you asked for it
every monday, wednesday, and friday, i drop jackson off at school and head to a coffee shop right around the corner to get some work done. the coffee is horrible but the baked goods keep me coming back. and each MWF of the week, jackson and i have the same conversation when we drive to school…
“mom’s goina put you to school.”
“yes baby, mom is going to put you to school today and pick you up when you’re all done.”
“mom’s goina put jackson to school and get coffees.”
“yes baby, mom is going to get coffee after i take you to school.”
the same 4 lines, 3 times a week, offering just a bit of comfort.
jackson likes routines. i like routines.
once i drop him off and head to the coffee shop where i now sit, it’s game on.
the circus comes to town, and each morning that i sit here, something or someone provokes me to screw with their head.
and it’s so fun.
like today, there is a demolition crew working in the parking lot of the coffee shop. they’re tearing shit up and spitting said shit into a dump truck at the loudest of volumes.
jackson would be mesmerized as he has an affinity for construction sites right now.
i am not so mesmerized. the crew consists of 6-8 fat dudes who could really benefit from a shower.
the thing i am enthralled with though is the fact that never once did these non-showered men ask anyone in the coffee shop to move their car before tearing shit up.
upon arriving with their trucks-a-plenty, they tromped in with their steal-toed boots for coffee and bagels, but never thought to ask if anyone would be willing to move their vehicle and save it from an abundance of shit they are now hacking up out of the parking lot.
so, what did i do (besides write a post about them?)…
i set off the alarm on my husband’s tahoe that i drove this morning.
because sometimes people are idiots and i wanted a laugh.
and now some other coffee shop patron is fumbling with his laptop, asking where he can plugin.
it’s taking everything in me to resist from saying something obnoxious.
fall photo shoot and a half birthday
kids do half birthdays, right? do they do 3/4 birthdays too? because that could be a lot to keep up with.
anyway, the stink face magoo is 2 and a half years old today… so we’re going to eat cake for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
but he wanted to show off his rugged and manly good looks for you though, so here are some shots from yesterday’s fall photo shoot.
(the entire set of shots i took yesterday are on my flickr page.)
11:00 pm
“honey nut cheerios.”
“really?”
“yeah. followed by lucky charms and then frosted flakes.”
“nah. we couldn’t have those.”
“you ate crispix, didn’t you?”
“no.”
“cracklin oat bran.”
“sometimes.”
“i hate the word ‘bran.’ makes me think of poop.”
**********
AWKWARD SILENCE.
**********
“remember cocoa puffs?”
“i liked cocoa crispies.”
“oh no no. those got soggy way too fast.”
“we could have the ones that weren’t ALL sugar.”
“oh… corn pops?”
“yes! i love corn pops. i could go for some right now.”
“ew. i bet you liked smacks too.”
“yes!”
“that’s disgusting. you just like the puff factor.”
“not-uh, they’re legit.”
“no. lucky charms without the cereal is legit.”
“gross.”
“you’re face is gross.”
“i love you, g’nite.”
“i love you too. but honey nut cheerios with cut up bananas is my favorite.”
SNORE.
the vast in between
when i was in grade school, i played with friends on a wooden bridge.
the planks on the bridge were connected with thick, heavy chains and it dipped low in the middle. chains ran up and down each side of the bridge for you to hold onto… which isn’t a very smart design for a bridge when you think about it.
i pinched my fingers a lot, holding onto the chains and jumping to make as much noise as possible during recess.
the chains were old and rust flaked off every so often.
one time i tasted the rust.
it was bitter and cold.
the wooden planks were sturdy but made a lot of noise.
they sounded weak but weren’t.
and the bridge connected one side of the playground to another… swings over here. slide over there.
bridge in between.
when i was in grade school, no one seemed to care much about swinging or sliding. kids wanted to be on the bridge… in that vast in between.
the space where you don’t know which side you’re going to end up on.
the bridge was its own playground.
not quite here but not there yet either. old, weathered, creaky yet safe. the chains weren’t ones that left you feeling bound, instead you felt thankful for something to hold (even if it meant pinched fingers.)
to explore in abundance, to run back and forth from the swings to the slide… and then settle by placing yourself directly in the middle of a rickety bridge seems odd now.
the vast in between of life is an unsteady place.
and the mind of a child is so willing to savor indecision.
on kid-hood-ness, love and snot
the above picture serves as evidence for paul to hold over my head for years to come. we went to the navy football game on saturday. ok, not exactly… we went for a walk on a beautiful saturday afternoon when there happened to be a navy football game and in doing so, walked directly into a ton of our nearest and dearest friends.
given how much paul was IN SHOCK to hear me suggest we commit to such an activity, i documented the event.
we celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary this weekend. it was kinda funny to spend part of the day hanging out with paul’s roommates and friends from college, because it’s those same people who knew us as teenage love birds and those same people stood by us at our wedding.
twas awesome.
**********
back tracking a bit for the real celebration of the weekend… friday marked the arrival of jackson’s big boy magoo bed. moving out of the realm of a toddler and into full blown kid-hood, a twin bed found its way into a little nook in his room.
he’s so big, y’all. and such a sprawler when he sleeps.
when i go in to kiss him goodnight before turning in myself, he’s sweaty and delicious. seeing him in his toddler bed recently reminded me of when i was pregnant with him. towards the end of the pregnancy, the 9 lb 6 oz magoo simply had nowhere to move. he outgrew what had been his home for 9 months.
so the twin bed arrived and the chaos ensued…
how many toys can we fit in the bed with us?
can we kick the wall 14 times before they come in and tell me to stop?
22 times?
let me tell you about all of the trucks that are on my new blanket and what each one does…
sleep? you want me to sleep?
now please excuse me while i search for a kleenex and ring the snot out of my sleeve.
Have a Sip
