bad/good

Bad news: Beatrice found my iPad.
Good news: she left me alone to make brunch and get on the computer.

Halloween is always* hot.
Good news: my flapper dress is sleeveless.
Bad news: I have to wear two layers of shapewear** to make it work.

*99% of the time.

** commonly known modernly as Spanx, or classically as a "girdle"

Happy Halloween.
It's Today.
Sunday.
The Thirty-First.

Fraud

In the same week that my cell phone company randomly charged me two hundred dollars for no reason, I get a fraudulent charge on my check card from Chick-Fil-A. It turns out that someone has made a "copy" of my check card (how the hell does that work) and used it. But this makes more questions that it answers. And now I have no check/debit card for a week, which is definitely a hardship; I may even have to go to the bank and use cash!

accomplished

I accomplished at least two things today: I sewed a hole up in my skirt (while I wore it and with the "wrong" color thread) and I took the kids to the beach by myself. We went to pick up Harrison from the state park, and I thought, while we were there...And Oh, it was a great time! I almost felt like a good mom, for a little while.

I have a another beautiful, un-posed picture of the boys against the fence, eating Halloween candy, three years ago. At the time, I wished for a daughter so much, and so hard that it was eating me alive. And here she is!
Of course, I would have preferred for her to arrange herself without a lightsaber and a ball, but....

Oh, and the other picture is one of the many random ones my phone takes.

hoctober

I know it is hot
and the sun in too sunny;
Life will still suck,
but it will be very funny.

schooled

This was a video I took accidentally on the first day of school. I do that sometimes; our hand-me-down digital camera (i.e. from a hotel's lost and found) is very tempermental; sometimes it won't take pictures at all. (no wonder someone didn't claim it).
So, school has been in session nearly a month. Funny how fast this month has gone by, compared to how long the summer months seemed. "There's nothing like the first morning the kids are back at school "
So says the sultry pampered mom on my "Retro Mama" calendar. I guess that mom didn't still have two little kids/babies at home!
The boys new school is going...well. Okay? Fine? Good. H was making good grades, until I made the mistake of telling someone that. A is up to his old habits, but this time the teacher listens and communicates with me. L is....himself. Happy and Lazy, and sometiems Sleepy, like three of Snow White's little people rolled up in one.
I still think they have too much homework, but I think they all (except maybe H) shouldn't have any at all. I wish I could focus on the lack of homework in the summer as a positve, but anyone who knows me could see where that would go (I'm often characterized as a "negative" person, who only focuses on "negative" things).

My kids have always rode the bus. And I mean ALWAYS. No buses at a charter school! So, I'm getting used to the picking up and dropping off, but it really cuts into my martini drinking on both ends.

summer storm

Lightening struck our lake at least twice last night. Lots of geese squawking and kid crying ensued, but the muscovy ducks seem to be all alive. They will live through the End of the World, al;ong with Palmetto Bugs and the legos in the floor of my garage.

I abandoned my blog in December out of my (annual) christmas depression.

What a mistake! I missed the oppurtunity to discuss many things, including my precious daughter's first birthday and her first steps that took place 6 weeks earlier. (During a snowstorm, no less!)

Now the boys are home for summer vacation and balancing home/family life and work is more precarious than ever. Summer is a difficult time; because of the heat, the children are trapped inside and my dh works oh, about 80 hours a week. I still squeeze in a part time job, also.

Now that B. is older, I unfortunately have the leisure time to focus on my growing unhappiness with many things: Job/non-existent career, our marriage, family, religion, debt and etc.

Should make for good times.

I abandoned my blog from Christmas depression and out of passive agression. I've made my choices in life, and I have to accept them, and not blame other people.