And then I forgot how to blog.

Once upon a time I was a single mama, working eleven hours a day in a tiny room stuffed to bursting with other people’s obscenely sugar-ified children.  (Seriously, if all you feed your kids is a breakfast of marshmallow Peeps before leaving them with their teacher / nanny / babysitter, you are evil.  And you know it.) 

One day, for no reason, I started a blog.  I don’t even know why I did it.  At the time there was a snotty little voice in the back of my head saying, “Really, asshat?  You think you have time for this?!” 

The voice had a point.

Minus the asshat part.

I had the workload of two parents and a laundry basket piled so high it was threatening to dent the ceiling, where did I think I was going to squeeze in the time to blog?  Yet, I did….  until I got married and moved across the country.  Then—pffft!—I dunno, it was like my old vibrant bloggy motivation just woke up one morning and dropped dead.

Kind of like Smash.

Honestly, there are so many other things I would rather be doing.  Reading The Hunger Games and Percy Jackson with my kid.  Talking about everything and/or nothing with my hubby.  Ebaying (I made $70 on a skirt just the other day.  Yeah, $70 on a stupid, ugly skirt!).  Walking my neighborhood with my camera in tow.  Working on my photo albums.  Getting friendly with Ben & Jerry.  All the usual stuff. 

However….

Over on Facebook (where a lot of our former bloggy buddies are these days) my hubby, Scope, challenged us all to do a post today.  Just one itty bitty little post on Cyber Monday, just to say we did.

One post?  I can handle that.  Probably.  So, here’s a quick update (with pictures!  WHEEEEE!) of what’s been going on around here since I last did a real blog post:

We spent Spring Break in St. Louis….





….where we hung out with Gwen from Everything I Like Causes Cancer.




Wednesday started driving lessons.  Here she is after a successful stint at parallel parking.




We grew strawberries in our deck garden this summer.  (Lettuce too!)




We watched fireworks from our rooftop on the 4th of July (and our 3rd wedding anniversary).




In Summer, Wednesday cut about 8 inches off her hair and dyed it dark red.  It looks AMAZING! 




We spent two weeks in Seattle in July, seeing family….




….and Wednesday’s Seattle-y friends….






….and Scope finally got to meet Skyler’s Dad!




In August, our neighborhood was weirdly invaded by a gang of really pervy looking mushrooms.  (I mean, really, hubba hubba.)




Wednesday started her Junior year in high school in late August.




For Halloween, Wednesday was Edward Scissorhands….




….I was Batgirl….




….and Scope was a mad scientist clown, terrorizing Chicago in the dark!




In the Fall, Wednesday turned 17.




For her birthday party, we took her and one of her best friends to the Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives museum exhibit where we saw some pretty spiffy stuff.








And we even learned how to draw Mickey Mouse.






And then about a week ago, we sent our bloggy guest pig Fernando Von Bakonstein back home to his owner, McGone. Fernando kissed Wednesday goodbye at the bus stop before school, then he walked to the post office with me, climbed bravely into a box, and off he went.




And now, well, we’re just trying to get a grip on the holidays.  I’ve got a new 7.5’ spinning (yes, SPINNING!!!!) Christmas tree that just ain’t gonna decorate itself.  So, you know….

I’m not sure if I’ll be back blogging regularly anytime soon, but this was fun.  Yes, really. 

I guess I didn’t realize I was kind of missing it until now.  :-)





© Coracabana

Three is a magic number

So.  Apparently, I am just not coordinated enough to both be a blogger and…. well…. do anything else at the same time these days.  What with my eBay selling, plethora of photography projects, trying to keep my city deck garden alive, and all my fun daily life adventures with Scope and Wednesday, somehow blogging just always seems to find its sad, neglected self crying at the bottom of my to-do list. 


Just pitiful. 


But never mind all that.  Today—TODAY—is a very special day, so, dammit, I’m dusting off ye olde bloggity skillz because, you see, there’s this:




Love.


Family.


Three years ago today, I married my very best friend, my dear, sweet, precious Scope.  *squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!*  It was a truly amazing, delightful day and, honestly, each and every day since has been more wonderful, like a warm, fuzzy blanket we can snuggle up in (or pull over our heads on those more difficult days) and I wouldn’t trade this life we’ve made together for anything.  So….



To my dear, incredible Hubba Hubba Hubby,


Before I met you, I didn’t know how to trust anymore.  What could be more dangerous than trust?  Nothing.  I didn’t, I wouldn’t, I couldn’t trust anyone.  But, most of all, I didn’t trust myself. 


When I saw my reflection in the mirror, all I could see was a mistake in my past.  I could never shake it.  I sometimes felt like I was nothing more than that mistake.  It was me; I was it; we were one—just one big mess.  I couldn’t forgive myself for what had happened and I was determined to never risk it happening again.  Never. 


I knew my Mr Right was out there somewhere in the world, but I couldn’t see how I would ever recognize him or be capable of trusting him or myself enough to allow him to get close.  I remember saying aloud that “the universe is just going to have to be blunt and drop the perfect guy right into my lap” or else I’d live out my life alone, because I there was no way I was going to go out into the world looking for him and risk crossing paths with another Mr Wrong.


The universe must have heard me loud and clear, because one amazing day—BOOM!—you dropped right into my lap, just like magic.  You made trusting you feel so easy and safe.  You made trusting myself feel easy and safe as well, and I’m still trying to figure out how on earth you did that.  (Seriously, how did you do that?!)


You swooped in like Superman and changed both Wednesday’s and my lives in all the most wonderful ways and every day I am thankful and still in awe that we met.  Your smile lights up my whole world, just like it lit up the whole airport on the day we first met.  Every time you hug me or kiss me or make me laugh or make Wednesday feel loved, I fall more and more in love with you.


You’re simply perfect, Scope.  You’re sweet, smart, handsome, hilarious, sexy, silly, cuddly, and all the most marvelous things all rolled into one.  You're such a great husband and father and I can hardly remember what life was like Before Scope.... or B.S. as I like to call it.  (See what I did there?)  I love you to pieces!  Happy Anniversary!  :-)


Love,
Cora


© Coracabana

The day I met The Blob. (No, no, I really did!)

Serving up another update on this year’s Project 365.  Here we go….



Day 247 (2012-09-03) ~  I took a walk through Sculpture Park with Scope and Wednesday and this was one of the sights we stumbled upon.  What a wild and wacky place!





Day 248 (2012-09-04) ~  This was Wednesday’s first day of school.  Since, I didn't want to have to hand in my Cool Mom card, I didn't take pictures of her outside her high school.  However, the bus stop was totally fair game!





Day 249 (2012-09-05) ~  Just an interesting shadow our bamboo plant made on the wall.





Day 250 (2012-09-06) ~  Kind of the opposite of yesterday's picture, I guess.  This is a shot of interesting splashes of light that were on a window sill in our stairwell.





Day 251 (2012-09-07) ~  Just a string of bells we have hanging on one of our doors.  (Oopsie.  A slight cheat on this one.  This was taken on the 6th, not the 7th.)





Day 252 (2012-09-08) ~  Awww.  My niece's outdoor wedding.  It was GORGEOUS!!





Day 253 (2012-09-09) ~  Yeah.  It's me and Wednesday in a fun house mirror.  Ha!





Day 254 (2012-09-10) ~  Hey, look!  It's The Blob!  I stumbled upon this while out on a walk.  Cute.





Day 255 (2012-09-11) ~  An Autumn-themed bench at a local elementary school.





Day 256 (2012-09-12) ~  Up close and personal in a local garden.  I muted the colors a bit on this one.  Duh.  (A slight cheat on this shot too.  It was taken on the 11th, not the 12th.)





Day 257 (2012-09-13) ~  Just a quickie of a tree I passed under while out on a walk. 





Day 258 (2012-09-14) ~  The circus came to a local park.  We were out of town for the clowns, but it was still kinda cool watching the tent being set up.  (Dang it!  A cheat on this shot too.  It was taken on the 15th, not the 14th.  Sorry, I got my days all scrambled for a little while there.)





Day 259 (2012-09-15) ~  At a friend's (and former blogger’s!) wedding we were all given sparklers at the party's end.  Sooooooooooo much fun!!  :-)  (If you want to read Scope’s detailed version of the wedding with many, many more pictures that we took during the reception, click HERE.)





Day 260 (2012-09-16) ~  Driving back up from southern Illinois, we saw lots of little oil wells working away in the fields alongside the road.  We got up close and person with this one.





More pictures coming soon!






© Coracabana

Two

We will get back to the tale of our trip to Lake Erie tomorrow, but today there’s something much more important to discuss. Does anyone know what day it is?….


Anyone?….


Anyone?….


Today is Scope’s and my two year wedding anniversary! Exciting, huh? I know!


Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!


Last year on our anniversary, there were fireworks. Oh so many, many fireworks—*le sigh*—because the city of Chicago set off the 4th of July firework displays a day early, which meant that we got to spend our anniversary sitting on our rooftop watching the sky light up in all directions around us. BEST. ANNIVERSARY. EVER. So, I’m betting that tonight we will be up on the roof again, hoping to view a firework or two.


:-)


To my lovely, sweet, amazing Scope,


Happy Anniversary! I love you so very, very much. You are my husband, my strength, my happiness, and my best friend all wrapped up in one handsome, sexy, delightfully cuddly package. Being with you is more awesome than hot fudge sundaes, cake, reading Harry Potter, strutting to the Bee Gees on my treadmill, screaming on roller coasters, when Leonardo DiCaprio says “you’re still my best girl, Cora” in Titanic, dark chocolate, taking pictures, and all my other favorite things. Combined. You have filled Wednesday’s and my lives with love and laughter, and we are so lucky to have you. The three of us (well, okay, four of us—can’t forget Trevor!) make one mighty spectacular family. Thank you for being you, my hubba hubba hubby.           


I am yours forever.


Love, Cora










© Coracabana

Three is a magic number

So.


What were you doing three years ago? Hmm? I was meeting my hubba hubba hubby, Scope, face-to-face for the very first time. He flew 2000 miles from Chicago to Seattle just to meet little ol' me. I met him at the airport and then spent the weekend showing him all around Seattle. And what a weekend it was! He put on a Princess Leia wig/hat and re-enacted a scene from Star Wars outside in front of real live people. And I showed him the life-size Dobby the House Elf statue in my living room.... and he didn't even run away screaming!


It was magic, I swear. And every day since has just been more and more magical. I mean, we STILL haven’t even had our first fight yet—and I’m a redhead AND a Leo! Crazy, huh? I know! Oh, sure, we sometimes have different opinions on things…. like how many pickled jalapenos a person can eat before they should rightfully expect their innards to liquefy and shoot out their bum like jet fuel. (I say zero. Just a whiff of their scent will do it.) (Scope says half a jar…. and then he runs for the bathroom in a panic and realizes I’m right.) But as for a fight or an argument? Nope. Never had one of those in the three years we’ve been together.


It’s been an amazing, wonderful three years! Because Scope makes everything he comes within four yards of amazing and wonderful without even trying to. (Yeah, I don’t know how he does it either, but when I find out his secret, I’ll let you know.)


To my dear, sweet, handsome, sexy** Scope; Happy Anniversary. I love you so very, very much, and I am thankful every single day that you were brave enough to get on that plane three years ago so our paths could cross. You’re my Superman! And I can’t wait to see what the next three (and thirteen!) (and thirty!) years will bring. I bet it will be awesome.... just like you!


Love,
Cora




(**And, yeah, yeah, I know “the censors” have banned me from using words like ‘sexy’ here and I’m not supposed to throw that word around any more or say that I think my husband is attractive in case it somehow “alarms” my teenager (….*confused stare*….), but, frankly, today I really don’t care. At. All. And he IS sexy. Duh. So there.)






© Coracabana

One

When my daughter was five, she was OBSESSED with the Disney Princesses. Especially Ariel. She used to run around in her Little Mermaid costume, wearing tiaras, fancy gloves, and big fake diamond rings, believing with all her heart and soul that she truly was a princess…. and that I was one too.

It was cute as all heck, of course, but it had a dark side to it: There was no prince in our world because I was a single mom and, for some reason, that used to really bother her. Sometimes she would put her little hands on her little hips and sternly ask me why I hadn’t found my prince yet, like I was just a slacker. Other times she would cry her little eyes out over my princelessness like it was the end of the world, bawling, “But you’re a princess, Mommy, and you don’t have your prince! It’s so sad! Where is he?! When are you going to find him?!” And she was utterly inconsolable.

(Aaaaaaand at that point she’d get put on Princess Restriction and only be allowed to watch the Powerpuff Girls or Pokemon until the Sea of Drama Queen-ness had ebbed!)

(Ahem.)

Fast forward seven years or so and—*royal fanfare*—I finally found my prince right here on this very blog. Scope rode in on a noble steed of wiseassiness, brandishing a sword of pun-iosity, left me a slew of knee-slapping comments and swept me off my feet.

*le swoon*

A lot of you were right there with us sharing our journey from the Land of Flirting to the Isle of Meeting to Dating Town to Marriage City and then off to Chicago. Can you believe it’s been a whole year since I married Prince Scope? I know! One year ago today. Crazy, huh?!

It’s been a spectacular year. A wonderful year. A magical year. It’s looked a little something like this….

































Because, traditionally, it’s our "paper anniversary" and we are trying to be careful with money due to the uber-expensive court case we are involved in, this is the gift I gave my Prince Scope today: A glass full of Kisses each holding a personalized paper ribbon on which I listed lots and lots of things I love about him….



And he gave me a ticket to a living room viewing of our wedding video as well as a beautiful love letter (*sniffle*) which you can read HERE. (But, WARNING, it WILL make you cry!)

Awwwwwww.

So, to my dear, sweet, spectacular Scope, Happy Anniversary, hubba hubba hubby! I love you more and more each day. You’re my best friend, a wonderful father and a spectacular husband! Wednesday and I have never been happier than we have been this past year with you. I love you with all my heart and I’m so very, very glad I met you.

*smooch*

Love,
Cora

© Coracabana