People I Love: AmyO

What can I say about my dear friend AmyO?

First, I have her to thank for the beautiful background and header for my blog.

Second, no one commands attention when standing on an chair quite like her.

But really, there's too much to say and not nearly enough of the right words.

Amy, I love your determination, your spunk, your sense of humor (which is just as twisted as my own), your honest and sincere love of those in your life.

My life would not be as rich or as happy as it is right now without you. I owe you a great deal of my sanity over the past few years. I'm proud to call you friend.

Happy Birthday Amy--sometime soon anyway ;) I love you!

P.S. If anyone else has more pictures of dearest Amy, send them my way. Somehow she always seesm to be behind the camera!

Le Sigh

I'm in love. Totally, completely, shamelessly in love.

www.modcloth.com


Does someone now want to give me lots of money so I can indulge in my new love?

Bad Hair Future

Part of the changes we're making in our lives is to cut back our budget to try to pay off debt.

So, I'm having to decide whether to spend money on hobbies/crafts/gifts/clothes or on getting my hair cut. And since I can make the money go a lot farther on hobbies, etc. and get tons more hours of fun out of that category, the hair cuts are going away for a while.

I'm sure I'll break down every few months and get a trim, but not often. Which means that I need help. When my hair gets long, it also gets hard to manage. I have to have it out of my face and off my neck.

Does anyone know of some ways to do very, very straight hair that will keep it out of my way, be fun and cute, and NOT make me look like I'm trying to be 12 again? Please, anyone? I need all the help I can get.

Changes

Why is it that everything seems to hit all at once? I have about a million things I've been thinking about writing about, but no time to do it. I'm back in crisis mode with too much on my plate. And all of it has to be dealt with NOW!

Huge life changes are on my horizon, and I'm not sure how to face them all at once. Can't I just go back to bed?

How do you remember to take things one step at a time when all the steps are urgent? How do you deal with family crises without closing yourself off to everyone else?

My well is not this deep.

Things I Never Knew

This morning Munchkin was playing on our piano, and shared a discovery I had never thought about much.

Munchkin: Mommy, these notes are the mad notes (as she pounds low on the keyboard)

Me: OK, that makes sense.

Munchkin: And these are the happy notes (here she hits some really high keys)

Me: Of course.

Munchkin: I'm mad Mommy.

And she procedes to spend the next 5 minutes pounding low keys.

I love my daughter.

People I Love

OOOH! Look at Munchkin's cheeks! I could just die I love them so much!

This picture is a couple years old. My kids look nothing like this now. But it's still one of my favorites of them with my sister. They adore Aunt Melissa, and I have to agree. My sister is one of the people I most admire in my life. I wish I had her drive and her ability to see exactly what she wants. I've never seen her let anything get in the way of achieving her goals once she has them set. It's quite impressive to watch. If one way doesn't work, she'll find her own path, thank you very much.

And to see her with my kids (or anyone's kids) is so much fun. Her flair for drama and laughter are just perfect. No one is better at getting a smile out of grumpy-just woke up-hate the world-Munchkin than Aunt Melissa. She understands these things.

Plus, she knows exactly what I mean when I say I'm both terrified and relieved to know I'm destined to become my mother.

Melissa, I love you! I'm so proud of you for making this big move to graduate school!

Just one last thing: Straight up, now tell me is it gonna be you and me forever?

Peas, Potatoes, and Memories

For my birthday this weekend, I had Mom make creamed peas and potatoes. It's a dish I have consistently adored my entire life. I still adore it. But I have to admit that I'm hesitant to make it. The last time I did was more than 6 years ago.

Z-man and I were living in Grandpa Thompson's house. I was pregnant with Zippy and Grandpa was in very poor health. Along with various other ailments, he rarely ate much of anything. A side effect from some of his medications. The day after I made a batch of peas and potatoes (with new potatoes and peas from Grandpa's garden), I came home from work to find Grandpa on the floor of the bathroom. He'd had a heart attack, and had probably been lying there all day.

What a horrible evening that was.

John got home shortly thereafter. We got him up and John helped him get dressed and cleaned up. He was too stubborn to let me take him to the hospital, so we called my parents. While we waited for them, Grandpa ate a great big bowl of creamed peas and potatoes that I warmed up for him. It had been many months since I had seen him eat so much. And his casual comment that they tasted good nearly broke me.

They admitted him to the hospital, and he passed away not even 2 days later. My peas and potatoes, a dish Grandma had made him countless times over the years, was the last thing he at at home.

Maybe I should make them again as a celebration. Maybe I should--but I can't yet. I can eat them with only sweet memories. But making them myself seems somehow beyond me. Even though I know he'd shake his head and think I was being remarkably silly. And he's right. I am being silly, ridiculously silly. Maybe this year when my potatoes come in--maybe when I harvest from my yard just like he loved to do--maybe for the first time in my children's lives I can make them this dish. This food that has such deep roots in my soul of love and family.