Da Goddess

Go some for your own bad self.

to $29.99…oooh, and if I order it within 48hrs, I get another 15% off since I entered a contest, which brings the total (with shipping!) to less than what I would have paid if bought it without the discount. Nice! I get paid this week from this last job, I think I know someone who could end up with an early holiday gift.

Here’s to getting paid this week, eh? I need a Deadliest Catch fix in the worst way.

From a project I’d worked on a month and a half ago and just now got around to posting.

Excellent guitarist. Great friend. Awesome model. We laughed a lot.

Both sinuses have cleared for the moment.

Please celebrate with me! Deep breath through the nose! Deep breath! Deeeeep breath!

Ahhhhhh…

I’m on my second day of a nasty sinus thing. Painful congestion, nasty drainage, nausea from aforementioned drainage, slighty sore throat (it was worse yesterday), adorable raw nose, watery eyes, and a rapidly growing pile of icky tissues. My price for having fun this weekend or just weather-related? I dunno. Maybe both. All I know is that I’m miserable and can barely focus.

Quote from my friend who called: “You sound like a dying animal. You know, the kind of animal with a terrible vocalization anyway. Like a peacock or a howler monkey. Somehow you make it sound even worse.” Gee, thanks.

Can someone please come put me out of my misery?

P.S. I could be wrong. I think this may actually be the plague.

Oh, how the mother’s heart must stretch and flex in order not to break. My daughter is 18 today. It’s not fair. It’s not right. It’s not really happening. Wasn’t she just learning to walk? Wasn’t she just uttering words like “babingsuit” and “booprise”?

Time waits for no man, or woman as the case may be. Despite my every effort to hinder growth, my lovely little girl is now old enough to vote and is considered a legal adult. I’ve fought it, but there it is: nature won.

When Mojo was about 2, she fell in love with John Denver. Our bedtime routine included a couple different Denver songs, along with the Pledge of Allegiance and the Marine Corps Hymn. Hey, it got her to sleep and it was our special time together. (Did the same thing with my son and I have to say, singing our “goodnights” was pretty effective.)

So, without further ado, happy birthday, Mojo!

For a while, this was called “Mountain Mama” and also “Mama Take Me Home”. She was two. It was adorable.

Our version of this song was very similar, but we had to sing every verse. Twice.

Then she grew up and began paying attention to more Top 40 music (in addition to all my favorites, like Etta and Bonnie and Billie). I lamented the lack of artists that were brash, lovely, sometimes delicate, sometimes strong like those I grew up with — Debbie Harry, Stevie Nicks, Christine McVie, Joan Jett… After listening to Jewel and Britney once too often, I really thought my daughter deserved a contemporary female artist with a stronger voice and attitude. Thus we turned to P!nk. At the time, she really was the only one who could speak right to the heart of a young girl without sounding like a wannabe star or doormat.

Those were the days. Now my baby is all grown up and the world is going to expect more from her, people will expect more, life will become more complicated. While I’ll miss the little girl I once held in my arms as she cried and fussed and smiled and cooed and caused me to look at the world around me with new eyes, I will cheer her on as she makes her way into the great big world.

Now for Mommy’s tunes…

Happy birthday, my sweet daughter! I don’t care how old you are, you’ll always be my baby girl.

Other than being so far away from my kids, you know what? I love my life (most of the time). It’s beautifully surprising and rewarding in many different ways. Over the past few days, I have laughed and smiled more than should be allowed by law. I’ve laughed so hard I cried a few times. It’s been a whirlwind of activity, all of which was perfect after spending a week in the house.

My friends played a great show on Saturday (replete with drunk, pink yoga bunny…better if you don’t know more than that) and then came over Sunday. After they rested up, we went out to see Human Nature at Imperial Palace. Sixth time for me. First time for the guys. My favorite part of the show is everyone getting up and dancing, and the band did their fair share. There’s something wonderfully powerful when you’re part of a group moving to music and participating just for the sheer fun of it. It’s stepping out of yourself and out of your self-aware bubble and giving in to the moment. Letting the music take you away. ( help me out here…maybe you can explain it better than I.)

Anyhow, once again, I got to watch manly men get up and dance and goof around. It was precious.

After the show, we headed out for dinner to one of my favorite places. You have to come visit for me to tell you where it is though. Don’t get upset. I like to surprise my friends! Thus far, everyone loves it. I will say this: awesome sangria.

Following too many yummy tapas and just the right amount of wine, it was time to explore the Strip. Crazy people in costumes…all sorts of ridiculous things happening…pretty much like any night on the Strip, but with a few more accessories and the occasional display of odd behavior. Of course, there were a ton of guys dressed like Alan (Zach Galifianakis) from The Hangover. (Guys, none of you got it right. Yeah, I’m a Galifianakis snob, so I expect a lot from anyone trying to emulate him.) At some point, we ended up down at the Bellagio, hoping to catch the water show. Missed it. It was 2:30 in the morning and…whatever. Moving on… As we were walking along, we found Jesus. Yep, he walked right by us. And then a split second later we saw another. Except he was in a wheelchair. Double take time. It was a friend of mine. Crown of thorns. Scratched forehead. The robe. Awesome. Rollin’ Jesus. So the group of us turn and head back the other direction with Jesus in the lead. Yes, we walked with Jesus. Damn right! My friend would launch himself out into the intersection quite assertively and everyone would just stop. Nobody wants to be the one to run over the guy in the wheelchair, let alone the one to run over Jesus in a chair. Am I right?

A stop at Diablo’s proved to be not really our thing. Off we went again. We ended up down at the Irish pub at New York New York, listening to a great band and I encountered the stickiest floor ever. As we were leaving, my pant leg brushed the top of my foot and I was so grossed out. It was soaked with beer and horribly…ewww…it was just disgusting. All in the name of fun. All in the name of fun. Said goodnight to Rollin’ Jesus and headed home.

Got the guys safely back to the house and settled in on their sofas and fell into a deep sleep. Up by 10-ish. The band packed up the van and we went for breakfast. But first, a stop at Retro Bakery. Can you say YUM? Ooooh yeeeeeeeeaaahhh. Photos with the owners were in order and then really, truly on to breakfast at Mimi’s. Again, much laughter.

I hated saying goodbye. You just don’t many weekends like that. Not with a group like this. Fabulous people who are amazingly talented and genuinely kind. Check ’em out and let me know what you think.

Since then, I’ve been working on a big project. Close to being done (fingers crossed). Exhausted, but pleasantly so and glad to be back at the computer with fresh eyes and a new perspective. Not to mention good news in that I got two extra pages to work with! That’s suddenly made everything infinitely more aesthetically pleasing. I’ll share when it’s done and I have the okay to do so.

If I’m lucky, I get a full day’s rest before another friend hits town with another amazing band. I can’t wait!

Oh, and the best news: we’ll be done with electioneering in just a few hours. Anyone else happy about that?

By the way, here are a couple photos from the weekend. I’ll be adding more as I get things edited (a slow but sure process since I took surprisingly few photos (36 in all for the whole weekend?? How did that happen?).