Toby Mac Get this party started

this one goes out to caron smith.

one if by land, two if by sea

Today is Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 200th birthday! I hear he still lives independently, in the house she shares with his second wife in Cambridge. (wink, wink)

arcade fire

I just saw them on SNL this weekend. I was watching for Rainn Wilson, but these guys stole the show. Check it. Click on the post title. If you like old U2, you'll like the Arcade Fire.

one more nu thang

i was messing around on itunes this morning and guess what i saw.
that's right. new album by tobyMac. the link is in the title.

so weird when things strictly nostalgic pop up again.

he's coming to omaha...

belated

happy birthday, lindsay! sorry this is a few days late: it won't happen again!

friday poem

As I was polishing some long-forgotten toes (in a futile hope for warmer weather) this afternoon, I penned this and laughed. Hope you do the same:


To The Middle Toe on My Left Foot

You’re crooked, head cocked to the left, like a
valley girl smacking bubble-gum, mouth wide open.
You overshadow your little sister,
Always pushing her over, standing in front as she demurely hides behind,
Taking the flattening of her face humbly.
After all, she has a prettier nail than you –
Yours has to be filed at an unnatural angle just to give the illusion of straightness.
Even a delicate ring placed on another sister -
Even your top-heavy big sister - doesn’t detract from your defect.
Smack in the middle, vying for attention, you ornery ham,
You brat,
You’re out of line.
Thank God you’re not straight, you’d be a head above everyone else.
I could have been a foot model, maybe for some miracle exfoliator,
corn cushion, or pearly pink polish,
If it wasn’t for you.

the results

megan recommended this post. thought i'd pass it along. made me weep. her perspective IS amazing.

walter brueggemann

If you're a walter brueggemann fan like me, come see him speak at the first united methodist church on sunday, march 25. 7020 cass street.

8:30 am - Being an Unanxious Presence

9:35 am - Arguing about the Future

10:50 am - Being an Unanxious Presence

If you're REALLY a fan (like me) and want to attend the conference on fri and/or saturday, see more info at: fumcomaha.org. its in adult education section, under horizons of faith.

another sesame street classic

man, i love rem.

this song take a dark turn halfway through...

snorah

it was another full night of kids being awake, doing stomach-flu things. needless to say, i'm looking forward to labor more & more as each sleepless night passes. a room all to myself, with one little sleepy newborn & breakfast, lunch, & dinner in bed. the "do not disturb" door hanger.

anyway...in the middle of making some strong coffee to get me going, i caught this little clip of norah jones on sesame street. i've seen it before, but for some reason, i just laughed & laughed & laughed. i think i was confusing the kids. "mom, it's not THAT funny."

a delicious torment

daphne was here over the weekend. she left a pound of really yummy coffee with us.

kate came on monday with two boxes of girl scout cookies, an izze for each of us, & some corn kernels to make popcorn for a treat.

jason's mom is coming tomorrow.

thursday is free for me. bueller? bueller?

wayfaring

Dreamy

those of you who haven't visited yet will be pleased to know that darby, kate and the easley family really are indeed all living and breathing in the respective cities that they claim as home. no witness protection programs. no double lives (that i could discern). no alien kidnappings. no lies. phew. i'm sure this goes without saying, but it was SO GREAT to see all of them this weekend. you other who cares people should be jealous. of me.

notice how the nebraskan is wearing the illinoise t-shirt and the illinois-dwellers are wearing the nebraska t-shirts? that's funny.

blackspotshoes

i like THESE shoes. well, i like the idea of them...and kind of the way they look...but i think they're too close to those popular-in-high-school eastland leather shoes. recall? and i didn't like those.

Sky Maul

did anyone year about Sky Maul on NPR this morning? check it online. hilarious. i really like the "i took a year off" south american mouth organ. there is some good stuff for parents to purchase, too.

observation

tonight, while on the eliptical, i realized that my sweat smelled like buttered toast. not a coincidence, i assure you.

snow day, all play II

one of the things i've missed most about jason's old job: random days off due to inclement weather. but yesterday we had an extra special valentine's day: daddy stayed home with us! we read ten books, watched "chicken little", drank lots of coffee with cookies, & played some bohnanaza. we also ordered some t-shrits for valentine's day. i got this one.

jason said that last night annabelle was praying before bed & she said this, "god please help "our baby" to come out soon...and please help me to grow up fast. amen." he sat there still & quiet, kind of letting that moment sink in. she sighed, "i SAID amen." moment over.

My kids.

Caron requested and I love showing them off. So, here are some current pictures.

I heart all you gals

Reading all your comments and activities yesterday changed our Valentine's day today. Thank you Cheryl - I went to walgreen's after work last night and got Isaac some stuff for valentine's day (stickers and a nurf gun / i.e. cupid's arrows). Thank you Caron - your finger-painting snow day gave me the idea to paint Valentine's Cards with Isaac for our family.

He loved it.

sugar overload

i won two heart shaped cake pans from bingo this last christmas. it is an easley family tradition to play bingo, and then pick a surprise (usually end-of-aisle specials) off of the table. after awhile you just don't know what to choose anymore... so i took the pans. and i actually used them today.

happy valentines everyone, even if all you do get is a "gnarly heart shaped" box of chocolates! (i liked that lindsey)

blizzard

there is snow everywhere. and gale force winds. all the schools have been cancelled. there's little traffic on the road behind our house. we're listening to norah jones, playing with stuffed animals, & i'm drinking coffee. we are planning on staying in our pajamas all day, watching gerald mcboing boing at 10, & making a fort after lunch.

what are you doing today?

my dream

i went to the mailbox today & extracted a really busted up package (P.O. must have taped it back together)...but inside...an indestructible box of smoothie-flavored tums & a copy of the post i wrote a few weeks ago.

whoever sent them...THANK YOU. you speak my language. wanna go to hawaii?

au naturel

Speaking of thriftiness and environmental consciousness, check out the blog linked through the title of this post. Sara has posted some great ways to clean your house and yourself cheaply and completely naturally (see the post on her blog from 2.8.07). Vinegar, water, baking soda, Dr. Bronner's soap, a little essential oil if you want, a spray bottle and you're set to clean the house! I have to admit, I'm fascinated and am going to try it. I'm sure it's cheaper than Windex, Soft Scrub, Clorox Toilet Wand (and the refills!), tub & tile cleaner, disinfecting wipes and stainless steel cleaner. She also has some great ideas for cleaning your face, hair and body that is natural and without those nasty, but hardly avoidable, chemicals like sodium laurel sulfate. Check it out for yourself and see if you dig any of the suggestions.

Got any earth-friendly or cheap ways to clean (yourself, your place, or otherwise)?

ringtones away!

i've been wanting some cool, hard-to-find ringtones for awhile. namely, the "arrested development" theme & "the office" (US version) theme, along with a few little sound bytes. FINALLY i found a site that's free & great. they send you the tone in the form of a pix text.

go here.

my pride is my folly

i haven't bought a tangible CD in a long time. i'm not a digital music champion--just can't find any of the stuff i like for sale anywhere nearby. ali reminded me about patty griffin's new release & i thought, "surely, best buy! surely." so this morning, on our way to the airport, i asked mom if she'd mind a quick stop (so much easier when someone is around to stay in the car with the kids) & she said that'd be fine.

as we're pulling up, i verbally said, "i know it says 'bestbuy.com purchase parking only', but i'm parking there. no one is ever in that spot. and i did look on the web page last night. 3 minutes." i opened the door, stepped out, started walking toward the entrance.

"CARON! CARON! CARON! AAAH!" mom shouted from the car. "WE'RE ROLLING!" guess i forgot to put the car in "park"...and the large, gifted-to-us suburban ran right over that 'bestbuy.com purchase parking' sign. thankfully there weren't any cars in front of me & the sign wasn't bolted to the ground. so i backed up, picked the sign up & placed it on some landscape rocks, & laughed my way around the store.

friends, this is just another fun example to remind us all of something...but i'm not sure what. these things always happen to me: just when i think i can do whatever i wanna do...i run over a sign (or something). happy friday!

half.com

old dvd's you don't want? old books?

i know half.com isn't a new discovery in places like "whocares" BUT, it is a rediscovery for me. can i just take a moment to brag about my half.com savvy-ness?
i have managed to rack up $140.00 in less than three weeks, with fifteen items. seriously, if you need cash and quick, this is one little miracle worker.

you should try it. you could buy something cool with your returns. like that jcrew dress down a couple posts. we could all get that dress and run around iowa city. a new version of the red hat ladies. wow - did i get off subject or what.

cheerio.

i may be a debbie downer, but...

anyone seen "an inconvenient truth"?

at the risk of coming off like a left-wing-alarmist-extremist, this is a really motivating and provocative film. we're trying a few things around our place to get more efficient...anybody else?

you have to watch this

oh man, i laugh over & over & over again. this newswoman!

check this out.

ode to toast

my friend michelle gave me a loaf of homemade bread a week ago, and we've been eating fresh, buttery toast every day. i just ate the last piece. it was so, so delicious. i'd like to use a few expletives to express the extraordinary tastiness of the toast, but this is a family show. maybe tomorrow i'll bake some more because i'm a toast junky now. by the way. the best butter? brummel and brown (of the toothsome strawberry and blueberry spread) makes a lower fat butter substitute with yogurt. go get some and i promise you'll have an awesome weekend.

oh, sweet friday

we are sitting at the kitchen table, coloring. vi is eating crayons when i look away to type. the laundry is tumbling, over the rhine inspiring our art, & the sun is shining through the back window.

What happened to the JCrew I used to know?

Bridle bit dress. On sale for just $299.00. Grab 'em up while you can, ladies.

the season of garage sale sewing

for a fabulous surprise, my mom came over this morning for coffee (not unusual) and with her came a new sewing machine for me! (new to me at least). She had found it at a garage sale this fall for $15 and had it "overhauled" at one of the repair shops in Benson. Thus, unlike Cory who is much more industrious than I and repaired her machine in a feat of genius, I am able to start fumbling around and figuring out to sew immediately! (minus my work schedule :-). I am so happy. From now on you guys can all be anticipating sewn pot-holders and coasters and matching appliance cozies for your blenders and toasters and electric can openers as well as oven mits and christmas ornaments and... just kidding. It has however been my secret ambition to know how to sew by 30 - and now that is just a little more possible! yay.

living on a dime

since we've been talking about living frugally, i thought i'd pass along a great resource that chari sent me: living on a dime.

under the money management catergory, there are some great budgets listed & other $-saving tips, along with recipes, grocery-shopping tips, & other stuff. take a look. the lady feeds her family of 4 for $125/month.

i love nebraska

thanks to anne marie for this referral. i didn't know you wrote songs!