Negotiations and love songs

Phone calls before 8 in the morning from unknown callers are often ignored. Today's resulted in a series of phone calls which may or may not culminate in a handsome check from a handsome university. Be it noted that there has been a great deal of drama over this particular deal. Here's the deal with me - If there's drama to be had, you better believe that i'm all up in drama's grill. This exciting exchange took place during day 2 of the great Mommydaddyswitcheroo Experiment. That's right, stressful negotiations, pooped trousers, and we still had time for a wagon ride to the park.

Magical moment of the day: After Baby Jane gets a bath in response to a previously mentioned trouser incident, she rests her head on Daddy's shoulder and gets all cuddly. For a good 5 minutes or more, selections from the beatles songbook were sung over her just above a whisper.

These are magic times.

Daddy is the new mommy

As Mama Jane rests for early work with grammar kids, day one of the great Mommydaddyswitcheroo Experiment wraps up. Todays tasks accomplished...

-eggs n nanners.
-milk. cow milk.
-framed hat.
-wagon rides
-new sketches
-warm fresh honey whole wheat.

Mmmmm...

The new rudy

"In three months I’ve gone from network television to Twitter to performing live in theaters, and now I’m headed to basic cable. My plan is working perfectly.”

-Conan O'Brien

What the flip

We finally got to introduce ourselves to a nice couple who have been flipping the crap out of the vacant house to the north of us. The house directly south of us is still a mystery... although the lawn was freshly shorn this afternoon.

Hmmmm.

Hola mister soto

Since befriending them after suffering the losses of babies, the mother and father of this tiny man have been two of our closest allies in the long journey to bring children into our homes. Together, we have celebrated the births of baby jane and little man soto while grieving those lost before them. It's always difficult knowing that there are other moms and dads who still have yet to bring a little one home, but today we celebrate and welcome this gorgeous child into this wondrous, glorious mystery called life.

Hola danny.

Hold on blue sleeves

The week's end was a nonstop carnival of the celebration all culminating in the grandiose eightieth birthday gathering in honour of one Louis Virgil Rockey, Junior. Here's to eighty more Junior!

The preceding night was a thirty-year celebration of epic proportions for baby brother Jere. Here is a classic from the Olan Mills "blue" period. Brother Jere was still a wild-eyed newborn and my mother had recently joined the Marx brothers for a season. I'm told those brows were actually drawn into the photo.

Some will make arguments in favor of the advancements in computer-assisted photo editing, but i say look to the eyebrows.

Behold their majesty!

I'd be remiss to not mention year thirty-eight for Mom and Pop Rockey! The thirty-eight special. This is where the title of today's post comes into play. None too long ago i was discussing the .38 Special song "hold on loosely" which i had misinterpreted as a song making a plea to a character named "blue sleeves" to "hold on!"

Now, almost by some cosmic happenstance, I look at this family photo of a husband and wife with their two young sons all dressed in blue and i sigh that misunderstood lyric which finally finds its place in my family lineage...

Hold on blue sleeves. Don't let go.

Now how much

The sun's been hangin' out a bit longer each day. I think she just wants to be friends, but i think i oughta place it safe and take it slow for a while. Baby jane sure loves the company not to mention the extended rendezvous with the neighborhood swingset. Spring seeems to have become synonymous with purging the homestead of unnecessary attachments. It is a time for saying goodbye to those things which have alas become expendable. These are the moments when i am incredibly grateful for scanners...

Hmmm...

Let us now cleanse the pallet with another photo of baby jane with her sweet ride....

Besides all that, the recent purging and such has cleared some work space in the mustard room. Perhaps it is time to begin a new season of imagery for the renovation of forgotten wears. Here's a guy we've seen before who is finally being realized. Soon to be available for wearing and sharing. Possible title: "the hunter becomes the haunted." It totally sounded better in my clouded imagination.

p.s. Are we saving daylight or is daylight saving us?