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Day Fourteen: Brought to you by Coffee!
I almost decided to give up on nablopomo today. Somebody commented that it’s been putting me in a bad mood and I hate that I’m so transparent like that. You’re right, it has been putting me in a bad mood and shame on me. It’s supposed to be fun. Why am I complaining in almost every post?
Really what my problem is is that I’m a caffeine addict. I’m also a morning person. I’m also a mom who cannot get anything done between the hours of 5:30 am and 8 pm because I have a child who demands nearly all of my attention. So when Baby Bug finally goes to bed, I’m pretty beat…and grumpy.
You know how night owls are grumpy in the morning? Well, I’m just like that except in reverse. I’m so chipper in the morning you’d probably want to throw your alarm clock at me. But when nine pm hits, my eyes start drooping and I’m about as fun as a bag of rocks.
The way I combat my natural yearning to go to bed when the sun goes down is to guzzle coffee. But like any drug, it doesn’t always work. After a while I develop a tolerance and I have to drink more. More and more and more coffee. After a month or so coffee has no effect on me. I’m just tired all the time. I really should go off caffeine but that is like asking me not to breath. It’s a good thing I never tried crack.
I LOVE coffee! If I suddenly stop drinking coffee then you know it’s because I’m pregnant and the smell makes me ill. So I must not be pregnant because there is a paper cup from starbucks sitting right here on the counter next to me and even though it is all gone (drunk up?), I can still smell just a hint of delicious eggnog latte. (My first of the season! Hip hip hooray for eggnog lattes! Let’s just throw our scales in the trash now.)
Tonight I had my coffee late and that is why I am still up typing and not complaining too terribly much. But I’m not sure I can keep it up all month long. I might have to quit nablopomo or just post minimally. OR I could just complain all month. NO. I can’t do that.
In other news, Baby Bug and I took a walk to the beach this afternoon and took a bunch of pictures. The light was really pretty. You may see a bunch more beach pictures here again… In a few days, I’m going to start up the (not so daily) “daily desktops” again. The Daily Desktops are making a comeback thanks to popular demand. Wooot!
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Day Twelve: Perfect Picnic Day
Maybe I had so much trouble blogging last night because I didn’t have any photos to jump off from. I like to think I’m a writer/artist but when the going gets tough—I’m more of a visual person than a wordsmith. I’ve especially felt this way lately as I peruse more and more amazingly witty blog writers. At one point, I got so disappointed in my lack of wittiness, I almost decided that I shouldn’t read witty blogs anymore. And that is just sad. So I got over that, shook off my jealousy and told myself to just keep doing what I do and stop thinking so much about it.
Today was a great day for taking pictures. It was sunny and lovely. The Santa Ana winds blew softly, warming the day up in a surreal its-a-holiday* sort of way. The weather and lack of usual 9-5 hustle bustle reminded me of Christmas. Christmas is always unusually warm around here. People take walks, drink coffee outside, hang out with their kids at the park… my town just has that “I’m on holiday* feeling”. And if that doesn’t do it for you then you’ll realize it’s a holiday* when you can’t deposit your check at the bank or mail that package you promised you’d mail first thing Monday morning.
In spite of my foiled errands to the post office and the bank, today was a perfect day. A perfect day for a picnic! I try to fill the big block of time between Baby Bug’s one nap of the day and bedtime with an outing that will amuse us both. Somedays we just stay inside and color all day. Those days drag on painfully. Other days I think up something fun and novel like a picnic!
Baby Bug got a quilt in the mail the other day from a reader who spoils me rotten and the quilt just called out to be taken outside for some fun. It’s so bright and colorful it makes all the other blankets jealous.
Of course we couldn’t disappoint the new quilt, so we packed up some lunch and headed down to the beach for some sun and sand. Nothing says holiday like the crunch of sand when you bite down on a grilled cheese sandwich. I’m so used to sand these days, it doesn’t even phase me. Sand sand everywhere. Good thing we have spanking new plumbing in our falling down rental apartment.
We had so much fun with our picnic we decided to share it with the seagulls which probably made all the other families picnicking nearby us mad at us. Actually, there was a family near us and I could tell the mom was seething as I tossed Baby Bug’s uneaten apples to the greedy seagulls. I suppose it wasn’t the wisest thing to do but it was very entertaining. Seagulls are such mad creatures. I get a kick out of watching them fight over food. They weren’t really a problem. When we finished up our lunch, I threw away the trash and they flew off to bug someone else.
I don’t know if good weather will keep the “no mo’ nablopomo blues” away but it certainly helped! Sunny weather always helps.
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Editor’s note: I know today is not a “holiday”. It’s actually a day to remember those who have given their lives to preserve ours. It’s not about celebrating but it is about being thankful. And I’m thankful to all those soldiers because without them there wouldn’t be perfect days for picnics.
