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giant faith

i’d like to permanently burn the following web address into your brains.  

there is so much for me to say about the author of giant faith that i struggle to make it compact.  this friend of mine, stella, showed me how to segue from single woman into married woman into married-woman-with-child into married-woman-with-children…and more.  i’ve tried to keep this little intro brief and it’s just not working…so go check out GIANT FAITH, a blog dedicated to encouraging mom’s in the work of raising their children.

congestion

toilet 

one of the greatest things happened while i was in omaha–violet decided she was finished with the potty training process and sped it up, moving “start” to “finish” in 3 days.  i hate potty-training so for me this was a real blessing.  that violet seems to make up her mind that she’s going to do something…and then she just does it.

one of the tricks that goes along with her newly acquired skills: we have one bathroom.  one very narrow bathroom. we have four people need the john.  and we have one little boy that loves to splash in the potty.  today i walked by the bathroom to find the eldest perched on the throne and henry sitting IN THE BATHTUB, playing with a shampoo bottle and rubber ducky.  it’s a cardinal sin now, letting henry in the bathroom, leaving the bathroom door open, or leaving the toilet seat up.  

but we aren’t buying diapers or pull-ups anymore. aah.  instead just more toilet paper, gladly.

siren

4:30- henry hungry, crying

4:45- tired of crying noise. give him 3 crackers + milk. put him back to bed.

5:00- surf world wide web so i know more than the news within these four walls

5:15- conversation with husband.  

   “ugh.  i feel miserable.”

   husband says, “go back to bed”.

   “as soon as i fall asleep, someone is going to cry”

   “turn the fan on high. you won’t hear them.”

5:16- go to bed. read two pages of “gilead”. almost asleep when…

5:25- tornado siren blasts. sit straight up in bed, turn light on, meet husband in hall to carry the girls down into the basement: SEEK SHELTER.

an active morning, early.  

 

assortment:

-i’ve been thinking how much i would enjoy having an espresso machine, especially this morning.  

-caitlyn found our camera at the church.

-i’d like to get the A/C fixed in the green monster this week.  

-tonight is grocery shopping night. a night in “the city” by myself.

-annabelle said we should have another baby & name it “blondie dondie”.

-the homemade ice cream is delicious.

-finn is coming over this week while corrie & justin pack it up and outta omaha.  easley exit commences.

On Feist & Sundry

we think our camera was stolen.  i miss it.  i don’t like posting without photographs.  i’ll borrow one for now and stop my whining.  and i feel like i earned this photo borrow, since the photographer kept bothering me while i was trying to fix dinner with the rest of the crew…”uh, excuse me miss…could you…uh…move?”

THE FEIST CONCERT AT MEMORIAL PARK, OMAHA

We walked up to the park as opening act, The Good Life, was finishing up their set.  In between songs, they decided to use the stage as a platform for politicizing, turning a free family event into a 3 minute rant on the changing tide of left-vs.-right politics in Omaha.  The ridiculous part was that the Feist show had been sponsored by the Mayor’s office (republican).  Of course there are all sorts of alleged scandals that the Mayor has been involved with, but it was definitely the wrong place and the wrong time for rallying the troops.

Juana Molina’s following set was beautiful.  I didn’t pay much attention to her performance because the WhoCares girls had packed an extraordinary picnic dinner for us to enjoy (Julie’s chicken salad! Cheryl’s hummus! Lindsay’s brownies! Darby’s fruit skewers!), but it was lovely and perfect for a big group gathering with great friends and their husbands.

Leslie Feist is one of my favorite musicians because her vocal performance is so consistently good, she’s light-hearted on stage, confident, fun, jovial, not too full of herself, and rocks out when appropriate.  I saw Sufjan Stevens perform in 2005 on the Illinoise! tour and I felt the same way after I left his show–quietly content with the blessings i have in my life and that the life i live is one to be enjoyed.  I love it when performers put a lot on the line (ie: sufjan in the IU costumes; feist telling everyone to howl at the moon or assigning vocal parts to a large crowd; alicia doing the napolean dynamite dance for our talent show) and you can tell they’re really enjoying themselves at the same time. It’s a treat to see other people do what they love to do.  The overhead projector art was really interesting to watch.

My favorites that night: “Past in Present”, “Mushaboom” (to which someone turned and said, “Isn’t it great to have someone fantasizing about your real life?”), “Let it Die” (which was prefaced by “if you feel like slow dancing, now’s the time”…ha! to “let it die”?!), & “When I Was A Young Girl”.

What a weekend.  The seven-turned-ten hours on the train was a dream–reading, writing, watching flooded Iowa out the window [sad], sudoku, orange juice & doritos, more reading, staring out the window!! And then being with friends.  It’s hard to go about daily life when you feel mostly like a fish-out-of-water, and waiting for that to change is maddening…but little reminders that you’re still alive & kicking…that you do still have a sense of humor that other people get…and that there are loved ones nearby that know how you tick and they tick the same way. The rich conversation and connection and laughter were medicinal.

Thanks again for the train ticket, girls.

O

i like darby’s post/pictures, anticipating the WC weekend.  it was better than i imagined. 

my all time favorite was alicia’s Napoleon Dynamite dance, even though she [rightfully] won the talent show, beating ali, brooke, & my rendition of “hotel yorba”.  i’m sure there’ll be video footage sometime.

omaha is always so good to my soul. especially with a little feist sprinkled on top!

mama’s trippin’

most of the ducks are arranged appropriately.  a few things to purchase so the kids will have food to eat & jay won’t go loony.

we are having our annual WHOCARES WEEKEND GETAWAY in omaha this year.  i’m hoppin’ the train (thanks to the fund-raising efforts of dr. ali arantos) and heading back home for the festivities. 7 hours on the train. books! sudoku! homemade turkey wrap! thermos of coffee! a great view of prairie & farmland.

here’s to hours on the train that this mother TRULY appreciates, kissing friend’s babies, seeing new houses, hugging newly weds, talking, cackling, rabble-rousing, seeing FEIST (!), et al et al et al.

technology, blah.

power outage+screwed up wireless router+hours on the phone resetting+hours wasted+nothing fixed=using PC (equals grumpy girl).

lap o luxury

swam in the lap pool. stretched in the therapy pool. lounged in the whirlpool. peed in the…er…no i didn’t.  it’s fun to go to a nice gym as a temporary member. thanks again to rachel (who continues to hide from modern technology, ie: world wide web) for the pass.  i forgot what it’s like to run in an air-conditioned facility. i sweat so much less.  

isn’t it amazing how monday can be blah, tuesday the pits, and wednesday exciting and fun? last night was grocery night, which is a night for grocery buying and time for caron to relax, recharge, refresh.  as i was sitting in the whirlpool, watching the illinois river rush by, i thought, “why was i so upset yesterday? what was the big deal?”.  sometimes i think the early years of motherhood are more emotional than puberty was. way more emotional. why didn’t somebody warn me?!

dead

i have been killing a lot of things lately.  my raspberry plants are suffering. i shot a raccoon last wednesday morning.  last night i accidentally slammed the back door on a bird.  what?! it’s true.

last night i signed up for this half marathon in indianapolis.  darci and karen signed up, too.  yay!  my friend, rachel, gave me a guest pass to the riverplex for the month of july.  tonight is my night “out”. i’m gonna run there and check out the whirlpool/sauna/lazy river. and maybe the waterslide.  then getsome some groceries.

we have the kiddie pool in the backyard and it’s supposed to be another glorious day.  

mini-her

violet, caitlyn