My friend Joan used to say that every time a kid informed us of an impending trip to the potty. As you know, I have a lot of children, and so it became a very familiar song, LOL! Anyway, I have an announcement to make that has nothing to do with the potty, so listen up.

I. Am. Going. Back. To. School. That’s right. You heard me. Today I shall be filling out forms to request my transcripts, between hot flashes, of course, because it is Thursday and therefore The Day of Flashing, and then I will start filling out the FAFSA and online application to UNC-W.

Now, my cousin, she is also going back to school. We are going to take over the world, she and I. And it won’t be long, so you better watch out. We’re smart and we’re sassy and we are rolling with the punches. She recommended I check out Online Schools, but I decided I want the total school experience, complete with monstrously heavy backpack and walking around campus and homework in the cafeteria between classes. That’s just how I am.

I’m really looking forward to this adventure. I plan to study sociology and psychology. I was talking to my aunt about the prospect of finishing college the weekend we spent at the beach, and she really encouraged me to think long and hard about where I wanted to end up, and not just grab the quickest degree possible. And so I sat down with myself and had a few question and answer sessions, and I came up with an idea or two. And then, out of nowhere, which I suppose I ought to really begin calling GodWhere, there was confirmation.

And then there were openings for flexible schedule free-lance work. And then there were, and then there were, and then there were, and suddenly, paved roads have appeared where a couple of weeks ago there were only grown over wheels ruts of almost paths. And so, I am going back and I am so excited.

I know that I am way behind in posting here, and I don’t know that I will be able to catch up anytime soon. Today, I am supposed to read Chapter 4 of The Artist’s Way and apparently I am supposed to get off the internet and away from books for the week. I wonder how that works if you consider your writing a play activity and the point of the week is to make yourself play? I’ll have to consider that one a bit.

I’ve also come up with more lists. I have a dream list posted in my studio. It’s mostly a list of creative projects that I have been meaning to get to, different from the Life List, which is….yeah, different from that. There is some overlap, but not much. That list, however, is not the one I am counting on to insure my success. No, for that, I am relying on the daily, days off, and weekly lists. If I can talk myself into actually doing the stuff on the lists, I ought to be good to go, ready to begin classes in January. And if not….well, I suppose I will be running even crazier than I am running now.

Ok, end of announcements. You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming!

According to my calendar, today is Friday, which is the day I planned to update ya’ll on the progress of my life list. Umm, people, I am tired on Friday. I work outside all day and I get hot. And then I either drop off my kids or pick them up. And on this particular Friday, I wrote the post directly below this one, which was really good for me to write, but also really draining in a way.

Clearly, Friday is not going to work for the life list update. And maybe there isn’t a need for a special weekly post to do that, since I talk about the stuff I do during the week as I post my project 365 stuff. We’ll see. What I do know is that I am shortly going to bed. I was just outside and it it warm enough to sleep on one of those outdoor chaise lounges, but also pretty humid. Inside, it is nice and cool and getting very sleepy.

There comes a point in life where you have to stop blogging and go do things to blog about. Today is such a day. Today I plan to blow bubbles, plant lantana, wash dishes, do laundry, sew buttons on a baby sweater, make tacos, start my hands file and start gathering photos for the BoW. Also, my amazon.com order should be arriving. If I have any free time after that, then I can review some of the books I have stacked in my room, clean out my car trunk and start re-organizing my cubbies. Also, I have appointments at 3 and 4.

Or I can just sit here and type some more. But I think I better get moving, since I already need protective clothing just to tackle the dishes. I’ll be back tonight with some actual blogging about actual stuff, ok? ok!

So, the kids and I went to party on Sunday. I was very glad when an alternative to our …..untradition popped up, because it certainly saved me a lot of explaining of stuff I don’t want my younger kids to have to deal with yet. We had an awesome time. In addition to the hamburgers and hot dogs and fireworks and pool time, there were pigs to be fed. It kinda made me miss my grandparents. Same smell, same …. how do you say? The term that comes to mind is easy-going life-style, but farming is not easy, …. simple rhythm of life, I guess is the best way to put it. A rhythm I want to recapture for myself one day.

Anyway. I did eat enough food to make me think about adipex p, but then I decided against it and had a second helping of Micheal’s mother’s homemade baked beans. They were out of this world delicious!!

And I also saw a thing I want to do in my yard. The neighbors there had a huge fire pit in their yard. They had made it using the ceramic tree ring pieces like we sell at work. I want to make one of those in my backyard, and the materials are cheap enough to make it practical. I’ve been looking at the dinky portable ones that sell for nearly $100 and thinking that would be nice, but this would be bigger and better for about the same money, if not less. And I am actually thinking a lot less. I’m guessing it could be done for less than $50! And so, once I hit publish I am adding it to the life list.

Speaking of life list, it needs financing. I need to figure out a way to stash money just for that. $10 here and there adds up pretty quick, I have discovered.

So, as I sit here typing, I am in the middle of a hot flash that has been going on for about an hour. That is a very long time for this turkey to cook. I’m figuring it has to stop once I am well done and the juices run clear, right? I should totally grab a Canon camera and take a picture of my red flushed face, but it would be too embarrassing to post. I love peri-menopause. Really. I especially love talking to That One on the phone and having my voice be deeper than his. Feels so lady-like and feminine. Especially when I am also panting like a pup.

In other news, I have ordered a copy of The Artist’s Way. I met with my friend last night and we plan to work through it and help hold each other accountable. I’m a little intimidated and a lot excited. And a little perplexed about how in the world I am going to write three pen and paper pages of stuff per day and still write here, too. I’ll figure it out when the book gets here, I guess.

In yet other news, I ordered Fluffer Phone yesterday. I’m expecting it to be delivered tomorrow. I’ll be playing with it this weekend. My inner geek is very happy about that. I’m expecting a list of must-have apps for it from The DJ sometime today, too!

Let’s see….what else? I am sure there was more, but with my brain simmering like this it’s hard to think. Really hard to think.

So, yesterday, when I crossed hydrangea off the life list, I scrolled down to the bottom and added #103, which was to take 500 pictures of hands.

I guess that sounds a bit odd, but ……..I look at hands like some people look at faces. They just fascinate me. I often find myself watching people’s hands when they aren’t looking at me. They are just so….graceful and elegant, or strong, or or or….the list of adjectives is endless. The fact that we have a blob of meat on the ends of our arms with five wiggly digits attached that we can maneuver to do the finest tasks………fascinating.

I remember watching That One’s hands not long ago, as they flicked over the keys of his laptop. He has huge hands, and the keys were all practically covered and yet, he picked out each letter as easily as I do, and I have to stretch mine to reach all the keys. And when he asked what I was doing I blushed and said nothing, and then I told the truth.

I remember watching MMH’s hands hold my newborn 5 pound child and marveling that hands I had seen as rough and rugged all my life could be so soft and gentle. BTW, MMH stands for My Mother’s Husband and is the new blog name for the man I once called “Daddy”. Sorry for any confusion that may cause, but it is necessary.

And I remember looking at my Grandmother in her casket, seeing her face, telling her that was a fine red dress and looking at her hands, laying there. And her hands were wrong, and it broke my heart. All my life, her hands had been horribly blotched with what she always called “places”, because she bruised so easily in later life. And her hands were white. Nasty, pasty white, and not my Grandmother’s hands at all.

And I remember looking at Granny’s hands, in her casket, wearing nail polish. I’d never seen her wearing nail polish in life, and it was pretty on her.

And Ms.B, also wearing nail polish, which she always had.

Apparently, I do not like the face of death, huh? I look at the hands instead. I am the same with babies. I drink in their wonderful little faces and smell their delicious smell and then I study their hands.

And it is hands with which we perform loving acts of service for others: cooking, stroking, holding, knitting.

I caught myself the last time I was up in Polkton, studying Aunt Lady’s hands, too, and comparing them to mine. Similar here, but not so much there. And then I compared her to Uncle Big’s, similar here but not some much there. Marks of family and individuality.

So, anyway, hands. Five hundred of them, captured in little moments that probably won’t be important, except that I plan to take some of them holding mine, and then put them all in a little book. It will take a long time, because I don’t even know 500 people.

Picture-wise at least! For today. I know you came here thinking I’d be talking about force factor, but you are wrong. I am going to talk about pictures, instead.

May 1 My other new hat I am totally buying this one, too. On Saturday, it shall be mine. And I will be wearing a hat and ridiculous shoes to church on Sunday. Period. Because I can rock a hat and the pictures prove it.

May 2 Do they make this in Hot Wheels? Cause, this truck, it is totally suh-weet, and I want one.

May 3 Oops Sometimes it happens.

May 4 Grandmother’s rose is blooming This is the rose bush in my yard. I planted it in honor of Grandmother the summer after she died. Interestingly enough, I woke up Christmas morning to find one perfect bloom at the very top of it. But this picture is actually from like, 3 weeks ago, just like the date says. I didn’t snap the other one. When I took this, there were actually 5 roses on the bush, all fully opened and stunning. Which I know doesn’t sound like a lot, but there are still only 2 real stems on my “bush”.

May 5 Butterfly Again, I shoot what I see, and on this day, I saw an orange butterfly on a very red car and it amused me.

You are the winner of the Yoplait gift set. Please send your mailing info to cass @ cassknits.com so I can send it on to BlogSpark. They will be mailing your prize.

As for the rest of you, hi. (insert wave) It has been a month to you, but it has been a journey for me. Details may or may not be forthcoming, as I attempt to catch up a little bit. Or not catch up so much, but just jump back in. Haven’t quite decided yet. I do know I have a bunch of pictures to post, and I don’t plan on 30 entries today to take care of them. That would be more like “curl up in front of the Amish fireplace with a big fat book” type of blogging, and I am thinking to do more like….. ummm….soundbite blogging. I’ll probably post a few pics each in several posts and call it good. When I get to a good story, I’ll tell it, but even the most intensely emotional times are full of mundane moments, and since that’s mostly what I took pictures of, that’ll be mostly what you get. In the words of the little dinosaur, “I’m the blogger, gotta love me!”