i <3 feet. I really do

This week at i <3 href="http://americanmum.blogspot.com/">Rachel is judging!

I just love this picture... it tells a story... you can feel where they're at, and you can't even see them! So glad I was able to capture it :) with my screen grabber!

dirty rotten cat hair!

Last week my mom was in NYC working at NYSUM (new york school of urban ministry) She works in the kitchen and they cook for the whole school and staff as well as prepare all the food that is taken out to the streets to homeless people. She probably goes about once ever 3 months or so... maybe a little less. But she loves it. And I love that she loves it.

Well, when she is gone, this thing happens.

It's like crazy. All of a sudden, the kitchen is trashed constantly. The floors become all crumby (as in boys who eat chips and other such crumbly things and drop their crumbs all over the floor). Noone takes their dirty shoes off.

And most noticeably, the cats SHED LIKE CRAZY.

or rather, the house just doesn't get vacuumed every other day...

Day 4 of her absence there was so much cat hair that I totally freaked out. I mean, I thought i was going to gag on it in my sleep and die. that's how much I was freaking out. So I busted out the vacuum, and started dusting, vacuuming, sweeping younameit. And the house was once again clean.

During this process however, I stumbled across this:



what is it?

you tell me...

cold days in July

mean different things for everyone. And for us New Yorkers, we find things to do. Even when July feels like late September (at the end of a very non Indian summer) ugh.

Things we like to do on cold days in July:



take pictures of cute little girls in bathing suits.



pick berries and eat them, along with a helping of grass and possibly some dirt.



take adventuresome walks in the woods...



And in case you're wondering where I got these cute children from, you can wander over to Andrea's blog. They all came over to visit on Sunday for some good ole after church picnicin' and a swim in the pool that was only opened one week ago. ONE WEEK AGO.

Where oh where has our summer gone :( This is why I'm moving to NC...

And in case any of y'all are wondering (i'm practicing to become a southerner) I have not decided whether or not to eat the hummus + mayo. that sounds pretty dang sick to me. I don't even know what my prize is! I'll tell ya what though, if I stinking eat hummus and mayo, it better be a good prize. Because gosh darn it! I deserve a medal after eating all this nastiness! ok, maybe not a medal... but I want more than a smiley face pencil eraser from the dentist's prize box...

food dare - day 9

Maybe this blog should be titled "quite possibly the worst picture of me (i've ever posted on the internet)" and that's after a wee bit of retouching... yikes.

Hey, what can I say? I'm not a proud girl... well, that's not true, I just mean I'm not too proud to show y'all that I'm real

I kinda got out of the food challenge ritual... but alas, I did indeed have two days left in the challenge. And while I thought it could not get worse than chocolate + hummus or apple juice and hummus... I was wrong.

As some form of punishment for being delinquent with the challenge for so many days, Jim decided to set before me not one mix-in but TWO.

relish+hummus+BANANA



BARF.

This picture is reflective of my feelings about this particular combination.

The last day of my challenge has been reserved for something extra sick. I mean, sick in the worst way.

hummus + mayo.

If I complete the challenge however, I will officially be more of a man than Jim (since he wimped out of the cottage cheese + mayo challenge)... do I want to be a man? I think he's messing with my mind now...

so much for sleep

This should really be more like a twitter post... can I just say that I really don't like twitter? I have officially decided this. I can't figure out if I should use it or not. It's a waste of my brain space!

Anyways, I tried going to bed. It didn't work. Too many things left undone. I got up, thankful for the reprieve from the headache and did some organizing. Whilst waiting for some files to finish sorting, I sat here and took a pic with ma cell.

More to show off my new specs. A couple weeks ago I received a check from the IRS "overpayment of taxes" Who does that? Apparently I do. So all $1162 of it was deposited in my account and about $600 of it bought new tires for my car and these glasses.



I like 'em. A lot.

I also like myself in black and white. I think it makes me look cooler than I really am sitting here in my pjs ;)

things to do

At night, before I go to bed, I will make a "to-do" list for the next day. Knowing that if I wait til the morning to make it, I will not list nearly as much as I do the night before.

If something makes it to my list, it will inevitably get done. or at least started

Thankfully last night, I pooped out on making that list. and as I see how today went, I am thankful for that.

The day started off great. I got up at about 9, took a shower and got a bit of work done. Made my bed, which always makes me feel like the day is off to a good start, and then I made plans to go to the zoo with Andrea and the kiddos.

I wish that I had taken my camera along... and I'll tell you why: I feel that I am officially (or unofficially) stuck in this pro-photog limbo. I don't seem to take many pictures for fun anymore... and I desperately miss that.

But aside from that, I need to figure out a way to whip myself into order. This afternoon I came down with another migraine. Last time I got one was the day after I got to MD, thinking that I am RE-pressurizing now that I'm home. The day was gone when I realized what was happening. Although, I was able to catch up on some back episodes of So You Think You Can Dance.

I'm thinking an early bedtime is in order tonight... early rising tomorrow. Gotta get some stuff done so that I can enjoy myself more than I have. It's no fun to try and have fun when you have other things weighing on your mind.

with that said, I'm off to make a list for tomorrow! and then try to sleep this stupid headache off...

ripping off the band-aid

Today, I'm headed back home.

I've gone through such a crazy mix of emotions the last 3 weeks. From the excitement I could hardly to contain to frustration to homesickness and loneliness to peace and contentment.

I am constantly reminding myself of the truth about my situation. I am going to be leaving my geographical home in just a few short months.

Being away for almost a month has given me the chance to taste a little of what it will be like being so far from everything that I have had around me my whole life. It's not like I haven't been away from home ever before, but it's always been with the assurance that I would be back.

Being down south and being able to visualize my life there has made all the difference in the world. At this point, I am ready to go. But I'm afraid that as I head back north and back to everything and everyone I know so well and love, that it will be like putting the band-aid back on that I feel like i've proverbially ripped off.

It's easier for me to shut down all the way than to do it gradually. I'm sure it's that way for a lot of people. So the next 4 months will be a huge process for me... it's going to be so hard knowing that I'll be leaving and constantly being faced with what I won't have for long.

However, even among all these emotions, I am so excited to be getting back home (even if i will be welcomed by rain and humidity without heat!) I can't wait to get back to my "office" (which is currently in a state of utter disaster, and get back into my groove. There will be much more blogging from me and many more pictures.

I have been trying to sort through the ones i have right now, on my laptop, but it's making me crazy. So I've only done a few. I am planning to do more of a post that tells all about Wilmington later on when I get home :)