What's that you say? Omaha is cool?

Did anyone read this article in NY times? It got my best friend from high school interested enough to want to visit me (finally!). And it inspired me to do more things in my city.

It had been a while since I'd been to the Bemis, but Caleb and I stopped in this week. There is some beautiful work in there now (okay... and some ugly stuff too). It's worth going if only to walk around such a big, beautiful gallery space.

This rainy Saturday is the perfect day to skulk around the old books at Jackson Street Booksellers. Hopefully I won't lock myself in the bathroom again and have to call -- in the dark, mind you -- the front desk for help from my cell phone.

And a show! I want to see a show! Any good ones coming up?

So, what good things have you experienced, done, seen in your city lately? This question is not just for Omahans.

NOT worth the trouble

my sister-in-law sent me this link yesterday (click on the post title) and it is a page full of receipe cards from Weight Watchers in the 1970's. I mean, I think it is hard enough to stick to the plan now (and I am an advocate of weight watchers!) but holy-moly! yuck. those 70's thin-Dianna-Ross-types were HARD CORE!

What I found.

Maybe you remember I posted a plea for help the other week re: finding a new devotional. (Thanks to all who gave input.) I wanted to share with you what I found: Sacred Space: The Prayer Book 2007. I've been using it for over a week now and am so happy to have purchased it. It gives 5 or 6 "ideas" each week for you to use to lead you into prayer. It is more than just a prayer book as it has short daily scripture readings, too. Anyway, I highly recommend it.

mom-i-fied

we bought a mini-van this weekend! craziness...

and i drove by your house, cheryl, on my way to panera the other day... and saw the flames... so rad.

recommend music!

now that i am not so full up with baby internally, i have the interest, capacity, & hunger for new music. and since i've decided to stop my itunes buying so i have the tangible album in hand, we might have to get creative. best buy is the only CD retailer in our area. anyhow...we stopped there this weekend & bought two albums that i recommend:

andrew bird--armchair apocrypha
the arcade fire--neon bible

got any recommendations for this music-hungry mama?!

birth order

first episode of lost

"whoa," he thought, "this is crazy."

Show and tell

I made a blouse! I'm ever-so-slowly teaching myself to sew (with my mom's help). This took a ridiculously long time to make as I ripped out the collar four times and the front facing at least twice. But, I did it and am very happy with how it turned out.













In other news, we bought a "new" piano from our friends who are clearing out their house to make room for a new baby. It has been at least 10 years since I've played. I still have my old piano music from high school so this weekend I pulled out such hits as: "Red, Red Wine" "Don't Worry Be Happy" "Fast Car" and all sorts of other '90s song arrangements that were never meant to be played on a piano. We did get out the hymnal, too, and all sang together-- inspired by Caron's recent post on Dodo about how Jason was leading their girls in a hymn sing with the guitar. A good thing to do as a family, I think.

in praise of Amy's

since trying to incorporate more meatless and organic foods into our diet, i started buying foods from a company called amy's. health food stores and other mainstream grocery stores carry their stuff. you've probably already tried amy's. it's all vegetarian, organic, and lots of the foods are suitable for special dietary needs. AND it's absolutely delish. best frozen pizza we've ever eaten (and we've eaten our share).

just in case you were wondering....

yes, a google image search on "fecal plug" (dont ask) really DOES bring up this. this is for caron because i know she'd love it. and she really deserves to be humored after all that birthing and such.

i shall call him "hank"

hip hip hooray!

welcome to the world...

HENRY EZRA EASLEY

march 16, 4:31 am

7 pounds 13 ounces

20 inches "and some change"

healthy and really cute

ja's cocktail & last night's LOST episode

i used to tease jason about his favorite cocktail: lemon-lime alka seltzer. if his stomach was upset, i'd say "let me get you a drink" -or- if he was stressed, "perhaps the usual would help?" good thing we are both fairly ornery.

we had take-out last night...very unfrugal of us...but it was sooo good. i had "chinese": steamed white rice, crab rangoon, & egg-drop soup. for some reason i really crave this combination. jason & the girls had taco bell. half way through dinner, i realized with excitement: "it's wednesday! LOST is on!". we turbo-bathed the girls, put them in bed, & had enough time to play a few games before the show started. that was one of the most satisfying episodes of the season.

and with the wheelchair john-locke teaser for next week, i'd like to start a list of questions we'd like answered. add to the list, won't you (or answer mine).

1. remember libby? hugo's psychologist friend? why was she in the insane asylum as a patient? will we ever find out?

breach

greetings from spring break in cabo san lucas, mexico!
today we strapped on orange foam life vests and took a boat ride around the southern tip of the baja peninsula, from the sea of cortez into the pacific ocean. it's whale season here, when humpback whales swim down from icy alaska to have their calves (isn't that the proper term for whale babies?). everybody's having babies. anyway. we saw lots of activity, breaching, blowing, flipping their tails into the air. i put up this cheesy whale picture to give you the idea. it was a fantastic two hours. highly recommend it.

notice my total avoidance of any double entendre with reference to whales, blowing, or breaching.

coffee break!

i don't know how you feel about Starbucks (savior of the coffee world or the MAN), but tomorrow, March 15th, from 10AM-noon, they are giving away FREE tall brewed coffees to anyone who stops in. FYI!

To B or not to B

After nursing two kids and now finally having the second one weaned I was left with a decision: Do I keep on living in my dream world where I imagine that I still have my pre-baby chest size or do I fess up to the new reality of a new (smaller) bra size. The decision was made this weekend at GapBody.

last year

at this time last year, my large belly was being sterilized and prepped for motherhood, and caron was gearing up in scrubs, preparing for 9:00, and some gruesome sites. happy birthday finn!

beautiful morning

It's going to be near 70 today, the sun is (finally) out, the snow has melted, and I've got a cup of sparkling Guatemalan coffee in hand. Is it as beautiful a morning where you are? (cue music.....)

ps - the leaves do not look this good yet. i wish.

I found it... "jose de jesus"

Check out this ridiculousness. Jesus of Suburbia, hmmph. This is just a small portion of the lies. There was a bunch of little kids whose parents are followers of this bozo, and when asked if getting drunk, smoking and partying were sins, a little boy said, "No, they are not sins. It's okay to do those things. God does them, so we can too." If you can find a longer clip somewhere you should watch it -- total craziness.

A true false prophet, at the extreme.

squirrels

hmmm. i was on abc.com looking for some information on a clip i saw from last nights "the outsiders" about this man who is claiming he is jesus... hopefully i'll find something to post about it, but in the mean time, watch a video about birth control for squirrels.

also i just heard on the news the the henry doorly zoo is to be featured on jeopardy... "all those in the heartland should be proud."

so many things a person could say...

but i think i will limit myself to the comment that i think what they are failing to take into account is that a lot of people--myself included--grew up in a post "It" society. how many of you all are afraid of clowns? i am. i hate their guts.



anyone have any all time favorite church marquees they've seen or heard about?

tone

lately i've been thinking about how life was when i was a little kid, trying to connect point A (how my home was when i was young) to point B (how i am now). nothing new, nothing original, nothing earth-shattering. but most of the memories that i have of my childhood have a common thread: my mom.

we moved from oregon to omaha when i was 3.5 years old. mom & dad knew no one in town, and our closest relatives lived on some remote hillside in georgia. i bet life seemed overwhelming for them. and the funny thing is, i remember my mom being so fun. she was full of spark & energy & excitement. she'd help us build forts inside or do something fun in the yard. and the thing is...it always seemed like she wanted to be doing it. like there was nowhere else she'd rather be than with us, doing whatever we were doing, together.

and i'm not sure how to connect that point A to this point B...but her laughter & spunk sticks with me now & is pretty inspiring.

excited

i loved this novel. and jhumpa lahiri. a film by the same title opens on friday. it looks good.

ann coulter

there's an interesting article about ann coulter here. whatchya think?

flat earth

visit the link in the title march 9th and get a free bag!

Need help from you.

The last devotional book I really felt was useful and deeply meaningful to me was The Little Book of Hours. I liked it because it contained in-order readings of scripture (Psalms, specifically) prayers, a very short quote pertaining to the topic of the day and a personal litany to read/pray. It did NOT contain random scriptures out of context or long "meaningful" stories about dogs or the trip to the post office and the spiritual application thereof.

I've gone through this book several times and I'm looking for something similar. Does anyone have any suggestions of good devotionals?

P.S. No offense to dog owners or post-office goers.

bock bock bock

yum.

Join me

Kyle had a wonderful revelation the other day: What better than a Trader Joe's to move into the vacant Dundee Hardware store? If you agree, join me in emailing the snot out them until they are forced to open a store here.

Back to Omaha

We blew back into Omaha yesterday on the shirt tales of this blizzard. Thanks to my generous mother who stayed with the kids for almost 5 days, we enjoyed a trip to Colorado and a bit of skiing on Copper Mountain. And, some wonderful outdoor hot tub dips with snow falling down on our heads. I'll post a pic soon.

Our choice of travel with with Amtrak. One thing I have to say about Amtrak is-- as much as I wanted to be upset with them (train almost 8 hours behind schedule. Read: sleeping on wooden benches in station.) their employees are so nice. Almost too nice to believe. Upon receiving the news that our train would be 8 hours late, I cried-- but the nice man at the window gave us a dinner voucher. We used it for chocolate cake, apple pie and beer. All in all, I think it was the safest and best way to travel considering interstates and airports were closed. We even splurged for a "roomette" which, although the size of a small closet, highly recommended if you choose to travel via train.

I don't care if the sun don't shine, and I don't care if nothing is mine

i got a snow day!! the first ever honest to goodness, official snow day i've ever had in my life. so very exciting. i had half of one last year when a professor (brooke, for those of you who know her. god bless her.) canceled class even though the university hadn't. that was a lovely taste. and now today. the whole meal. me and clifford. our first snow day. i'm so excited.

so i made myself a big old breakfast of orange juice, coffee, hard boiled eggs, and toast with butter AND apricot jam. i ate in bed and started watching "oh brother where art thou."

western wind, when wilt thou blow?
the strong rain down can rain.
but i'm in my bed, toasty and warm again!!