i resolve...

to blog again in 2009, 'for reals', as my friend Jillie would say ;-) Just spent the past hour or so looking through old blog entries, and, well, i need to start blogging again, because i want a record of all the crazy stuff that our life consists of...to look back on. Gonna do this, I promise myself. For now, here is a parting image of 2008. These next couple of weeks are going to fly by, and I'm sure I won't get down to blogging until the new year. So, I leave you with snow prints of 2008 ;-) Peace and good cheer in this holiday season...

well...

do I know how to put the 'hi' in hiatus, or what? It has been a while. My life is, as I can best describe it, going through quite a transition right now. I guess life really is just a series of transitions anyway, though, right? Writing and blogging for personal fulfillment just doesn't seem to be a priority at the moment, so I am directing everyone to my photography blog, which I will hopefully be updating here and there with some personal stuff as well as business details. It's all I can manage at the moment. I am still adding photos to Flickr, so you can definitely find me there, as well as Facebook and Twitter. Hope everyone is well and enjoying the crispy fall -- we had quite a cold snap this weekend! Here's our boy at the Council Farms pumpkin patch. He loved every bit of it.

his mouth gapeth open



Something deep within me could not go to sleep tonight without posting this photo. I have been going through a ton of photos, trying to clear space on my hard drive (blech), and this is one of my recent favorites. Doesn't he look so BIG?? Wahhh. It makes me want to cry. And then on another day, I am looking forward to reclaiming my life when he goes to college. Such is the paradox of motherly emotions, I suppose. We are back from Louisiana and heading to Ocean City for a couple of days with Jean, Jason, and little Eva, Eli's future prom date. I will be back with lots of photos and updates from both trips, hopefully. It has been a whirlwind since we returned, and Eli starts preschool on Tuesday, so I am guessing it will take me all of next week to fully regain composure. What the hell am I talking about? Me regain composure? I exist in a state of perpetual decomposure. I must accept this sad fact and move on with my life. Ahhh.

Happy Labor Day weekend, everyone. Try not to labor too much, okay?

P.S. These are Shaun's PJs from when he was a wee one. Cute, huh?

the great slide



Just going through my backlog of photos from the past month and loved this one! I met a photog friend in Annapolis last week, and this is where this pic was taken.

music and lyrics

When we were living in Texas, my good friend Sara introduced me to the sounds of Frances England, a children's folk singer. Well, I don't know if she calls herself a folk singer -- maybe not -- but the songs are 'folky' to me and just so sweet and catchy, and this CD, after being packed away for awhile, has been resurrected and is the current soundtrack for out rides to the grocery store, Target, and, well, most everywhere else we drive. I love all of the songs, but there is one, 'Busy as a Bee,' that makes me think of Eli at the stage he is in now. His mind is a racetrack with matchbox cars of every color and kind in it, racing and whizzing by, constantly. He is never finished for the day. I guess neither are we, with the piles of books and magazines on our nightstands that we hope to read after the daylight is gone, and the kids are in bed, and we finally get a chance for us.

The other night we were closing up shop downstairs, turning all the lights off, and Eli was still sitting on the floor in our living room, intently delivering cargo by train, over bridges and through tunnels. So you'll see why I love this song. My favorite part is when she says, "busy, busy, busy, busy, busy..."(you have to listen to the song to get the full effect!).

Busy As A Bee
Frances England

Last night about a quarter to eight, you came into my room
You said, “Honey, it’s getting late, it’s getting late.”
I said, oh no Momma this cannot be,
I got too many things to do before I sleep, before I sleep
I got trucks to pull and train tracks to lay before the break of day

Last night about a quarter to eight, you came into my room
You said, “Honey, it’s getting late, it’s getting late.”
I said, oh no Momma this cannot be,
I got too many things to do before I sleep, before I sleep
I got stories to read and games to play before the end of day

Don’t you know I’m busy, busy, busy as a bee
Don’t you know I’m busy, busy, busy as a bee
No sleep for me

Last night about a quarter to eight, you came into my room
You said, “Honey, it’s getting late, it’s getting late.”
I said, oh no Momma this cannot be,
I got too many things to do before I sleep, before I sleep
I got songs to sing and stories to tell,
I got animals to talk to, make sure they’re doing well, before I sleep

Don’t you know I’m busy, busy, busy as a bee
Don’t you know I’m busy, busy, busy as a bee
No sleep for me

:::

And -- you can listen to it here. Just click on 'music' and then the first CD cover 'Fascinating Creatures.' It's number 6. Shaun's favorite is 'Blue Canoe' (number 11), and Eli loves 'Tricycle' (number 2).

We're off to visit family and friends in Louisiana tomorrow, so I hope to be back, checking in with pictures! My friend Rachel says she wants pictures of the bayou, which she thinks is so beautiful. So, I will try to get some for her, as well as some of Eli swimming with my new disposable underwater cameras. He has been swimming something crazy at the Y these days, and both of our parents have pools, so I can't wait to see what he does, busy bee that he is.

Gotta run. Babysitter coming in 30 minutes, and I still have to wash my hair and get dressed. And then the rest of the afternoon will be devoted to packing. Oh, happy day.

Yay for My-tel Pelps (as Eli would say).

We are loving us some Olympics.

Happy Monday, everybody!

feats of valour

This is a Public Service Announcement: Please, when given the opportunity, give the breast-feeding woman in the check-out line a break, will ya?

All right, so I was in line to pay for my groceries this weekend, and the baby pasted to the hip of the woman behind me started to wail, so, I said, sympathetically to the mother:

Would you like to go ahead of me?

She said:

No, that's okay.

So, I proceed to load my groceries onto the black belt, when I hear that the baby has stopped its wailing, and notice, out the corner of my eye, that the mother has hoisted up her shirt and whipped out her child's food source, right there, while simultaneously hoisting her banannas onto the conveyer belt. So, I was like, um, okay, I wouldn't have done it, simply because I have modesty issues, and Eli was always an erratic eater, but, hey, if you can breastfeed and fetch banannas from your grocery cart at the same time, you've got one big one up on me, sista, and you just go on and wave that breastfeeding flag high.

So, as I re-focus on finishing my grocery transaction, the child-clerk, with about as much awareness as a 2-year-old who is about to stick his finger in an electrical outlet with bright red wires protruding from it, says to ME:

Can you tell her I'M CLOSED?

(in my head: I'm sorry, maybe you were born blind and deaf and have this amazing ability to still drag egg cartons across conveyer belts, but you didn't, for some unexplainable and odd reason, see THE WOMAN BREASTFEEDING HER SCREAMING CHILD BEHIND ME)

Me to breastfeeding woman: Um, (nervously gesturing to the blind-from-birth child-clerk), she says she's closed.

BW: ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

Me to child-clerk: Um, could you just ring her up and then close? I *think* she's having a hard time.

C-C to me: Mmmmph. Well, I...(blah, blah, blah, blah, blah)

Then, no more words were spoken, and I shot her the biggest, baddest (well, okay, maybe not the baddest) GLARE of her life, as if to say, One day, oh young one who bags banannas while waiting to clock out so you can meet your boyfriend and skateboard off into the sunset while chewing gum, locking lips, and listening to your apple-green iPods, ONE DAY, you may have a child, and that child, if he's normal, may cry in grocery stores, and force you to hike up your shirt and PRAY that the girl behind the counter doesn't close her freakin' register on you.

Okay, so not exactly purple-heart material here, people, but she kept her register open, and they all breastfed (and skateboarded off into the sunset) happily ever after.

And on my drive home, I thought about never breastfeeding again.

:::

In other, non-heroic news, we have rekindled our affections for the YMCA (or the YPT, as Eli calls it) and have made it our absolute goal in life to go at least 3 to 4 evenings a week to pump some iron and take the child to the pool. The pool is wonderful and completely enclosed with an attached sauna and open year-round. I swam 4 laps yesterday and thought I might need to be rescued from drowing. If there was a doubt before, now it is confirmed: I am THAT out of shape.

And, appropos of nothing mentioned above, but just because it is so funny, Eli's own special name for the Golden Arches:

Ho-Donald's.

I told you it was funny. At least it is to us, even for the millionth time.

Hope everyone is having a great week. More from us soon...;-)

immortality...sort of

So, last week was Plein Air, an arts festival that draws painters from all over the country to little ol' Easton. The theme of this year's festival was 'Vanishing Landscapes,' and since there are ancient scyamores on our street, there were quite a few artists here everyday. There were literally artists right outside our front window each morning when we opened the blinds. It was actually very inspiring to watch their intensity and artistry. Mid-week Eli and I were asked to 'model' for one of the artists who wanted to paint us into his portrait of the street and the trees. Here is the nearly-finished painting and John, the artist, immersed in work. He was a funny fellow, and it was slightly odd when he was instructing me on exactly how to sweep my front sidewalk, but whatever. I am immortalized, right. I'm not so keen on the fact that I am sweeping because, hello John, this is the 21st century, but okay. It was fun, and we actually got to see the finished painting hanging in the art gallery in town, and we were so proud that we were a small part of it. Too bad it was going for about $3K or we could have had a new piece for our house.

Anyway, here is John and the August street sycamores and mother and child sweeping the steps. I still think it would have been more appropriate and realistic, albeit less romantic, if he would've had me pull out my laptop, sit on the steps, and, I dunno, play a video game with the kid or something. Because I really don't sweep the front sidewalk all that much. Bad housewife.

you spin me round, round, baby, round, round



Only a photo to share today. Back to feeling overwhelmed and like I will never be able to write (aka, truly reflect on my life) again. I guess that's what retirement is for. lol. Happy belated birthday wishes to Aunt Jenny and Nanny Mel, and happy anniversary to our good friends Jill and Brian who celebrated 6 years on Sunday ;-)

Got my new Canon 40D today (can I get a woop, woop?), so I am looking forward to taking my photography skills to the next level. I hope. I'm tackling full manual mode next. I wonder if I can do that and bite my nails at the same time?

And, just for the record, and in the event Eli reads this blog one day, he was almost entirely an absolute dream of a child today. And, yes, I fully expect to pay for it tomorrow.

hydrangeas

faith

faith
Originally uploaded by {eli's mommy/jen}

The kid's got moves.

Happy Friday, y'all.

boy of summer

WWOD?

Well, let me first say that I have wanted to do a post about my love-hate relationship with Oprah for a VERY long time, but as these things go, I just never did. Until now.

There is an undeniable paradox that exists in the fact that I find Oprah supremely annoying most of the time; however, I am drawn like a moth to every flaming product she endorses. And her books, gawd, the books. I mean, I am currently reading Eckhart Tolle's book A New Earth, if that doesn't speak volumes about my intrigue for Oprah. (Just as a side note, Eckhart is not like all the other kids, folks. I'm just sayin'.) And I still have yet to buy the bra that she swears will change your life, but don't think I've given up on getting that puppy. And don't think for one Chicago minute that I wouldn't be doing a happy jive if I was ever able to get tickets to her show.

But, oh, how she annoys me so. Like when one day she chronicles Lisa Ling's expose on puppy mills or the progress of her school for girls in Africa, and then the next she has Colin Cowie sipping a dirty martini on her stage while talking about how the shamelessly wealthy plan parties -- AND...AND, how you can, too. Except you will have to catch the K-Mart special on wine glasses and placemats to be able to afford for your guests to eat hot dogs.

To be honest, I don't even watch her show anymore, because I just don't have the damn time. But I think about it. Incessantly. And wonder if Nate will be doing another design show soon or if Gayle and Oprah will ever take another road trip. Or if Stedman and the dogs will ever be live guests on the show. Or if Dr. Robin will ever tell Oprah to shut the goddamn hell up when she interjects during every intervention Dr. Robin tries to do. Because, ahem, we all know that Oprah is a psychologist and a direct descendent of Jesus Christ.

And I wonder if Oprah *really* reads all of the books in her book club?

Okay, so anyway, I was so thrilled when my husband called on his way home from work today to tell me that I must listen to THIS interview that he had just heard on NPR's radio program All Things Considered.

I won't say a whole lot because I want you to go and listen for yourself (it's only about 5 minutes), but I will say that I'm kicking myself (with a heavy shoe on my foot) for not thinking of this idea myself.

It's brilliance, pure and simple.

Robyn (a.k.a. LO), the actress behind the social experiment called Living Oprah, also has a blog, www.livingoprah.com, where she chronicles her year of living according to all of Oprah's recommendations for 'living your best life."

I will also say that Robyn (no relation, apparently, to Dr. Robin) is not out to bash Oprah, and really, neither am I. I mean, she does do a lot of good, even if she does have to tell everybody about it and does own, like, um 10 houses or something.

The most important part, and perhaps entire purpose, of the experiment, according to Robyn, is to try to make people aware of the influences that work upon us everyday, particularly from celebrities and the media, and to make us think about what really informs (and what should inform) the daily choices we make.

Amen, sista.

weekend warriors

This weekend we were rock stars. We did all of our around-the-house chores on Friday, headed to Dewey Beach for the day Saturday, then decided on a whim to go fishing on Sunday. And to top it all off, we drank mojitos and grilled pizza Sunday evening. I will be posting the pizza recipe soon because it was tasty AND low-fat!

Anyway, here's our big fish in action:

a resurrection may be coming after all

So, tonight, as I am helping Eli brush his teeth and potty in preparation for bedtime stories, he walks to the edge of the stairs and says:

"Taunnn (rhymes with Shaun), do me a favor,"

just as serious as a brain surgeon would say, "Scalpel," and as I almost died from acute, insane laughter, Shaun came half-way up the stairs to see what our 40-year-old son needed, and then Eli proceeded to do a half-shuffle from one end of the hallway to the other, mumbling something, which I guess was the favor he needed, although we couldn't quite make it out. And then he just smiled and chuckled to himself.

Ha! Ha!

I may very well have found something to get me blogging again. Between this and his announcement in Lowe's last weekend that he had to make a 'number 3' on the potty, I could have blog fodder for the rest of 2008. We'll see.

dearest blog,

i shall return to you one day when my life is less chaotic.

(and stop laughing, all of you who say it will never be so).

i now have joined the facebook masses, so you may find me there more these days, beause somehow, it is less intimidating, and, of course, i'm always posting lots of new pics to flickr, and, if you still can't find me, i've been updating the photog blog here.

hope all of your summers have been filled thus far with lots of white wine, grilling out, and privacy fences, the latter of which we would like if anyone wants to get us one.

we are headed to the beach this weekend, so i'll have lots of pics to share, i'm sure.

xxoo,
me

home run



Doesn't it look like he is sliding into home base?

We ventured out to Assateage Park on Wednesday and hung at the beach for a few hours. He loved the sand but not the water. Maybe because it was ICE COLD. Yep, even in June, people. ICE COLD.

Much more news and many more photos to come...SOON, once I learn how to...ahem...blog again.

Cheerio.

wanna see some hot mommas...?

...and a new killer photography location right down the street from me???

Go here.

We've had a ton of out-of-town visitors lately, as well as lots of other things keeping us busy, so this blog is suffering big time, but I shall return when I find my head and reattach it.

Hope all is well for everyone.

Cheers.

get outta my face, and i mean it



My sister is here visiting right now, and all I wanted today was a nice photo of Eli with her, and, hey, I got it. I even posted it extra large for you to see.

Right.

Toddlers.

Hmph.

what ever will I do with them?



We're just getting back today from a couple days in Norfolk, VA, where I attended a photography workshop (more about that later). The workshop was great, but we are glad to be back in out own digs, and I am exhausted as the workshop lasted until about 1 am this morning. Here's our backseat passenger on the way home today. We had an hour or so of a detour because the main roads were blocked due to a domestic shooting (murder, actually) not far from where we live, and we all had to pee without a bathroom in site for miles. And Eli held it all the way home. The kid deserves extra ice cream or something for that.

you must make this soup...now

I love soup. Even more, I love making soup. It brings me such joy. Probably because it's all one gobbly-goopy mess anyway, so I don't have to worry much about precision, that is, cutting and chopping things just so. Making soup suits the messy side of my personality just perfectly. Anyway, enough of the introduction. Here is one of my favorites, which I have been meaning to share here for a while now, just like everything else in my head. This one's easy, though; the rest of the head stuff will take a while to sort out into blogs. But stay tuned because those will be fun to read, of course.

Anyway, I digress. This soup, my friends, is creamy-schmemy goodness down to the last scraping of the spoon -- or licking of the bowl, whichever strikes your fancy. It's from Jamie Oliver's (aka, The Naked Chef) cookbook, which was given to us as a gift by Shaun's sister Liz several Christmases ago. You'll be happy to know, Liz, that the soup has become a family favorite. And Jean and Jill, it is only 4 Weight Watchers points per serving. Can I get a 'woop, woop?'

Okay, seriously, here is the recipe:

Serves 6

12 oz chickpeas, soaked overnight (for moms of 2-year-olds, I recommend using the canned variety, which is much quicker and doesn't involve the possible risk of spilled dried chickpeas all over the kitchen floor)
1 medium potato, peeled (I sometimes skip this)
5 medium leeks (leeks are so yummy; they look like a giant green onion and taste like one too)
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter (I use low fat if I'm being good ;-))
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 cups chicken or vegetable stock (I use chicken)
Parmesan cheese, grated (again, low fat if you want it to be lighter)

How to create a warm and fuzzy bowl-o-goodness:

Rinse the soaked chickpeas, cover with water, and cook with potato until tender. (Again, I suggest using canned chickpeas and even skipping the potato...it's faster). Remove the outer skin of the leeks, slice lengthways from the root up, wash carefully and slice finely.

Warm a thick-bottomed pan, and add the oil and butter. Add the leeks and garlic to the pan,and cook gently with a good pinch of salt until tender and sweet. Add the drained chickpeas and potato and cook for 1 minute. Add about 2/3 of the stock and simmer for 15 minutes.

Now big decision, people. Huge. Life-changing: Decide if you want to puree the soup in some sort of processor (I usually just mash some of it by hand with a potato masher or you could use a hand blender instead of toting out the processor, you know) -- whether you want to leave it chunky and brothy. Jamie says his preference is to puree half and leave the other half whole. And I like Jamie, so I do what he does. Now, add enough remaining stock to achieve the consistency you like. Check for seasoning, and add Parmesan to tast to round off the flavors.

I'm telling you, you will love it. It's not a cream-based soup, but the chickpeas are so hearty that it almosts tastes like one. Anyway, go forth and make soup and leave your comments/reviews here...but only if they're positive, because my heart would really be broken if you didn't like it.

Seriously.


Well, kind of.

apparently, he doesn't want to know the secret as much as we do

apparently, he doesn't want to know the secret as much as we do
Originally uploaded by {eli's mommy/jen}

So, here is your long-anticipated video clip, Aunt Jenny.

My absolute favorite part is the first 2 seconds.
My next favorite part is my feigned enthusiasm when I say, "Hurry, you're going to miss the secret."
Then, of course, there are the freshly washed wine glasses. And you know why.

I should also say, this was taken a few weeks ago, and as I recall, we were very tired, as I think you can tell.

And, yes, I think Eli may have needed to potty (you know what I mean) -- perhaps the reason why he was not interested in the secret.

bird droppings and the secrets of the universe



Love your life (even though you don't have a dishwasher). This is my meditation as I try to erase dinner from two nights ago off our slow cooker while Eli does a figure-8 of some sort between my legs.

I am convinced that the secrets of the universe will be uncovered by one extremely, perhaps manically, organized individual. I bet Jesus, the Buddha, Ghandi, Bill Gates, and Ryan Seacrest were/are all very organized people. I mean, think about it. The Last Supper? That was one hell of a dinner party to pull off -- even with only one type of carbohydrate and alcohol as the main course. And commentating American Idol, I mean, come on, people. That takes skills.

I will never know the secrets of the universe, because, a truly organized mind is just not in my genetic code. But, oh, how I try. Like today, for instance. I did all these things:

Woke up, with Eli in tow;
Made coffee and sandwich for husband;
Scarfed a Fiber One bar while child watched morning television while eating bananna;
Drank said coffee;
Did photography work on computer while child watched more morning television;
Prepared gourmet lunch of turkey in pita bread for self and child;
Sat and ate lunch with child;
Answered lots of questions while eating said pita;
Took said child outside to play;
Decided to weed an overgrown flower bed;
Watered flowers and vegetable garden;
Cleared other rocks and weeds from behind house;
Kicked ball with child;
Swang (swung?) with child;
Held garden hose while child ran under and around it with endless fascination;
Pondered dirty dishes in sink;
Hung bed sheets on clothes line to dry;
Lured child inside to take nap with promise of cool pop;
Started cleaning kitchen and re-organizing pantry while child (miraculously) fell asleep on the floor eating said cool pop;
Transferred child to sofa;
Continued in kitchen;
Completed pantry;
Cooked dinner;
Fed self and child;
Called husband to say 'you can come home now';
Said to child, "No more cool pops or banannas until you eat more of your dinner."
Greeted husband at door with toy steering wheel in hand. Don't ask.

I was feeling smug.

I had accomplished so much today.

Then, as we headed out for an evening walk, a bird crapped on my head.

I give up.

into the wild



We're going on a bear hunt;
...we're not scared.

::

Aunt Jenny, I found my wires, so your video is coming soon!

And, yes, people, I know he will kill me one day for all the potty pics. But I'm okay with that ;-)

no comment



So, one of my fave photography sites, Shutter Sisters (linked here), is starting something new and adding a 'no comment' section, where bloggers will post a photo(s) that really and truly require no explanation.

Here is my first contribution...

peonies



More about these later, but I just wanted to post one of the many photos I took today. Aren't they just lovely?

it's been rainin' frogs here



Seriously, it has. Sunday night, the wind blew so fiercely, I thought we may lose our roof. And yesterday, it rained so much, I thought I may lose my mind...

with

a

toddler

in

the

house

all

day.



And then, the sun came out today.


Hooray for the sun!

poppies!

We now have this painting by the wonderful Stephanie Bast proudly displayed in our dining room. It's the first piece of art Shaun and I have purchased together (for our 31st birthdays!). Yay for us and for independent artists! Go check out the rest of her work and buy something ;-) I will post some more photos of the painting in its new space soon -- once it stops raining and I have some good natural light to work with!

Happy Friday, everybody ;-)

i don't like oysters...



but the shells are pretty ;-)

p.e.a.c.e.

boy





And, I made the daily click again over at Shutter Sisters for my dogwood blossom photo ;-) I am obsessed with taking pictures of flowers and blooms of all sorts lately. Perhaps because it is spring and there are lots of them all around me.

Will be back with more soon. Happy Tuesday...

bowl full o' plums



I'm going to start posting more daily photos here, I think. Maybe it will help me find some inspiration to write more. Like the writing prompts I used to give my 10th graders...ha!

I rarely take the time to just play around with creative photography set-ups, but we were in the backyard the other day, and while Eli was flirting with the idea of digging up my freshly-planted herb garden, I decided to pluck some plums from our tree to do some still life shots. I love still life because -- surprise -- it doesn't move unless you move it. It's wonderful. So when we finally came inside, I plopped the plums in a little olive oil bowl and set them on the seat of an old chair handed down to us from Shaun's great grandmother. The fabric's got a great greenish-yellow, scrolly pattern, and I knew it would look great against the deep red hues of the plums! And it did ;-) It was an interesting 'session' with Eli perched right next to and at times with one leg hiked on the seat. I think it will be a while before I can take him along on a real session as my assistant.

According to our neighbor, the plums aren't edible, so after I was done with them, I let Eli roll them all over the house. And then I noticed the plum insides starting to ooze from the tiny bulbs, and I had a vision of this bright red juiciness smeared all over our freshly painted dining room walls, so we chucked 'em. Quickly.

:::

Shaun's mom (Eli's Granny) arrives today and will be visiting until next week. Shaun and I are looking forward to some time, sans the kiddo, to eat, drink, and be merry. It's my birthday on Sunday, and his was a month ago, so we will be celebrating both. And, I've been dieting (and lost 4 pounds last week...woop, woop), so I'm going to splurge on something decadent. I am licking my chops at the thought. Yum. Yum.

Oh, yeah, and for those of you who watched Idol last night, is it just me, or does Neil Diamond have a lazy eye?

must.love.elmo



I'm a bad, bad blogger these days, but I am being productive in other ways, so I won't be too hard on myself. And, American Idol still isn't over yet, so that occupies lots of my mental capacity lately. Ha. Just kidding. Kind of. I am dieting AND doing lots of biz stuff AND caring for a kid, with whom I now can carry on a pretty full-fledged conversation. This morning he opened the fridge and told me he wanted yogurt and reminded me that we bought it at the grocery store. Yesterday he found my tampons in the bathroom closet, unwrapped one, held it up, and said, "That's a screwdriver."

Um, I'm just gonna let that one go and find a new hiding place for my tools.

Here are his new socks that we bought at Yo-Yo (otherwise known as Target). Not quite sure why the designers chose to put Elmo's face on camouflage, but they were on the $1 rack, so maybe they weren't such big sellers.

Happy hump day!

today, we talked to a worm...




...and let me tell you, it was exciting stuff.

juicy

om

Keep walking, though there's no place to get to.
Don't try to see through distances. That's not for human beings.
Move within, but don't move the way fear makes you move.
Today, like every other day, we wake up empty and frightened.
Don't open the door to the study and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.

Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

-- RUMI, as quoted in Traveling Mercies by Anne Lamott

Tulips from our backyard, with a little color wash editing...because it's fun ;-)

untitled

Yes, we are still upright and breathing. No, I have not abandoned my blog or writing forever (although I've thought about it). Yes, days with my toddler like yesterday make me question whether I want to have more children. Yes, I am trying to diet (with no success). No, I'm actually not trying very hard, as evidenced by the fact that I ate McDonald's for lunch today. No, all the boxes are not unpacked yet. Yes, I think I will be okay, as long as there's coffee. And, oh, yes, I know it's still March on my blog header.

Here's something I really enjoyed that I found linked on Sara's blog. Go on and read it. It'll only take a few minutes.

I'll be back, hopefully, with some real writing, once I drink more coffee and re-attach my head to my body. That could take a while, though.

sniff, sniff...

for Michael Johns, my Australian hot man. I somehow feel responsible for (a) NOT voting for you and (b) saying you would be out soon.

Wah.

Boo hoo.

But fear not, my hottie-would-be poster boy. I feel a Blue Note contract in your future.

:::

Seriously, though, he shouldn't have gone quite this soon.

I'm sad.

Did I mention that already?

gah

I am a lazy sloth who eats salt and vinegar potato chips and chocolate chip cookies, a circumstance which greatly contributes to the (large) status quo of my ass and the lack of energy i have as of late. i guess to be fair, the lack of energy is also attributed to the toddler who lags behind my motherly load, exclaiming:

"Look, momma...Dee-go's (Diego's) truck!"

But to be fair, as he follows me, also recounting the details of yesterday's ride in momma's new car or about putting his shoes on to go 'out-tide,' I am headed in the direction of the kitchen to get another cookie. So if you were inclined to feel bad for me, you shouldn't.

It relieves stress, what can I say?

Apparently I don't want to lose 10 pounds (or 20) badly enough, otherwise I'd be raiding the fridge for a carrot stick. Ha! The very image of that makes me double over in an incapacitating fit of laughter.

So, my American Idol addiction continues, and I personally thought little Archuletta made a superb choice of song tonight, even though I agreed with Simon that his vocals didn't cause the jaws of America to drop to their knees (my words, not his). But do we *really* want the jaws of America to drop to their knees? I think not, people. And, furthermore, I think that sentence makes absolutely no grammatical sense whatsoever. But it's late, and I'm leaving it in because now that I've called attention to this, I find it wildly funny. Okay, perhaps not wildly, just mildly. And, apparently, now I can rhyme, too.

I think D. Archuletta and D. Cook will be the last men standing, even though I ADORE Carly Smithson ;-)

And -- Michael Johns. Ahhhhh. He will not win. In fact, sadly, I think he and little Brookie will be out soon. However, he would be on my bedroom wall (on a poster, people) if my husband would let me. But he's gotta stop with all the Queen/rocker songs and do more blues. And -- I'm sure he will get right on that per my recommendation...because, you know, he's reading my blog right now.

Having said all of this, I don't vote, so how much of an addict can I really be? Truly. I should just stick to the potato chips and cookies. No voting required.

Hope all is well and true in all of your worlds. We miss everyone who is far away, but we are makin' tracks here. And, happy 31st to my lovely husband, who celebrated his big day Sunday with a paint roller in his hand.

21: beer bottle.
31: paint roller.

Any takers on 41? Gawd, 41. Ick, Ick. Get out of my head, 41. La, la, la, la, la, la.

Be back soon with more exciting stuff soon. Really. I will. Once American Idol is over. I promise.

Peace out.

I'm live!

Here is the baby I have been nurturing for the past couple of months (besides Eli, I mean):

www.jennifer-hunter.com

I'd love constructive feedback if anyone has any suggestions to make it better. I'm going to start booking sessions for May...after I get a car! And I have resurrected the old photography blog and will try to post frequent photo news and updates here: http://jenniferhunterphotography.blogspot.com/

Sorry for the lack of photos and writing lately on this blog...I'm having issues with my computer and with Lightroom, so I have to get those worked out. Gah. It's always something.

AND - I will update soon. Just haven't been in the writing mood these days at 10 pm, after the day is done, and I know I only have a few hours to rest up for the next! We are great, just doing lots to continue the process of getting settled in.

Eli is talking our ever-lovin' heads off, which I realize is, developmentally, a good thing, but at the end of the day, makes my head feel a little bit like a squashed bananna. And as I look outside right now, it is raining, which means we will both be climbing the walls by the end of today. Ahhhh.

Hope all is well for everyone. Cheerio.

Colors
by Shel Silverstein

My skin is kind of sort of brownish
Pinkish yellowish white.
My eyes are greyish blueish green,
But I'm told they look orange in the night.
My hair is reddish blondish brown,
But it's silver when it's wet.
And all the colors I am inside
Have not been invented yet.

:::

Just a little inspiration. I'll be back soon with more from our new life.

ragamuffin easter

Well, here's the shot. Weren't sure we would get one this year because, well, we've been preoccupied lately. But we walked down to the courthouse this morning to the kiddie egg hunt and then across the street for a photo op with the rabbit. And, in case you are wondering why our child is not dressed more festively, it was about 40 degrees outside. Yup, doesn't feel like spring to me.

the prom is on

Check it out. Jean and I always joke that Eli and Eva will be each other's prom dates. I'm guessing they will eat (and drink) a little more elaborately then. And chances are the music will be less classical.

But for now, it's fish crackers, sippy cups, and Beethoven.

Rock on.

politics

Isn't this funny?

BSM: when travelling, hold furry pals tightly

Here's another shot from the airport, while waiting to catch our delayed flight. Pooh bear was a rock star, from beginning to end. Seriously...I'm not sure how we would have survived without him.



:::

Updates from the new homefront:

*Last night I shaved my legs for the first time in about a week and a half. We're talking monumental achievement here, people.
*Yesterday our friends/former Maryland neighbors Jean and Jason visited with little Eva, who was born about a week before Eli. Shaun and I lived next door to them for about six months of my pregnancy and almost a year after the babies were born. So, we were thrilled to see them and reunite the kiddos. Eva fed Eli goldfish, and he seemed to enjoy that very much. And Shaun and I were able to do more unpacking while J & J chaperoned young Romeo and Juliet ;-)
*Shaun returns to work today, so we are one step closer to establishing a new, closer-to-normal routine. Hallelujah.
*I am still carless, so Eli and I will be walking into town this week to explore. I'm actually very excited about that, as long as it's not too cold. My blood hasn't thickened back up yet from our time in the sunny South. Car shopping will probably follow this Saturday. We're going the cheap and reliable route, probably via CarMax. And Sunday we will have Easter brunch with our friends Jill and Brian. Very, very, VERY excited to see them ;-)

Happy Monday, everyone. Oh, and Happy St. Pat's as well. Must go find some green...

our house...is a very, very, very fine house

Here are a few photos of the new homestead. Cute, huh? We are loving it more each day and moving box by box towards making it our home. All of the kitchen boxes are unpacked, and tomorrow, we tackle the upstairs. We made it to the park yesterday for lunch, and it is wonderful and within walking distance from our house. There is a great kids' playground with lots of fun structures, so I have a feeling we will be going there a lot, especially as it warms up. More news coming soon. For now, here are a few more photos from the past week. Love from us from Maryland...

the weary (pizza-eating) traveller

normalcy is just a few (hundred) boxes away

We are here.

I feel that statement deserves its own line, so I am giving it its due space. We arrived Monday night, weary and hungry, and we are just now getting internet -- or I would have written sooner. As I fumbled to insert the ethernet cable into the appropriate port on my computer tonight, Shaun said I was like a drug addict lurching for a needle. I think I was worse. Talk about feel cut off. I was not worried about a phone or mail or anything else, really -- only when I would be able to blog and check my email. What an accurate reflection of the world in which we live.

Moving right along (pun intended), we are here. Did I say that already? Shaun and Eli are sleeping, and I thought I would pass out for the night as well, but my mind was doing the 5000-meter dash, so I decided to calm it with some wine and blogging.

We successfully closed on the house in Texas on Monday morning and flew out that afternoon after a delayed flight due mainly to weather conditions. Eli did fabulous, by the way, in spite of the delay, which included 30 extra minutes (which seemed like 10 hours) on the Tarmac. And I can't help but give a wee bit of credit to his poor, overworked parents for our planning efforts. The portable DVD player (equipped with the Doodlebops, his recent favorite) was the star fixture of our travels, followed by his favorite stuffed pal, Winnie the Pooh, who deserves jar-fulls of honey or something for all the dragging he endured.

We spent Monday night in a hotel and drove to the house (our new house) for a walk through around 10 am Tuesday morning. We were greeted by the owners, who came out of the house next to ours/theirs. Julie bounded out, arms wide open, ready to launch into a warm hug to counteract the chilly wind. Then John came from around the corner. Maddie was standing at the screen door with Punkin, their Golden Retriever. We didn't meet Johnny and Carly, but were told of them and, of course, knew which rooms in the house were theirs. They are a great family, and we knew this after spending a very brief time with them, and, of course, by occupying their house. They were eager to tell us about the small, ancient glass bottles they had found in one of the chimneys of the house when they were remodeling, and also about the horseshoe hanging above the mudroom door and the bricks they left for us by the back shed.

We feel honored to be the next caretakers of this home, which is nearly 100 years old. Despite this, however, I am just warming up to the idea that this is our house. And, perhaps, I need a few more days to warm some more. This will be the third house we have lived in in about three years, so I am standoffish, or at least I have been for the past 48 hours. It could be partially related to the fact that the previous owners, as wonderful as they were/are, are still here, next door, at John's parents' house. The kids are finishing out the school year before they all move to Colorado. Their son has severe asthma, so the move is primarily for him. So, John's parents are our next door neighbors, which makes me feel weird and like a squatter, at least for now. But they've invited Eli to ride Bouncer, the plastic horse, anytime, as well as to ride the airplane swing tied to the beauitful, giant, blossoming tree in their back yard, so I think they are happy we are here, in the midst of the sadness they understandably feel that their grandkids are moving away.

Today, our goods arrived, so I am sitting on my very own sofa right now, which makes me feel less like a squatter. We have already painted a room, which is a true testament to our insanity, I realize, but, we had nothing else to do yesterday in an empty house with a VERY red living room.

There is a lot more to say, but it's late, and I promised Eli we would find the park tomorrow, and I KNOW he won't forget ;-) He has been demanding, but so have we, so we're even. We are all looking forward to some downtime very soon.

More Maryland news and photos coming soon, I promise...

love from texas

It's very late, but I just wanted to post a quick one before we fly off into the sunset tomorrow. Flying into the ice and snow is probably a better way to put it, but we're trying to be optimistic.

First, I am premenstrual and more bloated right now than a dead fish, but ain't nothin' gonna rain on our parade, not even a menstrual cycle. Second, why did no one tell us we were going to lose an hour today? -- that was particularly fun to discover. And third, well, I don't have a third, except to say that we are almost completely packed and about to pull the covers over our heads and catch a few hours of nighty night before our very early wake up call. Tomorrow morning we will sign the closing papers on our house here (woop, woop), Fed Ex a final box of goods to Maryland, then head to the airport to catch our 12:30 flight.

Despite a couple of minor kinks, we have really enjoyed our last few days in Texas and will have very fond memories of our year and a half here. We spent today catching up with lots of friends, which was the best way we could have hoped to spend our final day here. I will post again as soon as I have access to the internet, which hopefully will be tomorrow night in our hotel. Until then, wish us luck and say a big, fat prayer that we are not escorted off the plane tomorrow, toddler flailing about ;-)

lots o' stuff

First, why do I feel like I am the last person to find out that Angelina is pregnant again? And that she and Brad are getting married? I know I've been preoccupied -- okay, consumed -- but, seriously, somebody needs to let me know these things.

It has been a while since I've checked in, so I'm trying to organize my thoughts and figure out the best way to update you on all that has happened in the past couple of weeks. There is one Dwight Schrute bobblehead that figures into all of this, but I'll get to that later.

First, I should say everything is still in place for our move on March 10. Shaun had a hellish week of work last week in efforts to meet a Friday deadline, which he succeeded in meeting (after a week of very little sleep and an obscene number of Red Bulls). Consequently, it has been a somewhat manic week for Eli and me as well, because, as it usually goes, when one person in the family is batty, so is everybody else. I guess that's the mark of a truly empathetic family. And I suppose we should feel good about this fact, but really, we are just tired.

Yesterday and today, we de-housed the house, taking pictures off the wall, breaking down furniture, cleaning out the garage and attic, and reducing most of what we have here to its lowest terms in preparation for the movers who come Thursday. I am really not nervous at all about this because we've just been through it a little more than a year ago. They will come in, introduce themselves (or not), bring in the boxes, and rifle through all of our personal belongings (including our underwear), sorting them into categorical boxes. Pretty simple. And we will watch as they shuttle them via squeaky dolly onto the snorting 18-wheeler, bound for our new home in Maryland.

When we moved from Baltimore, I remember being somewhat apprehensive about the movers arriving. What exactly were they going to do with our stuff -- particularly my underwear? Moving really makes you evaluate what your material possessions mean to you -- mainly because you have to go through them all, which is something you rarely do if you don't move. You just stuff them in the attic or the nearest closet or basement and forget about them.

I am always, to a certain, measurable degree, verklempt, when I sort through artifacts of my life -- which is why, I suppose, sorting through our closet last night caused Shaun and me to launch into a discusion of whether or not we believe in an afterlife and all the additional conversations that are associated with such a light, insignificant topic of discussion. It was the rosaries, I tell you. We only have like, a thousand, most of them from various grandparents of ours-- probably enough to start a church of our own. And as I separated them from the other secular jewelry in the lot, I couldn't help but reflect on where they had come from and how I hadn't used them in a very long time and what that meant about who I was and who I have become, and really just how our little family of three had evolved in the past two years. I don't say this as negative thing but as a real mark of growth. More about that later. But in the meantime, I can't help mulling over this blog post. If you have time and are looking for some spiritual contemplation, take a little time to read it, as well as the link to the post that sparked it all. Warning: Heavy stuff.

These past couple of weeks have been more trying than we probably could have imagined. Some days I feel a thousand years old. A couple of weeks ago, Eli and I were in a car accident, caused mainly by me and the millions of thoughts sparring in my head. I have always known I am not a good multi-tasker, but I guess this was the honest-to-goodness proof. Sometimes the universe just delivers a giant bitch-slap, which startles you into a new level of thinking, making you separate into different boxes "the important stuff in life" and "the extremely trivial crap that for some reason you thought you should be consuming yourself with." Everyone involved in the accident is fine, and I am most thankful for that and am focusing on that one fact, even as I feel drawn to replay step-by-step all that unfolded in those few sacred and chaotic moments. It's over, and we are moving on...with one less vehicle, but we'll address that after everything else shakes out.

Mixed in with all of the above have been other collisions of different varieties. This past week our realtor here called to say that the buyers for our house were having difficulties securing financing and were 'exploring other options' for getting the loan -- and this was followed by about a 24-hour period of not knowing whether we would get the sale or have to hang out the shingle again. And then the following morning we got a call from our loan officer in Maryland, saying that our loan program had been eliminated and that we would have to shuffle things up a bit and do some rearranging to 'make things work'.

THEN -- I called the NBC stores to check on the status of the Dwight Schrute bobblehead that I ordered at the beginning of December for Shaun's Christmas present and learned that even after re-ordering it in mid-January, it somehow still had NOT been shipped. I wish I had something really witty and acerbic to say about this, but I am just pissed that not even this miniscule and ridiculous aspect of our life can come together favorably and without a big damn effort.

We have managed to somewhat escape (or at least minimize) the effects of the aforementioned emotional upheaval by (a) watching a lot of American Idol, with which I am admittedly COMPLETELY obsessed with this season, (b) watching considerable amounts of A & E and HGTV, (c) consuming unprecedented amounts of junkfood, and (d) drinking the occasional margarita. Heh. And Eli has been spinning and whirling his matchbox cars across every wall in our house. And he makes his own sound effects, too, just in case you are wondering.

In our last week here, we'll be tidying up things, calling to set up/cancel utilities, saying goodbye to friends, trying to grab a few shots of the bluebonnets as they start to bloom, and continuing to build our arsenal of in-flight toddler gear. So far we have lollipops and other snacks, DVDs, a disposable camera, and velcro.

Yes, velcro. I know, it's weird, but whatever works, right?

more tunes...

I will be back soon with another update from the center of chaos. Until then, enjoy the tune ;-)

new soul

Apparently, I have a thing for songs featured on commercials. Usually makes me want to run out and buy whatever they're selling, in this case, the new iMac. I know, I'm such a sucker. I can't afford it, anyway, but the song is a cute, catchy little ditty that I can't seem to get out of my head. I guess that's the point.

tomorrow, jesus comes

I told you I was going to write more about religion this year, and let's see, so far, I've told you about St. Joseph, who apparently, after his carpentry duties were done, moonlighted as a realtor on the streets of Jerusalem. Or was it Bethlehem? Or Nazareth? See, this is why religion confuses me. And I went to Catholic school.

Anyway, as I was saying, tomorrow, Jesus comes, and we still have to prepare the way...I mean, boxes. Allow me to explain:

Several months back, I received a phone call from man asking if we had any goods that we wanted to donate. He said he was with the 'Jesus Center' and that they took all sorts of items, including furniture, appliances, disgruntled and high-strung toddlers (kidding...well, kinda). And, I, in my very typical trusting, girl-scout way, said, "Well, shucks, we sure do. Why don't I give you my address and phone number and social security number so you can kidnap and rob me blind, all in the name of Jesus?"

I really didn't say that, but I did tell him that I would have some items ready for pick-up in the next couple of days and then hung up the phone. Then, as I typically do, I had a moment of "What the bleep BLEEP was I thinking??" telling this man where I live and that he could come pick up my used slippers. Jesus Center...are you kidding me? Right. If I was looking to scam someone (or throw them into my trunk and head for the hills), I would call them up and say I was collecting items for Jesus.

Somehow this was not covered in any of my religion classes, and, um, I dunno, I'm thinkin' maybe it shoulda been.

Anyway, lucky for me, Jesus showed up a couple days later in a big white truck (go figure, huh) and scooped up our boxes (labeled, very appropriately, 'JC', as I had been instructed to do).

As all of you know (unless you have been in a monastery in a remote part of...somewhere), we are moving, so we have been sorting through our personal belongings and other shit that has somehow found its way into the past five years of our life as a married couple. Last year when we moved, we had a baby, and the move was fairly quick, so we really didn't have much chance to purge the system clean. And, let's face it, we didn't have Jesus. It was a lose-lose situation. But in the past few months, we have probably reduced the size of our craptastic piles by at least half. And we are proud because we are givin' it to Jesus.

Now, I feel I should clarify that what we are actually giving to Jesus are acceptable, respectable donations. We have a policy here in our house that no undergarments, no matter how newish-looking, are eligible for donation. And Jesus hopes you all have the same policy.

:::

We are still revelling in the somewhat unbelievable bliss that we have a buyer for our house here. I'm telling you, people, I have not been the most religious of persons these days, but I truly believe there was some kind of communion-of-saints hocus pocus that went down in the backyard flower bed last week. I'm just sayin', our house has been on the market for about three months, and we got the contract a week to the day that Eli pitched St. Joe into the dirt.

You might wonder what we've done, if anything to celebrate? Um, crumbs on the floor...it's a beautiful thing.

If all goes as planned (god, we hope), we will fly up to Maryland on March 10, close on our new house March 11, and the new buyers down here in Texas will close on this home March 20. And then a giant meteor will strike the Earth. Seriously, that's how I feel sometimes. How many stars can really align before something dreadful happens? I know, I shouldn't think that, but I can't help it some days.

One more thing, and then I'm off: I'm working on a new photography web site (yay), and I need some music suggestions. I think I can feature like 5 or so songs on the site to accompany my slideshows of photos. I want some cool music, but I don't have lots of money to pay for the rights to, like, Prince or something, so can anyone recommend some good, haven't-made-it-big-but-should-have artists, kinda folky, acoustic-y, that I could check into? Jill, I've already thought about Over the Rhine and Dar Williams. Maybe I will write them to see about rights. Jean, I know you've got some cool off-the-beaten path musical tastes, too. Help.

And, oh, yeah, bedtime songs. If I have to sing 'Puff, the Magic Dragon' one more time, I will breathe fire, thus setting the bed sheets ablaze.

Help.

so proud...

I am the daily click over at Shutter Sisters ;-)

Yay.

BSM: Yippee







We got a buyer for the house. More details coming soon. Happy Monday to all!

go spread some lovin' today

st. joe, pray for us

I am finally hogtying myself to the computer to blog. I know, I take blogging way too seriously.

It's Tuesday, and I am already wishing it was Friday, just so we could take a bit of a breath, or at least not feel guilty for it. Guilty for breathing is how I feel these days.

Last week Shaun was in Maryland working. My parents visited for a couple of days to help out, so that was nice. My dad was able to fix our garage door, which was super nice because its status of 'broken' had been a giant pain in our ass, among many other things associated with our (still unsold) house. My mom gave Eli a haircut, which was much-needed because, I swear, the boy's hair grows like we'd be feeding him Flinstone vitamins (which we are not). And we took Eli to Chucky Cheese and were forced to resort to complex forms of trickery to get him to leave.

Shaun returned Friday morning and his parents drove in Friday evening to spend the weekend with us. Again, we got lots of help with the kiddo, which was very nice, considering we had three showings this weekend, and the house had kind of gone to crap while he was gone, and I was left to harness our son's recently-acquired 2-year-old-ness. They also treated us to dinner at Lupe Tortilla's, which is the best Mexican restaurant in the world, except perhaps for Mexico. I'm telling you, people, there is only one word to describe the brilliance of this place: fajitas. If I could choose a second word, it would be margaritas. We also got to tour various sites in The Woodlands (as in the mall, Market Street, parks, etc), all while having to vacate our house for would-be buyers to drag their dirty feet on our freshly Pinesoled floors.

But I am not bitter.

Well, maybe I am -- just a little bit. But that will soon be washed out with the mop water because (drum roll, puh-leeze): We are moving. Excuse me, but that should have been in caps: WE ARE MOVING. Now then.

Yes, friends, the time has come for us to fly away to a distant land in the East.

We booked our flights tonight. We fly out of Houston March 10, and I just don't think I can believe it until it happens. I also can't believe that we will be in a confined space with a 2-year-old for three hours.

We will close on the house in Maryland the morning of March 11, and if all goes well, our goods will arrive on the 12th.

No, we have not sold our house here yet, but here's our most recent strategy:







And, it only cost 8 bucks -- and some prayers, of course. Just as a side note, I especially like how it says on the box that he's helped 1000s. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I expected that it would have been more when you consider the number of years St. Joe has probably been doing this.

Here's a shot of Eli helping to bury St. Joe.





And let me tell you, he tossed that statue in the ground like a hot potato. Poor St. Joe. No reverence from the toddler.

And apropos of nothing I have said in my above commentary, according to my gynecologist, I am a one-woman circus (my words not hers) since I am in the very small percentage of women who have a uterus that tips towards my backside instead of towards the front. It's nice to be unique.