Dali Nights

Late last night, traversing the dark alleys of internet, I found myself at a site I knew I shouldn’t enter. I saw myself, a la Marlene Dietrich at a dark train stain, smoke curling around my ankles and fog hanging heavy in the air, my hand slowing turning the knob of a dirty glass door. I entered and typed my birthdate and some vital stats onto the screen and waited, out popped 1,734,256,207.

….206..205…204…203 – I was watching my death clock, and it kept ticking! I know I shouldn’t be surprised, and I wasn’t, I mean, we are all dying, I know, but to see it like that is rather …jarring. The optimist would say, we’ll, at least you got something to tick away at but as I watched the numbers fall, I kept thinking Oh freak, I am not doing anything,…200…199!...Crap, I’ve lost 10 seconds at this stupid site, what should I do that is worthy of life??(yes, I really do think like this!)....180...179..178…Hmmm, first is to get out of this site….175, 174, Where to go, where to go? Let’s see what’s on sale at Gump’s (not that shopping is such a worthy endeavor but it is better than this!)… 168…Wait, I am trying to save money for a Smile Train surgery…oh Shoot! Time’s up! Buzzer went off: Tingu is crying & Free Me is dead for the night!

And while I really enjoy my late night ‘me’ time to explore rabbit holes of the virtual world, last night, the Tingu buzzer was a welcome call. Curling up with him in a nice big comfy bed sure beat the heck out of watching my death clock tick away! And as he rubbed my pinky nail until I was sure there was no finger left, I reflected on the last month that was very full of lots of things that ate away the seconds in a most appealing manner.

We had numerous weekend outings at the parks around our home – sometimes planned, sometimes, not, often with friends, sometimes just us. It’s the great thing about living so close to so many parks.

Accidental Environmentalists: Found some string, cleaned the park, had a blast

Our beloved fountain park

Sometimes getting to the park is actully the most fun part.

B channeling his inner Italian {sorry, L!} as Hunie takes command of the play.

Huns has a plan

We eked out every last bit of July summer juice –

Relishing summer's peak with good friends and a great day at the lake.

Our gardener had to quit gardening (due to his health), and while citied by the Homeowners Association for our rather unruly lawn, the kids loved playing in Tingu’s ‘wild savannah grass’! I seriously cannot wait to take that kid on his first safari.

The laser show in Atlanta – nothing has changed since 1987. Feel free to wear your jams!!

Reptile day at Fernbank with Maash & crew:

Yes, Hunie's Auntie is trying to feed him a rubber lizard.

We attempted brunch at Murphy’s after the museum…leisurely…um, No! All the families with impeccably dressed, adorable little girls were eating very nicely. Our table, on the other hand, was a disaster; I wanted to take a picture but was too embarrassed. We left a healthy tip and hastily made our exit.

Fell in love with Sonoma. Ran my first half-marathon race which ended aptly in a wine festival!

This was the first trip in a long time that consisted of just Mom, Dad, Chubbs & I. Chubbs and I did revert to being 13 years old and through angers flared over car rules and who stole the sheets (yes, really!), in retrospect, it was quite hilarious and a very memorable trip - from the company to the food to the scenery. We love Cali!

We celebrated birthday parties and graduation parties, baby showers, and toasting to the health of good friends. I saw college buddies, met new girlfriends of old friends, squeezed in dinners with visting family, ate some of the most delicious food of my life (Auberge du Soleil), got through board meeting presentations and budget reviews. Mowed the front lawn (and my neighbor’s too!) Kept most of my weekly lunch dates with my dear Aunt and pulled in a pedicure.

Hunie started talking more (lots of possessives, imagine that!), throwing more and got kicked out of his infant B class for crawling out of his crib (with shoes on!). He is not a baby delinquent on the street but was quickly shifted to toddler class, supposedly breaking his little girlfriends heart, who now pounds the glass between the rooms to get his attention!

Tings mastered 100 piece puzzles and makes up elaborate explorer stories ‘on my head’ (ie. He means to say in his head), as well as refers to himself as being ‘octurnal' (nocturnal). True to his word he must have woke up 17 times last night with the following clear, crisp nuggets of wisdom: ‘When it is very dark, like right, now, I can camouflage into the night’. He also asked us to cut his toenails. Then he told us he loved us. Then he thanked ‘everyone’ for the ‘cool, fresh water’ that is always next to his bed at night and for 'lotioning his itchy knee'. Then he talked about saving Siberian tigers from dying. It was like an Academy Awards speech ...just in my bed... at 3am….

All in all very good stuff and a more-than-slightly tiring but absolutely worthy allocation of my 2.7 million July seconds.