i ♥ sisters. they're flippin' amazin'.

lyddie says she was thinking about flynn rider's smolder here. can't you tell. lol. :)

lyddie: what's the difference between mexico and new mexico?
me: ......let's google it.
lyddie: [huge smile] yeah! because i don't wanna go downstairs and find the meaning in the encyclopedias that weigh 100 pounds!
me: ...do we have any of those?
lyddie: of course. [wink] ...IF you piled them all together, i'm sure they'd amount to about 100 pounds.
me: or more than 100 pounds.
this is us at 11pm.
not too crazy.
yet.

lyddie, brushing my hair with water [because that's what siblings do when you've had a hat on all day because you didn't feel like putting hair crap [aka gel, wax, mousse, whatevs] in it, and now you've got hat hair and it's splendid]

me: ow, that hurts. i think you scraped my scalp over there. [gesture]
lyddie: oh, i'm sorry boss. i'll try not to do it again.
me: um...that's alright, [ahem] employee. just don't do it again.

lyddie: yeah, you don't look too good.
me: thanks.
lyddie: you're welcome.

lyddie: your hair! it looks exciting! [to you ignorant folk who haven't seen megamind, this is a quote from there that she uses often on me.]
me: um. sure.

rach, lyddie, me.

lyddie: i shouldn't be telling you this, but we [beka and me] had a very, ahem, personal talk. like, i'm saying so personal. . . . i almost cried.
rach: wow, personal, huh? [cracks joke about personalness] so personal...you can't even tell it to yourself. lol.
lyddie: hey, that wasn't a funny joke, rachel. beka's solemn. not laughing. so solemn, like a pig that doesn't get any food.

i love siblings.
have i said that before?
i love my siblings.
except for when i hear, after my hair has been mussed beyond all recognition of seeming like this-is-a-sane-person, such dreaded words . . .
lyddie: where's a camera?

lyddie, putting a pony tail --a tiny one-- in my bangs as i type, distracted from reality.
me, in pain: ow, that hurts! that hurts too much!
lyddie: it's ok. pain for beauty. [gets tiny mirror] wanna see how you look? beautiful. juuuuust beautiful. ;)
me: i can't even see me.

p.s. another blog that features siblings and their awesome hilarity is ladaisi. it's one of the things that got me hooked on her blog. :) :)

a beautiful october beginning.

yes, this was breakfast.
and then i made cinnamon chip scones.
what a morning this was, i tell you!

well.

well. [again.] 
it's 3:50pm.
crazy unmatched socks.
insane hair with no mousse. [yes, again, martha. hahaha.]
loud music . . . this song: calling you.
dishes to be done.
i'm going to clean, clean, clean . . .
even though right now i feel like dropping . . .
curling up in a cozy blanket [even on the floor] and taking a nap.

5-6 mile hikes to that to a person and their legs.
but it was gorgeous, so . . .
it all evens out in the end. :)

and, what's better than girlfriends and exercise??
nothing.
that's what.
exercise by itself is stupid.
but double-duty . . . plus wonderful photo ops . . . a very good time, indeed.

this music: something in the water. ice on her lashes.

at 11, anna and i carpooled with martha to a nearby area of hills and forest and sand [hah!] and leaves . . .
it's just starting to turn colors around here, so i got some really delicate color palettes on camera.

we took a few detours and had adventures, due to the place not having many signs at all.

hey, they didn't even have a map where there should be one.

the point of the hike, kinda, was this elephant rock that martha wanted to see . . .

a slightly snobby lady on one of these horses told us a couple vague directions. 
we ended up going the wrong way, thanks to her vagueness, and ended up getting the right directions probably almost a mile later from two hunter dudes coming peacefully up the path out of the wooded trail, one with piercings all over his face and the other with a voice to tell us reason.
el oh el.
we went through the maze of downed branches here and the guys were coming out of the woods. hah. funny that i took a picture right before it happened.

when we finally got there, we found it did not, in fact, look anything like an elephant.

 trees like lothlorien! all winding together...

. . . steepness to climb before finding the end point. lol.

wait for it . . . 

and believe me, i checked out the trail further up....there was nothing past this. this was it.
it looks like a whale.
a freaking whale.
but hey, it was fun.
they should rename it so people don't get their hopes up and dashed with the reality of the non-elephantness of it all.

it's totally a whale. see the jaw? i know my whales and dolphins, from being obsessed when i was 10-12.

5:21pm
let's face it: i'm not getting a nap today.
oh well.
the only thing left to do is grind some beans and brew coffee up to the 6 for the 3rd time today.
. . . it's days like this that i'm not sure i want to have kids of my own.
rach and lyd: playing monopoly . . . [oh yeah, sweet siblings bonding time? hah.]
15% yelling [random stuff with and at each other], 20% fake violence, 30% laughing, 35% annoying each other.
"don't tear apart the living room!"
yeah, that's me.
when they're older it doesn't matter if they're cute anymore to balance out "those days".
because when they're older they know what's acceptable and what's not. :P
but anyways, in the end, i'm just kidding about the no kids thing.
if it's possible, i'd like a few. 4 sounds grand. maybe a couple more. but no less than 4. even if we have to adopt. there's just something about having siblings.
there are phases when they drive you nuts and there's almost nothing except annoyance between certain pairs, but still . . . when everyone's actually growing up [no longer middle-little children] it's. awesome.

6:30pm
i like boiling potatoes for dinner.
and not just because they're flippin' easy.
i mean, they are good with butter and sour cream and pork seasoned salt. :D
but, even moreso prefer doing quick brown rice. the kind we get in a 5lb bag. hah.
even even moreso, i could go for some vegan fettucine/spaghetti tonight . . .
i might be making it soon anyways, because i told some certain people that i'd make it when jen has her bebe . . . which might be sooner than we think! who knows. as i've said before, babies are an unpredictable business when done natural. hahah.
unpredictable is good.

hurting fingertips.

it's what you get for cramming practice for 10+ songs into less than a week . . .
then playing for a solid hour or so.

right after we finished, i walked home alone, with the house key in my pocket.
home, home, home.

oh, yes. i solo'd this song. ^^

and yay, my voice didn't go all weak like it did last year... :)

sun shining, muscles aching, and i stopped at the coffee shop for a drink of water and a break in the ac'd atmosphere.
then home, home, home i went.
who knows when the rest of the family will come home, in the vehicle.
i really don't care . . .
i've had a much-needed shower [it was 85-90 outside today], and now in my indian punjammies, i wait for the tea kettle to boil the water for a french press.
mmmm.
and i hear that the family got a deal on some lunchies.
so . . . an italian beef sandwich, mozzarella sticks, and a pina colada fruit slushie is headed my way, soon enough.
sounds good.
but this silence is lovely.

see? the lovely lawn furniture. but this morning wasn't foggy. and the ramp is gone.

oh, and what was even better: going to sleep before 11:30pm; sammi and reese and anna waking me up 10 minutes to 8; having french press coffee [french caramel cream flavor] out on the chairs in the front yard and jesus calling; the sun coming out and a cool breeze before the day warmed up.

happy sigh.

i hope you're all enjoying your friday. :)
what's the best thing about this day for you so far??

music and stress. [all the in the same title! no way!]

oh for goodness' sake.
today's been a flippin' busy number.
i'm nearly ready for this week to be over.
my throat and vocal chords just ache thinking about today, and the next few days ahead.
[we sing on a small stage at the fair --our 6th year, i do believe-- friday for an hour and a half, therefore we've been practicing. yep.]
on the upside, tomorrow afternoon we're getting together with heather, derek, steph, casey, and a few others for dinner and/or hanging out at the county fair.
i fell asleep for a couple minutes in church tonight.
we're running out of coffee.
special run to the grocery: coming soon. :)
i might actually go to bed before midnight tonight.
wait.
i always get my second wind around 9:30-10pm . . . darn. it's hard to resist that, let me tell you.
:P
today, we practiced. then rach and i walked to the county fair [a good several blocks. in noontime sun. have i told you about me and the sun? me and it, we're not friends.] . . . hung out with lovely little friends under a tent, hung out with older lovely friends after that, and i walked home alone in the 4pm sun. practiced at 5. went to church before 6. home by 9. interesting day. good, but interesting. as i said, i'm about ready for this week to be over.
but . . .
last evening, i made french press coffee for the first time. yes! another good thing in my life. ;)
ground trader joe's italian roast beans nice and coarse.
put that in the french press a lovely friend [hanna!] sent me . . . :)
and i even made a video of it.
hah.

just goes to show you, how nerdy i am about coffee.
that, and the fact that the other day, i unexpectedly got really excited when i saw just the thumbnail picture of erika's coffee maker and mug in my blogger dashboard . . .
mhmm.
:)
just thinking about her post makes me smile. and feel a bit less tired.
so, yes.
this is the post with the short, packed description of why i didn't post yesterday.

we saw these cuties, their siblings and their mama, bobbi, for lunch and hanging out.
when we got home, we set off pretty soon after that again --some of us, for the church softball game, either watching it or playing in it; me, to get my hair did, as it was getting long un-spikable; anna, to an interview with a lady who was interested in having her at her birth as a doula.
because the place was booked for hairdo's, it was 6pm and i waited at starbucks with a small coffee and The Help, trying to work toward finishing it, until 7:20ish when i walked through a darkening night and mist coming down.
once again, i'm back to spiking my hair. i'm happy. :)
we just need a fresh supply of coffee in the house, then life will be over-abundantly joyous....just maybe. :)
right now: writing a good friend on facebook and getting timely replies is brightening my night.
oh, and this song.

finally! a new song. and one by ingrid, which is even better. horrid of me to say, probably, but i've never heard this song by her. :)
♥
the end.

artistic endeavors: simply.

just a quick plug:

kyla roma: making space for a creative life.

it's been an interesting tuesday. 

i overflowed the coffee pot with water while i wrote back a friend on fb and forgot about coffee. . . 

i finished everything on a surprise canvas, except for the quote. i'm waiting on a quote. it seems like it needs one.

i have read a lot of articles today; on writing, tweeting, being inspired, more writing, how blogging doesn't make much money at all even if you're good and trying hard [not my reason for blogging, lol], and a crapload of other stuff.

i'm tired of reading informative, logical stuff.

on how to be better, write better, blog better, network better . . . in fact, all of it has be strung up so much so that i've brewed coffee 3 times today. only to the 6 on the pot, but still. italian roast; mahogany from heather; more italian roast. 

i've got a hankering to get my hands on fabric and needles and finish those skirts i upcycled from maxi dresses found on-sale.

so. here's to loosening up. 

and photo booth sessions with 10 year old sisters who wear gram's decade-old frames with glass punched out.

my sisters are dramatic and know how to act some characters so well . . . there's nothing else to do but laugh.

so here's a slideshow of the canvas, because it's just way cooler than scrolling down for this particular canvas. :)
i painted this one june 14, 15, 27.

it was about time for another house post.

:]
decor stuff, that is.

floor cushions.

suzani curtain.

lyrical curtain.

dupioni curtain.

rex ray art.

composition art.

boulevard art.

venetian 1 art.

venetian 2 art.

i don't know what it is about them, but for some reason i could find myself spending 20 minutes in the curtain section of the world market site.

heck, in the paper-edition-in-my-hands jcpenny catalogue, too.
sigh.

white stacking.
and serving bowls? don't even get me started.

black.
am i the only one who sees salsa in this bowl when i look at it?

fern.
and honey crisp apples in this one.

porto.
maybe chicken curry in this, with naan bread on the side.

blue soup crock.
um. i see apples, with their skin still on, floating in apple cider with cinnamon and butter and brown sugar.

unique floor lamps.

goddess.
and these rugs.
ohhh beautiful.

medallion.

cool.
how providential, to have this post i worked on last night, and now getting to post it all ready-made, because heck, i'm been cleaning and organizing and listening to music all.freaking.day....not to mention the BLT pasta salad, the hamburgers, the cold brew coffee i've worked on in the past several hours inbetween the above.
oh! and the cheesecake heather is bringing. ♥ let us pause while i sing the praises of dear friends who bring delicious things. :)
if i ever had doubts when i was younger that i'd never be able to put together a whole meal, eh, i've proved my fears and doubts ridiculous. :P
and tonight, coming around 5, heath and steph and a few others are coming over.
deep breath in.
deep breath out.
a photoshoot is also planned, so tonight is going to be good.
very.very.very good.
i bid you a beautiful friday.
i'm tired of being on my feet.