time to play

we went to our favorite dog park today.







we tried out the sling shot.











on the way home the moon came out to play.





but it was shy





and rarely showed itself as more than a reflection.

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

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.

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?

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 : )

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

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:




And let's not forget the float!







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:

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.

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.

manicotti

Robert made manicotti tonight. Enjoy!

bubblegum?

I'm not sure how I feel about this.

I imagine I probably pissed you off

I doubt you'll have much to say about this after what I said about the american idol kid, but I thought I'd throw it out there for you robin. this is my favorite version of imagine. it's by jack johnson.

what a day

There was a minor explosion in my kitchen this morning. I barely slept 7 hours last night so I was fairly tired. I was also hungry. I was so hungry I could barely walk. I made the dumbass decision to make oatmeal when I should have just had a protein shake and called it a day and gone back to sleep. Nope. I wanted oatmeal. The kitchen was a mess. Robert made a batch of chili and cornbread the night before and didn’t clean up. I think he was honestly going to, but he had a test early this morning. He left the cornbread on the stove in a glass pyrex container. Did I move it? No. I just wanted some damn oatmeal. I flipped on the stove (electric), and began to make toast. Just as I was about to butter my bread BAM! No wait. It was more like KAPOW! Glass and cornbread went EVERYWHERE. A large chunk hit the fish tank and about 2 pounds of glass dust settled on every surface. Somehow during the explosion I held the knife up (I guess to defend myself), and a humongous wad of butter got tangled in my hair. Because I had my back to the stove (thank the lord), I didn’t get any glass on my face, but I had a large amount of glass dust in my hair, and with the wonderful combination of butter it was a sticky sparkly mess. My first reaction to all of this? Well, I turned off the stove. My second? The dogs!! The girls were outside. Peppy, however, was glued to my side before the explosion. When the explosion occurred I thought for sure he would run and hide, but no, he was frantically racing around, trying to lick the cornbread off the glass. So, I got him the heck out of there and locked him up. Next thing I know I’m calling my mom. I thought my heart was going to pop out of my chest. Here I was, in my favorite bath robe and slippers (all covered in glass), with butter and glass in my hair, and instead of picking things up I call my mom. I have had some scary shit happen to me in my life, but never an explosion. I think any person would have called their mom.
I got the mess cleaned up, but my hair was a different story. I tried shampooing it a few times with no results, so I grabbed the orange stuff that Robert keeps in the garage (go jo?) and guess what? It worked!
Robert came home during this mess. We got the kitchen cleaned up, sat down and had a soul talk (not just about the kitchen mom), and we ended up clearing up a lot of frustrations. He offered to drive me to the one class that wasn’t cancelled and on the way we stopped at Blue Koi for some dumplings and eggplant pockets. During lunch we got the message that night classes had been cancelled. SWEET! Robert still had to work tonight, but Josh came home and we went shopping. Josh is an awesome driver. We hit a few slick spots, did a few spins, but I didn’t feel freaked out. I think I might actually learn how to drive in snow one day. Seriously, I need to grow a pair. But we had a blast. I got an awesome c.d. while we were out (thank you mom), and stopped for pizza on the way home. The silly guy even watched American Idol with me. As much as I complain about Josh I still love him. He’s a little gross and obnoxious and sometimes I wonder if Robert is going to gain some of his bad habits, but mostly I enjoy his presence. Him and Robert are like peanut butter and jelly. So, guess what mom. I’m going to shut my trap about him. If you’re reading this Josh you should probably know I was talking smack about you with my mom.
All in all this day has been monumental in many ways. I think that I’m stepping out of the blues. I’m going to make a greater effort to talk to Robert. We aren’t going to split chores completely. If we need help we’re going to ask for it. And most importantly I’m not going to try to cook if I haven’t eaten in 20 hours. Forfeit can be a powerful thing folks.
BTW I have a hair appt. tomorrow! I’m finally getting highlights! It might be crazy!

While reading this month's popular mechanics I came upon something interesting which led to something CUTE and OUT OF THIS WORLD. If you wish to make your heart wings flutter go to this site:

pigeonwatch.org

Once you are there scroll down to the question of the month. Click on it. Play the video.

lazy day

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

turn your ears on robin

Gary Jules "Mad World"






All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for their daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I want to drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow

And I find it kinda funny
I find it kinda sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very mad world mad world

Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
Made to feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one knew me
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me, look right through me

And I find it kinda funny
I find it kinda sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very, very mad world ... mad world
Enlarging your world
Mad world

going to the farm

sorry

nope, no pictures. false alarm. we have a new thing we're trying that allows us to share pictures between all the computers but right now it's not working : ( I'll try again tomorrow. I'll have even more by then because we took a trip to warrensburg today and ella had her first encounter with water. and you're right, robin. I have become a golden girl.

the 4th

yesterday was very interesting.

we knew it was going to rain late afternoon so there went the picnic at the park.

we went on a sunday drive with peppy, (rose was too busy making kissy faces with raleigh, the pup next door) only it was wednesday and a holiday to boot. there was very little traffic however and it was a peaceful drive. we found a hole in the wall bbq joint and grabbed some food to go. now, I don't know much about bbq but I will tell you that this was the best damn bbq in the kc kingdom. I know this because robert was so busy snarfing that he didn't know I was whooping his ass in dominoes until BAM I won. I rarely win against him.

now, I know what you're thinking. you're thinking, why the hell are they eating bbq and playing dominoes when they could be outside setting things on fire on the one day they can get away with it. well, it was so freaking humid that we had some kind of air advisory. because of all the flooding that's south of us the air has been overwhelmingly stagnate and humid. I may be an idiot at times but there was no way in hell I was going outside to do anything.

we then went to the store to stock up on ice cream. we had specials out the wazoo. we bought enough ice cream to fill the freezer downstairs.

when we stepped out of the store it was raining.

we got home. I started a load of laundry. we sat down to watch a little house on the prairie and BOOM.

the electricity went out.

no it didn't.

yes, it did.

etc....

robert called the great big electricity person in the sky and they told us to flip off the breakers. ok, no problemo. we waited an hour, did some yardwork (yes, in the rain) and flipped them back on.

the lights stayed on for oh, about 5 minutes and then it went dark.

we waited and waited and waited. finally, robert and I got so hungry we could wait no more, so for the second time that day we ate out. we grabbed our handy dandy coupon book and trudged outside, surrounded by smoke and lightning. we had fun trying to figure out which booms were thunder and which were fireworks.

people were still setting things on fire even as it stormed.

our lights did come back on but the fireworks didn't stop for a long time. peppy and I played it smart though and curled up way under the covers while rose and robert took care of everything.

it was just about the oddest 4th of july I've had yet so far.

passing time

What were you doing 10 years ago?

It was the summer before 5th grade. I really cannot remember that paticular summer. I do remember that I could climb up the poles on the dock and sit on the roof (didn't know that one did ya mom)? I read a lot, ran a lot and most likely, ate a lot : ).

What were you doing 1 year ago?

school, just like this year.

Five snacks you enjoy:

1. apples and peanut butter
2. string cheese
3. nectarines
4. 100 calorie packs (grasshoppers hands down)
5. cinnamon apple rice cakes (I have to hide them from the double t's because they're so good)


Five songs to which you know all the lyrics:

1. anything n sync
2. anything sara groves
3. fresh prince of belair lol
4. there's this song the double t's and I sing - "I don't want to be a chicken. I don't want to be a duck. so I shake my butt. . ." I've got it memorized.
5. make the world go away by eddy arnold?

Five things you would do if you were a millionaire:

1. pay for the rest of college
2. and
3. that's
4. it
5. .

Five bad habits:

1. counting syllables on my fingers (it's a stress induced thing)
2. emphathising with the silverware
3. leaving projects undone
4. spitting out food that I don't like. seriously though, why eat something that you don't like.
5. cleaning the little itty bitty things like the tops of doors and completely missing the big things like paint all over the back porch.

Five things you like doing:

1. playing games with anybody! esp. the double t's and robert and heather. I love game night.
2. running with rose and peppy
3. TENNIS!!!!!!!!!!!
4. creating (but, no, not decorating)
5. reading/writing

Five things you would never wear again:

1. platforms
2. that's
3. all
4. I
5. got

Five favorite toys:

1. computer
2. downstairs stereo
3. ummmmmmmm
4.
5.