Fashion and Fire Ants

It was one of those perfect early fall days and I decided to stop by a local park for outfit photos. This was several weeks ago when leaves were just barely changing on a few trees. Things were going well although I was in a bit of a hurry because I had a meeting to get to later that morning. So I guess I wasn't giving my usual attention to my surroundings. See that innocent looking field behind me? Well I set up the tripod in it. Just as I got into a pose, fire ants attacked my ankles. I looked down and my feet and pants legs were just swarming with the little buggers. After slapping them off and checking and re-checking my shoes, I gave up. I'm just glad I took these first because I was done after that! You just never know what you face on an outdoor photo shoot!

Oh yeah, an outfit description. I almost forgot in all the excitement of the ants. The chambray vest was thrifted and I wear it so much lately it's embarrassing really. The burgundy pants just might be the garment I am most excited about for fall. Not that they're that special, but they suit me. The flats are Champions from PayLess. When I found them, I was hoping to find something built like a sneaker but dressier. Score! And the bag? I broke down and bought a new purse because I was still carrying a very summery madras plaid bag. I've never been much of a purse person, but that could be changing.

What am I supposed to do with wavy hair?

 I have never ever been fashion-forward. I never get in on the front end of a trend. So I was thrilled to find out "beachy waves" are in style because that's what my hair usually does all on it's own these days. Other than the baby curls when I was little, I've always had mostly straight hair. Over the last several years it has become curlier, a LOT curlier! I have blamed aging, the water, shampoo and starting thyroid medicine. Whatever the reason, I love it!. So far I have been unable to bring myself to try the "no-poo" approach many are advocating online these days for curly girls. This year is the first time I've stopped shampooing daily, believe it or not. I was so greasy for all my teen and young adult years that I just continued to shampoo daily until this year.Crazy right? I did take some online advice about not dry-brushing and some other tips.

 This is my hair after "plunking" it into a microfiber towel for a while and scrunching a little. Other than that I did nothing else but let it air dry.

The photos below are where I dry brushed it just to do a comparison. I like both looks and am having trouble deciding how best to style it. Since it is wavy and not really ringlety curly, I seem to be able to get away with things truly curly folks can't.

O.K., Which one looks better?

Red Roses and Voluntary Vines

I decided to take advantage of the roses my sweet husband brought me yesterday and use them as a prop. Don't worry, he wasn't chintzy and gave me an entire dozen. I just thought posing with the whole bunch would look silly (see the last photo). I was pretty happy with the outfit except for the belt. According to an article I saw recently, I should really be wearing a medium width belt. Well usually I wear this with a skinny belt. This wide one ends up looking like sort of an under the boobies band. So I'm torn between liking that it makes my leg line look really long and worrying that it emphasizes the effects of gravity and time. That's all I've got to say about that.

You know I just have to note some little oddity in almost every post. Well, see that vine under the table? Yes, it actually grows up through the chair a little. I didn't plant it. Apparently a watermelon or squash seed fell from our deck to our new flower bed bellow the deck producing this unexpected vine. Also of note--the chartreuse sweet potato vine above is actually growing in a pot. It just spread all over once I moved it to the back yard. Apparently it loves morning sun much more than the unforgiving afternoon sun that our front stoop receives. My garden and my life are always a bit random, but it's always interesting.

If I'm Joseph, where the heck's my cute, colorful coat?

I don't have a lot of followers, but I still feel like I've strung people along all Summer. First of all, this summer has been incredibly busy with vacations and activities, and the clothing I tend to wear is totally functional. The other factor this summer has been a change in our lives that took my complete attention for several months.

You see, in Georgia children at the age of 14 get to decide which parent they live with. Guess which parent has been carefully coaching the kids since the age of 4 to choose them? Answer--not me. Yes, the best interest of the child is supposed to still be primary, and, no, I don't think it was in our case. However, that is a huge complicated legal gobbledygook that I'm sure doesn't belong on my casual little blog.

Whatever the background, let's just say my husband and I find ourselves suddenly empty nesters four years earlier than expected. The boys will be home on alternate weekends and parts of school holidays, but things have changed completely. The whole thing kept me too busy to worry about photographing myself and all that this blog entails.

We are counting on eventually being able to say like Joseph "What you meant for evil, God used for good." His own brothers sold him into slavery, he ended up in prison and went through all kinds of trouble to later realize God used him to preserve the children of Israel. Every single experience was preparing him for his later role. It's a pretty amazing story, but living in it is not nearly as cool as it sounds at vacation Bible school!

So, here I am still here and kicking. Now I'm going to go reorganize my fall clothes. I'm just sure there's a multi-colored coat in there somewhere.

And as for why I don't post much in summer . . . here is a typical less than flattering outfit and my lovely family.

We Interrupt This Blog to Bring You . . . Summer!

As you can see, I've been a bit busy! If I promise to blog faithfully during Autumn, will you forgive me?

Quick comment about my clothing--I prefer to wear workout clothes to kayak and swim rather than a swimsuit. They dry quickly and I like the shorts because no swimsuit is kind to us large-thighed women. How are short skirts that don't come close to covering my thighs supposed to help? Am I right? I promise that is not my stomach hanging down but the top billowing out. No really, it is.

We spent the last several days at Panama City Beach. We did everything from riding go carts (that's what happens when you're the only female in the family) to kayaking. The above picture is from our adventure at Cypress Springs on Holmes Creek. Gorgeous place in the middle of nowhere near Vernon, FL. The nice folks at Old Cypress Canoe Rentals were kind enough to shuttle our kayaks and were so friendly. It's a little family business run from their house and they went out of their way to take care of us. In this case that meant picking us up in the middle of a thunderstorm while being just as cheerful as if it was perfectly sunny.

Summer Break

I know I haven't posted many outfit photos, but this is a very busy summer for us. This is about as formal as it gets! I know I said scarves in Georgia in the summer just don't happen. Well I crocheted this lacy one out of NaturallyCaron Spa and will make an exception for it. By afternoon, it's usually off though!

And this last photo? It really serves no particular purpose, but I thought it was fun!

Just A Little Sunbeam

Let me introduce you to Sunbeam. Since that just happened to be the brand name on my scale, I just went with it and call her that. Yep, there's more than a little irony going on there. Recently I noticed that my parents' scale is named "Health-O-Meter". That's right, step on me and I'll tell you everything you need to know about how healthy you are. I have no doubt a scale can be a useful tool, but I've come to believe it is but one tool, one indicator of the health of the person climbing aboard, not the whole picture.

When I step onto my little Sunbeam, she tells me I am obese. However, she does not tell me that my cholesterol, blood pressure, etc. are great. She can't tell that I have RA that is one of the chickens that came before the obesity egg. She has seen me through diet pills, Weight Watchers, and Thrive and can tell you that my weight has gone everywhere from 170 up to 197, but keeps settling down at 183-186. Same weight I was 10 years ago when I married James. She can tell you that I basically battle the same 3-5 lbs. monthly over and over. Most importantly she can tell you I have stopped stepping on her every morning and cursing her!