By accident, I’d been doing without my DSLR for weeks.

I’d sent it with Q for one of Ehren’s visits to the ranch, then forgot to get it back when we traded baby-for-loneliness/freedom, depending on which way you look at it. The camera on my iPhone 4 was a delightful substitute until it wasn’t.

Today was our first day at the park with an open shutter. Olympus E-510, I shall never again leave you behind.

Upcoming: Jordan and Jon Alex and cousins at Ehren’s second 2nd birthday celebration (the first one being on Wednesday at the ranch) on Sunday. We’re having brunch and pull-apart cupcakes with a Monster Party theme.

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Ehren is feeling much better after recovering from his bug.

I’m feeling better, too, but after two weeks with a sick toddler in my lap or on my hip, my back is feeling 43.

We went to the park today so I could sit on a park bench and dream of morphine shots, but I cannot ignore my camera when my children are around. Once I get back home from picking up Jordan from a school event later tonight, I’ll take a bottle or two of Advil.

Both boys are going to a basketball game with my sister tomorrow. Can’t. Wait. I’ll have ice cream between my naps. Literally. Like several spoonfuls just laying next to me in bed while I drift off. That’ll be nice.

Meanwhile, photos:

Never ever thought I’d say that, but three days and nights of baby vomit will have me screaming for almost anything else.

My new manager has been sinisterly understanding and evilly compassionate about the whole thing. How dare he begin all email replies with “hope the little guy gets to feeling better” and how nervy to call with baby rehydration suggestions. I would quit in anger and disgust, but he’s too awesome, and I’d like to keep working for him until my plans for independent wealth get the greenlight from God.

The original hilarity was working from home instead of taking actual time off. See: baby vomit. And also: fever and lethargy. Is there such a thing as taking personal time before having any personal time to take?

In related news, the baby won’t turn one until he feels better. Who wanted to clean up blue icing projectile vomit? Not me. So for right now, he is 11 months and 32 days old. That’ll give me extra time to find party hats. Kroger doesn’t carry them, so it’s off to Party City in a few weeks.

It’s voting time at the fringe again. Blogs are great for settling family disputes, and I highly recommend them as legal mediation technique. I snapped a few photos of Ehren on his pre-birthday, then edited them while he was sleeping on my feet (his narcolepsy has been the most amusing part of this whole thing). I like one of the edits, Q likes the other.  Please choose your favorite or you can choose “none of the above” by asking me to never ever use Photoshop again.

choice 1

choice 2

Baby politics in comments…

Our weekend guest is off to greater adventures.

Jane made a wonderful impression on the kids, even Ehren, who never ever takes kindly to strangers. She and I exchanged stories, both in horror and in triumph, and I am now dreaming of hitting the open road with a Porsche Cayenne sponsorship and a Baby Gap clothing allowance.

Why did I promise a trip to the park today? I’ve learned to care for my bedsores like an RN with a PhD, and the room service menu with its several offerings of breakfast cereal has no peer. Although: this will give me the chance to take new outdoor photos five months after bike camp, so at least I’ll get to see how everyone has grown since summer.

Bonus points to who can guess what my blog + MLK weekend + comments equal. No, not crickets chirping. Guess again in comments…

I’d been planning for weeks to take new pictures of the baby, but every time I got him dressed, well, let’s just say it was easier last night to capture him naked.

My original plan was to have all these great and greatly paying clients lined up, so that while I was working happily from my home office, I would weave between projects my book learnin’ and creative writin’.

The more I have to do, the better I am at multiple tasks. If I have only one thing to do each day (hey there, housecleaning), nothing much at all gets checked off on the to-do list.

So here we are with all these books I bought, and I’ve cracked the spine on only two of them. Not to read them, mind you, to loose the vampire bats cowering within. Meaning: I still have no idea what I’m doing in Photoshop and, out of three hundred daily photos, three of them survive the delete key. Red eye? Can’t remove it. Blur? Can’t sharpen it.  No idea what a layer is, but I can saturate the hell out of a photo, and I loves me some black and white filter.

My latest victims subjects:

Ehren and my niece

all six grandchildren for the first time

messing with hues and saturation

In the wayback when I was on eHarmony match.com yahoo personals, one of my earlier profiles asked potential dates if they knew anything about aquariums.

And,  if they wanted to train together for the MS 150, the annual charity bike ride from Houston to Austin that benefits multiple sclerosis research projects.

I used to get a few cute responses such as “I can help with the aquarium part, but no way am I riding a bike for 150 miles even if you are cute and sexy and a good writer.”

born to ride on the back of Mommy's bike

Q kinda sorta promised after we met that we could train for the ride together, so even though I could tell his heart wasn’t in it (cute and sexy can go a long way, but maybe not 150 miles on a bike) I started planning for it. For whatever reason, I really wanted the kids to participate. I’d heard that kids made the entire bike ride on little BMXes, so why not mine? Make it a family affair. But first, I had to teach Jordan how to ride and that’s when the Google met the road.

I can’t remember which group I found first: KineticKids or Lose The Training Wheels. Lose The Training Wheels is a national organization that sponsors the initiative to teach the kids how to ride. KineticKids is a local San Antonio group that hosts and sponsors various sports activites for kids of all abilities, especially the ones with limitations, and the twice-yearly bike camp is simply one of many.

I always get a posed shot in case the candids don't work out

waiting for JA to understand flip-flops aren't best riding footwear

I doubt if I can talk Q into the MS 150 these days. I am also having second thoughts about dragging the kids into my fantasy life. Watching Jordan ride has been without question the most satisfying and exhilirating event of the past six days, and I know we can take it to another level. I just don’t know if a bike ride to Austin is our next step.

Maybe for now we’ll concentrate on losing our bellies. Swimsuit season is only 275 days away.