Makin' future girlfriends proud

Yes, that's a tampon in his mouth. And you know I'll show this picture to any date he brings home in his teens.

Miss you, baby

"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."

-- I Miss You, Incubus


I swear -- and I will, for the hell of it: FUCK -- that I don't know what to do with myself without Zoe here. She has gone to her dad's in North Carolina, and Jacob is just as lost as I am. For the first few days, he kept pounding on the back door yelling, "Oooooooh Eeeeeee!"

I love that she's getting this time with her dad. I really do. I'm just at loose ends. On nights I don't have Jacob... it's like... super lonely.


And super quiet.

I am grateful for the time I get to talk to her, and though I try not to intrude, sometimes we do.

Take me out

Liam called me up and told me he had free tickets to a Pirates game Friday night. Four tickets, for me, him and his two girls... Jacob should be able to get in for free.

My first thought was, "Man, I wish Zoe was here."

My second thought was, "Wow, think of all the money we'd save on cotton candy and ice cream and [insert ballpark food here] because Zoe's not here."

After a little research, I found that those under 30" were admitted free. Jacob is a whopping 34". He's in the 95th percentile for his height. I figured I could argue with someone at the gate, make a legal case if I had to, but instead we breezed through with me being the amazing actress I am, acting like a confused blond mom.


OK, the confused-blond-mom act wasn't much of a stretch. And we had the best seats! I didn't expect them to be so good, but they were right behind home plate, beyond the Lexus seats -- where they practically do everything for you except expel your bodily functions for you.


Liam and I expected the kids to last a couple of innings, we'd get something to eat, wander around the ballpark and call it a night. But, amazingly, the kids were all spectacularly well-behaved and outlasted the grownups.


We didn't make it the whole game, but that was more us than the kids. It was hot and humid and the Pirates were (SHOCKINGLY) not doing so well.

Backyard sunset

Happy birthday, Dad!

Living dangerously

I ain't afraid of no salmonella!

(Must go.... lie... down.... now.............)

fRaZzLeD

I was in line at the grocery store tonight, exasperated. After a rough day at work, we found the store's day care was closed when we got there, which meant I had just wound through about a mile of shelves with a little girl who wanted everything she saw. M&Ms? Mom, can we get some? Cereal straws? Huh? How about this peroxide? Damn the geniuses who came up with the idea to put all the goodies on lower shelves.

I was in line with my 300 bucks worth of groceries, yet again telling Zoe no to the gum, the Kit Kat, the Sprees, the sodas. I bent down and told her very quietly, yet firmly, that if she asked me for One More Thing, I would explode.

I felt bad for the guy behind me... I must have had 200 items and he had only a handful. But I just wanted to get out of there. He eventually had the foresight to leave my line.

We got through it, with the annoying teenage workers shouting back and forth to each other about school while lagging on bagging my shit, but I was still composed as we were leaving the store, and I yet again vowed to write that letter to Giant Eagle about how I'd rather bag my own shit than watch some teenager half-assedly throw my shit into bags while calling over their shoulders to friends behind another counter about things my daughter should not be exposed to.

As I was walking out, the guy who had been behind me ran up to me, handed me a bag and said, "Your daughter is so beautiful. Take care." I must have looked perplexed, but he walked away smiling, and I looked inside the bag and it was a gift card to Pizza Hut.

"Do you know that guy?" I asked Zoe.

"No."

Just a random act of kindness.

It Made My Day. And made me squeeze my baby girl a little tighter tonight.

Dreaming....

of the tooth fairy!

Great catch

We hit a couple spots today... Liam got a catfish and something else I couldn't identify but he said it was something that started with a G I think. I got a measly catfish with my "new" reel I won on eBay.


Awwww, matching tackle boxes.


My beautiful sun-kissed baby.

Camaraderie

After the Pens loss, Liam shaved his playoff beard.


Which wasn't really a playoff beard. It was more like a playoff goatee. And he started growing it months before the playoffs. But who's counting?

It was a disappointing loss, but not unexpected, and I got to finally shave my armpits.
(Hey, camaraderie, right?)