Monday, March 31, 2008

ok mom. . .

Robert's body can feed 15!
How many cannibals could your body feed?
Created by OnePlusYou - Free Online Dating

I definitely don't want to be in your RV when the world ends : )
How Long Could You Survive Trapped In Your Own Home?
Created by OnePlusYou - Free Online Dating

Apparently vagina doesn't count. I thought I'd be nearer to the F bomb.
The Blog-O-Cuss Meter - Do you cuss a lot in your blog or website?
Created by OnePlusYou - Free Online Dating

apparently you're supposed to suck air in, but I'm full of it so I chose to expel.
How long could you survive in the vacuum of space?
Created by OnePlusYou - Free Online Dating

I do not consume caffeine so this one is technically irrelevant, but it was the most entertaining quiz so why not?
The Caffeine Click Test - How Caffeinated Are You?
Created by OnePlusYou - Free Online Dating

Friday, March 28, 2008

Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band

Listen!





oh and here's their myspace page:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=8524459

Thursday, March 27, 2008

my way or the highway




Your Thinking is Concrete and Random



You are naturally inquisitive and curious.

You're excited by new ideas, and you are a true independent thinker.



You are interested in what is possible. You like the process of discovery.

You are often experimenting, challenging old ideas, and inventing new concepts.



Rules, restrictions, and limit don't really work for you.

You have to do things your own way, and you can't be bothered to explain yourself.





Is there anybody out there besides me who is going to miss the celebrity apprentice?

ok mom I figured it out

Click to view my Personality Profile page

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Click to view my Personality Profile page

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

spring break

I have learned that 'break' means to separate a person into many pieces.

I have two papers to write.
one will be over Song of Solomon.
the other will be over a canto (no ideas yet) from the faerie queene.
I just started a new asl class tonight.
+ spring cleaning has officially started.

perhaps we should start calling it spring brake. then there wouldn't be any confusion over the meaning of the word. it would simply mean 'stop everything you're doing and enjoy the first few rapturous moments of spring.'

I went with the 'brake' spelling today and halted everything.

I started two paintings for the dining room. The naked walls have been bothering me for months. I knew I couldn't spend more than $30 so that eliminated pictures and professional art work, even cheap poster reproductions. I did what any college student without an ounce of art education would do. I went to hobby lobby, bought two canvases and got to work.

This is what I came up with:

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Meanwhile Robert, who is broken into a million pieces too, did what boys do best.


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He made a mess.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

you can unplug your ears now

I changed my music. No more harsh songs here folks. Unfortunately I could not find one of my favorite songs. I found it on youtube though. Enjoy!

Josh Groban and Ladysmith black mambazo-lullaby

Friday, March 21, 2008

time to play

we went to our favorite dog park today.

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we tried out the sling shot.


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on the way home the moon came out to play.


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but it was shy


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and rarely showed itself as more than a reflection.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

she's a self-playing accordian & even
when she's asleep, her quiet
breathing goes a-one & a-two
-brian andreas

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

A poem and *SIGH* more food

A Fantasy
by Louise Glück

I'll tell you something: every day
people are dying. And that's just the beginning.
Every day, in funeral homes, new widows are born,
new orphans. They sit with their hands folded,
trying to decide about this new life.

Then they're in the cemetery, some of them
for the first time. They're frightened of crying,
sometimes of not crying. Someone leans over,
tells them what to do next, which might mean
saying a few words, sometimes
throwing dirt in the open grave.

And after that, everyone goes back to the house,
which is suddenly full of visitors.
The widow sits on the couch, very stately,
so people line up to approach her,
sometimes take her hand, sometimes embrace her.
She finds something to say to everybody,
thanks them, thanks them for coming.

In her heart, she wants them to go away.
She wants to be back in the cemetery,
back in the sickroom, the hospital. She knows
it isn't possible. But it's her only hope,
the wish to move backward. And just a little,
not so far as the marriage, the first kiss.



You may be wondering about my recent fascination with food. Honestly, it's nothing serious. Just a weird little infatuation. Next week it might be rocks. You never know. I do have a recipe that goes along with tonight's dinner. I used a morningstar black bean and roasted corn burger, but boca works fine. Robert grilled it for me because we all know that grilling is the only way to go with burgers (fake or real). I then added a little avocado, tomato, provolone cheese and onion. To top it off I threw on a little bbq sauce (Quicks is the best, but it's a kc thing). It was really fantastic.

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Tuesday, March 18, 2008

holy crap

I must have a good memory. I looked at this photo last night and remembered the number of blooms and the precise color. Isn't that spooky?


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Here is my response Robin

~Imagine a desert landscape. It is utterly simple. A horizon line. Sand. Sky.

~In this desert landscape, there is a cube.

See it. Describe it.

What size is it?
Where is it?
What is it made of?

(There are no rules, no right or wrong answers. Describe the cube you see).

~Now:

In this landscape, as well as the cube, there is also a ladder.

Describe it: it's size, position, what it's made of.

~Now:

In this desert there is also a horse.

Describe it.

What kind of horse is it? What size? What color? Where is it relative to the cube and the ladder? What is it doing?

~Now:

Somewhere in this landscape is a storm.

Describe it.

Where is it? What kind of storm is it? How does it affect-or not affect- the cube, the ladder, and the horse?

~Finally in this desert are flowers.

Describe them.

How many are there? What kind? What color? Where are they in relation to the cube, the ladder, the horse, the storm?


Ok this is what I saw:



The cube is see through. It has metal edges. The metal edges have ridges. When I look through the cube I see clouds. The metal perturbs me because it seems so out of place. The size appears to be larger than a shoe box, but smaller than a box that would hold a computer. The cube is in the sky. Nothing is holding it up.

The ladder is floating too. It is a decorative ladder that is made of old, dark barn wood. It is damp, and a flower pot sits two rungs up. The flower pot is ivory with an abstract painting of a red flower on one side. I don’t know what kind of plant this is, but it is green and trailing down past the ladder. There are no blooms on this plant. I don’t think this ladder is close to the cube. I can’t see the cube and ladder together.

The horse is solid brown with a black tail. It is medium sized. There is a man on the horse, but I can’t see his face. Once again I can’t the see the ladder or cube when I’m looking at the horse. The horse is standing still.

Wow that was a fast storm! Everything was sunny two seconds ago! I swear! I am having a hard time imagining a storm and sand together because I am in the desert. Oddly enough there is a little snow, a little hail and a few fat drops of rain. Mostly I feel wind. The cube is swinging a little. The ladder isn’t moving, and oddly enough the leaves on the plant are not moving. The horse, too, is still calmly rooted to one spot. The only changes are the few weird horsey noises it is making. The man on the horse is spitting, looking up with interest at the sky, but try as I might I still can’t see his face.

The flowers are yellow. They look exactly like the flowers I just saw on my mom’s blog last night. There is a little orange in the middle and they are close to the ground. There are only three, but I can see more off in the distance. I can actually see the horse and the flowers together.


P.S. Robin-You can expect an email from me later tonight : )

Monday, March 17, 2008

Lost in Translation

There are some days when no matter
what I say it feels like I'm far away in
another country & whoever is doing
the translating has had far too much to drink

-Brian Andreas

Sunday, March 16, 2008

KIAAA conference cont.

we went to the cosmosphere which included a lot of boring moon stuff that made no sense to me whatsoever. the kiddos loved it though.

I then went on an adult only field trip (ooh la la) to tour the fox theater, stop by fraese drugstore/soda fountain and have a float, and shop the downtown antique stores. I found a beautiful jar of turquoise buttons + a handful of glass and bone buttons with intricate carvings. I'm going to attempt to take better pictures, but here's a general overview of the mess:


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And let's not forget the float!


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Also here's a nifty neat-o website for the fox theater. Their pictures are much better than mine.

http://www.hutchinsonfox.com/


I also took Joseph to the Underground Salt Mines. It was very interesting. My favorite part? the two minute, pitch black ride on the elevator. Here's the website. Once again their pictures are better than mine.

http://www.undergroundmuseum.org/index.php


last but not least here is the view from the room:


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KIAAA conference

We are back from the KIAAA conference. It was long. boring. confusing. stressful. tiring. I never knew where I was supposed to be, who I was supposed to be with or what I was supposed to be doing. R and I’s room overlooked the indoor water park, so rest was never attainable. Sure, they closed the pool down at midnight, but Robert forgot his machine (sleep apnea isn’t fun folks) and we spent every evening designing INVENTIVE AWE-INSPIRING ear plugs. I finally downed a few Tylenol PMs and used a headband to hold tissues to my ears. I tried to sleep a few minutes during the day, but Suzy, one of the munchkins I babysat figured out where my room was and would stand outside (remember there was a water park right outside the glass wall) giggling until I opened the curtains and invited her in for a game of ‘find the moose’. I thank god that the damn moose was never found because it kept her entertained for hours. The moose game, plus two GIANT bouncy balls were the best $7.00 I have ever spent in my life. When I found out that Suzy had an attachment problem and didn’t bond well with anybody except her family I went to target and bought a few toys. I knew that Suzy had to like me by Saturday night or I would have failed my job. Saturday night was the big night for her dad, who was president of this event for the last time. Last year, as president, he had wanted his wife to join him for the big dinner but Suzy didn’t want to go to the daycare they had set up at the motel. This year was his last chance. That meant I had less than three days to get acquainted with Suzy. Saturday night she said goodbye to her mom and we hopped in the car. For the first few hours she was fine. We had a blast. During the ride to pizza hut, however, she abruptly stopped talking to me. I couldn’t see her well in my mirror so before I started panicking I asked her brother what was going on. Silence. I started flashbacking to the night before we left for the conference. On that Tuesday night I had the double T’s in my car. Tiffany was singing and Taylor was picking a scab on her knee. Taylor started to complain that her knee was bleeding. I asked Tiffany if it was and Tiffany stopped singing and said, “no SIGH it’s not bleeding, but her Band-Aid fell OH MY GOSH HANNAHJANESTOPTHEEECARRRRRSTOP THE CAR!” I pulled over to a side street, shot out of my car, yanked open the backseat and found two hysterical girls crying over a sudden nosebleed. Apparently Tiffany had bent over to pick up the band-aid. When she looked up taylor’s nose was dripping blood everywhere. The whole episode freaked me out like nothing else and I doubt that I will ever fully recover. I think it was the sudden burst of noise that scared the peewaddens out of me.
Last night, however, was totally different. I knew that both kids were awake, but I couldn’t get them to talk. Finally Joseph spoke up and said that Suzy did this sometimes. When we stopped for pizza I was worried that she wasn’t going to get out of the car but she hopped right out. When we got inside she still refused to speak to me, joseph or the waitress. This went on until we got back in the car and then, without warning, she was back to her giggly, talkative self. The giggly side only lasted a couple more hours and that’s when she completely turned and became very argumentative. It was a very weird experience. I was glad when it all ended. R and I managed to get home about 2:00 this morning. We just woke up a little while ago. It was an exhausting trip that had a few bright spots, but I can honestly say that I’m just happy to be home. I will post a few pictures later.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

vagina woes

tacky title?

perhaps, but I have reasons for everything.

It’s always hard to play tennis after 9.

The worst part? Robert and the pups are usually going to sleep when I leave. It’s always difficult to come home to a silent house knowing that everyone is asleep.

I play tennis several times a week. There are rare days when I cannot get a court until 9. These are usually days when I play by myself and a ball machine is required. There are many courts at the club I play at, but only four are ball machine accessible. These four courts also happen to be the pick of the litter. They are the crème de la crème. First, they are easily accessible. Second, the lighting and temperature are usually perfect. And third, they are at the center of attention. This means that anybody who wants to can sit on the other side of the glass wall and watch you play. Most often people will play their games for the day, grab a beer and sit back and watch others play. I don’t understand why this makes the courts highly desirable, but I’m sure there are some fruitcake people out there who enjoy being watched and picked apart. I don’t.

Unfortunately I have no choice when I am playing by myself and need the ball machine. This is why I usually cannot get a court until 9. You’d be surprised at the number of people who are CHARGED UP at 9:00 in the freaking evening. Even though I don’t get up until 8 most mornings I have a terrible time getting my body cranked up at 9:00. Between wrestling with the ball machine and stretching it is usually close to 9:30 by the time I play. Each round with the ball machine is roughly 200 hits at constant speed, and I can usually crank out 4 or 5 rounds by 11 when they kick me out. After playing the ball machine it takes every bit of strength I have to stretch and take off my shoes. Tonight was short lived due to a not-so-gentle reminder from my pulled muscle. Yes, I pulled a muscle last Wednesday in a place that no person should pull one. Last Thursday I could barely drive and briefly considered emailing my professors with the blunt complaint of a broken vagina, but I drove slow and took the elevator. The pain disappeared on Friday, which was a bleeping miracle because I ended up playing a read badass. After playing three people (a whopping total of 4 hours) on Saturday the pain came back and stayed through Sunday. I made the stupid mistake of lifting Rose (all 60-70 lbs. of her) into the back of Robert’s truck. I sat down after that and didn’t move for a long time. I knew that if I was to play tonight that I had to chill for a couple of hours. I didn’t experience any pain today, but after only a mere 40 minutes of tennis it was back. I have no other choice but to take it easy. Those are not three words that stick together very easily in my vocabulary. I have a strict rule about tennis and exercise in general. I absolutely cannot go two days without it unless I have a damn good excuse. There are many problems with this rule. One problem will present itself Wednesday when Robert and I leave for a few days on a business trip. Robert will be helping out with technological things I don’t understand and I will be babysitting various kids. How the heck do I play tennis outdoors with a kid on each hip? I know for a fact that Wednesday morning is the last opportunity I’ll have to play until Sunday. I really want to have a stress-free trip without worrying that I’ll lose my game, but eeeeeeeeek 6 days without tennis? I’m not sure if I want to risk making my injury even worse, but by god I have to play Wednesday.

More about the trip! It is in a far away city in Kansas. Our hotel, meals and gas are paid for. More importantly we are getting paid for this adventure. I will only babysit a few times, so the rest of the trip is open to catching up on homework. Josh will be staying with the pups while we are gone (and eating us out of house and home), so we don’t have to worry about the house or the dogs. It will be a nice little break from everything. I am looking forward to it. I’ve just got to figure out this tennis catastrophe.

Monday, March 10, 2008

manicotti

Robert made manicotti tonight. Enjoy!



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Sunday, March 02, 2008

bubblegum?

I'm not sure how I feel about this.

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