omaha's hairchoice & SOYJOY

i visit the motherload almost everyday, and i LOVE the friday freebie section. three weeks ago i was almost out of shampoo & since i have no particular hairstyle or particular time to offer much care to my un-hairdo, THANKFULLY i got some thermasilk thermal haircare samples in the mail & i love them! three little bottles that were free, clean my unkempt hair, & give my uncolored hair some sort of shine (minus sweat-grease). oh golly: i can't wait to get back to O!-town & visit my favorite salon. (peggy, if you're wondering, is the best!)

today i took annabelle & violet for a walk to the mailbox. there was a threadless t-shirt, which jason secretly ordered for me AND a three-pack sample of SOYJOY bars. my friends...let me tell you...i love these dried fruit bars. they are tasty. they are full of fiber. they are absolutely perfect for summertime hunger & a mama that needs to shed a few. full of vitamins, packed with fruit, & they're tasty (!). i highly recommed them, hope to hear from feedback after you've tried 'em, & let me know if you call the joint for a hair appointment.

what?!

people magazine listed drew barrymore as "world's most beautiful". WHAT?!

two more videos

here are two more videos from our collection:

one

two

my response: home video

annabelle wanted to do the exercise video with me yesterday. violet wanted me to hold her while we were doing the moves (hence, the crying). i love these kids.

hehe

this is what comes to mind when i think of caron doing slim in six... hehe

the great american pit.

i watch american idol. i do. and i like it. but, i told myself not to watch this weeks elimination show, "american idol gives back." i knew it would be filled with sad stories, guilting me into giving. and it bugs me that i have to be guilted into giving. but i watched. only the second hour though.

and i did feel guilty. along with a million other emotions.

they showed a family of 14 living in a room the size of my living room. children ages 0-16 sleeping on a mat on the floor, lined up like sardines in a can. i imagined putting finn to bed on our living room floor. dirt on the floor, no lock on the door. i wondered what i would do with all of my time. i wouldn't have a computer to surf the net. i wouldn't be able to watch american idol. i wouldn't have an exersaucer to put finn in when i needed a "break." i wouldn't even have furniture to clean. or even the chemicals to clean it. what do i do with all of my money?? that these people don't even have proper beds?

at this point i felt bad... but it got worse.

later on they showed a clinic where they treat malaria patients. it was just swamped with little kids and tiny babies... three, four familes sharing one hospital bed. they showed a story of these producers finding a mother and her son, fifty miles from the clinc. she was walking there, hoping to help her son, who was infected with malaria. these producers gave her a ride to the clinic, but by the time they got there, her boy had died... in her arms... because i had to buy a bagel and ice tea today. i can't even imagine walking to UNMC with a sick child in tow...

why is it so hard for us to give things up? for $2, 6 children could be vaccinated against malaria, saving their lives. why do i feel i NEED a new pair of shoes when i have four already. there are people suffering and dying... but because i don't see it everyday, i forget. i forget to help others. "if only i didn't have school bills, i could help..." i make excuses. i get so caught up in being an american. we all do.

and it sort of feels like a pit you can never climb out of. the great american pit. we are blessed to be americans, but we take it for granted everyday. especially me.

johnny lives on

i told caron awhile back that i was missing mr. cash. i was truly sad when he passed away. recently, nate has introduced Isaac to the wonderful genre that is johnny, and wouldn't you know it, his favorite song is folsom prison. for days i will catch myself singing "i shot a man in reno, just to watch him die..." Isaac refers to it as the "train song" because the opening line is "I hear the train a comin'" and the drum beat is sort of train-like. a 2 year-olds' translation. love it.

splish splash

rain rain, don't go away,
please stay for another day

today there is very little on the list of things to do. and i like having lamps on in the middle of the day.

a postcard received

caron,
just wanted to share this picture of Dad that i took last time we were here. i think he's lost some of his tan now. just having a moment!!
love,
mom

friday morning poem

"Alaska" by Naomi Shihab Nye, from _Fuel_.

The phone rang in the middle of the Fairbanks night and was always a wrong number for the Klondike Lounge. Not here, I'd say sleepily. Different place. We're a bunch of people rolled up in quilts. Then I'd lie awake wondering, But how is it over there at the Klondike? The stocky building nestled between parking lots a few blocks from our apartment like some Yukon explorer's good dream of smoky windows and chow. Surely the comforting click of pool balls, the scent of old grease, flannel, and steam. Back home in Texas we got wrong numbers for the local cable TV company. People were convinced I was a secretary who didn't want to talk to them. They'd call four times in a row. Sir, I eventually told a determined gentleman, We've been monitoring your viewing and are sorry to report you watch entirely too much television. You are currently ineligible for cable services. Try reading a book or something. He didn't call back. For the Klondike Lounge I finally mumbled, Come on over, the beer is on us.

parting words

well, my friends. me and whitey are over. the casing in the transmission cracked, and that totaled the old white man. so my dad sold off whitey to a guy who apparently is fully disclosed and knows a thing or two about cars. came home and the spot was empty. and sitting on my computer keyboard were two ben franklins instead. i'll miss that car though. at first, i hated it so much and felt embarrassed to drive it. then, slowly, i began to feel that whitey was my mean face to the world and that we were tough and of a piece. so many good stories that car has afforded--learning to drive a stick shift in two days or something before having to drive alone from arkansas to omaha; sweating it all the way to st. louis as i watched the hood bounce up and down and prayed it wouldn't come flying through the windshield; having one of the windshield wipers fly off while i was driving on the interstate, leaving only a scraping hook in its place; having the dome light fall down on me while i was driving and thinking it was a killer in the back seat; having a gas tank whose levels have no bearing on the reality of the gas in the car...i could go on.

whitey, you were good to me. i'll miss you. you were something special, and no other car i know about has a personality like that. here's to you, friend. thanks for the ride.

if anyone would like to leave last words for whitey, please feel free.

Reservations for Brown Street Inn

OK, We have space reserved for eleven people on Friday, August 17th (check-in @ 3pm) through Sunday, August 19th (check-out at 11am). If all eleven of us come, it is $75 ea. for 2 nights. Please let me know if you CANNOT come and does anyone have a phone number for Kate (incase she doesn't check the blog for awhile)? Also, I was thinking - what if we all read the new Anne Lamott book together? (since Daphne brought it up a few weeks back)... what do ya'll think?... oh! and i need to let them know of any special dietary restrictions/requests as well :-)

a perfect life's an oversight

last week i was talking to kelly on my way to iowa city. kelly was (and still would be) treated as a member of our family when we were growing up--she even lived at our house for four months when we were in the 9th grade. now she lives in NYC and works at random house doing something [i'm bad with details].

so i mentioned that the only social thing i'd done over the winter months was meeting my friend michelle at mcdonalds so our kids could run around the play place. she said, "you go to mcdonalds? i love mcdonalds, but if i came into work carrying mcdonalds, people would frown." i kind of laughed, understanding the bias, and said that i had abondoned my superfluous principles for the sake of personal sanity & felt justified in doing so, given my current location. there was a little negative chatter on the phone about big corporations, how mom & pop local stuff is so much more deserving of our dollars...and then she had to get back to work.

a few nights ago i learned something wonderful: there are approximately 473 steps in 1/4 mile. and if i walk 1/4 mile east from our front door [downhill, i might add], there will be a newly constructed starbucks waiting for my order in approximately 2 months. and there's no mom & pop local anything to feel guilty about. just a really expensive coffee or espresso to gulp down in the heat of july to enjoy, with the girls in the stroller & henry in the polka-dotted sling. all in the name of personal sanity.

taken with the notion

round about october 17, andrew and i will be listening to this playlist:

1. baby baby - amy grant
2. baby i love your way - UB40 version
3. baby don't forget my number - milli vanilli
4. baby, i need your lovin' - the four tops
5. baby one more time - britney spears
6. baby you're a rich man - the beatles
7. baby you did this to me - eddie fontaine
8. baby got back - sir mix-a-lot
9. baby love - the supremes
10. be my little baby - the ronettes

yes, that's right, we're preggo! yahoo! we've made it through the first trimester, had a good first doctor's appointment and heard litle keesha's heartbeat. or little felix's heartbeat, if it's a boy. (just kidding. neither of those names are on the table.) anyway, we're really excited to share the news and can't wait to introduce our little kiddo to our band of faithful friends. that's you. :)

i was weak

it was a weak moment for me in the check out aisle at meijer this evening. sometimes...i just want to look at a magazine, ya know? so i bought 'O'...yes...i bought 'O' magazine. i got home with henry & no one else was here so i read the magazine while nursing. and when jason & the girls pulled up, i hid 'O' under the far pillow on the couch.

but...we just sat down to watch an episode of 24...and i heard "WHAT! IS! THIS?!". i had forgotten. oops. i am ashamed. (so is jason)

oui?

maybe i'm in a dorky mood this morning, but i couldn't stop laughing when i tried this:

1. Go to google.com.
2. Click on Maps.
3. Click on Get Directions.
4. From: New York, New York.
5. To: Paris, France.
6. Then, read line #23.
7. Laugh.

wouldn't this make you feel better?

the be good tanyas
louisville, KY
june 13th

that's only 5 hours from me.
10 hours from omaha.
it'd be epic.
hurry! before the inevitable breakup occurs!

the gods must be crazy

this should have happened on christmas eve.....not the week after easter!

"Annual" Bookclub Weekend?

Should we all go visit the Brown Street Inn again this August?...
What do ya'll think?
And any suggestions on books?
Has anyone (or have all of you) read The Adventures of Augie March? (1953 classic by Saul Bellows)

playlist

somewhere on the internet (either here or on her blog), caron once posted a list of the songs the itunes store recommended for her in the "just for you" section. well, here's mine. if i didn't already have all these songs, i'd download them right now.

1. let's hear it for the boy - deneice williams
2. was it a morning like this - sandy patti (what IS it that gives me away as a fan?)
3. together forever (lover's leap remix) - rick astley
4. i know better now - amy grant
5. physical - olivia newton john (how the sacred and profane come together on this list)
6. you should hear how she talks about you - melissa manchester
7. bette davis eyes - kim carnes
8. intervention - arcade fire
9. heavenly day - patti griffin

it feels good to be known.

watch out! it's spidey spud!!

finn's easter excitement - the tradeoff for candy

sondancer

we were dying easter eggs on saturday night & i started looking up bands i had liked in high school. sure enough, dakoda motor company has released their album, "into the sun", on itunes! this album is just as good ten years later--peppy, fun-in-the-sun tunes.

and...they're back together...performing at cornerstone this year!! woo hoo!

counting

i've accounted for middle school hormone changes & post-partum sadness after i had annabelle...and i still can honestly & surely say that this past year was the hardest year of my life.

last year, on this day, we emptied out our first home & shoved all of our stuff into a big moving truck. we were full of excitement & hope. we were unsure how our lives would change but knew we were needing something different.

the ledger of events that i've kept running in my mind since that day is so very long. lots of "lonely" entries & "i miss ___" notes. who knew what we were headed for? that subsequent months would be some of the most lonesome, quiet months in the history of our family? that i'd become pregnant...that we'd be unsure of my health for a few weeks (and, really, scared)...and that we'd find ourselves on the flip side, closer, stronger, & full of more true joy than we had been?

thank you, god, for keeping us, despite our poor marks.

corrie's selfless crafting

corrie made this cool bunny for henry. crafty.

After a nice breakfast at Delice this morning...

... I visited their restroom and dropped my billfold in the potty.

from the book of common prayer liturgy for good friday:

"almighty god, we pray you graciously to behold this your family, for whom our lord jesus was willing to be betrayed, and given into the hands of sinners, and to suffer death upon the cross; who now lives and reigns with you and the holy spirit, one god, for ever and ever amen."

What my son would eat everyday.

Linus would be happy eating this meal daily. You could substitute the banana with apples or the muffin with snack crackers. Post any "I have adventurous tastes now, but when I was a kid..." stories here-- I'd love to read them!

Hey Omaha Girls...

Please help spread the word!
One more (hopefully) cool thing about Omaha.
www.omahascooterclub.com
(link in the title :-)