red carpet moment.

so. i got sucked into the rachel zoe project tonight. i mean sucked in. i couldn't turn it off. oh, i wanted to. but it was like watching a train wreck. i just couldn't turn it off. of course. i got my fix. i'll never turn it on again. but for one wasted hour of my life last night, i was tuned in.

besides kimora lee simmons. she has to be the second most vile person on the planet. and she has a tv show. and people pay her to dress them. seriously. pay her to dress them. who does that?

she flitted from fashion show to fashion show at NYC fashion week in the episode i caught. she berated her assistants, she was absurd to her husband, she was self-absorbed, insolent and horrid. and then she said it. "every woman should have a red carpet moment everyday." please. please. please. who does this? who even thinks this way? don't get me wrong. i love fashion. i'd love to have big-time label designer clothes. i've always been a fashion junkie. but this woman is horrid. is it really necessary to yell at people over clothing? over fedex packages not arriving? besides the fact. does she eat? she had dinner with someone, i don't remember who and she had a bottle of water while they ate. now that's poor manners.

i know. i don't like to devote space in my blog to these kinds of things. things. i say. but. she. is a stain on the human race. i had to share.

777.68

closed.

i think that today congress (both sides, quite frankly) could use a refresher lesson in kindergarten etiquette.

let's review ourselves.

"All I Ever Really Needed to Know
I Learned in Kindergarten"
Robert Fulgham

Most of what I really need to know about how to live, and what to do, and how to be, I learned in Kindergarten. Wisdom was not at the top of the graduate school mountain, but there in the sandbox at nursery school.

These are the things I learned..

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life.

Learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world, watch for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.

Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the plastic cup? The roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.

Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the plastic cup - they all die. So do we.

And then remember the book about Dick and Jane and the first word you learned, the biggest word of all: LOOK.

Everything you need to know is in there somewhere.
The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation.
Ecology and politics and sane living.

Think of what a better world it would be if we all - the whole world had cookies and milk about 3 o'clock every afternoon and then lay down with our blankets for a nap. Or if we had a basic policy in our nation and other nations to always put things back where we found them and cleaned up our own messes. And it is still true, no matter how old you are, when you go out into the world, it is best to hold hands and stick together.

at least they won.

a gorgeous fall day. sunny. light winds. not blazing hot temperatures. bright blue skies. crisp morning air. footballs flying. and flying into the end zones. at least the chefs finally were able to win a game. could be their only one all season, but a win is a win.

games in the street with our friends (we've taken to playing fun games on the weekends) and a dinner with todd. the littles were besides themselves. they adore uncle todd. i think he's a bit smitten, too.

thank goodness, part 3 (not so good).

not such a good day. a good effort, but not a good outcome. we are looking forward to next week and hooking some horns.

$12,000.

i've been busy. very busy.

getting ready for the annual designer kids resale sale. sounds like fun, right? no. not right. not fun. a bit sad (all those memories). a bit overwhelming (too much stuff) and a bit depressing (did we really need all these clothes? did we need to spend all this money? sure they looked, cute, but really?).

just as i was waxing poetic in my mind and to my friend about all the waste. all the expense, all the craziness of being a mom who likes to dress her children well, another saler stepped up. get this. i mean. seriously. get this.

me: "i spend way too much on my kid's clothing." i've got a problem."

her: "really?"

friend: "me, too. that and baby producing. those are my problems."

her: "but it's fun"

us: "sure is, but look what we end up doing with them later."

us: "reselling them out of a garage."

her: "i went into my favorite store the other day."

me: "yes?"

her: "i asked what i had spent this year in there."

me and friend: "really?"

me: "you wanted to know? i don't think i could handle that kind of pain."

friend: "what did they tell you?"

her: "$12,000."

us: "$12,000???"

friend: "on one kid? at one store?"

her: "yep and i bought more."

good god. do you know what you could do with $12,000? do you know how many people that would feed, how many kids that could clothe, how much that could help in the fight against disease, malnutrition, homelessness, the wall street debacle? $12,000. in one store. on one kid. can you imagine what the total would be if she added in all the other stores she shops at?

there is a problem in this society. and i ran smack into it today.

{!!.:'@(*)}

today is national punctuation day.

their people probably are not too impressed with me. i love to use ellipsis (my favorite punctuation), periods, shortened sentences, and lowercase letters (caps drive me crazy).

so a great big exclamation point (!) to national punctuation day.

creature.

look at this creature that i almost. almost stepped right through while i was shooting photos in my garden. eek. i had one of these hanging around. in one of my flower pots. for weeks a couple of summers ago. this guy is huge. about two inches. two. in length. intricate web. a common garden spider. harmless. interesting. creepy.

artsy fartsy.

or the plaza art fair.

made our way down to the plaza this weekend for the annual plaza art fair stroll-about.

lots and lots of great art to look at. paintings, photography, ceramics, textiles and jewelry. good food, too. friends. and people watching.

the littles had fun. we enjoyed the art. but the best part was the kids band that played a rockin' version of pink floyd's another brick in the wall. seriously. the picture is them.

all in the name of art.

creepy crawly.

hanging out in our tree this am. intricate web. scared of people. he ran as soon as he saw us snapping pics. he must have worked on his web. all. night. long. it was huge.

arrgh.

ahoy mateys!  it's talk like a pirate day.  who has the cool job of thinking these things up?  because whoever does, i want your job.

we talk pirate in our house all the time.  especially since we have a pirate living with us.  

so go on. talk like a pirate. today.

thank goodness, part 2 and the john denver bowl.

another good week. a bit of a nail-biter, but a good week. and. it was the "john denver bowl" how cool is that?

17-14 over #21 west virginia.

lecture.

why do the baristas at starbucks feel the need to lecture their customers?   a friend and i went to starbucks today on our way out to shop.  we both ordered shaken green iced teas with one splenda.  through the black box we got the lecture of what was in a green tea and why did we want a splenda, too?  

confusion.  why the questions?  why the lecture? we've ordered these all summer.  why the sudden conflict over our drinks?

leave it alone.  we ordered what we ordered.  we paid.  give it to us without the attitude!

false. false. false.

i love jcrew. i love their look. i love their over priced clothes. i love their store (even if they have the most horrible sales clerks in town). but i hate their emails. i get gobs of them. at least one a day. i know. you say unsubscribe. but once in awhile a good one comes across the wire. but most of the time they are like this:

and they are all about free shipping. which in my mind. isn't free. at all. free is free. free when you spend $100 is $100. not free. stop with the free. free. free. or make it truly free.


clever little marketers they think they are. those jcrew people.

melt.

this is how our day started. i knew it was going to be one of those days.

at first i thought there was a broken egg on the counter. dripping onto the floor.

the culprit was hiding under the desk. sticky and gooey.

upon closer inspection it was a melted orange and vanilla ice cream bar. such a good breakfast.

neccessity.

really. just what everyone needs. our new friend, the butter boy. a handy little friend that holds butter. perfect for buttered corn and he looks cute looking back at you in the fridge. thanks to todd. he nows how to pick 'em.

sirens.

our crazy fall weather has taken a turn towards spring tonight. after a day of pretty much non-stop rain - and heavy. rain. at that - (the after effects of Lowell) the sirens started blowing around 5 o'clock tonight. it was suspiciously still out - that eerie nothing moving, but 100% plus humidity hanging in the air.

the weather folks were going crazy. they LIVE. LIVE. for this kind of stuff. we gathered everyone up and sat in the living room. the basement is a bit of a disaster right now, so i didn't want to head down there until absolutely necessary.

i headed outside to snap some photos of the cool clouds and the birds flying in formation in front of them. the sky was interesting. the clouds were crazy. we never made it to the basement, luckily, although they say there was a touch down about 2 miles away from us.

all in a pre-fall, but spring like day in the midwest.

a day of silence.

it's waining.

it was a nice day. september in this area can be blistering hot and humid. but clearly fall is making a push to come early this year. it's been cooler, wet and not much humidity. the windows are open, and there's been a nip to the air in the early mornings.

late this afternoon it started to rain. or wain as max says.

after a nice visit from jamie (it's like a ray of sunshine beams down on her) - we love when she comes by - we did a bit of puddle jumping, little two and i, while daddy and little one went to gymnastics.

such simple fun it is to jump in puddles and get splashed. little two giggled and laughed and was so delighted. such a joy, he his.

i know.

the drama of yesterday's post. all about the loss of almond flavoring. but it was disappointing. you know - like when you think so hard about something and then it doesn't happen, it's a bit of a let down, a bit of sadness perhaps.

so today is better. it's a gorgeous day. seriously, does it get better? (well, of course if you're on the beach or in the mountains, but let's put that aside.)

72 degrees. bright blue sky. no clouds. no wind. it almost wanted to remind me of being in santa fe (the sky never gets brighter blue than it does in santa fe - as my picture shows). almost. we don't get alot of these kinds of days here. perfect.

the littles got outside. i got outside. gorgeous. cocktails with friends. no thoughts of almond lattes. perfect.

a spot of one's own.

everyone needs their own spot for scooby doo watching.

a favorite blanket makes it even better.

why. oh why?

starbucks.  why?  why? oh why?  why did you have to abandon almond flavored syrup? 

i suppose to many this may be old news.  

but it was news and new news to me.

i used to love my skinny lattes with almond flavoring.  but awhile back i decided i had had enough and needed a break...needed to purge my lattes from flavors.  i said good-bye.  i said no flavor, please.  i apparently had my last one.

today i gave in.  i really wanted a skinny almond latte.  i thought about it all through church.  i know.  i'm bad.  but at least i'm honest.  it sounded so good in my mind, i could almost taste it.  i couldn't get to starbucks fast enough.  

i got in the store.  no line. perfect i thought.  i ordered.  my usual.  grande skinny latte.  with extra extra velvety foam.  one splenda.  any flavor the barista asked?  why yes, i said.  stunned she said, what?  you, see, i never order flavor anymore.  she was taken aback.  which one? almond i said proudly.  what? she seemed to stumble over it.  almond?  yes, i said, with a smile, almond.  uh, we don't have almond syrup.  

huh?  what?  i always ordered almond syrup.  we don't have it, haven't had it since i've worked here.  disappointment.  sorrow.  thoughts of can i buy it on ebay? ran through my mind.  what about hazelnut, she suggested.  hazelnut?  ick.  i thought.  i'd rather not have a coffee than have hazelnut flavoring.  i'll pass, i said with deep sadness and a bit of embarrassment.  i guess it had been awhile since i'd given in to my craving.

so i sat there and drank my unflavored, skinny latte with one splenda and extra extra velvety foam.  it was good, but there was a bit of melancholoy hanging over the whole coffee experience today.  good-bye my friend.  good-bye to my go-to beverage of choice.  good-bye to almond flavored lattes.

thank goodness.

2-0. yep. 2-0. off to a good start. good starts make life more pleasant at home. funny how football can so dominate a household's mood (well at least for one member).

toad and frog.

do you remember the book, toad and frog? i loved that book as a kid. they were friends and went on adventures. i always loved going "venturing". still do. little one has developed a love for adventuring, too. i'm so pleased by that. adventuring is good for the soul. it can clear the mind. open your eyes to new things. introduce you to new people and new ideas. it's just all around good for you. when you live someplace quite sterile and beige, like here, adventuring is needed..

i digress. a tangent i think. but i look at these pictures and i think adventure. i went to fetch the littles today and saw something jump when i opened the garage. there it was. this little frog. trapped in my parent's garage. probably all adventured out.

the littles were beyond themselves with excitement. they talked to him. little one called him her friend. little two giggled and jumped up and down. my mom and i caught it and put him outside.

the littles stood and looked at him. forever. it seemed. i love this picture. they were standing over him. talking to him. telling him to find his mommy. so worried and about his safety. yet so intrigued. they wanted to go back to grammies all day to check on him.

intrigue and adventure. so important.

the first day.

the littles were awake and up early this am.

their backpacks were packed, their lunches were made.

they were ready to head off to a new year of school.

new friends, old friends, new teachers, new classrooms, new routines.

3 days for little one and 2 days for little two.

there was excitement in the air, laughs and grins running through the halls. as much as the first day of school makes me sad, an ending and a beginning, it also is so exciting and exuberant!

spin.

somedays it just feels like. this. round. and. round. and. round.

and truly it's been that way today. 10 loads later.

but. that's what fun is about. right?

homeward bound.

can't quite believe our trip to montana has ended.

a rainy day. a good day to snuggle in by the fire. but a trip to the airport and two flights later and we're back. back to the normal. back to our own kind of craziness. easy flights home. littles actually slept. no drama like we've become accustomed to on flights...

as todd said at the reception, "montana has a way of getting under your skin and not wanting to leave".

well, it's there. we've got the bug. now we have to live with it. here. we miss the mountains and the fun already. little one wanted to go back as soon as we left. how's that for having fun?