a wee bit stressed.

um.
so.
yeah.

Money is getting a wee bit tight.
Oh, we're fine. RIGHT now.
BUT.
If anything happens in any of the tomorrows that stretch out before me, we might be in a bit of a pickle. Or up a creek without a paddle...or a boat. Or unable to count any eggs in a basket we have on loan.

I'm a wee bit stressed. It's one of those things I've tried to just kind of let my mind glaze over in fragmented thoughts...oh, this will happen.... If we can just...then we'll...and it'll be okay...and really we're gonna start...

but the glaze is getting a bit watered down over here and I'm starting to see things a bit too clearly.

I'm trying not to worry about it - I've seen God's work in our finances before. He can write a pretty hefty paycheck just any ol' time. And he has. I have no doubt that he'll take care of us.

BUT.

we have to do our part, right?
(insert parable of the talents analogy)
We have to spend better.
Save more.
Waste less.
and, simply, Make more.
God can totally pay all our bills and then some, but I don't think he just hands it over without us doing our fair share.

So, Sprinkle is going to have to go crazy. I'm cranking it up a notch...i don't really know how yet, but, oh, it's crankin'!
I think I'm going to actually look into the teaching-writing-to-homeschoolers idea. I get little butterflies of excitement about that idea.
I might try to sell some artsy photographs somehow...how, i don't know. But I think I'd love trying. I REALLY get butterflies over this idea.
And I have about, oh, a dozen or so, other ideas bouncing around in this flighty brain of mine.

It'll be okay.
I just like to know how, you know?
But we'll be fine.

i'm just a wee bit stressed. Today.

But tomorrow...Tomorrow is a whole new day...

I know how some of you feel about this.

I know you may not approve.
You think it's distasteful.
A few of you may have done it yourself a time or two. You'll be on my side.
but this will definitely shock a few of you.
But i need to let you know...

I got a tattoo.

Yep.

I now have two jack-o-lanterns and two bats on my left bicep.

Courtesy of Mason. He's a great tattoo artist.
Oh, and I went ahead and splurged on a black cat for my right calf.

I'm so cool now. Try not to be envious. : )

(I had to have at least a few of you fooled for a second, right?)

help.

I need help.
Please suggest songs that would be appropriate for family slideshows.

I can find dozens upon dozens of songs for engagements.
but none for families.

Apparently singing about the idea of loving someone forever is better than a song about what that actually means. : )

So please help.
I can't send another slideshow with better together or these are the moments. I'll vomit.

(and if i browse around on itunes or amazon music anymore my family will have to sell the house. Going to those sites without a song in mind is like going to the grocery store without a list. You get all sorts of great junk...that you totally don't need. )

I feel the need to update...

But I have nothing to say.

still.

I thought titling a post would help. Nope.

Um...Mason's a bugcatcher for Halloween. His choosing.
Grant's a child who doesn't like halloween costumes.

I need to edit three photo shoots. eek.

uh...

I ran 5.38 miles yesterday in 45 minutes.

grant is taking steps!

I need a new sitter for tuesdays and thursdays...any takers? 20 bucks a day...?

I bought the most perfect pair of heel jeans today. I mean perfect. Love them. LOVE them. Did not need a new pair of jeans, but i mean really. They're jeans. I'll wear 'em. I think I'm going to some store tonight just to wear them.

What can I do with that piano picture?

I cried the other night in hastings reading a book about norman rockwell. Silly me. It had his illustrations paired with photographs similar to his work. I'm just hopelessly american.

I need curtains for my office.

I think Yahoo is single-handedly fueling the stock market crash with their end-of-the-world headlines paired with images of traders looking like they just saw the face of death.

I miss teaching writing. I don't miss teaching. I miss teaching WRITING. Do you think Homeschoolers would pay me to teach a creative writing class...probably not.

I think I'm going to start selling artsy photographs. It can't hurt, right?

(see i told you the yahoo headlines are getting to people. I'm searching high and low for ways to make it through the tough times...)

I made my husband's day today by answering the question, "How is my fantasy football team doing?" with the words, "Well, drew brees is having a good day so probably pretty good." I think he fell in love with me all over again. (To be honest though, that response was a TOTAL shot in the dark. one, I didn't know for sure that drew was his qb, and two, I certainly had no clue how he was actually playing.)

And look at that. Surprise surprise! I found something to say. : )

Because I need a break from editing people...

And because I love this quote... and ronald reagan...and this dusty piano that sits outside every day...

Happiness.

This is grant at his happiest - he's got food, his "pappy" and a sippy cup with a straw. Following this meal, he got to do two of his favorite things - take a bath and read stories with mommy.
And, for the record, he loves to hold the fork, stab it at his food, but doesn't quite get the food on the fork or to his mouth.

I love Madison.

Mason asked me how to spell "I Love Madison" about two weeks ago. After a brief discussion on the definition of love and coming to the conclusion that he loved her like a friend, I conceded and spelled the sentence. Since that time, "Madison" has been scrawled on our sidewalk, on little itty bitty price tag stickers, on notecards, notepads, homework...just about any surface. Sometimes it's "like". Sometimes it's love. Sometimes it's just Madison.

Yesterday, when I picked him up from school, we were walking by another class when he said, "bye Madison." I said, "which girl is Madison?" He pointed and she waved. She was pretty stinkin' cute so I said, "wow. She is a cutie." Mason, without missing a beat, looked at her, nodded and said, "I told ya."

***
His favorite game to play right now is "what does d-e-l-l spell? What does o-c-t-o-b-e-r spell? what does.... spell? He just sees a word, says the letters and then asks what it spells? Now, this is great and I'm so excited that he loves learning and can identify not only every letter, but where words begin and end, but have you ever tried concentrating on even the most simple of tasks while "reading" words being spelled to you? It's exhausting.

***

He can recognize numbers now - big ones like 87 and 103. He can count to who knows what. He can sound out almost anything that is spelled like it sounds. i.e. swift. but not swat. He adores his teacher. He is just so big. His face is grown up. His little hands are big boy hands. The way he understands sarcasm and jokes. He's just so big. And I just love him so...