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Do you know whose words these are? And whose (kinda sorta) flowers these belong to (if he wasn't dead)?
Technical difficulties this week have frustrated any attempt to post my current D.C. Top Ten Memories. By the time I get around to recalling them, they might just be a distant memory...! Plus...kitchen renovation has begun...and that just means I'm discombobulated all over again.
More soon :).
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Or maybe most of 'em shouldn't even try...
And some black men can't either or shouldn't even try.
But when they "dance like no one's watching"--even though the world wide web is--well that makes for some pretty funny entertainment (in a toilet-flushing cat, euphemism-generating kind of way).
While I was looking for those Hallmark plaques last night, I found "The Daddy of all Dance Offs". Mamma Mia, squirrel away the wee cheap burrito (guilty again), I can't imagine what these father's kids are thinking right now...or their wives...or their mamas...or anyone who has ever known them. $5,000 doesn't come close to what it'd take for me our kids to let Tad enter this contest. Anyone who knows him IRL is crackin' up at the thought right now...Tad...dancing...:D. Unless it's a s l o w dance, THEN we're talkin' a whole 'nother ballgame...;)
Stephen and I laughed through all the contestants, voted for Tampa, but looked to begin with because the first guy was from Charlotte (I might've actually known him--ha!). But then, I noticed Houston on the list. And I thought about the Drama Mamas. It's obvious he was using a pseudonym--"Lance Gross" is just a little too perfect for his (ahem, cough cough) smooth m o v e s. Instead, I think we might have a sighting of Victor...or Matthew...or maybe, even Evil Dwight!! Quick, somebody claim him!
Gosh, I could use a dose of Al Pacino in "Scent of a Woman" right now...or Swayze or Travolta, Travolta, Travolta...or better yet, Gene Kelly or Fred Astaire, or (I'm overdosing on youtube right now) my favorite du jour, Hines and Baryshnikov!
Mmmm...men who CAN dance...
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1) Thanks for those of you who commented to my Fun Monday post yesterday.
a) Y'all were kind. It has been VERY difficult for this blog mama to maintain any kind of blog presence for the last two months or so. End of school insanity and then summer coming and going has made it almost impossible to blog hop. Are y'all experiencing this at all? Can you tell a difference? I guess our first two weeks post school haven't been typical--long Memorial weekend to the beach, then my trip to Washington. I'm still hoping to read your FM posts by the end of the week...I'm not holding my breath, though. Can you tell I'm missing the reading and comment part of blogging? It's not all about me writing.
b) Many of yesterday's comments were questioning why in the world we'd want to renovate our kitchen...it IS nice and big and fine as is. Our wish to renovate it comes from i) the fact that it's the hub of our home, and like many of you, it's where we l i v e. ii) We entertain a fair amount and rarely make it out of the kitchen and dining room. Sooo, we're opening it up to make room for everybody. iii) Plus we like change, doggone it. And for our house to feel like our home. And for my refrigerator door to open all the way. Because it looks like we're gonna be in Tennessee a while.
c) Godlovehim, Tad's primary love language is "acts of service". He's also the neat freak in the family. If it wasn't for him, you'd have to wade through the kitchen to get anywhere else. And from there, you'd have to machete through piles of papers and clothes and who-knows-what-else! oh, my!! Soooo, when he walked in the door and saw N.O.T.H.I.N.G. on the counter last night, he thought I was lovin' on him, bless his heart. I hated bursting his bubble when he asked if I posted pictures of our kitchen for Fun Monday...and it s l o w l y dawned on him why it was so neat and tidy. ** sigh ** God has a sense of humor when he puts two Type A people together who are opposite in this area....makes for some serious flicking the minnow.
I've gotta take a break within the post to tell you, if you were sitting in the room with me right now, you'd be hearing me laugh.out.loud. What the heck is "flicking the minnow"??? I have NO idea, I picked it up here. The next one was just a bit too suspect--"spanking the wife's great lizard" and then "ironing the bandit". Yep, I feel like the amazing toilet-flushing cat watching the water swirl down the toilet or something...scarily-easily amused.
2) A few of you commented on the plaque above the coat rack--I picked that up at a Hallmark Store, but had a difficult time choosing. I'm sure that comes as no surprise. I took cell pics of the rest of them and when I tried to find a better picture online, they were no where to be found. Can't cha see why I'd have a hard time deciding which one? In the end, the one I chose seems to fit me best...
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Joy at A Spot of T is this week's hostess for Fun Monday. Her theme is all things kitchen, and honestly, it couldn't have come at a better time for me personally. Later this week we're going to begin a kitchen makeover, and she's given me a lovely reminder to take BEFORE pictures. I could just hug her neck.
See the cabinets with the microwave to the right of the doorway? Say "bye-bye"...by the end of this week, they'll be gone. Along with the wall holding them up! We're opening up that doorway and the wall to extend our kitchen. The counter will remain, but there will be a bar; two barstools will live on the other side so, while perched atop their thrones, the kids can entertain me with their lively banter.
The room you can see in the shadows has a name...it's called a "keeping room". Just what we shall keep shall remain a mystery for now ;).
Pivoting to the right, you'll see the room continue. This tile will be gone, too, although as I type, I'm not sure what's going to replace it. Stay tuned.
This is our view as I continue turning right.
And, as I complete the rotation...
We'll be moving the refrigerator to the current position of the cabinets (right now, 
you can't open the right door all the way :/). Only the side of the fridge is magnetic...most of our photos are plastered all over my laundry room which is through that doorway to the left.
And last, a few of my favorite things, in and around our kitchen. Our South Carolina pillow (which cost a small fortune, but because it chronicles our lives there was worth every dime!), the Watermelon bowl? vase? Rachel made for me in art this year--she formed it, and came up with a brilliant idea for painting it! And, going through the doorway to the left of the stove picture, you'll find the little plaque greeting you over the coat rack as you walk in from the garage.
Please be sure and visit Joy for the rest of today's Fun Monday posts :).
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This is what we hear during dinner tonight:
Thomas: "Y'all are getting old."
Me (not quite sure where in the world this is coming from): "WHAT???!!!"
Thomas: "I mean y'all look good and all, but think about it...I'm mowing the grass, we're cleaning the kitchen after dinner...we're doing everything....maybe it's not y'all getting older, we are."
** s i g h **
(can I say dammit, too?)
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How do you choose a favorite monument or memorial in D.C.? How does someone choose who has trouble deciding an ice cream flavor for heaven's sake?! (Funny thing is, I always sample "something else" but end up getting a chocolate derivative...)
Since a Fun Monday post will be coming tomorrow (theoretically) (be sure to visit Joy at A Spot of Tea for details), it looks like I won't be posting my new D.C. Top Ten list until Tuesday at the earliest. I can already feel the prickles from the pins and needles upon which you sit....
Until then, I'm uploading a few pics that probably won't make it to the list this time. Not because they aren't my favorite, but because there are so many things that DO make the cut.
Because the FDR Memorial encompasses an unduplicated four-term presidency, it is a memorial offering substance over style. Which says a lot, because its style is pretty impressive.... it has a gravity unto itself as it draws you through each of four "rooms", each representing one term of Roosevelt's time in office. Reading his thoughts chiseled in stone gives you a glimpse of how he could have been elected four times.
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You must DO Washington, DC, the sooner, the better. Must.Do. It's not a suggestion, it's not up for debate.
EVERY time I visit, I come away with this same affection, a compulsion to hogtie and drag everyone I know--heck, everyone I DON'T know--back to our Nation's Capitol. The entire District is monument to our country's history, bringing the dead to life in a way not possible from all-too-often tedious and unimaginative schoolbook text or lifeless, one-dimensional photography or penciled renderings. New York well may be the city that never sleeps, but Washington is a city fully alive, reverberating with a palpable p o w e r
I can't imagine present anywhere else on planet earth. Certainly it is a place where insatiable political ego is fed--that amuses me at times, in spite of the fact it's often not funny--but it's also the birthplace of dreams and ideas and programs and policy that affect each of us daily from before cradle to after grave. If that's not power, I don't know what is.
Eleven hours on a bus, beginning at 8:00 p.m. Thursday night and ending Friday morning at 7:00 a.m. hasn't left me with much energy for writing right now. I need quiet and my family. I've been with people--constant NOISE for a week--and honestly, I'm drained (Willowtree, you'd probably have gone postal!). It was a fantastic trip with Rachel's class with an unexpected bonus: the company of parents I didn't know very well...hmmm, make that I didn't know them well before the trip, but 24-hour togetherness, a thousand hours in close quarters, circumstances that were at times maddening but always laughable, and time to tell the stories of our lives...let's just say post-trip they know enough about me (and, thankfully, visa versa) to get very rich from blackmail. When you're delirious from total lack of sleep, it's amazing what can slip out :).
More soon, you know I've gotta post My Top Ten Favorite DC Memories, and one thing I know for sure, there's no way my "Number 1" can be the same as last time...dang it ;).
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Guess who I spent the evening with tonight?
Ted Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, Diane Feinstein, Nancy Pelosi...heavy hitters in for a late night Senate session discussing the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act. There were less than a dozen Senators present, but we were shocked and thrilled as we filed into the Senate Chamber and saw Mrs. Clinton on the floor...no matter what your political persuasion, it was an unexpected delight to see in person those we've watched for a lifetime on the news. Oh, yeah, and John McCain was milling around the halls.
Access to the Senate and House Chambers was thanks to Representative Zack Wamp.
More soon, we're having a GREAT trip...for now, I just wanted to drop a few names ;).
(Cameras aren't allowed most areas of the Captol, but here's one I took with my cell as we pulled away.)
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Karmyn, home to "Dreaming What Ifs", is host for this week's Fun Monday. She "asked everyone to show us their crafty side....post something that was handmade....junior high shop table, scrapbook pages, burnt meatloaf, knitting projects, muffins, whatever...."
A thousand years ago, I was very crafty... I've tried just about everything at least once, from knitting at swim meets (the season ended, so did my scarf, which looked more like a coaster), to a weekend scrapbooking retreat with friends (I got a few Disney pages done...that was the end of that!), I even sewed a pair of mint green shorts once (got as far as the zipper, never made it to the waistband). As I write this, I realize I'm pretty doggone good at starting projects, but alas, that daggum same A.D.D. propensity I have when cleaning apparently rears its ugly head when crafting, too. Hmmmm, hadn't noticed that before I saw it in black and stinkin' white. The one thing I was able to start AND finish was cross-stitching--I started in high school and continued into my early years of marriage, but everything I made was given to someone else. Now, I wish we had something I had completed...
Movin' on....
When I finally had children, I was in craft nirvana! I had an excuse for playing with glitter and glue and squiggly eyes, oh, my! I loved being the "craft girl" at Vacation Bible School. Somewhere along the way, though, as my babies grew out of that phase, so did I. I'm not very crafty anymore, if I do anything, it's gotta be fast and easy to complete.
Enter stamping :).
My friend Paige found a very sneaky way to introduce me to the art of making hand-stamped cards. She gave me some. Not once, but twice. Wascally wabbit...! I noticed on the back of them she had made them (a personalized "Paige" stamp told me so), so I asked her about them. She invited me to a "free" workshop, and $$$ of dollars later, I was in the cult. For five minutes, I was even a Stampin' Up demonstrator, but then my father's health declined and I was otherwise occupied, so it was short lived.
What I discovered was priceless: instant craft gratification!! You can make a card in MINUTES and there's always a "wow" factor! People love to receive these cards; they make lovely, original gifts. But the most wonderful discovery was how much Rachel and I loved doing this together. She was around 13 when we started, so it wasn't as if I had to do the work for her; we simply sat side-by-side and worked at the same time. Conversation flows naturally and because we're learning that her love language is "quality time", it speaks that, too.
Here are a few cards I've made in the past. It's been a while since I stamped anything new...right now, our stamp room is covered in photographs--literally--because I'm going to get those organized if it kills me (which it dang well might)(but at least they'll be in order before I meet my unfortunate demise).
Here are a few that are pretty cool; the first one "toggles" the stamp side, then the sentiment; the second one is called a "waterfall" and as you pull the ribbon tab down, the square stamped cut outs cascade down.
Thanks for visiting my Fun Monday post. Unless you're posting Sunday (like me), I won't be able to see yours until I return from Washington. While most of you are blog hoppin' to all the FM craftsmen, I'll be on a bus with a bunch of 14 year olds headed to our Nation's Capitol. I hadn't decided whether or not I'd take my laptop for a break from the madness, but then Ree mentioned a little contest she's having, and daggum it....I get twitchy if I don't play along. For some reason she wouldn't reschedule to accommodate me, imagine that!
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If you look closely, Karmyn, you'll see trees. Yep, if it made sense to, I could stand nekkid in the tub and no one would see me...our house backs up to woods :).
Also for Karmyn, do you see somethin' that once lived at your house? I took the photo a few weeks ago, so it looks a bit different now, but this is what it looked like BEFORE I discovered a guilty pleasure.
Not for Karmyn, I threw in a picture of the ceiling; it's one of our favorite parts of the bathroom. We considered painting it, but I'm glad ultimately we decided against it.
FYI, Fun Monday is hosted by the lovely lady mentioned thrice in this post; if you'd like to show your crafty side, please follow her link to get the details.
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