Mayan’s brother, sister, (ex) step-mom, grandma and Lexie (Skye) all came up last Saturday to celebrate her graduation. It was nice to see them and spend time with them! We don’t get to do that nearly enough.

We took some pictures, but it was dusk, so most of the ones I took were blurry. I am hoping that Mayan’s non-mom’s pictures came out better. She promised that she would pass them along.

*drums fingers on the desk* …waiting…

It feels like both just yesterday and forever ago that she was this little girl:

So sweet and happy at her kindergarten graduation. With squeezable cheeks!

Here are a couple from Saturday:

Maybe she hasn’t lost those squeezable cheeks after all!

Things have been quiet around here. Which is good!

Several years ago, five or more, I decided that the pictures and junk that I’d collected on my refrigerator needed to go. I cleaned it all off and was happy with my clutter free fridge. Starr didn’t agree. She said that we needed pictures. That it was homey and the way it should be.

As usual, I caved and looked for a solution that would make both of us happy. I found these little magnetic plastic frames. It was funny, because the magnets just wouldn’t hold the weight of the frame to the fridge. Seriously. I hate it when things don’t work! I had to go out and find some magnetic strips and fix each and every one of those suckers.

For a while, I rotated the pictures regularly. With pictures of Starr and her friends, her siblings, my nephew…it was nice. And she was right!

In the past three years, since the accident, I have made very few changes. Sunny is still there, as is Skye, but they are all old pictures. It has been a comfort. I need to and want to make some changes. It is time.

So here is today’s door:

My goal is to make those changes…and soon!

Okay, not me, but Starr and Sookie! They went on a bike ride/picnic the other day and had a blast! Here are a couple of Sookie’s photos from the day:

Skye is in Europe this Summer singing opera all over the place with her college opera group. From her Facebook updates, it looks like they are having so much fun! But we kind of miss her around here!!

Starr twisted my arm today and talked me into renting movies for tonight. But first we had to find her a journal. Not just any journal, but the perfect journal. The one and only journal that she will be pouring her thoughts out to for the whole year! It’s a big deal! Quite the commitment. We spent quite a bit of time at the bookstore…trying not to get distracted by our surroundings and failing! We had fun. We also found what she was looking for!!

Back to the movies. We ended up renting a couple of indie-ish movies, none of the “big” movies looked very interesting.

We both really enjoyed Adam, it was sweet. We also watched Paper Heart before Skye called and made a “better” offer of a late movie at the theater! “See ya, mom!”

Oh well.

The song at the end of the trailer? I know it’s just me, but I recognize the Fruit Bats, who I recently posted about. I really do like them!

mp3: “When U Love Somebody” – Fruit Bats
Album: Mouthfuls
Fruit Bats-MySpace

Starr and friends went sledding recently. They always take great pictures, so I wanted to share a couple. She joined Sookie, Skye and M for fun on the “slopes” and then brunch. They had a great time. Sadly I think it was this day, or the next, that M’s family home was gutted in a fire. So sad, but thankfully no one was injured.

Sookie, Skye, Starr and M inside a snow fort that they found.

Starr and Skye…there is something that I just love about this picture.

Skye, M and Starr—Love those smiles!!

Last night, Starr, Skye, Sookie and C (the Friends Vacation crew) went to the movies. After buying their tickets, Skye and Sookie took off to the restroom leaving C and Starr together. In a moment C decided that he needed to use the restroom too but loudly expressed “concern” about leaving Starr all alone.

Just then a woman walking by with her significant other leaned towards Starr and purposefully said “Run away!”

Starr was actually shaken by this. She is wondering just what was meant and what she is supposed to learn from the moment and spent quite a bit of time late last night journaling the incident and pondering her feelings about it.

Has anyone ever said something like that to you? A bit of random oddness from strangers?

Have you ever said something unexpected to a stranger??

Starr had a little bit of holiday cash burning a hole in her pocket so she called Skye and they went shopping in Boulder yesterday. While there she sent me this text message:  “I bought the ‘Legalize Gay’ shirt at American Apparel!!” She has had one on her “want” list for a while.

I love that she was so excited about her purchase and that she wanted to share it with me right away! She kinda rocks!

This is what American Apparel has to say about the shirt:

American Apparel believes that sexuality should be celebrated, not condemned. But Proposition 8 is just that, a condemnation of the basic right of marriage of an entire group of people based on their sexuality. We’re proud to stand against Prop 8 and what it represents. In November of 2008 our Legalize Gay shirt was originally printed to give to protesters at rallies and marches. The response was so overwhelming that we had more made and distributed them to our stores and put them up online.

With many of our employees and customers identifying as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered, we are a company that is vocal about our support for the protection of gay rights. Scores of our employees were on the frontlines of protests in Los Angeles, handing out hundreds of Legalize Gay t-shirts to supporters, and we have donated over $17,000 worth of these shirts to protesters, Harvey Milk High School in New York City and local gay-interest businesses. We plan on donating at least 1,000 more to organizations that support marriage equality, and are currently discussing potential projects with GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco.

We stand on the side of love.

JAM’s post today reminded me of this picture of Starr, Skye and Sunny. The girls were at a concert and obviously having a blast! I probably have more pictures with orbs in them, but this one stands out. I am guessing that in this case the orbs are raindrops, but it did and does catch my eye, as do those happy faces.

Starr, Skye and Sunny

Miss you, Sunny!

Starr was Pocahontas (or just any female Native American) this year for Halloween. I don’t have any pictures yet. I didn’t get to see it in action. She made the outfit herself, using my old clothing. She actually used the sewing machine. I was impressed! And relieved. There is a part of me that wants to help her make the costumes. I love the creative part…how to make it happen. I also love seeing the results of my/our efforts. Although, usually I try to keep it simple because: There is another part of me that is just flat out lazy!!

One of my most recent assists was Minnie Mouse, Starr’s freshman year.

Skye as Pepper (Sookie was Salt!) and Starr Halloween 2007

She had the dress and necklace, we just bought some craft foam and ribbon and I  created her ears–hot glue and a plastic headband! I think this was the simplest costume we ever put together! My kind of costume. She usually opts for cute, but did do a zombie cheerleader one year. We picked up a nifty vintage cheer skirt at the thrift shop. Fun and cheap!

Since I am feeling a little nostalgic about being involved in the festivities tonight, I thought it might be fun to visit a Halloween or two from when she was younger:

At four she was Jasmine, a totally “out of the box” costume, except for that necklace (collar?)—which was something we found in my jewelry box—I think it is from the 80′s. This is the first year she ever actually went out. It was her second costume. At three years old she was a bride, it was really cute, but we didn’t go anywhere. Did I mention LAZY?! Yeah.

She was five, and just HAD to be a clown. I bought the wig, and a little makeup kit, but pulled together the rest from Savers! We will never know why, but she decided that it would be appropriate to say thank you at each house as Elvis Presley, “Thank you, thank you very much,” accent and all. It was totally hilarious! We laughed so hard that night and many nights since just talking about it. Silly girl!

I do miss being involved in the costume creation and although it has been many years since I walked with her on her rounds, I miss that too.

I hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween!