Day 90

Rescued this from my ex's house (with help from Willow, since I'm not "allowed" to go inside).... It was my mom's when she was a kid, and she gave it to me when I was a kid in Senegal, and...here it still is, a lot worse for wear, but here.

Day 89 (late)

Went to a super fun thing, and made this

Day 88

Working on this dreamcatcher spin off today

Day 87

Treasures which haven't yet made it into my art shed.

Day 86

Took Bean for a haircut... Let's ignore the screaming angry father on my phone who said "okay" when I asked if I could take her... Let's ignore the panic that always comes over me whenever he's angry.... Let's ignore the caught breath, the shaking hands, the sympathetic looks from hairstylists who could hear.... She looked through a book, found the style she loved, and she's happy with the way it turned out.  

Lord help me to let her father's insanity roll off me like water off the feathers of a duck, and to be completely present when I'm with my kids.

Day 85

Old photo. We'll blame it on throwback Thursday.  Anyway, this was basically my face all day today.  I'm so overwhelmed by all the little undone things, I feel like I might shut down.  Legal stuff makes my anxiety sky rocket. So does ex stuff.  So does money stuff. Sooooooo.  Yeah.  I'm sure everything isn't as bad as I feel like it is, but I feel like everything is out of my control, and I don't like that one bit. 

Day 84

Today... Work, kids, and then a huge stupid drama (no surprise) with the ex.  Shaking it off, enjoying my kids, and taking back control. RAAAA.

Day 83

So this happened.

Day 82

Yeah, this was technically "today"... Not a bad night shift, and now on to my next job.

Day 81

My baby bear has the most adorable freckles... Just like her big bro, Zaia. LOVE.

Day 80

Took the girls to the beach today! The boys were both with their friends.  Perfect day!

Day 79

Made a curtain for my kitchen window out of a dress that was too big.  Because I certainly needed more color in my house, hehe.

Day 78

Thank goodness I have a son who can drive!  No way I could safely do that today.  Dead on my feet.

Day 77

*random photo that has nothing to do with the post*

Nothing exciting, work today, work overnight tonight, get the kids tomorrow, work Friday, have the kids all weekend. Happy. 

Day 76

Headphones.  To drown out the nonstop bickering.

Day 75

It's a gorgeous day today, and I've done good things for good humans, and have had good things done for me.  What more could anyone ask for?

Day 74

It's funny.  I was all sad yesterday about not having my kids, when suddenly things changed, and I got to have them overnight and all day today! 

They won't be with me tonight, because I have to work, but then they'll be with me all day tomorrow and Tuesday.  Hooray for not being lonely!  

Day 73

It's really hard for me when I don't have my kids.  I just pace around, feeling like there's something that I should be doing, but everything's been done... Lonely. I wonder if there will ever come a day when I can appreciate the quiet.

Day 72

Yesterday evening, the owner of the ring came by to claim it.  He was as shy as he'd sounded over the phone, but agreed to let me take photos of his hand taking the ring from mine.  He talked about having lived on this same street, back in '75, and told me how grateful he was for the efforts that were made to get his ring back to him.  

He handed me an envelope, and I said, "Nope, no way." 

He laughed and said, "Don't worry, it's not money...just something you can use."  I accepted it, and the card was so sweet, and he'd included a gift card for Applebee's.  

Happy ending, and what a fun thing to have experienced!

Day 71

I don't know if it'll show up well in this post, but that yellow dust...pollen...is KILLING ME.

Day 70

I love when people send me pretties!

Day 69

Today, I wore a dress to work that was very see-through, and I didn't know it was until I was already at work.  *sigh*

Day 68

I was wandering the woods behind my house, near the Indian Mounds yesterday, like I often do, looking for "treasure" with which to use in my art.  Usually, the treasures I find are bones or bits of broken glass or rusted things...but yesterday, following a creek bed, I glimpsed something shining in the mud.  I picked up what appeared to be a heavy gold ring, and stuffed it into my satchel with the rest of my finds. 

Upon returning home, I washed the ring, and saw that it was a 1972 class ring from Florida High!  Inside the band was the maker's stamp, and "10k"... I couldn't see any initials at first, because they were slightly tarnished and very light.  

I took photos of the ring at all angles, and put them on Facebook - my own page, Tallahaasee Online Yardsale, and some Florida High alumni groups.  Several people asked about initials, so I looked more closely at the inner band, and made out what appeared to be the letter M (or W, depending on which way I looked at it).  I decided to try scrubbing the inner band with baking soda, and like magic, the other letters appeared!  DMC. 

I passed on the initials in a private message to one of the '72 alumni, and within an hour, we had the name of the possible owner of the ring! 

I am not great at finding people on Facebook, and so I asked my friends for help.  Within minutes, I received a text message with a link to reunion dot com, where this fellow's name and phone numbers were listed.  

Taking a deep breath, I called the first number.  I wasn't prepared with a spiel, and rather bluntly, with no introduction, asked, "Did you lose your class ring?" before even asking the name of the person I'd called!  He hesitated, and then said, "No, I don't think so..." and we bid farewell.  

I dialed the next number on my list, and the same gentleman answered.  Before I could say anything, he began to speak.  "When you called me on my landline, you caught me by surprise!  I did lose my class ring, but it was about 30 years ago." 

I replied, "Could you tell me your middle initial?"  "M."

I asked the color of the stone that was in his ring, and he said, "It was red, from what I can remember..." 

I shrieked in the poor guy's ear, and exclaimed, "I HAVE YOUR RING!!" 

He asked me, "You're not looking for some kind of reward or anything, are you?" and I said, "No!!!!! I'm just so happy to have found you!!"

He sounded stunned and then appreciative, and I gave him my address and phone number.  He will come to collect his long lost ring when he comes into Tallahassee next time.  

Hooray for social media, the internet in general, and friends and strangers who cared enough to help find him!

Day 67

Love this tiny human. 

Day 66

Finally got this table finished.  

Day 65

For the first time in my life, I have dandruff. I'm wearing this scarf because underneath it is a head full of coconut oil...  By the way, did you know dandruff is actually caused by a yeast fungus? Yep. Gross.

Day 64

I slept like crap last night, awake every hour.  Good thing I had a no-brainer job of filing in the office today, ha.

Day 63, continued

Took this gentle giant out for breakfast an had some much needed one on one time with him. 

This one is playing me the steel drum song he's been learning.

This one is having an insane laughing fit.

I Spy

What a really great day, the end.

Day 63

I'm making this table to go beside the girls' bed.... So far, so good!

Days 61 and 62

Weirdly, I haven't taken one photo, yesterday or today.  That's because WORK.  Anyhoo... Nothing to talk about today, which is pretty unusual.  Oh, it's WARM out!!  81, last I checked. Hooray for Florida!

*edit - here's a photo! 

Day 60

I want to know if there's a way to unscrew the metal thing from the lightbulb, because I want to put things in it.