Sunday, April 29, 2007

Who doesn't love the pink(y) toe?

Here's what I did Saturday night:


Sandal weather means that we need hot-pink "tony nails," as S used to say!
We had a quiet, peaceful weekend--or at least the girls and I did; R chaperoned prom on Friday night and I'd hardly call that quiet or peaceful. We spent some time playing outside, pulled some weeds and killed some ants, and I finished four loads of laundry plus put away two loads from last weekend.
I brought back several good-looking books from today's library run; hopefully I'll have some time this week to read at least one. Three of them are travel guides to Washington DC--we finally booked our vacation! In past weeks I've brought home guides to Spain, Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands, and Costa Rica, but in the end we decided DC sounded best. Trying to plan the other trips we considered was so stressful it was starting to seem less like a vacation and more like work! R has never been to DC, and while it's not the exotic vacation I thought we'd take this year, we're both very excited. Now maybe I can stop visiting Expedia and Travelocity and get some real work done.
I'm actually going to be really busy this week; I'm part of a team being trained in a software application called Oracle that we're implementing in our company. I have to sit through training four days this week and another four days two weeks from now, and there'll be a good bit of work to do after that to get it up and running. I'm excited about it, as geeky as that sounds! It's always nice to have plenty to do. Now if I can just figure out a way to do laundry from the office, my job will be perfect . . .

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

The More You Know

I don’t have a lot of time to read, mostly on my lunch hour or on the weekends, but I manage to get through a book every week or so. I wish I could finish one every day—going to the library is one of my greatest pleasures, and when I get home I can’t help but start reading right away!

One book I picked up last week was "Sweet and Low" by Rich Cohen. His grandfather started the company that makes Sweet ‘N Low, and the book is one part documentary of the sweetener industry, one part company history, and two parts family drama. It wasn’t a book that I just couldn’t put down, but I did find it interesting and bored R later with some sweetener facts. (The amount of saccharine needed to give a rat cancer is equal to 10,000 packets a day for about 60 years!)

After finishing that I started Steve Martini’s "Double Tap." Martini writes legal thrillers, and I discovered in this book that he’s a Christian. I think I’ve read just about all of his books, and I’d recommend any of them—he’s an author you stay up past midnight to finish!

On my last library trip, I also picked up "The Devil’s Picnic," a journalist’s quest to try foods and substances that have been banned in some parts of the world such as poppy seeds, absinthe, and unpasteurized cheese. Some chapters were more entertaining than others, but the author’s rebellious attitude got a bit tiresome by the end. It did make me hungry for cheese, though. I got extra-adventurous and had some sharp cheddar.

Reading is FUNdamental!

Thursday, April 19, 2007

Off to protect the town of Rock Ridge


What is preschool for, but to take adorable pictures of your kids?! S had this taken a couple of weeks ago--doesn't she look like she's about to round up a posse and go out looking for some varmits?

The girls were awfully excited last night to see Sanjaya voted off "American Idol," and I lost a bet. R and the girls had predicted that he'd be the one to leave, but I thought for sure it would be Chris. I can't say I was too disappointed to see Sanjaya go--he was a terrible singer! But he did have a good attitude and a sense of humor--and some great hair.

Note: can you guess where I got the title of this post? Here's a hint: that cowgirl up there is no sidewindin bushwackin, hornswaglin, cracker croaker!
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Wednesday, April 11, 2007

She Also Believes in the Hanukkah Armadillo

Eeeaarrrly Sunday morning, H woke me up: “Mom, I want to go see what the Easter Bunny brought!”

Oops. The Easter Bunny had completely forgotten to visit, though (s)he had a drawerful of Easter goodies. (But none of that grass stuff. I hate cleaning that up.)

I stalled: “It’s really early—why don’t you go back to bed for a little while, and I’ll make sure he came.”

I grabbed a robe, stuffed the bag of goodies underneath, and snuck past her room into the kitchen where I dumped the stuff onto the bar. We’d even forgotten to set out their baskets, so I tiptoed back into H’s room.

“The Easter Bunny came, but we forgot to set out our baskets so he left everything on the bar. Give me your basket and I’ll get S’s too, and I’ll put the stuff in your baskets for you.”

Quietly, quietly I put the goodies in their baskets. Back to H’s room:

“I’ve got the camera ready, come see what the Easter Bunny brought!”

She never once questioned why I made her wait. The faith of a child: patient, solid, unbending. What does it do to a child’s faith when we let them believe so strongly in the Easter Bunny, Santa, the tooth fairy; and then even after they come to know the “truth” about those imaginary heroes, we still expect them to believe in an invisible God, a Savior they can’t see. Are we making a huge mistake? How do we convince little children, big children, teenagers, and adults that even though Santa is a myth, Jesus is real?

But, oh, that we all could have the faith of a child.

Saturday, April 7, 2007

Their Goal: A Barren, Sterile Existence

A few nights ago during dinner, S asked me out of the clear blue, "Mommy, how do babies get out of their mommies' tummies?"

Gulp. I carefully explained the process, trying not to make it sound scary, and noting that "the doctor can give the mommy medicine if it hurts." (amen and hallelujah)

At the end of my explanation, S said, "I am NEVER having a baby!"

Okay, so maybe it sounds scary no matter how you put it.

The next day, H told me that she wasn't ever going to get married. I asked why, and she screwed up her face and said, "The kissy-kissy!" Ha!

So I guess I've screwed myself out of grandchildren, what with all my anatomically-correct explanations and PDA in front of the children. Is it too early to start telling them about adoption and sperm donations?

I Can't Go Left

L (driving through downtown): I wonder if I can go this way to get to . . . no . . . crap, now I'm going the wrong way.

H: Have you ever noticed that sometimes when you wonder, you end up going the wrong way? You should never follow your wonders.

Maybe I should let her drive.