gee's bend

To my quiltastic Whocaresians: click the title & check it out. The gal @ Scout told me about the Gee's Bend quilters this week after I commented on the vintage quilt I saw framed behind the counter. LOVE.

mini WC wknd

the weekend before the annual WC reunion celebration blast, daphne & i met in chicago, since we couldn't join the collective the following weekend. and let me tell you, it's even a miracle there are pictures of the event. the lake was beautiful & there were so many interesting people to watch, meet, ignore, etc.

but really, we only took pictures of the two most important things in chicago. here are the five snapshots, taken in about 3 minutes.

opening night...

only ten days until the premier of julie and julia! love the book or hate it, you have to relish meryl streep as the ebullient and fearless julia, and amy adams as a small-time blogger and aspiring chef (interests shared by more than a few whocares members). and stanley tucci as paul child! what's not to love? here's the trailer, if you need a little nudge. anyone want to go on opening night? perhaps we could share a julia child dessert at my house before or after?

Part 2

Saturday night (again, click the title).
Drinking and Smoking and Reading... Rebel Women. (That's for you Kyle :-)

Here we go

Here are photos from Saturday afternoon. (click on the title)
Ali has the photos from Friday night and Saturday morning. (No pressure Ali :-)

man how we used to tear apart this town

since there is a party happening a few hundred miles west of here & i can almost hear a hint of your laughter, let me paint a picture of our weekend celebration happening, via satellite. i've been celebrating all of you in my thoughts & distracting myself in action.

nature made it easy on me last night--upon leaving a friend's musical, lightning & extreme rain made me concentrate on holder the tiller with extra caution & close to 3 mph movement. got home thankful to be alive.

today we went to a water park with family. went on water slides with annabelle. vi swallowed too much water & lost part of her lunch. i drove the kids home while jay headed to corrie/justin's for game night. kids & i took a bike ride up to the video store while corn dogs were baking. they enjoyed corn dogs & this annoying adventure show while i fixed some veggies-in-skillet. then baths & reading books & those three swimmers were asleep by 7:15.

so here i sit. john adams miniseries next to me. rich red poured. lovely songs playing. and i kinda just feel like going to bed.

i hope you're having a talent show tonight. remember that incredible nervous energy? anticipation! and the excitement to see what each person had cooked up. a swinging hammock & the tap-tat-tap of typewriter keys. fox in socks and garbonnzo beans. call your senator, i say!! moon boots & dueling banjos (but, really?! DUPED!!). pregnancy monologue & a beautifully hand-carved totem (poem) for our tribe. the oboe remix, master D!!! grey stripes waking up the neighbors.

GARBONZO BEANS!!

NAPOLEON!

A HAMMOCK!

BEN NELSON!

ECK COPPOCK!

1,2,3,4!

KNOX ON FOX IN SOCKS IN BOX!!

HIP HOP OBOE?!!

I know when everything feels wrong
I've got some hard, hard proof in this song
I'll know when everything feels right
Some lucky night
Some lucky night

noisy neighbors

so on fridays, i sometimes sleep in a little because i don't have my 8 o'clock class. but this morning, i was awakened by what sounded to me like a little snap. at first i thought it was nothing, but then it kept repeating. and as i listened, with my eyes still closed, i began to ponder all the things it could be. two primary possibilities emerged: water dripping on to the tile that edges the room, or some kind of bug/creature. i got up and looked outside. it was not raining, which left only the bug/creature theory. damn. (can i use a mild curse on who cares?! hope so!) anyway, i listened as closely as i could and tracked the sound to the truck at the foot of my bed. i gingerly took out each item, not sure whether my foe was within or without the trunk. once it was empty, i knew i had to turn it over, which i did. the instant i flipped the trunk, a spider jumped off the body of a beetle, who was making a steady snapping noise. off to the side of the beetle were the bodies of two of his fallen compatriots whose alarm snaps must have gone unheard. this fella was putting up a fight to not become the next victim. well, he had escaped the spider only to become my victim, along with his aggressor. and now it's too late to go back to sleep. i didn't know bugs made so much noise. if they could schedule future fights for a monday, tuesday, wednesday, or thursday morning, that would be great.

saturday night: games (or not)

the whocares weekend needs a game night, no?
not a pushy, you-are-required-to-play game night, but an optional, easy-going game night with lots of talk and food in the mix. (the only thing everyone will be forced to play is boggle, because i love boggle and no one will play with me. so once we get the mandatory boggle tourney wrapped up, you can do whatever you want. like play twister on an inflatible mat, for example.)

so please bring a favorite game, if you have one, to brooke's place on saturday night. appetizers and drinks will be provided for your noshing pleasure around 6:00 or 6:30, to fuel your energy as you boggle late into the night. or not. can't wait to see you!

Being a kid...

I've been thinking about an incident Linus and I had on the way to visit Brooke the other day. I can't say this is my prize parenting moment, but here it is anyway.

As we're driving, Linus hits Ada with a book in the backseat.
Me: "Linus give me that book" as I rip it from his hands
Linus (in spite): "Well, at least I have my toy"
Me: "Give me that" as I take it from him
Linus (as we drove near Lo Solo Mio): "Well, at least I have this beautiful view. You can't take my beautiful view away."

Then we all cracked up. I love that kid.

F is for Friday Fun!

Lindsay and I have come up with a plan for Friday evening to kick off our little weekend o' fun. Here's what it is:

1) meet at my house at 6:30pm (eat supper on our own before).
2) carpool downtown to check out the free concert in the parking lot of the slowdown. folks can stick around there, wander, do whatever feels right.
3) meet at pre-determined rallying point (if we've split up) at 9ish.
4) return to my house for a backyard bonfire, singalong, drinks, snacks, etc.
5) carry on until we just can't carry on no more!

What you can do:
1) bring any drinks you want to contribute to the evening (we'll provide some beer and hard cider and iced tea).
2) let me know if you're planning on staying over so i can make sure beds are ready.

Road ID Coupon

Here's a coupon for road ID if anyone is interested. They have one that is a cool shoe pouch and a couple other designs. It's raining like crazy out here - I feel like I am in Seattle (without the view)..

Coupon Number: ThanksDarci512028

This coupon is good for $1 off any Road ID order. It can be used up to 20 times in the next 30 days. Feel free to send this coupon via email, Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, town crier, or good ole fashion smoke signal.

Let the festivities begin!

WhoCares Family Picnic

When: Saturday, July 25 (the Sat. of our WhoCares weekend)
Time: 11am until naptime
Where: the Dyer's backyard
What: We'll be grilling up tandoori chicken and flatbread and providing the beer and lemonade. Would you please bring a summery sidedish or dessert to share? You might want to pack a swimsuit for you kiddos as we'll either have a pool or the sprinkler out.

Call me if you have any questions! We're terribly excited to have you all over.

fun.

so, what are your plans for the WC wknd extravaganza? even though i wanna know. i gotta know. tell me!

The Griffith-Reid Family Curse

My Grandpa Reid was an avid fisherman.
There was nothing he loved more than to go out for a nice troll, and if it happened to be
deep-sea fishing even better!
There was only one problem.
He couldn't catch anything -
at least when we were with him!
Just imagine, the hot summer sun,
trolling for hours with ne'er a bite -
the apex of boredom for a teenager.

My Grandpa Reid passed away
five years ago at the age of 92.
We remember him fondly and
chuckle about the 'curse'.
We thought it was gone, but I
think perhaps it has been passed down, like a
moth-eaten sweater to his son-in-law - my Dad.

My brother was the first to experience this hand me down
while on a fishing trip with my Dad to Cheslatta Lake
(the Tset'ladak Lake in Carrier). The Cheslatta is a
narrow lake about 7 km long, running into
the Nechako and finally, the Fraser which
culminates in the Pacific Ocean.
After enjoying a pleasant day of fishing,
the happy party discovered the inboard motor was broken.
They would be rowing 7 km (about 4.4 miles) back to the truck.
Average rowing speed for a canoe is four miles per hour.
You get the picture.
My brother was a little annoyed.

The transferrance of the curse was clarified during our
trip on the Cluculz two weeks ago. It started out a bit
sketchy with spitting rain and ominous clouds. However, it cleared up
in short order with glimpses here and there of a bald eagle,
a pelican and other various wildlife. I caught a couple of fish -
one rainbow trout that we grilled the next evening (recipe
to follow on WC Cooking blog).
The wind kicked up and we decided to head back up the lake towards the dock.
Hoist the sails and we're off.
The wind dies down so we decide to motor it.
Motor dies.
Wind dies.
Rudder falls off.
No paddles.

After a few tense moments, my Dad jury rigs the motor and we putt-putt to a dock with the last fumes
from the gas tank. Hours later, we are able to get a tow back to dock.
After some mosquito-laden conversation with the boat-club caretakers,
we head for the safety of the truck and head for home.

I'm not sure what my Dad thinks, but in the minds off all the curse has moved on.
It has morphed in the process, but it is firmly in place and he's got it!

Summer fever

So I've been checking the blog every day
just to see if maybe someone has posted something.

And then I thought to myself,
Hmm.
Maybe I should post something.

So here it is - Some pictures from our holiday in Canada.

PS my sister had her baby - it's a boy!
Name TBA

because it's friday & i do like homemade potato salad

Click the title to read an article I just happened upon by Garrison Keillor. It put me in a good 'n' contented state of mind, which is a relief - because after what seems like days of prepping and packing, we're finally leaving in a couple of hours for a little R&R. Going up to my favorite little part of northwestern Iowa - Lake Okoboji. Hallelujah.

Happy friday to you & yours!

Another way to get smart and junk.

I've talked to several of you who were interested in taking one of the Durham Museum's River City History bus tours. I say let's do it! I called this morning for availability. Here are some options: (the Gritty City was all booked except special dinner tours)

Magic City (South Omaha, stockyards and the like):
Tues., August 25, 6pm
Tues., Sept. 1, 6 pm

Millianaires and Mansions (Gold Coast, Joslyn, Brandeis, etc.)
Sat., Sept. 26th, 9:30am

Expositions to Jazz (North Omaha, etc.)
Sat., Sept. 12, 9:30am

If you are interested in going as a WhoCares group, please give me your top 2 choices. I'll post the winning date and you can confirm whether you'd like me to go ahead and purchase a ticket for you. The cost is $15 per person. I'd foot the initial bill to reserve our spots if you all promise to pay me back soon. :) Please let me know your initial choices by Sunday night!

Love you geeky history buffs.

shamelessly yours

you're invited...
what: a cd release party for caron's "don't be sad, be shameless" summer mix!
when: friday morning between 8:30 and 11:00
where: darby's back yard

come over, get your copy of the mix, stay for coffee and a splash in the wading pool, or grab the cd and run. whatever you need to do. and i can flex on the start/end time too, if you're working around other things.

wanna read a lot of books with me?

okay so, as you might know, i'm taking my comprehensive exams in late september, and in order to be ready for those, i've made myself a reading schedule. some of the books i'll be reading are fun ones. some will probably only be interesting to me. but i've got the schedule set up through a gmail documents account. if you think you might be interested in reading selectively along with me and then maybe we can find ways to discuss a little, let me know. i'll email you the username and password. no pressure. but think about it..it'll be fun...we'll get all smart and junk.

a touchy pregnant woman gets even

last night leaving a restaurant, our server (a woman) said to me, "wow! when are you due? in ten minutes?" and i thought, this is a moment from a "dear prudence" column. i could do any number of things in response to her comment. i sort of joked it off, like, "yeah, right, i know," but inside i was taking back every red cent of her tip. i was giving her the finger. i was saying, "don't you know that you NEVER say ANYTHING to a pregnant woman about how she looks, except 'you look pretty'?!?" i was praying imprecatory prayers like, "lord, may her ankles bloat, may she have unexplained nausea and heartburn, may stretch marks appear..." etc. etc. etc.

one last thing: she had on the ugliest pink velvet choker. and serious sun damage.

okay, i feel better.

I don't care who your mother is...

you'll be glad she isn't this person.