thoughts from the deep recesses

Yes, Spring is in the air. I had the following conversation with K. at the breakfast table not more than 5 minutes ago. Me: "You're looking particularly handsome today, son." (He really was, and I try to notice these things.) K: "Hmmm." Me: "Any reason?" K: "Well, Matt asked Chabeli if she wanted to go out with me yesterday." Me: Raised eyebrows... K: "Just like, to hang out with me at recess." Me: "And you call that 'going out?'" K: "Yeah, but she said no, 'cause she's still getting over someone." FIFTH GRADERS, FOLKS. Of course, in fifth grade, I was 'going' with Kurt Englund. And that meant we never hung out at recess, but rather, stood around talking to our friends about who we were going with. Heck, I don't think we even spoke to each other. I do remember feeling particularly heartbroken when he broke up with me. And so goes the circle of life. Twitterpated, indeed.

Just woke up from a nap. Yep, at 10:45 am. I was awake again at 3:30. Praying for Africa, although I'll admit, this morning my prayers were a little more delirious as I drifted in and out of consciousness. I must have fallen back asleep fairly quickly, but then was awakened by S. coming in my room to tell me that Gracie's tummy was making funny noises. So up at 5:30 to start the day. I'm hoping the funny noises coming from the dog were just a function of her dinner last night. We ran out of dog food yesterday and I had to feed her a concoction from the fridge instead of her normal kibble. UPS tells me the food will come today. Silly high maintenance dog. You think gas is expensive? You should try buying a bag of her food. Geez. Asia and I have been enjoying evening walks after dinner lately. The kids are now old enough to be left alone for periods of time and we're loving the chance to connect each evening and give the dog some exercise. It's really lovely. Of cour

So lately, God has been waking me up. 3:00 am. 4:00 am. Too freaking early am. And I've been praying. Praying for Africa. Now before you go getting all impressed that I would be so altruistic, let me point a finger. God has put Africa in my path in freakish ways over the last couple of weeks. Everywhere I look, it's Africa. Primarily, African children. So I've been praying. Praying for children without parents. Countries ravaged by war. People weakened by illness. My heart is hurting for Africa. And my perspective on my life is changing. What does that mean? I have no idea. But my heart is soft.

In explanation of my lame blogging lately, I'll offer this defense: Spring has sprung. Spokane is turning green, and pink , and yellow . And the sky is blue . And the sun is warm(ish). I've been out. And about. Painting my toenails. Putting on my new Bath and Body works gradual tanner. Pruning. Buying new skirts and polos. Wearing freaking flip-flops, people! Garage sale-ing. Walking the dog. Playing tennis. Glancing toward the garden centers popping up all over the parking lots around town. Planning summer vacations. Hoping to highlight my hair. Eating strawberries. Washing windows. Reading magazines out on the deck. Jumping on the trampoline. (Not me - the kids. I have bladder issues.) Waking up to the sunshiney faces of my daffodils every morning. Spring. Happy me.

Before I address the tagging of the tag, I have a confession to make. I just fed my dog a sweet potato off of my fork. And.then.proceeded.to.take.another.bite.off.said.fork. I know - sick . Okay. Onto the tag. My dear sweet friend Suzie tagged me. I'd link her, but she's password protected. I think she works for the government or something. No - but she is protected. Maybe she's in the witness protection program. Nah - that's not it either. She's really nice though. She has a lovely blog - it's where I'm involved in my circle journal. Anywho - she tagged me. Now - onto the tag. Really, this time. 5 things: in my fridge 1. a box of go-gurts for the kids' lunches. For some sick reason I think I'm giving them a healthy lunch if I throw in a tube of neon colored yogurt. 2. a few Mike's light hard lemonades 3. leftover meatloaf from dinner the other night. I know it's terribly out of fashion to like meatloaf, but I do. And I'm not going to ap

Just had to share the project I just finished... this is for a Mother's Day Collage class I'm teaching on May 4th. LOVE how it turned out. LOVE this picture of my Mom. This is my first real attempt at funky/artsy collage. SO fun. I'm totally hooked. Back to the studio...

Okay. Blogger is being freaky today. Slow. Disappearing posts. Stuff missing. So if I try this one more time and my words all disappear into the black hole of cyberspace, I'm warning you now. I may just say a naughty word and call it a day. Of course, then you'd never know, would you? Today is day three of a three day spree of no outside obligations. LOVE how much I can get done and how much fun stuff I can fit in when I don't have to be anywhere. I've had both the urge to create and the time to do so. I've been able to stay caught up on chores and even take the time to bake for my family. The dog and I have taken long walks, and my bed is made. I'm feelin' good, can ya tell? I went to Bath and Body works yesterday to stock up on hand soap while they were on sale and use a coupon... I don't know what it is about that store. I cannot get out of there without spending WAY too much money. Words like 'kitchen lemon' and 'sun-ripened raspberry'

Ah, Spring! After pouring down rain all day Saturday and weather forecasts predicting more of the same, we were treated to a glorious, sunny Easter morning. It couldn't have been more beautiful. The kids got their Easter baskets, Asia got his Resses Peanutbutter Eggs, and I got my chocolate. My friend Deb even brought chocolate to church for me. (Thanks!) The highlight though? A little Peep bunny floating in my latte from Brews Brothers. How pickin' cute is that? Truth be told, I felt lousy when I went to bed last night. I didn't gorge, by any means, but I ate quite a bit of chocolate. And coffee cake. And other assorted nummies. And I felt pretty miserable. The more I strive for healthy eating, the more I notice when I fall off the wagon. This morning I start a new attempt to organize my time. I sat down with the new class newsletter while I was at work over the weekend and planned out my schedule in terms of class samples. If I don't get them done in a timely manner

The sun rises slowly over the hills, two men, armored, lay as dead. A stone lies on its side. Birds flit from tree to tree with song and life. Sunlight strides inexorably forward, warming the land. Small lives creep forward to bask, heal, rejoice. The tomb is empty. Footsteps clatter across the stone, women approach to mourn, bearing spices to leaven the dead. Gravel slides unheeded, clinking and scratching. Footsteps falter and hearts flutter. The sun crests the final hill, light streaming down to earth. The tomb is empty. Light, bright as the sun, shining like lightning, garbs the strangers, fear clutches as mortals gasp. A question from lips eternal fulfill a prophecy old. Why do you seek? Behold! He is Risen just as He said. The light of the sun warms the land. The tomb is empty. Tears flow as eyes confirm a rocky ledge unburdened by death. Hope grows, hearts strain, joy sings to silence nature itself. The world must know, the brothers must hear, feet run towards home. Streams of s

***** Okay. The whole family went absolutely ga-ga over the vodka sauce. Really. Huge hit. I got the recipe here: Sausage and Vodka Tomato Cream Sauce (Kate: I've heard about Rachel Ray's recipe - but have not tried it... I'd love the recipe! Especially now that I've got my big ol' bottle of vodka!) ***** Asia and I are looking forward to getting involved with Invisible Children . Check out their website. We're looking forward to seeing the movie next week and are hoping to take part in the Global Night Commute . We recently watched Hotel Rwanda, and were so incredulous that something like that could happen - here it is, happening again in Uganda, and we have an opportunity to take a stand against it. I know God's heart is breaking - and if we can contribute prayers and resources and take on the role of activist, we will do it. ***** It rained all day today. It's supposed to rain all weekend. Happy Easter. It's a bit of a bummer - there won't be

I had a class this afternoon that ended early enough to make a quick run to the grocery store before I needed to get home to meet the kids after school... Oh, and I needed to go to the liquor store too. Now, I am 37 years old, and I have never been to a liquor store. But I have a recipe for a Penne with Vodka Sauce that I've been dying to try, so I had to go to the liquor store to buy the vodka. The liquor store is across the street from the store I teach at. It's in a seedy little strip mall next to an even seedier restaurant called The Pear Tree Inn. I've been to the Pear Tree once for a drink after a class - some of my students took me out. But that's the closest I've been to the liquor store. I fully expected the store to be dark, and dusty. I also expected there to be a pot-bellied old man with plaid polyester pants behind the counter smoking a cigar. I felt certain there would be other men staggering around the store in a drunken stupor. Instead, there was th

I gotta tell ya, people. I had the best night's sleep last night. And here's why: New Sheets For years I've been coveting great sheets. Really high thread count, super soft, no-pill sheets. And I've avoided taking the plunge - mostly because I'm cheap. But after reading this thread over at Two Peas - I was sold. I went to Overstock and ordered a set. They came yesterday. I washed them immediately and put them on the bed. And can I just tell you? It was worth every freaking penny. These are the softest, most luxurious sheets ever. Asia said, "These remind me of The Davenport beds." (We like to steal away for overnight getaways to this wonderful Spokane hotel...) So now, I'm plugging great sheets. And really - the link above takes you to about the best deal on the internet. So go. Go right now and order you some. You won't regret it. (Oh - and I got ivory. If you want to be all matchy-matchy, then you can get ivory too.)

I haven't felt particularly bloggy lately. Can't explain it, but when I think about posting something, my mind goes numb and my fingers stiffen and I break out in a cold sweat. Okay, not really. I just haven't had much to say, I guess. I wanted to post today though - had to give a little shout out to three of my favorite people's birthdays, which are this week. My brother Steve turned 42 on Sunday. I was a bad sister and didn't get a card off to him in time, since we were traveling. What do I like about Steve? He's genuine. He serves others selflessly. He questions. He's a guy who likes to get out and do things. He fixes my computer. He's easy easy easy to be with - no stress. He calls me Ugly, which may sound terrible, but it's truly one of the sweetest terms of endearment I am privileged to be called. So happy belated birthday, big brother. (Did ya'll catch the BIG? He's WAY older than me.) And then - today is my sister-in-law LaChel'

Good Monday morning to you all. The kids are back in school. Spring break was good. Poor E. was terribly disappointed that he had to go back to school - I think he thought spring break was summer - he fully argued with me that the break was supposed to be much, much longer. Can you believe Easter is now less than a week away? How did that happen? I managed to find an easter dress for S. at Ross while we were in Astoria... it's not anything special - but it was $6.00 and it's new, so that's good. She's not much of a dress wearer ( as in she NEVER wears them ) so I couldn't see spending $40 on something she's only going to wear once. The boys can wear their matching shirts from last year. Me? Who knows. Nobody's looking at me anyway. This will be the first easter in years and years that I haven't had to be at church at the crack of dawn to prepare for the musical presentation. I'm SO looking forward to going to church with my family. Well, I guess tha

We made it back early evening yesterday. The kids and Gracie did a stellar job on our 8 hour drive from Astoria. I'm always amazed at how well they do in the car. Good kids, all of them. There are signs of spring all around - my daffodils are a good eight inches tall with fat buds just waiting to burst open. It makes me so happy. The grass is even starting to turn green. Winter in Spokane turns the grass a dreadful grey color - so I'm always thrilled to see it return to it's normal green color each spring. Of course, that means it's almost time to start watering again, which I hate, since we don't have automatic sprinklers. But it's okay. I'll water. The green grass is worth the hassle. Spring Break is always a bit of a wake-up call for me. A reminder that my kids are not in school year 'round and I've only got two and a half months before summer's here. I organize our summers - doing 'summer school' in the mornings to break up the day an

I'm telling you, folks. There is no prettier place on earth than Astoria on a sun-shiney day. Truly. The blues are bluer here and the air is fresher and the sun just a bit brighter... it's a glorious place to be on a sunny day. God must have made it rainy here just to keep the population down, because if it were sunny all the time, it would be hugely over-populated. As it is, the sunny days are few and far between, which makes them appreciated even more, and of course adds to their beauty. We loaded the dog into the back of the car today and did the river walk in Astoria. After a quick stop at the Goonies house, we started at the east end mooring basin. This is where the sea lions like to sunbathe. We then headed down toward the Maritime Museum where we enjoyed a leisurely walk along the river. We took a short detour into town to buy treats at the Danish Maid bakery. I always have to get my Cinnamon Crispie and a Florentine. YUM. Even the flies buzzing around inside this Astor

Traveling is always interesting... and even more so, I'm finding, with a dog. The kids and I have traveled together for years. Asia has stayed home and worked numerous times when we've taken off together. We travel well together. They do great in the car, and I enjoy the road trips hugely. Asia doesn't let me drive if he's with us - it's just his thing. But when I'm out on the road with just the kids, I drive. I pick the music and I decide when we're taking a potty break. Don't get me wrong - I love family vacations when we're all together, but I also really enjoy being with the kids alone. However, bringing the dog along has changed the dynamic considerably. Gracie is a wonderful dog. She is obedient and well behaved. She is perfectly housebroken. But she's also a puppy. And I don't trust her to stay with us when we're out on the open road. Every rest area was pretty nervewracking. I was so afraid she was going to jump out of the car

The kids and I are finishing up our packing and will be on the road in a bit. I'm so tanked up on coffee this morning, I think I could drive to Florida and back. I'm taking the laptop, so I'll post from the road. Happy weekend, friends. Note: For the winner of the 10,000 Maniacs post, see the comments section!