Friday, July 28, 2006

Warning!

Don't ever give your husband picture taking responsibilities at the family picnic.

I almost spewed coffee across my keyboard this morning when I uploaded our latest batch of pics.



Not only did I discover these, but there is also a video of me jumping off that diving board. What was he thinking...or better yet...what in the hell was I thinking?

If these don't motivate me to continue what will? It takes a "big" woman to post pics of herself in a swimming suit. Ba-dum-bum.

Thursday, July 27, 2006

I've taken my bows...and my curtain calls...

FIRST PLACE
Junior Girls League

Abi is in the front row middle with no visor.

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FIRST PLACE & UNDEFEATED

Minor Girls League

My kid Mimi, is the one with the glove on her head.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Can I Get an "Amen"...

No time to come up with something of my own, so I'm going to link to a post that had me laughing out loud at my desk today: MessyBeautiful.

All I can say is, me too.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Picture of My Thoughts

Websites as Graphs displays your website as a graph showing the connections within it.

TaterTot's Thoughts:



Thanks Bombadee.

Monday, July 24, 2006

Lemon, Butter and Bib, Please

I would like to take full responsibility up front for anything I may say, post, or comment that may insult, offend or imply judgment over the next several (or past few) days.

I am very crabby.

If I hurt your feelings and didn’t mean to, I apologize.

If I meant to hurt your feelings and didn’t, get a clue.

Not sure when it will change, or what will change it.

Bear with me.

I had a picture of an actual crab to add for your viewing pleasure, but Blogger is being a shithead and I don't have the patience today.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Sorry, My Card is Full: Part II

Here are the two pics that I wanted to include in my post on Monday, but for some strange reason would not upload until today:

Fourth of July with BlahZeeBlahs, Souffle's and PunkyMom's

Madison Beach with Bombadee's and BlahZeeBlah's

Make new friends, but keep the old....

We dropped our 9-year old daughter Mimi off at camp on Sunday. While she has gone on several overnight jaunts with friends, this is her first time away from home without a parent for such an extended period of time (six days). Of course I miss her, but I'm not crying at the sight of her empty bed...at least not yet. What I do wish is that we shared a five minute phone conversation everyday so I could hear about all of her adventures. As she looked through the camp booklet in early spring, she was having a hard time choosing which week/camp she wanted to attend. Pioneer Quest offered six glorious days sleeping in covered wagons, living like the pioneers did. Star Gazers had activities focused on astrology. Of course there were the standard crafting, canoeing and horseback riding choices as well. Following much consideration, Mimi chose the Outdoor Adventures camp. Its description was as follows:

“First time at camp? Don’t know what program to choose? Then why not try being an Outdoor Adventurer? This program gives a little taste of everything that Camp has to offer. Canoeing, one horseback ride, swimming (with swim lessons and skill practice), arts and crafts, nature hikes, archery, and cook-outs are just a few of the activities that you get to enjoy!”

Doesn’t that sound grand? I can’t wait to pick her up on Friday and listen to her talk non-stop for what I’m sure will be hours and hours. I have brilliant memories from attending the same Camp when I was a kid. To be honest, I’m a little jealous…I would love to have gone to camp with her. ~shhh~



Here is Mimi, far left, with her BFF Mags and the two new friends who they will be sharing a platform tent with. Just as we are saying goodbye, Mimi called her Dad into the tent to check out what she believed to be a "dead bat" hanging in the corner of the tent above her bunk. As soon as I heard her say it, I thought "how would a bat be hanging, if it were dead?"

Dad poked it and suddenly there were four screaming girls running from the tent.

What a way to begin, eh?

Monday, July 17, 2006

Sorry, My Card is Full

I finally filled my 1GB memory card and was forced to empty its contents onto my rapidly filling hard drive. I found some great shots of our family fun over the past several weeks, so I'm going to go the easy route and use them for my post today. (I have more shots from the beach and fireworks on the 4th, but Blogger is being a pain and won't let me upload...hopefully I can add them later.)

I give you the Tots, and friends:

Swimming with the Bombadee's and BlahZeeBlahs



Four-Wheelin' and Fireworks at Camp Peckerwood

Madison Zoo and Beach with the Bombadee's and BlahZeeBlah's


Bohemian Inspiration & The Lady in Red


Thursday, July 13, 2006

Beating Bigotry Badges

I should have an interesting post early next week. My 9-year-old daughter Emi was supposed to join a Girl Scout Roundup, to recruit new members, at one of our local parks Saturday morning. I received an email yesterday saying that it was cancelled due to the “demonstration” that was taking place in our Small Smug Town. What demonstration I thought? I read our small local paper and didn’t remember seeing anything about it, so I sent a reply asking. This was the response:

“A white supremacy demonstration is taking place at the courthouse on Saturday..It is in the afternoon but we are worried that ppl might be trickling into town earlier in the day.”

What? A white supremacy demonstration? I asked for more details.

“Apparently there is a woman in (Small Sister Town) that is organizing this event. It is to take place in front of the county courthouse from 2:00 p.m.-4:00p.m. followed by a BBQ at a park beginning at 4:30 p.m. They have called in every available officer from the City, County and even some State officers to be prepared for this event. Can't believe the stupidity and ignorance that is still out there.”

I immediately emailed Bombadee…what should I do? Do I take the girls downtown for some “see how much hatred and stupidity and ignorance exists” education? Do we leave town for the day? She suggested calling the news or writing a letter to the editor. Of course, great idea; have Mimi write a letter saying how she feels about it, and note that her Girl Scout event was cancelled. Stand up for what we believe. I wish I new more about it, like who the woman is that is organizing it and if it is in response to something specific or just your general everyday bigotry or a recruitment effort of their own.

I began to wonder how to broach the subject with my girls (Emi, 9 and Abi, 11). Did the Girl Scouts HAVE to cancel? No. Was it the right decision that they did? Absolutely. Emi’s BFF since preschool, Mags, is on her troop and is bi-racial; they most likely want to avoid a potential and scary conflict. I don’t think Girl Scouts can earn a "Beating Bigotry" badge for taking on a white supremacy group in the park. And, while I want my girls to arrive at their own conclusion (that these people are idiots), I also want them to realize and appreciate that this group has every right to demonstrate even if we passionately disagree with what they pronounce. We must hold sacred our freedom of speech, even if we have to “acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who's standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours” (The American President, 1995).

Then my parental instinct kicked in. Do I really want my daughter’s name (or my family’s name) in the paper or splashed on the TV news denouncing these people? Is this a bigger, more dangerous group than I realize? I could handle some eggs on my house or whispers in the grocery store, but could there be more substantial consequences for my family? I can’t begin to fathom the courage such people as Martin Luther King Jr. had to have, striving to make the world a better place for his children all the while trying to keep them safe from radicals who would harm them without thought or remorse. I’ve found that becoming a parent puts a new perspective and greater appreciation on many, many things.

What will I do? I don’t know, I haven’t decided yet. All I know is that my children are being raised in a loving, educational, accepting, and committed home that is full of laughter and silliness, where they can choose to have a BFF with curly hair and gorgeous brown eyes.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Love at First Sight

It's one size too small and $80, offered in either the pale gold below or a gorgeous, deep, rich red.

I'm seriously considering it.


If this doesn't motivate me to continue my journey, what will?

Monday, July 10, 2006

Then I saw her face...now I'm a...

Bombadee just sent an email telling me "I just found the most accurate horoscope webpage in the world. I am shitting at how accurate. The whole thing is kinda long to read but it blew my mind."

I read her descriptions and they were pretty accurate and creepy.

Why not, I thought. Usually horoscopes are so generalized, that anyone can read something that is happening in their life into them.

What I read, freaked me out. No shit. I won't share all of it (it's rather long) but even just the initial parts hit a little close to home.


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Name: Jennie
February 18 19xx

Rising Sign is in 22 Degrees Gemini: Extremely active by nature, you like to get around, meet people and do different things. Very restless, you just can't seem to stay put. You need to be involved in several projects at once in order to keep your mind stimulated. You like to read books and to write letters and to talk -- constantly. Seemingly ageless, you will always appear to be much younger than you really are. Very adaptable and inquisitive, you are always open to new ideas and experiences. A "jack-of-all-trades", you are lively and versatile. Because of the high nervous tension that you always seem to have, athletic activity would be a good way for you to burn off energy. But be careful of a tendency to experience things only superficially -- try to dig in and absorb things at a deeper level.

Sun is in 29 Degrees Aquarius: You get bored with the status quo and are generally open to new things and ideas. An individualist and a free spirit, your friends are quite important to you as long as they do not try to tie you down by making too many emotional demands on you. Your thoughts are offbeat and you're a bit eccentric, but not always very changeable. As a matter of fact, you can be quite stubborn at times. Very fair-minded when dealing with large groups or broad issues, you are not always emotionally sensitive to the needs of individuals. Extremely objective, with good powers of observation, you would be qualified to study technical and complicated subjects, like science, computers or maybe even astrology.

Moon is in 16 Degrees Virgo: You tend to be serious-minded but cheerful for the most part. You need tasks that engage both your mind and your hands. A careful worker, you enjoy making things. You are neat and orderly, and are very concerned with good health habits. Fastidious to the extreme, you cannot tolerate messes and will immediately clean them up.


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The items noted in green, describle me to a "T" (I think). I half expected to read “You’re 5’5” and weigh 203 pounds. You have short hair and skinny ankles. As you read this, you are wearing khaki pants and a green top.”

Friday, July 07, 2006

Happy Birthday Husband

A friend of mine asked me recently if I were to pick the song for the first dance at our wedding today, what it would be. Thirteen years ago we danced to All My Life performed by Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville.

These lyrics remind me of Jeff. This is the song I would choose today.


Never knew I could feel like this
Like I've never seen the sky before
Want to vanish inside your kiss
Everyday I love you more and more
Listen to my heart, can you hear it sing
Telling me to give you everything
Seasons may change winter to spring
But I love you until the end of time

Come what may, come what may
I will love you until my dying day


Happy Birthday to my best friend, whose kiss I can disappear in.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Eye of the Beholder

How do today's mothers teach their daughters to have healthy, realistic body images?

How do I teach them that health = beauty when I am overweight and essentially unhealthy?

How do I instill in my girls enough self-esteem so they never feel the need to cut open their chests to put foreign bodies under their breasts? Without being judgemental of those who do?

How do you teach girls "beauty comes from within"?

How will my lessons fare against the lessons of Teen Vogue and Barbie?

How do I respond to Mimi when I tell her she can't eat five brownies because it's not healthy and she asks "why, because it will make me fat?"

How do you teach girls to find beauty in every person, but not to emulate emaciation?

How will they define physical beauty in themselves? In others?

I wonder if I showed them these three pictures and asked which of them they think is the most beautiful, which they would pick?

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

It's all a blur....

So much to share of our WONDERFUL, LONG weekend but not today.

I broke my glasses three days ago and can no longer live in a world that looks like this:



The optical shop I go to doesn't want me to get a new pair until I see the optometrist, since it has been 2+ years since my last eye exam. He can see me today at 2:20, so until then my world remains blurry. Normally I can go sometime without my specs and just take some drugs (legal, of course) to make it through but for some reason this morning sitting at my PC has made me nauseaus and given me a splitting headache.

Hopefully I will have better focus tomorrow and will post all about our great mini-vacation and share a few pics. Until then, I hope everything in your world is crystal clear.