the tiny clap of little hands

missambiguous at yahoo. yes, yahoo. var sc_project=7007209; var sc_invisible=1; var sc_security="6a2923c6";

[missambiguous]

Hiya

Hey there. Hi. I just looked through my archive for something from last year it took all of two seconds to find it and it made me sad that I don’t post anymore. Buuuuut... things are just going excellent here and I hope you know I have been trying to keep up with all of you. 

See you later. :)

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Christmas 1970. I haven’t stopped rolling my eyes since.

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Who’s that bald-headed, fat-faced baby? (Do you have any idea how odd it is to scroll down and see your family’s young faces roll by? Very odd. And awesome.)

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Lisa made meatballs and “gravy”. I love my Long Island Italian girlfriend.

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Take back Tumblr….but it’s sauce. Gravy is brown and made from meat.

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Okay, so hi. SOME gravy is brown and made from meat. OTHER gravy is red and actually includes the meat. See above.

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Game On! Thank you, Corvidae30, for the postcard featuring a very fitting photo by you, delivered from all the way up and over there!

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I know there’s only around two of you who would click this just because it’s something cool from Minecraft, but...

Okay wait, is Minecraft a time-suck? Yes. But it’s also an incredible way to express a creative side of yourself. 

Someone created “Don’t Stop Me Now” by Queen in Minecraft with redstone and note blocks. Did this take forever for them to make? OH YES. 

Is it pretty cool? HELL YES. 

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rules: tag 10 people

I was tagged by ohmygreyheart (thanks!)

Name: Lisa Nickname: Lee Birthday: June 21 Height: 5'5" Sign: Gemini/Cancer cusp Sexuality: oh who cares Favorite color: Shades of blue Time right now: 1:31 pm Eastern Average hours of sleep: just less than enough Lucky number: never really had one. combos of 3's and 1's and 9's seem to follow me... Last thing I googled: songs better known for their live versions Number of blankets I sleep under:  1... 2 in the winter. Celebrity crush: meh Favorite book: Let's call this most recently finished book: Death by Toilet Paper by Donna Gephart Favorite bands or artist:  I don’t care for the word "favorite." Again, most recently, I'm on a Courtney Barnett kick and I'm pretty excited to see Modest Mouse next month. What I’m wearing right now: black pants, red sweatshirt, slippers.

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Real mail! I love it. Plus, puffy stickers? How did you know? :)

Thanks, Clippy!

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What even is the purpose of hiccups?

Because they are my #1 pet peeve and the hiccups can just fuck right the fuck off.

This message brought to you by my recent spat of hiccups and all of the vodka THank you,

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The Boy Takes on 4th Grade: Day 1

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along for the ride on flickr

Finally getting to go through the pics from our trip to the White Mountains in New Hampshire. I am pleased.

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Because that, too, is usually how it works...

The missing memory card full of our first vacation pics was found this morning by the same person who apparently THREW IT OUT. Yes, me. I kept putting off checking the garbage outside because 1) ew, garbage and 2) I DID NOT THROW IT OUT. hahahahaha

So, rather than check “ew, garbage”, I waited three more days so I could then break down and check “OMG EWWW OLD GARBAGE SOMEONE SAVE ME”. Shirt over face and gloves on hands, I ripped open the bag, tossed the (gag) old watermelon aside, pushed away some random debris and OH YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME. Relived? Yes. Irritated with myself of several fronts? Oh, hell yes. 

So it’s had a gentle bath and it still works so all in all, relived? Yes. Irritated with myself of several fronts? Oh, hell yes. 

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Because that’s usually how it works...

I would love to show you (and myself and my family) some (all) of the pictures from our first family vacation. We went to the White Mountains. We did a lot of fun things. I fell in love with the Alpine Slide (like, loooooove). We swam in a river. I saw my first hummingbird. We spotted a bear cub. Matt and I were graciously allowed *two* shots of the four of us, one even had all of us smiling at the same time!  

And yet. I can’t. I can’t show you, or anyone else, because I lost the memory card I dedicated to the trip. In the house... somewhere... I’ve been looking for three days now. 

Now maybe, just maybe, since I complained about it in public, it will show up to stick it to me for being such a complainer. And I can have a V-8 moment, like OH YEAH!!! One can hope anyway. 

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Things We Inherited from Matt’s Nana: Part 1

A Magnavox Stereo cabinet from 1966. It’s a beauty that Nana kept it in excellent condition (as she did with all her things). The speakers still crank and the bulb that back lights the radio still works, too. 

We’re listening to records on it now and unlike the Hawaiian songs she used to play for Matt’s son, this is most definitely the first time Frank Zappa has had a spin. 

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Last Monday as I was sitting in my backyard, I spotted a yellow bird that I never saw visit our yard before, and thought to myself, well isn’t this nice... all the work Matt is doing shows. I love our garden and it looks awesome back here!

The next day, our backyard was drastically altered by a storm that tore through here like a freight train. Matt and I noticed it was too dark outside for 6:20am so we opened the back door to a sudden downpour that was fully dressed with thunder and fierce lightning. A moment later we witnessed our neighbor's 80'+ tree try its best to hold steady, but a huge gust of wind made it lean almost all the way over, then bounce a few times as it tried to right itself, until it hit the ground. Well actually, it never hit the ground. It fell right along our back fence, decimating every tree we had growing along the property line (thankfully not destroying any homes or garages at all from the five backyards this affected - it's rather amazing how it went down, literally and figuratively) and rested on one particular tree of ours that took the brunt of the weight. Our poor little tree was pushed over far enough that the leaves of a large branch were touching our garden bed, the base cracking away from the trunk but not breaking off. It's been mentioned that the storm lasted 28 minutes - in and out - leaving a path of destruction from East to West throughout our whole town. 

We're very lucky that we only lost trees and the like (unlike some neighbors), but the change to our yard is just drastic and overwhelming. We've never been so exposed to both the full sun and... well... other people. It's been a sad and emotional week, especially after watching the giant tree get picked apart day after day by a chainsaw. Each branch that goes leaves a bigger opening between us and the yards, homes, windows we never saw beyond our fence.

I sat through Hurricane Sandy in my car so I could keep my phone charged and yet you couldn't have paid me to even open the door, let alone step into that cluster-fuck last week. I have not been right since the storm/tree death/yard ruining and I am convinced that there is some variation of PTSD associated with witnessing such destruction from an act of nature. And no thanks, I won't be googling that shit. I know what I need to know: It sucked. It sucks.

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take a dip on flickr

This is my first attempt at shooting stars. heheh get it?

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Hmm... I wonder if there’s still any benadryl in the house

I thought as my son’s friend splashed around in pain from the two bee stings he had just received.

Him? Fine.

Me? Not so much.

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11 Questions!

Here are my 11 answers to the questions from houseofjules2 (thanks for the tag!)

1. What was your favorite childhood toy? I had several depending on what part of my childhood... Lincoln Logs <3, Gnip Gnop, and my Barbies to name a few.

2. A favorite line from a song? First thing that popped into my head... "singles remind me of kisses, albums remind me of plans" 

3. What’s something kind someone has done for you? I witness many acts of kindness throughout each day, inside and outside our home. I really, truly try to take notice when I see them because it's always in the smallest gestures that I see the most kindness. I’m a recipient of some of that, I can’t pick one thing.

4. Favorite rainy day movie? Goonies. It's my standard answer to any "favorite movie" type questions because a) I usually avoid answering "favorite" questions due to my lack of ability to pick any one thing over all the other things, and Secondly) because Goonies.  

5. What non-professional accomplishment are you most proud of? I finally did what was right for me and my Boy - picked it all up, moved it, and started over. <3

6. What’s your favorite Girl Scout cookie? I like most Girl Scout cookies, but if I had to "desert island" pick, it would be the shortbread Trefoils. As long as there's tea on that island.

7. What thing that isn’t an emoji would you like to be an emoji? Hmmm. Probably something that truly expresses "HE SHOOTS, HE SCORES!"

8. What or who(m) did you most often think about this weekend? I was often reminded of our dog this weekend, the late, great B-Girl. There's a void. We miss her.

9. What’s the current worst thing about adulthood? As of today, it's summer vacation. I want my time, days, life back. Love you kids, but my involvement in curtailing your "boredom" has reached it's nadir. Sorry, not sorry, etc.

10. The best? I dunno. There's a certain sense of freedom I enjoy as far as deciding what's the thing I want to do right now and being okay with whatever my answer is... does that even make sense? I know what I mean to say...

11. If there’s something you need from a person/people in your life, how likely are you to ask for it? Honestly, I think that the more important or intimidating or urgent the need is, the less likely I am to ask.