Braids, Baseball & Bladder-trouble

We made our first attempt at braiding this week. She was awesome, sitting so still.

I found the trick was to give her rubber bands and let her "braid" mine too.

Looking in the mirror telling herself how pretty her hair is.

I put them in pig-tails, as they were sticking out crazy-like.

Our braids made their debut at an Osprey baseball game. (she loved popcorn and the mascot, Ollie, not so much the game though...)

We left the game with wet pants... ...poor Daddy's neck! Can you see she is plugging his ears? I imagine her thinking, "Maybe if he can't hear he won't know he's been peed on."

All good things must come to an end. Conditioner was a huge help in taking those little suckers out!

Leaping...

I am mailing one of the children's picture books I've written to Boyds Mills Press today.

Scary.

Thrilling.

Hand-wringing.

Laughable.

Believable.

BMP says it takes three months to get back to potential writers. That looks like mid-to-end of November.

Inside the Self-Addressed-Stamp-Enclosed envelope they send your manuscript back in if your story bombs, I put a sticky-note with my favorite quote and life-guide, "It is never too late to be what you might have been." (George Elliot) G.E. inspired me to go back to college, to get re-married, to adopt. His words fit many commencing moments in my life.

Today, I am leaping!

Estoy muy decepcionante!

Or, as you would say in English, I am very disappointed... ...in my recent putchase at Amazon Books.

Free time is a luxury for the adults in this house. My only selfish pursuit is book club. I love it. I crave it like I crave chocolate, coffee with creamer, hugs from loved ones.

This month's read is "Ana Karenina" by Leo Tolstoy. A mere 500'ish pages.

Book club is in NINE days.

I despise going to book club having not read the book.

I ordered "Ana" from Amazon many weeks ago and have yet to find a moment to crack it open.

Until today.

Clark took Sylvie-Aganoti to run errands. I had about two whole hours of me-time. I was not going to work on the house. I was not going to spend it in the kitchen cooking or cleaning.

I snuggled up in the office chaise lounge. Put on my glasses. Pulled up a blanket. Flipped the reading light on. Peeked past the cover for the very first time...

...and

...IT IS IN SPANISH.

AAAARRRRRRGGGGGGGG to Amazon Books!!!! Leo best captures my feelings writing, "Oh, why didn't I die? It would have been better!"- Book 4, Ch. 23

Does anyone have a spare copy of "Ana Karenina"?

Life Jacket!

Sylvie-Aganoti quickly accustomed to the lake rule that young ones must don a life jacket prior to leaving the lake house. She loved boat rides. She loved throwing rocks into the water. Hence, she loved her life jacket.

Yesterday, Angela and I are at the Good Food Store with my sweetie pie for lunch. S-A yells, "Life jacket Momma! Life jacket, life jacket! Liiiiiiifeeee Jaaaaaaaaaaaacketttt!" I follow her pointing finger to a man who looks as if he just exited the emergency room. He is wearing a neck collar and back brace.

Life jacket.

Cute.

Why is it

that the threat of no more computer motivated me to paint the bathroom and finish the heat register in the office? Hmmm... ...this could be very, very useful.

Cut off!

There are vacation pictures to post, but they are stuck in Clark's camera for the time-being.

I notice that I am spending time on the computer in order to avoid painting the bathroom. The sad part of this is I already have one coat on it. Ok, it has been on for two months.

I am officially cutting myself off of the computer until that room is done, done, done...

Ahhhhhh...

...we are home. We had such a nice time and it is so good to be home. Little Sylvie-Aganoti is not the best traveler. More tomorrow!

We made it!

We are here (as of midnight last night). We enjoyed the Pacific Science Center all day, complete with a picnic in the Seattle Center park. Sylvie-Aganoti loved watching the fountains, and all of the people. Olivia is having her 2nd birthday tonight--afterward we will have some Ethiopian food for dinner. Soooo excited for that!