Avast, Mateys

Here's our petite but powerful pirate:









And then there was this guy:





I have lots more pictures and some nice stories too. They're coming soon!

Dear Muscle Spasms in My Neck,
I need you to stop screaming and calm down. Listen, I know you need some attention - we all do sometimes - but right now, I just can't address your needs, okay? You're going to have to get in line and I will take care of you when it's your turn.
Yes. The back of the line.
Way back there behind the Titanium costume for Andrew's science class Element Day (Titanium? Seriously. How do you dress like Titanium?) and Emma's Halloween costume. Oh yes, and you'll have to also wait behind Emma's Florida history project that's due this week - all three parts of it that require me to make something - and my own English paper and math project.
I'd like to spend a little time at the piano too, so you can stand right behind Mr. Brahms.
Mmhmmm. That's it.
Good.
Now, hold steady. The giant molasses cookies, caramel apples and pumpkin carving party for Friday and the Saturday fundraiser and cookout are shoving to take your spot. If you're not careful, you'll wind up behind them too.
Thanks for your patience.

Sincerely,
me

Daily Bliss: a bag of chocolate on sale - thank you Halloween candy time
Wake-up Playlist: Band of Horses, No One's Gonna Love You (more than I do)

My Favorites

Here are my two favorite shots from the car show, with no other words at all.

Under the Hood

The danger of going to a car show with my dad is that all of the pictures I take might be of what's under the hood. My dad is a true car guy. He knows lots of obscure information about cars - especially the old ones - and he likes to know how things work. The stories behind all the working parts make me feel like they're so beautiful so I take picture after picture and then, once I'm back home, I don't remember why in the world I have so many images of wires and metal parts.







I still like 'em, though, even if I don't know how they work or what the parts are called. There is artistry and craftsmanship behind each of these cars and I can appreciate that in anything, whether I understand it or not.

Oh - and yeah. That top one?
Shelby.
Cobra.

A Few More

A Few

I've decided to just let the car show photos trickle onto the blog as I find time to edit them. I really had a lot of fun taking pictures at the show this year, since it's the first year I've had a real camera in my hands in the middle of all those gorgeous lines and all that chrome. As usual, I wound up with a crop of detail shots. I love the cars, but I don't like taking pictures that are full of strangers for the sake of getting the whole car in the shot.
So.
Here's a few that I have done already.








It's been pointed out to me that it can be fun to play "find Christy" in pictures like these, so have at it. Some are more obvious than others, I think. And some...well, please take into account the roundness of the reflective surface. I am a little bit short and round, but not that much.

Concert

So, just in case you were interested, here's my big concert song.
You know, it's really not perfect. Really not. But it was a lot of fun.

Also

This weekend, in addition to that concert (that went pretty well, by the by), I went to a car show.
I have lots of pictures, but I also have English homework and a math project to get done.
Here's a teaser:

Ahem.

I am in a concert tomorrow.
I know that sounds fancy.
I got a new dress and new shoes and even earrings.
But I don't feel fancy.
It feels like someone ought to come around, tap me on the shoulder and tell me that I don't belong up there.
I've worked hard on my piece, but it wasn't enough. It isn't perfect.
It's a duet and it will be spectacular and showstopping - If I don't mess it up.
And that's not said to elicit tongue clucking and "You'll-be-fine"s.
Messing it up is a distinct possibility.

I'm not nervous like I was a couple weeks ago for my recital performance in class. It's a different sort of thing. It isn't stage fright, it's just that I feel unprepared and exhausted.

I need some sleep tonight. I'm actually going to take some pain medication (which I never do) to help out with my car accident injuries (bleah) so I can sleep well tonight and I'm hoping that the sleep will erase some of this blucky feeling.

I'll let you all know how it goes, to be sure.

Daily Bliss: hanging around a car show with my dad

All Is Not Lost

I just wanted you all to know that I made a skirt today.
I know I was going to give up sewing, etc., etc.
But.
It's just a tiny little skirt, right?
My math homework can wait, right?
Maybe there can be time in my life for both learning and making.

The Party

First of all, here's the case of bubble gum flavor oil:

I was surprised at how much of it I ended up using - almost half! We had that many girls come to our house.
Check out the clever invitations Emma designed! I was planning to buy papers and make something cute, but she came out of her room one day with a prototype for this and I decided it was high time I started letting her help me out in the party department.


It opens up to say "OMG!" So, I wrote on them "OMG! Emma's turning 10!"


I had a couple of party sponsors this time around, without whom the party would. not. have happened. I'm not even kidding. Even if I hadn't gone to bed at all, my tasks would have been unfinished. Denise is pictured here with some of the 30 kabillion balloons we blew up and filled with bubble gum. Denise rolled cake into little balls for cake pops. Denise laughed at my bad jokes. Denise was awesome.

Also, my sister (in law) Mindy showed up and stayed late. Here she is working a little bit of cake pop magic.



I would like to say that I shall never again attempt cake pops. There was a cake pop on the floor at one point, splatted into oblivion. At that point, it was nearly midnight. I had only gotten a couple hours' sleep the night before, due to an unfortunate English Paper Event. I would have thrown all the cake pop balls across the room and splatted them against the dark windows, cried a few bitter tears and gone to bed at that point. But Mindy had a stroke of genius and managed to piece together just enough cake pops for all the girls to have one.

I love messing around with all my glassware to see just how I want the table to look.


Party food:






We know a brilliant young artist who has a face painting business and we were so excited that she could make it for Emma's party. She was such a big hit! She had a line during the entire party and wound up painting nearly all the faces in just an hour and a half!


The story of rest of the party is probably best told by the photos I took (I was only able to actually take photos because I had such wonderful family and friends that helped us manage this party. Again, I am unendingly grateful to them).










A good time was had by all, or at least most. Best of all, my baby is ten years old and had a party to be proud of. This is probably the last big birthday party we will throw, so we really wanted it to be great. I have loved this part of being a mommy, but I'm pretty much just a mom now. Big kids have different needs and I am getting too old to stay up all night making stupid cake pops!
The biggest celebration, of course, was that Emma and I have both been alive for 10 extra years. I say it every year, but in case you haven't known me for long - Emma came into the world in fittingly dramatic fashion, nearly taking both of us out in the process. So, every year, I am reminded that I am so grateful to still be here and have the blessing of such an amazing little person to share life with. She has changed me and inspired me since coming along and I can't wait to see what this next year has in store for her.

10

Party pictures coming soon.
When I manage to recover.

I'm supposed to be writing an English paper...

Sometimes I like to pretend my life is a musical.
I twirl around the empty house and sing out the rhetorical questions that define the lives of middle-aged women everywhere like, "Why, oh why can't I find my fat jeans today?"

And then, if I'm feeling especially peppy, I will run to stage left (the other side of the room) and pretend I'm the voice of reason, singing in accusatory response, "It's because you wore them yesterday, you fool!"

The lights dim, leaving a spotlight on my tragic persona as I lament, "Perhaps I shouldn't have eaten chocolate cake for breakfast. Perhaps then - then I could wear my skinny jeans with that cute ruffly top today."

And...
scene.

Bubble-licious

I am knee-deep in preparations for Emma's birthday party today. Mind you, I have an English paper due in two days and a math quiz on the agenda for tomorrow, but this birthday party is taking over my brain. I guess you can only deny your inner party planner for so long before it stages a coup.
We are having a "Dubble Bubble" party to celebrate the double digits! It seems like a fun thing, right? Well, it's so fun that it's turned into the social event for the entire female population of the fourth grade. I had thought there might be ten girls, at most. In fact, it will be closer to twenty. Sigh.
Things have been going swimmingly, though. I have planned a bubble-blowing contest and a dart-throwing, pop-the-balloon-and-keep-the-gum-from-inside-of-it game. We will make headbands with fuzzy pompoms glued to them and take pictures of all the girls together against a colorful backdrop. I have even hired the daughter of some friends to come and paint faces.
For food? Well, remember when we made all that candied popcorn? The store I bought the flavoring from also carried a bubble gum flavor oil, so I got to work planning all sorts of food around that. Only, when I went to buy it today, they were sold out. Much Googling and panicking happened on that day.
Unfortunately, bubble gum flavoring is not easy to locate. I ended up having to order some from a website with expedited shipping ($$!!) and the only option was to order a case of 24 jars of bubble gum flavor oil!
So.
I am making bubble gum candied popcorn and probably a bubble gum drink of some kind. But that will only use about two of those 24.
Mercy.
My budget-friendly, small-ish party for a few girls has suddenly become bubble-gum-palooza. These things seem to happen to me all the time.