I finally got a cell phone - a real, honest-to-goodness phone, instead of the very old pay-as-you-go phone I've had for years for use in emergencies only.
We're on Cingular/AT&T/BellSouth (so we share the same cell company as the kids - which means free calls from phone to phone, yay!), with no bells or whistles. Well, except that phones don't come without bells and whistles these days (mine include a camera and the ability to play tunes - more details here ).
Nifty, huh?
<cue fancy television news music>
We dropped Ms. Milo at school, where she was forced to say good-bye to her boyfriend (though to be fair this very cute picture was taken on Saturday at lunch, prior to when we dropped her off on Sunday). There were many tears when they parted. /sniff
I found this fella on the wall on my way to class earlier this week. As those who follow my blog surely know I cannot resist a neat insect photo. On the other hand, the wasps who are making a home in the wall near the entry stairs to our home - those I don't need to photograph. They just need to DIE.
And then there's this neat thing. I can only wear platinum in my ears, so I finally realized that rather than continue to wear the single pair of platinum hoops I have, I could get some platinum earwires made - ta da! - and then just add other dangly bits below so I'd have an endless variety of earrings. Nifty, huh?
I've been playing with ATCs lately. The one above is the start of a card featuring a photo of Milo in her halloween costume, which I'm editing into a coloring book page sorta thing.
In addition, I've been working on a "signature" card for me. One of my first attempts at an image for it is below (made with the "comic" feature of my photo editing software.
... wishes you a happy 4th of July!
(Here's a close up of her make-up when she finalized it.)
And finally, we met up with Trevor's family at the mall in Johnson City to retrieve Ms. Milo on Monday evening. Here the two of them are making fishy kisses with each other.
Aren't they just too cute?!
We went to LEAF - the teens were, not surprisingly, cute as heck. I think I put up some other photos of this earlier, but I found this one today and it deserved being seen as well.
Live with it.
(Now some links: custom business suits for less than $200, including delivery; Joost ; how to make a bangle bracelet - a movie ; Fraud Beat - like Tiger Beat , only fraud.)
We headed off on a Thursday night to join the crew from Scrutiny Hooligans for a bout of Drinking Liberally at a local pub. We'd thought it was the pub with the movie house, but we were wrong, which meant Marc spent the night in the car playing with his Game Boy (or as he puts it, "taking one for the team") while Milo and I enjoyed chatting in butterfly-face with the other liberal hooligans. (The make-up is explained easily enough as the result of our having dinner where a face painter was doing the kids faces - and of course we had to have it done too!)
And then on Thursday, as we headed home from work, a teen-age driver pulled through
a stop sight to attempt to turn in front of us (there was no room, she just didn't realize we were there), causing an accident. Ugh.
NO ONE WAS HURT - but boy, the inconvenience and expense are something we're not sure how to support at this time. The adjuster told Marc he'd look at the car on "Monday, maybe Tuesday" which means I have to call when they open on Monday for (a) get him to look ASAP and (b) get them to start paying for our car rental.
Friday night was the "Anti-Prom" - an even Milo organized for homeschoolers across NC, to take place in Asheville. We started with pizza, and moved to the drum circle that takes place every Friday night at Pritchard park in Asheville's downtown. Much fun was had by all!
Saturday we spent wandering downtown with friends (I wasn't up for it at all; still aching and depressed from our accident - overwhelmed really). Milo and Trevor hate parting, and we hate parting them, but we did come home in the evening to a surprised Marc who hadn't realized we'd be gone all day. /whoops
So Mother's Day came a bit early in the form of a lovely bracelet from Ms. Milo. She bought it from a traveling vendor who stopped by the sub shop where she works. It appears to be a mix of wood, brass and something ivory-like. My favourite bit is the clasp - which is where there are two photos of it, both closed and open.
This weekend she and I will attend LEAF : The Lake Eden Arts Festival. It looks to be fun, and arty, and musical. We're camping (heh) and just picked up the nibbles to bring with us from home.
(Originally she was going with a friend, staying with that friend camping, but at the last minute they bowed out leaving Milo with her ticked (she saved and bought it herself) and no way to go. She purchased a ticket for me - again with money she saved herself - in order that the weekend not be a total loss.)
So we went into Asheville today to meet a family of friends - including Milo's boyfriend, Trevor. Our plan was lunch at Doc Chey's, to be followed by a movie (for Marc only), wandering (in two groups: Milo&Trevor, and the rest of us), and then pizza at Mellow Mushroom at the end.
One of the sights along the way was this very neat bench along a street in downtown Asheville.
We finished lunch and headed down. Our first stop was Mast General Store, where much yummy candy was purchased. At Mast its kept in barrels, like an old general store. You scoop up the pieces you want, and pay by the pound. Ren and I also found much to look at while there - which means the kids were bored to tears after ten minutes.
We followed Mast with a stop at Sword and the Grail, a local Dungeons and Dragon hobby shop, and comic book shop. Yesterday was Free Comic Book day - they still had the freebies out on a table, though I didn't see any that caught my eye as particularly my sort o' book.
At the hobby shop we ran into the teens, who were convinced that it would be in their best interests to pose for a photo for the moms: with full on hot red wax lips.
In exchange (heh, we'd planned to do this anyway), Ren and I figure we'll try for a monthly crafting get together - which will also let the kids get together more often than might otherwise happen.
I miss having a crafting group, so this sounds just wonderful to me! And maybe I can get Ren-the-MAC-make-up-artist to teach me how to wear make-up on the side.
This completely cool van was packed near the park (where the kids ate organic hot dogs) where we spent a bit of time sitting and feeding the pigeons, and people watching.
We followed it up with a bit more walking - this time down toward the Grove Arcade. Here we saw this interesting sign in a plant (thanks only to a child who pulled the flag out when we walked by):
Only in Asheville.
