spell bound

first grade, I was crazy for that crochet vest. my shirt was a "sassoon". you didn't know vidal sassoon made clothes? welcome to korean branded clothing. i am possibly wearing "topsiders" (also likely fake) as well, and believe i entered into the stage in life where i wore one of two pairs of jeans every day.

random memories of people in my class:

first row
geoff: red and white tee. he had a rat tail and i felt very drawn to it.
michael: strangely, a ladies man.

second row
chandler: deer print sweatshirt. constant nose bleeds. and ate a grasshopper.
rebecca: pink, blue and teal yoke dress. my bff

third row
bianca: striped tee. so pretty, all the boys loved her.
kayle (?): black bow. her mom turned a ceiling fan into a splatter paint machine. wore lots of tie dye, also likely home made.

fourth row
chris: red polo. he was hilarious although i can't remember a joke he made.
kathy: gray vest. can only picture her with a kleenex.

license to ride

esther margaret has sat on a horse's back many times, but yesterday was her first time riding by herself. she is not galloping through the plains just yet, but i love the courage and growing affection she has towards horses and animals in general. we have three horses but she can always pick out mouse, he is the calmest and gentlest among them. jeremy has been so consistent and patient with her, her confidence and excitement atop a huge animal is a testament to that. jeremy bought the saddle she is riding on before she was even born. i have a saddle too, which i have used twice. my two year old is infinitely more confident riding a horse than i am.

this was the first time she sat on mouse, at 17 months

that i may see

this morning, i opened my eyes and thought i was staring into a field of wheat.

it was actually my beloved's armpit 4 inches from my face. the tendrils specked with day old deodorant were gently swaying in the breeze created by the ceiling fan. oddly peaceful.

number 2

esther margaret is 2.

last monday, we celebrated in austin with dinner and carrot cake cupcakes made by ruth. not a great pic, but the only one you can clearly see the cupcakes forming the "2". she is holding the spanking spoon, and i'm sure jeremy is threatening to use it on her here. loved trying to blow candles.

later in the week, she practiced more candle blowing on a shipley's do-nut hole.

and then lesley, amy and jamie surprised us with a pool party!

saturday, minnie and jim had us over for brownies and then we went to the echols for another birthday dinner. had one last chance at candle blowing again and didn't go for it.

completely lost it at her two year well check, would vacillate between screaming hysterically at the nurse/doctor and laughing and whooping at the giant stuffed giraffe.

24 month stats:

3 ft tall - 90th percentile

25.2 lbs - 35th percentile

the new deal

this morning i found em packing up all of her animals and blankets into this plastic bag.

she walked away from it and then built this

which sort of looks like this

she hugged it

and took it for a ride in her car

dashboard confessional

the view of jeremy's dashboard on any given day

1. calculus textbook
2. analog phone handset
3. syringe
4. remote control
5. plastic stegosaurus
6. scrapes from carrying his crutch around in the truck for two months

down low

an annoyance of the job

people who are too lazy to ask for their size or even sit down to try on shoes. they drop one shoe on the floor and start cramming their foot in (toes grip down, the rest of the foot pushes forward, and repeat. think of it as if you're watching a calloused, swollen, dirty caterpillar move). well what size do you wear? a nine and a half? well i don't think that six is going to work.

it's sometimes more than i can take.