–I am doing my best to avoid seeing political stuff and limiting my exposure to news in general. It is all so awful I almost instantly become overwhelmed. I’m going to vote, and be as active as I can locally, but I’m limiting myself for my own well-being. This election is so filled with horror, America is so filled with horror, this world is so filled with horror… I’m finding myself overwhelmed and filled with anxiety. I’m taking active steps to know my limits, practice self-care, and be selective about how I spend my time. I’m focusing on the things I can change, things that make me happy, and things I can improve. I long for the days when I can go online without immediately wanting to anger-barf, but in the mean time I’m taking control of my mental state as best I can.
–In other ‘2016 Is A Dumpster Fire’ news, murder clowns have been spotted in the area. (Apparently they aren’t Juggalos. Which is something we have. The Central Valley is a rich source of our nation’s Juggalos.) I have saved a voicemail officially warning my family about Evil Clowns. An automated message actually says, “Hello, this is a message from Turlock Unified School District to inform you about: CLOWNING.” I now have to modify my stranger danger talk to include evil clowns. Though I won’t be able to mention evil clowns, specifically, because if I did there is no way Isobel would ever leave the house again, ever. And can you blame her? My only comfort is knowing that if I saw an Evil Clown I’d probably be driving and I could hit them with my car. At this point the Zombie Apocalypse would be less surprising than the current events of 2016.
–At least once a day Elias screams, “Help! I’m stuck!” from the backseat. You aren’t stuck, sweetie. You are in a car seat.
–Like many who have a disease or condition, I frequently get asked about it. The problem is I’m so exhausted or feeling so badly because of said disease I don’t always have it in my to get into it. Plus, it’s complicated. I’ve been joking about making up a pamphlet about Crohn’s disease to hand out to people when I tell them I have it. It would save so much time.
–Elias is full-on terrible twos. His tantrums are epic, daily events. I have to fight his surprisingly strong, squirming little body to do things like: get in the car seat, get in the stroller, leave the house, not hit his sister. It’s not only exhausting, but when you have a body that is painful to the touch, can be excruciating. I’m pretty immune to being embarrassed about tantrums in public, but a few times it has tested even that limit. His ability to climb is scary and exceeds his judgement. He can scale any play structure at the park and is great at judging distances and jumping. He loves to wrestle and pretend to do kung fu moves, and especially loves to pretend getting hit. So far it looks like he’s going to have a stellar career as a stunt man.
–This weekend I watched Isobel make a scrambled egg all by herself. She got out the eggs and a bowl, cracked the egg, and stirred it up. Anthony was making pancakes so the pan was hot and ready to go. She poured in the eggs, stirred it with a spatula, and transferred it to plate. She got her own ketchup, squeezed it on her plate, and chowed down. I was so impressed I clapped.
–Anthony has been reading Matilda to us at the end of the day. It’s the perfect before bed relaxation activity. I say this because I inevitably fall asleep, but that’s because I get up earlier and generally need more sleep than everyone else. It is one of Anthony’s favorite books and he’s been waiting to share this with Isobel. She absolutely loves it, and watching her face light up as Anthony reads to her is the best possible sight for me to fall asleep to.
–Isobel, instructing Anthony on Google: “Daddy, can you search for ‘cool kid comics’?”
–Also Isobel: “Halloween is about giving candy away to children who don’t have a lot of candy, getting toys, and celebrating cavities. Halloween says ‘Here, have some cavities. It’s a tradition!'”
–Even though Elias is firmly expressing his toddler independence, he still loves riding around in the Ergo baby carrier, and whenever his mood and my body allow it, I strap him to me for instant cuddles. I pretend his is Mr Wonderful again, instead of Danger Boy.
–Anthony found a great deal on a used 3DS for Isobel and she has been having many Pokemon X adventures. Craigslist may have killed the yard sale, but we have definitely benefited from the CL era.
–We bought Isobel a new spirit shirt this year, even though the old one is as good as new since she wore it a grand total of three times last year. Now when she wears her new spirit shirt on Fridays, Elias happily dons the old one, even though it’s pretty enormous on him. He insists on carrying his backpack to school, and one day we let him line up with Isobel and all her classmates giggled to see if her teacher would notice her extra student.
Snapshot 09.27.16. When you’re a socialite on the farm.
I’m at petco and THEY FOUND A KITTEN IN THE STORM AND PUT HER IN A LITTLE SWEATER. That sweater is a sock and I am totally in love.
Need a break from the news? Here are two corgis playing tetherball.
Just seen these in Homebase and can’t help feeling it’s a horrible omen.
Does anybody know what kind of hummingbird this is?
Can’t sleep. 2016 will eat me.
She took the midnight train going anywhere.
Me: “sorry, I can’t, I’m busy” “what are you up to?”
Bro, I barely touched you. I have watched this video game glitch three times and got tears each time.
California English. Hella true, dude! I say all these.
National Poetry Day, care of Bootleg Engrish.
What kids think being an adult is like vs what being an adult is actually like.
Here we see a baby wigglefloof cleaning its tiny squishbeans.
This has got to be on purpose. When your fortune cookie is fucking with you.
Doing chores but still being spooky.
This french bulldog is the face of all third wheelers everywhere.
We are all Nutmeg. Nutmeg is a 31 year old cat and I luff heem.
Fun with a new image data set: Mars Orbiter Mission’s Mars Colour Camera. Thank you for downloading these, Emily!
Well I broke the apple slicer but at least I invented the Danger Apple.
When ur son is about to run into a hedge.
It’s campaign season and Dan is doing it right.
October is Dysautonomia Awareness Month! What is Dysautonomia? Why, I’m glad you asked, because that is exactly the purpose of this month and of the Twibbon you can attach to your facebook and twitter profiles, as I eventually managed to do. (It’s not hard, I’m just challenged.) Dysautonomia is a rarely diagnosed condition, or collection of conditions, affecting the autonomous nervous system. It’s bollocks, you guys, absolute bollocks, and it affects up to 70 million globally, including one of my closest friends on the planet.
Do you like Christmas?! Do you like curing Crohn’s Disease?! Would you like to do both all at once while perhaps wearing a festive hat of some description? Well here’s your chance! Raise a bit of cash and help what is an invaluable charity for us Crohnsie type stomach clutchers. My friend nicpiper is a cartoonist with Crohn’s and this is a wonderful opportunity to own some of his art and support a worthy cause.
DIY NASA JPL Costumes. These were super duper fun.
DIY The Wasp Costume. This was before the Antman movie and hardly anyone knew who she was. Everyone thought she was a bee.
