BUSY

I've been busy.
And now I'm gone on a trip.

I was not busy getting ready for the trip
(until about two nights before we left).

I was busy doing this:

Me: watching
Boys: playing

Doing this:

(I love it when my bangs look this good!)

And doing this:

Making witches.
It turned me in to one, too.


Especially when I looked up and saw the clock.
This is in the a.m.
And was about 25 minutes before I finally got to bed.

So that I could wake up at 6 o'clock
in the a.m.
for more of this:


and this:

Now that I'm on a trip,
I am just looking forward to this:

and this:

I won't be busy.

Adios, amigos y amigas. See you in a week.

CAPABLE

It can be done, folks! It can be done!

Didn't I tell you?

I should not bake.

Ever.

NOT CHEF-BOYARDEE

I should not bake. Ever.

Whenever I do bake, I do things like...
Add a teaspoon of red chili pepper instead of ground cinnamon. What?! They're almost the same color, and they were right next to each other on the shelf! It could happen to anyone (except my Aunt Laurie)!
But, man, that was one nasty apple pie.

I always think ahead and double the recipe so that we can have extra to eat.
At least there would be extra, if I didn't always forget that I was baking food and not charcoal briquettes.

And, just so you know (because apparently I didn't),
plastic trays, no matter how hard they may appear, do not work as cookie sheets in a conventional oven.
They will, however, create some awesome art pieces, if you like that sort of thing (and if you don't need your oven racks anymore).

Mostly, we don't like that sort of thing. And we also don't like eating charcoal briquettes.
But,
that's what we have around here.

Even when I'm extra super conscientious,
and
make sure I have all the proper ingredients,
correctly measure out all the proper ingredients, and
follow the directions step by step rather than adhere to my usual dump-and serve method,

something still happens, like
the phone rings, or
the dog pees,
or I forget to check the temperature settings on the stove,
and we get this:

in place of real banana bread. (Once I cut away the crusty parts, the insides were still good!)

And my family continues to have me (and a lot of blackened baked goods)
instead of my Aunt Laurie, or Lindsay, or Chef Boyardee.

Won't somebody please, please, take pity on us,
and bake us a plate of done-right cookies?!

ANGRRRRRY

The dog ate my doll.
My pristine, beautiful doll brought home from China (thank you, Lindsay) more than a decade ago.
Snarfed. Munched. Mangled.

Grrrrr.

The dog peed on my music books.

Grrrrrrrr.

The dog peed (again) on my music books.
And under the piano bench.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

And to think that yesterday I had the heady idea that things were actually going better with the dog.

Grrrrrrrrrreat. Not only am I cleaning up a lot of puppy pee, but I am also quite delusional.

WISHING SOMEONE WELL

While I was in Colorado we found out about a baby that needed a home.
We wanted to be that baby's home.

Long story, short, the baby's mom picked someone else.
Then,

Yesterday, we got another phone call. The baby had been placed back with the mother, and she wanted to meet with us as potential parents.

Short story, even shorter, the baby's mom picked someone else before our 3:00 appointment even came. She decided to go with a couple she had met that morning.

Let me say, I am thrilled for that couple. I am thrilled for that baby.
I am proud of that mother.
May they all be awash in love.



May I also say, as much as I may like roller-coasters,
I hate them when they involve my heart. Yech. I think I much prefer the boring safety of status-quo.

Especially because, let's face it, I'm already awash in love.
How lucky can a girl get?