our food site

did you know we have our own cookbook website? come on over to whocares cooks. try the lunch yum yum.

Regarding another sale...

First, I'd like to say that I'm not obsessed with having sales in/around my home even though I just posted about my upcoming garage sale.

Secondly, I sent an email out to a handful of you who I thought would be interested in joining me in an in-my-home pre-holiday season art/craft fair. We decided that it will take place the 2nd weekend in Nov. However, I need a name for this bad ass crafting event we have in the works. Would you all be willing to help me sort thru my idea list and give feed back and/or new ideas? I'd REALLY appreciate the help. Thanks, guys. (Also, if you didn't receive info about participating and you'd like to, just email me)

Crowded House Art+Craft Fair
SuperGirls Holiday Bazaar
Crafter's Daughters
Sewing Stars Craft Show
Brown Paper Packages
Davenport Street Craftacular
Omahoneys Craft Affair (stole that from Lindsay)

Some other words that could be incorporated in a title:
peddlers
market
factory
emporium
drygoods
notions

Want my old stuff?

We're having our first ever garage sale this Sat. from 8-1. Please come by, if not to buy my old stuff, at least to say hello. I'd love the company. Some items that might interest you: white ikea curtain rods, bar stools, lots of my clothes, some kids clothes (but not a lot), kitchen stuff....

be disappointed no more!

anne lamott's still coming. not to creighton, but to omaha. a bunch of omaha churches worked it out for her to still come. she'll read at the holland, which holds 800 people more than the joslyn. click on the link for the story. interesting how these things go.

the explanation

hi, all.

the world herald wrote an article on why creighton uninvited anne lamott. click on the title for more.

sad, sad. i think it sucks. no reason to be that way. aren't we all reasoning adults? way to miss the spirit of anne lamott. boo. hiss.

I'm disappointed and curious.

from an email today...
"After careful review of Ms. Lamott’s most recent writings (which postdated her contract agreement), we have concluded that key points are in opposition to Catholic teaching which, in our judgment, makes her an inappropriate choice for the Women and Health Lecture Series.

Creighton University is not “viewpoint neutral” as we have a religious, Catholic mission. However, as an authentic university, Creighton does respect other views and regularly has speakers, panelists and others who do not necessarily agree with all aspects of our beliefs. At a featured lecture like this, the degree to which the speaker’s views do not harmonize with our Catholic mission becomes more salient. As a Jesuit university, Creighton is a place of intellectual honesty, pluralism, and mutual respect where inquiry and open discussion characterize the environment of teaching, research and professional development."


Any thoughts on what her recent writings might have been about???

use your mind!

help a sister out...any creative ideas to abolish smoke smell from a home?

finally, someone else's clumsy moment

coming into the coffee shop just now, a girl walked past me and tripped on her flip flops. she didn't fall or anything, just a little dorky hop, and she checked to see if i'd seen, and i pretended that i hadn't. but i felt genuine delight to see someone else do something clumsy. i walked to the coffee shop with perfect grace.

Schadenfreude: (German) the feeling of happiness that comes from seeing someone else's misfortune.

financial planning

i'd like to get a good, well planned budget in order and think it would help inspire me if i had the accountability and set aside time that a class would provide.

does anybody know of any free or nominal fee based financial planning and budgeting classes out there? christian or non-faith based, don't matter to me. i have done a quick search online and haven't come up with anything, but know that there are resources out there. i just need a point in the right direction!

dundee day

Attention, Omahunnies: this Saturday, the 25th, is the annual Dundee Day festival up around 50th & Underwood, from 7:30AM - 11:00PM. Pancake Man, parade, Taste of Dundee, beer gardens at Travato's and Dario's, music, arts/crafts/shopping, kid's activites, etc. Nice weather for it - that is, If you're interested. I'll be up there, kid and husband in tow, probably for most of the morning (I've never experienced the Pancake Man, and I figure what 2-year-old wouldn't love to see an adult flinging pancakes across a parking lot!).

End of Dundee PSA. Maybe I'll see you up there.

finn-fro

this is what we did (photo editing) when we were huddled in our basement closet monday night during the storm, when the electricity when out. (we are wusses like that, hiding).

it makes me laugh every time i see it.

hassle the hoff

i know that none of us watch television because it's mostly absolutely stupid* (ahem), but is anyone watching "america's got talent"? david hasselhoff. i don't know what to say. he is horrible. he is doing that really strange frog-throat thing that people do when they've had too much milk or they can't sing at all.

(*don't make me tell you about daphne & i watching "america's top model" until 5 minutes after checkout on sunday!!)

a little (photo) album

I had a lovely time ladies...let's do it again next year. (a few photos can be found linked to the post title)> and one photo in the mix is priceless... if my captured expression of "disgust" for Caron's purse were only half the expression Darby has for Daphne's embrace!

playlist for peaceful playing

i've decided that the kids need to play today. they don't need any shows or extra special whatever. they have toys, crayons, stickers, markers, & snacks. they need to play without me. so i head back to some musicians that i used to listen to a lot & haven't for awhile. and yes, i realize the "lilith fair-ishness". but who cares? my best non-thinking playlist.

so here's my playlist for peaceful playing (keep mom sane music so she can do stuff & keep her energy up since dad will be gone tonight):

sheryl crow: the difficult kind
alanis morissette: hands clean
tori amos: cornflake girl
sheryl crow: strong enough
ani difranco: 32 flavors
sheryl crow: i shall believe
ani difranco: as is

Our take homes.

This weekend, I brought home a restful, happy attitude. Kyle brought home poison ivy. Linus brought home 30 deer ticks in nymph stage embedded into his body.

Needless to say, we visited the dr. this morning. Turns out Linus was the talk of the whole floor today. I think 8 different doctors came to see him just out of curiosity. We finished picking them out of his skin and examined them under a microscope. Due to concerns of Lyme disease, he is on antibiotics. Otherwise, all is well.

mad photojournalist skillz on display

here are a few snapshots from the weekend, just to warm things up. i've also included shots of whocares members, beloved but absent, taken at the whocares breakfast at cheryl's this summer. lots of you have better pictures...you know who you are...put em up...

ali, kate, anne marie, corrie, we missed you!

up & outta here with me: V

Q: so, what'd you do this weekend?
A: sat around, goofed around, talked, laughed.

Q: what did you talk about?
A: everything.

Q: like what?
A: [share really funny conversation snippit that i will refrain from publishing & sense listener's eyes glazing over in that "why did i ask/this story is long" way. no more questions of interest are asked, understandably.]

i lift this morning coffee to my greatest friends on the planet. so comfortable: let-your-hair-down kind of pals, if you know what i mean.

cheers.

a moving perk

so for a while now i've been wanting to take a picture of all the books i had to read for my masters, and while i was packing to move, my opportunity arrived. so here is that picture. all the books i read and all the papers i had to deal with--either read or write--in the last two years.



and, lest i become to big for my britches, i will follow up that picture with a photo of my sweet moving outfit, which garnered special attention for its gaucho/footwear combination.



i hope you enjoy. i know i did.

What's your Starbuckian personality?

Jim sent this in the a.m. and I have to say it is pretty darned funny. I entered my drink - a grande americano with soy milk and then felt that was a little harsh and took out the soy milk. It was kind of eerie how close the oracle of came!

Find out and let us know what your "type" is.

what will this day be like, i wonder?

hello, who cares!

it's me--ali--writing to you from south carolina. i made it. and i want to thank you all for you kindness in sending me off with so much love and so many shared and given goods for my new place. thanks too for checking in on me. it makes such a difference.

so tomorrow is my first day of school stuff. i've got orientation with the graduate school. it's been a sort of rough transition so far, and i've been scraping around for courage and calm. then today a voice from my childhood came into my mind to bolster me.

fraulein maria. what a role model. man. i love her. so i downloaded "i have confidence" on itunes. and i've been repeating it all night. i find it to be just the right amount of pep talk and familiar corniness. man. a great song. i recommend it to you all.

where else do you get lines like, "a captain with seven children. what's so fearsome about that?" heh! the lies we tell ourselves. but like the motto here in south carolina says, "while i breathe, i hope."

anyway. i'll keep you all posted. have fun in iowa city this weekend. i'll be with you in spirit.

if i could reach the stars...i'd give them all to you

i was a packing-savage today with that tape dispenser, huge blue marker, & nasty sweaty self (100 degree heat+garage+neighbor talking my head off while i'm trying to concentrate+natural propensity to sweat profusely).

FAST! QUICK!
STUFF IN BOX! FOLD FLAPS OVER!
CLICK! SCREEEEEETCH! CLICK!
where's that marker?!

i planned to rent a movie to celebrate, after a long day. and then the power went out. and jason had the car & is gone all night. so, when the power came back on, i started watching "the singing bee" instead. so tired & giddy, i was singing along with the band, jeering the LOSERS that messed the lyrics up. and the highlight: when "if i could turn back time" was one of the featured songs. swaying, laughing out loud, doing this little snap thing my mom used to do. oh, i need to take a shower & go to bed.

What not to name your blog

I like this article. It's interesting. And it makes me feel SO happy about our blog name.

"One way to enhance your online charisma is through self-deprecation. In cyberspace, no ego goes unpunctured and no comment thread remains friendly for long. So, why not rile your enemies by wittily pre-empting their nastiness right on your masthead?"

tick tick tickin' away

sooo...what time's everyone arriving on friday?

soak up the sistas!!!

so, if you're coming to the iowa city WHOCARES weekend, let me tell you one thing i want to do: soak up the sistahood! i'm gonna hug, hug, hug! you again & again. and i might not let go!!! yay!

Wholesome Wear

The link on the title is so worth your time.

bust out the blue cigars

....'cause it's gonna be a boy! i've heard two due dates now, so my best guess is that Little Man Young shows up sometime between Christmas and New Years. good gravy.

get a rubdown

I have a good friend who is a LMT (by night/weekend - by day, she's a UP auditor) and wants to earn a little extra cash, so she's offering massages for $30/hr. CHEAP. She's got a table and can come to your place, or you can go to hers (she lives at the Peony Village apartments in midtown O). If that sounds interesting to you (or your tired muscles), email me and I can give you her digits. I'm going on Thursday for one - yes, she even does prenatal massage. And that makes my lower back happy!

feel the heat: reduce stuff

it's hard to decide what we'll do everyday when the temperatures are so high & we have no shade in our yard. springfield is such an odd place: there are tons of young families here & yet the city has no indoor play facilities. so i think today we're going to drive to decatur & go to a mall there that has a play place. or go to the bloomington children's museum.

i've been reading this blog a lot & particularly enjoyed this post about "stuff". a laugh-out-line:

"Where does all the stuff come from? Well, Target of course! Isn’t that where all STUFF originates from?!"

here i come to save the day...

here's another FREECYCLE-YAY! story: two weeks ago our microwave made a very crazy noise & then stopped heating things. i guess i never realized how much i use the microwave. mostly to reheat leftovers or get some veggies steaming of it's too hot to use the stove top.

and sure enough i posted on freecycle for a microwave. in 12 hours i had 5 offers. today i went & picked up our new, very clean microwave.

freecycle, i love you!

emergency!

to all whocares-ians...

we are in DESPERATE need of a house/dog sitter for this thursday through sunday. our regulars are out of town. all we need is someone to feed our dog twice a day (and let her out) and stay the night at our house. if you are free to help us, or you know someone who might be able to, please let me know as soon as possible. we will pay! you can eat our food! it could be like a retreat. have i sold you yet? hehe.

Vacation Nebraska

We just got back from our first family vacation-- four days in Nebraska! We stayed in a very non-cozy cabin in Platte River State Park. Here's a quick run-down on what we did with our bad selves: paddle boats, roasting marshmallows, feeding ducks, swimming at Mahoney, hiking, going out for ice cream, grilling burgers, SAC museum (Linus was in awe) and wading in a stream. All-in-all it was a fun time. We came home ready for our own beds and covered with bug bites.

my fav technology

this post is dedicated to my favorite little technology programs.

1. ADIUM (see picture): daphne filled in on this program last year. it compiles all of your screen names from AOL, MSN, YAHOO, & GMAIL, and allows you to be logged into those accounts for chatting without having a browser open. so i may leave adium open all day but never open firefox. it's beautiful. i have reconnected with some old friends while listening to music or working on a piece of writing. i forget adium is open most of the time, until i hear a little duck QUACK and that lets me know i have a message waiting for me. mac users only.

2. PANDORA radio- find new music has never been easier. i can't explain it. just go there & follow the signs. my favorite autumn station: mirah (that "engine heart" song is great)

3. Scrabulous--i played this through facebook (if you have facebook, LET'S PLAY!!!) but i'm sure it's possible to play plainly online. it's a move-by-move game of scrabble. i make mine...then when you login you make yours. i usually get slaughtered but love the anticipation!

got any to offer?

viva viagra?

We've been home this week with the stomach flu (me and the kiddo, that is), and watching a lot of TV. Anybody seen that "Viva Viagra" commercial? I hate it. To the tune of "Viva Las Vegas". It's absurd, but now I can't get it out of my head.

little pink houses for you and me

this is the house we're buying. in hanna city. i can't wait to have a house again!

the j.s.

i forgot the interfacing, did the detail stitching on the wrong side of the outer fabric, & almost didn't have a lining for the main compartment.

but here it is. simple & floppy. it's grey outside, blue lining, & blue-grey stitching.

i'm going to make another one today at naptime, fixing all the of my former mistakes & making sure there's body to the bag.

simpsonize

go simpsonize yourself here. that's me over there. it's fun. post your results.

an ethical underwire

in my weekly perusal of the sojourner's website, i found this posting by julie clawson about the search for what she calls a "justice bra." clawson's criteria was a bra manufactured organically, with fair-trade labor, and not costing an arm and a leg. did she find her bra? read the article.

i'd never considered whether or not my unmentionables are manufactured with fair and sustainable practices, but i will now.