Monday, July 30, 2012

On Occasion

Last fall I questioned the decision not to purchase a new winter cover for our pool.
Naw, he told me, it'll be fine, just a bit more work to clean up in the spring.
But then we didn't start the spring clean up until mid-June.  

And things didn't go well.


Hundreds of dollars were spent.  Days were spent cleaning. Dozens of trips were made to the pool store for analyzation.
It was still green.
It was now mid-June.  We'd seen 7 100+ degree days.  An unimaginable amout of 90 degree days with crazy high humidity.

So we had a brilliant idea. Maybe pool water is like a fish tank? It was just old and nasty, so we should empty the sicker and start over.


We didn't know that was a cardinal no-no of above ground pool ownership. When you empty it of water, the liner starts to contract, crack and peel away from the side of the pool. We were lucky the whole thing didn't collapse.

But, on the bright side, after another $300 spent on a new liner and an un-godly water bill to come our way in the future, we now have a crystal clear pool.


For a week or two anyway.

And we will not  be discussing the swarm of wasps we found nesting in the pool
toy storage box when we tried to get swimmies for the girls.


Because, things are fine sitting out for the winter if you are willing to spend a little more time cleaning them up come spring summer.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

The Fish

She paints me.


This vivid little girl.

Clare is blossoming, exploding!, right before our eyes. Sentences are coming together. Thoughts and phrases we don't expect to be coming from her. Sometimes, when I am on the receiving end of phone calls, I can't tell the girls apart.

Clare hugs and giggles with such passion. She narrows her eyes and deliberates. She is busting out toddler jigsaw puzzles like a champ. And she is enthralled with art.

She paints me with her imagination, literally, from head to toe. She names body parts on her journey: hair, eyes, neck, elbow, button, knee, toes.

Her artists pallet? Why a wooden fish and soy sauce of course.


Tuesday, July 10, 2012

To the OBX and Back

We've been there and back.

Grace has developed a taste for salt water and ocean waves. Clare has sun bleached her locks to near white. I won't go so far as to say the vacation was great. There were moments that I will hold with me for a long time.







Alright.  Maybe it wasn't so bad.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Four: a cardinal number, three plus one

This space is my outlet.

This space is my everything and my nothing.

This space is random.

This space is mine.

Happy four years of blogging to me!