my pink toes

I know I owe you a cookie recipe, and a thought or two, but we had another family emergency. My mom had a stroke on Friday. Thankfully they are pretty sure it's "just" a TIA, or mini-stroke, that she should fully recover from.

I literally collapsed into tears when I got the news. Now I understand when people say, "You should sit down before I continue". My dad was home and called out to Mom because the phone was for her. She spun around and waved weirdly, so he knew something was wrong. He ran down to the beach, and she was talking jibberish moving oddly. Dad turned her around to head her up to the house when she collapsed. He raced up to the house with her in his arms and called 911.

After Dad called, I got my ducks in a row, got my children cared for (thanks Katharine and Giseli!), packed and headed up to the peninsula. The ferry service kindly let me go to the head of the line, passing the long wait for a boat to Bremerton, so I could get to the hospital quickly. Mom had a ton of tests, pokes, prods, questions and procedures, and then they sent her home. Paul, Shanti, and I cooked a salmon dinner and we all ate together at the beach. It seemed surreal to have Mom at the table with us.

I had long planned to take all the kids up to the family beach house for this week, and Mom and Dad still really wanted us to come. So I ran home and had a 36-hour turn-around to get us all ready for the week. Whew! We loaded up the bikes (so cute to have 3 little bikes hanging from the back of my van), the kids and headed up here.

So, no long thoughtful posts, just photos of my kids and niece and friends at the beach. My best childhood friend, Hallie, joined us yesterday with her two sweet little boys. Her oldest and my youngest are just a few weeks apart in age and are good friends. (Her youngest is the cute one napping in the photo) We had a wonderful time, getting baked in the (rare) warm sun. The kids surprised us all by jumping right in to the water and hanging out.

The rhythm of the waves is centering and refreshing in this time. Thanks to all for your thoughts and prayers - my body is holding up well under the stress.

Filed Under "Everything Else" on July 02, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was a reluctant baseball fan. I did not grow up with a love of the game. In fact, I thought it was boring and pointless until the ripe old age of 25. I'm not even sure why I fell in love with the game. I mean, there was the magical Mariners' season of '95 of and all, but I didn't become a fan until 1997. In fact, when the ballot measure to fund the new stadium came up in 1995, I was soundly against it. I remember saying something along the lines of "if they won't stay here without a new stadium, then I'll personally tie a bow around the team and send them off".

But somehow, the game of baseball grew on me. Specifically, the Mariners grew on me. I fell in love with the team of 1997. Slowly, I began to watch the games, to learn the rules, and to care. We took a road trip to Glacier and Yellowstone that year and I begged sports sections off of other travelers so I could check the AL West standings. In 1999, while backpacking through Europe, I was thrilled to get a glimpse on CNN of the new Safeco Field - as much as I could see on the Ken Griffey Jr. highlight reel, anyway.

For my 30th birthday, Dave bought a block of tickets and invited my best friends out to Safeco Field. Heidi and Jen even made a Baseball Bingo game to play while we watched. I drug the same Heidi and Jen down to Arizona under the guise of a "girls' weekend" to see spring training. My 32nd birthday was on Opening Day, and Dave took the day off to take me to the game. That same year, friends of ours graciously invited us to sit in a suite with them. When I went into early labor with Peter, my prayer was that I'd make it past the date of that game. (I did).

Unfortunately, the Mariners now are not a good baseball team. In fact, there are currently the worst team in baseball, with a winning percentage so low, it is right around a great slugger's batting average. I'm afraid it may even slip below the Mendoza line.

Every April for the last few seasons, I've been surprised and a bit concerned that I wasn't chomping at the bit for baseball. I have been ho-hum about spring training, and even missed Opening Day and the first couple weeks of the season this year. Was I losing the baseball bug? Was it a phase? Even worse, was I the dreaded "Fair Weather Fan"?

Turns out the answers are no, no, and no. Even though none of the players I fell in love with play for the team anymore (I especially miss that dish-at-the-dish Dan Wilson), I still love the game. Perhaps because an entire baseball season and its 180 games are more like a marathon than a sprint, I have to warm up to the game every spring. I watch a game here and there, half-heartedly turn into the radio, worry that I'm losing my love for the game, and then - BAM - by the middle of May I'm hooked again.

Peter has always liked baseball, but he's more of my sports-guy anyway. In the past I tried to get Henry to watch the games with me, but he was glued to the commercials instead. But this year, they are both really in to the game. They ask me about rules, they have learned the players' names (if a 3-year-old saying Rauuuuuuul Ibanez! doesn't melt your heart, I don't know what will), and they even watch and listen to the games with me. I don't have to fight for TV time, or listen to the radio in a corner of the house.

This last weekend, I had a dream come true: I attended a Mariners game with my boys (and my niece and my dad), who WATCHED THE ENTIRE THING. I couldn't have been happier, or more proud.

Filed Under "Everything Else, Kidlets" on June 04, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

As has been my (unfortuntate) custom, my blog has been quiet while the rest of my life has been very very busy.

My mom was in the ICU for a few days (Good news: she did not have a heart attack and her heart is healthy. Bad news: she has atrial fibrillation, serious GI issues and a rogue ovary – all of which will require a long series of invasive testing and/or surgeries in the future).

In addition, my therapist is moving. This may not sound like a big deal to you, but I’ve been seeing her for 6 years. My life is night-and-day different since I started therapy. I have much less anxiety, my relationships are stronger and deeper, and I’ve been getting to know my “real” self and let her be more present. I’m in a bit of a panic over her leaving – my relationship with her is the closest one outside of my husband. She really “gets” me and has helped me so much. I truly feel she has helped me become the woman God always designed me to be.

I keep trying to come up with creative solutions to prevent her from moving to California, but I'm coming up dry. The solution has to be something where she would feel no pain, would stilll be able to see me, but would not be allowed out of state....ideas? I was trying to come up with some Wasington-only infectious-yet-not-to-me illness.......or, toyed with leaving a bunch of unattended duffle bags at the airport with her name on them so that Homeland Security would prevent her from leaving the state (do they do that?). Somehow, I don't think I'm going to find a solution before next Friday.

So, my mom’s been in the hospital, I need to find a new therapist, I’m taking two classes for college credit, I’ve been having a really tough time with the fibromyalgia, I’ve taken a huge step in changing churches (more on that later), I have two kids and three cats, I have my wife to murder, and Guilder to frame for it – I’m swamped! (And as Dave pointed out, I haven’t even got my health…unlike Prince Humperdink).*

I have many things I want to talk about, so hopefully I’ll find and make the time to get those thoughts into (mostly) understandable words and get them out here.

* bonus point to the first person who can Name That Movie.

Filed Under "Everything Else" on May 15, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBacks (0)

Here we are at Legoland!

We had about as much fun as can be expected on a vacation with three children and most of your extended family in a climate that is supposed to be sunny and warm but was not. Ha. Actually, we had a great time. Legoland and SeaWorld are exactly perfect for our kids' ages and interests, Peter enjoyed his first plane ride, and all the cousins had a blast being with each other AND Grandma and Grandpa IN CALIFORNIA! All of the adults loved being around the kids' excitement, and we like hanging out with each other, too. Dave and I went the whole week "unplugged" and it was exactly what we both needed. He's been working crazy hours with huge stress, and I've been bogged down by the thousand little things of a stay-at-home-mom-of-small-kids who is trying to start a freelance career, go on a spiritual journey, lose a huge chunk of weight, manage a chronic illness, figure out some other significant heath issues, and keep up a teaching certificate.

It was what we needed as a family, too. We've been so busy that Dave and I have mostly been tag-team parenting, keeping each other afloat with enough time to accomplish our individual mountains of work. It was good to spend time together as all four of us, hanging out, having fun, and just being a family.

But oh, the crush of reality upon returning from a vacation! Dave's work project exploded spectacularly while we were offline, and he's spending his other few remaining waking hours on stabilizing, rebuilding, moving, backing-up and "optimizing" our church's Exchange server. I have a huge backlog of stuff I need and want to do, like: replying to the awesome comments y'all have been leaving; writing up, reflecting on, and posting more about my Lenten Journey; wading through the piles of undone stuff that has built up over this last 6 weeks of being sick; spending time praying for and preparing for my wonderful Lambie Pie bible study ladies; making myself rest enough to prevent a post-vacation fibromyalgia flare; continuing in my Sisyphean effort to get my insurance to pay for some really huge claims; and yet another Chinese assignment. Oh, and a Chinese Mid-Term. Which I must go take. NOW.

Filed Under "Everything Else" on February 26, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Filed Under "Everything Else, Kidlets" on December 31, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today to family yoga class, I wore my "revenge" shirt and both my boys wore camo.

Filed Under "Everything Else" on December 17, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This is truly my sluff post - and on the last day of NaBloPoMo, too! I did it (posted every day in November), with varying degrees of quality. I plan to do a better recap on Sunday or Monday.

I'm off in 30 minutes to visit my mom for the weekend (who had oral surgery this week - it's been a week of parental-medical stuff here at Team Smith). Jim is progressing well, thankfully! Dave will be here to hang with his family for the weekend.

I can't find the Best Christmas Album Ever to put on my iPod for the trip (Ray Charles "The Spirit of Christmas"). The CD is currently floating around and iTunes shamefully doesn't carry it. Oh well, I'll survive. Dave burned a Pokemon movie to the PSP memory, so we're set (until they fight over it so hard I confiscate it...)

So today I leave you with a gratuitous photo of Henry and Jango. Cheers!

Filed Under "Everything Else" on November 30, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Your login attempt failed. This is probably because you are a moron. Or because you created your password one late night after watching a VH-1 marathon and chose something so cute and nostalgic like IWOULDDIE4U but now that the vodka has worn off and you’re trying to log in to this site you can’t remember for the life of you EVER liking Prince. And if you did, you certainly wouldn’t choose a stupid song lyric for your password but maybe you did and now what was it?

Or because you don't have "cookies" enabled on your browser. No, Explorer doesn't eat Snickerdoodles. No I'm not going to explain how to enable them because you won't understand it. And then when you get your next virus you would blame me because you were the one too stupid not to accept the download for "free screensavrz of lindsey lohan nekkid".

Or because you mistyped when you logged on the first time. Or now. Or always. Learn to type already, idiot.

Or because you cannot spell your own name. Before I started in this business, I thought that was impossible. Sadly, I have been proven wrong many times. This is why the communists are winning. Before you start complaining about how some many jobs are being outsourced, learn to spell. Start with your first name, then move on to more difficult things, like your last name.

Or because you have 5 email addresses and can’t remember which one you used when you first logged on. Streamline your life, Sybil.

Or because you’ve never actually been here but you’re getting such a great sense of déjà vu that you decided to try your old standby username/password combo and IT DOES NOT WORK. I’ll give you a hint: typing the same thing over and over again will not make things magically right again. Asking Mom for a cookie over and over again until she gave in may have worked when you were a child, but this is a computer. And you, presumably, are an adult. Grow up.

It is possible that the error is ours. But not very likely. Stop emailing me. Go away.

Filed Under "Everything Else" on November 26, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

• King Herod and the Baby Jesus Death Squad


• Golgotha - Complete with Pre-and-Post Crucified Jesus (small holes in his hands allow him to pop on and off the plastic cross)


• Christmas Shopping Smackdown - Contains: sharp-elbowed-red-eyed-laser-focus Mommy with lead handbag, bewildered-looking-stand-in-line-Daddy with Circuit City ad, stack of mystery "It-Toy"-of-the-year boxes, plastic credit card statement (in red), and Christmas-morning-unimpressed children

Filed Under "Everything Else" on November 25, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I got out of my wonderful three-hour yoga workshop today and found.....a parking ticket on my car. If I thought the universe was trying to tell me something I'd be pretty confused. Or pissed off.

Filed Under "Everything Else" on November 17, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Peter and I were watching Scooby Doo in Where's My Mummy? and saw Scooby and Shaggy padlock a "zombie" in a sarcophagus during a classic "run from the monster" scene. The tomb is later flooded, and it is discovered that these "zombies" were Velma's friends, helping to scare tomb raiders. I kept thinking - did anyone go find him, did anyone recognize he was missing? Did he die, locked in the tomb, when the whole thing flooded? Just because of a mistake? I started panicking, just a little bit. I had to keep telling myself, "It's only a movie. It's a cartoon, for heaven's sake".

I've had nightmares from commercials for movies. I've had nightmares from commercials for other shows.

Can you imagine what would happen if I watched a Steven King? I could die of anxiety. I'd better stay on the meds, and keep the TV off.

Filed Under "Everything Else" on November 08, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We all have our understandable crushes: Clive Owen, Pierce Brosnan, Daniel Craig - the ones that make any girl's heart beat faster. But I have a few celebrity crushes that are, let's say, odd.

• Alton Brown - How can you resist a man who custom-paints his Kitchen Aid Mixer? The way this man zooms around the kitchen, mixes soup with power tools, and expounds random trivia about the hows and whys of cooking makes me swoon. His smart alec wit is the icing on the perfectly-researched-and-baked cake. He could lay off the Hawaiian shirts, though.
• The Dad on Caillou - I finally had to pull the plug on this PBS show. Even when Caillou is happy, his voice is whiny and falsely deliberate - the adult* who voices him grates on me and constantly ruins the illusion of the cartoon. And what is with the bald hair? The first time I saw this show, I was sure it was about a child cancer patient. But the dad. Oh my, the dad. His tousled (animated) hair, his ever-present smile.... What charms me most about this man is that he knows the answer to every childhood problem and turns every difficult situation into a loving, teachable moment. I think it's my ovaries that are attracted to this guy, purely in that "I want to have his children" sort of way.**
• Daniel Radcliffe - I'm embarrassed to say I have a strange attraction to Harry Potter's barely legal alter ego. I was uncomfortable viewing The Order of the Phoenix, as it slowly dawned on me that I was finding Daniel nearly as compelling as Cho did. Does this make me a Mary Kay Letourneau? I hope not. I usually fall for older men (Pierce, Harrison Ford, Sean Connery). I'm going to assume that this crush is just me reliving some of my youth: Harry Daniel looks a lot like my first boyfriend, and what 15-year-old girl doesn't want to be carried off by a magical, adventurous boy who reluctantly saves the world?

*Ok, I know that for a while Caillou was voiced by a teenage girl who died tragically in a car accident. Still, the voice is annoying.
** I just discovered the dad's name is "Boris". Hee hee. How can you take a man named Boris seriously, unless he's got James Bond in his shark tank and one finger on the launch button of a nuclear warhead?

Filed Under "Everything Else" on November 07, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Ok, so not her actual bra, but one that was deemed favorite enough to be given out in a frenzy at one of her shows. It was picked out for me when I finally went for a bra fitting today. I’ve lost enough weight (40ish pounds) that the girls were looking a bit lost in my old bras. The final straw was when Dave asked me why my sweater had a funny crease in it and we determined it had nothing to do with the sweater – it was the crease made by extra folded fabric in my cup due to boob-deflation.

Whenever I go bra shopping, I am reminded why I never go bra shopping. And reminded why, when I do go, that I need to be fitted. I could not pick the right bra off the rack if getting it right would stop a nuclear countdown and save the world from annihilation. A tender slip of a legally-blonde salesgirl measured me (big points for not looking disgusted or backing off from “catching” my overweight-ness), announced “42D” with certainty, and disappeared to get a “test fit” bra. It fit perfectly, but of course is just for “test fitting”. She left me in the sample bra and disappeared (and I do mean disappeared) back on to the sales floor to find bras for me to try on.

While she was gone (a good 10 minutes!), I contemplated boob issues:

• Why are my areolas so massive? They used to be tiny and demure – not bringing attention to themselves. They don’t gain weight along with the rest of my body, so why have they gotten bigger? Is it the breastfeeding? Theory has it that’s what they’re good for in the first place: guiding the nearly-blind starving infants to the fountain of goodness (or 'trickle of goodness' in my case). But why is this “hey – eat here!” sign not designed to fade after weaning? I don’t need to advertise to the WORLD where the center of my boobs are. The only people who needed the road map are old enough to get the milk out of the refrigerator themselves.
• My left breast is bigger than my right. So, do you buy a bra to fit the bigger one, or the smaller one? Does it matter?
• Why do bras cost so much? It’s like swimsuits – the smaller the amount of material, the higher the cost. Bizarre. $60 a bra? Wow.
• Where on earth did the saleslady go? Is my size freakish? It would figure.
• I really should plan ahead and wear a white T-shirt to my next fitting.
• I hope that next fitting is a looooong time from now.
• For how big my hips (and ass) are, my boobs are tiny. I’m sure I couldn’t fit in Oprah’s actual bra if I wanted to, but I could give her ass a run for its money.
• No really, how long does grabbing a couple of bras take?
• How did they manage to do actual bra fittings for an Oprah audience? Think about the logistics of that for just a minute - did they have hoardes of fit specialists? Boxes upon boxes of sizes? I mean, if the whole point of the episode (as the saleslady told me) was to spread the word that most women are wearing the wrong-size bra, and encourage them to get fitted, you couldn't exactly just fling random bras as the audience members, could you?
• I am very long-waisted, so if I have too much “lift” in my rack, I look freakish. It’s like I have two wayward shoulder pads that migrated just under my collar bone and then nothing for a loooooong way down until my curvy hips burst on to the scene. This makes me harder to fit that in should be. And provides for some comical dressing room moments. (Thankfully the saleslady had a good sense of humor).

I'm glad to have new bras. Most of all, I'm glad to be done with this horrific chore for now.

Filed Under "Everything Else" on November 02, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

You see this headline:

And think they've got the wrong picture. Instead, you think it should look like this:

And then you think NO - C.J. - you can't leave! And then you realize that she's already gone. Because it was just a TV show. And it's over.

* And I didn't even realize the character's name was spelled "Cregg" until I googled her for this entry. That's what I get when I hear but don't see...

Filed Under "Everything Else" on September 05, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Pink Dogwood
from maconham's photostream

If anyone had happened to ask me what tree to plant, that would have been it. What a sweet little gift - now I'll get to enjoy my favorite tree every day, without any work on my part. Thanks, neighbors!

Filed Under "Everything Else" on June 13, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

I just realized I have exactly 100 messages "tagged for follow up". Sometimes, I suck.

You know why that statistic is particularly disturbing? I'm way better at email than I am at returning phone messages.

If only I could send telepathic messages so people would know how much I am thinking about them and loving on them, even though I don't pick up the phone, pen, or mouse.

I guess that's called prayer. I'll do what I can and pray for God to do the rest.

Filed Under "Everything Else" on June 08, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

My complexion is dry, dry, dry as a [insert your own old, tired simile here]. So dry, in fact, that I have to special order gooey, dewy, moisturizers. If I try to put apply my foundation without these emollients, by 10 am my face looks as cracked as a Renaissance fresco.

Apparently, all moisture in my face gravitates toward a few spots at a time, like black holes swallowing all nearby matter. This concentrated grease condenses into Japanese-monster-movie-sized zits. Zits so huge, that yesterday my two-year-old asked about them with great concern. Again.

If I use any anti-acne product, my skin reacts with vengeance - flaming out in even worse dryness, and adding a coverlet of small red dots all over my cheeks, making me look like an albino rhinoceros with measles.

Maybe this is the real reason I always get carded at the liquor store... the clerks must think I'm too young to have figured out how to TAKE CARE OF MY STUPID FACE BY NOW.

Filed Under "Everything Else, Medical Freak(out)" on April 10, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (0)

Ahh...the signs of spring:
listening to the birds sing, watching the cherry trees blossom, and eating black jelly beans until my poop turns green!

Filed Under "Everything Else" on April 08, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

My head is buzz buzz buzzing with all sorts of ideas. Things have been quiet here on the blog, but my head is a busy place! I've had some great conversations over the last 2 weeks (4 significant conversations in 2 weeks - mom-brain overload!) that have me thinking and drafting and writing. Most of it is too unformed to share just yet, but I'm excited about all the ideas.

One of the highlights was meeting Jen of The Pile I'm Standing In and Jenny of wickedweaving. I love these women and what they do. I'm so excited by the conversations I've had with both of them - meeting them in real life felt more like connecting with an old college friend than like meeting someone for the first time. I feel like they are helping me on the passionate path and are helping me find my voice.

Another exciting development was meeting with people from my church about vision and ideas. I am so encouraged and excited by those conversations - finding there's much more room there for dialogue than I thought. I have so many things about this that I need to get on paper, but every attempt so far has either ended up very flat, or has gone someplace else entirely. You know how sometimes you sit down to write a certain thing and it ends up something totally else? There's a great part in Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell where Lady Pole keeps trying to tell people she's enchanted, but always ends up telling a long story about teakettles, or digging gardens. She is bewitched and is unable to say what she wants. It feels a bit like that.

Hopefully I'll have more to say here soon. I wish I had all the time in the world to write. Sadly, I have small chunks inbetween my real-life duties. I also continue to be amazed how difficult the writing process is - long, hard, inefficient work. My husband has been amazingly generous with his time, to give me so much time lately. He also told me an encouraging story about how some people found a bunch of Hemingway's drafts and they were pretty crappy too.

I'm eager to get some of this buzzing out of my head and onto the page.

Filed Under "Everything Else, Meta" on April 03, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

You know the zit on the bridge of your nose (RIGHT IN THE CENTER OF YOUR FACE) is truly enormous when your 2-year-old asks, FROM THE BACK SEAT - LOOKING UP INTO THE REAR-VIEW MIRROR, "What is that big thing on your face, Mommy? What happened to you?"

Filed Under "Everything Else, Kidlets" on March 16, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Although I wouldn't consider my name unusual, exactly, it is uncommon. It's the kind of name everyone has heard of (I think?), but seemingly many people do not know how to spell.

If I'm on the phone it's usually for a medical issue, so when asked for my name, I spell it automatically (it's Leah..L..E...A..H). My last name is Smith, and I'm always puzzled by the people who ask me to spell that for them, but that's another story...

At my local coffee shop or food counter, I like to experiment. After a clerk asks my name, they often stare at me, stumped. Sometimes I spell it for them during this awkward pause, but most times I wait. If they ask how to spell it, I often answer "L..I..A". Why? Because spelling it correctly doesn't mean the person on the other end of the counter will say it correctly. After some trial and error, I have come to the conclusion that LIA is the best pronunication-proof spelling (but it still occasionally prompts some interesting interpretations). I usually just let them wing it on both ends of the counter.

It really doesn't matter to me how they say or spell it - I just want to make sure they made it decaf, or made sure the burger was turkey. Like my father-in-law says, "You can call me anything you want, just don't call me late to dinner".

Today at Starbucks, I chuckled over my new favorite creative spelling of my name.
And for the record, the barista didn't even try, he just announced "Venti 3/5 decaf 1% latte".
Chicken.

Filed Under "Everything Else" on February 28, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Finding the right mascara is like finding a husband. You date around, maybe even have a significant, long-term relationship or two, before you finally meet THE ONE.
My favorite mascara has been discontinued. After a brief fling with the "new and better" substitute, I had to bail. I've been officially widowed.
Since then, I've had a couple flings: a torrid love-it-then-hate-it affair with a hip suitor; an I'm-just-not-that-in-to-you fling with another.
And now, I think I may be in love. The relationship is still in that rainbows and butterflies stage, but things are promising: no racoon eyes after a few hours, no huge clumps migrating to places on my face where they don't belong...
Here's hoping it's THE ONE.

Filed Under "Everything Else" on February 14, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

I got a cool pink iPod for Christmas and love to listen to spoken word podcasts or books on tape while I cook or clean the kitchen. I started listening to a book that my husband highly recommended. After a while, I thought to myself, “Wow – how did he get so much out of this book? It seems like the author begins to make a good point and then starts a new idea out of nowhere in the next paragraph. It almost sounds randomly chopped up.”

Then I realized that I was listening to the book on “shuffle” mode.

Filed Under "Everything Else" on January 28, 2007 | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

Today was the second snow day in a row. But it was actually better than yesterday. I think I just embraced the fact that we were totally housebound and decided to make the most of it. I baked, I decorated for Christmas, I cuddled with the boys.

Our babysitter was the saving grace. She lives 2 houses down and came for most of the day. A welcome distraction. For all of us.

Filed Under "Everything Else" on November 29, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

We were surrounded by friends and family, ate lots of turkey and fixin's, drank wine wine wine, and ended the evening with a series of lively conversations about books. What could be better?

Filed Under "Everything Else" on November 23, 2006 | Permalink

The turkey is soaking in its brine (I can't wait to roast it and make the gravy!), the veggies for the stuffing are all chopped, the floor is mopped, and the dishwasher is running. I even made it to Yoga tonight - I thought the mental and physical rejuvenation would be well worth the extra two hours of prep and I made the right choice for once.

My tongue still hurts like crazy. Looks like I'll have to save most of my Thanksgiving dinner to eat another day. The good news is that I won't be tempted to stuff myself.

I'm off to get a good night's sleep and then plunge into the kitchen tomorrow.

Filed Under "Everything Else" on November 22, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

mypinktoes is in a bit of a flux tonight. My stellar techie husband is helping me iron out some Movable Type kinks. My brain hurts (I am NOT a programmer - I'm an English major!)... my tongue hurts (did I mention I had a fair amount of tissue removed? I just did the math... the surgeon took out two 5 mm punches of tissue... That's 40 mm²!) Yikes! No wonder I feel like crap.

Did I mention there are 17 people coming here for dinner in TWO DAYS?

Filed Under "Everything Else" on November 21, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Dave and I got out this afternoon to a movie together - a fun treat. We saw the newest Bond flick and wow - I liked it. A lot. I was prepared to hate the new Bond because: 1. Who? 2. Blonde? 3. He's not Sean Connery or Remington Steele Pierce Brosnan.

As it turns out, Daniel Craig is an amazing Bond. He makes the character more believable, yet still way cooler than any normal person could be. His blue eyes have less a debonair quality than more recent Bonds. Instead, his eyes always have behind them a bit of insecurity – a glimpse of a need to prove himself. This Bond actually seems vulnerable.

He reminds me of Steve McQueen – not a head-turner, but there’s something about how he moves and how he looks at people that is far more attractive and compelling than stunning good looks alone. He’s much more Matt Damon than Brad Pitt.

I, for one, am sold on the new Bond. I can’t wait to see Daniel Craig “Die Another Day”.

Filed Under "Everything Else" on November 17, 2006 | Permalink

1. smitten - to impress favorably; charm; enamor: "He was smitten by her charms".
I love this word! Just saying it puts that goofy love-struck smile on your face - try it. Mmmm - I'm smitten by this word.

2. behoove- to be worthwhile to, as for personal profit or advantage: "It would behoove you to ask Mommy nicely."
This is one of those great old English/legal-eese sorts of words. It sounds all proper, but the "oo" makes it sort of silly. It's kind of like having Mr. Bean read from the King James.

*thanks to Maggie for the inspiration!

Filed Under "Everything Else" on November 10, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Things that make me cry: the end of Charlotte's Web, impossible center field catches, and the day after election day.

It's not as stereotypical as a Hallmark commercial, but sometime on election day or the day after, I am always overcome by tears. As I listened to the results today, the tears came. I felt overwhelmed by how lucky I am - by how lucky WE are. I can listen to the pundits droning, the new officials promising, and the radio hosts tallying the votes. We complain about the elections, about all the coverage, the mudslining, etc. But we are so very lucky. It is only because of the freedom we have in this country and our stable republic and democracy that we CAN listen to the overblown election blather.

I voted yesterday and no one threatened me. I didn't face gunfire. And today, the new leaders talk about taking office - no violent coup, no bloodshed. My life will be pretty similar in January to what it is now. We move in inches in a democracy, not feet. But thankfully, it all seems like it moves mostly in the same direction. Other countries have more distinct changes, but they are burst of violence or passion that never quite gain a foothold. I'd rather inch along in a positive direction.

I'm so grateful that this "American Experiment" works.

Filed Under "Everything Else" on November 08, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Did you vote yet?
Go. Now. It's ok, I'll wait.
You can't complain if you don't contribute.

Filed Under "Everything Else" on November 07, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

As part of the ongoing saga that involves the state of My Health, I finally got the results from my sleep study today. First, I had the great experience of having myvitals taken by a nurse that kept yawning. She shuffled sleepily around the clinic, in search of the large blood pressure cuff. I made a crack and she laughed, telling me she was the poster child for the clinic. I was a bit concerned that the doctor doesn't seem to have been able to help his own nurse...

The sleep study doctor is an interesting fellow. He can't be any older than 40, and I'd put my bet on younger. He has a very heavy Asian accent, and he doesn't seem to have a clue what to do with me. We talked about the results (add another diagnosis to the pile: Periodic Limb Movement Disorder) and then he started lecturing on my overuse of Sudafed. I told him it concerned me too and that I talked about it frequently with my PCP. He mumbled something about how dangerous it is, especially for wgghmrty patients. Huh? He had already made many comments about my weight (which for the record, is significantly greater than it should be), so I thought maybe he said "weighty" patients. I asked him to clarify. He said "Sudafed is not good for lady patients".

Excuse me? LADY patients? Did you just call me a LADY patient? What, does he expect me to fall over from an attack of the vapors?

Then he went on to explain, "Yes, there's a paper out saying Sudafed might not be good for the minds of lady patients". Um, okay? So, does he think I'm making everything up because my uterus is jumping around in my body?

No wonder I've spent so much time in denial instead of pursing answers about My Health. Unfortunately, I've had this kind of experience far too many times.

Filed Under "Everything Else, Medical Freak(out)" on November 02, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

My father always had sports on TV when I was growing up. This was before ESPN, people (yes, there was a “before”), so by “always”, I mean “all day on the weekends and on Monday nights for football”. You couldn’t go anywhere in the house on the weekend without hearing some play-by-play or color commentary.

One day, I walked by the TV and the sound seemed really funny. Dad had his old, paint-splattered radio on top of the set. It was sputtering out the broadcast in that wavy, AM way. I asked him if the sound on the TV was out. It wasn’t – he had just turned it all the way down (again, this was before mute buttons. Heck – it was before remotes!) Dad then told me a lesson about bias in sports and about the value of your own home broadcasters. Turns out his beloved WSU Cougars were on National TV, but he didn’t want their commentary. He wanted to hear the voices he was used to – the home team broadcasters. I was too young to really understand, but filed the information away.

Fast forward 20 years, and I now am a big Seattle Mariners fan. The how and why of that is a different post, but suffice it to say I fell in love with the team in 1996 and have been smitten since. Once in a while, my beloved M’s will be picked up on FOX (again, a channel not around in my dad’s day), especially if they play the Yankees on a Saturday. I used to be able to drag my old radio out to the family room and tune into the wavy AM broadcast of my familiar voices: Ron Fairly, Rick Rizz, and Dave Niehaus. The voices matched the picture, pitch for pitch, out for out, and I could pick up where the broadcasters had left off the night before with their analysis and story-telling about the year as a whole and baseball in general.

Until Janet Jackson and her planned “wardrobe malfunction”. Now the networks use a tape-delay of about 7 seconds. The radio is now always ahead of the television. This does not work – the radio announcer is screaming about the runner digging in for second base when I’m still seeing the pitch go to the plate. I end up just choosing to listen do the game on the radio and run in to the family room for the delayed play if it was a must-see.

For this reason, I hate Janet Jackson.

Filed Under "Everything Else, Rants" on October 17, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

WE: Do you want help?
Our 2-year-old son: Nope!
WE (shrug shoulders and walk away)
2-y-o (walks behind us screaming "Nope! Nope! Nope!" and flailing his hands)

It took us a few days to figure out that in Peter-ese, "Nope"="Help"

Filed Under "Everything Else" on August 04, 2006 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was out cleaning up my flowerbeds today and found a Hershey's Kiss buried in the soil.
Was someone trying to grow a chocolate tree? The idea tickles me, like when Diggory grows a Toffee tree in the Magician's Nephew.
It was fun to get a peek at someone else's misplaced optimism.

Filed Under "Everything Else" on November 21, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Daylight savings time 1 day before Halloween = sleep-deprived, cranky, candy-jacked kids. If they could just wait to mess with the clocks until the first week in November, my life would be a whole lot more managable.

Any woman who has had to deal with this week would make this her first legislative priority. Hey - first woman, or even first man - heck, even first ape, to make this their #1 campaign issue has my vote!!

Filed Under "Everything Else, Rants" on November 02, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Mommy 1: (Looking around at house party is in) So I hear you guys bought a new house!
Hostess: Yes, it's just up around the corner, on the other side of the fairway
Mommy 2: Looking for more room? How big is this house?
Hostess: Oh, only 3100.
Mommy 1 and Mommy 2: mmmm. ( shaking heads)
Mommy 2: And how big is the new one?
Hostess: Well, it's 4300, but it feels like 5.
Mommy 3: Oh, we looked at that one. Yes, it's a bit small, but it does feel bigger than the numbers.
Mommy 1: Well, you'll manage
Mommy 2: Yeah, you can make it work.
Hostess: smiles weakly at me, as her child has had a playdate at my 2100 square foot house, which is the very most we could afford and usually feels palacious to us.

Filed Under "Everything Else, Kidlets, Overheard" on November 02, 2005 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This month, we're reading The Plot Against America by Philip Roth. Once I discovered it wasn't actually a left-wing political diatribe, I was eager to read it. (Not that I don't enjoy my left-wing diatribes, i just was hoping for some good fiction.) It seemed promising enough - New York Times Booklist, etc.

I had heard two of my friends murmuring this weekend about the slowness of the book, but I hadn't started it yet. Now that I have, I must concur. I'm not enjoying it. I feel like I know where the book is going (Nazism! In America! Oh, how awful!) and I'm not really very excited about following the writer to his destination. I consider myself a moral and socially aware person, but this book seems tedious to me.

Please tell me it gets better!?

Coincidentally, I had borrowed the book The Known World from the same friends as I had seen its high recommendations and was interested in it. I had no idea what the plot was before I flipped it over this weekend to read the back and thought - great, another morally pedantic book. This one is about Slavery! It's horrible! Feel compassion for those who went through it! Feel shame at your anscestors' complicity! I agree slavery was horrible and that its effects are still being felt in many ways that we as a society must continually address. I just don't want to read any more fiction about it.

Sigh. How about some modern fiction? Well, maybe not modern fiction if you mean the kind of 'modern fiction' wehre there is no point to the story whatsover (ala Stone Diares). But how about something like Three Junes, Peace Like a River, or the Egqyptologist?

Complicating matters is the fact that it's my turn to bring books for October. If next month's book sucks, it will be entirely my fault!

Any suggestions?

UPDATE: I acutally abandoned reading this book. I know many people think Roth is one of the best authors of our time, but I just couldn't connect. Yeah, and I hated Moby Dick in college, too, so maybe my idea of what makes a "great American novel" is a bit off. Anyway, my book club universally disliked it. So, yay for me!

*I stole this title from a book review on Amazon.com*