You know what is the most surefire way to hit writer’s block? Combine the following things: NaBloPoMo and a son hovering over you waiting for you to finish so he can work on his DAMN BOOK. Having someone waiting on you to finish writing is bad enough on stopping the flow of the creative juices. Add that they are waiting because their creative juices are flowing so much they’re creating a book? And the inferiority sets in while the topic ideas take a leave of absence.

He’s writing a DAMN BOOK. Again. This is - like - number four or five for him. I suck. I can’t even decide what to write about tonight. And I have to write something because it’s NaBloPoMo.

BAH.

So, how was your day. Do anything fun? No? Me either.

The end.

(Please tell me I’m not the only one to already get swept away by writer’s block this month!)

NikkiZ went down to Birmingham and back with me today so we could take LilZ to see his Dad. She was so good on the trip I promised her I’d take her to play in some leaves today. Which she calls “lease” because she still hasn’t mastered several sounds, one of them being the “v” sound. Of course we all know why I promised this to her. All for the photo ops. Any chance I can get to make my kids be my lab rats on the road to becoming an good photographer, I’m jumping all over.

I promise you, though. They had fun.

(How’s that for an uber-lame NaBloPoMo Saturday post?)

AndyZ has entered the Grabby McGrabsALot phase of his infant development. He’s still a little shaky with his aim, but he is now grabbing for everything he can. Like LilZ’s cellphone, or MrZ’s razor, or my new necklace. (Which he’s totally replacing with HIS OWN MONEY if he breaks.) We know the drill, we went through it with NikkiZ. We’re learning to be on the constant lookout for Dangerous or Breakable things he could grab from wherever he’s at. And then, if we’re on the ball, we move that thing. Or, if we’re a little sleepy and not quite paying attention, we freak out and scan him for burns when he sticks his hand in our hot coffee.

(No burns!)

NikkiZ, on the other hand, is really irritated with this new phase. AndyZ has shown an intense liking of her HAIR. He pulls it every chance he gets and we’re having the hardest time explaining to her that he doesn’t mean to. Or, he doesn’t know it’s going to hurt her when he does it. Or something like that. The first few times she accepted that he didn’t realize what he was doing, but she’s starting to get frustrated. Like, Dude! How many times do I have to tell you to stop doing that! You can tell she doesn’t want to be mad at him, but she would also like it if he would QUIT PULLING HER HAIR ALREADY.

Because it’s so fine, putting it back doesn’t really do that much good. He doesn’t need much of a grip to yank it out of a ponytail holder or a clippy. So, inevitably, she’ll go to give him love and then one of us will come running as she starts hollering, “My hair! He’s got my hair!” It’s like the cycle of life around here lately.

I told her that maybe she should just avoid giving him kisses for awhile until he learns not to grab her hair.

“I have to give him kisses. He’s my brudder.”

And then I died.

Me.

I’ve been meaning to take pictures of the local foliage for several weeks now. But every week it seems to get more and more vibrant so I kept waiting. Waiting until they were the brightest they were going to get. Then this week? I knew it had peaked. I just needed to set aside time to go out and get some snaps. And then last night we had a lower temp and some strong winds. On my way to work this morning I realized I had really missed my window. Many of the trees that were stunning the day before were losing their leaves minute by minute. The trees were brighter this season than I’ve ever seen them, and I wanted to kick myself for missing the chance to photograph them.

But - I wasn’t going to let every leaf drop before I tried to capture some of the vibrant colors of the season. So, before I went to work this morning I stopped and snapped some photos. Then, during lunch I grabbed some more. I think I caught enough of the colors to feel partially satisfied, I’ll know better next time. Just take the pictures. If it gets better tomorrow? Then take more tomorrow. Lord knows no one every died from taking too many photos. What’s that saying? Life is too short to put off until tomorrow what you can do today? Well…I need to remember that. Even if it does sound like the words of a KRAZEE person.

There’s a great spectrum of the colors I found. There are so many gorgeous trees around town, I could have done so much more. Of course, many of them are in yards of homes and I’m too big of a chicken to knock on doors to ask if I can photograph the trees. And photographing them without warning the homeowners is just asking to get shot. So, my fear, laziness and procrastination limited me to just a few stops today en route between work and daycare. And of course, you wouldn’t know it by the pictures, but I was right in the middle of suburban commercial mecca taking pictures. These trees are in front of Target, Barnes and Noble, in the yards of a few churches. Every time I saw a great tree I just pulled over and started snapping.

And you know what I realized? I’ve been doing that a lot lately, with my new desire to take pictures of things other than my children. Just pulling over in empty parking lots to take pictures. I even found myself photographing bushes trees at a cosmetic surgery office today. (Inappropriate initial word choice, don’t you think?) Since I’m sure this seems peculiar to outsiders, I’ve decided to put a new bumper sticker in the spot where my Obama/Biden sticker was.

Perfect. I’m not a real photographer, but I think this will serve as adequate warning to those worried I’m the new Paparrazi of church goers, book buyers, or boob lifters. Nope. I’m just a dork taking pictures of trees.

• For those of you sympathizing with my pain last night - thank you. I find the comment section of that last entry quite entertaining. It was half “Poor Boob!” and half “Go Obama!” Hee. I think that says a lot about my blog, don’t you? Anyway - Boob is Better. (And all of my family is thinking quit with the boob talk already!) Hot rags, hot baths, excess nursing seems to have helped and I’m back down to mild aches as opposed to searing pain. Which is always a good thing.
• Did you know it’s hard to hide your gluttony if you work in a small office? Especially if it involves bringing a dozen bagels in for everyone, but only having 8 to show for it by the time anyone else gets in. Should I pretend I only bought 8? Or that the people at the store miscounted? Or should I own my gluttony and be proud? Decisions, decisions.
• NikkiZ has been saying she “doesn’t feel good” for several days now. Of course - she feels fine. But since she got strep she realized how much attention being sick can get a person. And when she’s feeling a bit neglected, she decides she is sick. The other day she said she needed to go to the hospital. And then she told me that she DID go to the hospital and then she DIED. But she’s fine now. I’m not sure exactly how to respond to that, so I did the responsible parent thing and ignored it.
• AndyZ is doing better with sleeping. Or I’m doing better at ignoring him, I’m not sure which. This is good because I’m not ready to put him in his crib in the same room as his sister yet. Do any of you have tips for making a shared room situation between a 3-year old and an infant work? I worry NikkiZ will hear me get AndyZ if he wants to eat and then she’ll be up too. If that happens I’m likely to take them both to MrZ and run away from home. I’m just saying.
• I took the political links and the Obama graphic of the sidebar. MrZ reminded me last night that now is NOT the time to try to brag about My Guy winning. It is time for us all to forget who we voted for and to try to come together in our communities to really make a change. I’ve been swept over by the feeling of transformation and I hope to make big strides in helping my own community as I’ve been inspired by so many community organizers this election season. I don’t want to think anymore about stickers on cars and signs in yards. I just want to think about my part in making this country the best she can be. I am no longer an Obama supporter. I was one last night as I openly wept listening to our next president address the nation. But today? I am simply a US citizen who is suddenly so proud of her country she feels like she has no choice but to strive to make it the best it can be.