I love my tight, curly locks of hair except when all 40 pounds of it are frizzed to the bits and Tina Turner wants the back portion of it for a new wig.

I am kind and helpful except when I am pushed to my limit and you are taking me for granted. Say thank you for crying out loud.

I am dorky and weird about my music except when I am dancing around like a ravemaster and doing some bump-and-grind against the shower curtain.

I am open and eager to learn except when I am going against the grain of my Inner Middle Child and you are trying to get me to obey you.

I am healthy and fit and active except when I am wearing my size 16 pants after downing an entire pineapple upside down cake.

I am not happy with my looks except when I am strutting in my new green and black dress that accentuates everything in all the right places.

I am sanguine about my intellect and Ten Dollar Words except when I just happen to think I’m actually pretty stupid about things.

I am easily excitable and can’t wait to be the center of attention except when I am clearly not the center of attention.

I am fun to play tricks on and prank except when I am just not up for taking your shit today.

I delight in being ladylike and feminine except when I am full of pop and belch like a trucker who doesn’t care who hears it because of spending all day alone in the cab.

I delight in practicing listening skills except when I explode and tell you just where you can shove it.

I have a fondness for learning history except when I am cynical and remember that history belongs to the victors.

I have a proclivity for realizing my potential except when I am having my gifts being hijacked from me to suit another’s purpose.

I am partial to being a party animal except when I am ready to look at the back of my eyelids for a catnap.

I’m up early today. For obvious reasons: my bones need an extra 20 minutes of talking to before they stop cracking altogether. So! Since I’m older! I will enjoy the most decadent coffee today! Perhaps a white chocolate mocha with full fat milk. And whip cream. And perhaps an extra shot! It’ll kill me in the first gulp.

Dear God,

Let it be a good day. I really really need a good day.

Love,

Kelly

With that said, some of my favorite pictures I have taken in the last year.

I have longed to send emails that end in “Sent from my iPhone”. Alas. I will console myself with pretty buildings.

My parenting style is of the “Rub Some Dirt On It. You’re Fine.” variety. Preferably dirt near pretty flowers like this.

No words. Just…

The type of picture I might crop and matte and hang in a frame in my house or office. If I had the time and creativity to do such a thing.

Sometimes at work I write my name on my food in the fridge. Other times, my friends write on my food. For fun.

One of those flowers that seem to open up and say, “Hello, world. Here I am in glory and splendor. Worship me.”

Another building. At dusk. Made me want to rush up to it and lick it to see if it had a vanilla flavor. Thankfully, I’m no longer curious to do such things. I quit that long ago. It’s soooo 34 of me.

Took this one with the lens baby. It’s my impressionist style. My Renoir, I suppose.

A more simple, unassuming flower. Ragged edges, even. Perhaps that can be my mantra for the next year.

I was going to post about letters today and something stopped me. It was getting the sweetest kind of email from a friend and it came just in time. Letter writing is a beautiful art form and she sent something that touched me deeply and included something amazing: Prayers often come from our most vulnerable places. She also asked that I please remember to take a picture of myself just before turning a year older.

This quote is getting to me, too. “I carry with me all my things.” That which is important is always with me. With that in mind, a list of things of which I never tire. Order is of no import:

1. getting an unexpected plate of cookies

2. listening to Ave Maria sung by Stevie Wonder

3. learning something new from something old

4. reading a fantastic book that makes me sad when it ends

5. new carpet smell

6. singing “Funky Cold Medina” to my daughter and her roommates on speakerphone while they laugh at me

7. getting a visit from an old friend and hearing, “No, really. How are you?” in the most earnest manner ever

8. learning new phrases for farting (“Mom, did you just bust a grumpie?” asked my 7th grader. Answer was yes.)

9. having a Come To Jesus meeting with students and seeing them get it

10. black-and-white movies from the 1940s

11. excellent, buttery cake frosting

12. yummy-smelling freshly laundered sheets

13. low clouds on the horizon that resemble mountains

14. looking at maps of places until my eyes cross

15. finding strength I didn’t know I had

16. the peanut-butter colored paint in my sister’s new living room

17. holding my children

18. a fresh, clean face that feels taut and raw yet beautiful

19. baby toes without socks that oddly smell vinegary, but really good

20. having Jacob’s Ladder timed contests with my nieces