Just stopping by

"Girl, put your records on, tell me your favourite song.
You go ahead, let your hair down.
Sapphire and faded jeans,
I hope you get your dreams.
Just go ahead, let your hair down.
You're gonna find yourself somewhere, somehow..."

Homecoming

I've been living in OKC for two months to the date, and I am currently watching my first Bama game of the season; it's appropriate and sad.  I'm so grateful to have a chance to watch at least one game this season, but it's kinda bittersweet because I'm watching it by myself.  I know there are Bama fans everywhere, but it's quite clear they don't always travel in pairs.

It makes me miss Hungry Howie's.  It makes me miss either being stuck on campus or being stuck at home (no matter what, I'll never miss being in game day traffic--being on the other side of it is fun, though).  It makes me miss my crazy-Bama-fan friends who teach me more about the game every time I watch with them.  It makes me miss those like me who are blissfully ignorant and just love to watch the game and feel the atmosphere of football season.  It makes me miss my Mamaw.  Of all the people to watch games with, she was my favorite.  Ü

So maybe it's good this year that I don't get to watch many games.  I don't think my heart can handle this much missing every Saturday.  I need to be distracted from being so far away most of the time.

Especially since I won't be home till Christmas.  For those of you who don't know, the production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat I was cast in opens the day after Thanksgiving.  Needless to say, a trip home for the Turkey Day hols won't be possible this year.  I'm prepared to be sleepy and lazy all day that day.

Till then, I'll have plenty to do.  Much more than I'm thinking about right now.

Right now, Roll Tide.

Just have to say...

... I hate it when men yell.  When they do, I completely shut down.  Don't know the exact cause to this particular quirk of mine, but it's been mine for as long as I can remember.   A stranger yelled at me today, and he had cause to be upset, but as a result, I'm having a difficult time functioning this afternoon (inconvenient when I have scads of homework and reading to do).  Thanks, Unknowingly Insensitive Jerk.  The last time this happened to me and upset me this much was about 5 years ago, and I think it gets worse as I get older. 
So, if you're a man in my life and you stumble upon this post, don't ever raise your voice at me.  Ever.  It'll be disastrous for us both.

... I can't believe it's been 10 years. I... just... can't.  I was a freshman in high school ("I said it's great/ To be/ A Patriot").  Maybe remembering that morning in Advanced English, how it felt to be an American 14-year-old living underneath that dark, black cloud that hovers after disaster, is compounding with my weird psychological reaction to men yelling to make me feel like a rabbit-hearted girl today.  The weeks following 9/11/2001 bear a striking resemblance to the weeks following 4/27/2011--that same awful black cloud.  That wondering what happens next, shaded by the ominous uncertain.

This is a much bleaker post than I should probably post today.  Amidst the awful there's always an awful lot of good; because God is sovereign.  And He is good.  And I am so grateful for all of the good, and for those who fight for it, whether that's with speech, the pen, or the sword.  I'll never be able to really express how grateful.

Today's just not my day.

I sure hope it's yours.

♥
...

Mon répertoire vocal

Some of the music I picked to start learning reminds me of people from home.  See if you can guess?
(HINT: The first 3 don't really remind me of anybody in particular, they're just appropriate for this semester for a variety of reasons.)


"How Lovely To Be A Woman" (Bye Bye Birdie)

"Christmas Lullaby" (Songs For a New World)

"The Beauty Is" (The Light in the Piazza)

"Moonfall" (The Mystery of Edwin Drood)


"The Trolley Song" (Meet Me in St. Louis)


"When You're Away" (The Only Girl)

"The Miller's Son" (A Little Night Music)


"The Honor of Your Name" (The Civil War)

"I Won't Mind" by Jeff Blumenkrantz


My sincerest apologies to my, erm, readership for my lackluster updating.  Not having internet at the APT puts a damper on the blogging.  Let me sum up the past few weeks by saying that they've been full.

9 leveling/diagnostic exams, 2 auditions, 3 callbacks (results TBA sometime next weekend, if I have to guess), 2 jobs (27 hours a week), 8 classes added, 4 classes dropped,  close calls with the power company, a mouse, 4 seasons of Ally McBeal, pretending to be social, dishes, laundry, cooking, dishes...

I'm very grateful for this long weekend.  

I hope you actually get to enjoy some time off, too.

Next time I update, I hope to tell you about some of my favorite sights around town.  You know me, though... It may or may not happen.

♥

It's been 1 week--er, 2 weeks since you looked at me...

List format because classes start tomorrow and I'm watching True Blood.

• Saturday job working at Creative Dancwear.  Wonderful co-workers, wonderful customers, sweet discount.
• Job on campus working as an office assistant on the Law Review.  Great people so far.  I start tomorrow.
• AH-MAZ-ING adoptive family.  Just finished doing laundry at their house.  (By the by, their washer and dryer?  SPACE-AGEY AWESOME.  They don't beep when they're done, they play a little melody.  Thanks, LG!)
• Dance leveling was... humiliating, but it's a necessary evil.  No dance classes this semester like I was hoping, but hopefully in the spring!
• Passed all my entrance exams except one, but I'll get another chance to take it in January.
• Auditions tomorrow.  Fingers crossed I get something. ANYTHING.
• Met up with some of the other grad students Wednesday night, and then met the rest of my class (voice majors, anyway) on Friday.  There are 5 of us, all girls, and I'm the only MT kid.  The other 4 are opera performance.  All of the grads I've met have been fantastic.
• I can't think of what else to say just yet other than I'm sorry I've been remiss in keeping in touch with everyone.  I don't have internet at my apartment (other than on the space phone), but I'll probably be spending more time at school and thus online.  

With that, I'll finish the True Blood, then go home and pick out mah clothes for back to school!

(i carry it in my heart)

This feels so much like "not enough..."



i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)
                                  i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

e.e. cummings

❧

[Most profound thanks]

Hillcrest High School.
The Bama Theater.
Big Sandy Baptist Church.
CHOM.
The Church at Tuscaloosa.
Gilgal Baptist Church.
The University of Alabama
Frank M. Moody Music Building.
Shelton State Community College.
The Bean-Brown Theater.
First United Methodist Church.

These places served as the settings for so many wonderful memories (the good, the bad, and the ugly--each deserves a sense of wonder all its own).  And those are just the tip of the iceberg. 

HHS Choral Dept.  Show Choir. Musical Theatre.
Tuscaloosa Children's Theatre.  Hours upon hours upon hours of rehearsals, Talent Searches, and late night set construction and laughter.
The Storehouse.  My first VBS and M-Fuge.
Junior Docents (Teen Leaders).  Birthday cakes(sssss...), juice boxes, wrapping paper, guests, and sneaking an ice cream.
Praise Team and youth groups who "Finish Empty." Calico Street.
College & Career Sunday School class.  Wednesday night rehearsals and burgundy choir robes.
Football. 
Piano lessons. Opera Theatre.  Practicing.  Loitering.  Friends, teachers, and colleagues. 
Theatre Tuscaloosa.  Sometimes "plus five," usually "minus five."
Music making.  Family.  Teaching.  Fellowship.  Community.

This doesn't even begin to scratch the surface.  To make a truly comprehensive list of all the ways Tuscaloosa has served me to be able to make amazing memories, to forge forever friendships, and to help me "grow up" would be... an impossibility.  Tuscaloosa bore the vast majority of my growing pains.  It's probably seen me at my very best and at my very worst.  I can't say the same about it (not having known its entire history), but I've had my fair share of ups and downs regarding how I feel about T-Town—wishing I was somewhere else, but never able to really get away.  Getting away and living for the day I returned.

"My love for you is like this scar.  Ugly and permanent." 

-Grace Adler

It's a game of tug-of-war with you, Tuscaloosa.  God only knows who wins.  Ü 

There is so much unknown out there I am eager to discover, but that in no way negates the fact that there's so much I know here that I will miss and cherish for the rest of my life, wherever life takes me.

Thanks, Tuscaloosa, for being everything I want to keep with me and everything I want to leave behind.  No matter how far away I go, for better or for worse, I'll always have at least a toe in T-Town and won't be able to leave completely.

Most importantly, thanks for being my facebook friend.

❧

To all those in Tuscaloosa who have shaped who I am and who have helped me to get to this point,

thank you.

It doesn't seem possible that it's been 10 years since this chapter of my life began.  I left Grand Rapids and didn't think I'd be able to call Tuscaloosa home, and I have to say that were it not for the people here, I still wouldn't be able to call this city home.  I think we all feel that more acutely since "The Storm."  These buildings and places have no meaning without the people who breathe life into them.

Tuscaloosans—You, beautiful, beautiful people.

To each of you,

No matter where I go, I'll never be gone, and you'll always be with me.

For that, I'm eternally grateful.

(Roll Tide.)

♥

A spider succeeded in seeing my nakey...

...and lived to tell the tale.

(Don't tell Amy.  We had a slumber party last night.  Ya know, one last Thither "Hoorah" before the big move tomorrow—let's not go there today.  Anywho, she's still asleep.  Let her continue thinking my bathroom is a safe place.)

I feel so violated.

Quiet Moments

Sitting in the hotel while Woolfs nap and/or watch Nickelodeon.  It just started raining, so I don't know if we'll be going back to the saltwater pool after all.  I either don't have any thoughts on the upcoming major change in my life, or they're so deeply submerged in my subconscious that I don't know what they are, so I'll share a little bit of the delightfulness of this "last" week so far instead.

"So Long, Farewell" lunches, dinners, drinks, and hugs from 'WOW' moms, HHS Choir friends, and a "Same Person" best friend.

Road trip around southern Mississippi with Woolfs.  I've never been to the MS Gulf Coast.  Granted, it doesn't change my opinion of Mississippi, but there are actually some gems in this oft-neglected state. 

Mary Mahoney's Old French House Restaurant
We had dinner there last night.  Built in 1737, this lovely old house takes you right out of Mississippi and straight into the French Quarter.  The ambiance and surplus of crab on the table are worth the visit.  In the courtyard, there's a 2000 year-old oak tree called "The Patriarch," interesting art- and metalwork, and a fountain.  It was completely magical, most especially for the kids.  We had crab claws for an appetizer (YUM), and then I had the Back Room Crab Cakes, which have made appearances in two John Grisham novels, the menu pointed out.  The kids' menu includes healthy (a.k.a. GINORMOUS) portions of chicken fingers, fresh fish, and, get this, prime rib.  It's Itsy Sister's birthday tomorrow, and she told them, so they brought out a birthday dessert after we stuffed our faces with bread, salad, seafood, etc.
It's pricey, though.  Like, fo' realz.  They let us in with jeans on an' everything, but it's someplace I'd recommend going for lunch (which is still steep as far as lunches go), unless you've got a company card that's footing the bill.




Paul's Pastry Shop
I've known about this place since last August (special thanks to a certain Irish-Cajun clan), and will shout it from the rooftops till I die: IF YOU EVER FIND YOURSELF HEADIN' TOWARD NOLA FROM EAST I-59, YOU ARE MANDATED TO STOP.
EXIT 6.
PICAYUNE, MS.
I'LL STOP YELLING NOW IF YOU PROMISE TO GO.

Good.

I told Mama Woolf about it when she said she had business in Picayune, and she came back to us this afternoon with cakes to continue celebrating Itsy Sister's birthday.  Today's flavor was pink lemonade, and it was perfect.  Whipped icing, lemon curd between layers of pink cake that would've made Daisy Buchanan proud.  Tomorrow's cake? TBA.  It's a surprise.

Must haves when you do go: Cannoli.  King Cake. 

The troops are stirring, so I'll have to continue this after the hotel-room, madcap misadventures cease.

Because my blog is kind of suckish right now...

...and because I need to focus on the positive, here are the highlights of the first two days of this week:

Hugs from Grace Choi.

Lee Palace with Wheeler & LBo.

How stinkin' funny these camp kids are, even if they don't listen.

Thither hugs.

Finally getting my Heidi Bug to the groomer.  She needed it, and I don't feel guilty about it anymore.

This re-run of NCIS.  Ziva gets to be Zurich to Mark Harmon's USA and Daniel Gillies' England. 
I'm not really paying attention to the plot, but Switzerland's a pretty good place to be this episode.

"I bet there's not one person who doesn't like Kate."

I bet there is, sweet Middle Sister, but I'm gonna try my hardest not to think about it.

Possibly the Funniest Conversation with T-Money Ever

Preschool gold.  Right here.


[As we're pulling out of T's school]

T: When are we going to my house? I'm thirsty.  And hungry.

K: We're going there right now, so we can take care of both of these things.

T: Good.  I'm thirsty.  And hungry.  And tired.

K: Well, we can take care of all of these things at home.

~*~

T: I have to go to Atlanta with my Daddy tomorrow to pick up my sisters.

K: Are you excited?

T: Well, I might have to pee.

K: Oh, yeah?

T: Yeah.  I had to pee last time, so I had to stick out my wiener and pee in a bottle.
     I really had to pee.

K: Oh, no!

T: In the bottle.

K: Wow.

T: [mumbles incoherently]

K: Do you have to pee now?

T: No.

K: Oh, okay.

T: Wait, yes.  (Behold the power of suggestion...)

K: All right, well, we're almost home.

T: I'll wait till I get home.  I don't want to show my wiener to everybody.

K: We all appreciate that.

T: (Not a minute later) I wonder when we'll be home.  I have to pee.  And I'm thirsty and hungry and tired.

[We turn the corner and pass The Burger King]

T: Maybe we could go to Burger King.

K: Not now, but maybe later.

T: Awww!

K: We've got to get home so you can go pee!

T: And I need to get a drink and a snack and a nap...

Amy Lea, you're not allowed to read this (Thar be evil eight-legged freaks)

It's official.

The spiders want to see me naked.

It's been a while (since Valentine's Day, to be precise), but I finally had my second perilous shower experience.
I go to get in the shower this morning, and there are three, count them, 3, of the little devils in the bathroom.

 1...

 2...

3. 

ARRGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Being the red-headed, blood-thirsty barbarian that I am, they're all dead now.

Take heed, perverts, sex fiends, and anybody else who might ever attempt to see my nakey in the shower!

You try anything cute, and I'll wrap you up in toilet paper and flush you down the toilet, too.

[nod]

Life Plateau = Large (Unhealthy?) Amount of Calvin & Hobbes

I think he could have stopped at the second panel.

That would describe my feelings on a daily basis.  

I am a bear of so little of them, after all.

I feel like a bump on a log.

Nothing exciting to report.

A week from today I'll be at the beach.

A month from today (fingers crossed) I'll be in OKC.

I have no idea what's coming.

o_O

Why am I not funny?

I like, appreciate, and understand LOTS of funny things. 

That being the case, shouldn't I be a funnier person?  I enjoy those with a quick wit and surround myself with people who possess them.  Should that not then be a trait I possess and display myself? Or shouldn't that at least rub off of them and onto me?  Hmmm...

Ya think it's because of my insecurities? 

I think it's because of them and the fact that I've been reading Calvin and Hobbes obsessively over the past 48 hours.  They are SO funny! (Jealousy.  Yep, that's an insecurity manifesting itself BIG time.)

I mean, I've done other stuff, too. 

I read some more Stanislavski.  Learned more about myself as an artist an' such.

I'd like to think reading Calvin and Hobbes is like an extension of that learning. 

Actors preparing for a role have to activate their imaginations in coordination with the given information from the playwright.

I think we all could learn a thing or two about using our imaginations from Calvin.

So, I did more studying today than I originally gave myself credit for doing.

I also watched Oxygen and cuddled and played with my puppies. 

Is this how I should have spent my day?  Probably not.

But I also think that maybe this was the Universe preparing me for the marathon that is Saturday-Sunday.  (I'll tell ya about it if I survive.)

And maybe my life was craving a completely lazy day.

Ya know what they say about cravings.

They're our bodies telling us we need some kind of nutrient.

And if for some reason it's not a nutritional need, it's probably better to give into the craving in moderation than to overcompensate for it with something else that, let's face it, can't fill the void as well as what we were craving in the first place. 

How's THAT for justification?

"The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men Gang aft agley..."

In other words, they suck.

Friends, don't ever try to look for apartments online.  It doesn't work.

Doing what's right and good for those around you--THAT does.

I've been drinking the Kool-Aid.

Kristin Chenoweth may be my guardian angel.

Lemme 'splain.

She brought friends together via Twitter.

One of those friends happens to be my friend, too.

I went to audition at the right school for me, which happens to be her alma mater.  My friend came with me to support me.  My friend introduced me to her new friends.

She wished me luck when I auditioned at her alma mater.

I got in.

My friend and I came back to look for a place to live.  The places I found online that I could afford were... not nice.  One of her friends, who's now my friend, knew a gal who's moving out of her apartment.  She contacted her, and we went to see the apartment.  That apartment just so happens to be the right size, in the right place, and have the right price.

I know that KC didn't orchestrate all this.  All credit goes to God from whom all blessings flow.

But she's one of those blessed puzzle pieces.

So, thanks KC.

An inane analysis

Why this particular animation?

And why did I feel the need to post about it?

I found this pop-up ad as I was closing Firefox last night.  Of course I had to screenshot it till I caught Strange-Redheaded-Academic-Graduate-Superhero in action.

O, golly, I'm lame...

 

Here she is, standing on an invisible incline, gazing into the distant horizon, ready to save the world with her cap and... regalia.

(Is she standing in front of a fan?  Atop a tall building?  Why isn't her tassel flowing in the breeze?  WHAT GIVES??)

 

Then, all of a sudden, she's jumping.

Why?

Is it because she's excited about acquiring more knowledge, which, as we all know, equals power?

(Be careful not to lose your cap!  It adorns the seat of your power!)

Is her other super power to be able to jump without bending her knees, but by simply thrusting her right arm downward?  Maybe it's the motion of the book...

 

As she begins her descent to the ground, she does so the same way we all put on pants and socks and shoes.   Is this supposed to be some kind of allegory?  (I'd rather think that than owe it to the fact that the animator's lazy/only understands still life.  Hey, shouldn't her magic talisman be hitting her in the face about now?  Is it really magic or merely decorative?)

 

Then she lands completely, ready to take off jumping again.

Riddle me this: Why does this ad ask if people are going back to school with grants?  Shouldn't it proclaim that they are, and that is why you need to see if you qualify?

I think we've already guessed the reason for her ensemble, knowledge being power an' all that.  She's gained enough power to activate her mutant gene and go back to school with the X-Men.  Huzzah.

But why, for the love, is the ginger Athena jumping up and down?  Is it because she got a grant and is excited about it?  Is she trying to get your attention? [cue "Notice Me Horton"] Is it because the designers of this ad wanted to appeal to a certain demographic visually?  Ya know, the height at which she's holding the outward manifestation of her power is just below her other, erm, ample powers...  

I don't get it.

That's the point.

I don't get it.

I've been reading too much Stanislavski. 

Sorry to waste precious space in the world wide web with this post.  It really is silly and, truly, a waste of time.  I guess I just felt like I should post something, and the things I find myself pondering in everyday life I'm not ready to share with the internet, small though my following may be.  But stupid stuff like this?  

Suuuuuuuure.

Thanks to Allie of Hyperbole and a Half...

WHAT IF THE HOKEY POKEY REALLY IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT.

For providing me the perfect image of an eye twitch when Google failed.

See Sneaky Hate Spiral for more of this all too appropriate imagery and the perfect explanation of how life crams 11 cookies into the VCR and ruins itself.

That's what he said.

In the car after school...

T: [mumbles incoherently] ...Ladador.

Big Sister: What did you say?

T: Ladador.

Itsy Sister: What's a "ladador?"

Big Sister: It's like Aladar!  I love that movie.

Kate: Dinosaur?

Big Sister: Yeah!

[Big Sister and T start to quote it]

Big Sister: Did you know that now they're saying that pterodactyls didn't actually flap their wings, but that they just spread them and then would glide?

Kate: Like a flying squirrel.

Big Sister: Yeah.  Then after the continents started to separate, they started to grow feathers and then had to flap their wings to go a farther distance.

Kate: That's what "they" say, huh?

Big Sister: Yep.

T: I took swimming lessons.

Kate: You did?

T: Yeth.  My teacher would throw rings in the pool and then I'd have to swim and get them.

Big Sister: But you were too afraid and clung to daddy the whole time.

T: I did not.

Big Sister: Yes, you did, sweetie.  So it wasn't even useful.

Kate: Well, yes it was.

Big Sister: Useless has the word "use" in it, but that's about it.

T: You're useless if you're mean to me.

Kate: BAHAHA!  Good comeback, T. (I know.  I'm such a good babysitter.)

T: [smiles] Yeth.

Big Sister: [laughing] What did he say?

Kate: "You're useless if you're mean to me."

Big Sister: BAHAHAHAHA!  Is that what you said, T?

T: Yeth. Yeth, that'th what I thaid.


Now the three of them are sunbathing on the beautiful new deck.  Well, except T.  He was lying on his stomach in the shade next to the girls.   

Out of the mouths of babes

I picked up T from gymnastics this afternoon, and his gym happens to be on the edge of one of the worst hit parts of T-Town.

As we drove past the rubble on 15th Street, he looked out the window, pointing out everything "that got hit by the tornado."

After a moment, he exclaims, "CURSE YOU, TORNADO!"

There's another moment, and he says, "I hate Mother Nature."

"Yeah," I said, "Sometimes she's not very nice."

"Hold On."

Michael Bublé.  Martha Sowerby.  Wilson Phillips.  Scads of other characters/singers.

They all tell me to hold on.

When I need help to hold on, I of course turn to Jesus.  On him I lean.

I turn to my friends.  They lift me up.

Then I watch Ally McBeal.

'Cause she's weird.

And so am I.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ally McBeal: I like being a mess. It's who I am.
❧
Ally McBeal: The real truth is, I probably don't want to be too happy or content. Because, then what? I actually like the quest, the search. That's the fun. The more lost you are, the more you have to look forward to. What do you know? I'm having a great time and I don't even know it.
❧
Ally McBeal: Whenever I get depressed, I raise my hemlines. If things don't change, I am bound to be arrested.
❧ 
Ally McBeal: Even if I did get past all my problems, I'm just gonna get out and get new ones.
❧
Ally McBeal: Remember, when you're with me, it's the only time you're not the strangest person in the room. So go ahead, get weird with me.
❧
Richard Fish: "Problem" is just a bleak word for challenge.
❧ 
Elaine: She's two-thirds of a Rice Krispie treat. She's already snapped, and crackled, and she's ready for the final pop.
❧
Elaine: Oh, forgive my bluntness. It's a device I use to cope.
❧ 
Georgia Thomas: Ally, what makes your problems so much bigger than everybody else's? 
Ally McBeal: They're mine.

These Are the Days [1.23]

John "The Biscuit" Cage: If you think back, and replay your year - if it doesn't bring you tears of joy or sadness, consider the year wasted.

Don't Stop...

... Believin'.
... Thinkin' about tomorrow.

Keep going.  Don't stop.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

True Stories

One day T is walking around the house.  Then he stops, shakes his head, looks at his mom and says, "I'm a nerd."
❧

T was bothering his mom about something.  I'm terrible and can't remember what it was specifically, but he followed her around, repeatedly asking, "Can we, Mom? Can we, Mom? Can we? Can we?"

Then Little Sister (a.k.a. Itsy Sister) stops wide-eyed and asks, "Do you think T has short-term memory loss??"

Did I mention she's seven?
❧

We went to a Mexican restaurant after an evening soccer practice with T and Middle Sister.  It's a tiny little local spot, decorated with the traditional cultural trimmings and trappings. After we'd been seated in our booth, T looks up and says, "I wish I had a ukelele."  The three gals look at each other, then burst into utter guffaws of laughter.  (Zack Morris Time Out:  I know, I know, it's redundant to say "guffaws of laughter," but you try reading just "guffaws" out loud and see how strange it sounds to you!)

Mama Laura: "What makes you say that?" [T points to the wall] "How do you know what that is?"

T: From school.

[Glimmer of hope for music education shines in the grownups' eyes]
❧

I have been spending evenings hanging out with tiny dancers (it's recital week), and the other night after a few communication hiccups and other schedule-related "oopses," we went out to eat to celebrate surviving it all... and... to bribe the children.

I asked the girls where they wanted to go. They'd volley ideas, never agreeing on one (of course), and Big Sister says, "Oh!  That cafe place Mom took me to that one time."

K: "Thank you, Big Sister.  Please be more vague."

Big Sis: "Ya know... that cafe... umm... Café Du Monde?"

K: (Baha!) "That's in New Orleans."

(Through the phone) Mama Laura: "Haha! I love that she knows that! [chuckle] What kind of food do they want?"

K: "What kind of food would you like?  Mexican? Italian? Wings?"

Both girls: "WINGS.  The one by our school!"

[cue "Miracle of Miracles"]

T wants to go back to Disney World reeeeeeeeeeeally badly.  This prompted Disney vacay anecdotes.  I was sitting at the restaurant with Mama Laura and the girls, and they began to ask me if I'd been to Disney World, if I like roller coasters, etc.  Then we discussed our favorite Disney attractions, one of them being The Rockin' Roller Coaster.  Mama Laura doesn't particularly like to ride roller coasters, thus has never experienced the epic-ness that IS The Rockin' Roller Coaster. So, Big Sister says, "Mom, you've got to ride it before you're too old and might have a heart attack!"

Possibly the be-all and end-all

http://alabamapossible.org/2011/04/tornado-relief-how-you-can-help/

GO.

Places that are constantly updating info on Alabama's needs!

http://www.facebook.com/jamesspann

http://www.facebook.com/myfumct

http://www.98txt.com/main.html

http://www.recovertuscaloosa.com/

And the following on Twitter:

tuscaloosanews
HelpTTown
tuscaloosacity
spann
firstwesleyan
UA_Greek_Relief

or search trends:

#ALHaves, #ALNeeds, #WeAreAlabama

This is not a comprehensive list in the slightest.
Please add to it!

Thank God for the children

This shall be included in the section of my book, co-authored with Laura Woolf, entitled Conversations with Thomas Woolf FTW.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My handsome prince, T, puts on a plaid shirt and says, "I'm going to college.  Bye!"

He walks over to his mom, she gives him a high-five and says, "Bye! Make good grades!"

Then he chuckles, shakes his head and says, "I'm just kidding."

When we began discussing possible dinner options, he shouts, "Strawberries."

Laura: T wants strawberries.

T: And broccoli!

Laura: T wants strawberries and broccoli.

T: [holds up imaginary sign] This is me holding up my sign for strawberries and broccoli!

The grownup conversation ranges from what's for dinner to childcare rates to the evening news, and in the midst of all this, we'd missed him going out into the garage, supposedly to get ideas for what to have for dinner tonight.
He walks back in with a catcher's helmet on and declares, "I don't know what kind of soup you like!"

He also suggests dirty rice.

"But dirty rice isn't actually dirty."

Thank goodness for that!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

T: One time I went to a condo.

Me: You did?!

T: Yeah.  And stayed the night.

Then he goes and tells his mommy the same thing.  Describing the colors of the different condos surrounding them.

Laura: How do you remember the colors of the condos??

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

T, now sporting his plaid flannel pjs with the shirt unbuttoned, walks toward his father and says, "I ate all my salad.  Feel how much salad is in my tummy," and sticks out his belly for his daddy to feel.

"Wow!  That's a lot of salad."

Well, I'll say.

Don't know what to say

As all of you know, per my last post, the weather a week ago from yesterday (Already?!/It's only been a week?!) was in fact a "doozy."

So much so that it's changed my perspective on all social media, including Twitter.  As I told my friends, "I get it now."

I'm trying to use it to retweet any information put out by our city and others who are working so tirelessly in the recovery efforts for Tuscaloosa and the entire state of Alabama.  I'm going to try to do the same with the blog for a while.  I honestly don't know what else I have to talk about at the moment anyway.  It's definitely a day-to-day kinda life right now, and I didn't personally suffer a loss of property or loved ones.

If you see any information on here or on the Twitter that might be useful to anybody anywhere, please share it.  There are numerous groups on facebook with the same aim-- getting the word out.

I know I don't have enough followers on here or Twitter to really make a difference, but hey, ya gotta start somewhere.

Peace & blessings.

♥

The Adventures of Red and the Blustery Day

That's putting it lightly.

The Blustery Day was always my favorite of Pooh Bear's adventures when I was little.

Watch it here!

The foundation for my ensemble today is based upon Disney Christopher Robin's traditional garb: yellow T-shirt, blue on bottom, red shoes.  Finished with Pooh Bear necklace and earring set my grandparents gave me years ago.

The fact that I'm now holed up in my room tracking storms with my loves James & Jason has greatly altered my outfit.  Now short hair pulled back with banana clip, stray curls held into place with a cheetah print headband, and my white-with-purple-roses robe

 

Tut-tut! It looks like rain!

In short, I look a mess.  But not nearly as messy as this weather.  If you're so inclined, send up prayers for the damage that's already been done in Alabama (Cullman, Holly Pond, Dodge City), and keep 'em coming for the entire state for the rest of the night.

It's gonna be a doozy.

Too many pictures, I know...

As promised (even if only to myself), a virtual tour through the Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum.  These pictures weren't taken for art's sake, but for memory's sake (even though I tried my best to make them somewhat aesthetically pleasing, I work with limited resources...).   

Well, here goes.

 (The bomb exploded at 9:02.)

 Rebecca Anderson was a nurse who, although she was injured herself, continued to help the others who'd been injured as well, 

and it ended up costing her her life.