(woof)

Clearly you have something to say, Foz, but I am not exactly sure what. Your laptop is dead? You can't reach the mouse? You are too lazy to move your head and open the computer?

Woof.

Super flashback

It is too hot for an extra layer today, even a cape! Instead, here is a flash back to my younger days (June 2014 to be precise).

Things are heating up!

Every dog must have his day, and mine is Friday...every Friday...all day long! 

Apparently I am living with vampires here as they try their best to block out the sun.

They cannot steal my sunshine though. I can absolutely read a calendar, and know that autumn is upon us, so why on earth does it feel like the dog days of summer? Maybe I should untangle myself and just close these curtains a little bit.

Really quick random

I just wanted to stop in quickly before I collect my big winnings...

 ...I am sure I am not too late, right? I can think of no more legitimate sweepstakes notification! Now don't you try to print out this "form" to fill in as your own. I will not forget any of you, and will continue to blog - perhaps on a better computer? Or maybe I will pay someone else to blog, better than I do, as my gift to all ten of you. However, for now, it's still just me! Do you see what I see?

This cloud made me laugh with its little eyes and great big lips! You know what else makes me happy? Inchworms!

But not when they are being dragged into a dark alley by a wasp!! I am off to try to figure out how I am going to ration these successfully until I get around to replenishing!

Not taking no for an answer

Apparently Foz never got the memo about my decision to go in another direction with my superhero sidekick search.

He does wear his blanket well as a cape, but I still have my doubts regarding his bravery for this role.

One of us thinks it's funny

Oh, hey, Foz! Do you like video games?

Is that a jab at my lack of thumbs?

No, I was just wondering if you'd ever heard of Space Invaders?

Random things*

*I started to agonize over a title, something that would bring the whole post together. I then realized I was not only procrastinating, but missing the whole point of random!

Nothing adds insult to injury during an 8:00 a.m. Walmart run quite like these creepy monkeys.

So if I told you we saw a HUGE spider out at camp on Labor Day, you might be left to wonder just how large that spider was, and in relation to what other spiders I have seen. Or maybe you might think I was procrastinating. Here, see for yourself! 

Let this serve as a warning to any other hornets planning to build their nests in our grill: we cook food on there, and that requires heat...heat that will scorch your wings and leave you wandering around complaining to each other.

Looking for a new hobby? Have you considered metal working?

 Really cool shapes, aren't they? This is a good thing since we now have matching shapes burnt into our kitchen floor!

I just regret that the medium we used was the pan I use EVERY night to make some part of dinner.

Super genes!

Much like how we recently figured out the possible roots of creepy monkey attraction, another mystery may have been solved. Have I been choosing capes, or have the capes been seeking me out? Were super things written in the genetic stars?

The evening at camp started no different than any others, or at least the same as every other bib wearing, lobster eating dinner does. I may have gently teased my mother for wearing her bib well past dishes being cleared, but could not deny that her shirt had stayed clean. However, the next time she walked out of the camp, I was taken aback...by what was on her back!

She kind of played it off like she had forgotten, and a breeze must have come up, but I have always known her to be super!

Another pastability

Hey Foz, didn't you tell people just last week that ziti was an easy pasta shape for you to eat?

I feel like this is a trap, but I might have mentioned such a thing.

What's that you have going on there?

A bad toss...go away! But please help me first?

Random Reality

Maybe I thought if I didn't share the photos...the senior photos...I could stay cozy in my delusional world just a little bit longer. If I don't say anything "out loud", the ball won't start racing. Make no mistake, there are super exciting things going on in all of this reality, but that nostalgia can be a tough competitor. Here we are though, on back to school eve. I am ready, if by ready we are referring to an acceptable amount of peanut m&m's in the jar.

I laid out the official evidence to document Lily's progression through public school for her to see. Proof that she was always allowed to make her own picture day fashion decisions. We laughed and discussed which ones I tried the hardest to talk her out of, which outfit was her favorite, why she selected the half-body pose.

These photos are not what I think of when I look back at this girl. Beyond row one, she is only vaguely similar to the snapshots that scroll through my mind. I found myself in the same spot I was in three years ago when I pondered whether we would be able to capture something that felt like a senior picture. The difference this time around was that I would not be the only one with ideas and opinions. 

This teenager, who has been very vocal over the past year or so with her thoughts about the way too many pictures I take, actually was interested in her senior photos. I was even consulted on a couple of wardrobe ideas, and my advice was followed. (I didn't even have to threaten to wear my cape!) 

Once again we headed to the beach, one of Lily's happy places. Somewhere in the midst of inconveniently placed ropes, slow moving vacationers and shark warning flags, this happened...

I kept thinking I wanted to have an assortment of black and whites, but that hair? How can I take away its color? And who is this shy girl? The one so easily embarrassed when her mother declares a Kodak moment? Pardon me while she sets up this shot in between families leaving the beach.

We headed back the next night for a different theme. And while this may be the shot I took...

 ...this is the one that seems not so long ago...

And this most certainly is the image that appeared in the viewfinder...

...but this will always be the version in my mind...

I will never apologize to my kids for taking so many pictures...never. I love the "I was there" sort of proof that I witnessed the moments and the stories that went with them. Photographs are also important to me because they have always given me a sense of belonging - a part of something.

The screen is getting just a little bit fuzzy for some reason, but I am ready to say...
My baby girl is a senior in high school...

 ...and it is going to be an incredible ride!

Salsa with a dash of super

Back before there was a Friday With Foz feature, there was another weekly segment here on the blog. It was kind of super, in a way, but in case you weren't with us back then, or have simply blocked her out of your mind - check out this Sunday post from 2014 (go ahead, I'll wait)...

Now that we are all caught up, I can share the little something super that went on here today - complete with goggles - Salsa day! (I now realize that I should have had a fan blowing to get that cape billowing, but I will ease back into this thing.)

Stuck with pasta

Pasta! They know I love pasta. I sit at attention in the kitchen whenever a pot of water goes on the stove. Elbows, ziti, farfalle, shells...all very convenient shapes and sizes for this Foz to eat. So what is this?

Aren't they supposed to throw it at the wall to see if it is done?!?!