Serendipitous

I have had an amazing run of minor good luck and I don't want to gloat, but I do want to put my gratitude out into the world.  First, I did not need bifocals!  in 2011, he said next time I came in I would have to get them and so I did not go back for 4 years.  hahaha.  My prescription is unchanged, though I did get new glasses since they are covered every year.  They should have given me 4 pairs! hahaha.

I have a project I am working on and every snag I have had, I have been presented with the best possible solution-not just a good one, but the best.  I needed to get a few items and found most on eBay for well under my budget.  I have found a mentor, help when I needed it, information from the most bizarre of sources and inspiration to keep plugging away from all sectors so far.

My weight is sliding off.  5 pounds in the last 2 weeks, I am sticking to my exercise plan so well that I am surprising myself.  I usually slack via boredom if nothing else, but I wake up on pins and needles needing to get moving.  Sometimes at 3 a.m., but that's the way it goes with cyclothymia. I need to be more fit, so I am working at it.  I feel so grown up.  hahaha

Matt's raise went through.  Not in the 'it's on the paycheck' way, but it's been signed off on.  It was...not the amount I was hoping.  His concession is that he will be given the next PM slot that opens up and the bigger raise that goes with the promotion.  We will see. I have heard that one before.  There is another department talking to him, so who knows.  Something will happen.  Or it won't.

Ben and Chan were off most of the week, hanging out at the lake doing things that I am glad I found out about only after the fact.  Swinging off bridges, jumping off cliffs, being dragged behind a boat. All the stuff that makes for great kid memories and grey haired moms.  I hate that Jake had to miss out, I know his heart has been aching and I wish some of my recent luck would rub off on him.   If anyone needs to catch a break around here, it's The Boy.

Matt is playing in a new band.  Sadly, they already have drums in their practice space, so he does not need to move his out of the living room.  They start rehearsal tomorrow!  Speaking of music, I found my ocarina digging around today and was thrilled, but Ben heard me toot it maybe 2 times and swooped in, washed it and made off with it.  That's the keyboard, Jake's violin, Chan's mandolin, occasionally her uke, the drums for hours a day and now my tiny flute.  And Also Cornbread, of course.  He's NOISY for a kid who says 10 words a day.  He keeps asking for a 7/8 guitar and/or a cigar box guitar. I need to make that happen.

In the not-so-lucky arena, the chicken houses have ribs already.  Well, one anyway.  It's framed and waiting for piles of poop to accumulate so they can push it out into the fresh air and kill me with stink.  I am obsessed with the whole thing, they are building down in a pit, one rainy winter and every chicken out there will be drowned. AND the guy overseeing the building project is wearing a hoodie. It was 103 heat index by 8 a.m! I was at the track and about melted before I even hit 3 miles, drove home, slowed down to check things out a bit and BAM.  Dude's in a hoodie.  At least the new neighbors have gone quiet.  We thought they had moved out!

Quiet week here at the castle.  Grateful for no drama, hoping for a little more happy excitement soon.

Rites of Passage

I was talking to Jacki yesterday about the need for a continuation of rituals and acknowledgments for various milestones.  Yay, first steps and driving a car and first job.  But what about-first long ass chin hair from nowhere?  First gray pube?  Or what set the whole train of thought off for me-a long ass chin hair on my neck!  WHY?

There are many-first time your joints pop after sitting for more than 10 minutes, first time you realized you should have started using moisturizer sooner.  The first time you actually totally forget something and don't just say you did to get out of going. The first time you thought, "Eh, that's fine." when looking at your outfit that is more comfortable than fashionable.  Okay, well, that's been every day of my life so far, but for some-stretchy pants and a loose top are a revelation.  Or that day you look in the mirror and realize the stretch marks from having babies have faded to silver stripes all over your tummy and decide that it's fierce.  Like a tiger.  rawr.  A ghost tiger.  boorawr.  Practically a Marine.

When you first realized you will never be able to retire. When you looked at your child and they are the age you were when you were pregnant with them.  And they are so, so painfully young and mostly naive and you wonder how you both made it out alive.  Or wonder what the hell you were doing having sex at that age in the first place.

For Matt it's been the amazing crop of hair on his ears.  We named his first grey mustache hair after my mother, the second after an aunt and then there were too many.  He used to pull them out, but he'd look mangey at this point.

I dyed my hair (usually) back to it's natural field mouse brown until I was 40.  I did go off the rails a few times and hit red and in the summers it goes blonder by itself, but brown for the most part.  It's about 30% gray now and I can't decide which way to go.  I actually really like the silver, but silver and light brown are not pretty.  So I am adding the first time you decide to just leave it be for a while. Rest is healthy.

There are firsts for 20 and 30 year olds, too.  The first time you cleaned the whole house and it wasn't for company coming over.  The first time you got up early and got going on something for real instead of thinking about it.  The first time you saved up for a vacation and planned the whole thing. The first time you ended a relationship because it wasn't healthy any more.  The first time you realized no one really cares.

So, there are all kinds of rituals and traditions for all kinds of firsts.  But really-no one wants to see a pic of your scary eyebrow hair gone awry or anything else to do with aging because none of it is cute, at all.  We need some occasion markers!  I suggested rum and Coke and a nap for most events.  I am open for other suggestions, though there's little room for improvement there.  If it's early in the day, I guess vanilla syrup in Coke and a couple episodes of something not at all educational would suffice.  As long as the laundry is done.  I have yet to have my first, "Oh, that can wait" laundry moment.  The main thing is, plain Coke isn't enough.

Celebratory food suggestions: grilled cheese with pickled okra.  Tomatoes with goat cheese and arugula tossed in vinaigrette.  Brownies made with Red Stag in the place of water.  Corn chowder with rosemary crackers, chicken salad with grapes and spinach,  Baked fish and tater tots.  Okay, well, that's actually just my lunch menu for the week.  Though really, you can't go wrong with a grilled cheese and speaking of which, I met a friend for lunch last week in Athens and we ate at LuVicis and they grill their cheese in butter, it was ridiculously good.  Also, sweet potato fries. Afterward we went next door to the mercantile and I touched 500 things.  I don't have OCD (that way) I just like to touch stuff and they had a ton off it.

I will be thinking of ways to mark these uncelebrated firsts as I head out this afternoon for another 'first',  My very first set of bifocal glasses.

The Drums Return

Matt was rehearsing with a group of buddies and until schedules ripped the venture apart, for nearly a year there were no drums in the house.  The walk-in closet was walk-inable.

They returned over the long weekend and since then, Ben or Chan have been banging away on them, though to spare the gerbils their panic attacks, there are neoprene pads to muffle the volume.  Small animals drum to signal danger, but Chan's gerbs are so chill, I don't think they care something in the next room is warning of danger.  That's way in the other room, yo.

Since they returned home and took up real estate, I decided to wander through this morning while Ben and Chan were playing.  Then Ben skulked off to his room with Also Cornbread.  So I shot that, too.  I went for drama because-no photos for weeks.  It was time for me to play a bit as well.

drama

In other news, not much going on.  We have our vacation plan in place, which is to say my activity coordinator Katy has booked a house for us this fall.  I am looking forward to that quite a bit!  Between now and then, I have a few closer trips lined up.  I spent a few days REEEEEEEALLY thinking about hiking the JMT with a total stranger the whole month of August because she has a permit with an open slot. They are REALLY hard to get. In the end, reality hit and the cost factor was too great.  I don't have the gear to hike in the High Sierras for a month, or have a support system in place here.  My 25 year old backpack and $50 boots will just have to kick it local a while longer.

Lake Day (it finally happened)

I have been trying to get to the lake for the past 2 months. Puking children, wrecking vans and bad weather have all conspired against my efforts.  So, yesterday when we arrived at the marina, I was a little giddy.

We swam for a while, then took turns on the paddleboard and the older kids all took out a Jetski and zipped around and then Elan took all the double digit kids out on his pontoon for an hour or so and they swam more just not with any adults around.

bryozoan

Katy TOTALLY did not get how to stand on the paddleboard.

YOLO!
This is a super stable board, but that does not mean I actually stood on it.  You can paddle quite well on your knees!  It's a work out, my sides, abs and upper thighs are all hollering today.
It was the first time I have gotten to try one, I liked it-but not as much as a kayak!  Plus, I was VERY aware all the sharks in the lake thought I was a seal while I was on it.  My inner monkey is terrified of sharks.  LOL

The kids are scooting around to get gas at the marina, I handed off my camera to Chan and she took the underwater shots below of their adventures.

They got back safely and I got the camera back in time to paddleboard over and hang out while the fish were being fed,

And the turtles!
I was going to ferry Deb back to shore on the board and we tipped it over!  I had a good squeal thinking about that turtle up there chowing a toe.  eeeee!

Back at the house, we laid out food and made dinner and ate and chatted and finally headed back home around 9.  It was a great afternoon!  Lots of talking and planning going on!

Talladega National Forest: Coleman Lake Loop 2 miler

Many miles on a dirt road, Chan says 'solid inch of dust on our car!!'

Parking is at the swim beach, but no one would actually swim-Canada Poose live here.

Really random wall!

Bonus find, sensitive briar

So cool!

Lots of poking, looooots of poking

I really thought these were barnacles for a minute.

The trail loops the lake, there's a minor hill climb to the above high point, then it goes back down to skirt the lake.  There are several small bridges.

We saw turtles and frogs and heard all kinds of frogs calling back and forth.

There is not good fishing in this lake due to having to let the lake drain to fix a problem.  They are going to close down all fishing until 2017 to allow the restocked population to get established.

Tiny turtle!

Fishing bridge!

I loved the ferns!

We left the campground and headed back out to the main road to make our way home.

Coming out of the mountain roads to this view below of sun shining through trees was extra pretty!

These pics are from an earth cache in White Plains we stopped to solve,

It's a pretty walk on a pretty lake, the campground has power and water and is along the Pinhoti Trail.  It's also remote and you have to go on gravel roads to get to it,  People had campers back there and in fact, there are no tent pads, just paved spots, not sure you even can tent camp.  But hauling a camper back there would be scary!