Testing the Waters...

Huh. I appear to have pulled a vanishing act again. That 7 Days thing really wore me out. I needed some recovery time.

Also, I've been dealing with some personal stuff - nothing I can't handle. Though working it out seems to require more brain power than I can spare...

The End of the Month Crazy concluded today, and we all start with a clean slate tomorrow...

...which is April Fool's day, huh? That can't be good.

Do we need a picture to get this party-train back on track? Please hold, while I go find one you haven't seen...

(Insert Spinning Beach Ball of Death here.) [If you had a Mac*, you'd get that.]

How about this one?

It was taken a few weeks ago, during 7 Days - the night I was SO uninspired and ended up with a picture of a picture. Clearly, this one was rejected for that creepy "come hither, brewmaster" look on my face. But the beer looks fine, so here it is.

*Mac, the computer; not Mac, the daughter.

7 Days:Day 7: Fish Kiss

'Til next time, Fellow 7 Day-ers! It's been so fun, but I'm a little glad it's over - I was starting to run out of good ideas and was getting pretty tired of taking photos of myself.

Thank you, Sarah and Lauren, for your fearless leadership and for keeping the fun rolling.

See you in June!

For 7 Days.

7 Days:Day 6: Free Fall

Five years ago, I dove off this bridge. That 30-second feeling is what each day of the past year has felt like to me. In a few weeks, it will be a year since my divorce...

... I think I'm finally on the upswing.

For 7 Days.

7 Days:Day 5: Me and My Really Big Necklace

The theme for today was "Me and My..."

Wow. I REALLY couldn't decide which photo to post today. I worked all day then had to go to Mac's 7th grade swim banquet. Then, I came home and took 2 rounds of pictures but I just couldn't get in the groove. Mac and I decided we liked this one best. It'll do.

For 7 Days.

7 Days:Day 4: Sunshine

It's 41 degrees in Indiana as we speak (and look! no snow in the background!). My smile should be MUCH bigger than this, but as I am unaccustomed to the sun, my face is all squinty-like and scrunchy.

For 7 Days.

7 Days:Day 3: Handstand

What does one wear when she handstands in the dining room before work?

....running shorts and stripey knee socks, of course.

For 7 Days.

7 Days:Day 2: Blue on Blue on Blue

The theme for today was "Blue"...

Blue sweater. Blue eyeshadow. Blue wall. Blue girl.

I worked all day today, doing 2 visits for non-custodial parents. I'm a little more "loopy" than "blue" and I see it coming through in the photos.

Besides that, Mackenzie was standing just off-camera making fun of me, trying to think of sad things to enhance the moment. She only made me laugh.

For 7 Days.

7 Days:Day 1: I'm Super

The 7 Days project has started once again over at Flickr. This is my entry for today. You may recognize my Super Favorite t-shirt from previous photos.

Maybe I need to go shopping...

It Takes A Village

About two weeks ago, my furnace stopped working. I was on the phone with my sister when I realized it. "Go downstairs," she said. "Your pilot light's probably out."

"Assuming that I do go downstairs, and I take the cover off the furnace, and I bend over and see that the pilot light's out, what the heck do I do then?"

And she thought about it for a sec and started to laugh. "Good point. You better call Dad."

But I didn't want to call my Daddy. I wanted to be a grown-up and not go running to my dad every time I need something. But after I thought about it for about 2 seconds, I realized that I DID need help, and my Dad WOULD be happy to help.

So I called him. "Jim" was here to fix my furnace within 30 minutes.

Then, several days later, I came down with a nasty, nasty flu bug. I was achy and shivery and miserable for almost two weeks. I went to work, then lay on the couch and wished I would die. Without even asking, my mom brought me a giant pot of Magic Chicken Noodle Soup. Then hours later, my sister called. She brought me a massive iced tea from McAlister's Deli because I was so, so tired of 7-Up. Later that night, Mom called and asked if I needed Dad to come pick Mac up and deliver her to school the next morning.

Last Thursday, Mackenzie got out of school at noon. And as I am a Working Single Mom, she had no way home. She called my sister and was delivered to our door, right after school.

There were many reasons I wasn't sure I wanted to move back home after the divorce last year - the Indiana winters, the fact that I have no friends left in town, the midwest conservatism, twenty years of living everywhere but here. I wracked my brain, trying to figure a way to move to San Diego. I considered staying in Virginia.

If I had any lingering doubts that moving home was the right thing to do, the past 2 weeks have put to rest those thoughts. I am so, so grateful to my parents and my sister and her husband, and for everything they do for me and my little unconventional family.

And In BULLY CAT and NEVERENDING WINTER News...

• Cat, 4; Taiko, 0. Two matches resulted in blood drawn.

• 4 inches of snow with more on the way; 19 degrees.

Things I've Seen While Commuting Lately

A black bear
...that turned out to be a really fluffy cow.

A blue horse
...that turned out to be a horse with a blue blanket.

A barn roof
...no barn, just a roof. And half-a-roof at that. I drive past this phenomenon at least 3 times a week and for the life of me can't figure out how this happened. I do have a theory: The side walls of the barn rotted and it collapsed. Then the people were too poor to buy firewood so for the last 5 years, they've just been going out to the barn and pulling board after board out so now, all that's left is the half-a-roof. I am so not making this up. I'll take a photo one of these days.

Half-a-house
...Honestly. Same story as the roof. Except that the house is brick and I seriously doubt that anyone burned it.

A TEENY-TINY chapel
...in someone's side yard. Perfect for a TEENY-TINY wedding.

A pancaked black cat
...at least I think it was a cat... Hey, don't shoot the messenger, I just report the facts.

A hawk stomping on something in a roadside ditch
...he was deadly, but beautiful.

A river
...turned into a lake.

An unopened bag of Doritos in the median
...Cool Ranch.

A grandma on a moped
...DUI, do you think?

Six deer
...conferring in a cornfield.

A haunted house
...I have no proof that it was actually haunted, but if I were a ghost, I would totally move in.

Winnie-the-pooh
...no explanation. It is what it is.

Oliver

This is Oliver.

He belongs to Mackenzie. She adopted him from the local Petsmart. He is a "young adult" kitty and the sweetest of the sweetest of all the cats she held. There was the hissing one, and the one with the twitchy tail; there was the one who had been "treated for tapeworms", and the big giant calico one who rubbed his head against her hand, but then sunk his claws into her shoulder. Oliver was the first kitty she held and the one she went back to in the end. They were meant for each other.

Dear God: Please Give Me a Break. (And by a "break" I don't mean make more of my shit break.)

End of the month reports and billing kicked me in the ass - I have yet to recover.

Dillon's car got totaled (he's ok but a very, very sad boy).

My basement has sprung 2 leaks - there's actually a 1-inch hole under the stairs with a tiny little river running out of it. If it were in my living room, the sound would be very Zen.

Taiko has many symptoms of this: Syringomyelia - he has slowly been degenerating and he had a seizure last night.

Turns out that I (barely) make too much money to qualify for Mac to get 4 years paid tuition at an Indiana University - FYI: I make an absurdly meager salary - Dillon's salary puts the household over, even though his paycheck is irrelevant to me and Mac and goes towards fast food, cigarettes, gas, and insurance.

Due to circumstances beyond my control, those Sundays that I've been working since September and was so excited to have free starting this week have just gone bye-bye with the incredibly bonehead move of One Selfish Person. And because I anticipated having Sundays off, I have taken on a new client and scheduled them for Friday Afternoons. I'm back to one day off a week again. But it was awesome to have 2 days off each week (Friday and Saturday) for the past 2 weeks. Like a mini-vacation to Hawaii... albeit with snow... and bills... and dustbunnies.

And I have to take Lucy in for a check-up on Friday. I suspect they will inform me that I need 4 new tires - I despise buying tires.

I very much would like to go to bed and sleep for a Very Long Time.

I Spent Today On The Receiving End of These Comments

"Hey, Mom... What do you know about Engineering?"

"I wish she was more careful with her teeth."

"How much did Dr. Oz say we fart every day?"

"Maybe you should read something lighter....like comics."

And my personal favorite...

"So. I heard your client's in the pokey."

And I Had Always Heard That Hell Was Hot

Today's high was 55. The wind chill is currently -20. Sandwiched in between this bi-polar weather was a period of high winds, thunderstorms, hail, and a tornado watch.

Currently, there is a layer of snow outside covering up a layer of ice.

Dillon went to class tonight at 6pm with his sun roof open. After class at 8pm, he went outside and opened his car door to find his car apparently sopping wet. Guess who left his sunroof open during the thunderstorm...

Adding insult to injury, the temperature plummeted and it froze before he got out of class. He had to drive home sitting on a layer of ice.