Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Love This Holiday Playlist • Music
The Things We Would Blog: Classic Christmas: A Holiday Playlist: Today we have the first of a few mixes we've made for the holiday season... Holiday Classics by The Things We Would Blog...
Monday, November 26, 2012
Blessed • Quote
It's a cold and cloudy Monday in Southeastern Wisconsin.
Winter is coming. I'm excited but dreading it at the same time.
I love looking at snow. Playing in snow. But, I hate driving in snow.
I love looking at snow. Playing in snow. But, I hate driving in snow.
So today, Monday:
I am thankful that it is not snowing. I am thankful I have a job to drive to.
And I am thankful for a reliable car.
I am blessed and that's my sunshine today.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Happy Birthday, HR!
I am sooooo calling her "Human Resources" from now on!
Yay! Another birthday... this week... about 9 months after Valentine's Day.
That's not awkward at all.
Ha! (Awkward chortle.)
Happy Birthday, Human Resources!
Congratulations, you're almost as old as me.
So, what should I share about Human Resources... hmm. She makes AMAZING cakes! I saw these and thought of her. And her cakes are DELICIOUS, too!
Human Resources also has an amazing voice, she sings beautifully.
We both love Gilmore Girls! And Jane Austen! And super sappy chick flicks! And coffee! And Chicago!
Oooh! Okay, so HR and I attended high school together, she was a year or two behind me in school but we were friends and it was cool. But, then I went off to college in Minnesota and we only saw each other when I was home for breaks (this is life - it happens - no regrets).
Anyway, a couple years later she went to college in OHIO! (For those who are geography-challenged. We went to high school together in Wisconsin. I went northwest to Minnesota for college and she went southeast to Ohio. We couldn't have been farther apart unless we had actually - never mind.)
So, after a year or two in Ohio, HR transferred to a school in Chicago. During her junior year, I started grad school in Wheaton (a suburb of Chicago). But, we might as well have been in Minnesota and Ohio for as much as we saw each other.
But, one evening, my grad school friends and I took the train into the city to attend the free opera. As we're walking into Millennium Park, who do I bump into but HR! So WEIRD! Hundreds of THOUSANDS of people in the city of Chicago. And two high school friends from Wisconsin bump into each other. We hung out and got dinner and listened to opera. It was sweet.
It was also surreal.
Anyway, since then we have watched a lot of movies, eaten a lot of delicious food, planned a few awesome parties, drunk a lot of coffee, and even did the fastest road trip ever to Tennessee for our friend KB's wedding.
We have a good time and I'm really glad she's in my life.
Happy Birthday, HR! [Human Resources - haha! I laugh every time!]
Love!
Yay! Another birthday... this week... about 9 months after Valentine's Day.
That's not awkward at all.
Ha! (Awkward chortle.)
Happy Birthday, Human Resources!
Congratulations, you're almost as old as me.
So, what should I share about Human Resources... hmm. She makes AMAZING cakes! I saw these and thought of her. And her cakes are DELICIOUS, too!
Human Resources also has an amazing voice, she sings beautifully.
We both love Gilmore Girls! And Jane Austen! And super sappy chick flicks! And coffee! And Chicago!
Oooh! Okay, so HR and I attended high school together, she was a year or two behind me in school but we were friends and it was cool. But, then I went off to college in Minnesota and we only saw each other when I was home for breaks (this is life - it happens - no regrets).
Anyway, a couple years later she went to college in OHIO! (For those who are geography-challenged. We went to high school together in Wisconsin. I went northwest to Minnesota for college and she went southeast to Ohio. We couldn't have been farther apart unless we had actually - never mind.)
So, after a year or two in Ohio, HR transferred to a school in Chicago. During her junior year, I started grad school in Wheaton (a suburb of Chicago). But, we might as well have been in Minnesota and Ohio for as much as we saw each other.
But, one evening, my grad school friends and I took the train into the city to attend the free opera. As we're walking into Millennium Park, who do I bump into but HR! So WEIRD! Hundreds of THOUSANDS of people in the city of Chicago. And two high school friends from Wisconsin bump into each other. We hung out and got dinner and listened to opera. It was sweet.
It was also surreal.
Anyway, since then we have watched a lot of movies, eaten a lot of delicious food, planned a few awesome parties, drunk a lot of coffee, and even did the fastest road trip ever to Tennessee for our friend KB's wedding.
We have a good time and I'm really glad she's in my life.
Happy Birthday, HR! [Human Resources - haha! I laugh every time!]
Love!
Friday, November 23, 2012
Family • Relationships
My family is normal.
I have parents who have been happily married for nearly 30 years. I have two wonderful younger brothers, B and A. A cool dog. And a sweet (to me) cat. Pretty straightforward, right?
This year for thanksgiving, as we have the last few years, we had dinner at my parent's home. My youngest brother, A, wasn't able to come home this year - something about being a senior in college and having 2-3 jobs and learning 2 new languages - it was fine, I wouldn't want to drive 12 hours in possible snow either.
We did our recently established holiday routine. Sleep in. Cook. Hang Christmas lights. Eat.
No big drama. No football. I think my mom may have watched part of the Macy's parade while she was cooking. But, it was nothing like the thanksgivings we see depicted on television and in movies. Just a quiet day at home with our immediate family.
It wasn't boring. There were moments that were challenging and required creative problem solving.
Exhibit A: there are two gigantic bushes in the front of our house, so huge that they impede our ability to hang the Christmas lights along the gutter. Several ladders were needed, a few tense words were spoken, and Mom even got the tree clippers out. The best part was when Dad and I balanced the ladder on the bush and B bobbed around for a few minutes, miraculously managing to clip the light strand to the gutter.
Exhibit B: Dad decided to deep fry the turkey this year which required some careful planning. Did you know if you don't drain all of the water out of the turkey before deep frying, you can create an explosion? With that information in mind, my mom drained that sucker dry. When it came out of the fryer, the turkey looked like a fossilized alien head. So appetizing!
It was just a simple day to celebrate God's faithfulness and praise Him.
We went around the table at dinner and gave the things we were thankful for and then we talked about our favorite thanksgivings.
My favorite thanksgiving memory didn't happen on thanksgiving - is that cheating? Eh, don't care. I was in high school - a sophomore, I think. My family had driven 7 hours to my mom's sister's house in Detroit. My mom's sister, S is married to my dad's best friend, F and they have three daughters: H, T, and S, and one son, D. I think it was the day after Thanksgiving, Dad and Uncle F were planning their annual escape from the family politics and invited me and cousin S to join them.
They took us to a restaurant in Greektown and told us stories about the glory days. When I was very young, we had lived with Uncle F and Aunt S in a Detroit suburb. Dad and Uncle F would go down to Greektown and get baklava for our moms. On date nights, they would eat at Pegasus. So that's where our dads took S and I. They teased each other and told us about their memories together in college and after they had married sisters. We walked around Greektown after dinner and they picked up baklava for their wives, just like they used to ten years before.
I told that story yesterday, and Dad vaguely remembered. What can I say? He's a geezer.
But, it got me to thinking.
Dad and Uncle F weren't thinking about the memory they were creating for S and myself when they took us to Greektown. They didn't know it was going to be a powerful demonstration of their love for us. They just wanted to get out of the house and away from the tension between other family members. But, they gave us attention that we craved at the age. S must have been in 8th grade at the time. At 13 and 15, we needed our fathers' love positively demonstrated.
So, if someday, God blesses me with children, I need to remember this thanksgiving as an example of how the things that my children will remember may not seem like a big deal to me at the time. And it might be such a long time before they tell me its significance that I'll probably be old and forget.
Regardless, I want to be intentional in relationships. Careful with my words and actions. Temper my harsh glances. And give hugs and genuine compliments with abandon.
Cool • Lyrics
Gwen Stefani
Cool lyrics
Now I found the love of my life...
Passes things get more comfortable
Everything is going right
And after all the obstacles
It's good to see you now with someone else
And it's such a miracle
That you and me are still good friends
After all that we've been through
I know we're cool
We used to think it was impossible
Now you call me by my new last name
Memories seem like so long ago
Time always kills the pain
Remember Harbor Boulevard
The dreaming days where the mess was made
Look how all the kids have grown
We have changed but we're still the same
After all that we've been through
I know we're cool
And I'll be happy for you
If you can be happy for me
Circles and triangles
After all that we've been through
I know we're cool
We used to think it was impossible
Now you call me by my new last name
Memories seem like so long ago
Time always kills the pain
Remember Harbor Boulevard
The dreaming days where the mess was made
Look how all the kids have grown
We have changed but we're still the same
After all that we've been through
I know we're cool
And I'll be happy for you
If you can be happy for me
Circles and triangles
And now we're hangin' out with your new girlfriend
So far from where we've been
I know we're cool
So far from where we've been
I know we're cool
Here's the vid, enjOy!
Thursday, November 22, 2012
Happy Birthday, KO!
So I have this friend, KO.
She's AWESOME!
And it's totes her birthday today (as in 11/23) and she like totes didn't tell me - I mean, I should know already, right? We are friends, after all. I'm just silly and self absorbed and never asked.
Whoops.
So thank you facebook for letting me in on the clearly not secret but definitely unknown to me birthday of one of my closest friends.
Can you legitimately say someone is one of your closest friends when you don't know when their birthday is? Is that a thing?
Whatev.
She is a close friend and she has saved my butt soooooooo many times - especially this past year. I'd do anything she asked me to do. Even attend her wedding.
If I had been invited.
To be fair, we didn't know each other very well and I was living in a different state so I'd let her off the hook for not inviting me if she would let me off the hook for not attending.
It's one of our things.
She claims that she sent an invitation to my parents' home that said "and family." To which I respond, 1. I'm an adult so I get my own invite. 2. Even if we did let #1 slide, I didn't live with my parents at the time so any inclusion of "and family" refers to the family at the address to which the invite was delivered. AND 3. I am not a wedding crasher so I will not A. call the bride the day of her wedding to ask if I was invited [rude!] and B. show up without RSVPing [super rude!] I am not Taylor Swift!
Anyhoo, Happy Birthday, KO!
I hope we're friends for a long time and I hope you forgive me for almost forgetting your birthday which I didn't know when it was in the first place.
Love!
She's AWESOME!
And it's totes her birthday today (as in 11/23) and she like totes didn't tell me - I mean, I should know already, right? We are friends, after all. I'm just silly and self absorbed and never asked.
Whoops.
So thank you facebook for letting me in on the clearly not secret but definitely unknown to me birthday of one of my closest friends.
Can you legitimately say someone is one of your closest friends when you don't know when their birthday is? Is that a thing?
Whatev.
She is a close friend and she has saved my butt soooooooo many times - especially this past year. I'd do anything she asked me to do. Even attend her wedding.
If I had been invited.
To be fair, we didn't know each other very well and I was living in a different state so I'd let her off the hook for not inviting me if she would let me off the hook for not attending.
It's one of our things.
She claims that she sent an invitation to my parents' home that said "and family." To which I respond, 1. I'm an adult so I get my own invite. 2. Even if we did let #1 slide, I didn't live with my parents at the time so any inclusion of "and family" refers to the family at the address to which the invite was delivered. AND 3. I am not a wedding crasher so I will not A. call the bride the day of her wedding to ask if I was invited [rude!] and B. show up without RSVPing [super rude!] I am not Taylor Swift!
Anyhoo, Happy Birthday, KO!
I hope we're friends for a long time and I hope you forgive me for almost forgetting your birthday which I didn't know when it was in the first place.
Love!
When I Post
I will post thoughts/blogs/videos/whatever/etc when I can/feel like it.
I have two jobs. Both of which are -essentially- full time. That means I work about 80 hours plus 1.5 hours of driving every weekday so I am pretty tied up for 87.5 hours a week. So... out of 168 hours a week, less time spent sleeping (64 hours on a good week), showering/primping (3 hours or so), and playing with my pets (dog/cat - 7 hours a week) that leaves only only 14 hours a week to update my blog/facebook/tumblr/twitter/pinterest and do silly things like laundry and go to the bathroom.
All that to say: I can't promise that posts will come regularly - like daily or weekly or anything. I can promise that if I feel like posting something I will - unless I experience technical difficulties like I did ALL DAY TODAY! <insert frustrated tangent> Thanksgiving should not be an excuse - someone should always be monitoring the google. Get it together, people! I want to add photos to my blogs!
Now that you know the dealio... go twirl in a field - it's nice, you'll like it. And if you don't like twirling - you're doing it wrong. pEacE!
I have two jobs. Both of which are -essentially- full time. That means I work about 80 hours plus 1.5 hours of driving every weekday so I am pretty tied up for 87.5 hours a week. So... out of 168 hours a week, less time spent sleeping (64 hours on a good week), showering/primping (3 hours or so), and playing with my pets (dog/cat - 7 hours a week) that leaves only only 14 hours a week to update my blog/facebook/tumblr/twitter/pinterest and do silly things like laundry and go to the bathroom.
All that to say: I can't promise that posts will come regularly - like daily or weekly or anything. I can promise that if I feel like posting something I will - unless I experience technical difficulties like I did ALL DAY TODAY! <insert frustrated tangent> Thanksgiving should not be an excuse - someone should always be monitoring the google. Get it together, people! I want to add photos to my blogs!
Now that you know the dealio... go twirl in a field - it's nice, you'll like it. And if you don't like twirling - you're doing it wrong. pEacE!
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Don't Know When To Start • Poem
I was scrolling through tumblr because that's what I do when I can't sleep. (I alternate between tumblr and pinterest looking for things to spark my interest and exhaust my mind so I can finally sleep.) One of the newbs that I'm following keeps posting about this relationship blog (like the above photo) and this poem kept coming to mind. A friend had posted it like 5 years ago and I had saved it in my facebook notes. So here it is.
I sent you a letter, it said:
Love me.
Love me a lot.
I thought at first you
were being discreet
or subtle,
subdued,
cautious. I didn't realize
you were simply dense- See, this is the part
where you're supposed to take me in your arms,
don't you get it?
Some people don't know when to
quit but honey you
don't know when to start.
- by karen wurl
Thoughts? Can you relate? I know I can.
TOMORROW!
Something I'm thankful for? I don't have to go to work tomorrow and I still get paid! Yay!
Almost makes all of those "I'm thankful" posts clogging up my newsfeed worth it. Almost.
Stars • Lyrics
Sooooo... I was totes watching the VOICE last night and Adam Levine - who is awesome at being awesome - had Amanda Brown sing "Stars" by Grace Potter (she also sings it as a duet with Kenny Chesney). My favorite song obsession of the moment and LO AND BEHOLD neither Blake nor Christina had heard it. I wasn't sure if I should be disappointed in their lack of music savvy or proud of myself for demonstrating more taste than two professional entertainers. ... Regardless, it's a great song and everyone should love it as much as I do! chEErs!
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Stars lyrics
I lit a fire with the love you left behind,
And it burned wild and crept up the mountainside.
I followed your ashes into outer space
I can't look out the window,
I can't look at this place,
I can't look at the stars,
They make me wonder where you are
Stars,
Up on heaven's boulevard
And if I know you at all,
I know you've gone too far
So I, I can't look at the stars
All those times we looked up at the sky,
Looking out so far,
We felt like we could fly.
And now I'm all alone in the dark of night,
The moon is shining,
But I can't see the light,
And I can't look at the
Stars,
They make me wonder where you are
Stars,
Up on heaven's boulevard
And if I know you at all,
I know you've gone too far
So I, I can't look at the stars
Stars,
Stars,
They make me wonder where you are
Stars,
Up on heaven's boulevard
And if I know you at all,
I know you've gone too far
So I can't look at the stars.
Grace Potter & The Nocturnals
Stars lyrics
I lit a fire with the love you left behind,
And it burned wild and crept up the mountainside.
I followed your ashes into outer space
I can't look out the window,
I can't look at this place,
I can't look at the stars,
They make me wonder where you are
Stars,
Up on heaven's boulevard
And if I know you at all,
I know you've gone too far
So I, I can't look at the stars
All those times we looked up at the sky,
Looking out so far,
We felt like we could fly.
And now I'm all alone in the dark of night,
The moon is shining,
But I can't see the light,
And I can't look at the
Stars,
They make me wonder where you are
Stars,
Up on heaven's boulevard
And if I know you at all,
I know you've gone too far
So I, I can't look at the stars
Stars,
Stars,
They make me wonder where you are
Stars,
Up on heaven's boulevard
And if I know you at all,
I know you've gone too far
So I can't look at the stars.
Here's the video, fOOls!
Make You Feel My Love • Lyrics
Why, yes! I am feeling like an angsty fifteen year old tonight who wants to post sad song lyrics. It's true. But, SERIOUSLY, if you do not love this song - what is wrong with you? It's awesome! Bob Dylan or Adele - IT'S AAAAALLLLLLLLLLL GOOD!
Adele
Make You Feel My Love lyrics
When the rain
Is blowing in your face
And the whole world
Is on your case
I could offer you
A warm embrace
To make you feel my love
When the evening shadows
And the stars appear
And there is no - one there
To dry your tears
I could hold you
For a million years
To make you feel my love
I know you
Haven't made
Your mind up yet
But I would never
Do you wrong
I've known it
From the moment
That we met
No doubt in my mind
Where you belong
I'd go hungry
I'd go black and blue and
I'd go crawling
Down the avenue
You Know there's nothing
That I wouldn't do
To make you feel my love
The storms are raging
On the rolling sea
And on the highway of regret
The winds of change
Are blowing wild and free
You ain't seen nothing
Like me yet
I could make you happy
Make your dreams come true
Nothing that I wouldn't do
Go to the ends
Of the Earth for you
To make you feel my love
Adele
Make You Feel My Love lyrics
When the rain
Is blowing in your face
And the whole world
Is on your case
I could offer you
A warm embrace
To make you feel my love
When the evening shadows
And the stars appear
And there is no - one there
To dry your tears
I could hold you
For a million years
To make you feel my love
I know you
Haven't made
Your mind up yet
But I would never
Do you wrong
I've known it
From the moment
That we met
No doubt in my mind
Where you belong
I'd go hungry
I'd go black and blue and
I'd go crawling
Down the avenue
You Know there's nothing
That I wouldn't do
To make you feel my love
The storms are raging
On the rolling sea
And on the highway of regret
The winds of change
Are blowing wild and free
You ain't seen nothing
Like me yet
I could make you happy
Make your dreams come true
Nothing that I wouldn't do
Go to the ends
Of the Earth for you
To make you feel my love
To make you feel my love
Here's the video, nerd bombers. pEacE!
What I Post
I'm going to post whatever I want.
Whatever I find funny
Thought provoking.
Disturbing.
Disgusting.
Happy.
Tragic.
Dreams.
Stories.
Whatever.
I'm going to post whatever I want.
It's my blog and only the host site can censor it but they probably won't so...
I will post WHATEVER I WANT.
Welcome to America.
Whatever I find funny
Thought provoking.
Disturbing.
Disgusting.
Happy.
Tragic.
Dreams.
Stories.
Whatever.
I'm going to post whatever I want.
It's my blog and only the host site can censor it but they probably won't so...
I will post WHATEVER I WANT.
Welcome to America.
Monday, November 19, 2012
God Gave Me You • Lyrics
Blake Shelton
God Gave Me You lyrics
I've been a walking heartache
I've made a mess of me
The person that I've been lately
Ain't who I wanna be
But you stay here right beside me
And watch as the storm blows through
And I need you
Cause God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
And for when I think I lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it's true
God gave me you
Gave me you
There's more here than what we're seeing
A divine conspiracy
That you, an angel lovely
Could somehow fall for me
You'll always be love's great martyr
And I'll be the flattered fool
And I need you
Yeah!
God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
And for when I think I lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it's true
God gave me you
On my own I'm only
Half of what I could be
I can't do without you
We are stitched together
And what love has tethered
I pray we never undo
Cause God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
And for when I think I lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it's true
God gave me you, gave me you.
He gave me you.
God Gave Me You lyrics
I've been a walking heartache
I've made a mess of me
The person that I've been lately
Ain't who I wanna be
But you stay here right beside me
And watch as the storm blows through
And I need you
Cause God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
And for when I think I lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it's true
God gave me you
Gave me you
There's more here than what we're seeing
A divine conspiracy
That you, an angel lovely
Could somehow fall for me
You'll always be love's great martyr
And I'll be the flattered fool
And I need you
Yeah!
God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
And for when I think I lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it's true
God gave me you
On my own I'm only
Half of what I could be
I can't do without you
We are stitched together
And what love has tethered
I pray we never undo
Cause God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
And for when I think I lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it's true
God gave me you, gave me you.
He gave me you.
Here's the Video, homiEs!
Happy Birthday, KA!
Happy Birthday to my BFF, KA!
I'm totes working on your gift. I did make a delicious dessert in your honor but my family and I ate it.
In honor of your birth, I thought I'd share a little dream of our future.
Someday.
Someday, you and L will have children. Beautiful children. A girl, a boy, and a girl. And maybe, you'll be pregnant with your fourth child when I bring my children to visit you. You and L and your 3, almost 4, children live in a brownstone in some large city. Could be the cities, could be NYC. It's a dream. I don't ask questions.
So, one lovely summer day. I bring my 3 children, a boy, a girl, and a girl, to your brownstone. There are balloons tied to the black wrought iron fence. My children excitedly run up the steps to your front door to ring the doorbell. Before they can even press the lit button, your children answer the door, smiling, shouting, laughing. By the time I reach the top of the steps and you reach the front door, all of our children have disappeared to various parts of your home to renew their friendships.
We take a quiet moment to hug and catch up before we are once again peppered with questions from our young ones. I follow you into the kitchen and help you finish packing a picnic lunch for our day at the zoo. We laugh at our crazy ambition to successfully take 6 children to the public zoo on a Saturday.
Gathering our children, bending in knee length skirts to tie shoes and wipe faces with sunscreen, we hand off special items for them to carry. Blue water bottles. Pink and green binoculars. Bright yellow lanyards to hang around each neck. They buddy up and I lead them out the door with half our picnic lunch slung over my shoulder in a large carryall. A rolled up blanket in my arm. You follow them out, locking the door behind us.
We walk the few blocks to the zoo. Our children racing each other to the corner. The youngest girls laugh from the double stroller you push. I secure the hands of the eldest four in a long chain when we cross the street. Only one scraped knee makes for a successful transition to the zoo.
Our children clamor to go to the petting zoo. They willingly pose for pictures in front of each of their favorite enclosures. The boys run off to play hide and seek on more than one occasion, but I only have to raise my voice once when they attempt to hide up a tree near the lion enclosure.
The girls had their faces painted with butterflies and flowers. Our boys asked for superhero masks. It makes for super cute photos to frame for our walls.
We enjoy a picnic lunch by the pond where other families gather to eat as well. While we lounge, gathering our strength, the children eat their fill and then search out bugs and fish and chase the birds into flight.
You and I laugh and send praise heavenward for each of our special blessings.
Later in the afternoon, a meltdown and a small tantrum later, everyone is thoroughly exhausted and we sluggishly make our way back to your house. The youngest girls are put down immediately for naps. The older children congregate in the family room. I make you settle your pregnant self on the couch to read them a story while I put things away in the kitchen.
I return to the family room to find everyone asleep except my oldest girl. I settle into a chair and she snuggles under a blanket next to me and we talk about her favorite parts of our day.
She says she wishes we could spend every day with Auntie K, and I whisper "I do, too" as we both drift off into dreamland.
The End.
Miss you!
I'm totes working on your gift. I did make a delicious dessert in your honor but my family and I ate it.
In honor of your birth, I thought I'd share a little dream of our future.
Someday.
Someday, you and L will have children. Beautiful children. A girl, a boy, and a girl. And maybe, you'll be pregnant with your fourth child when I bring my children to visit you. You and L and your 3, almost 4, children live in a brownstone in some large city. Could be the cities, could be NYC. It's a dream. I don't ask questions.
So, one lovely summer day. I bring my 3 children, a boy, a girl, and a girl, to your brownstone. There are balloons tied to the black wrought iron fence. My children excitedly run up the steps to your front door to ring the doorbell. Before they can even press the lit button, your children answer the door, smiling, shouting, laughing. By the time I reach the top of the steps and you reach the front door, all of our children have disappeared to various parts of your home to renew their friendships.
We take a quiet moment to hug and catch up before we are once again peppered with questions from our young ones. I follow you into the kitchen and help you finish packing a picnic lunch for our day at the zoo. We laugh at our crazy ambition to successfully take 6 children to the public zoo on a Saturday.
Gathering our children, bending in knee length skirts to tie shoes and wipe faces with sunscreen, we hand off special items for them to carry. Blue water bottles. Pink and green binoculars. Bright yellow lanyards to hang around each neck. They buddy up and I lead them out the door with half our picnic lunch slung over my shoulder in a large carryall. A rolled up blanket in my arm. You follow them out, locking the door behind us.
We walk the few blocks to the zoo. Our children racing each other to the corner. The youngest girls laugh from the double stroller you push. I secure the hands of the eldest four in a long chain when we cross the street. Only one scraped knee makes for a successful transition to the zoo.
Our children clamor to go to the petting zoo. They willingly pose for pictures in front of each of their favorite enclosures. The boys run off to play hide and seek on more than one occasion, but I only have to raise my voice once when they attempt to hide up a tree near the lion enclosure.
The girls had their faces painted with butterflies and flowers. Our boys asked for superhero masks. It makes for super cute photos to frame for our walls.
We enjoy a picnic lunch by the pond where other families gather to eat as well. While we lounge, gathering our strength, the children eat their fill and then search out bugs and fish and chase the birds into flight.
You and I laugh and send praise heavenward for each of our special blessings.
Later in the afternoon, a meltdown and a small tantrum later, everyone is thoroughly exhausted and we sluggishly make our way back to your house. The youngest girls are put down immediately for naps. The older children congregate in the family room. I make you settle your pregnant self on the couch to read them a story while I put things away in the kitchen.
I return to the family room to find everyone asleep except my oldest girl. I settle into a chair and she snuggles under a blanket next to me and we talk about her favorite parts of our day.
She says she wishes we could spend every day with Auntie K, and I whisper "I do, too" as we both drift off into dreamland.
The End.
Miss you!
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Almost Lover • Lyrics
A Fine Frenzy
Almost Lover lyrics
The palm trees swaying in the wind, images
You sang me Spanish lullabies
The sweetest sadness in your eyes, clever trick
Well, I?d never want to see you unhappy
I thought you?d want the same for me
Goodbye, my almost lover
Goodbye, my hopeless dream
I'm trying not to think about you
Can't you just let me be?
So long, my luckless romance
My back is turned on you
Should've known you'd bring me heartache
Almost lovers always do
We walked along a crowded street
You took my hand and danced with me in the shade
And when you left you kissed my lips
You told me you would never ever forget these images, no
Well, I?d never want to see you unhappy
I thought you?d want the same for me
Goodbye, my almost lover
Goodbye, my hopeless dream
I'm trying not to think about you
Can't you just let me be?
So long, my luckless romance
My back is turned on you
Should've known you'd bring me heartache
Almost lovers always do
I cannot go to the ocean
I cannot try the streets at night
I cannot wake up in the morning
Without you on my mind
So you're gone and I'm haunted
And I bet you are just fine
Did I make it that easy to walk
Right in and out of my life?
Goodbye, my almost lover
Goodbye, my hopeless dream
I'm trying not to think about you
Why can't you just let me be?
So long, my luckless romance
My back is turned on you
Should've known you'd bring me heartache
Almost lovers always do
Here's the Video for your viewing and listening pleasure.
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