Hello, old friends.

Well hello, remember me? I'm the lady with the blog you used to read every now and then. And then I disappeared. I'd like to explain what happened, and maybe try blogging again.
So here goes, for those of you that don't spill their guts on a blog, let me explain something. You can look at the dashboard of your blog and see who's reading, and also, how they found you. It's neat, because you can see that people across the U.S. and the world have stumbled across your little patch of self-indulgence and stayed for a while. Cool right?
Anyway, many, many months back I wrote a post about potty training my daughter. I posted a goofy picture of Ceci standing over the potty, grinning and looking very proud of herself. She wasn't wearing any pants. I guess I'm an idiot, but it did not occur to me that this was a bad, no, a TERRIBLE idea.
So as I was looking at my blog dashboard many months back, I noticed that someone found my blog by searching the words "child crotch". And the Internet led them to a picture of my naked kid. And they looked at it for several minutes.
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that this blog would open expose my child to a pedophile. But that's what I did. And I freaked out. I considered deleting the entire blog. I decided not to, because this blog has so many memories and stories and photos that mean a lot to me. I documented a lot of my life here, and I did not want to erase that. So I erased that picture of Ceci, of course, and took some time off. I don't want to go into the disgust and the hurt here. It's obvious, I guess. But I think I want to pick this up again, and be more prudent about what I share. What do you think?

This Moment

This moment. A Friday ritual. A single photo- no words- capturing a moment from the week. A single, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor, and remember. Inspired by Soule Mama.

Hello, are you out there? I know I've been gone for a long time. There is a good reason why I disappeared, and I think I'd like to explain. I miss blogging, so stay tuned, I think I'm coming back. 

This Moment

This moment. A Friday ritual. A single photo- no words- capturing a moment from the week. A single, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor, and remember. Inspired by Soule Mama.

New York, part I

Dear friends, as some of you may know, Matthew and I recently returned from a trip to New York. We saved our pennies for close to a year to travel to the big city and visit my dear friend Sam. Sam used to live in Bellingham, but moved away one year ago to be a big-shot television producer. 

I'd like to share our trip in a series of posts. I'm pretty rusty with the blogging so bear with me. 

I wish I could caption this photo with the "Chariots of Fire" theme music

Ceci did not sleep a wink on the redeye to JFK. We endured six hours of whining, giggling, and being kicked in the stomach. Nightmare. I gave her so many bottles in a desperate attempt to make her sleep that we were changing diapers nonstop. And yes, I still give my almost-two-year -old a bottle. She has a drinking problem and I'm an enabler.  

We were zombies that first day. We literally had no sleep till Brooklyn. Here we are at Dumbo park, between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges. It's a beautiful place. Lots of boats and people to stare at. It was hotter than Hades all day and into the evening. Above you will see authentic New York Pizza. Delicious. 

Here is Sam, Ceci, and Sam's niece Adeline. 

Exhausted family photo. Ceci looks stunned. When I look at this picture I realize I inherited my face and the tendency to either blink or squint in every photo from my Mom. 

to be continued...

Wednesday Bling

KoyoteKorner

Oh Lord, the jewelry lust just doesn't go away. It goes into remission for a spell. Weeks, months, sometimes a half of a year. That's when I relax for a bit, get some money in the bank, and focus on non-jewelry related matters. But one day I hear it. The soft familiar voice in the back of my head. Reminding me. Must be shiny. Must sparkle. Must have precious, precious bling. When it recurs it comes back with a fury.  

You know what set me off this time? What triggered me? Finding a Mark Chee bracelet in a local thrift store (not bracelet pictured). This is precious bling folks. And it's not cheap. So I've taken to lurking near the store. Drinking unnecessary cups of coffee out front. Peeking in the windows. The vendor knows it's precious. The vendor sees me, loitering in the area. I can't get too close to the bracelet. It's too tempting. Now I see silver everywhere I look. Singing it's siren song, pulling me incrementally closer to a relapse.