I haven't been what you would call a traditional person for a long time. One look at me instantly puts the word "traditional" out of mind instantly. I'm a working tattooed professional knitter mom Tolkien-freak who is a former martial artist and likes cheesy 80s music.
How traditional is that?
Anyway, being married and a mom also means paying attention to what the rest of the family wants. When it was just Mark and me I could give a flying leap about doing what I would consider a big dress-up show done just to please other people. Take us or leave us for who we are already, was my thought.
Now... Well, now I see that it's not just dress-up. There's marking a moment. There's creating a memory. There's, quite simply, going out of your way to make sure that you share your joy with others. (There's dress up too, no denying, but the feeling is different when you're a parent.)
In that spirit, we took Aden and Hunter for their 18 month / holiday photos today. We'd planned it for a couple of weeks and were really looking forward to the wonderful shots we were going to get.
It was not the best day in the world for us.
Aden melted down after the first photo. He wasn't feeling well with his cold and teething and only wanted to hang onto daddy. Unfortunately Mark and I hadn't planned to be in the photos so we weren't dressed to be in them.
Hunter ran around all over the place and eventually tore down one of the backdrops. (Awesome!) A woman waiting to get photos with her grandchild told us that Hunter reminded her of the lead character in Matilda. Great.
Then I lost Mark's wallet. I'd asked him how much money he had since I never carry any and he gave it to while he was driving so I could check. I wound up holding it for him which was unusual for me. We were in a rush to get home and I volunteered to do the supermarket run -- we needed milk -- and somehow the wallet fell on the sidewalk. Very very very fortunately, it was found and returned to us intact within 15 minutes.
Last, my computer, the main box on our home network, our shire, died suddenly and inexplicably. Well, not inexplicably. This machine has been acting weird and dying since 2005 and for reasons unbeknownst to me decided to give up the ghost today. A day on which I'd planned to work on freelance projects that are due to launch this week.
It was not a good day. It was also one of the best. These pictures say why:
