cake

12 Months of Action

Our darling Suvi Rebecca is one today. What a whirl wind of a year we've had, watching her grow, helping Theo be big brother, all the while trying to soak up and enjoy our daughter (and document both children equally:)

Happy Birthday, Prec'!

little bit a this

• i've already cried twice today --while reading blogs (thanks to laura k and mindi) and shuddered once (flood). i haven't felt very commenty, but apparently slightly sensitive :)
• yesterday suvi was fussing in my arms as i was 'finishing up' my email--she took my face in both her hands and turned it towards her to make eye contact. i was instantly over my email. priority check!
• i have bread in the oven and one more batch on the rise to go in.
• theo was taking a drink and spitting it into a bucket. "i 'frow' up." nobody has been puking around here, he's just that kid who remembers the fun stuff!
• i am disappointed that my healthification process has been put on the back burner (behind the rice) by the head chef. i am glad to have reduced my weight by 18 lbs. 82 to go!
• the man may be the head of the family, but the woman is the neck and she can turn the head anyway she likes. i could do with a little big fat greek wedding today!
• it is well past lunch time--gotta feed the chilluns. happy weekend!

the color purple

^one without flash v-one with flash

Purple potatoes in a little olive oil with kosher salt and rosemary.



Also, The Color Purple the musical is playing here this month, without Fantasia.

freshly washed

tootsies

just got home from a pedicure. finished off the gift certificate my man gave me for Christmas. while waiting for the nail tech to take me back to the chair, and watching the rain, i realized i'd rather have been home with my man, especially since the kids were napping when i left. my toes, and feet in general, are very happy i kept the appointment. :)

wimpy

I haven't written much about faith, it is private for me, but I do believe we are meant to be a light. Usually I keep the drapes pulled. (Not in my living room, though, I like the sunshine to stream in.) Maybe my spiritual light is trapped behind one of those trick mirrors. I can see out, but you can't look in--you see yourself looking back at you. (isn't that often true in life? we see ourselves in others, whether or not that bit really exists in the other? i see it in my interactions with my clients. most often they assume I share their opinion, and i only correct when its something important to me.) I feel pretty wimpy in my faith.

I got a note on FB today from one of our salon clients--she sent it to all her friends, I'd imagine. She was asking for prayer for a specific 22 year old soldier who is in Iraq, a man she feels is being attacked by the greater enemy of the Spirit. It really touched me, that despite the complications in her relationship with this young person, she just wants peace of heart for him. I don't think I do prayer the way she does, and we know Christianity differently as well. Reading her pleas for help humbled me for a moment.

My personal views and practices of celebrating my Christian faith aside, I hope DM gets some comfort. My prayers are usually for my own strength and patience and sanity, as I seem to always be on the brink of chaos. Raspberry tea and a good rest help, Divine Design for hormonal women.

As an aside, I've been saying the Lord's Prayer with Theo at bedtime. Then I say, "God Bless Grandma and Ayat"(Ethiopian Gram) on down to our "friends and neighbors." Theo always adds, "and Devin. Amen." Devin is the neighbor boy--Theo's kindergartener best friend. :) Sweetness and purity of children!!!!!

finns first, irish second

Happy St Urho's Day & Happy St Patrick's Day

Mister Mischief

sw inspiriation/monkey see

I literally cannot wear my darling foot fashions anymore, but I simply cannot bear to part with them. I miss you, pretty shoes!

aw nuts!

I would, I hope you know, not ever say that. Unless I was talking about some really awe inspiring nuts.

When I see something at the store with peanuts, i want to buy it. Even things that I wouldn't really, for sure, in truth want to consume. I am just ANGRY that Theo is allergic. There are moments of insanity when I want to think the doc is nuts, and that my little Muffin can eat them. Those smucker's ready made pbj sandwiches in the freezer section especially tick me off. I can't bring that crap into my house. No matter how much I would like to (and again, I wouldn't buy that, it is just the thing that catches my eye, getting me all fired up).

I hate peanuts, peanut butter, all nuts in case of cross-over reactions, manufacturing facilities that are not peanut free, the cartoon peanuts, pb cups, cookies and ice cream. UGH!!!!

why is this happening!? meep.

(yes, i realize it is not the worst that can happen. it just pisses me right off sometimes, and i really would like to eat some peanut butter toast with homemade raspberry jam, if you must know)

back to reality

tonight i had a lovely time in the kitchen.

while i was brewing up my spinach and carrot brownies, i decided to make some butternut squash, spinach, carrot lasagna, but i was out of cheese.

i went to the grocery store alone and i enjoyed it.

this was perhaps the 4th solo trip to the grocery since theo was born. the other times i felt torn and weird not to have him and later them in the cart. not tonight. and the clerk was an awesome packer. i unload my cart in the order i want the stuff to go in the bag (i enjoy a well packed grocery bag, luggage, car, pair of jeans, but that is a different kind of packed). i bring my own bags, and i don't usually have good luck with the clerks who load my goods into my shopping bags. yes, i rearrange the bags before i exit the store, but after i've moved away from the check-out. this young girl was a perfect packer PLUS she has a really cute hair cut. and i told her so.

anyhoo...

i was sort of chuckling to myself as i was pulling out of my parking spot, and called De to giggle over this change in my life. i am now officially one of those women who declares the grocery store as her me time location. i don't know how this happened to me, but i will embrace it. we had a quick little catch-up chat, and she cracked me up with her wild adventures. (i really miss her, but i am glad she lives in a climate where she can be appropriately dressed in all seasons.)

as i walked into the house, there was the usual noise. (i think suvi will be a singer because she's got a great set of lungs.) my sauce had splattered all over the stove. the kids were all fired up--they love to play with dad.. (oh! suvi took about 5 steps. this means a whole new level of mischief will ensue)

i just smiled a true, cup runneth o'er smile as i was washing up the stove top, high from my shopping vacation, humored by my sweet friend, and called by and to my dear family. who knew groceries could be so fulfilling!!!!!

the lasagna is delicious, by the way.

tagged

Jan tagged me for this self portrait post.

without powdering your nose, take a pic, and post.

I'm tagging Confused Chaos, Bits and Pieces, and Jen's Crazy Pen.

Jan had 3, so I did three, because I really like to follow rules by example.

Latest American Idol. xo.

The ultimate authority...resides in the people alone. (James Madison)

Celebration Day! Now we have one more voter, people. My darling husband became a Citizen of the United States of America. YES! HOORAY!!!!!!

It was a very emotional ceremony. Federal Judge Donovan W. Frank is great and a fun speaker, with plenty of reverence for the grand occasion. Habtamu was one of 71 new Americans from 28 different countries. When the court officer read the country list, from Bangladesh to Zimbabwe, tears just jumped out of my eyes. It was fabulous! (no newbies from Finland, and I think there were 4 or 5 Ethiopians)

I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic, for which it stands, on Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

"It's long been my belief that America is a chosen place, a rich and fertile continent placed by some Divine Providence here between the two great oceans, and only those who really wanted to get here would get here. Only those who most yearned for freedom would make the terrible trek that it took to get here. American has drawn the stoutest hearts from every corner of the world, from every nation of the world. And that was lucky for America, because if it was going to endure and grow and protect its freedoms for 200 years, it was going to need stout hearts." President Ronald Reagan, 1984

just for fun

not lost

I wouldn't say I fell, exactly,

...it was more of an easing away from the reigns of the wagon. So, no, I haven't fallen off the wagon, merely a time of controlled freedom.

That's right, I haven't lost any weight for the past 3 weeks, but I haven't been monitoring my intake as intensely, and have given myself passes that I am now revoking.

as you were.

Leanne's post on happiness really got a lot of us thinking and sharing. It seemed some people were coming at the subject from different perspectives, and perhaps thought they weren't on the same page. Disharmony on the happy train. As I read those comments, however, they didn't seem to be opposing opinions. Perception is everything. To me, there was a lot of agreement, at this center point of happy, but it was found by many from different starting points. Like a magnet, all those fragments drawn together.
Sometimes our interpretation of others is filtered through our prejudices or compartmentalizing or insecurities or life experiences in a way that we are unaware. There are people in my world who inspire a bit of fear and in whose presence my guard is up and on high alert. Anxiety ignitors. Of course I am the actual cause of those feelings, whatever it might be in my head that colors my view of such a person. What power I "give" those folks who have fueled my dart and avoidance tactics! And there are those people for whom I have great admiration, love, or envy. Awe inspirers. Neither sort is a proper summation of the heart and character of the beast/beauty. My understanding of you, my impression of you, my connection to you is completely within me, from my place here in this world, with all my 33 1/3 years of living (okay, so its a bit more than a third, more like 2/3, but I like to squeeze in t'irty-t'ree an' a t'ird where ever possible) between my eyes and your person. In this way, it seems life must always be some shade of gray, rather than black and white. Except that it is certain there is no certainty to the shade.
My hope is to accept with no judgement. Oh! It is challenging at times, since it is difficult to control you if I can't shove you into this perfect little box I've spent a lifetime preparing. Last Sunday I was tested in acceptance. I was physically displaying resistance--deep breathing and rubbing my brows, but mostly "just as she is" was good enough. She is part of a five-petal flower and so am I. She is my sister. She approaches every day with more years of life than I, and from a completely different attitude and launch point. We are attached to the same stem, but it looks different from her side of the flower, the shadows fall across us at different times and at the same time and change our colors. As far as I can see, she is always there in her spot, and our connection is consistent, and true, from any angle. Her version of happy is just as valid as mine.
What is your perception filter? What are your classifications of the people in your world? Why is it some folks can be accepted as is, while others are in need of change? Where is the line? Is it a chalk or paint line? Why do I want to change the way "people" do the dishes in my house? Is it the same kind of rules? Your kind of happy, your brand of tp, your level of intellect, your fitness routine, your you?