Woodbridge, VA
Louisa, VA Charlottesville, VA
San Antonio, TX
San Angelo, TX
Monterey, CA
Misawa, Japan
Laurel, MD
Chicago, IL
Mesa, AZ
Pinal County, AZ
or been:
Portland, OR
Las Vegas
St. Louis
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
Florida
Tennessee
West Virginia
New York
NYC
Connecticut
Delaware
Pennsylvania
New Jersey
Ohio
Massachusettes
Vermont
New Hampshire
Indiana
Wisconsin
Mississippi
Louisiana
New Orleans (are you the one who broke into our car?!)
Arkansas Oklahoma
New Mexico
Mexico
Niagara Falls, Canada
Toronto, Canada
Alaska
Tokyo, Japan
Ao Mori, Japan
Hachinohe, Japan
To see you when I wake up
is a gift I didn't think could be real.
To know that you feel the same as I do
is a three-fold, utopian dream.
You do something to me that I can't explain.
So would I be out of line if I said,
I miss you.
I see your picture, I smell your skin on the empty pillow next to mine.
You have only been gone ten days, but already I'm wasting away.
I know I'll see you again
whether far or soon.
But I need you to know that I care
and I miss you.
This night, walk the dead
In a solitary style
And crash the cemetery gates.
In the dress your husband hates
Way down, mark the grave
Where the search lights find us
Drinking by the mausoleum door
And they found you on the bathroom floor
I miss you, I miss you so far
And the collision of your kiss that made it so hard
Back home, off the run
Singing songs that make you slit your wrists
It isn't that much fun, staring down a loaded gun
So I won't stop dying, won't stop lying (are you there at all?)
If you want I'll keep on crying (do you care at all?)
Did you get what you deserve? (are you there at all?)
Is this what you always want me for?
I miss you, I miss you so far
And the collision of your kiss that made it so hard
Way down, way down
Way down, way down
Way down, way down
Way down, way down
I miss you, I miss you so far
And the collision of your kiss that made it so hard
When will I miss you, when will I miss you so far
And the collision of your kiss that made it so hard
Made it so hard
Way down, way down
Way down, way down
Way down, way down
Way down, way down
Way down...
You're probably wondering, "Who the heck is Bartholomew?" Bartholomew is a starfish. A dead one. A dead starfish picked up by Allie in Monterey and smuggled back to our garage almost two years ago. Yes, she did.
If you have the great misfortune of being in my close circle of friends, you've probably had the great privilege of enduring my whiney contemplations about moving back to Virginia. Being not the most patient, let-it-all-unfold type, I've been pushing myself (and Todd) for an answer: stay or go. We've done the Pro/Cons list, assessed the risks, drilled the kids (to see how much therapy they'll need after moving them across the country for the 4th time), and still have no definitive answer. Plus, I've been cold to the point of hibernation the last couple weeks, so I'm not even enjoying this 70-degree Arizona winter, so why be here? So, this morning I turned to what has always helped clear my head: photographs. And I came across this photograph of me, taken by Todd on a trip to Virginia in December of 2005:
I am giggling just writing this! This first picture is me (on the right, with my VERY FIRST 35mm camera) with my wonderful friend Lisa and her equally wonderful dad, circa 1990. Lisa and I were stationed at DLI in the Air Force. We lived next-door to each other for a while. She was (and is) one of my favorite people on the entire planet. She took a bunch of us down to LA to stay with her fam. Great times! Great memories! I'm going to see Lisa soon...SO excited!
Lisa's dad worked at ABC studios and took us on a tour. We played on the set of General Hospital. I'm the one serving coffee on the far left. Bwahahaha! That was soooo fun! Everything with Lisa was fun!
Disneyland, circa 1990. Matt & me, hanging with the pigs!
I don't usually make New Year's Resolutions. Mostly because I know I'm not going to keep them anyway, so why put forth the effort of thinking these things up? This year, however, I made a few resolutions.
#1: Take more hot bubble baths. (So far, so good! I've taken 4 hot bubble baths in the past 10 days and loved every second.)
#2: Stop being a retard about cutting my hair. (Check. Hair is short.)
#3: Spend more time with hubster and kids. (So far, so good! Todd and I are having more date night, the kids and I are doing more things together. Bryce and I have more park days planned. Someone gave us a huge airhockey table and we've all been playing together.)
#4: Get some things I need/want for the business. (Check. Alienware computer with 12GB of RAM; 70-200mm f2.8 VRII and a few other small items coming in Feb.)
#5: Go see my mom. (Check. Tickets will be bought in Feb. for our trip at the end of May/early June).
#6: Be more positive and patient. (Trying so very hard! Doing pretty well...it's a process.)
#7: Eat better. (So far, bueno.)
And there you have it. All things I should be doing anyway, so why does it take a new year to get into the game? Shrug.
Here are some pics Todd make Saturday evening as a prelude to date night (we went to Costa Vida and chowed...yum!). Can't see the new haircut toooooo well, but there it is. I plan on cutting it shorter next month. Look at me, all daring. haha.
I just walked into my bedroom and gazing adoringly at The Cuteness Known as Bryce (yes he still sleeps in our bed; I'm not ready to give that up) and noticed his lips were pale BLUE. I panicked! I thought he wasn't breathing, but a split second later, he twitched. So, I leaned in to get a closer look and realized the blue lips were the result of a blue raspberry Bahama Buck's shaved ice I couldn't scrub completely off from his mouth last night.
Sorry, I don't have a picture to post, but I finally did it...I got my hair cut short. I've been wanting to do it for a while and finally got to the point that I was ready. Yesterday. And in a great Sign from the Universe, my hairdresser (who moved 2.5 hours away) was coming back to do hair. So, she popped in at 8 last night and took off over a foot of hair. You should've seen her...she was GIDDY with excitement. Why do hair dressers LOOOOVE to cut off long hair?
I will take a pic soon...I'm editing someone else's right now and am "pictured out."
"This above all: to thine own self be true." -Wm. Shakespeare
"Handle every stressful situation like a dog. If you can't eat it or play with it, just pee on it and walk away." --unknown
"Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, chocolate in one hand, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming 'WHOO HOO what a ride!'" - unknown
"Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it." --Martin Luther King, Jr.
Why do I get butt-sore when the media doesn't differentiate between type 1 and type 2 diabetes? Do YOU know the difference between the two?Click here for our story.
Sevens are extroverted, optimistic, versatile, and spontaneous. Playful, high-spirited, and practical, they can also misapply their many talents, becoming over- extended, scattered, and undisciplined. They constantly seek new and exciting experiences, but can become distracted and exhausted by staying on the go. They typically have problems with impatience and impulsiveness. At their Best: they focus their talents on worthwhile goals, becoming appreciative, joyous, and satisfied.
We have named this personality type The Enthusiast because Sevens are enthusiastic about almost everything that catches their attention. They approach life with curiosity, optimism, and a sense of adventure, like “kids in a candy store” who look at the world in wide-eyed, rapt anticipation of all the good things they are about to experience. They are bold and vivacious, pursuing what they want in life with a cheerful determination. They have a quality best described by the Yiddish word “chutzpah”—a kind of brash “nerviness.”
Although Sevens are in the Thinking Center, this is not immediately apparent because they tend to be extremely practical and engaged in a multitude of projects at any given time. Their thinking is anticipatory: they foresee events and generate ideas “on the fly,” favoring activities that stimulate their minds—which in turn generate more things to do and think about. Sevens are not necessarily intellectual or studious by any standard definition, although they are often intelligent and can be widely read and highly verbal. Their minds move rapidly from one idea to the next, making Sevens gifted at brainstorming and synthesizing information. Sevens are exhilarated by the rush of ideas and by the pleasure of being spontaneous, preferring broad overviews and the excitement of the initial stages of the creative process to probing a single topic in depth.
Sevens are frequently endowed with quick, agile minds, and can be exceptionally fast learners. This is true both of their ability to absorb information (language, facts, and procedures) and their ability to learn new manual skills—they tend to have excellent mind-body coordination, and manual dexterity (typewriting, piano playing, tennis). All of this can combine to make a Seven into the quintessential "Renaissance person."
Ironically, Sevens' wide-ranging curiosity and ability to learn quickly can also create problems for them. Because they are able to pick up many different skills with relative ease, it becomes more difficult for them to decide what to do with themselves. As a result, they also do not always value their abilities as they would if they had to struggle to gain them. When Sevens are more balanced however, their versatility, curiosity, and ability to learn can lead them to extraordinary achievement.