love friday fun nights. last night went from me having a lousy week to wine, cards, music, good and, often times, embarrassing conversation. and ya know, suddenly, the week didn't seem so awful. the bite marks and bruises from the week vanished, as i dug myself into hole after hole with my words. i fell asleep around 4:40 this morning, after being awake for nearly 24 hours and got up, very well rested, after about five hours of sleep. (this whole week i've been battling a cold...i haven't slept a full night in forever, due to, well, not being able to breathe. and staying awake for 24 hours, willingly, is like a natural reset switch. i swear. it's amazing.)

i didn't get fun shopping today. i did hit a few stores for food and stuff...nothing spectacular. but, it still scratched an itch. i was thinking i might go tomorrow until i started looking at all the work i should get done instead. but that's tomorrow :)

currently, i'm drinkin coffee, eating puppy chow, snapping pics of my random weekend activities and being crafty. (see below for visuals...) my kid has a pretty cool new barrette now and one i'm sure i'll be borrowing from time-to-time and, quite frankly, would love to make more of. i got uber inspired by an old classmate, whom i recently ran into at a volunteer appreciation event we were both attending. we became fb friends and i couldn't get enough of her craft pictures. it completely re-lit a spark inside me for all the crafty things i've always liked to do, but never seem to have time for anymore. (i blame the internet.) (and blogging.) (hmmm. without the internet though, there would be no blogging, so, mostly i guess, i should just blame the internet.) anyway...she makes tons of stuff for gifts and i love that. there is nothing cooler than getting something someone made for me. i think i should start next christmas now. then again...there's always the fear of, 'oh crap. they're gonna hate it and lie and tell me they love it. and then throw it away and laugh at me while they're doing it.' i think artists/crafters are all narcissists at heart...we make stuff because we think we're awesome enough to give away our homemade goods and that you're gonna love it way more than a gift card to target. i mean...who wouldn't rather get homemade barrettes as opposed to cash?? ...sigh...

huh. minus the coffee...you have every weekend of my high school career happening again, tonight. oh. and the kid. minus the kid. crafts, puppy chow and being home. i like this though. it feels as good as it did then :)

*black, black, black and blue, beat me till i'm numb...

(i'm thinkin...it's time for 'the return.' it's been way too long since boomy blogged...)

what a stupid week. my facebook post sums it up beautifully:

"Nothing major has happened this week but all the jelly on my passenger seat is a constant reminder of all the stupid little things that keep going wrong."

my pb&j lunch, the lunch that i had made super fast, so i could eat it between jobs, somehow exploded all over my truck and i that day. all i kept thinking was that i HOPED no one was watching as i tried to suck the jelly out of my skirt while driving down the freeway. (i know...not safe. well, about as safe as eating while driving, which, i do believe, is just a little safer than texting while driving?) and normal people suck the food out of their clothes when they spill, right? i mean, in this case, i was desperate (walking into a classroom full of fifth graders...), but i do it other times too. well, sometimes. (really though...cloth holds the taste of food for a long time, ya know? ya don't? hmmm. okay. then never mind. that's weird. i know.)

i guess, tonight, i plan to finish the bottle of wine i opened last weekend. i knew i'd been saving it for something. my all time fav (so far)...cupcake, sauvignon blanc. tomorrow, i'd love to take twenty bucks, my camera and some coffee and jump in the car for a thrift store trip, alone or, with a friend...if i can find her. and maybe see grandma, since i'll be close; or, i plan to be close anyway. camera will be there in case i happen to get side-tracked, or, heaven forbid, lost. okay...i always get lost. but, the moment right before i get lost i'm am certain i know exactly where i'm going. and that feeling alone makes me try it again. huh. funny. life is kinda like that too. wow. i just epiphanied myself. also...i made up a new word. (you love it. you know you're smiling. and when you do use it in a convo, you'll smile again ;) ) anyway...camera and i need some quality time. we've been busy but not busy freestylin, busy being productive. funny thing, my freestylin is the reason i get to be productive. okay. well...i've gotten to cut off point in this blog. i know when to say when... no i don't.. but, whatevs. for right now...let's pretend i do.

*fav song in the top 40, yo. i'm not black and blue physically. well, i do have some bruises but they're not from anything sinister. well, unless you consider a super naughty three year old sinister. which i do, do somedays...

story retracted...

(nothin like a bookstore with roaming cats, chickens and dogs. rats under glass in the floor, birds, chinchilla's, ferrets, spiders and lizards. the wild rumpus is incredible!)

all right. after this past weekend, i'm sorry i ever posted any of that and due to the ridiculousness, and terrible events that took place...i have no idea if i'm feeling pity, anger, annoyance, i-told-you-so-ness or just plain old general frustration. whatever it is, was, or will be...i know i feel way more supportive than anything. and i'm cool with that.

so anyway. i'm in bed watching perry mason and i'm confused. i have no idea what's going on. again. this seems to happen a lot to me. this show is SO much better than law and order though...and i do adore that program! however, it freaks me out. when i had the h1n1, i fell into this terrible deep fear/depressive state because i watched too much. like, WAY too much. (this happens regularly, but, when confined to bed and dreams...it REALLY invades and takes over.) perry mason still has that great mystery feel but is friendly. and i've been watchin the sunday night movies so they were all filmed in the late eighties and early nineties, so the clothes are incredible! oh. and i need to go thrifting for clothes. badly. (speaking of awesome clothes...) i seem to have lost my last pair of leg warmers btw. it's terrible. i need some new threads. and i need some new leg warmers. oh wth. i don't NEED any of it, but gosh, it sounds like fun to go shopping...

i hate the word gosh. it sounds like a mockery of itself. i used it seriously there though...no mocking involved.

this is long. and rambly. again...

well. it's eight thirty on saturday morning. i've been wide awake for an hour, tossing, turning and feeling stressy. i decided to get up, grab a v8 and some oatmeal, head downstairs (i have two sleeping kids in the living room...) and catch up on my morning news. but, when i opened my laptop, my blog page popped up (since it was one of the last things i did before crashing last night...hence the ramblings. oh wait. i always ramble.) and i decided to write out some stressiness instead. which is why i'm back here.

so. i have a friend who's putting me in a tricky spot. again. and it's gonna cause fights. again. and this sucks. again.

when it's just me, i roll with things. i say whatever. and maybe i get annoyed with stuff but it's rarely enough to make me feel actual hurt or anger. and if it does turn into enough to provoke those emotions, then it's big, and then it's dealt with. pain and anger can be constructive, at times, but way more often, they're nothing but destructive emotions. and i figure if i'm feeling angry or hurt too fast, then i'm not coping correctly and i work on myself before allowing those emotions to overtake me. so, i typically roll with things. it feels much more peaceful and peaceful feels so much better than the alternative. on the flip side of that coin, people tell me i get walked on and that i need to say no way more often and people don't understand why i have patience with certain things and consequently, they get frustrated with me.

which, folks, brings me to my current predicament. my guy is getting frustrated with me and the situation because, well, it's happened before and he refuses to do it again. (without saying too much...the situation consists of a friend, with a child, who is making choices in her life that are threatening her career and, when your stories consist of waking up in a house and having no idea how you got there or how to get out...your life too. and i have total patience in knowing she wants companionship and a relationship but getting from someone five years younger than her, who loves to party, lives in a house with five other guys and she's his boss...it isn't a good idea for her or her career, but mostly, her child. a child that has already been introduced to him and a child who is being shipped off weekend after weekend for him. the response though, from her, is that i shouldn't worry...he loves kids. and the response is not too worry...my boss thinks it's cool, he parties with us too. and the response is don't worry...my kid thinks he's awesome. that's the story. in a nutshell.)

today's stress comes from two weekends in a row of changed plans and mistruths. last weekend, we pushed off plans to this weekend because she had to work and needed a sitter. plus, she wanted to get to her work party that night so wanted her kid to spend the night. sure. that worked for me. her child is here tons anyway...nothing abnormal about it. and besides, she was taking my kid the next night so we could have a free night. well, she ended up not having to work but still wanted to go out to her work party. totally fine...we had canceled our plans regardless. so, she dropped him off at noon...for an evening work party. okay. the next day, i get a text asking if we minded watching her kid again so she could go out again that night. i asked why and she assured me she wasn't drinking so she could always come over and get the kids if we wanted the night together. we ended up inviting friends over, since no one had to work the next day plus it would've been a super short night together anyway, and we had a good night despite the plans changing. next day, she comes over to pick up her kid but looked terrible. apparently, she had gotten SO drunk the night before that she woke up in a house, having no clue how she got there or, even where she was. she was thankful someone had left the garage door open though so she could find her way out. i asked how many of her employees saw this and she said only a couple were there.

and now there's this weekend. she has her actual work party now. (still not sure what last weekend was...) we rescheduled plans for this weekend and they've now become an inconvenience for her. she needs to be somewhere by two and we won't be home until three. so, i got a message last night, asking if i minded if she dropped her kid off at someone else's house, 25 miles away from where we'll be, and then we can just go pick him up after we're done, so she can get to where she needs to be. her message tone made it sound like oh! it'll be super easy for you guys! and then no one has to worry! and when i relayed her message, that's when the argument at home started.

i don't want to endorse this. i know asking new guy to do family friendly events each weekend would be unheard of, and there's a reason for that. he's not family friendly. and she has a family. but to already, be putting me in this position...again (this happened a few years ago too, but it went on for years that time along with countless fights with the guy AND with my bff's becausde i kept sticking up for her and having patience.) i do want her to be happy. but i'm seeing her child wondering what's going on. he's in school and child care all week. his weekends are his at home time and now, the last two in a row, he hasn't been at home or with his mom. and it will continue on like this. it did before. and now i get to feel like the bad guy and call her today to say no to picking up her kid across town. i'm falling in line with my guy this time. last time, it was so stressful on me and mega damaging to him and i. i knew he was right then too...but i still fought because i felt the need to stick up for her. this time, i gotta leave her on her own. and i've never done that. but putting myself, and my family under stress because she wants to pretend she doesn't have a child, and won't lose her job, and is still 23...i'm not doing it.

ugh. i highly doubt this makes a lick of sense. but good God, i feel a ton better.

okay. i'm gonna shut up now. maybe my NEXT blog will make more sense...?

yeah.
i know.

send now a.k.a. little, red, metal flag UP

okay. well. after setting up my .com and my twitter and my 'fan page' on facebook...honestly, i'm computer'd out. i think i've done all that makes me cool and trendy and 'marketable' in the cyber world, and i'm cool with that. (also, my eyes are burnin'...so, i have to stop.)

i'm doing all this because, well, that's what you do now-a-days...?

but, i still have you iris.

oh...and i still have the U.S. postal service who will, for .44 cents, deliver hand written, hand made cards, to grandma, 30 miles away... i need to re-connect with you. oh, and vinyl. and cassette's. and polaroids. and FILM. i have you all and i miss you all dearly...

oh! and boomy! i feel you comin' back... where you at boom-skee??

where.
you.
at.
dawg??
(oh yeah...my kid took one of your heads to the 'shape museum' at her school...)

plugola

well, i ended up watching, dial m for murder, instead of a western. i've always wanted to see it and am SO glad i finally watched it. what an awesome movie. tonight, i'm finishing up a made-for-tv flick called, terraces. it was made in '77 and it follows an array of people/couples/stories all set in some apartment building in L.A. it was supposed to be an ongoing, evening soap opera, or something, but never made it past the pilot. i have no idea why!? okay. maybe the acting is lousy. and the stories, slightly cheesy. but it's lighthearted and the characters are pretty darn good! and the clothes. holy smokes. awesome clothes! i wish i had a wardrobe like that now. anyway...that just finished. the ending was happy, so, i'm happy. next up...perry mason: the reckless romeo. and wait, why do you care what random, old show's i'm watching? i hardly care. okay. anyway, the point of this blog, plugging a website....click on the pic to get there and stuff.

cowboys, indians and licorice...

(recent fascination, miniatures. the camera was a gift and the other two were 40 cents at target...i think this is the beginning of a new collection)

what to do on a saturday night that finds me totally flat broke and with two kids runnin around? turn on the current, grab my camera, my laptop, a cup of cold coffee and get some work done! this whole studio/office thing really does come in handy...and lord only knows the work that i need to get done. my website is just about up and running but still needs a few tweaks, a have a shoot that needs to be finished editing, i have cards that need a proofing before hitting the, order now, button and i have some marketing materials that need to be refreshed. plus, i have some thank you cards i'd like to get made, a typewriter that could use some love and a couple old camera's that need a little help. oh. and i'd really like to grab my oils and dirty up some canvas with 'em. creatively, i have endless energy lately. i do love winter for that. today, i gutted and rearranged the main areas in my house, leaving them looking bright and crisp and feeling fresh and inspiring...oh, and then i passed out in a sunbeam :)

tomorrow's creativity is gonna help me complete a few of the above mentioned tasks...hopefully. (i attempted to get a jump start on a few of those things tonight but, instead, i have found myself googling usher and teaching the kids how to 'light paint' with glowing jewelry. *see pics below. and now, well now, i don't wanna work. i wanna do something that i haven't quite figured out yet. maybe a movie? this blog has, at this point, taken me two hours to type out.)

remember that plant i blogged about like forever ago? the one that i needed to water? yeah. that one. well, it's pretty much dead now, since that was officially the last time i watered it. on a more positive note, the rest of my house plants are doing wonderfully. (i just looked over at that dead plant...hence the randomness there. in my world, it wasn't that random at all actually.)

okay. i think that's enough blog tonight. (i recognize when it's time to say when.) hmmm. i think i want to watch an old western. maybe something with john wayne. that sounds great actually! i'll let ya know how that goes...

(just runnin' around till the shutter closes...)

(fire hands nephew...)

(force field nephew and hearty, heart kid)

twenty eleven. welcome.

(this is the boy who has given me h1n1, vomited all over me, gagged me with the smell of his feet, pee'd on me and made me fall flat on my ass in front of thirty people. despite all that, i still really like the kid...)

hey! twenty eleven! good to see ya!

so...i got over the h1n1 fully and threw a party to ring in the new year...a year that i'm already in love with. i needed some friend time, and rock band time, and time with my new flask. i figured that since i missed my bday, halloween AND christmas, it was long overdue. my bff had to work but surprised me by getting the night off and not telling me until after she went so far as to even get in her scrubs. (she loves when i get excited because i jump around and hug and kiss and scream...and then do it all again.) anyway, it was awesome. we played music, and played with the kids, and had great conversation, and met new people, and ate good food, and laughed and then...my lovely bff, fell down my stairs and broke her right ankle AND left foot. she can't walk, can't work, can't drive, basically, she can't do anything anymore. ((sigh)) she's a nurse too...so it's not like she has a comfy desk job to be at; her job REQUIRES her feet.

anyway...this year promises to be good because i am determined to make it that way. last year left so much room for improvement.

in this next year, i would like to:
~take another step toward being my own boss and letting my passion support me.
~eat way closer to the source. (i'm writing this AS i eat pizza rolls but whatevs...monday.) i'm not a dieter but all the preservatives and crap that's in my food is out of control. the less ingredients, the better.
~gain some sort of control with my finances. i just don't remember to pay my bills. if i set up auto withdraw then, i'm fine. but i never do.
~and, with that ^^ being said, i would love to set the goal of doing something the first time i think of it. i procrastinate way too much and i have way too busy of a schedule to give procrastination a voice.
~and finally, work at a relationship. it's an amazing feeling to be working with a partner on something and it's a feeling i've never once known until recently. i come from two generations of divorce so working with someone, as opposed to separating, when things get difficult isn't something i've witnessed first hand. and that's totally okay, i'm just ready to break that cycle. however, figuring out how to do it hasn't come naturally. but, i'm ready and i'm completely willing to do what it takes. and, honestly, i'm excited about it!

so yeah. that's what i want to do in this next year. oh...and also, keep doing whatever it is i'm doing with my kid. she is amazing, and smart, and funny, and talented, and driven, and considerate, and thoughtful and just, all around, wonderful.

i was also thinkin...after being uber-inspired by a budding photographer friend, who just got his first good camera, that i should pick this baby back up, like i used to. shoot a photo daily. blog three times a week. the guy said no, cuz i should really focus on actually paying a bill when i sit down at my computer, as opposed to blogging, and i GET that...but i WANT to blog and take photos. i DON'T want to pay my bills... i gotta think on this one.