Once again, I am proven right.

The "rain" outside is bouncing, once again proving that in Cleveland it ALWAYS snows before my birthday.

Now, if only I could remember where I stuck the ice scraper when I put it away last May ...

Halloween roundup

At school, all the kids had to dress as a character from a book (and bring the book with them - no cheating, smartypants!), so Liza threw on every piece of schlocky jewelry she had and was Fancy Nancy.

At home, despite having a perfectly lovely witch costume (thanks, Tab!) which she had specifically requested several weeks ago, Liza decided to make up her own costume again this year.  At least we got something more identifiable than last year's "orchestra girl."  

I give you: Christmas Caroler

Only she wouldn't wear the hat or carry the folder labeled "Christmas Carols" with her while trick-or-treating, so our neighbors probably think she's a bit touched in the head and just skipped ahead a holiday or two this year.  Oh, well - at least it made sense when she did tell them what she was!

You know you put off the gardening until too late when ...

... you have traded your sun visor for a wool knit hat.
... you have to wait for the frost to melt before you begin work for the day.
... you have to wear warm gloves under your gardening gloves.
... you can see your breath as you curse at the clods of clay that you laughingly call "soil."
... you start thinking that you could just leave the spade sticking out of the bed, put twinkle lights on it, and call it a seasonal decoration.
... you're more concerned about frostbite and chapped lips than you are about sunburn and heatstroke.
... you have to drag the bags of mulch inside Home Depot to check out because the outside register isn't open anymore.
... you know from first-hand experience that if you wear really loose jeans, it is possible to fit one of those microwavable rice heating pad things inside the waistband to keep you toasty while you work.

Well, I can't exactly take a picture of that

Spent all morning working on a calendar I hope to sell on my etsy site in time for the holidays.  It was several hours of sorting, cropping, resizing, fixing color, thinking of captions, and moving things aimlessly around in the template.  At least I was looking at cute animals while I was slogging through it.  I'm pretty happy with what I've got, but I'm going to let it sit overnight before I print a whole whack of them.  In the meantime, I'm not sick enough of the computer to give up my nightly game of Majong Titans.

She's got it bad

At breakfast this morning:

Liza: 'Lewis and I are at 14. When we've sat next to each other 16 times on the carpet, then we're boyfriend and girlfriend.'

Me: Does Lewis know he's almost your boyfriend? 

Liza: 'No, he hasn't heard the love song I made up for him yet.'

While working on a sketch this afternoon:

And when we were at school today for parent-teacher conferences we noticed that the class had posted pictures of the pumpkins they designed, along with little profiles about each of them.  Lewis's pumpkin "likes to play with Liza."  Of course, there were no fewer than half a dozen pumpkins named after Lewis, so apparently he's a popular guy.

I swear, it's like watching a telenovela or something, and they're only five.

Time to start teaching her German and looking into Lutheran convents.

It's that time of year again ... sigh ...

Repost of tweets from this afternoon - start at the bottom.

1. 
   Dang there are 2 colors of shirts I like. Buying 2 prs sweats only ok if I actually intend to sweat in them, right? Shoot.about 1 hour ago via txt
   
2. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   If I buy the t-shirt that coordinates with these sweatpants I can wear them in public, right? Cause its an outfit not sad SAHM sweats.about 1 hour ago via txt
3. Who made light chinos the go-to neutral? I look like the abominable snowman, while the navy and black look fine. Idiots.about 1 hour ago via txt
4. Must persevere. Yoga pants that predate my kid (which I wore all through pregnancy, too) have to go before Jason lays down an ultimatum.about 1 hour ago via txt
5. Took a wrong turn out of dressing room and ended up with sweatpants to try on. Hello, weird pantylines etched in my rear! Good to see you.about 1 hour ago via txt
6. Remember that brief shining moment in 2005 when I could wear a size 10? Sure, I had PPD and was losing hair like crazy, but damn, nice jeansabout 1 hour ago via txt
7. Lee - I don't want pants that make me look slimmer instantly. I want pants that don't gap at the waist enough to smuggle melons in pants.about 1 hour ago via txt
8. Also, skinny jeans in solid color denim - such a bad idea, seeing myself in them makes me want to hurt someone. Or get a milkshake.about 1 hour ago via txt
9. Dear a.n.a. - your 'skinny leggings' have enough room in the waist for me to wear them while 9mos pregnant. Not a good thing, guys.about 1 hour ago via txt
10. Join me as I live tweet while trying to find a new pair of jeans. Prepare for the horror of .... JEGGINGS!about 1 hour ago via txt

10 signs it's fall in Cleveland

10. There's a pile of 10 coats by the front door, because you never know if tomorrow will be 70F or 40F.

9.  There's a pile of dead leaves inside our back door, because no matter how often I sweep, the suckers reappear like magic.  I swear, I'm going to nail that door shut if people don't stop tracking leaves into my dining room.

8.  Spider house party in the basement!  Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!

7.  Brussels sprouts and Winesaps.  'Nuf said.

 

6.  On any given night you're liable to see one of our neighbors having a bonfire in his backyard that's at least 4' across and 15' high.  Leaves burn reeeeeeeeal good after a heinously dry summer.

5.  There's a metric shit-ton of political ads in our mailbox.  Seriously, they've killed entire forests for the sake of a bunch of snarky ads that make me hate all of the candidates, not just the ones being slammed in the ads.

4.  New exercise plan: weight training with the leaf blower, aerobics with the rake, and endurance while dragging the bags of leaves around to the side of the house, then up to the curb a few days later.  These, my friends, are the 26 bags of leaves I carried to the curb at dawn this morning.  That's just from this week.

3.  Did you notice that the trees in my backyard are still far from bare, even after the 26 bags of leaves this week, and more than a dozen bags a week ago?

2.  Wacky weather = cool sunset rainbows that appear to end in Liza's best friend's backyard.

1.  Vampire children!  EEEEEEEEEEK!  (or is that just at my house on days when I'm playing around on Picnik.com?)

Looking to spruce up your walls?

Might I suggest that a print from G Sees would look great in almost any room in your house?



You guys are always saying I should sell my photos, and now is a great time to support me and get a jump on your holiday shopping. Plus, I'll include a free gift to the first person to actually buy something from my shop!

Seriously, how do you keep a straight face?

Dinner is in the oven, Liza's artwork is drying on the easel downstairs, and the whole family is sitting on the floor playing Uno.  The cat wanders over and plunks down on my lap, where I notice that all is not right.

"How did Zach get paint on his head?  Did we leave anything out where he could rub against it?"
(quiet sobs start)
I pause for a second in disbelief, then ask, "Liza, did you paint the cat?"
(wailing begins)
"I didn't mean to!  He was just right there!  Arghlfarblepthththt!"
(Jason and I can't look at each other, or we're totally going to bust out laughing, because she is soooo repentant)
"You painted the cat.  You actually painted the cat?  Why would you do that?  You know that's wrong, don't you?"
"I don't know!  But he was there!  Arghflarghpththth!"
(Seriously, we can't even look in each other's direction, or we're going to lose our "stern parent" front)
"Well, that was wrong.  We can't paint the cat - do you understand why?  What's going to happen when he cleans himself?"
"He's going to puke all over the floor again."
(sniffles and much moping)
"That's right.  You did something wrong, and we're going to have to punish you for that, but I'm glad you told us the truth about it.  You have to draw six extra cards and skip a turn in the game.  And I'd better not see the cat with a purple forehead ever again, do you understand?"
"Yes, mama.  Oh, look!  I got a blue one!"

Faces on day four

And yes, edited/cleaned up versions of some of these will be for sale in my other etsy shop someday soon.