Barking Mad

Of This One Thing I am Sure...

...Gaby loves Autumn and the bounty it brings almost as much as her mommy does!

 

 

  

I have discovered that there is NO END to the number of times a 3 year old will jump into a pile of leaves!  The joy that is derived from this simple act is seemingly endless, and so are the giggles as she lands into a pile of red, brown, orange and gold leaves.  Gaby turns the dried leaves over in her hands and then with glee, scrunches them between her fingertips and watches as the pieces of the broken leaf drift back down onto the pile from whence it came. 

Here we go again! It's important to get a running start...

 

 

 

All of this running and jumping and cavorting with leaves is enough to make one think she might be part woodland elf!

 

Of course, all this leaf-pile jumping comes with a few drawbacks...

 

 

Pine needles and leaves in the hair can be a mighty annoying thing when you're 3!

 

Alas, a leaf or two intertwined with her curls doesn't deter her for long.  Before you know it, she's back at it again!

  

 

Even her big brother Matt can't resist her pleas to, "Come jump wiff me Matty, come on, it's FUN!"

  

No matter how dirty she gets and how many pine needles I end up pulling out of her hair at bath time, the sheer joy she gets from this beloved New England pastime is worth it! 

How much does this child love Autumn?  I think her smile says it all!

 

  If things are quieter than normal around the asylum it's because we are out enjoying the beautiful colors of this time of year and for that enjoyment, Autumn exacts a price...raking all those leaves! Not only is that a huge chore this time of year but while some people have massive spring cleaning sprees, we are having a massive Autumn overhaul!  

Amidst all the raking and cleaning, we're also dealing with Meaghan's departure for boot camp looming near by.   In the next 25 days we're going to be celebrating Thanksgiving, Christmas and Halloween with our girl!  To say it's going to be busy is an understatement of epic proportions.

25 days...

 

When Sisters Bond

Leave it to my two girls, despite being separated by 16 years, to find common ground in none other than...their hair!

Most of you recognize Gaby with these wild curls...

Here's what happens when the 3 year old decides she wants to hang out with her 19 year old sister. 

Curls, meet flat iron...







And this is what happens when I told her that this little bonding session was NOT going to include make-up! 

Her trademark scowl!

It wasn't even 30 minutes later in nearly 70% humidity that her hair was every bit as curly as it has been before the flat iron even hit her hair.  And for that I'm grateful.  She looks entirely too grown-up with straight hair.

Just Jump!

Forbidden fruit is always the best kind, especially when it's shared between friends and siblings.

This "forbidden fruit" came in the guise of a trampoline belonging to our next door neighbour, a neighbour I might add who's home is about to be foreclosed on and the property is now vacant.

Yes, I know, this is technically trespassing but as the kids were told a while back they could use the trampoline anytime they wanted, we took a little liberty and hoped the invite extended to circumstances like foreclosure.  Megawatt wants to offer to buy the trampoline.   I'm not too sure how I feel about that.

The Little Imp was not altogether too sure about the trampoline.  In my eyes, this is a good thing.  An ounce of warniness equals no trips to the ER to treat broken bones!



Despite her unease, she managed to catch a tiny bit of air...



...and then a little more with big sister's help!

Shhhhh, don't tell anyone, but I am so tempted to go over there and bounce on it myself.  But with my luck, one of two things would happen; I'd fall ass over teakettle and break something or the realtor who is listing the house will show up with someone wanting to look at it and there I'd be, the rotund lady from next door, making a jackass out of herself on the trampoline.  I might not have gotten caught soaking my boobs in the lobster pot, but mark my words, my luck is only going to hold out for so long!   I'd love to appear in the local paper...but would like it to be for my writing or photography and not in the police blotter under the headline, "Local Woman Booked on Trespassing Charges After Being Caught Jumping on Neighbours Trampoline."

Just the same...that annoying little voice inside my head is whispering, "Go on now, just jump!"

Weekends at the Asylum

This is the little placard that hangs in my kitchen above my stove.   Well, it will until I get off my ass and get the microwave and rack ordered that's supposed to go above the stove.  And then I'll have to figure out another place for it, which, with my limited brain capacity, won't be easy. And because I haven't yet scheduled the electrician to come in and wire for it, it's going to be put off even more, because hey, I'm a procrastinator like that.

I digress.

The little placard is significant because it's symbolic of how things roll around here now that Megawatt is home from college as are her friends.  Of course, this weekend was steeped in even more excitement due to Megawatt swearing into the USAF on Friday morning.  It goes without saying that Friday night, several of her friends hit the asylum for dinner...spaghetti, salad and garlic bread.  The Mt. Dew flowed freely as did the laughs.

I could be mistaken, but I'm pretty sure the video they were watching was this one.  It never fails to amuse me, even if it is a tad cruel.

All the You Tubage was followed by much mirth and merriment (Good Lord, where do I come up with this stuff? I think I just suffered a time-warp in which I went back to Dicken's London!), around the table. 

Megawatt proudly showing off her USAF t-shirt.

I need to note a few things about Friday evening.   Megawatt regaled everyone with her "MEP's Interrogation" tale no less than 42 times.  Honestly though, it never got old.  It was amusing to me because it was the Marine's who did the interrogations and exams.   I was afraid she was either going to laugh at them during her MEP's or yell back at them.  She did laugh a couple of times but thankfully the USAF still wants her.

Before dinner I was trying to reach the sea salt in one of the higher cupboards and making some general moans and groans of discontent about other stuff falling on my head whilst trying to reach the salt.  In rushes Megawatt and proclaims, "It's OK Mom!  I'm in the Air Force now, I'll save you!"  To which I replied, "The citizens of our proud country can sleep well at night knowing you're on the job, saving your mom from being beaned by a box of cornstarch. I myself feel so much better."

The next time Megawatt bitches at me when I ask her to take the garbage out, I'm going to tell her, "Suck it up maggot!  You're in the Air Force now!" 

Maybe later on today or tomorrow I can get her to do a guest post about her entire MEP's experience.  I can't retell it quite as "colourfully" as she can.  In other words, she uses a lot of expletives but despite that, it's still quite funny.

Saturday I fooled around with my camera, begging it to give me a good reason not to switch sides and start batting for Canon.  After looking at the images I shot, of our lilacs in bloom and a couple of orange azaleas (I think they're azaleas.  This is the first year they've bloomed since we bought the house two years ago.), I'm even more undecided than ever.  In my eyes, the photos aren't as clear and crisp as they should be...not like they were when the camera was brand new anyhow.  But I'm glad I took the pictures anyhow because in the course of shooting the lilac bush and azalea, I realized that neither plant looks very healthy and I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't produce blooms next year.

Considering my complete ineptitude when it comes to gardening, I'm reconsidering planting a bunch of hydrangeas.  Um yeah, I'm pretty worried that next year they'll be dead.  Perhaps I should just stick with the artificial ones that adorn my kitchen and front room?

Sunday was another dinner attended by Megawatt's friends.  For me it was bittersweet because we held it in honour of Michael Tecak who leaves on Wednesday as his Naval unit is deploying to the middle east.  He and Megawatt used to date and I still adore him.   I put together a huge Taco Bar for the kids and because Tecak loves strawberries, I made my mom's version of Strawberry Shortcake for dessert.

The guest of honour arrives...90 minutes late and drenched from playing a round of golf IN THE RAIN!

Dig in!





Oops!  Forgot to chop the tomatoes.  Oh well, I hate the nasty things anyhow!





Dessert!

Good luck Michael.  Take care of yourself over there...be safe, be well, and know that we're thinking about you and are so grateful for your service to our country!   We're going to miss you!

Distracted

Big things are afoot at the Barking Mad Asylum, with one inmate in particular.  We've kept this pretty hush-hush for several reasons which I can go into, I hope, tomorrow once it's all said and done.  If you are family (um, hello Mommily) and know of which I speak, please don't mention it in the comments.  What I will say though is that tomorrow is an extremely momentous day for one inmate here at the asylum and whilst I have so many mixed feelings about this, I can't wait to share the news.

If all that didn't already have me befuddled enough, I'm sitting on the fence trying to decide about switching from my Sony DSLR to a Canon camera.  I have been on the fence about this for more than a year now and at one point was even caught flirting with Nikon.  I know this is pretty boring stuff to you, but I'm at a point with my photography where it's "Shit or get off the pot."  Pardon the offensive nature of that last sentence but it's completely apropos for where I am right now.  I'm not getting the kind of results I want from the Sony and I need to make a move.  I have considered moving up to their a900 but for what the body alone costs, I could get a comparable Canon with the lenses as well.  Don't get me wrong...I have loved being able to take some wonderful shots with Sony's first venture into the Prosumer DSLR line (which, technically speaking, was Minolta/Konika, as Sony bought them), but I want more speed, better quality and a higher level of support than I'm currently getting from Sony.

The thing about my photography?  I'm just not sure I'm good enough to warrant getting another camera.  Add to that, I don't Photoshop the hell out of everything.  I want what comes out of my camera to be genuine and beautiful.  I don't believe in embellishing photographs.  I know there's potential for a huge debate that could lead to argument in that sentence, but that is my opinion. I do believe in cleaning images up, but if the sky in the photo you took was not as cerulean blue as you want it/think it should be, I feel there's an element of dishonesty in Photoshopping it to appear as blue as you imagined it was.  Again, that's just my opinion. 

I'm at odds with this entire camera thing because I don't want to buy a new camera hoping that the problem with my photos is the camera itself and not the person behind it.  You can't buy talent...ya know?

Having said all that; I do love photography.  I love the sense of pride I get from uploading something I captured and having it come up as brightly and vividly as I remembered seeing it. I've been flattered to have photos from my Portland Headlight series be displayed at a local gallery - talk about a huge ego boost!  I love capturing the expressions of the Little Imp or Megawatt and her friends.  Live moments from life, forever held in time.  Unlike writing, which I don't have to work at and which is something that has been effortless almost my entire life, I do have to work at taking pictures.  I have to know my camera and the settings and then deal with all of those variables.  Every once in a while, the little knowledge of those things that I do possess, will come into play and the stars align and I get a shot I'm absolutely in love with. 

So what do I do next, amidst all the confusion over whether or not I actually have any talent behind the lens?  I slam you all with more photographs from Memorial Day out at Pemequid Beach.

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day and I'm grateful that despite a lack of talent behind the lens, for the gorgeous subjects I was blessed with, in front of it.

Notwithstanding how annoyed these two luvlies get with me being forever attached to my camera, you have to admit, they make perfect subjects...even when they aren't very cooperative! 

Of course, every once in a blue moon I can get them both to look my direction and smile!

We dragged Zach B., with us out there and I got him to smile for a few shots as well...

 

Well OK, maybe I should have made the above "smiles", singular!

 

Leave it to Megawatt and Zach to horse around.  I am never at a loss for things to shoot, with Megawatt and her friends in lens range...

Rock dancing? Um, yeah...leave it to Megawatt!

 

It was, after all, Memorial Day...

 

 

Oops!

 

 

 

In addition to the wildlife of the teenage variety, I was able to catch some of the "pesky and irritating" assortment as well!  Of course, the hubby, who this mosquito happened to land upon, was not thrilled with me wanting him to stand absolutely still so I could get a shot of the ugly little bastard!

 

The hubby would have preferred I stick to capturing this kind of wildlife...

 

 

...or even this kind, on the half-shell!

 

 

Yuck!  Sorry, but I don't like clams, dead or alive.

Of course, my favourite kind of wildlife is the home-grown kind! Running wild, hair flying everywhere, and smiling from ear to ear!