Ahhh. Another Year Of Torture Is Complete.
The Benches are back. And I finally got an afternoon free, with all of us, for the annual “Kick-Scream-Drag Summer Event”. The official name, per the Tinley Park village program is “Benches On The Avenue” with the theme this year being “Fairy Tale Festival”. As usual, no one wants to go. And no one wants to take pictures. I was lucky to get this happy girl right at the beginning. The boy wouldn’t even let me get near him with the camera. And yes, I bring the actual camera for these, which just causes more complaining and whining about “why can’t I just use my phone??” and “we look like *swear word* idiots out here” and “why do we have to do this every year??” and, finally, “it’s so *swear word* hot out here!! Uugghh!!” Then I tell them to be quiet. and don’t swear because there are little kids around and don’t be such babies. Then I tell them how old they are to remind them. This year it’s 14 and 15. Then they just say it’s stupid and they are not doing this and walk ahead. Here is that annual picture:
But eventually the heat, and the mile or two of walking, gets them, and they have to return to the mother ship, weak and weary and beat down. Then they just shuffle quietly along side of me while I take my pictures and talk to the air around their heads. It’s a beautiful thing. And the temperature wasn’t even 100 degrees. So I don’t even know what they are complaining about.
Here is an actual bench:
This is, The Prince and the Dragon. There are 20 of them according to the village website. You can look there, and read more about this yearly event, by clicking here. I’m not sure how many of them I took pictures of. I think all of them, but I will have to go to the folder and count. I will put them up here as I have time to post. That was yesterday. Today was the zoo. Oh yeah. More heat. More walking. More pictures with the camera. The two things I like to make the kids do every year. Done. It’s going to be a busy picture posting week. The children are currently laying around the house in various, frequently changing locations, in the air conditioning, waiting for the BF to come home so we can go eat dinner. They’re “ttt-iii-rrr-eee-ddd”. But say that in a whiny, sing-song voice and you’ll feel the mood over here. And it was only 97 degrees this afternoon. With a breeze. Practically a cold snap. Cry babies. XO XO, my little darlings. Until next year…
Happy Birthday Sister!
It’s hard to follow a gripping snake and bunny story, but here you go. Since you don’t get your own party, ever(!), I will give you your own post. I like this picture and it will be a permanent record of your youth, which is slowly slipping away, as you painfully crawl, another year, towards 40. Hee hee. I went to the beach with the kids on Monday, and I found that orange bikini I wore to Las Vegas, with you, and our 30-year-old asses. Such a painful memory. Such a long time we had to stay in the pool waiting for those shmoes to move away from us. Such rockin’ bodies we had. Ha ha. Anyhow, I vowed this new day to wear that bikini again. And in Vegas. What’s your ETA on bikini body ready? Or are you just like, whatevs, let the flabs fly, now that you are approaching middle age? Hardy har. Morghan took a nice beach shot of me and the kids. It’s good because you can’t really see me. My favorite kind of picture. I’ll post it later though, so this can be all about you. Let’s make another memory shall we? Only this time it will be with 40-year-old asses. And our faces. Have a fab day doing whatever you are doing. I hope the air is warm, the pool is cool, the hubby is hot and the kids are somewhere else. I even have an awesome present for you this year! See you in a few days. XO.
Underwater Update
The last of the Kentucky shots. The waterproof case seems to have held up well. It got taken to the beach when the kids got back but the pictures were all out of the water. Sand, pebbles, waves, shoreline…the usual. Nothing shared at this point, but it always takes a few days for the complete phone empty and picture dump because my daughter literally takes hundreds at a time. And now that my son has his new camera, I mean phone, the kid-view pics should double. I saw some already, (pretty good stuff), but he hasn’t forwarded them. Plus, he’s not happy today because football camp started again and he has to go sweat in the hot and humid, dreary morning. The problems of high school at 15. I wish. I have to go to the eye doctor, take a shower, remove body hair, do the laundry, clean the house, go to work, pay the bills, cook dinners; Ho hum. Problems at 40. (Plus. Yes, plus. I know. I can almost hear my sister snorting on the 40 thing. I am over 40, but just barely, and I can still technically round down.) Here’s the kids. The girl is above. The boy is below. Later.
Searchin’ For You…In The Cold Kentucky Rain…
It’s not raining and it’s not cold in Kentucky today. But every time the kids show me a picture of their grandma’s dock and water, I think of that Elvis song. This is the first picture my son, read it again, my son, sent me from his new phone. He was the only one in our very crazy, extended, mixed-up marriage family, that did not have a smart phone. He is on his dad’s contract and had to wait for his upgrade, and it’s finally here. Good fortune too that he got it in Kentucky. Lots of good stuff to take pictures of. Like the above for instance. Sometimes you need a little boost from technology to enhance the natural talent. My kids definitely have something. Anyway, in case you were wondering he also has the Galaxy S4. He deserves to have something really great once in a while. Hopefully there will be more pics I can share. I saw my daughter posted some more underwater pictures. I am hoping to get those too and then I will get back to posting all the stuff I said I was going to post. The pics are all ready. I’ve been working on the ideas and set up for a week now, but I chose to be social and go out and hang with the BF this weekend. Now it’s Monday. And I have to work every day. But I seem to accomplish more in my tight schedule, so, expect greatness. No, wait. Let’s not over sell this. Expect…”good”ness. And some interesting visuals. Time is almost up. Thank you, my son, for the beautiful picture! Daughter, send me those swimming shots! Everyone else, have a fab day in the temperate weather. This holiday week is supposed to be nice. Get out in it, but be safe. Later.
And Meanwhile, Driving Down To Kentucky…
This was about 2 pm, Saturday, driving down, what I assume to be, I57, near the town of Mattoon. The kids are on their way to grandma’s with their dad. No one confirmed location for me, but the fastest way south is 57 from here. My daughter took this picture while it was happening. It’s a really good picture. Especially from a moving vehicle. She said it was only a funnel cloud when they saw it and she got a picture of it going back up. But I like this one. Very impressive. Then it hailed and rained so hard they couldn’t see and then it cleared. She texted, word for word, “It’s done now. Clear as a bell perfect now!” She sent a picture of the blind windshield but it’s just a grey square that kind of looks like smeary, foggy rain. This is the next picture she sent:
The girl takes good pictures. I almost feel bad that while the kids are driving through weather and tornadoes, me and the BF are at the liquor store buying all kinds of alcohol for the BBQ we are going to later, and then something for the rest of the weekend. Without children. Eh. Life. I took equally stunning pictures of the new wines I just bought to try out, and then later, post and share my opinions with you, good people. Let me end this with the last two pictures she sent me, because they are also really good, and she knows that I LOVE pictures of the sky and clouds. And you probably, secretly, like them too or you wouldn’t have kept reading! It’s OK. I thank you! Thank you thank you every day! It’s a peculiar world, this blogging, internet place; big and diverse, the way I like most things, but still managing to feel close and intimate, like we are all sharing this life through our words and images, the way we are taught that we could, if we lived in an ideal world. Hmm. Not one drop to drink yet, I swear it. Anyway, the sky…I’ll take the pics (or my daughter will), and you can look and move on. No one ever has to know. But we’ll know. Here is the first, with her comment, also word for word, “Look at that fat ass cloud.”:
And the last, below, is just one of the sky. I assume it’s off to the side. It’s very pretty for some reason. Good color/contrast and lighting I think. If I don’t get back here tonight, be careful all. Weather or not, Saturday in the summer can be tricky. Stay safe. Later.
Fleur Deux
Back from CPR. All renewed. Certified to save lives. Went to a late lunch with the kids. Bought a few groceries to make a dinner, but we’re all to full to eat anything else. Went to buy bird seed but they rearranged the Menard’s by our house and we couldn’t find any. Came home. Put cozy clothes on. Kids are lounging. The girl finished all of her thank you notes from the party last weekend-ago. 11 days. Not too bad. Will mail in the AM. Laundry is laundering. Will finish the extra chores tomorrow. That will be the last day off for me before the kids leave to go to Kentucky like they do every year for the Fourth of July. My number one thing to do tomorrow is…dunt dunt dunt….The Benches!!
My son hates hates HATES doing this yearly walkabout. Hates it. Hates it. I could never type it enough. But I make him go because I am creating memories. This is what I am talking about:
The Village of Tinley Park decorates park benches every year with a different theme then places them out on a main road in front of the businesses for all the people to see. We go every year and take pictures of them. We go every year. We walk. And take pictures. It was a free, and what I thought was a fun thing to do, with the kids when we were very poor. It’s still free. But now we get ice cream or some food after we walk. Even so, my son hates it. Hates doing it. Hates walking. Hates stopping to take pictures. He complained almost the entire time we were out last year. And I do mean, literally, complained and pissed and moaned for the ENTIRE time it took to walk up and down that main street. My daughter just goes along. And it’s only one time. When we are done, we’re done. It’s not like I go see them every week. Such hard lives. Lots of people walk the area to see them. It’s not like I am the only one, dragging listless, whiny, crying near-adult-teenagers along behind me. Anyway, these (above and below) are from last year:
It’s nice right? And HA! I just double-extra-bonus posted. Flowers/Nature AND The Benches. (They have their own category to the right there. Just click on “Big Benches” or here, and you can see all the different ones throughout the years.) It is additional credibility for my argument to continue our fine tradition, these pictures, posted online, for everyone to see and enjoy. In case you can’t get out or live too far away. It’s a public service we are providing. Now my kids can’t say that I, “never put them on the site anyway, mom, so what’s the point??” Ca c’est fin. That’s the end. Later.
Floating Rain Logs
Two extra days off. Let’s make the best of the free time. All the posts that I want. With all the pictures of nature that I have. Finish that laundry for good. Do all the chores on the list. Drag around the two kids, plus one, that I have for these two days. I inherited my brother’s step-daughter for a few days. And they want to go to the video store and rent The Walking Dead–Season 3. And get pizza.
If available. Otherwise scary movies. I’ve committed some of our night to The Dukes Of Hazzard movie, per my son. So, I will have plenty of time to get that laundry done and all the other stuff too. I wasted my last days playing this damn game:
I revamped my Tiny Village to make it more profitable and visually appealing. And since I’m anal and have OCD, it really took a lot of my time. Oh, and I have fishing day pics too. Less typing, more action. More later.
Daisy.
Full photo cred to Stevie. This is one quick post. Mostly for my cousins. They tell me that I never take enough pictures of flowers. Or the sky. Or the clouds. Or the moon. Guess what? I have all those and more! Let me just go to work today and I will post more on Sunday and Monday. Later!
Just One More Day…
We always want one more day. I wish I could win the lottery. I wish I was independently wealthy. I wish I had a rich uncle who left me a boatload of cash. I wish I was a housewife. Well, maybe not that last one. But we do always want just one more day off from work and life right? To go fishing and have long lunches. Today is Friday. Back to work for me. The BF is on his way home. The kids are now fully entrenched in The Walking Dead. The TV show. The girl just started watching it. The boy has been watching it. But now he’s watching it again with her. She is staying up late and having nightmares, but she won’t stop. She is stomping around the house, yelling at the TV when things are getting tense during an episode, but she won’t stop. My boy has to keep calling her back into the room so she doesn’t miss the next thing that is going to make her mad. She loves Daryll. She hates Rick. She hates Shane. But not really. She just doesn’t like them. But she loves loves loves Daryll. And Glen. And the blonde. It’s complicated. Apparently. I will say this show does inspire strong feelings. At least I know they will be fine when I leave. I think she is only at season 2. Plenty to keep them busy with. I have been up for a few hours and let me tell you, I think I got more done just this morning than I got done in the 2 days I was actually off. Why does it always work that way for me? Too much time and I do nothing. Not enough and I have it almost all done. Grass watered. Flowers revived (hopefully). Laundry nearly finished. That’s the surprising one. House is clean and I need to hop into the shower asap. At least I know that my house will stay clean because the kids probably won’t move now for the next 10 hours.
Alright. Let me wrap this up. I really got to go. I hope it rains just a little. My outdoor stuff needs that good rainwater. First day of summer. Do something fun. Here’s another pic from the fishing hole. FYI. We didn’t catch one darn fish. And, these are Stevie’s photos. All credit goes to her. Later.
Mason Skillz
https://vine.co/v/hB9211YrOBH/embed
Please click the above site! (And then click the screen if nothing happens right away.) Because I just cannot figure out how to get this video to show automatically. It’s only like, 10 seconds, but Mason created it! Just so you know, I typed this part after I typed all that below. So now, the rest of this post makes even more sense. And makes me feel even older. And lamer. Whatever.
Both my kids really use technology. They love it. They embrace it. They are comfortable with it. And they use it well. They really don’t have a choice these days because we are fast leaving behind anything that doesn’t involve the internet and a computer or smart device. And I am constantly playing catch up. OK. This is just a quick post because I am off today and my kids want to do something other than sit in this house. We are going old school. Getting some food and heading to the fishing hole. Really. We were going to go to the beach, but we are also very lazy and did not get up with purpose today. Except Mason. Credit to him because he went to football camp and we layed around like vegetables. And now he is done until after the holiday. Good job. He looks good too. Anyway, we are going to go fishing like we used to when they were small. We mostly went because it was far enough away that they thought we were “going” somewhere and it was freeeeee! Now it’s just because we haven’t been there in a long time and it’s still freeeeeeeeee! That’s for the BF. Trying to spend less. Although the girl is already talking dinner, so…Without any more words. Later.
just shy of pretty 