Cleanliness

Our neighbor girl babysitter was here this evening. As we were waiting for her mom to arrive she exclaimed that she loved our house. "It is so pretty and so CLEAN" she said. Those of you who know me know how incredibly hysterical that is. The clean part I mean. But I guess that goes to show you that there are varying degrees of cleanliness. Someone out there thinks I live in a clean house. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

One more thing...

I love my sister.

a couple things

1. I love how I feel during and after excercise. WHY the HELL can't I get in a better habit of doing it?
2. I bought an enamel platter at the flea market today for 8 bucks. I love it. It inspired us to have lobster for dinner tonight. YUM!
3. I read the best book about life and death today. Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles. It is for kids/teens and it is wonderful. I cried through the last probably 10 pages. Not from just sadness but from the extreme simplicity and beauty this author used to convey death and living and family. There was nothing flowery or overdone. Just brilliant. One of my favorite quotes...
"It takes courage to look life in the eye and say YES to the messy glory."
If you read the book you will understand how perfect it is.
4. I would like to be a better friend. Friendships are a whole topic in and of itself. I am not a very good friend. Never have been. I rarely remember birthdays, send cards, get good gifts, I rarely call people just to talk. I wonder why. Hmmmmmmm...
5. My husband is the blueberry picking MAN. We already have 4 bags of frozen goodness stacked up in our freezer. I love blueberries.
6. Sufjan Stevens, fantabulous singer, check him out. Listened to his song...To be alone with you...on my walk tonight. Beautious.

Here comes Maria...

Remember the anticipation of knowing that the Sound of Music was going to be on T.V. Usually around Thanksgiving or was it Easter? I loved it then but not as much as I do now and not as much as my oldest daughter. I think she has watched it more than 20 times but less than 50. So much that she knows a lot of the words to the songs and when she just turned 3, she would act out the scenes to the songs on CD. She loves it so much that yesterday when we were listening to the CD in the car and we got to the instrumental part, I turned it and Ella said, "Mom turn it back I love this part. This is the part when Maria gets married". Of course I turned it back. One night when I was putting her to bed after watching part of the Sound of Music before bed she said, "Mommy, I wish I could BE IN the Sound of Music". She asks questions out of the blue, like why is the Captain so mad, grumpy? or why is Maria scared during this song? Her favorite children are all of them, but she gets a silly smile on her face if I ask her if Fredric is her favorite. Could he be her first crush? NO...that was Francesco from Zoom. I love watching her watch this movie. Best of all is knowing that this was her grandmother Mona's favorite movie.

"Together now....Doe a Deer a female Deer, Ray a drop of golden sun. Me a name I call myself, Fa a long long way to run, So a needle pulling thread, La a note to follow SO, Tea a drink with jam and bread which will bring us back to Doe, Doe, Doe, Doe".

Good Envy

Let's see we had a chance to show off our space over the weekend. During the week, I have had a chance to be envious of other's living situations. On Tuesday I had double whammy. We met up with some of Steve's friends at StoryLand in Glen. They were finishing up vacation and heading home to start the move from Manchester to Cape Cod. They are buying a house one mile from the ocean, surrounded by family. (Deep sigh emitted here.) Then we stopped by to visit our friends Jen, Justin and Eli, who treated us to a royal evening on their boat/float/ slice of heaven. Pizza, beer, and swimming on a beautiful night in a beautiful spot. Then tonight we had dinner at Duane and Shelly's house. Beautiful, big, all finished, clean, neat, huge rooms with air conditioning. All of these things made me envious. But only in a good way. It is nice to have these friends in great places. We only win.

dancin' in the rain

Top Ten Party Moments

We hosted our first big Party at the barn this weekend. I love parties...

10. One tent is never enough for a really good party.
9. It pays to have a relative who has worked in the rental business.
8. People don't drink soda or water when there is beer and wine.
7. Cornell Chicken Marinade makes SUPERIOR BBQ Chicken.
6. Clown RULES! Never underestimate your stone mason.
5. Definitely hire a band for your party...but you must allow them proper wiffle ball time to keep them happy.
4. Hire a band to keep all the women happy. But just make sure it is an all male band with a really good looking young man with dark hair and blue eyes.
3. Rain makes a party.
2. Dancing in the rain makes the party even more.
1. WE have the best family, friends, stone mason....EVER!

Post Script: Never tell your spouse about your crushes because he will throw you under the bus. love you baby.

Party

We are having a party on Saturday. The best things about Parties are
1. They force you to clean your house. Not just surface clean but really clean. Underneath the stove. Move furniture that you never move to sweep and vacuum. It's good.
2. People. Love seeing unrelated people relate. Work people, relatives, kid friends, all forced to talk to each other.
3. The gossip afterward with your spouse. "Did you hear that so and so said this..." "Did you see when so and so did that..."

Our Stone Mason's band is playing. I have never heard them before but they should be fun. I love our stone mason. Neil Young, Bob Dylan, the Clash, 50s/60s stuff and their own stuff.

We will see how it all plays out. I love parties.

Coincidence....

John Cusack, who has accused a woman of stalking him for the past year and a half, scored a victory in court Tuesday when a judge granted him a temporary restraining order.

John Cusack

I love him. I would watch any movie he is in...including MUST LOVE DOGS. I am watching it now. What is it about him? He is sexy because ______________. He is funny, not so pretty that he is intimidating. Grosse Pointe Blank, is one of the funniest movies.

Martin Q. Blank: Don't you think that maybe you're just upset because I told you what I do for a living, and you got upset and *you're* letting it interfere with *our* dynamic?
Dr. Oatman: Whoa. Martin. You didn't tell me what you did for a living...
Martin Q. Blank: Yes, I did!
Dr. Oatman: You didn't tell me what you did for a living for *four* sessions. *Then* you told me. And I said, "I don't want to work with you any more." And yet, you come back each week at the same time. That's a difficulty for me. On top of that, if you've committed a crime or you're thinking about committing a crime, I have to tell the authorities.
Martin Q. Blank: I know the law, okay? But I don't want to be withholding; I'm very serious about this process.
[pause]
Martin Q. Blank: And I know where you live.
Dr. Oatman: Oh, now see? That wasn't a nice thing to say; that wasn't designed to make me feel good. That's a... kind of a... not too subtle intimidation, and I, uh, get filled with anxiety when you talk about something like that.
Martin Q. Blank: Come on, come on. I was just kidding, all right? The thought never crossed my mind.
Dr. Oatman: You did think of it, Martin! You thought it, and then you said it. And now, I'm left with the aftermath of that, thinking I gotta be creative in a really interesting way or Martin's gonna blow my brains out! You're holding me hostage. That's not right.

Okay that was long, but it is really funny.

One of My Super Heros

Super Power

Captain Apathy
I have Super Powers; I have no will to use them. I could fly but what's the point. My arms would probably get tired. I could run really fast but I don't really have anywhere to go. Yeah I'm pretty strong but I'm tired right now.

What are your super powers?

My husband and I have a good one. We constantly show up someplace before the line forms. Seem insignificant---that's us sitting at a table eating breakfast while you are standing in line, hungry and hungover! Yeah Baby!

Seriously though I am developing my super powers. I work with kids and I am learning where my strengths are. I think there is real power in allowing kids to be succeed. That is different than the current thinking and I will tell you why. As adults we think we KNOW how kids SHOULD be successful. We know what is best. There is a huge shift in allowing kids to tell me how they would like to be successful. How do they define success? And then I will use my powers to help them make that possible.
One student eluded me this year. Maybe this is because he is the most successful he will ever be. Maybe he is peaking in middle school/high school. MAYBE-just Maybe he didn't need or want my help-he will be successful on his own terms. Let's hope. The potential energy bottled up in that kid is staggering. I wonder what his super power will be.

I also want to be able to fly.

Rain

Your body has a certain saturation point in the rain. You can start out walking in the rain unprotected and get this false sense of "it's not so bad". The drops seem to roll off your body, clothes, hair, what have you. And then if you are exposed long enough you start to notice that the drops are starting to soak you and that sense of security quickly vanishes.

As an added bonus, go sit in an air-conditioned room after you have passed your saturation point. The cold is like no other cold you have felt before.

Chicago has inspired me...

Okay so I am starting this from a big city and not a barn in the woods. But before there are any complaints...being in a big city reminds me how much I love my barn. Cities are amazing living breathing creatures. They pulse with life, bodies, hunger, wealth, poverty, gluttony, beauty. Cities are the ultimate of what Humans are able to create. Roads, massive beautiful buildings, art, life in a confined space. It is all amazing to me.

In my space, in my home...My husband and I have created this space within beauty that is created by nature. We have settled into this space with minimal disruptions to what was there before us. That feels so good to me. Here we are raising our 2 BEAUTIFUL daughters. I am not biased. I will write about our life, my life, life in general, music, art, politics, love, anger, laughter, family. I will write and rant. Hopefully I will not embarrass myself or those I love.

I want to see what evolves from this and am encouraged by others who have come before me...you know who you are...STINK!

Let's see what happens...VAMONOS! Come on let's go!