Ta-Da!

I got a kitchen-aid stand mixer for Christmas!

Hooray!  Everything tastes better when it's mixed in such a glorious machine...i may have cuddled it upon opening...Thanks Paka and Grammy!!!

and now for a list (not exhaustive) of things i baked/made this Christmas season...

chocolate-hazlenut tart
coconut cream pie with merinque
pumpkin pie w/ whipped cream
chicken n' dumplings
roast turkey breast
mashed potatoes
cinnamon rolls
california rolls

yum yum yum

for our anniversary, we went to Kenny's wood fired grill - OMG. BEST FOOD EVER (and the kind of place where they fix your napkin when you get up to go to the bathroom).  We had a gift certificate, and you know, we didn't want it to go to waste...so...

popover (BEST ever by the way)
brie fondue w/ garlic bread toast points
grey goose martini w/ olives slightly dirty
surf n' turf special - filet mignon w/ giant shrimp and some sauces, with grilled asparagus w/ vinaigerette
creme brulee w/ coffee

they rolled me to the car.

I am now inspired to make popovers - seems easy, so we'll see...

Christmas!

We went to see the Prairie Lights again this year in Grand Prairies. So much fun...so much more fun this year in the mini-van versus last year when 6 of us were crammed in the Buick... the girls were so excited.

The highlight of our evening though was the final carousel ride - why not? it's free!  Oh, by the way, I hate riding carousels. They make me very dizzy and I always end up feeling nauseous.

This carousel was a real classic...meaning it's one of those carnie rides that you would never let your kids on because of how rickety it seems...

Also, there were no safety harness or seat belts on the horses...

And I jumped on there with the kids before Steve was around....

So I stood between each kid...telling them to hold on tight...when...

LURCH...

the ride sprang to life. i almost fell over...and then it went REALLY fast...

so i've got my arms around each kid, yelling at them over the wind of the fast ride to hold on tight...W obeys, but R keeps nonchalantly waving at her dad like it's no big deal...and i've got this psuedo-surfer stance going on to keep my balance...trying not to throw up b/c i'm getting so dizzy from how fast it's going. and i totally think the people directly behind us on the ride are laughing at me.

Yay! Fun!

R said it was her favorite part of the whole night. Of course.

Fun was had by all, and it's definitely a TX christmas tradition for us now. But I still miss Macy's and the pipe organ/lights display in philly :(

Tis The Season

And Advent begins. I really like this time of year. I do not like actually having to put up the decorations, but I do like having them up - so pretty.

We started the Advent calendars yesterday.

I'm even enjoying the Christmas present shopping that I've already done...who knew.

Weekly trips to Garland for Christmas concerts...

So yep...it's Christmas time. Yay!

Me Vs. The Can

Sounds like I battled a toilet...

specifically, it was a can of chicken...or as I shall now think of it....

 THE CAN OF DOOM.

the setting: my kitchen
the time: Saturday evening, about 5pm
the cast: myself

After a busy of day of visiting with family and running errands all over God's glorious creation, I decided we'd have leftovers for dinner.  The night before, I had prepared the tasty chicken and dumplings recipe, which makes a lot.

I dumped the contents of one of my leftover containers into the pot on the stove top. I added some chicken stock to it. Hmmm, I thought to myself, this needs a little something extra. I got out the frozen peas and tossed them in.  Hmmm, I thought to myself again, this could use a little something more... I know! I'll add some canned chicken. Yum!

I got the canned chicken out of the pantry, and tried to open it with the very nice electric can opener that Steve got me. No luck.  Ok...so I got out the very crappy manual can opener that is so crappy, I bent it the first time I used it...I got the can about half open.  No problem, I thought to myself. Clearly I am a super human, not made of mere flesh and bone, but rather steel...I'll use my bare hands to rip this can apart. This is a good idea!

*crickets chirping*

I know you'll be shocked by the twist in this story, but about 2 seconds after I tried to rip the lid off the can, my hand slipped, and I gave myself a good gash.

Immediately, I rinsed my hand off, grabbed a paper towel, applied hard pressure, and put my hand over my head.

This is essentially the position I was in for the next 30 minutes.

My grandmother was on the phone with my mom when this happened, so I went in and got the phone from her.  The following conversation was amusing in hindsight, and involved me suggesting I get a ruler out to measure the wound to see if I would need stitches, etc... but all agreed I should keep pressure on it until Steve got home and could look at it.

He got home, and said I'd probably need stitches. He may have griped at me. I may have retorted that I didn't need a lecture because I was acutely aware of how stupid I'd been, and was already suffering my consequence.  He called Care Now to make sure they did stitches (they did), masking taped the paper towel to my hand so I could drive myself over, and off I went.  The rest of the family stayed home because it was dinner time...and so they were able to enjoy the dinner that I had in fact bled over (but not on, thank goodness)

(as a side note, my grandmother, at whom I had spent most of the day griping at to stay out of bed, went into quite the tizzy when she saw how I'd hurt myself, and was most keen on trying to help. i assured her i would live, and while i appreciated her offer, really really did not need her to do anything)

At Care Now, everyone was super nice and good at their jobs. First, they made me soak my hand in an anti-bacterial solution. "It will sting at first, and then it will go away" they said. Lies! All lies!  Then, the lidocaine shot in my hand to numb it...EXCRUCIATING...finally, relief... I was able to watch the PA stitch me up with no problems. I got 6 stitches using the blue material - she thought it would look nicer than the black...Then, I got a tetanus shot. The fun continued!

I wasn't able to get any medicine last night, but today I started my antibiotic, and got my pain pills - which  don't seem to be doing much, so when it's time for the next dose, I'm going back to tylenol.

So...what a lovely way to spend an evening.

Things that are hard to do with my left hand...eat soup with a spoon, brush my hair, stir food in a pan...

Things I cannot do today...put my hair in a ponytail, chop anything with a knife...

I go back tonight to have them look it over, and then again in 10 days to have the stitches taken out.

TX Radio Hall of Fame

What a weekend.

Saturday, we went and saw "Puss n' Boots". Too funny. We all enjoyed it quite a bit.  Saturday night, we had a date night to Macaroni Grill.  We haven't been there since we lived in Austin - still good!  I definitely carbed it up though - you'd have thought I was preparing for a marathon..oh well.

Sunday morning, Steve and I headed to the airport for a long day of traveling. We flew to Houston with Dad, Illeen, and Ron Chapman (Dad's former boss and super big-wig in radio world). Once in Houston, we rode on a fancy party bus (like an airport shuttle bus size, only nicer, and just the 5 of us) to the TX Radio Hall of Fame Induction ceremony (pics on Facebook if you care).

It was pretty cool to see Dad recognized.

Then, it was an hour drive back to the airport. The "grown ups" were able to change their flight to an earlier one, but we had to keep our flight time...so it was a couple of hours of sitting around. Hey, at least we looked good.

Finally, we arrived back to Dallas, and then had the drive home.

I'm not sure why I was so tired, I basically spent my day sitting down.

It was a fun adventure, and definitely something different.

Yee Haw!

Well, despite overwhelming nerves earlier, I survived my first fiddle contest experience...and...I won. Woohoo!

I got a nice cash prize and a certificate for a very expensive cowboy hat. Sweet.

It was a tie for first place btw me and this guy - and we had to have a showdown...and despite playing the violin for 30 years, I couldn't think of anything to play, so I played one of my songs again..Whatever...I won. Woohoo!

Then, they made me go out on the stage in the square in the middle of everything and play a song and be acknowledged...etc...

And while prior to winning, I realized that I had in fact enjoyed myself and the experience, and had not died over it...I have to say it was pretty awesome to win :)

Yippee!

Hmm

Ho-hum.

Nothing much going on.

Fiddle contest this Saturday.

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Other than that, things are pretty quiet...if by quiet, you mean children in constant state of whine and GM having various issues...

Yes. Quiet.

Book club tomorrow night. I'm making pumpkin whoopie pies with chocolate filling. Yum. Yum. Yum.  (at least in theory)

Road Trip!

What a day.

First, we dropped the girls off at the grandparents - we all had lunch together - and then Steve, Mama T., and I headed off for our great adventure.

We headed to Durant, OK to go to the homecoming game at SOSU (Southeastern OK State Univ) - where Steve got his bachelor's.  It was a fun trip.  We ended up standing in the end zone (b/c that's where the shade was).

Post game, we took a short tour of campus, and then got back on the road. Dinner at Cracker Barrel. Then home.

To give you perspective, it was about 2 hrs to get there, and 2 hrs to get home. So it was REALLY a road trip.

But it was a beautiful day, and we saw the most amazing sunset tonight. I suppose it helped that we were driving West at sundown, but seriously, super awesome TX sunset.

Unfortunately, my cowboy boots gave me blisters (not sure why - haven't had the problem before), so it will be flip flops tomorrow!

One week until the fiddle contest. AAAAAHHHHH.

I played my fiddle tunes for Rema on Friday, and even tho' I've known her for 10+ years, I was still nervous....oy... W's all set to go though - she's got her cute western outfit, her yee-haw, her smile-while-she-plays....I'm just hoping to survive my experience :)  Seriously. Feel free to pray for me that I make it through my pieces :)

Smores Cupcakes

I'm making these cupcakes for book club tonight. They won't be as pretty (we all know my lack of decorative skills in the baking department) - but they are delicious! (not that I've been sampling...)

So you can look at the picture on the link and pretend that mine look that good :)

The Article

Here is the article about my dad and the Speak & Spell. I'm pleased to say that I sound only slightly moronic in it. But hey, anything for dad. Proud of you! (if you scroll through the pictures at the top, there's one of the girls)

Date Night!

Never before have Steve and I been in a room where we were among the shortest people (particularly him).

Last night, we had a date that did not involve wal-mart.

These two items are related.

We went to ATG's Fashion for a Passion event, and it was fun.  We got gussied up, had food, drink, saw art, heard music, and watched a fashion show. It was pretty cool.

I do not recommend however, if one has not worn high heels in say, months, to decide to break the habit by wearing them to a standing only event where one stands for 3 hours.

If we go next year, we're springing for the VIP seats so we can sit :) I was SO sore last night, and felt like such an old lady (albeit a fabulous looking old lady) at the end of the evening...

Here's the picture taken of us at the event - got it off of facebook - let's assume there is some copyright issue since we did not take it...b/c i know you wanted to use this picture for profiteering means :)

My Dad Makes Me Super Cool

You know, when you are an introvert, it's great to have parents who are the life of the party...b/c then attention is deflected off of you personally, and when approached, you have a semblance of cool b/c the life of the party is your mom or dad...

(clearly, my definition of cool is perhaps limited, but i am what i am)

One thing that made me super cool (in my own eyes) as a kid is that my dad is the original voice on the Speak & Spell (hereafter referred to as the SNS). Yes. My dad is awesome.  He has also done other notable and awesome things in his life, all of which I am very proud.

Apparently, I'm not the only one that thinks so.

I got an email from Beloved Father warning me that I would be contacted by the intrepid reporter from something or other (still not clear on what it's for, but clearly important nonetheless).  I was happy to oblige - I'm getting interviewed! Yay! Some of my dad's celebrity is trickling down to me, and I'm reaping the benefits of stuff I did not do! People care what I think!

Anyway. This piece is about how he is the voice on the SNS, and how awesome that is, and so intrepid reporter wanted my views on what it was like growing up playing with the SNS, and subsequently, the joy my own children experience knowing their very own Paka is robotically speaking at them through a toy.

So I got the call today, and answered her questions.  The following is clearly not an exact transcript, and will contain many of my thoughts as actual conversation b/c frankly it makes it more interesting.

I give you

---- My Moment In the Sun ----

starring: Intrepid Reporter (IR) as the...um...intrepid reporter...don't know why I've gotten so stuck on that phrase
           Me as myself


setting: my car in the parking lot at the mall b/c the IR called me later than she said she would


-----
IR: Hi! I'm so excited to talk to you about your dad!

Me: Yes....me too.

IR: So. Tell me all about what it was like playing with the SNS as a kid knowing it was your dad's voice!

Me: Um...it was great.

IR: Did you ever spell funny words like "fart" to hear your dad say them back to you?!!

Me: *crickets chirping - who the heck knows what i spelled on a SNS when I was 5* haha. I guess I probably did. I don't really remember that.  It was a very long time ago.

IR: Did you know that the SNS is featured in the something-or-other museum?!!! What do you think about your dad being in a museum?!!!

Me: Um... cool.

IR: So you have kids?!!! Do they like to play with the SNS?!!!

Me: Yes. yes they do. they think it's awesome. you know (beginning to pull things out o' the rear here) my dad has always thought education to be important, and being on the SNS is clearly another way that he shows that...

IR: How do you feel knowing that your dad is helping kids and has helped kids learn to read?!!!

Me: Cool. Feel free to make me sound smarter than I am (I actually said that at one point)  You know, as I mentioned, education and reading is really important to him. He even volunteered with disadvantaged youth at my school when I was a kid. He's awesome.

IR: Great!
*end scene*

So many things can come of this. I can come off sounding like an adoring daughter who admires her father's love of education and philanthropy...or a big tool...either way, he comes out a winner.

*and clearly, the IR was a very nice girl, and any nuance of character that may have come across in the retelling is purely of my own imagination to make the story more interesting*


Love you Dad!

Crock Pot Sort-of-Chili

So we had all that leftover brisket...it was divided, bagged, and frozen.

Now what to do with all that...

Tonight I made a sort of chili. I think it turned out very tasty, so I'm going to share my method with you. Also, I'm bored and have nothing more meaningful to say. It's been a long day. One of "those" days.

(and since it's Gymnastics Tuesday, I had to do a crock pot meal that would be ready to go when we got home)

and...remember how i froze the whole tomatoes? (b/c how could you forget such exciting information) - i put a bag of about 5 frozen tomatoes in the fridge yesterday to thaw...and like the web site i consulted, they did indeed peel easily when thawed - there was only a piece that didn't want to come off, and luckily i served myself that piece of tomato skin tonight, so all in all not too bad.

so here we go:

*peel and quarter about 5 large tomatoes - dump into crock pot

*chop cooked brisket - dump into crock pot

*finely chop 1 yellow onion - dump into crock pot

*grate on a microplane 2 cloves of garlic - dump into crock pot

*pour in some beef stock (i had some organic beef stock that i had got on clearance at target of all                  places)

"how much should i pour in?"

enough.

*put in some cumin and chili powder. i don't how much. enough. smell it. taste it...don't add too much, b/c you can always go back and add more

*i also snuck in one of my frozen shredded yellow squash servings - you couldn't even notice it

*a little salt (b/c i used the organic stuff, which wasn't salty...if you use bouillion, don't add extra salt)

i cooked it on low all day - like 10 hours - occasionally i stirred it to break down the tomatoes more...at one point, i tasted the broth and added a little more cumin

towards the time for me to leave for gymnastics, i made a slurry with the broth and cornstarch, and stirred it in.

tonight, this "chili" was served over rice and garnished with cheese and cilantro.   i think steve added some red pepper to make his spicy

there is a lot left over, and i will be using the homemade corn tortillas procured from our produce stand to make an enchilada casserole for dinner tomorrow. 

this turned out very delicious. (now i'll pat myself on the back)

Leftovers

How many times have I made crock pot roast with potatoes...and then not liked the leftovers...

too many to count...

my burst of inspiration today was to make a beef pot pie with the leftovers..instead of the cream gravy, i went with a beef stock gravy...chopped up the leftover potatoes, very finely diced the remaining roast, and added some frozen peas... super easy (and super messy for making the pie crusts...can't seem to do it without getting flour everywhere, but whatever)

hopefully super tasty! hooray! this makes me feel (a)dumb for not thinking of doing it before and (b)like a homemaker goddess extraordinaire for thinking of doing it. haha

Deep Thoughts

I don't have a whole lot o' deep thoughts these days, and most of the ones I do focus on elder care.  If you want to know my deep thoughts on this, let me know, and I'll include you in the loop.

Flu Shot

I got my flu shot today (b/c of grandmother)...weee.  I don't normally have a problem with needles/shots/taking blood...it's unpleasant, but whatever.

Right before the pharmacist stuck me with the needle, I had a moment of "eww, don't want to do this"...immediately followed by "wait a minute, i just endured a tattoo, what am i thinking?"

haha.

barely even noticed when she stuck me with the needle.

in other news, i survived day 4 post-tattoo...otherwise known as "Itchy because it's healing" day. that was fun.

Exercise

It was me and the old folks today at the rec center. I did 4 miles on the recumbent bike (on level 1, so don't be too impressed), but I'm happy to report that my ankle is not bothering me post-workout, so I think that may be my machine of choice for now.

Still planning on walking W to school about 2 mornings a week, but that's not a fast pace or anything....

Having a tattoo on the stomach is great motivation not to gain weight. ha!

The only tv I could see in the room was set to HLN. ugh. ugh. ugh. A former beauty queen type doing an interview on the new Footloose. weee.

I'm thinking maybe a show or something on the iphone to watch while I pedal to nowhere... I've got music, but then I just feel like I'm staring into space...

Still wishing I could run...

Remembering

Yesterday was an intense day for radio. I normally listen to NPR when I'm driving, and they had an all-day thing about 9-11.  Just driving from my house to Target (about 7 minutes) brought tears to my eyes listening to people's stories about that day, and the loss they experienced.

Whew.

I remember being in my office at school, and one of my students (still remember her name) came in to say that something was going on. I forget how she said it, but basically I didn't believe her. Over the course of the day, I suppose I learned more online (didn't really talk to other teachers b/c I was off in my own wing, and no tv, just internet)...but it was that evening driving for over an hour to go to orchestra practice and listening to the radio and learning about what was going on and then again on the drive home, late at night, hearing more about what had happened.

It seemed far away and surreal, but it was also very scary, and I remember feeling very alone.

The Tattoo Experience

I don't want to be all "oh my Lord it hurt so bad" and ruin business for tattoo artists out there..but still...oh my Lord it hurt so bad.

Steve says it was 2 1/2 hours.  2 1/2 hours of needle-y torture.  I'm told after the fact by many people that the stomach/side/rib area of the body is one of the worst. Thanks! Good to know!

So he started in with the outline - which took the longest and hurt the worst.  I had come to terms with the fact that it would be uncomfortable and would sting, etc...  The night before, on LA Ink, there was this moron getting a stupid tattoo, and saying that it felt like dull hot razors slicing him to the bone.  We laughed, because, you know, he's a tool.

Well well well...turns out the tool and I share similar nerve endings... because that's exactly what most of the outline felt like. There were definitely parts of it that hurt more than others - the part more to my rib side hurt more than to my belly button side...and the parts actually on the rib bones hurt a lot too...

The rose part was particularly painful b/c of location - he mentioned "isn't she the kid that gives you a hard time?"

great. symbolism becoming reality.

the larger of the 2 birds hurt like hell...so i've decided it can symbolize my first miscarriage, which was much worse than my second one.

He was really good about letting me take little breaks as I needed them. I didn't cry. I didn't groan or scream.

I did however do a lot of toe-curling and grimacing.

Also, a lot of hand squeezing to Steve...like really serious "hey, don't dislocate my thumb" kind of squeezing.  In addition, Steve was warned to be ornery-free during the tattoo. At one point, he tried to be ornery, and there was a lot of arm flapping on my part, and a perhaps slightly hysterical tone to my voice until he cut it out. Post-tattoo, you can be assured we were back into normal ornery mode.

I think there's something about how you breathe through the pain - and I couldn't always get my breath synchronized going the right way. Sometimes that worked really well...but I think part of the reason why the outline was so painful for me was b/c he was working in longer strokes - so it was hard to focus on it...the black fill-in and the shading were shorter more localized strokes, so it was easier to focus on it. That's my theory anyway.

At one point, it was mentioned by those in attendance that I wouldn't remember the pain after the fact.

HAHAHAHAHAHA.

I pointed out that I still remember what it felt like to have kidney stones..."but that's an internal pain"...ok...I remember what it felt like to have a catheter inserted with no drugs...and I remember what it felt like to have an amniocentesis...so...I'm guessing I can look back on this experience and remember the dull hot razor cutting to my bone feeling.

At another point, I exclaimed "I'm endorphin-less!"  You always hear (or I do anyway) about people who endure pain because the endorphins kick in, and they end up enjoying it. Nope. no endorphins here. nothing.

A lot of you have mentioned how "tough" I am...but most of you saying that are the ones that have had natural birth.  I'm sure your natural birth experience, however pleasant it might have been, was much worse than getting a tattoo ;)  The outcome is perhaps not the same, but definitely no comparison on the pain scale.

So I put my tattoo on the scale of less than kidney stones and greater than amniocentesis.

All seems to be healing nicely...

I Did It

Well. I did it. I now officially have my first and only tattoo. Whew. Getting the outline done was excruciating, and once that part was done the rest was "easier".

*picture on facebook*

The Freezer

We have a stand-up full size freezer in the garage. I love this thing. So much. It was a definite bonus when moving into our no-longer-new family situation.

For some reason, it is much easier to keep this freezer organized than the one in the house...which I just cleaned out...and found frozen veggies from a year ago....blech.

I like to buy yesterday's produce at our produce store - super super cheap -but also super super ripe. Which means I have to do something with it right away.

And currently, I have no interest in learning how to can. It sounds like too much work, and I have no one to share in the joy with me on this one...maybe my kids can learn how to do it, and just do it themselves when they get older. "you girls did a great job this week with your attitude! guess what! you get to can!together! without mommy!"  i can just hear their cheers of delight...

today's bounty:
* lots o' tomatoes - i froze them whole, and will occasionally throw one in the crockpot i think.
* lots o' yellow squash - i grated ALL of it (don't feel too sorry, i used the food processor) and froze it in about 1 cup batches so i can use it in something...probably spaghetti sauce or try like a squash bread (which for some reason sounds so much grosser than zuchinni bread, which we all know is tasty, but we'll see)
* lots o' peaches - i pureed some and chopped others up. i can't find my ice cube trays anywhere, but the plan is to use this in my breakfast smoothies
* cantaloupe, strawberries, grapes -  not frozen, but if they get too ripe before we're done with them, i'll just puree them up and freeze them for my smoothies.

i also roasted 3 chkn breasts with skin and bones - i just used olive oil, coarse salt, pepper, and a little poultry seasoning - then after cooling, removed the meat into portions. hooray!

i still need to think of varied ideas for all that brisket we have left - 2 hunks are raw and frozen, to be used in the crockpot at some future date. still have lots that is already cooked and frozen... so far we have done tacos, sandwiches, and just a serving of meat (which we actually don't do that much b/c i like to stretch the meat as far as i can)...i'm thinking enchiladas and chili might be good ways to use it, but if you've got any other suggestions, i'm all eyes.

Walking

We live approximately .8 miles from the school. I've often thought how nice it would be to walk to school, but I've put it off b/c R is only 4, and she'd have to do the round trip.

How silly of me.

My 4 yr old has more energy than me (except when we have to go to the grocery store) - she was dancing, twirling, running, etc... both ways. Good grief.

We walked home yesterday from school - a little hot for all of us (not as much shade that time of day).

We walked to school this morning - very pleasant and cool, but it would be a gross understatement to say that I'm not a morning person. I did manage to drink some coffee before the walk, and then ate an organic pop tart (is that an oxymoron?) while walking.

I can see this becoming a thing. Probably not every day of the week - I really had to rush to get ready to go back to the school for W's violin lesson - and of course, R wanted to walk back. I told her no. I refrained from telling her she was crazy.

My ankle seems to be doing ok so far. No bumps appearing on my achilles... I still have the numbness/etc in the tarsal tunnel area, but I think that's to be expected.

I think I'll take a break this weekend :)

Another First

Wow, i'm really on a roll with all these firsts... sharing my opinions more openly, practicing for a fiddling contest....and...


*drumroll*


getting a tattoo.


aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh

So here's a picture of the artwork i'm getting (and let's assume that there's a copyright on this, since it was done by an artist, and it's not my work, etc) ... this will be done by ivan, our artist friend from church. he designed the above picture based on some things i said - which is awesome, b/c i knew what i wanted it to represent, but didn't have a visual of it.


and i'm showing you a picture of the artwork here b/c i'll be getting it on my stomach (or side-ish torso area), and the world doesn't need a photo of that... ;)


so obviously you have the representation of the two kids - how convenient that they are named after plants, and the rest, as written out by the artist is:


"The canopy is split in four representing the growth in each of your lives. The trunk splits into four but are joined as one representing the strength you have in each other and God. The tree and rose are joined because those girls will always be a part of each other. The birds are your miscarriages. Even though they are gone physically you will always feel them. Free spirits flying in heaven. They began nested in you."


in a week and 2 days people...holy moly! i'm a little skeeved about the pain part. i'm not known for my heroic efforts in the realm of physicality...i was starting to get a lot of anxiety about the pain...and then my beloved pointed out that we watch L.A. Ink, and the people getting tattoos aren't screaming and crying, they're carrying on conversations while getting "inked".


good point. i relaxed a bit after that. haha.


i'm really excited about this. if you had told me a year ago i'd be doing this, i would have laughed...oh how i would have laughed. and i won't say God told me to get a tattoo...but i did feel a stirring in my spirit that this was something i wanted to do. so there.


and i'm not out to convince anyone that it's religiously right or wrong to get a tattoo...but i did talk at length with christians that i trust and respect about the biblical-ness of getting one, and obviously we're all ok with it :)  but if you're not ok with it, then (a) don't get one for yourself and (b) i won't ever show mine to you (which i probably wouldn't anyway...since it's on my stomach..refer to above point about the world not needing to see that)


i'm very excited about this. hooray!

Fiddlin'

I've played the violin for 30 years now (i should be better, right?). and in just a couple of months, or less than, i will be embarking on a first...

*drumroll*

a fiddle contest.

Lord help me.

I've got my pieces learned, and review them a little every day so that i can feel very comfortable with them, and maybe add in some extra noodlin'.

but really, i hate performing in front of people, unless it's church, or orchestra, or some other setting where i'm not being judged. haha.

why am i doing this? well, i guess it comes down to why not... i'm making willow do it, so i guess i'm setting a good example? and it's not a big fiddle contest, so there shouldn't be too much shame when i don't win...

but there's the rub...

the main reason i didn't want to do it initially is that i can't guarantee that i'll be the best one, and i still have a certain amount of pride.

but, i guess if i'm going to make my 6 yr old do it (but she loves to perform!) then i guess i should too.

*sigh*

i'll let you know how it goes in a couple of months.

Airing the Mental Laundry

*the following post is not aimed at any particular person...just a gathering of thoughts that have been brewing in my head for some time*

I'm pretty opinionated.

Shocker, I know.

Most of the time, i try to keep my opinions to myself, b/c i don't like to offend people...or it just gets me too riled up...

you know, things like parenting choices, politics, education...the biggies.

But why do we get so passionate/riled up/testy/ornery/in-your-face about those things which are subject to so much gray area...

for example, i think everyone should love Jesus...but me arguing with them or berating them, etc... isn't going to get them to love Jesus.  and i don't think arguing and berating count as "planting seeds"...it goes back to the whole "how we live our lives" yadda yadda.

then, there's politics.

you know, i grew up thinking that you couldn't be a christian and be democrat...b/c, you know, democrats are heathens... but the older i get, and the more i think about things, the less inclined i am to either party...and the more inclined i am to wonder why christians are republicans/tea partiers... i mean, i get both sides of the coin - not b/c i'm wishy washy, but b/c i see value in both arguments... but when I think about Jesus, it seems (and brace yourselves here) that he might have *gasp* been more of a socialist.

how did capitalism/consumerism get tied together with christianity?

in case you're wondering, i don't actually want answers or to debate this...just typing this riles me up :)  in fact, may i respectfully ask that you not comment on this particular post. i'm just airing my mental laundry.

then we get into parenting stuff. i'll say it. i'm a firm "believer" in vaccines. i think most people who know me already know this. i actually feel pretty strongly for a variety of reasons about children getting vaccinated. and if you know me, you probably already know why. i'll spare another diatribe.

does that mean that i vilify those who don't vaccinate? of course not. if different people who are all educated arrive at different conclusions, then we have to allow ourselves room for the gray area. we don't need to vilify the other side in order to justify our own choices. i'm sure the people i know (and there are several) who don't vaccinate have equally valid and well thought out reasons.

maybe i just spend too much time reading things and getting riled up. "it's my way or else!" "you're stupid for thinking that way just b/c i don't agree or understand your side!" etc...

i didn't use cloth diapers with the 1st kid  b/c my friends berated me into it...i did it b/c it seemed like a good choice. i didn't get medals or special commendations from my granola friends for doing so...nor did they all abandon me when i didn't use cloth diapers with my 2nd kid.

so it cuts both ways.

and i guess if you're going to try to educate people about your point of view (on whatever topic it may be), it's a good idea to be educated about it...and it's also a good idea when the other people tell you they're not interested in it (for whatever reason) to give them the space to make their own choices...and not to go away from it secretly thinking "well, obviously that person is a complete and utter moron for not agreeing with my position or research that i've done on the internet about topic x"...and rather instead think "well, that was a nice visit, i've learned some things from my friend with whom i don't agree on everything with, and clearly we're both educated people who have arrived at different conclusions, so maybe everything isn't so black and white"

and i think that's what i like about my close friends (you know who you are) - we vary widely in many of our political or parental choices/beliefs (although we all love Jesus), and not once have i ever felt condemnation from any of them for making different choices...and i try (and hopefully succeed) to not show condemnation towards choices they make that are different...but rather to enjoy the exchange of ideas in the safe space of a healthy relationship.

Food That is Already Ready

Now that we're back in the swing of things...lots of activities, etc... I need to come up with some good slow cooker meals that everyone here will eat.

that means chicken only, most likely.

today, i'm trying a sort of chicken and black bean chili...and i'm going to cook quinoa in the rice cooker...and serve it to the girls in tortillas so they'll eat it... but still...i'm a little underwhelmed.

so. if you have any ideas that are more than just *chicken, potatoes, green beans, salt* i'd love to hear them. please. (and of course i'm aiming for healthy, but mostly tasty)

Back to Exercise

Sure, the podiatrist told me i could exercise immediately after the boot came off (low impact only of course)...but i interpreted that as "wait until later...much later"

today was my first day back on the track. i walked. no running yet.  i have to say i don't feel motivated by the elliptical machine or the stationary bike. i was actually starting to get into running.

now, it is my humble opinion that the running is not what caused the problem - just exacerbated a problem that was already there.

i walked 16 laps today, at a fast enough pace to work up a sweat, and it wasn't until lap 16 that my ankle started to twinge (which is why i only walked the 16 laps - 12 1/2 laps being a mile).

and who would've thought i'd say this, but man, i really wanted to run...walking fast is kind of awkward...at least for me, around the knee area.

so my plan is to do some walking...and slowly start trying some light jogging...but Lord knows i don't want to put that stupid boot back on, so i'll be very careful.

Post One

This isn't a new blog, but now that the kids are getting older, I realize I should do a little more in the way of protecting privacy :)

So...it's The Mundane, Continued. (genius I know)

Kid pictures will still be on facebook for those who care.