Nana, just in case you need this insult tomorrow at work......

...just walk right in there and begin...
"you're nothing but the yellow-bellied offspring of a canker-ridden bunter. You are a bastard, you are, an unlicked cub. A dung-splattered tallow-faced rock-gnasher. A puking villian. A noxious toad. A runting mewling spawn of a greasy sow. I wouldn't give you my last crust if you were starving or a drop of water if you were burning or a beggars grave if you were dead. You have pus for marrow and fungus for brains. You are a scug-backed cheek-biter."

page 90 of BRISINGR by Christopher Paolini

I like this.

Birth Day Boy!

9 years old. NINE! That really sounds big to me.
We Love YOU so very much Emmett. I hope this year is the best yet!







His first guitar!
(but don't worry, he doesn't want to quit piano!)

The look on his face when he realized he was actually getting a guitar was priceless.







xoxoxoxoxoxoxox to our heart bomb!

goings on, for the record

Granpops and Bebe are visiting, taking kids swimming and on little adventures (we've gotta get more pictures before they go!!!); colds and stomach flus have been floating around, sabotaging Emmett's much anticipated sleepover; lots of house projects are moving along, rainbarrels,and gutters, painting, clothes line, looking into solar panels etc; nana is on "baby watch" every minute of every weekend waiting for a new elephant to be born at the Wild Animal Park and loving it; Matt has been to the doctor for his feet and is readying himself for FOOT SURGERY, sometime in the next 3 months while also committing himself to Bikram Yoga, yes, sweaty yoga (he's there right now!) and on top of it all, he works 70 hours a week, always connected to that life-sucker, the Blackberry; Mac is rehearsing for Pippi, full force; carpooling and school stuff keeps me busy and guessing everyday, "what, where and who???"; We have all been completely stumped by the two Rubik's Cubes that seem to show up all over the house. No one here can solve it. (We're not so smart afterall!); It hailed during that huge storm and Silas just loved it. Couldn't convince him it wasn't snow; Silas has been jumping on the trampoline and playing FARM with his friends, thank god for that backyard; Emmett and I have been playing Mancala and we are finally reading BRISIGR out loud with Mac too; Discovered recently that a small bowl of ground coffee is the only thing that gets rid of the smell of rotten milk in the car or chicken poo in the closet or barf etc...it is the miracle air freshener; I had to put bird netting around the chicken pen so the hawks that are circling don't get lucky; I have a refrigerator full of good food but for some reason the thought of cooking AGAIN makes me wanna .... fast.

Gotta pay attention around here, things are moving pretty fast and it's easy to just feel busy and
forget to 'smell the flowers'....so I think I'll go get a cup of tea and feed the chickens. Doing my best.

I am too exhausted to blog much, but...

I have been newly inspired by Obama's 'state of the union'...but we all know the man can speak...
Even more than that speech...WAY MORE SO is his 'question and answer time' with all the Republicans in the house, that HE asked to be televised. It is very telling and I think everyone should watch it.
These are the teabaggers and moderate republicans alike asking all their most pointed questions (very respectfully, I will add) and Obama's answers.

Maybe, just maybe, things will turn around?? (oh yeah, I forgot for a second...USA is owned by corporations so that's highly unlikely....but still....)

Check out the video here, I think in it's entirety. If not, find it because it's worth it.

Washington DC

I was sent to Washington DC for a meeting. I was there to provide "ground truth" to a bunch of bureaucrats making a training manual on Unified Commands. If that wasn't surreal enough, I stayed at the Willard International, a very famous hotel, where the term lobbyist came from. I'm serious, look it up. Anyway, I walked around a little. I only went to one museum, the Holocaust Museum. What else would I do. What else could I do. Some photos from Rome....
Matt

HUGE STORM RAGES FOR DAYS...

.....chickens stay inside!!!

Sadly, More Political Nightmare Nonsense

Ted Kennedy is rolling over in his grave about this crazy Scott Brown business.
I really just can't believe it.

Read This Article.

Our girl is TWELVE today!!!!

Happy Birthday Mac! What a wonderful person you are!
xoxoxoxooxoxoxoox

7:00 AM

Mac and Emmett slept on the trampoline to watch out for the chickens.
And Nana brought them snuggly coats so they could sit and warm the chicks this morning.
No one could sleep. I kept imagining the heat lamp bulb burning out and the chicks freezing.
Emmett worried about predators. Yikes.
I have a feeling they will be in Mac's closet during the huge week long storm that is coming.

Anyway, it was very cute to wake up to these kids being little mamas/papas/nanas! ;)

update: Mac's Americana Chicken is named "Secret" and The New Hampshire Red is officially "Butterfly"
So now we have Toby, Puppet, Butterfly and Secret

Birthday Surprise!

A most exciting day! I kept Mac out of school for a supposed shopping spree (ugh!) and
got completely lost on 8E and ended up in Crest at some god forsaken farm. ("Wow mama
you really need a GPS!" she said.)
And then she found out that we were there to pick our her BABY chicks!
They are 3 weeks old and just getting feathers. They are quick to snuggle under a warm hand
and seem very happy.....

...our only worry is Zarina the Huntress. We have already caught her hanging by
the chicken wire upsidedown, freaking the little ladies out!



Mac can't stay away for more than a few minutes and Emmett is in love!
Just look at them!


4 Hens: yellow headed red bodied one is a New Hampshire Red and is the grown-ups chicken. She is yet unnamed. (hard to get consensus here;)
The "hawk" looking greyish brown one is an Americana. She is Mac's and is also unnamed as of yet although the names in contention have ranged from Hera to Hawk Girl to Charlotte?!
The dark reddish one is Silas'. She is a Rhode Island Red and her name is Toby the People Rescuer. He will tell you that her short name is just Toby.
The soft peachy one is a Buff Orpington and is Emmett's. He has named her "Little Puppet".
We have noticed that Puppet seems to be in charge but very gentle, which we hope will set a nice tone to our flock. Next in the pecking order is Toby and then Mac's. The most timid one is the New Hampshire Red.

The backyard that once seemed very sad and dog poopy now feels full of jumping chirping life!

Mac's Birthday Bedroom Remodel Master Plan

She's not so much into this room (above) although
she likes the lights...but it's as close to the color
as we could find to print out for the paint guy.
She wanted "orchid" and has obviously inherited my color fearlessness
(for better, often, or worse, "oftener"!)
Now for the labor. The only thing that makes this
fun is that we get to do it together. Let's hope Silas cooperates!

the beard is going...going...gone...

............................my personal favorite! the village person!!...................................




... and now it looks like I am married to a much younger and extremely
handsome man. (ruggedly handsome, as he likes to add!)

Junior Theatre !

Mac is ecstatic because she got a part in PIPPI in Junior Theatre!
She doesn't know which part yet but she was worried she wouldn't get in at all
as the audition was kinda intimidating. After, she said she would be lucky
to be a "villager" or even on the crew.
She's been skipping all over the house today!
And Emmett is excited because his class is going on a field trip to see it in March!

There's nothing like seeing your kid happy!

I JUST LOST MY MIND AND MY TEMPER (publicaly!) OVER...

...two things I cannot be trusted to discuss rationally...because I hate them.
And they are... CAUTION TAPE all over the school garden and CHAIN LINK, in general, unless it's
in West Side Story or covered in Morning Glories but that's different.

And now I have to go apologize.
This day is sucking.

What freaks out Silas????

...the eyes and the 'thump thump thump' she makes coming into the room due to her 3 legs.
She is the most harmless squishy fat cat ever...and the only animal that freaks him out!!!

Technology is Sucking Away My Health Points

In the book Eragon the main character learns to use magic but must be careful that he doesn't go too far because magic uses energy...and the amount spent is equal to the amount taken. So the spells need to be cleverly simple so as not to drain the life of the magician.

Well, I find a connection here between Eragon and his magic use and Me and my new IPod.
The possibilities at my fingertips are endless however it is SUCKING my LIFE away while I stumble my way through transferring my entire musical life into this 5" x 2 " box. And I am not gifted in this area.

The experience of listening to the jazz genre listed now on my IPOD is lovely ....but.....the reverse equal of this pleasure is the poke-my-eyes-out irritation of burning all my CD's onto ITunes and downloading my library. (Which turns out to be too big anyway....grrrrrrrr.)

And...The wonder of plugging in that teeny device thing that allows me to hear my IPOD on any radio is balanced by the fact that 30 minutes into the road trip the battery wears out and, since I cleaned my car of all my CD's thanks to the "simplicity" of the IPOD, there is now no music in my car at all.

This is very painful and I feel I need a technology secretary to take over. Mac tried but found I was too cranky to work with. Apparently that's another side effect.

And someone today suggested that I really should get an IPHONE....so I can do what, I ask....
blog in the car while I locate a vegan restaurant and discover the artist who is singing on the radio so I can, quick, buy it on ITUNES and download it into my studio/rock playlist?
I can't imagine the reverse effect that would have on my poor mind. I do believe I might just implode or simply snuff out. The opposite reaction to that many possibilities has to be
completely disappearing.
Yes?

"Eating Animals"

As some of you may know the West Coast Dreyers have gone vegetarian. If you want some insight as to why read the book "Eating Animals" by Jonathan Safran Foer. Click here for trailer
and check out this link http://www.eatinganimals.com/

This is Papa here to tell you that FACTORY FARMS ARE MEAN AND NASTY!