Unicorns and Fairy Dust and a Quest

The league of magical creatures has petitioned to have Raikki's tongue designated as a safe landing zone, much like an aircraft carrier, as it is ridiculously long and wide and quite wet.
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I am petitioning to have my toe with the bone spur re-labeled a "Magical Unicorn Toe," because the bone spur actually looks just like a unicorn horn in the x-ray and it makes me feel less old and worn. I shall name him Fred, the Magical Unicorn Toe, and his very presence will make me run like the breeze on a mid-summer's evening.

I'm going to get a rainbow tattoo right on top of Fred. And then, when I run, magical fairy dust shall float about it and drift southward and all the oil in the Gulf of Mexico shall be instantly free of crude and Mark will have to back to towing around barges in New York.

No, I haven't been drinking.

Much.
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I'm heading south, myself tomorrow, though not as far as the Gulf. The boys and I will be spending a couple of weeks in Knoxville, to catch up with friends and neighbors and things we miss while living up here. Melinda and her ENTIRE CREW are heading up to the Smoky Mountains for vacation during the second week that we're there, so we'll be making a few quick trips up to the mountains, as well.

I'm only a teensy bit excited about that one.

Linda and the boys and I are going out on a Photo Walk on Saturday, to play with our cameras and have some fun - I'm really looking forward to it! I'm going to let the boys experiment with my old dSLR, as well as their point and shoot cameras - I can't wait to see what they come up with.

Of course, being in Knoxville means that I won't have access to internet like I do here, so things will slow down a bit here and on quirk. I'll find a few days in there that I can post, but it may be fairly sporadic...

Sooo...while I'm away, if you have a minute, feel free to drop me a comment or three and tell me how you're doing, okay?

I always miss you when I'm gone...

Delicate Flower? I Scoff at Your Description

After a three week break, I started running again. And all the men in my house rejoiced with the rejoicing of angels for BEHOLD!

Mama wasn't so grumpy anymore.

Can I get a hallelujah, people?

I went back to the orthopaedist today, just to make sure I wasn't likely to do any lasting damage, and basically what I found was...

...I'm not as young as I think I am. I've got a little plantar fasciitis, because my arches are extraordinarily high. Seriously. The doctor commented on it three or four times. I am a freakish high-arch medical marvel.

I've also got some tendinitis in my uh, tendon that goes around the ankle and up to the calf. The treatment is pretty simple - stretching, anti-inflammatory drugs, arch supports. I can keep running. (yay.)

I also have bone spurs in my other foot, at the joint where my big toe connects into my foot. Not BAD bone spurs, but they are there, nonetheless.

I asked the doctor how they form, and he smiled gently and said, "Oh, wear and tear...arthritis...age."

I laughed and asked him if that meant I was no spring chicken.

He gave me a rather enigmatic smile.

I cried.

Then I pulled myself up by my orthotic boot straps and hauled myself out to buy out the Dr. Scholl's arch support insert display. And you know what? Maybe I'll have to wear heavy-duty arch supports and stop wearing flip-flops and going barefoot all the time...

...but when I cross the line at the 5K in September?

It won't matter one bit.

Flamingo. Redux.

So this is the original sketch for the painting I posted on Thursday - I just transferred it to kraft paper and painted the pink and white parts with gouache, and left the blacks in pencil. I don't know why, but I like this more than the painting with the books. What do you all think?

See - here's what happens...I like to sketch kind of big, so I use a 9x12 pad to do my sketches, then shrink them down on the copier to whatever size fits my painting paper - in this case, the painting of Alice was 5x7, so there's quite a bit of size difference. Then, I get all fiddly and start drawing in individual feather lines - WHICH I LIKE - but sometimes I feel like the freshness of the original sketch gets lost in the process of making a completed painting.

sigh.

One day I'm going to be satisfied with what I do, I think. Really.

What Flamingoes Do on Summer Vacation

The spend a lot of time on the beach, soaking in the sun and catching up on their reading.

I'll bet you didn't know that.

I have a lot in common with the flamingo. Except I can't stand on one foot very long. On account of the delicate flower ankles, and all.

But I'm a faster reader. And I look better in a swimsuit.

So, I win.

Dear Brain: You Are No Longer on Vacation. Please Start Working.

Honestly, people. Why is it so hard to reset one's brain after a week's vacation? I'm drifting, aimlessly - watching the sun rise and fall - with no plan or rudder. Yesterday, I started cleaning out my office and found my photo CD storage box and thought, "wow, wouldn't it be cool to see what the boys looked like the first year we ever went to Hatteras, when they were babies, and compare those photos to what they look like this year because it's been 8 years since the first time we went and they were so small and tiny and OMG they were so cute, look at that!"

Yes, my brain does speak in run-on sentences...why do you ask?

So I popped in a CD and FOUR HOURS LATER, my office still wasn't clean.

However. I had this...



And a big puddle of tears all over my keyboard...

How to (not) Boogie Board

survival 101: a diet coke can may be used to apply a cold compress to a battered child. see #7 for details. (click on image and view larger in flickr, if you can't read the captions...)

Back From the Edge of the World

So, we're not at the beach anymore, kids.

Which is fairly heartbreaking. Because being hot at the beach is awesome.

Being hot in the city is sweaty.

But I still have my memories, now don't I? Ocean breezes...salty air...fresh seafood. I can almost taste the sea water, now.  No.  Wait.

That was a tear running down my cheek.
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We had a fabulous time, obviously. It flew by at unprecedented pace, unfortunately. We sunned and swam and boogie-boarded and kayaked and climbed a lighthouse and talked with pirates and blacksmiths from 1584 and rode the ferry and walked on the beach and got up to watch the sun rise and stayed up to watch the sun set and...

well.

If you're interested, you can check it out here...


Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Travelling Mercies

We're heading back from the Outer Banks, and I saw that my photo made it onto habit for July 9. Stop by, check it out, and see what excellent company I'm keeping.



I'll be back here tomorrow...


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Deep Sigh...

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Hey, Look! A Drawing!

Yes. That's right. I haven't forgotten how to draw.

Thank goodness.

I was worried.

Hey - guess what! It's JULY, people. JULY! Holy smokes! Where did the year go? It seems like only yesterday I was constantly griping about the snow! Don't worry, though - I won't be complaining about the heat. I love the heat. I embrace the humidity. I adore sweating.

Well. Maybe adore isn't the right word. I tolerate sweating.

I accept sweating. Then I jump in the pool and I adore the heat once again.

Poor Dr. SmartyPants went to Arizona yesterday, where the temperature looked something like this:

Which is, you know, REALLY hot.

But it's a dry heat.

Aren't you glad you came over today so we could talk about the weather? Have I really sunk so low that this is my only topic of discussion? Lord.

We could talk about my stupid ankles, instead, if you'd like.


OR, we could talk about how excited I am to be leaving for the beach in TWO DAYS!!!

Actually...maybe I should get the laundry done and start packing.

Right after I check the weather report...