Beardwatch

No one in the family can grow a beard like Frank, but Ernest is going to give it a shot.

He's been growing this one since the day after graduation.  He was actually growing it a few weeks before (during the senior camping trip), but school rules required him to shave.  He chafed at the restriction, especially since the shaving command came from the school official who sported a scruffy, unkempt beard. My opinion was that of all the battles he will pick in his life, and all the stands he will take, this didn't need to be one of them.  He shaved.

Then he started growing it again.

Now he has left for a month-long rock climbing course in Wyoming. We'll see what it looks like when he returns at the beginning of August.

"What is This" Wednesday

Give me your impressions.

UPDATE

Oh all right, Cheri. I don't want to torture you.
It is cheese, but I thought it looked like an abstract painting of powder puffs.

Ort something like this:

The topographical map is a good guess, too.

It's not bleu cheese, though.
Just a hunk of mozzarella which looked perfectly fine on one side,
but when I turned it over OMG!

Frog Balls

I picked up some fancy cheese at a new store, and these caught my eye. How could I not try Frog Balls? If you like both spicy things AND brussels sprouts, you might like these. I noshed on them with the cheese and rosemary crackers. They would be quite tasty in a Bloody Mary, excuse me I mean Froggy Mary.

Lacking the necessary ingredients for the Froggy Mary, I attempted to make the Frog Ball Dirty Martini instead.  See?  All two ingredients:

It wasn't bad, but it wasn't my personal favorite.

The local frogs were very concerned about this ball situation. I dusted them off and assured them that no frogs were harmed.

I'd rather eat the balls and save my Prairie Cucumber Vodka for something else.  It's yummy vodka, by the way. I wish I were being paid to say that, but I'm not.

Thus ends my frog ball adventure.

Sights with Ernest

Ernest is about to leave for a month rock climbing in Wyoming, so he needed a few things.

I hung out on his shopping trip to 3 different sporting goods stores and caught a few sights.

Max the Wild Thing was busy skateboarding.

How often do you see a unicyclist? It turns out we know this guy.

Ernest sports the latest in Ninja wear.

It was one of the more interesting shopping trips I've been on.

small moments

I am enjoying

these last small moments in time

with my son

before his life's adventure continues

the quotidian life of

the shopping trip

picking up food and

watching tv

the exceptional life of 

listening

hearing and

understanding

this may be our last time 

together as parent and child

when I left for college

I never returned

to my mother's 

closed mind

and stifled life

I am different

open to experience and change

fly free

enjoy your journey

Frank's Turn

Grown children are so elusive.

You can't force them in front of the camera any more.

You have to wait for an opportune moment.

I got a nice picture of Frank at his last piano recital.

And I begged for one of him in his beret 

to send to his Grandma (a print is in the mail!).

Why a beret, you ask?  

He needs to cover his hair for work 

and it's so much more Frank than a hairnet or a beanie.

Thanks for the picture, Frank!

On the Walk

I've been trying to walk more.  

The return of a library book becomes a good opportunity for a short loop. 

I always love finding flowers on the walk.

Earlier this week, the window boxes and planters were bursting with color.

On a previous walk I'd seen a troupe of 5th graders on a geocache expedition.  

I don't know much about that.  Might this be related?  

Is it inappropriate to include a photo of it?  

I'll delete it if it is.

Swaddled

In the market, I came upon a display of papayas, 

all lovingly swaddled like tiny babies. 

I wanted to take one home 

but I didn't have a car seat!

Today's Adventure

I went to my bellyrobics class today, in one of the other small towns, and it turned out to be their annual celebration day.  So there was a parade and stuff.  Good timing on my part!

I saw the cutest little choo-choo,

adorable junior flamenco dancers,

and I always manage to find some flowers.

The street was lined with craft booths.  The most unusual thing I saw was jewelry made of shredded bicycle inner tubes!  It looked something like this...

I do not need any more stuff, that is for sure.  But there was one thing that caught my eye.  I have a fantasy homes pinterest board and of course hobbit houses are pinned there!  I couldn't resist!

I Destroyed My Kitchen

Temporarily.

For this.

It was worth it. 

Homer Says Thank You

As we progressed through the long list of possible problems with special diets and other meds, it became clear that it had to be something else.  Homer's biopsies came back with the not-surprising results that he has small-cell lymphoma.  As the vet said, if a cat's going to get cancer it's not the worst kind.  Chemo every 3 days, prednisone twice a day.

He had his first doses this morning.  He seems a little ancy right now, going in and out a lot for no reason, but he was glad the goop was in smaller quantities than last week's ulcer meds!

We had a choice of flavor for the meds, fish or beef.  Why not bacon, Homer wondered?  He's not a fan of fish, so it is beef flavor for now.

He was also glad I gave up on giving him that dog-awful diet food!  One of his favorite games has been to try to get into the good stuff in the cupboard.

Well, says Homer, time to settle down for the morning's nap. Thanks for your support!

Cat Stuff

cat food on counter

opposable thumbs needed

the cat's out of luck

Please send our Homer some good luck. He's been having some issues including continuing weight loss. (I swear it's not his beloved bacon. As much as he loves it, we only give him the tiniest of tastes on a very occasional basis.) He says that horrible prescription cat food doesn't help as it's too awful tasting for him to eat. He suffered through an endoscopy on Tuesday and is terribly embarassed because his front paw wrists are shaved like a poodle's. In addition to giving him meds 5x/day for ulcers, we are waiting waiting waiting for the intestinal biopsy results.

Handy has photoshopped a watch for Homer to cover up some of the bare area.