...burnin' down the house...

I'm not much of a girlie-girl. My hair is in a bun/ponytail/braid daily. I wear makeup less than 5 times a year. My attire is based on comfort, not style. And I can't remember to paint/repaint my toenails, even though I may be wearing a bright red shade from six weeks ago. The energy it takes to get dolled up stresses me out and takes away from whatever event I might be attending that required the fixing up. I just have to accept this about myself. Fortunately for me, my husband isn't overly concerned, and my mother and sister have pretty much given up trying to influence me on these issues. Ronny Mac, my precious brother, wouldn't notice either way.

Sunday, on a whim, I decided to straighten my hair. For those of you with natural curls, you might appreciate the joy of having sleek, flat-ironed hair that you can actually run your fingers through. That's what I was going for. I added a bit of product, which I later realized was the amount I used to use before I chopped these last 7 inches. Apparently, shorter hair doesn't need as much goupiness. Lesson learned. It was straight, but not particularly pretty. Back to ponytail.

Anyway, Adam, Gracen and I went to Durham to meet up with our birth class families to see how all of the little ones have grown. We had a great time. The park had this fancy sprinkler system, so the tots stripped down to their diapers and had a blast. (side note: sprinklers do not help flat-ironed hair, especially those that are overproduct-ed). We got in, had dinner, put the wee one to bed, and I took a shower. Shortly before retiring for the evening, Adam noticed that the flat iron was still on. Not plugged in, mind you, but wildly hot nonetheless. It's very odd, as I have a very distinct memory of unplugging it before we left for the park (10 hours earlier) and absolutely no memory of unplugging at any point that evening. Very odd. The entire top of the counter was hot and we're left with some beautiful burn marks. I wanted new counter tops anyway, so perhaps this was my subconscious destruction of a perfectly good but boring lavatory.

I almost burned our house down and all for a little vanity. I will straighten my hair no more. I was given curls, and I'll just have to deal with them.

C-H-E-E-E-E-E-Z-Z-Z-E-ball

No chastising, please. I'm back with high hopes of regaining my former blogger self. I seem to be absorbed in anything but computing these days. I blame it on the kid. Gracen is crazy. She spins in circles 50 times a day, falling down or crashing into walls. She loves it. She's talking on the phone as often as possible. Please call and enjoy. She's giving kisses to her Mama (WHICH SHE SAYS AND MEANS, thank you very much) and Daddy and dolls. She gives hugs, especially to Harley. She's eating raw broccoli. I think she thinks they're little trees. She's held kittens. We were going to take them home with us, but after watching her "pet" them like she does Harley and Athena, we decided it would be kinder and safer for the kittens to leave them with their mama.

Last week, my cousin Olivia spent the week with us. She's going to be going away for her last two years of high school to South Carolina's Governor's School of Science and Math. She's always been ridiculously intelligent, so it will be good for her to be in a school that challenges that noggin of hers. We had a wonderful time and we were sad to see her leave. The rest of the McDaniel Clan came up to retrieve her on Saturday. Gracen loved the attention. (The pics above are of her laughing at Aunt Minerva and the girls)

And Ghi-ghi is on her way over right now!!!!

Random pictures for Aunt Belle.

Gracen has her very own swing. It's still not perfectly "stable" and we need to get some hooks, but it works. She loves it a little too much and is devastated when she has to get out. It's very "foggy-takes-a-bath-esque."

Gracen and Aunt Minerva. Gracen is playing with her new buddy-to-be, Lily Grey's shower toy.

Gracen and Olivia. Please come back over. She's been looking for you in your room...

You can tell Uncle Ricky's very happy, as his eyes disappear when he smiles, just like his big brother, my daddy. Mine do too. Gracen's do too. What a very odd trait to inherit.

After her first swim in a big pool at her friend Revy's house, she had some fun in the water and sand. We're going to have to get one of these things!!!

AND...

Some of you may have heard me complain about my inability to make my new sewing machine work. I have been assuming it was simply my lack of knowledge and genuine ineptitude that was destroying any attempts I was making at my creative endeavors. BUT, BUT, BUT, Aunt Minerva played with the machine for a while, determined it was "broken," and talked me in to returning it, which I promptly did. I got the same one, and it works like a champ. I still have no clue what I'm doing, but the machine is in run mode. I did make Gracen a shirt last night out of one of my old shirts. I have no idea if it fits, but if so, I'll take a picture. If it doesn't, I'll still take a picture, just off the model.

so sorry for my slackard ways...

yes, those are baby shades she's wearing.

And she even kept them on for multiple minutes at a time. I was very proud, and her eyeballs should still be working correctly. I think she realized that everyone else was wearing them, so she should jump on board without the usual struggle.

Gracen and I headed down to Figure Eight on Monday to catch up with the Papa who had been there on a "boy break" since Friday. We got to meet up with the Archers everyday as well, and Hannah came down on Tuesday with a friend. Fabulous friends, beautiful location, cute baby, sweet boy. Really, it couldn't have been more perfect.

I had fully intended to finish my book, Confederacy of Dunces, while there, but did not. Those that are following my reading list may have noted that nothing new has popped up in months. I've been working on this one for 7 years. I start, I stop, I reread, blah, blah. I really don't know what my problem is, especially since it is by far one of the most beautiful/hilarious pieces of literature I've picked up in my life. And I've read a lot of stuff. It will be finished by Sunday. Maybe I just don't want it to be over, so I'm lingering, feeling every word as many times as possible. And I have been reading. I just didn't think dime store romance novels probably should be added to my official list, as it might taint one's view of my literary aptitude. But sometimes, you just need a little reminder that you can indeed still finish a book in a day, and that dreamy men really do become captive to pirate girls (pretending to be boys), and they go to sea and fall in love and are forced to be married against their will, but fall hopelessly in love throughout their fighting, and have equally gorgeous children who become earls and ladies, who have glorious love stories as well (which will be other books). And they all have good hair in those books. I'm not sure why that's important, but perhaps true love just gravitates to those with a "luscious mane" of hair. Please don't think less of me.

Gracen and Uncle Matt. Thanks for letting us come and play!

Daddy and Gracen. Yes, they are supercool.