Just add crayons

There are bad things about insta-families — like being so stressed that you forget all about the cool Writers With Drinks magazine tribute that

anthologie

invites you to the day after she invites you (sorry, I sooo wanted to go to that) — but there are good things about it too.

Tonight, standing on our balcony with Doug barbequeing chicken skewers (free-range organic, of course) and me having just made potato salad, I looked back into the house. The kids had music streaming to our speakers that I actually kinda like[1], Tina was dyeing Cassie’s hair (black cherry; it looks awesome) and AJ was lying on his belly in the middle of the living room drawing different tags in bright colors on art paper.

Tina sometimes says we have this crazy situation where it’s like someone took one man, one woman and one kid and said, “Here. Be a family.” and that’s pretty challenging. There are times like this though, where I look at it and think, “How amazing. Just over a year ago, we were both single. And now look at us. Look at this.” I told Doug that and he smiled and told me he loved me and that I should blog it so that all my friends know that if your new beau has kids, you never know how suddenly life might turn around so that they’re yours too.

Another thing about the week I turned 17: legally, I was able to drive from that week if I passed the test. I imagine I took the test that week. I’d been learning since I was allowed to at 16 and nine months and Mum had loaned me her 1978 yellow Corolla. I have no idea who I was seeing at that point… I don’t have a clear memory at all of my 17th birthday party. Mum? Do you remember?

[1] They’re into the new country stuff like Little Big Town’s Boondocks, interesting covers and mash-ups like Alien Ant Farm’s cover of Smooth Criminal or the Federation’s cover of “I wear my sunglasses at night”[2] and a little bit of R&B.
[2] And didn’t that just lead me into an interesting exploration of Bay Area hip-hop!