KBOPOM

KBOPOM, originally uploaded by dumpstar_drummer.

Kari's Birthday Outfit Photo of Monday

(Outfit is from the other day, but today is the day the earth celebrates the 40th anniversary of the birth of the baby Kari.)

Internet MD

Internet MD, originally uploaded by dumpstar_drummer.

Who needs SCIENCE when you have friends who, even in their mid-30's, find good uses for poo emoticons?

OPOTD

OPOTD, originally uploaded by dumpstar_drummer.

OPOTD

OPOTD, originally uploaded by dumpstar_drummer.

Exhausted from an afternoon of train and carousel rides

Exhausted from an afternoon of train and carousel rides, originally uploaded by dumpstar_drummer.

Yesterday's Horoscope + Waahh wah wah whateverrrrrr

I spent 2012 feeling really strong amidst all the drama going on in the lives of basically everyone around me, but right off the bat, 2013 turned me upside down and inside out and it’s a bunch of suuuuuuuuuper cliché blah blah blah and the silver lining is so thin I can hardly see it, but it is what it is.

This whole jumping-in-with-both-feet thing is bullshit and it’s just so much easier to remain guarded, which is a philosophy that is almost guaranteed to keep me single forever, but it’s very likely that I’m just not meant for that kind of success in life.

(Which is not wah wah wah, it just is what it is.)

But the whole point of this is that I happened to look at my horoscope yesterday (for work reasons, believe it or not) and it seemed very appropriate for my weird 2013 roller coaster:

(Though not really all that healthy because putting it off for a while is the same as letting it continue to draaaaaaaag out.)

And then I clicked on the yearly horoscope tab:

And now I’m thinking that maybe I need to take the whole jumping-in-with-both-feet thing seriously and not just quit the first time it fails. I mean, I’m willing to try skiing again even though it was way suckier and much more difficult than I thought it should be, so I guess why not this too?

But ugh. It's all just so much work and it's so much easier to just bury my head in the sand and start planning for spinsterhood. I should get some cats and some housedresses, STAT.

 

 

A children's book about big booties?

A children's book about big booties?, originally uploaded by dumpstar_drummer.

OPOTD

OPOTD, originally uploaded by dumpstar_drummer.

Mommy & Me Ballet

Mommy & Me Ballet, originally uploaded by dumpstar_drummer.

I'm her date now that her mommy is too pregnant. SO STINKING SWEET.

EH Jr

EH Jr, originally uploaded by dumpstar_drummer.

Old lady knees look way cuter on her than they do on me.

Another one of her less flattering qualities that is attributed to me

Another one of her less flattering qualities that is attributed to me, originally uploaded by dumpstar_drummer.

Baby AJ has the most impressive bed head ever. And this shot, in case you thought it was a fluke, is par for the course -- I have no idea how My SIL Who Does Not Wear John Deere Pajamas manages to brush it!

I didn't technically drop her -- she dropped herself

I didn't technically drop her -- she dropped herself, originally uploaded by dumpstar_drummer.

OPOTD

OPOTD, originally uploaded by dumpstar_drummer.

I'm at the point of the summer where I'm pulling out all the "welp, better get one last wear out of this before Labor Day!" ensembles. Not my faves, but worth pulling out of the closet.

My old lady knees and I are preparing to speed date.

My old lady knees and I are preparing to speed date., originally uploaded by dumpstar_drummer.

Carpentry

I recently bought a new assembly-required coffee table (that I'm totally putting in the garage as soon as I find a replacement because for some reason I thought I was a bright yellow coffee table person and it turns out that I am decidedly NOT a bright yellow coffee table person) and was pleasantly surprised to see that instead of a bag full of bits and pieces, the bits and pieces were beautifully organized and dummy-proof:

I don't understand why they're showing up sideways, but I can only master one thing at a time -- this month it was coffee table assembly. Maybe next month it will be non-sideways photo posting. You get the gist of it though, I'm sure.

Non Sequitur Story About My Dead Grandparents Coming to Talk to Me

I'm going to a big group reading w/ a medium tomorrow. Like, a dude who talks to the dead. There will probably be a couple hundred people there so I'm not expecting anyone to come through for me personally, but it'll be a Sunday afternoon and I have time to kill, so why not?

Also, I'm lucky enough to say that I don't really know that many dead people.

The closest person to me who has died is my grandfather -- my mother's father, who died on December 31, 2004. I remember thinking that it was nice of him to die on December 31st because it kept the bad in 2004 and allowed us to start 2005 fresh. Of course, 2005 ended up being one of the worst years for me, so I totally jinxed myself there, but it was a nice thought anyway.

Boppa died at 100 years old and after being sad for a day, the next day was fresh and new and we could all be happy for him that he lived a good life and wrapped it up very tidily -- 100 years old and died on the last day of the year.

I don't think many people would argue that there's much to be sad about when someone dies at 100.

Boppa's wife, my grandmother, died more than thirty years before him. She was a lot younger than he was so he'd always expected to go first, but she actually ended up dying several years before I was born and he ended up hitting the triple digits, so that didn't work out as he'd planned at all.

Boppa and I used to discuss -- pretty regularly, actually -- that when he died, she'd be in heaven wating for him. This was ME telling HIM that though. He would say that he hoped I was right, but he wasn't buying it at all. He was a pretty black and white guy and things like heaven were just silly.

(He also thought women should have short hair -- I think he thought hair was hair and that there wasn't any point to growing it long. He was remarkably progressive in his opinions on social issues for someone of his age -- interracial marriage? SURE! But long hair? BOOOO!)

So Boppa died and that was sad for a minute, but mostly it was happy.

Then one night, probably about six months after he died, I woke up in the middle of the night and Boppa and Zena (my grandmother...and yeah, that was her actual name -- like a princess warrior, but with a Z instead of an X) were standing at the foot of my bed.

I immediately started to cry and Zena said "I told you Walter, we shouldn't have come...we're scaring her."

I said that no no -- it was okay.

And then Boppa took a step toward me and said that he just wanted to tell me that I had been right.

And then I went back to sleep and the next morning when I woke up I was like OHHHHHHHH MYYYYYY GODDDDDDDDDD THAT ACTUALLY TOTALLY HAPPENED.

And I swear to you, it did.

Over the years I've read a couple of books and watched a couple of documentaries on the general topic and even though it could easily be explained away as a dream, I prefer to side with the theory that says that when you're asleep or in a twilight state, you're more relaxed and are open to allowing these visitations  to come through.

I don't know if I actually believe in mediums but I 100% believe that my grandparents came to tell me that I had been right -- that my grandmother was in heaven, waiting for my grandfather to eventually join her. So I've already received the only message I might be expecting and do not expect to receive another tomorrow, but I guess you never know.

------------------------------------------------

Here they are on their wedding day:

When Baby AJ comes to my house she'll point at all the pictures and tell us who they're of. She knows that this one is of "Daddy's Boppa."

A-DORBS.

Oops

Oops, originally uploaded by dumpstar_drummer.

It appears I forgot to turn off my bike ride app about 634 hours ago. Oops!