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Howdy, Strangers. Today’s the 12th, which means it’s that time again. We’ll just ignore the fact that I’ve ignored the internet for the past month, shall we?
This month, all photos are SOOP – Straight Out Of [my simple little] Phone. No fancy iPhone or Windows Phone or Apps or Photoshopping. Just some good, old-fashioned grainy snapshots.
8:29 am – After we drop Nicolas off at band practice three mornings a week, Kalen gets some piano practicing in before school. I love everything about this photo, including the graininess. It reminds me of snapshots from the 70’s. Notice the giraffe keeping him company on the keyboard.
9:06 am – Driving through a valley on my way to a doctor’s appointment. The valley’s fields, to my left, were completely encased in fog. The road was clear.
9:07 am – This was the scene to the right of my car on the same stretch of road. Not a wisp of fog! Very odd.
9:17 am – This office has an unusually broad variety of magazines.
9:25 am – I couldn’t resist a shot of this guy while I was waiting for the doctor. I think he needs a visit to the chiropractor. That twist can’t be comfortable.
11:50 am – Post-doctor, post-workout, leaving the gym. Not a good shot of the building, but an inadvertent self portrait.
3:38 pm – The usual pile of backpacks et al to be found by the playground after school on a non-rainy day.
4:18 pm – Happy place. I impulse-bought a papaya.
4:23 pm – Autumn in the Pacific Northwest, and Daylight Saving Time is over. Hence sunset in the mid-afternoon.
5:58 pm – Coming out of Occupational Therapy, the moon was much prettier than my little phone could capture.
8:37 pm – We got the first couple of seasons of The Muppet Show and have been sharing them with the boys. The guest stars and musical numbers are hilarious in their outdatedness, but Waldorf and Statler never go out of style.
9:41 pm – This is Otis. I love Otis.
Okay, forget what I said yesterday about two posts in one day. I was tired. Plus, I barely got all twelve photos in before hitting the hay.
8:12 am – Dinner being put in the Crock Pot. Verdict: YUM. So good.
11:02 am – Heading home from my dietitian appointment with ‘The Skinny on Fat’. Literally. That’s what this packet is called.
1:46 pm – A replacement for our often-used, well-loved, and getting-frighteningly-hot-on-the-outside-whenever-we-use-it Crock Pot. The locking handles sold us – great for office chili cook-offs!
4:02 pm – Homework time. (In his favorite shirt again!)
4:45 pm – Rushing out the door for a busy evening, homework in hand.
5:04 pm – This is how Nicolas spent Kalen’s piano lesson time.
5:45 pm – Piano lesson’s done, now to the pool for swim lessons. The smile is because he loves both!
6:56 pm – Jason got to the pool at 6:30, so I could run home, eat one of the chicken breasts from the Crock Pot, and get to the PTA board meeting at 7:00. Like I said, one of those busy evenings. Thankfully, the PTA board is all busy moms, so I wasn’t the only one eating dinner while standing at the kitchen counter before showing up a couple of minutes late.
9:0o pm – What I found when I got home. He’ll sleep through anything, including the flash.
10:31 pm – A recent remake of The Music Man, starring Matthew Broderick and Kristen Chenoweth. I love them both, and their singing was great, but the acting was…uncomfortable to watch. It probably didn’t help that we watched the original just last weekend. The kid playing Winthrop sounded remarkably like Ronny Howard, though.
10:40 pm – Filling in a few blanks before bed.
10:58 pm – Last thing before setting the alarm clock and going to sleep – check my day’s steps. My daily goal is 5,000, outside of any formal workouts. Not too shabby!
That’s it! My day. Unexciting, but certainly not boring. Click here to visit Chad’s site and take a World Tour of October 12.
Don’t you love a lazy Sunday?
8:35 am – Drip, drip, drip. My favorite thing to see when I stumble into the kitchen. No, we don’t keep the clock set on the coffee pot. I try to remember to unplug it to save energy.
11:54 am – Jason must have someone from one of these teams on his fantasy team.
1:06 pm – I love these dying hydrangeas from the front yard.
1:06 pm – …and these fresher ones. From the same bush. There’s great contrast out there right now.
1:16 pm – Reading time. Some books never get old.
2:58 pm – Nicolas had his first trumpet lesson on Saturday. This picture makes me so happy.
4:34 pm – Kalen has gotten into The Sorcerer’s Stone, so we started him on his own collection of the series. Another picture that makes me so happy. (Beth, that’s still his favorite shirt!)
4:57 pm – Bicycle racks shaped like bicycles! Cute, until your goofy mom insists you pose with them for a photo. That’s going on her blog. At least Kalen seems to be going for it.
5:07 pm – He is really into this book. He maintained this position for the entire ride. Note the death grip on his new bookmark.
5:07 pm – Nicolas got a few new-to-him Choose Your Own Adventures. Vintage 1980’s!
6:29 pm – Playing with my new toy after a stop at the mall.
8:21 pm – The aftermath of a collage assignment for school.
And that was our 12th! A much-needed day of relaxation. Check out how the rest of the world wiled away their Sunday over at Chad’s.
Yay for memes! Thanks, Chad, for giving me posting motivation.
9:18 am – Good morning!
9:46 am – Heading out for the boys’ annual portrait together. We’ve done one every summer since we’ve had both of them.
11:20 am – Post-portrait lunch at Ruby’s. I think they’d had enough smiling for the camera at this point.
12:43 pm – Ruby’s delivers on kids’ distractions. These are even better than the masks we used to get at Denny’s back in the day. Anyone remember those?
12:46 pm – Our library system has really cool automated return machines.
2:25 pm – This is disturbing.
2:59 pm – Scenes like this make me wonder where my babies went.
4:14 pm – Have I mentioned the very cool playgrounds we have here?
4:28 pm – Jason likes them, too.
4:28 pm – Let’s call this “motion blur,” not “point and shoot with no time to change the shutter speed.”
4:30 – Proof I was there, too! (What is with my neck?!?)
11:07 pm – What he said! (Is it me, or does he look like he could be filling in for Gene Kelly? Gotta dance!)
Happy 12th, everyone!
8:08 am – Coffeecoffeecoffeecoffeecoffee. It’s not quite the same as getting the real thing at the shop, but it’s better than nothing. (Dunkin, you’re welcome to start opening up West Coast shops any day now. We miss you.)
9:23 am – I’m mildly obsessed with Blomqvist and Salandar these days. I wonder if I’ll be able to hold out for the third episode to be published in paperback.
10:44 am – An R2D2 playdough set. I could not resist it when I was shopping for Kalen’s birthday. As expected, it was instantly embraced — not only for its playdough possibilities, but also as a vehicle for the Lego Star Wars guys to ride in.
2:51 pm – Nicolas working on his new “Color Your Own Graphic Novel.” Hound of the Baskervilles, no less. The child adores Sherlock Holmes. (I’m laughing at the pile of books next to him. Guns, Germs & Steel and The Giving Tree. A family assortment, obviously.)
3:49 pm – A quick snack before heading off to work on bike-riding skillz.
3:59 pm – I was sufficiently proud enough of my accomplishment to document my own mad skillz. In this case, the “I don’t need instructions or a man around to figure out how to untangle this contraption I’ve never touched before and get it properly mounted, dammit!” skillz.
4:37 pm – Unfortunately, between our lost bicycle pump and our friends’ broken one, the biking didn’t happen. The boys weren’t too disappointed.
4:53 pm – Jason stopped by to drop off the bicycle helmets that were in his trunk.
5:34 pm – He also dropped off an iced mocha, which was not long for this world. Thank you, sweetie!
6:47 pm – The real reason we needed the helmets. The boys had their first-ever ice skating lesson. Considering the tears of frustration from Kalen at an ice skating birthday party two months ago, I was surprised to see such a happy face for the whole lesson. Surprised but thrilled!
6:48 – Is this the boy who wouldn’t try anything new or difficult for so many years?? I was bouncing on the bleachers to see them putting in such good effort and having so much fun.
6:58 pm – With their buddies at the rink. I think we can mark this day down as a win.
For more 12 of 12 action from around the world (literally!), check out Chad’s place.
Doh! I saw Chad’s 12 of 12 reminder on Twitter as we were sitting down to dinner. It’s an amazingly gorgeous day in Seattle (73 and sunny!), and we spent the morning garage saling. What a great 12 of 12 opportunity, right? Oops.
Oh, wait…the sun doesn’t set ’til after 9 o’clock! Here you go, pics* of our garage sale finds of the day:
#1 – Found at the first garage sale of the day. Brand new. Box has never been opened. $10. Way to start the day off on a high note, eh? I was pretty darned excited. Still am, actually! The boys also walked away from this sale with a couple of old Happy Meal toys, free. Yippee.
#2 – Two sales later, and lookie here! 50 cents. Perfect! It’s a bread-slicing guide, so my new homemade loaves can be sliced evenly for sandwiches. When Garage Sale Stars Align.
#3 – Same sale, $5. Great condition. Jason and I are both looking forward to using this one. The boys found a plastic play kitchen at this sale – cue major whining and begging. “We don’t have anywhere it will fit,” is apparently not a good enough reason not to buy it. The whining, on the other hand…perfect reason!
#4 – The next sale, a moving sale at the home of some folks from school. We love Cranium games. $2.
#5 – Again, brand-new, at the school folks’ sale. $1, I think? I’d been meaning to buy some, anyway. My doctor recommended it as an easier alternative to the neti pot.
#6 – On the way out of that subdivision, we saw a sign reading “Sample Sale – $5.00 ea.” And here you go. A brand-new windbreaker for Jason.
#7 – A cookie dough scoop. Not something I ever thought I would spend money on, but for 25 cents? Sold.
#8 – A really nice set of old field glasses, at the same sale. $5. I would’ve tried to talk them down, but the sale was being run by an 83-year-old woman and her husband, and they were obviously so tired; I felt they were earning their money today! Garage sales are hard work, after all. When I suggested that from this point on, maybe they should just drop their stuff at Goodwill, she grinned and replied, “Or just leave it and let the kids deal with it when we’re gone! Don’t let my daughter hear me saying that…”
#9 – After lunch, I took the boys on a few errands. They’re both going to birthday parties this week. We love buying stuff at garage sales, but you rarely find gift-appropriate (i.e., new or like new) items for kids at them. Target and Party City to the rescue!
#10 – On the way back from Target et all, I spied more signs, so I dragged the kids to three more sales. More whining…until we found this! I paid $4 for it…and realized when I went to take this photo that I’d misread the ‘1’ as a ‘4’. Big-time oops!! Oh well, even at $4, it’s still a good deal.
#11 – Especially since we got this for $1 at the same sale! I’ve been eyeballing this game at Target for months, and haven’t felt like dropping the money on it. Happy dance!
#12 – Okay, not a garage sale find. I found this one at a college football game nearly 17 years ago. He’s repairing the windshield wiper motor on his car. And I enjoy watching him do so. I think I’ll go see if I can help.
Happy 12th!
*SOOC…Photoshop has been throwing a fit; I can’t get it to open any files. I wonder if it heard about my brief affair with Picnik last week…
Happy May! I know, I said I’d see you after the afghan’s done, and it certainly isn’t, but yesterday was the 12th. You know what that means…
8:44 am – Heading out to school. A few minutes late. And we still had to go back for something. Good thing I have extra time built in with our 8:40 departure time.
1:38 pm – Bits of the aforementioned afghan. It’s coming together! (See below)
1:44 pm – Calling to schedule my first physical therapy appointment. It’s only thirteen years overdue.
4:15 pm – Homework time. Exciting spelling words.
5:08 pm – Since the boys don’t have portable gaming systems, they take books in the car. We gave Nicolas this one for his tenth birthday. The verdict: “So far, it’s good.” Goblet of Fire is hiding behind it.
5:28 pm – In the waiting room prior to Nicolas’s occupational therapy appointment. It’s a fun waiting room.
5:46 pm – Gorgeous afternoon, so I dragged Kalen out for a jaunt around the block while Nicolas was inside. Neither of us was dressed appropriately. Thankfully, it was a small block.
6:22 pm – Back inside to wait. They have an assortment of donated books in the waiting room. I’m looking forward to finishing this one on days like this when I remember my crocheting but forget the instructions. (Doh!)
6:39 pm – Winter’s over. Methinks it’s time for a pedicure. (My new flip-flops are supposed to tone my legs and rear end. That’s an awful lot to ask of these cute & comfy shoes!)
7:07 pm – Choosing to counteract whatever toning the flip-flops are doing with a little Teriyaki takeout. Num Yummy.
7:10 pm – My Mothers Day presents are getting a lot of play time in the car. Unexpected benefit: the boys are requesting Defying Gravity every time we get in, so I get to hear Chris Colfer’s glorious voice over and over.
7:51 pm – The afghan! There’s another row on it as of this morning. Several more to go.
12 of 12 is Chad‘s baby, and 2010 is the last year for it! *sniff* Go check out other 12ers here.
Horror of horrors! I actually forgot about 12 of 12 today, until I saw Helen’s post. Oopsie.
(Aside: I adore Helen’s posts. Love them. Gorgeous photography. In London. J’adore. Or, more appropriately, I love. But I think I already said both.)
So, at about 5:15, I grabbed my camera and went on a tour of our yard. With the macro setting on. (Love that little tulip!)
(Note: WordPress is doing that weird “compress the photos and make them look blurry” thing again. If you click on them, you can see them full-sized and crisp. Thanks!)
You’ll find a recurring theme here, entitled “I don’t really know what this one is,” but I know several of you are gardeners and will happily fill me in! (Matt? Angelina? Dj? Pretty please?)
Don’t know…the buds sure are pretty, though!
Clover! And grass! Bow to my botanical prowess…
Dandelion, in the puffy stage. (The “parachute” stage, according to Wikipedia. Learn something new every day!)
C is for Conifer.
Tulip! I kind of expect it to start singing…
No clue, but I like the speckled leaves.
I admit it — this one’s not on macro setting. I’m also pretty sure of the genus. Nicolas Homeworkus, yes? Finest specimen I’ve ever seen.
More green leaves! (We have a few of ’em.)
Ooh, a succulent! I’d never noticed this before today. Funny how a camera leads you to new [in]sights.
And this, my dears, is what happens when you don’t get around to dead-heading or pruning your hydrangeas. Prettier in the picture than in real life. Trust me.
Moss on stick. Love the colors!
For more 12 of 12 action, check out Chad’s place.
It’s that time again!
8:28 am – It’s 50’s day at school! That curl gets me…
11:28 am – (Yep, I’d forgotten until now that it’s the 12th. Oops.) Woot shares vintage Sesame Street songs.
12:01 pm – Two little guys I crocheted last week. Ollie’s on the left, and on his way to his new home. Guy (pronounced in the French style) is on the right.
1:13 pm – Back from a quick trip to the library. Look for some more Aimee Reads in the near future!
1:13 pm – I found the box of vintage sheet music last weekend. Most of the pieces in this pile belonged to my grandmother. They have her maiden name written on them, which was then crossed out and replaced with her married name. When It’s Springtime in the Rockies actually has my great-grandmother’s name handwritten on it!
1:54 pm – Package wrapped up and ready to ship to L.A.
2:29 pm – I was sitting at my desk, when the room suddenly became VERY dark. The sky had gone from brightly overcast to this in seconds.
2:32 pm – Hello, my name is Aimee, and I have a paper problem.
3:12 pm – Much better! Just stuff to be shredded now.
3:30 pm – Met up with my friend J at school. LOVE her sparkly Converse!
5:59 pm – I just love waiting on hold.
6:46 pm – Gelled hair for 50’s Day + Dad messing with you = Young Einstein
Have a great March, everyone! Check out other 12’s here.
It’s Midwinter Break! The kids are off school for five days! Let’s keep them busy…
10:20 am – We’re off to a good start…me hiding in the bedroom with Betty and a cup of coffee.
10:38 am – “Kalen, your hair looks so nice; let’s take a picture!”
11:55 am – Lunch with Dad at work.
1:02 pm – Saying goodbye, so Dad can actually get some work done.
1:34 pm – After a quick stop at the thrift store. How to make kids happy for only $3.20.
1:54 pm – At Goodwill. I’ve been looking for a console to makeover as a TV stand. This isn’t quite right, but for $6.50(!), I can make it right.
2:24 pm – Back home…anyone know what this bush is? It’s gorgeous…
3:10 pm – Taking photos for yesterday’s post.
4:55 pm – Those of you who follow me on Twitter know what’s wrong with this picture. I was. not. happy that we didn’t get to see the Ceremonies live.
5:14 pm – Bunk beds = jungle gym. (Hmm…I really should repaint those so they match one of these days.)
7:20 pm – I couldn’t watch them live, but I cast on while they were going on, anyway. This is the beginning of my scarf for The Knitting Olympics.
11:37 pm – 46 rows done.
Happy 12, everyone, and thanks to Chad, as usual!
In THIS Life 