dog adventures

i gave minnow his summer "my mom gave me a hair cut" hair cut. my method makes me feel only slightly less insane than when i brush his teeth: i use regular, human haircutting scissors, chopping and chopping at his fur and trying to make things more or less even. then he gets bored and moves somewhere else in the yard, and i follow him and repeat step one.

the end result is that my yard looks like i've been shearing sheep.

in other dog news, max's little dog mabel came over to visit, and minnow was actually quite hospitable (he's fine with other dogs, but he usually deliberately and rudely ignores them). i think he prefers dogs much smaller than he is.

mabel is a great dog. her personality is very minnowish, but she comes in an extra tiny package that fits nicely on a lap.

my boy

isaac turned fourteen yesterday. it truly seems like just a couple of years ago that he was this little peanut, pictured above wearing one of his cutest halloween costumes ever, scuba diver. he wore a black leotard and paper towel rolls wrapped in aluminum foil on his back, and he took it very seriously. don't tell him i said this, but i think he's just as cute today, ten years later.




















we had a very low-key surprise party for him, featuring these awesome (if i do say so myself) cupcakes, and some of his favorite people.




















here he is opening his presents. i included this photo because zoë looks particularly insane.




















happy happy birthday, boo. you're an amazing boy.

district 9

shrimpy aliens:
first ugly, then somehow cute.
it's a metaphor.

farewell, tiny friend

there is a gurgling fish tank in the sunroom now, with one lonely little crab* living in it. her name is margot, and until recently she lived in the environmental science classroom at the learning shack with her friend lobster (also a crab, not a lobster). zoë and max brought them home last week, and tragically, lobster died almost immediately. so there was a somber burial.























i have to admit, i hadn't formed much of an emotional attachment to this crustacean. her death wasn't like that of m. poisson, or the gerbil brothers. wow, we've had a few funerals in this back yard!























*i didn't even bother taking a picture. to be honest, she's not a photogenic pet.

summery

it's all starting to feel kind of like rolling down a hill: a cold spring has abruptly turned into summer sunlight and temperatures (over ninety degrees today). it's hard for all of us to do basic school year-type things like homework, getting to bed at a halfway decent time, remembering to buy food for isaac to take for lunch...things like that. my living room is usually full of bikes. there are generally flipflops all over the house and a continuous shortage of ice cubes in the freezer. we've all four become addicted to big green salads with walnuts and cranberries and balsamic vinaigrette.

tomorrow is zoë's last day of high school, ever. she presented her final word on monday, and she did such a beautiful job. it was funny and authentic, and it included a visual aid (this photograph) and she even sang a line from the song brandi (i am pretty sure she was the only final word presenter who sang). her beloved charlotte returned from france just in time to say some sweet words about her (literally - she flew home the day before). her favorite teacher spoke and read a poem that made zoë cry a little, and then mark spoke through tears about her readiness to graduate, and about how inspiring she is to him. i told you it was a weep-fest! i'm almost done crying at the learning shack (i've become a little addicted to it, actually). next tuesday there is a senior assembly, and then wednesday she graduates.

and meanwhile, my baby turns fourteen the day after tomorrow.

promenade

the prom was a smashing success. as promised, i present a bunch of photos -- for even more, look over here. early in the day, zoë and i obtained a few essential prom items, like white flip flops and a lemon thyme plant from the farmer's market.























she made a lovely boutonnière for max from thyme and mint. it was entirely edible.























i stole a daisy from a roadside bank of them growing wild, and she wore it in her hair with a sprig of thyme.























zoë tried on a bazillion dresses, some at vintage shops and many borrowed from generous friends. in the end, she chose one from her own closet, a 1970s gunne sax dress that she thought didn't fit anymore, but magically did! she looked beautiful.























they wore flip flops.























oliver (who is a sophomore) got himself a date to the prom, and he came along.























yes, max did manage to eat his entire boutonnière by the end of the evening.























their prom was on a boat; here they are just about to climb aboard.


















the report post-prom was that it was really, really fun. nobody cried, and zoë even danced a little bit. after weeks of hesitation about whether to go or not, and their last minute decision to do it, i think they're both completely happy that they went to their prom. and i certainly am, because i got to take so many gorgeous pictures of them.

tiny arm in the grass

when i was walking minnow yesterday, i saw this tiny plastic arm.

in other news, today was zoë's last friday of high school (she will go to school next thursday and friday but will only be practicing for graduation. you know that slow-motion graduation walk in those long robes? yeah, that). she just returned from a few fun days representing afghanistan at model un, and there have been these very emotional "final word" presentations going on at the learning shack almost every day. and by "emotional" i mean that each senior is presenting a very short speech, and the vast majority of these speeches are personal, revealing, heartfelt, and spoken through at least a few tears. after each speech, a teacher, student, and parent or family friend stands up and says something about the speaker and why he or she is ready to graduate, and then they also cry. most of the people in the audience cry too. kleenex is passed around. today max did his final word, and it was amazing -- honest and moving. it did in fact make me cry. zoë's final word is monday morning, and although she swears it won't be a tear jerker, i still plan on weeping.

also, zoë and max decided at the eleventh hour to go to their prom tomorrow night. pictures will be taken, never you fear.

last night we got to accompany isaac to a sort of freshman orientation at the shack, which was pretty fun. he got to meet his freshman crew and some of his teachers and spend some time hanging out there while the whole school assembled for a potluck meal and learning shack-style student entertainment. i'm really happy that he will be there for high school; it's such a wacky place.

naked

i've decided to reveal some identities on this here blog-o-mine. i don't know why, maybe it's the five year anniversary. i'm craving change. feeling daring. here goes.

my partner in crime, formerly the mysterious figure known only as "m," is actually mark.























my world-traveling seventeen-and-a-half-year-old daughter, known by many aliases but herein referred to as "bean," is really zoë.


















my sweet and funny almost-fourteen-year-old-boy "boo" is, in reality, isaac.























and "minnow," the dog named for a fish, truly is named minnow.























i really do, in real life, call them bean and boo. i have ever since they were born. zoë was a little bean when she was a baby, and it stuck. isaac was more of a baked potato (it was a hot summer in baltimore). i have no idea where "boo" came from, but there you go. i have never called mark anything but "mark." or "sweetie." i won't even start with the nicknames i have for my dog, because it would be a little bit humiliating.

days go by

art magically appears on the chalkboard door in the kitchen.























i go to the post office, where my favorite thing is checking our box. i think the post office boxes are gorgeous and kind of mysterious.























boo acquires additions to his wardrobe. some of these items are green.























i take minnow to the vet for his lyme vaccine. we both love her, because she sits on the floor with him, lets him lick her entire face, and says, "who's the best dog in the whole world? you are. you are."

my fifth birthday was my very favorite one*

mean mama is five years old today! happy blog-writing anniversary to me!!

fascinating facts:

i think it's telling that my very first post was about a trip to the grocery store, and that i surreptitiously took a photograph of a bunch of chicken that the person in front of me was purchasing. i don't blog so much about hannaford lately, but i tweet about it all the time.

i've had over 30,000 page views.

my dog has changed over the years. he used to be darker red, and spottier.

my boy has changed. he hardly ever wears a sailor suit anymore.

my girl has changed. she almost never wears her hair in shrimpies anymore. nor does she carry a parasol.

my pictures have gotten much bigger.

i've baked a hell of a lot of cupcakes in the past five years.

we used to have a fish. now we have a guinea pig.

we used to have a book store. now we have a clothing company.


i could go on and on, but i'll sum this up by saying that when i read back over five years of bloggery, my favorite thing is looking at old pictures of bean and boo and remembering all the fun things the four of us have done together over the past few years. but also? i crack myself up.



*i wore a pink velvet dress.

wild at heart

i'd forgotten how
insane david lynch was back
in 1990.

my day, continued

more scenes from mother's day (or is it mothers' day? no, it's mother's day.). bean gave me a beautiful flower ring, and boo made me a lovely card. m, bean, boo, max, and i went to arabica for coffee and toast.


i told her i coveted it and then did my very best to forget i'd asked for it. she chose the color.























bean's hand is max's palette. it surprises me every time what a great artist he is.























hot chocolate on the orange sofa.























you should hear them laugh together.

dear mom,

happy mother's day! i've always felt like mother's day is yours and no one else's (i remember being a kid and resenting so much the implication - or instruction - that i should be calling my grandmother on mother's day, even though i adored her, because she wasn't my mother). also, ahem, you just happen to be the best mom ever. you set the standard, and you've made it so easy to be a good mom, because mostly i just try to do the things that you did. and i love knowing that if you weren't my mom, and we randomly met, we would be great friends (just like we are in real life).

i am trying to broaden my mind, though, and also think adoringly of my other favorite moms today, including m's sweet sweet mom; my very best friend; my wonderful sisters-in-law; mama d; the dancer lady; and so many more. but my very favorite thing is being with my kids on mother's day. i can't believe my luck in being their mom.























above, little boo, around age four, at the brand new casco bay books. below, baby bean and me on the ferry to block island, summer of 1994.

sublime/mundane

above, lilacs from sweet artemis, who came by for a visit yesterday. they inspired me to cut some from our sole remaining lilac, a white one that leans precariously against the fence but smells so good.

below, my view from the car in the hannaford parking lot. i've been spending a disturbing amount of time at hannaford lately, due to my poor planning and lack of initiative. and being too lazy to do a full-out shopping trip. i can only decide what i want to make for dinner around five o'clock each evening, and back to the store i go. like a french woman off to the market, sort of.

mental health day

one last mental health day for boo as he nears the end of middle school. we spent the morning part of it walking on willard beach with minnow (which we can only do before nine a.m. now that it's may).




























i took the above photo to demonstrate something that boo and i realized suddenly the other day while standing side-by-side in front of a mirror: he is taller than i am. yes, that's his shadow on the left and mine on the right.

also, his feet are bigger than mine, although that's not a new thing. and my feet are pretty gigantic. i wonder how tall this boy will be? he has one parent of average height, one of average/shortish height, a couple of tall uncles, and some tiny aunties and great-grandmothers (with teeny tiny feet, i might add). and m's mom, grandma nancy, is a tiny lady too!

inspired

pardon the sudden nudity on the previously decently clothed mean mama. i just happened upon meagan ileana's gorgeous blog, threadbare, and i am incredibly inspired by her embroidery. just look at this gorgeous piece, called freedom.

fire

the illicit-but-completely-safe-i-swear fire pit continues to burn (periodically) in my backyard, thanks to max who is single-handedly shrinking our unsightly pile of brush, one cozy little fire at a time.
















m took some gorgeous photos yesterday around the fire, and i have stolen some of them. above, boo, not just about to poke his eye out with that stick. below, max in the best gas station-purchased t-shirt ever.
















and beautiful bean.

removable

so, boo went back to the arm bone doctor and got his cast made into a removable one. they just snipped it off with scissors, cut it a bit and taped it, applied some velcro strips, and voila: a removable cast! forgive me, but i keep finding it places and thinking of it as his prosthetic arm.

rabbit rabbit

happy may! my prescription: cupcakes.