Monday, January 29, 2007

Bwahhhston


The city was beautiful and cold by night ... intriguing and cold by day. I took photos of everything from trash to city lights, sugar roosters to subway musicians. And if I didn't have to go on a Starbucks tour, I would have wandered the streets even more in search of interesting things. My prized posession from this trip? A book titled "Prairie City" published by a company in Tulsa! I found it on a rack of books outside of a small store with a plethora of reading material. My wonderful find? $2! TWO DOLLAH!

A special treat was Robin Williams ... here just for the entertainment of the Yankee Dental Congress folks. I captured a clip of the favorite joke of the evening:

Boston Subways


In the underground myriad of lives sliding by one another a melody was softly soothing the cool, oil-stained air. I put a little money in his basked and asked if I could take pictures. He smiled and nodded while his fingers continued to stroke the music so easily from his guitar. I took a little video clip, too, but unfortunately stopped before he strummed his last chord and said, "Good timing," with an almost-shy smile as I complimented his music.

I hoped to see him again, but never did. The other musicians I heard just didn't have the same touch. Most were playing guitars in the places tucked away and designated as a "performance area" and while it was nice, it wasn't his gentle sound. But I found that I missed that musical flavor when no one was there. Except for one odd pair ... they could barely play because of someone harassing them! We kept sliding further and further away from the scene.
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Tuesday, January 23, 2007


WOOHOO! He did it! He pulled together and turned his grades around! Now he gets to have a special breakfast for kids with a 3.5 or higher grade average. I'm proud of my kid!!!
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Monday, January 22, 2007

Girl Scout Cookies ... Order until Feb. 4!


The weather has kept our little Brownies indoors for weeks it seems. Thankfully, I just got word today that the Girl Scout cookie sale is extended one more week. I still haven't been able to get my daughter's REAL kit and have to leave town again ... so in the meantime, here are the cookies that are available! If any of you want to change your order (now that you see everything) either email me (those that know me have my email) or leave a comment here.

Her little "videos" have been popular ... so if you haven't seen them, just scroll down a few entries and you'll find the embedded video players. Or you can go directly to Clipshack to see them with the following links:

Her cooler redo:


Mom's classic version:
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Sunday, January 21, 2007

Football Pileup


It was a pileup this afternoon. I think everyone was quite happy to see Kevin today. The dog (who has been classically SCARED of anyone male and slowly has at least accepted Kevin) jumped on him when he came in the door! The guys had their Bears jerseys and had my daughter looking for their "twins" throughout the game. I was quite content to snuggle with the pack on the sofa! Well ... ok ... that's kind of a lie. I did end up taking a pile of photos and finishing lunch and doing dishes and starting supper. The work is never done!
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Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Crazy Winters


They said it was crazy ... but we went anyway! The road to Dallas wasn't all that interesting, much less dangerous! But this was a cool tree I spotted on the Oklahoma side. There wasn't as much ice as in my front yard, but enough to claim some winter action!
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Tuesday, January 16, 2007

My new favorite quote ...



"Why not go out on a limb? That is where the fruit is." - Mark Twain

Or in our case, this weekend ... that is where the ice is! I have been CRAVING snow boots or even just hiking boots so I can go take photos of this winter wonderland without being a danger to traffic. The prairie areas are amazing ... some with tall grasses that look like crystal sheaths, some with intricate branches reflecting on a sea of glass, even the fences and the patterns shining and sparkling ... WOW.
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Monday, January 15, 2007

Crazy Kids ...



OK ... so we have ICE now? Oklahoma has had two "little" winter storms and I'm being accused of bringing it! WHO ME? I try to tell everyone I'm from Georgia, but this northern prairie girl is somehow known for her snow-laden upbringing instead of her recent stint in the south. But can you believe my son? He was out "skating" on our lawn today in FLIP FLOPS (while his sister was in army boots)! Crazy kids.
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Sunday, January 14, 2007

She remade the video ...



Evidently my video production was TOO tame! I laugh. What's wrong with Cookie Monster? She wanted to decorate with hearts and have better music (that Hilary would like, and definitely NOT Sesame Street)! How do 7 year olds get so sophisticated?

Girl Scout Cookies ... this is a first!


Even though the weather prevented the big Cookie Kick Off, my little Brownie had ideas of her own about getting the word out about Girl Scout Cookies. She had the thought to send ecards to family and friends and wrote the little letter she wanted. Then we took pictures. She was pretending to "camp" inside my light tent. She picked out the ones she liked (minus a few vetos from Mom) and she gave me her list of pictures for her very own ecard. She wants to save the wild ones for her ecard to Hilary Duff. So, if any of you know her email address, feel free to leave a comment! LOL

Though video clips were still on her list upon going to bed, I told her we'd save those for Hilary, too. And while she went to sleep, I took her little handwritten letter (I wish I could have it show up in the titles in her handwriting - it's so cute) and put her ecard together. So, to our friends and family, here comes the newest little cookie salesgirl to hit the town ... drum roll please ... (you can click on the video player image below):

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Did you know that Girl Scout Cookies aren't just a corporate fundraiser? I always thought they were. But the girls actually get cookie credit for what they sell, and they can use it for camps, uniforms, patches, trips, all kinds of things within the Council. Pretty cool! And it's nice for me as a mom to know my child is not just expecting to go places, but is learning to work and help make her own path toward the things she wants to do. And there's also a lot more to Girl Scouts than I ever realized. It's all about leadership and building confidence in girls. But I'll get on my soapbox later. Or maybe I'll blog about it in my other blog: I'm A Girl Scout!

Friday, January 12, 2007

School Assembly ... in the SNOW!


It's snowing AGAIN ... and I wasn't so sure I'd be able to make it to her school, but I braved the weather and arrived intact! That sounds so weird from a northern girl now living in the south! But down here, it's as if snow equipment doesn't exist! I was absolutely floored when I heard that residential streets are cleared by ...... (drum roll) ...... the residents! Anyway, I was surprised to find so many parents at the school (until I realized they were coming to remove their kids a little early). My daughter kept looking and looking and finally found me in the wings taking photos ... she was VERY happy, especially when she found out she could come home with me after the assembly. I don't own a snow scraper, so a CD cover had to do when we got to the car and it was already icing over! OK - new shopping list: gloves, scraper, earmuffs.
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Friday, January 05, 2007

Brownie Delight ...


FINALLY! We are back to Brownies after a holiday and weather delay! The little girls are so cute. Mine was the "Helper" for the evening (they each have jobs for each meeting) and got to cover for 3 people who weren't there. She LOVED that! My little helper.

After the big meeting, we all went out for pizza (big brother included - who provided some teenage comedy for us adults) and had quite a time with two other friends and their moms! Our waiter was fun and the girls had a great time trying to give him "cooties" ... but the quote that came from the back seat on our way home was accidentally hilarious: Her little voice rang out, "I liked touching Dave! That was fun!" Oh boy. I caught my breath, "WHAT???" Those words from my 7 year old? Ahhh ... the cooties. We burst out laughing when the realization hit! Innocence is so precious.
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Wednesday, January 03, 2007

NO PHOTOS ALLOWED!

Tonight is a night of mourning ... over hair. My son had a haircut coming, and if you've seen the blog, he had plenty of it. I had thought we would be taking a photo of a 3-4" reduction in hair, but plans went awry when the stylist basically gave him a BOWL CUT! At least a 2nd stylist stepped in to help shag up the style a bit. And I went on an emergency Wal-Mart run to get some hair products. Unfortunately, I gave all mine away when we moved or we would have had a plentiful stash of goo. So ... I have a feeling he won't be very visible in front of the camera lens and I don't blame him. I really feel sorry for him. He had the longest, coolest hair in school and now he feels like a dork and wants to hide for 2 months.

It's tough to ask a teenager to see past the exterior. Granted, a person should be valued for what's inside, but I have a feeling kids can be ruthless. As a mom, I can see all kinds of opportunity in this ... I want my kids to be confident and enjoy who they are regardless of what the rest of the world thinks. But I also want them to enjoy how they look as well. So ... I'll drag out what's left of my arsenal, get up early, and see what we can do to make his hair unbowl and hopefully get a messy, maybe even cool (is that too much to ask?) hairstyle going tomorrow.

How slow do you want the fire to burn?

  Just a little over a year ago, I had an urge to set up my special writing place. One person I wanted to tell was my aunt because I had bee...