Inevitably Keely

I should start off by saying that I think the whole idea that because Finn is a boy we are destined to lots of accidents, stitches, broken limbs, etc is totally not cool. Not cool, but (let's face it) still very true. Just about anyone who has ever met my son knows he's... um, active. He lives to climb trees, walls, bookcases, dressers, dollhouses, etc. My son looks at everything in terms of "Can I scale it?" or "Can I demolish it?" or "Can I build something, scale it and then demolish it?" Just this past Monday I was telling friends that I'm of the mind that he needs to fall a few times and learn that he's not invincible, and that maybe then he'd quit climbing. Other people watch him do what he loves best and I can see them having internal freak outs. Daniel and I, on the other hand just shake our heads and let him have at it. It's not that we want him to get hurt, we were just kind of indifferent to it. We were waiting for the in...

* - This post is about bodily functions and potty training. If you are going to be grossed out by this (maybe you should read "Everyone Poops") you should probably just click out of this and go do something else. If you're not afraid (or you are an experienced potty trainer and/or parent/parent-to-be) go ahead and read this. Just don't say I didn't warn you. ;) About an hour ago I was sitting at my computer working on trying to write (which hasn’t come easily at all for a long time now) when all of a sudden I felt something warm on my foot. Like, shock to the system warm that immediately made my brain think I was bleeding, except there was no pain. I looked down at my foot and then up at my son who was completely naked. He had just peed on me. Inside, I screamed (because EW! he just peed ON MY FOOT!) but on the outside, I was calm. Well, fairly calm. “Finnegan Emery. We’re not supposed to pee on people!” He looked at me with that lower lip sticking far out (he’s ...

Daniel and I met a little less than a month before Valentine’s Day 2003. We both said we were happy not being in relationships. We were having fun. We were friends who had a lot of fun together as much as we possibly could. As February 14th approached, we made fun of all the hoopla and dramatics. As Valentine’s Day approached I told myself to play it cool. Yes, I was falling in love and I was totally scared of the implications of that. No, I was not going to let on to how I was really feeling. But that didn’t stop me from making him a Valentine. My first homemade Valentine, ever. I remember stretching out on the floor and carefully choosing the words and images I wanted to paste to the background. My quick, easy, not serious Valentine turned into a bit more of a project than I’d set out wanting it to be. By the time I was done, it was actually a series. Not one card, but 4 carefully thought out collages. We had a show that night and I was picking Daniel up so that we could drive togeth...

There were parts of last year that were rough. If you know us well, you know what I am talking about, so I’m not going to do a recap. Been there, lived through all that. Moving on. There were also plenty of joys. The births in our family and chosen family and pregnancies announced. Weddings, engagements and anniversaries. Taco nights at our house. Hat parades. Dance parties. Baking/Cooking with the kids. Buying our home. Finding purpose by becoming involved with my favorite non-profit theatre. Time behind my camera, working on my craft. So what will this year hold for me and mine? I’m not sure. But I’m feeling optimistic and hopeful of what lies ahead. I’m not really a resolution person normally, but I do have a wish/goal list: 1. Eating healthy and continuing with my work to be a healthier person. Cutting out red meat and pork helped me a great deal last year. 2011 is the year I will see more dramatic changes. 2. Cooking at home even more and having people over more. Movie and game ni...

Instead of reading a bedtime story last night with Zoe, I sat with her in her bed with a pen and notebook and asked her what she was thankful for. * Note: Everyone in Zoe's life is very special, but I think it really says something if you were listed individually because it's really hard for a three year old to not want to list every single toy instead of actual people. I know... because I had to suggest after baby dolls that maybe we think of some other things. The following is the list (with some extra commentary) as she told me: "I'm thankful for.... Mommy. Snow White. Daddy. Kitty cats. Cameras. My baby dolls. And I'm thankful for my panda., and... "Let's not just list toys, OK?" Alright. I'm thankful for water. And Max and Bailey Butterflies. And Grammy. Aunt Sadie. My Grandpa. Nana & Baba. Daddy's friend, Sam... he's nice. (She just met him yesterday) Cheryl and Chuck-Chuck. Ellie. Eleanor. MaryEllen. Chelsea. NIki. Noe...write ...

I posted this on facebook Saturday night and as of Sunday morning, I had people committing to give 13 turkeys* (or their equivalent) to shelters in their area. I thought I'd go ahead and post this for you all to participate as well. Daniel had only known me a week or so and he was giving me all the money I needed to pay for a (full course load) semesters tuition at Bakersfield Community College plus money for books. He saw that I wanted to go and he went to his parents for help so that I could. In the nearly eight years we have been together I have watched him hand over spare change all the way up to a twenty dollar bill (because that was all he had) to people who asked him. There was a time when this completely caught me off guard. Twenty dollars, to a stranger, who might end up using it for something silly. He has always treated the people he is handing the money over to with a dignity that I think they are not given often enough. He is always humble to their exclamations of ...

KNOCK KNOCK! WHO'S THERE? PUMPKIN! PUMPKIN, WHO?! PUMPKIN HEAD! AH HA HA HA HA HA HA !!!!!