Screaming with laughter

Years ago I figured out how to be less worried about something.

I realized that one of the little things that always annoyed me was seeing pictures of myself. It was a rare occasion that I would find a picture of myself that I actually liked. So, I rarely let anyone take my photo.

Somewhere along the way I started noticing something interesting about pictures of people I love. I would find a picture that just embodied that person‘s spirit: their joy, their specialness in whatever way. I would show it to them and say, "Oh my gosh this is the best picture of you! It's just so you!"

And every. single. time, they would say, "Oh I hate that picture, it’s just the worst! I don’t have this, I don’t have that, my hair was a mess, my makeup wasn’t on, I was wearing a T-shirt!"

And that’s when I started realizing:

1. We are so mean to ourselves.

2. We all want perfection.

3. We often don't know how to embrace our own gifts and love ourselves for who we are.

But when someone dies, those "embodied" photos are the ones that you cherish.

I realized those pictures of me that weren’t perfect—where my eyes were squinched up because I was laughing so hard, or my mouth was wide open because I was laughing so hard (lol there seems to be a theme here...), those are the pictures that someone will love of me. None of us are perfect! I felt self-conscious and goofy in front of a camera, like I didn't fit into my own skin but now I just embrace it. This is me! I am lucky enough to love and be loved and I want my loved ones to have photos of me. Someday those memories and photos are all that someone will have left. So nowadays I practice just smiling into the camera. My cheeks are squished up into my eyes, I have 53 year old skin, I rarely wear makeup, and I'm nearly always wearing a tshirt! It's okay :-)

Or a hoodie 👇🏽 Can barely see my eyes? That means I'm happy lol! That's baby Alaska, Baby Dancer's mommy on the day I met her!:

The photos that everyone thinks are "bleh" at the time, tell a story later. Aunt Katy on left high fiving Mom after a good bowl. This was the night that Mom beat us all!

Now that ManChild is 15, this photo means so much to me:

I can just hear my Dad, "Oh lord, they are at it again!" and my brother thinking, "Good God, what is happening?? Just stand up and smile!" 😂 Neither my Mom or I were good in front of the camera, it didn't take us long to be screaming in laughter!

Take those pictures you guys! And don't delete them!

•••

A funny this week:

B-Rad was telling ManChild that maybe he should stop taking naps after school and just go to bed earlier. I stood there looking at him like this:

"What in the world are you talking about? You take naps every single morning when you get back from taking him to school!"

His retort? "I don't take naps, I just finish my sleep from the night before."

Even better? He believes it! 😂

•••

We found out this week that the big barn next door to our little neighborhood, is being sold to a developer. Gack. Back in the 80s this neighborhood of 4 homes was built on about 25 acres and they jointly owned the 10 acre property with the barn. Over the years, properties have changed hands in two of the houses and the barn had to be sold to an outsider. Those people are selling it to a developer. Needless to say, no one is happy about this!

This is the barn. The land, oddly, includes a sliver of our upper pasture so we will be putting up new fencing on that end at some point.

We have a peaceful little spot. At this point, all we can hope for are larger lots/fewer homes but no one knows yet. A neighbor's barn beyond our pond:

Baby Dancer is 8 months old now! But still small enough to fit in the hay feeder:

B-Rad installed some super bright lights at the goat barn, so now we can do chores a little later. We were on the other side of the pond after evening chores and caught this view of our house and barns:

Something weird growing on this dead tree in the forest:

Pretty fairyland!:

We've been getting just a bit of rain...so the mud is extreme right now. Unfortunately, the drainage that we had installed to the left and right of the gate wasn't up to snuff. The right is still working but the left side completely failed. We'll have to get out the tractor and dig it out and install something better:

THE MEMES!

I had been waking up in the mornings this week with the Gaston song (from the Beauty and the Beast animated movie) and then this popped up:

Truth:

This week has been all about this. SO MUCH DRAMA on all fronts. (This is my brother's tshirt, isn't it awesome?):

Yes please:

Keep an eye on upcoming blogs, I will be offering specials on Reiki and Neurofeedback in the first few months of the new year!