The Little Drummer Boy

In the spirit of Christmas Eve - and I suppose

in other spirits as well,

Captainwow had a little fun with the camera this morning.

Here we obtain a tiny insight into how he perceives himself, and

it looks like he's added another to the Pea series.

So, Peas to you and Blessings too!

The Lion And The Lamb
Dried Pea
Pah Rum Pah Pum Pum Captainwow with one of Rose's Sock Monsters

Cats in the Cradle

This morning I dreamed about baby kitties. Little teeny kittens so kyooooooooot and cuddly wuddly! AWWWWWWW!!!! I had to have one so I picked it up and took it then I had to have this other one that was equally adorable... I was taking two home in a cage and realized OOPS I already have two cats! WHAT the FRICK AM I DOING!?!? AAAAH!

I woke up and they (the real life animals) were both on the bed staring at me.

When do we EAT!? Are ya gettin' up now!? Huh? Huh? Are ya? Are ya?

I need two more kittens like I need a hole in the head.

Open Mouth. Insert Foot

I was single until 34, and that meant that if I wanted to do life, I needed to accomplish many things on my own. Which I was mostly OK with but sometimes there were the harder things that seemed a little daunting. For instance, traveling alone was a little intimidating the first time. Buying a house, filing my own taxes most years, choosing an insurance company, getting a job, learning how to use Excel, buying cars, lighting the pilot light in the water heater... Things like this.

One of the things I used to say to myself whenever I attempted something big and new was "People a lot dumber than me do this every day. It can't be that bad."
That sort of kept the fear of the unknown and the feeling stupid from tying me up in knots. Especially with buying a house and solo travel.

I later found that it really was a dialogue that should remain an internal one. Thankfully I was among friends (JustPat and the Kevmo) who love me and think my foibles are sometimes quite hilarious when this little pearl of wisdom came crashing out of my mouth. Even if my intentions were to be encouraging, it doesn't come out so well when said like this:
"People a lot dumber than you do this all the time! It can't be that bad!"

I swear, it's amazing I have any friends at all.

** for those of you with an eagle eye you may notice the age changed in the first paragraph from the time this first posted. Duh. I was not 35 when I got married, I was 34. The thing I'm unabashedly rather not so smart about: Math and NUMBERS!!

Friday Potty Humor

No, I won't do Potty Humor every Friday but I just could not resist this.

What would you think the following phrases might be describing!?

"An Experience beyond words"

"Sophisticated Sensuality"

"Extravagence and Performance"

"Inspired Design"

"Precision-engineered Technology"

Or maybe the better question, is what would you NOT expect these phrases to describe?

Like, maybe A TOILET!!?

AAAAAACK!

Prickly Scented

I had been raving about a little bar called BW3 to my friend for a long time. Back then it was a downstairs basement place in East Lansing that had bouncers at the door and usually a line to get in on the weekend evenings.

You could get loads of really really HOT wings and pitchers of beer for cheap. Now, it's a big chain called Buffalo Wild Wings and they try to have more of a "family" atmosphere (minus the bouncers). They also charge a lot more for their food. For me it's lost some of that old charm, but I still like their food.

At any rate, this one evening, (several years ago) Marci and I found a parking spot in E. Lansing, not always an easy thing to do - and walked on over to where I thought BW3 was. I couldn't wait to share the experience with her. Unfortunately, I obviously hadn't been there in a while, because the picture you see above is what was there that night. Along with a big PIT in the ground where the bar had been. OOPS. Rather a shock for me, and a great opportunity for her to tease me saying Ya sure, there was a bar here... uh huh.... SUUUUURRE!

The cool Vernors sign was a really fun historical discovery for the city, and unfortunately they've covered it back up again, but for a little while, this was what was showing after the demolition.

I thought of this because I bought some Vernors the other day and did the inevitable... I went to take a drink and breathed in that Vernor's gingery effervescence and choked on it. I know some of you will know exactly what I'm talking about.

Soccer Games and Steering Wheels

I dreamed the other night I was an excellent soccer player. After a terrific game in which I made lots of headshots that went right into the goal net, I ran around the stadium, giving everyone high fives. Then I went through an amazing buffet line full of incredible food and at the end of the line I stood with my plate full of food, eating and talking with Sister Virginia, the nun who teaches my class at the Dominican Center all about the soccer game.

In other news, a friend and I were talking today about how driving in Michigan winters there's a thing some of us do where we let go of the steering wheel for a second to allow the car to find its own way out of a potential spin or slide. I don't know if everyone does this, but I imagine most people do. I once freaked out an Oklahoma friend by doing that, as she was brand new to Michigan weather and couldn't for the life of her fathom why I would let go of the steering wheel to correct a slide. Letting go of control actually gains control, in that case, and it occurred to me this afternoon while talking with my friend that life is a little like that too. Sometimes when we sense we're going into a tailspin it's better to loosen up a bit rather than try too hard to control things.

As the Kevmo and I go fishtailing into this phase of our lives called parenting, I can sense that we're both "gripping the wheel" a little more loosely and having a more trusting and relaxed attitude about things.

Coffeepot Song

All I want is a proper cup of coffee,
Made in a proper copper coffee pot.
I may be off my dot,
But I want a cup of coffee from a proper coffee pot.
Iron coffee pots and tin coffee pots,
Oh, They're no use to me,
If I can't have a proper cup of coffee
From a proper copper coffee pot
I'll have a cup of tea!

- chorus of a folksong
Trying saying that one fast!

Wintry Tune

you can hear a little of it here
#10 will give you an idea of the tune.
(this is one of my favorite holiday CD's)

The Frozen Logger
James Stevens

As I sat down one evening,
'Twas in a small cafe,
A forty year old waitress
To me these words did say:

I see that you are a logger,
And not just a common bum,
For nobody but a logger
Stirs coffee with his thumb.

My lover was a logger,
There's none like him today.
If you poured whisky on it,
He'd eat a bail of hay.

He never shaved the whiskers
From off his horny hide;
He'd drive them in with a hammer,
And bite them off inside.

My logger came to see me,
'Twas on a wintery day;
He held me in a fond embrace
That broke three vertebrae.

He kissed me when we parted
So hard it broke my jaw;
I couldn't speak to tell him
He forgot his mackinaw.

I saw my logger lover
Go stridin' through the snow,
A-goin' gaily homeward
At forty-eight below.

The weather tried to freeze him,
It did its very best;
At a hundred degrees below zero,
He buttoned up his vest.

It froze clear down to China,
It froze to the stars above;
At a thousand degrees below zero,
It froze my logger love.

And so I lost my logger,
And to this cafe I've come,
And it's here I wait for someone
To stir coffee with his thumb.

Big Belly Big Head

This weekend, more than once, I got called "Teeny and Cute!"

Wow, who knew that being pregnant was going to get me all these great compliments!?

I might just have to stay barefoot and pregnant for a good long time just to keep my head this size!

Clap Yo HANDS!

I like applause. And I admit it.

I mean the literal applause you get when on stage after a good performance. Where people erupt in spontaneous appreciation of what you just gave them. That is top shelf stuff.

This wasn't really something I knew about myself always - at least not in those terms. I just liked being on stage, as long as I was confident I was about to put out a good performance. Which I usually did, except in the case of not having learned my lines well in a play or not having my piano piece sufficiently memorized. THAT is torture! But with flute playing I was nearly always confident and I thought I simply liked the performance aspect of it. I liked sharing my interpretation of music with an appreciative audience.

A few years ago I found out, after being away from any performing for quite some time, that it is at least in part the applause that gets me high. My church asked me to play for an international Christmas thing they did one year. It was terrific. The church I went to was across the street from Michigan State University's campus and was a more diverse church than I've ever been in. So there were many people from all over the world who celebrate Christmas in different ways and who have talents for playing a variety of different instruments and styles of music. It was not your hokey missionary night at the church, this was truly an international treat. Anyway, I was the one playing Greensleeves on the flute. Pretty traditional fare - I actually thought nothing of it. I had picked a very cool arrangement and had a good accompanist so there were no worries. I was into the other performers, and I wasn't nervous because I've played that piece about a bazillion times and, well, I LIKE playing for people and sharing with them music that they enjoy.

So I played my piece. And it went fine. After I played there were a few seconds of silence as people just sat with the mood...I forgot about the whole clapping thing, so I was reaching for my music and turning to walk off the stage when this ROAR hit me right in the chest! I almost could feel it physically. I suddenly remembered that there were a few hundred people sitting out there, and that they were applauding enthusiastically, just as they had for all the musicians. Oh ya, I thought, and did my little bow/thank you thing and smiled and felt all surprised. Meanwhile, that little guy that lives inside me that loves stuff like that said "OH YA BABY! THAT's WHAT WE'RE Talking about! REMEMBER THAT!?! GIVE US SOME MORE OF THAT!! We LOVES that!"

Now, I'm not saying that's a good or bad thing. I'm just saying it was what happened. And it surprised me how much I liked it. I forgot about the high of having everyone think I was great for a few moments and loudly sharing that sentiment by banging their hands together.

Well last night I had a dream about this very thing. Of all things, I was walking along and I came across a room where a bunch of people were sitting. I don't remember the context, but they started applauding when I appeared in the doorway. Not really loudly, just clapping and smiling at me. I thought well, OK. I don't really get this but fine. This is nice. And I went on my way. Then I went back to see if they'd do it again, which they did. Same thing. Applause and smiles and appreciation. I was like, "COOL!" So I went away and came back only this time I did a little goofy dance and hammed it up a bit. They went wild, and stood up and clapped and hooted and whistled. It was GREAT! So I thought "I'm going to see how LOUD they can get!" So I did that thing football players do in the end zone after a touchdown and squatted down and lifted my hands up like I was lifting their applause. I kept doing this and they responded by ROARING with applause and noise. I was amazed. There couldn't have been more than 20 people but it sounded like 20 thousand!

So I kept this up, and they got louder and louder and I got so geeked I started clapping too and jumping up and down and hooting along with them. I turned around and joined them and we faced the sky and together we cheered like mad.

That has got to be one of the best dreams I've had in a very long time!