It Rains On, But I Laugh

I have a few things to say here. They may seem disconnected and they are, but it's been a few days since I've been able to get on the internet, so bear with me and my pent up overflow of minor, insignificant details to share with you.

1. Let's start with the internet. The wire that hooks us up to the outside world runs right across the threshold of the sliding door to our back patio. This same threshold that gets slammed and jammed and slided and glided and peeled and picked at all day long by a host of unreasonable and untamed creatures. So, this wire sometimes gets damaged. I think we're going to move that wire, but that is a subject for another day. Meanwhile, the wire broke and I was stranded (not a bad thing in my opinion if you read this, but I am also normal sometimes so I confess it did bother me some) until finally I gave up and spliced those babies myself. Now we are back in business for a few precarious hours, or hopefully days.

2. It's been raining here every few days. The last time I posted was a rainy day, then it was beautiful and we spent an evening having a picnic dinner at the beach. Now it's raining again and it's Saturday-- which means disappointed little men who have spent the week counting down until soccer and uniforms and shin pads and moments of glory. Instead, we held an improv indoor camp which included drills, skills, coloring, and snacks. We made it to nap time with no television, which I felt proud of... but I'm not sure how gracefully or patiently we carried it out so there is no patting on the back going on here.

3. I went to the store today to buy black pants. I have never gone to the store here to buy clothes, on purpose. I have never bought clothes here that fit me, or that I deemed wearable (there was a moment of weakness when I was desperate and pregnant and there was some hideous peasant-skirting involved...). But today, with this ghastly (and wonderful) new mall that opened up down the road, I was able to walk into the first store I saw, find exactly what I was looking for, try it on and see it fit perfectly, and walk out with an affordable, wearable, fashionable pair of simple black pants to wear to the banquet I am working at tonight! It was truly a moment of profound satisfaction and happiness that I am probably being a little over-dramatic about right now.

4. Since it was raining and all lovely with soft light early this morning, I ran out in my raincoat, armed with my son's Lightning McQueen umbrella to practice with the camera. I am going to share some those photos here, but I have a few disclaimers to make. There is no creative ground being broken here. I mean, Raindrop-on-leaf shot? Classic. Slightly-out-of-focus-tilted-roadway shot? Been done before. Petals-floating-in-water? Last year. Just in case you thought I wasn't aware.

My goal is to become so proficient and amazing at using my simple Canon Rebel that when I go out and finally buy a nifty cool lens and all the other gadgets, it will be like Lance Armstrong as we know him, but on steroids. Wait...

 My husband also sarcastically suggested (after seeing the photos from our evening at the beach, which you can find here) that maybe I should consider starting a blog where I only share all the close ups of our little girl's sweet, chubby, baby face and blue eyes. Seeing as how we now have enough of those photographs to start lining the shelves with photo albums. He was right. I need to find a new muse... or a new perspective on this one.

And then, just because... here is a rare glimpse of the mama actually making it into a photo. Besides the fact that I am usually the one holding the camera, another big reason you will rarely find me in a shot is because of what you see here, me-- looking annoyed and about to purse my lips because I wish the lens wasn't pointed at my face. I'm also stuffing sushi into my little girl's mouth. I love that stuff.