AAYYYYYIIIEEE get me out of here

I can't believe that I am taking time to post this. I have had the craziest day. I am finally packed with the exception of a few things (kids shampoo, plastic soap dish, portable DVD player). It looks as if we may have to travel without the DVD player. On our last trip the adaptor that plugs into the cigarette lighter thingy broke and I have been knocking myself out all day trying to find a replacement. The one that I got doesn't work. Oh well, the kids will have to travel old school and count cows and play the license plate game. They just better not drive me crazy. WE ARE ON VACATION DAMMIT! WE ARE SUPPOSED TO BE HAVING FUN!

Oh and Andrew has come down with strep throat. Why, oh why do my kids always get sick right before we take a trip? In Feb. Brooke had croup right before we went to Florida. The last time we went to North Carolina, she was getting over an ear infection and I had to schlep liquid antibiotics across the country with me (refrigerated of course). This time I opted for the chewable variety. Andrew says they don't taste as good as the "pink medicine" but it's ok.

As I write this, Mark is finishing up his softball game. He will come home, shower and we will hit the road. For traveling music, I just received a copy of the Wilco show that I attended last week. Thanks to the Toledo guy that made a copy for me. It arrived just in time for my road trip.

Peace out.

goin' to Carolina (in my mind) (and in my mini-van)

Thursday we leave for our summer vacation. We are heading to Ocean Isle, North Carolina for a week at the beach. Every couple of years our family rents a beach house and swims and plays in the surf. The kids are totally pumped up for this trip. Andrew can remember our last 2 trips to the beach and Brooke can remember the last one. Should be a good time. Although, I have LOTS to do before we hit the road....laundry, packing etc. I am not looking forward to that part.

Last Saturday I was asked to attend a doula training session and do a presentation on what it is like to be a practicing doula. Originally Doulicia and I were asked to present together, but as she was out of town, I said that I could do it solo. It was great fun! I was left with a video in case I ran out of things to talk about (HA!). I blabbered on for 2 hours no problem. I just talked about how I get clients, what to do at prenatal meetings, my rates, some business aspects of the work and how I really don't make that much money. I really don't consider it a job, like so many of my fellow doulas, it really is a calling. I just happen to make a little money at something that I love to do. I think the talk went over rather well. As I was winding down and taking questions from the group, one of the student doulas asked if I had thought about teaching, as in Childbirth education. I said that yes, I had tossed around the idea and was considering it for something in the future. Something that I haven't admitted out loud before. I took that question as a compliment. Hopefully I will be able to do this again with Doulicia in November.

slip 'n slide 

a shot in the arm

So my voice is completely shot. I think it is a combination of allergies and singing/shouting and dancing my butt off at the Wilco show the other night. I have spoken to a few people on the phone today, and everyone keeps asking if I'm ok. I am totally fine. That is what I get for having allergies (or what I used to call "my annual summer cold") and singing and screaming "WOOOOO!" before/during and inbetween each song that was played Tuesday night. Here is the set list for those of you who care:

War on War
Hell is Chrome
Handshake Drugs
Company in My Back
IATTBYH
Heavy Metal Drummer
At Least That's What You Said
Hummingbird
Muzzle of Bees
A Shot in the Arm
Bob Dylan's 49th Beard
Hesitating Beauty
Kamera
Theologians
I'm the Man Who Loves You
Spiders

Encore #1
Misunderstood
Jesus, Etc.
Kingpin /Happy Birthday (Pat Sansone)
Late Greats

Encore #2
Monday
I'm a Wheel
Hoodoo Voodoo

All in all an awesome show. Really high energy, the band was tight, and best of all there was this guy near us who was truly MOVED by the music. I have never seen dancing quite like it. He was fantastic. I loved him.

Today, the kids and I are planning a little picnic to the park and Andrew has his first T-ball game tonight. (Actually his first game, was Tuesday night, but hey...Mommy has her priorities)

Peace out.

This is what happens when your kids get hold of your digital camera without your knowledge

beside myself with excitement

In 24 hours I will be heading up to Rochester Hills to hear Wilco play. I cannot wait. This will be the 6th time I have seen this most awesome and underrated band. I can't think of a better way to ring in the summer solstice than hangin' outside, havin a few beers and listening to Jeff Tweedy and company play some tunes. Yay! If you are not jealous of me, you should be.

Brooke in the circus play. She is a tight rope walker! 

morgan spurlock is cool

For those people not into documentaries, the name Morgan Spurlock may not mean anything to you. He is the guy who subjected his body to a crazy experiment of eating only McDonald's food for an entire month. Being that he is a filmmaker, he filmed the entire experience and created the movie, Supersize Me. If you haven't seen it, run don't walk, and rent it from your local video store. It is awesome. With humor and wit and a scary dose of reality via a very sick liver, Spurlock shows how fast food makes a person sick. Literally. It should be required viewing for every American; especially every American between the ages of 6 and 18. It should be on TV annually kind of like how the Ten Commandments gets shown every spring. But of course in our corporate dominated society that will never happen. (FYI, shortly after Supersize Me won awards at the Sundance Film Festival, McDonald's quickly announced that they were fazing out their Supersize options...Coincidence?) Did I mention that it was nominated for an Academy Award?

He took the movie one step further by writing a book. Don't Eat This Book. Again, fantastic. This book is a companion piece to Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation and deserves to be on the best seller list.

Now Morgan has another new project. A new show on FX called 30 Days. The premise being that people step into one another's shoes for 30 days. The first episode was on Wednesday night, where Morgan and his fiance moved to Columbus, OH and lived working minimum wage jobs for 30 days. Now, as I have said before, I hate reality shows, but this is show is different. It is more "edutainment" than stupid "Date my dad" crap. The show was amazing, and folks should definitely check it out.

Morgan Spurlock. Awesome.

i love free stuff

I had the most incredible morning. I got hundreds of dollars worth of free plants! All I had to do was show up and dig them up.

A friend of mine told me about this opportunity a couple of days ago. There is this house in a town not far away that has been vacant for a number of years. My friend is a memeber of the local garden club and they announced at the last meeting that they could come to this house and take whatever plants they wanted. Well the local ladies decended on this property and make out like bandits! I met my friend there this morning in the rain. Here is what I came home with: 4 hostas an ostrich fern, 2 regular peonies, one tree peony, poppies, a bunch of irises(no idea what kind or what color), a ton of day lilies, another kind of lily, some succulents, a sundial(!), an iron structure that is pretty cool and some other kinds of things that I have no idea what they are. It was so much fun! I even found an old wheelbarrow that I may go back and get. Oh yeah, and a bunch of rocks. Amazing!

I have been playing around for a few years with plants. Although I am not a master gardner by any stretch of the imagination, it is fun and I am learning.

I felt a bit sad being at this house today. Apparantly the people who owned the house died a few years ago. I said a big thank you to the previous owners as I was pulling away this morning.