Where the heck have I been?

It's a good question, since I've been e-absent for a while.  Mitigating factors include:

Side life project ramping up for the Summer
Kids lives ramping up for the end of the school year and Summer
About to wear a new and bigger hat at work

All good stuff, but having trouble with BAHHHHHLANCE.

My "Ohms" are turning into "OHMGs!"

I spent the holiday weekend here:

Listening to incredible music in weather that looked like this for a while:

Which, not surprisingly meant that I saw a lot of this:

Not sure this is what they had in mind when they described it as a "Family Friendly Event."  (Though, come to think of it, my husband mentioned that she was "super friendly" so there you go.)

Poor thing.  I'm sure she eventually found someone who was willing to wash her off.

Ahem.

In any event, back on terra firma (more terra than firma, certainly), just in case you missed me.

Happy Summer.  It's 101 outside.  Really Mother Nature??  Spring???  It's that thing between the Polar Ice Cap and Hades.  WTF?



Random Stuff

It has been raining here for days upon end.  Things are starting to get a little moldy around the edges, even.  I ran in the pouring rain this morning, for the first time in a long while and it was lovely.  No rain coat or anything, it was too warm, just running in a tshirt and shorts and squishy squashy shoes.  Running and laughing because I knew how completely ridiculous I must have looked to oncoming traffic. 

The smell of honeysuckle can just about knock you over at the moment, and the rain is keeping the pollen at bay, so all in all, I'd say it's a very lovely spring here in Magnolia Meadow.

There is something sort of wistful and melancholy about slaving away while the rain pummels your window.  I am, therefore, indulging myself in one of my greatest guilty pleasures and listening to acid jazz.  Do you "Pandora"?  I Pandora a lot at work, it's so convenient, and they do a great job of catering to my eclectic musical tastes.   www.pandora.com

My current Pandora channels are:

Groove Armada
David Gray
Neil Diamond
Amos Lee
Incubus
Keller & the Keels
Thievery Corporation
Bruce Hornsby
Gomez
The Wailin' Jennys
AC/DC

I think, with the possible exception of r&b, country and classical, I have the bases covered!

I'm reading the George R.R. Martin fantasy series, A Song of Fire and Ice.  I'm on book three.  They've turned this into a huge HBO series, Game of Thrones (which is the first book).  In spite of the horrifying brutality I'm hooked.  It's a really fun read.  (I'll have to hide it from the kids when I'm done, however, I found my son eyeballing it..."Hey!  This looks like a Lord of the Rings thing, cool!"  um, not exactly.)

http://www.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/index.html

Dragons, princesses, pillage and plunder, oh my!

Boy in the bubble

My husband is one giant walking billboard advertisement for insurance.  All kinds of insurance.  Health.  Auto.  Life. 

The craziest things happen to him....from getting rear ended in traffic and pushed forward into a tanker truck that turned out to be full of high fructose corn syrup (which ironically is more likely to kill him since he's diabetic than it would if it had been filled with something flammable) to being allergic to, oh, pretty much anything that GROWS, our life together is generally always just one step away from the emergency room at all times.

I told him the other day, in response to him telling me about the most recent allergy attack  (I'll spare you the gorey details and you're welcome), that we needed to just encase him in plastic.  He responded with this image.

I told him that was fine.  I was pretty sure I could craft the bubble, but that he was out of luck with the leisure suite.  To which he responded: 

He's a funny guy.  Who clearly has too much time on his hands.

Paper Crane 9/11 Project For Peace

Paper Crane 9/11 Project For Peace

I love Origami.

I actually KNOW how to make the paper cranes.

I have been known to leave them places, anonymously for people, as peace offerings.

I love this idea of making them in commemoration for 9/11.

It's over now.....the music of the night

Done!  I survived countless hours of practices and preparation and 4 productions of Phantom of the Opera.  When the aforementioned Director cornered me in the hallway at the beginning of the final performance and said "So!  Will you do another show with me?"  The only response I could think of, which I gave her, was "Uhhhhhhhh"  It was not my most erudite moment.

That being said, it was wonderful to see those kids bleed sweat and pull off what was, truly, an amazing set of performances.  I'm sure THEY all felt it was worthwhile. 

It was worthwhile for me to get this text from my daughter somewhere in the middle of all of that:

"Mom, I love you so much.  I'm so lucky to have such an awesome mommy."

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww

What was initially significant trepidation on her part at having me in her realm turned into not only acceptance but also inclusion, to the point where I got multiple hugs from her in front of cast and crew.

Yes.  Worth it for me, too.

While the production is over, the hilarity is not.  I received this photo text from my daughter this morning, which will only be funny if you've seen Phantom and are familiar with the crashing chandelier.  A mid class doodle.

What really happened to Osama Bin Laden: