Satin jamma bottoms... so cozy...

So I would really like to spend the $20 to get the wireless converter for our Qwest router. It would be soooo nice to sit on a cozy couch and do this, rather than in the folding wooden chair in the cold kitchen.

It's so hard to know what to spend $20 on.

We're getting an Aldi up on the corner (it's probably 1.5 miles away, but still... a corner!) and I am REALLY excited. Joel says the sign was up today, and the facade definitely is starting to look like an Aldi! I went to the Aldi over at University and Lexington today and MAN you can get a lot of groceries for under $20 there. It's good action.

My Neighborhood Leadership Program thing at the Wilder Center is almost over -- we graduate on April 20. I'm sad about leaving this amazing group of St. Paulites -- in our group of 27 there are people from... well, at least 27 different walks of life. Men, women, moms, dads, childless, gay, straight, black, white, people from East Africa and Palestine and Burma and Mexico and even San Francisco. Married couples, homeless people, divorcees, disabled. All with hopes and dreams to make Saint Paul a better place to be. It's incredible, the things we find in common... and the differences. So many of them have such concrete, ready-to-go notions of how they're going about their community work -- I feel like a flailing poser compared to them. I'm so blessed to have been able to walk through this program with these folks. I feel much less ignorant than six short months ago -- yet I also realize how very little I actually do know.

Joel and I also watched an incredible movie last night -- Synecdoche, New York. It's completely insane and totally blew my mind. I've read on the internets that lots of people hated it (which is quite a feat, considering pretty much nobody's even seen it), so I'm reluctant to recommend it, but I REALLY enjoyed it and want to try to watch it again before Netflixxing it back.

Also I'm really feeling like I'm at a crossroads in life, again... I'm feeling a pull to ditch a lot of my extra stuff, and really focus on the kids. Lucy will be starting some kind of pre-K in the fall (waiting to find out for sure what), and she'll be gone either every afternoon during the week, or three full days a week. Next year it'll be Ed's turn, with Lu in full-day Kindergarten (because that's how they roll in St. Paul). I've got to enjoy my time with these little miracles while I still can... and I have to believe that there will be work for me, outside-the-home work, still available in a couple years.

My mom and dad are going to cringe at this part, but it's an important part of me and so I share: I have been praying a lot about this, and I feel like God is really gently shoving me toward being with the kiddos for now. So in my leadership training today, they encouraged us to commit to our "next steps" for whatever our personal goals are for our neighborhood/community (however we define that -- for some it's their workplace, for some it's where they live). All I felt really good about committing to was working on raising my kids -- and assuming I'll be raising them in St. Paul for the foreseeable future, I think that counts as a "next step" for my community.

But something else tugs at me too -- I really wish there was a place to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee in our neighborhood. There is a Caribou Coffee 1.5 miles away (next door to my new Aldi, actually) but it's inside a Byerly's and offers NO place to sit and sip and chat. Otherwise, you have to drive 4-5 miles north or 3 miles east to find a cafe. It's a CRIME!

Let me be clear: I do not think I have what it takes to run a coffee shop. For one, I don't care to get up at 4AM. I obviously have no capital, either... and still... today a guy mentioned a group for women entrepreneurs that finds loans at, like, 2%. Which is purrrty close to free money. And, like... maybe I could sleep in the afternoons? I don't know. I find great comfort in knowing I can give this stuff over to God and see where it heads. I don't need to have an answer anytime soon... but since it keeps coming up... why not me? Why couldn't I do something that would make an incredibly positive impact on my neighborhood? Well, I can think of several reasons why not.

So anyway, in other neighborhood news, we are getting Alley Joel and Cara back in our alley! That's right, they are moving back in. That's the wonderful news -- the crummy news is that our immediate neighbors to the west have their house on the market. Aaand the nice young family 5 or 6 doors down is also selling. Aaaaaand Evelyn the supercute 2-year-old who lives across from the park... they're moving too. It's depressing seeing all the young families vacating the neighborhood. I mean, I get it -- the houses are small and old and close together. And there's NO COFFEE SHOP -- did I mention that? There's certainly no neighborhood identity or character -- I had to stumble on Google maps to find out that our immediate area could be identified as "Eastview" rather than "well, kinda east of Dayton's Bluff -- but west of SunRay/Conway -- north of 94 -- south of Minnehaha." It's frustrating, because I see this as a perfectly valid place to live and remain -- is it because I just have crazy-low standards? Because I don't think we're "good enough" for a higher-class area? Because I feel sorry for our neighborhood and don't want to abandon it?

Anyway this got way long and rambly and I'm praying for guidance and some clarity. Thanks for sticking with me!

A.I. Top 9

Soooo, this is "Popular Downloads on iTunes" week? So random. OK.

I noticed right off that Allison is dressed like a buoy. And then Anoop sings some Usher song called... uh... "Collared"? I've been really slack about listening to popular music so I'm afraid I'm in for a rough week.

Anoop -- Some Usher song
He sings it sharp, it sounds like karaoke, and I'm just not buyin' whatever he's sellin'.

And Paula, I KNOW that pale lipstick is in, but I think it makes you look old. Old with maybe even a mustache. Do not fear colored lipstick! You have nothing to fear but fear itself! I asked Joel for a good quote and he came up with "Easy, furball." So that's something.

Megan -- Some Bob Marley/Lauren Hill song
They announced what she was doing right before a commercial break, and I said to myself, "This is going to be BAD and I'm going to LOVE it." I didn't *exactly* love it though. I think if Megan were in my living room singing this song, I would find it terrific. But on that big stage, she pushes her voice way too hard.

Danny Gokey -- Some Rascal Flatts song
Can you tell I can't get my internets working at the moment? Oh wait this song is "What Hurts the Most." Lucy, of course, thought Danny hit the rock. I guess it was good. Joel thought it wasn't his best. And the judges are recycling comments from four seasons ago.

Allison Iraheta -- Don't Speak by No Doubt
This was kinda identical to the Gwen Stefani version. It was fine -- it was good. And I just don't GET Allison's hair. How does she keep it that color? And how did she get those crazy spikes on top -- is it a hairpiece? Or did she, God forbid, actually get it cut that way?

Scott -- Just the way you are by Billy Joel
AGAIN Scott talks about "stripping down." This guy has naked issues, methinks. I thought the song was really lovely. I even enjoyed the Billy Joel hairdo -- how much fun would it be to be the stylist for a sight-impaired person?! Joel thought he looked a little like Teen Wolf, and thought the song got really good toward the end.

Here, Ryan Seacrest announces that The Fray and Celine Dion will be sung by Matt and Lil. And I wish out loud that it's Matt singing Celine Dion.

Matt -- NOT singing Celine Dion (grrrr.)
Matt, again, sounds bad on the early low notes of this song. He continues to be pitchy on descending notes for the rest of the song, and I think the judges (specifically Paula) are exactly right in their assessment of his performance as a lousy repeat of his Coldplay song from an earlier round. Joel says that Matt was "trying to move someone with his singing -- he moved my bowels." Thanks, Joel, for another quality quote.

Lil -- NOT singing The Fray
(Insert comment from Stu regarding The Fray.)
I didn't take a single note on this performance. It stunk, and I hate to say that because I really like Lil a lot as a person... errr, rather, I think I would, if I actually knew her. Lil, I'm so sorry.

Adam -- Wild Cherry's Play That Funky Music
Let it be said that I HATE this song. Let it also be said that I would really appreciate it if Adam's version entirely replaced the usage of the original version at weddings. Any chance we can get a petition going?
I loved the tempo changes -- doing the part before the chorus twice as slow, then speeding back up for the chorus -- it reminded me of the tinkering they did with the Beatles songs in Across The Universe (PS if you like music and have not seen this movie YOU NEED TO).
Right, so Adam is just amazing. My parents called a couple days after his "Ring of Fire" performance a couple weeks ago, giddy because they'd paid $.99 for the song on iTunes. He is good, good, good. And if he winds up in the bottom 3, he'll be crying himself to sleep on his huuuge pillow. That boy's head's like Sputnik.

Kris -- Ain't no sunshine
Hard to go after Adam, man. I, unfortunately, much prefer some other version of this song. it was good but boring. Joel was hoping for some more up-tempo in the middle of the song. I know everybody loved it, but yaaawn.

Well, it's probably good this is my last week. I hate to say I'm getting bored, but there are very few surprises and the remaining singers pretty much shake out the same every week. And it's not looking good for the VCR -- apparently hooking it up with the antenna and the converter box is nigh-on impossible ... unless maybe we want to take up a collection for an HD antenna? The rankings:

Giant head (and shoulders) above everyone else:
ADAM

Next bunch:
Danny
Kris
Scott
Allison

Bottom bunch:
Matt
Lil
Megan
Anoop

Joel's new favorite nemesis

Fluffy Whole-Wheat Biscuits
(from allrecipes.com)

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter (unsalted)
1 cup milk (I used about 2/3 c buttermilk and 1/3 c skim)

In a medium bowl, combine flours, baking powder, sugar, and salt; mix well. Cut in butter (I used a pastry blender)until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in milk just until moistened. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface; knead gently 8 to 10 times. Roll to 3/4-in. thickness; cut with a 2-1/2-in. biscuit cutter (I just patted it flat with my hands and then cut off square/triangle-pieces with a butterknife) and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm.

Somewhere My Love

A snippet of this song is playing on NPR. I like that I recognize it -- I like that about my upbringing, that I know old songs and can sometimes sing along.

So I have a conundrum. Well, two. Again, my desire to teach dance is conflicting with my home life.

I've been teaching these preschool dance classes, and while I enjoy myself immensely, I have nagging guilt about HAVING to drag Lu and Ed along with me. I mean, once they're there they typically love it, but getting them there is a giant pain in the noodle. So I'm just torn -- do I keep dragging them along, or do I just say Sorry! to my students and postpone classes until my kids are safely into school? It's a real stinker.

Also -- I have some bad news. Tomorrow night will be my final timely American Idol posting. I have a new gig on Tuesday nights at 7:00, so unless I can figure out how to use my VCR, I'm doomed. *Sigh* It was SUPER fun, while it lasted. Unfortunately, Teaching For Money outweighs Watching My Second-Favorite TV Show For Free. That is, unless someone can raise $400 in the next week? Then I can tell my Tuesday class to shove it. Well, let me know how that goes.

I'm making my mom's famous Turkey Carcass Soup this evening and golly it smells delicious. Gotta go find a biscuit recipe...

Anybody out there?

Hey everybody. You ever have one of those days/weeks where it feels like nobody likes you? I do sometimes. It helps to know there are people who love you. It helps to know that God still loves you. It does NOT help when your two children scream "DON'T TALK TO ME!! BAD MOMMY!!" over and over. And over.

How am I supposed to teach my kids anything when they immediately realize they're about to be taught something, and proactively buck and revolt? And, oh, that's right, they're 4. And 3. It's going to be a loooong 15ish more years.

Joel took the little darlings outside this afternoon for some yard-time. It was chilly but sunny and they all had their coats off by the time they came in around 4:30. He dug out our veggie-garden area a little, expanding it for this year's attempts. Here's what's on the docket (or the order form, as it were):

tomatoes
zucchini
pumpkins
snap peas
radishes
strawberries
raspberries
bell peppers
basil
...and the much-discussed apple tree(s). Sure sounds ambitious for someone with a black thumb! I don't have terribly high hopes, but I think it will be fun trying. If anybody is growing anything different and wants to trade, I'm totally open (especially the radishes; last year we had 50 times the number of radishes we could eat).

ECFE is on spring break this coming week, which means an entire week of no ECFE. And from the looks of it, we'll be lucky to hit 40 degrees all week. Sob! Whatever will I do with myself!?

Now I'm going to go try to convince Joel that we should watch the women's figure skating championships on TV. Wish me luck!

American Idol Top 10 -- Motown Week

UGH! Motown!? At least they're getting all my least-favorite genres out of the way. Honestly, between show choir and AI, if I never hear "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" EVER again, it will be too soon.

Ed passed out on Joel's chest on the couch before Lucy and I even got back from dance class, so we gently tossed him into his bunk and then let Lu stay up a little later to watch much of the show. As the opening sequence began, Lucy says "I'll point to the girl I love," which is no easy task when the scene is cut like a music video. After several near-misses and several buttery fingerprints on our TV screen, Lucy nailed magenta-haired Allison as her pick. Not a surprise, but she does have good taste.

Matt Giraud (Lucy: Did he say "Smacker Drive"!?!?) -- Let's Get it On
The very beginning at the piano was HOTT, though immediately following that I'm not sure Matt has the vocal range to hit those low notes. Lucy said "He did well because he listened to his teacher" -- that's my little firstborn! (A teeny note on inbreeding -- in addition to Lucy being the firstborn child of two firstborn children, two of her grandparents are also firstborns and the two grandparents who aren't technically firstborns are the second-borns-of-eleven. The chattiness factor goes back at least three generations. The girl has no chance.)
Overall, I liked it quite a bit.

Paula looks classy and beautiful tonight.

Kris Allen -- How Sweet It Is
How many times has this song title been used as a pun by a headline writer? "How Suite It Is." "How Sweet Kitt Is." "How Sweet It... Israel!" I might've made up the last one, but seriously, this song reminds me of magazines.
Has Kris always been sporting this 5:00 shadow? It's cuters on him. I mentioned that his performance was rock-solid and very enjoyable, and Joel thinks he has a really interesting sound to his voice. Lucy said "I thought he was solid" and I said "That's what I said!" and Lucy repeated, "I thought he was salad." I do not know what this means.
After Paula guesstimated that Kris's high note at the end was an A, I thought back to what I imagined the note to be, and sang it out loud. Then I ran over to my piano (just like you said I would, Jean!!) to try to find the note, and I started on A. Now, my piano is slightly out of tune but Paula was RIGHT ON. An A! Who knew Paula Abdul had perfect pitch?
Now it's possible that I remembered the note wrong, and I just happened to sing an A. In which case *I* have perfect pitch! See, everybody wins!

Scott -- You Can't Hurry Love
Ryan Seacrest: "Here's Scott!"
Lucy: "... aand he's blind." (her comedic taste might need some work, but her timing is impeccable)
Let's get the horrifying pink pants out of the way right now. Wait, I didn't mean "get them out of the way" like "take them off"!! Egads. No joke, those pants look like they were made out of the same sludge as Chicken McNuggets. Grody.
I thought he was kinda shouty. Joel started to comment, when Lucy broke in with "remember, he's blind." I'm not certain she even knows what "blind" means. Something to work on. Joel mentioned that Scott's range seemed kind of small, like he might do well with Randy Newman-style songs that are more about being charming than about blowing the roof off.
Paula's Night Of Being A Musical Savant continues as she uses the word "rubato". Unfortunately, the wheels start to come off when she crawls under the desk, displaying that the bottom half of her "classy" dress is actually a giant tutu. And then she displays ... what is this, Simon's hidden stash of Fiber Bars? Ohh, crayons. Hmm.

Megan -- For Once In My Life
Well! I think to myself, Here's a Motown song I actually like! A lot! I imagined it was going to be really fun and lovely, and I was SO WRONG. She sang sharp, she oversang it, she sang it so fast I couldn't even hear her signature tone. A giant bummer. Lucy: "She hit the rock for me." Joel and Me: "Huh?" We think she meant it as a compliment.

Anoop -- Ooh Baby Baby
Even Smokey Robinson admitted that this is not actually a song. Hey Anoop! THIS IS NOT ACTUALLY A SONG. The sound coming out of his mouth was pretty great, but you are supposed to sing A SONG on this show.

Mike -- Ain't Too Proud To Beg
I actually thought this was surprisingly competent. But that's all -- there was nothing super-exciting about it. Joel wanted Michael to mix up the chorus the 3rd time, but I can't even get that specific... I just thought it was fine, but blah. Which is just what the judges said -- not good enough this year.

Lil Rounds -- Heat Wave
I ADORE her dress and must have one immediately. But she was yelling the song, and I grew bored.

Adam -- The Tracks of My Tears
This song mentions clowns, and therefore I hate it. And yet Adam is an amazing performer and once again he gets my top vote. Joel mentioned that Adam is a chameleon, but that shouldn't surprise anyone who's read my opinions before. Like Bo Bice and Constantine before him, Adam is an actor who can be Mick Jagger one day and Young Hot Elvis the next. I have no idea what that means for Adam from a marketing standpoint -- musical theatre geeks like myself will find him fascinating and it will be easy to cast him in the next Broadway revival of West Side Story, and everyone else will probably just be baffled yet AMAZED at his New Look!
But I want to mention that the song needed to resolve on "you" and not on "need." I waited for that "you" for a good eight seconds until I realized it was never coming. I'm guessing I'm not the first girl Adam has left waiting, sorta confused. To paraphrase Neil Patrick Harris's recent SNL monologue, "I'm like 'What, is he allergic to timing?' and my girlfriend is, like, 'Why won't you kiss me?' and I'm, like, 'Later, I mean, LOOK at this guy!'"

Smokey Robinson dresses real hip for, like, a 75-year-old dude?

Danny -- Get Ready
Joel thought it was amateurish. I actually really enjoyed it, but maybe in the same way that I enjoyed Michael Sarver's performance -- it was good but not really good enough.

Allison -- Papa Was a Rolling Stone
I actually used to think this song was about Mick Jagger. Until tonight, actually. Allison sang the heck out of this thing and I have to go finish cutting Joel's hair so now my rankings...

Top 3
Adam
Allison
Kris

Middle of Pack
Danny
Matt
Anoop

These Guys Can Start Going Home In Any Order:
Mike
Scott
Lil
Megan

Lucyisms

Lu: "A jabberbox is somebody who talks a lot. I'm a jabberbox. My papa calls me a jabberbox."

And also:

Lu: Mama, you laugh a lot on the phone.

Me: Well, I do like to laugh.

Lu: Maybe you laugh because you have so lovely kids.


I've got a house full of one 3-year-old, three 4-year-olds, and a recent 5. The convos between the older kids are hilaaaaarious.

Shopping Spree

Those of you who know me well know I don't buy stuff.

Much.

This week has been a grand, fabulous exception. I've acquired the "Free to Be... You and Me" new hardcover book AND the complete CD (not the 4-song disappointment that comes with the book). This was to be a birthday present for Eddie and while he and Lu have been now listening to the CD nonstop since yesterday, I do think my bliss eclipses theirs. I remember bringing my old 1981 version of the book (which came with a vinyl record) to first grade, hoping to stage a "dramatic reading" of the Boy Meets Girl scene with Eric Lee, only to find that Eric Lee, though one of the smartest kids in first grade, did not yet have the reading skill to do an impromptu performance during Show-and-tell.

I remember Mrs. Head stepping in to divert attention from Eric's frustration. I bet she volunteered to read it with me, but she was a GIRL, of course, and would not do.

In addition, I've gotten my gardening undies in a metaphorical bunch and I am, after all, acquiring the hanging planter-baskets mentioned in the earlier posting. I'm also getting a set of clothesline poles off craigslist, and in addition I found an iron garden bench that I'm going to put in my front yard (in a soon-to-be-dug-out area by the sidewalk) to encourage neighborhood walkers to sit and enjoy the sunshine. Or, should I put it in the shade?

The baskets and bench are being acquired for me by my darling friend Becky, who is never averse to being sent all over the northwest metro area on wild-goose-chases, meeting random people who talk her into buying used board games. Thank you Becky!

AND I think we're going to get a Honeycrisp apple tree. Maybe 2. Through the Friends of Ramsey County Parks and Trails or something. Mmmm, free apples!! Well, after the $25 cost of the tree, that is.
P.S. If anybody knows ANYTHING about planting/keeping apple trees, I could really use your helps. Thanks.

Most importantly, today we got a piano! It's a spinet and looks HUGE in our living room and it needs tuning, but it's here, hoping to be played. I'm so excited!

just me

The kids are in Monticello with Joel. The house is silent.

I'm lonely.

And I sort of have a migraine so I might go for a run -- except it's only 40 degrees now and I hear it's getting up to 60. I hate to get all my good outside-time when the temp hasn't reached its potential.

Who's calling me?

P.S. Later addition: I wanted to mention that Lucy totally read a word the other day: WATER. Just like Helen Keller!! I nearly cried from excitement.

American Idol, Top 11, Week 2 -- Grand Ole Opry

Ugh, I have trouble even typing that: Grand Ole Opry?? Grrr. My hands just want to write "Old Opera" and I don't even like opera.

So I'm not a giant country-music fan. I mean, OK, I have a couple Garth Brooks albums and maybe one Faith Hill, but I swear I never listen to them. Country-music week is historically a super-rough one on AI. I walked in the door just barely in time to catch the first singer -- I'd been dropping off corned beef, sauerkraut, potatoes, and Irish soda bread for Jean at the ER. The very ER that's blocks from about eight Irish bars as well as the Xcel Center where a Wild game was just about to start. Traffic was a bear so I came home a little frazzled.

While I was gone I missed some good old-fashioned bathtime shenanigans with the kids. Joel reports:

Lucy: Whoever says "ketchup" first gets their hair washed first. Okay
Eddie, what do you say?

Ed: Ketchup!

Lucy: Oooop, Eddie wants his hair washed!

Lucy: Whoever says "bathtub" first gets a prize. BATHTUB! Ohh, I get a
prize.

My ECFE parent educator tells us that making up rules for games is part of being four years old. Evidently.

OK so first up: some schpiel about Randy Travis -- honestly, I had no idea he was so old, or that his head would be so oblong. Someone mentions Carrie Underwood, to which Lucy squeals, "Carrie UNDERWEAR!?" and off we go:

Michael -- Ain't Goin' Down 'Til the Sun Comes Up
Doing Garth Brooks is incredibly dangerous -- for one, he's a gigantic karaoke favorite, and for two, he's an incredible showman. Michael's rendition was not bad, but totally forgettable. I might have enjoyed it if he'd played harmonica and sung at the same time. Joel didn't know if he liked it.

Allison -- Blame It On Your Heart
The song was blah, but she is adorable and a really strong singer. Joel likes her tone, Lucy thought it was DOPE, and I really like how Simon says "tuneless" like "chuneless." Just like that series we're watching on Henry VIII: "The Chudors." Or today: "Chuesday." So cute.

Kris -- To Make You Feel My Love
I was surprised by the quality of his voice. During this song, Eddie hit me in the head with a metal pole off an old Pack-n-Play, then blamed me for it and called me a Bad Mom about 20 times. It was a rather unpleasant ending to a nice performance.

Lil Rounds -- Independence Day
Simon, usually I kind of like you, but you're being kind of a jerk. YES there is a recording artist named Li'l Kim, who uses Li'l as an abbreviation for "Little," But Lil is also short for Lily or Lilianna and the older I get the ruder I think it is to refuse to call someone the name they ask to be called. Even if their last name sort of sounds like an adjective/noun. On to the singing: Lil, that dress is SO WEIRD. I used to fold pink cloth napkins for a living and stuff them into coffee cups, and your dress reminds me of that, and not in that good "free desserts and get to watch horses and sometimes drink free booze" way but more like "fold these 1,000 napkins and then spoon 500 cups of gross-out Louie dressing into these cruets."
So like I said, On to the singing.
It wasn't very strong. At all. She is not the powerhouse of Fantasia Barrino, or even Allison. Lucy said she looked tired. And that is that.

Adam -- Ring of Fire
The way he sang "Ring of Fire" made me cringe, thinking about the guy from Jean's blog. That said, I sort of loved it. A LOT. Joel made a couple points about Adam changing "the rules" (which were, ostensibly, to sing something "country") and about the song being "werid, but memorable" -- but the truth is, Adam NAILED IT. I mean, seriously, he is taking some giant risks going for those notes and he hits Every. Single. One. He does look like Elvis and the performance was definitely indulgent (which is not a word I use, ever, but Simon hit it on the nose) but I'm sorry, I totally loved every second of it.

Scott MacIntyre -- Wild Angels
I get this song confused with both "Wild Horses" and "10,000 Angels." Dear camerapersons: I would like to see more actual piano-playing on camera. More hand-shots. Here's my other question: do people actually WANT to see the judges fighting? I HATE watching people fight. "Good television" be damned. Just all get along, ok?

Alexis Grace -- Jolene
The wee person! Joel says. Someone sang this song last year, I says, and I just don't care for the song. Also, she had some major pitch problems. Why don't the judges ever use the phrase "off-key?" Joel also thought she was oversinging -- I don't disagree. I also hate it when people say "the reason is because..." It's really redundant. You can say "the reason IS..." or "X happens because..." but "the reason is because" just chafes my hide.

Danny Gokey -- Jesus Take the Wheel
So maybe I am just in a bad mood today, but the rimless glasses and the popped-collar jacket just put me off. And Danny, you were singing way sharp on the verse. Oof! Where's my wine!?

Anoop -- You were always on my mind
Let me tell you, the first version of this song I ever heard was some weird late-'80s techno remix, which I always liked a lot. So I disagree that the Willie Nelson and/or Johnny Cash versions are "untouchable." I also want to say that I feel like all the songs are starting in unexpectedly high keys this week. But Anoop, this was really lovely. Joel was really looking for a high falsetto note at the end, but it was a very enjoyable performance.

Commercial break: Don't you think if jet-packs ever become de rigeur, that for sure everyone would wear helmets? Or maybe the commercial was about oatmeal. Whatever.

Joel also tells a story about Saint Patrick's Day downtown today, and how walking to his car he had flashbacks to St Patrick's Days in college, with everyone giddy to be drinking beer outside, tee-hee, staggering around from a winter of inactivity + too many wobbly-pops, wearing shorts with blinding white legs peeking out.

Megan! -- Walking After Midnight
Why do I like her so much!? Who cares?! I do. The amount of her talent reminds me of a Kelly Pickler -- who, last I checked, was doing rather well. Joel remains completely uncharmed by her, neglecting even to notice her gorgeous bosoms under that dress. Honestly, I had to point them out. He just rolled his eyes and claimed that now she was going to get "the flu vote."
I think she's fascinating. She's got the makings of a fantastic one-hit wonder, and I mean that as a compliment. Something about the way she sang tonight reminds me of Neko's "These Days" from a mix CD we got from Stu several years ago. That, unfortunately, was not a compliment.
I'm curious about her dropping the "Corkrey" from her name -- on St. Patrick's Day, no less! A crime!

Matt -- So Small
Joel and I do not know the original verison of this song, but we thought this was VERY good. I want to take this moment to appreciate Paula a bit. If nothing else, she is overflowing with love and joy. That's not a small thing in this world (which, actually, is what Matt's song was about) and I just want to say, Thank You Paula -- don't go changin'.

Joel wraps up with: "This is a good year. I don't mean to sound like I'm into this show or anything, though."

And I wrap up with my rankings:

Top 4:
Adam
Matt
Allison
Anoop

Middle of the Pack:
Megan
Danny
Kris
Alexis

Bottom 3:
Lil
Scott
Michael

It's probably time for Michael to go. Let's be honest: he's not going to win this thing. Neither are Scott, Kris, Megan, or Anoop -- I'm just putting it out there. Let me know what you think!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hey there, it's March 17 and that means any doofus can dress up in green and drink too much.
We haven't started drinking here... yet... but we did hit the St. Pat's Day parade downtown St. Paul.
The kids and I hopped the Metro bus and met Joel, the Dalys (including Grandpa Daly), and the Crandalls... and Jean actually had the infamous green coat!

At the bus stop. If you ever want to appear cool and savvy and street-smart, do NOT take a 3- and 4-year-old, decked out in green, on a city bus.

In the skyway -- Ed's favorite part.

On the street, waiting for the parade. It was chilly until the sun finally came out.

The Swarm -- a professional... err... lacrosse team? I dunno. But I do have a token for BOGO tickets, if anybody is interested.

Josie ... and Owen ... eating candy, I presume.

Eddie with Auntie Beans and Grampa Daly in his authentic Irish cap. Slainthe! Or something.

Hey, did someone the other day say that Eddie's breath is "milky"? I mean, it totally is -- it's still baby-breath and it's the best thing ever. Lucy still has some sweetness, although a different sort, in her breath too.

I spend a LOT of time smelling Ed's breath while he sits on the toilet these days, so I guss it's just on my mind.

Seattle! I'm going to Seattle!

I shouldn't even write this, since we haven't exactly booked the tickets yet. Joel is going to Seattle for a benefits thinghy in May/June and... I'm going too!

He grumbles that I won't get to spend much time with him because he will be "very busy." Pfft! I'm more than happy to explore alone. It's sort of always been my dream to travel alone. I can't wait!!

Soooo... what should I do!?!?

Also here's a pic taken by my friend Annetta, whose darling children were in my recent dance class:

And Eddie sans the toofers:

And just one more pic for good measure:

WHERE IS MY GREEN COAT!?!?

Remember that garish kelly-green coat I bought back in 1996? I CAN'T FIND IT. Do you have it? I would like it back by Tuesday, if at all possible. Thank you.

Also, yesterday I posted on Craig's List looking for some hanging baskets in which to plant some flowers and hang around the gazebo. I got a reply, from someone I'll call Revayco. I suspect this guy might be a long-lost relative.


Original craigslist posting:

Hey there, I'm looking for your used hanging basket-style containers for plants or flowers. Optimally, they'd have a hook or loop at the top and I can hang them off some existing hooks in my yard. Any size is OK -- I'm thinking in the 8"-14" range. Any material (plastic/metal) OK too. Im looking for up to six (6) hanging pots. The picture shows what I would call very high-end -- a cheapo throwaway plasticky kind is totally fine. Free would be best -- cheap is OK too. Let me know what you've got! Thanks!

Revayco replied:

Hi - I have 6 of the metal type of hanging basket that I won't be using this spring.
I paid $5 apiece for these in 2004.
They are in real good condition. I've discarded the moss, so we are talking frame only.
I don't have pictures.
We be asking a firm $15 cash.

I live in Champlin. Haven't been in East Saint Paul since the Vikings were in the Super Bowl.

So I wrote back:

I wasn't aware the Vikings were ever in the Super Bowl.. Thanks for the reply --
Champlin's too far for me, though. Sorry...

At which point I would have expected the conversation to end. However...

Revayco writes back:

Thanks for letting me know. I'm also delighted the inhabitants of the
east side write and speak English.
Four Super Bowls in fact.
I earned the right to talk smart about the east side. I married one, and made a good woman out of her.
Keep smiling.

So now I've been engaged, and I can't resist. I reply:

Hellooo, didn't you get the memo? The east side is the new happenin' spot. The new Uptown. Uptown II. Uptopia. We're still working on a title. All the hep English-speaking cats are groovin' over here..
Get out and do some yard work, or something.

And here's the response from Revayco:

Hep Cats ??? My good common sense says, Meg wants the last word. Ain't happening. I'm Irish.
The east side is like a foreign country. Lower Liberia. Southern Somali. Eastern Ethiopia.
The fringe benefit you get is to see the sun first, not conducive to a good crop of anything except weeds.
Best check your TV guide.
Wouldn't want you to miss Lawrence Welk and those sweet "Hep" Lennon Sisters you grew up with.
Oh, I don't do yard work till after Easter. Makes it easier to hide the eggs. Yard mice don't like eggs.
The price of the hanging baskets is now $250 cash only. I need it to get my head examined.
I'll now retire to the bat cave. We're burning pictures of Oprah to use for tomato
fertilizer.

So the upshot is, I still don't have any hanging baskets. If you have any to get rid of, let me know. And now I have the memory of this very strange e-conversation.

In unrelated news, a friend of mine offered to teach preschool drawing class and asked whether Lucy would be interested. Lucy likes to produce art, but I'm not sure she'd benefit from a class at this stage. Anyway, I was mulling this over in my head yesterday morning when I turned the corner and ran into ... Frida Kahlo.

So I'm guessing the art class might be a good idea after all, eh?

American Idol Week 1 -- Top 13

YESSSSS. American Idol is back, baby!

Sorry, I don't have much to live for these days... or that might be the way it seems. Regardless, I am fully on the American Idol bandwagon after three yearsish of waning interest.

Here's my own personal recap of tonight's show, the Top 13. I have ranked the contestants as I see 'em, but I think I'll do my commentary in chronological order since there are soooo many of them at the moment.

It's Michael Jackson week, which I think is pretty cool since he has a gigantic catalog of decent songs. Paula borrowed her outfit from Bjork, and here we go.

1st up: Lil Rounds! What a name. She sang "The way you make me feel" and I thought it was great. Eddie said "Look at her! She's beautiful!" and Joel thought it was a little slow and dull at times.

2. Scott the Blind Guy singing "Keep the Faith"
I like this guy, he's a pretty good musician, but I can't help but think he's getting lots of votes for being the blind guy. As Scott was sitting behind his VERY shiny piano, Eddie said "He's in the WATER!" and then, as the camera rotated, "He's on the STAGE!!" That Ed, you can't get anything by him.

3. Danny singing "PYT"
This was the first song of the night that got me really excited. I like Danny a lot, and not just because he has the same glasses as I do (except mine have a giant "G" on the sides, and that's only interesting because Danny's last name also starts with a G, although I guess it's a good thing because if we ever got our glasses mixed up it would be very easy to tell them apart... and I am indeed happily married but, Danny, it would be OK by me if our glasses somehow got mixed up). I also like Danny not just because he dances like Stu, which he totally does. I thought the performance was fun and entertaining and I loved it. And now, a conversation between Joel and Lucy:

Joel: I thought he rocked it.
Lucy: What does "rocked it" mean?
Joel: I thought he nailed it.
Lucy: What does "nailed it" mean?

This from a girl who just yesterday was looking for Jerusalem on our globe, and called out, J... J... I'm looking for a J... and when I said, a J? How did you know that? she grinned at me and told me she sounded it out.

4. Michael singing "You are not alone"
Michael, I'm not your biggest fan. Sorry dude. And it was confusing because I could never tell when they meant you, or when they meant Michael Jackson. And guess what, today at AYP rehearsal a 9-year-old girl called Michael Jackson "Michael Jordan." And then had no clue what a Greyhound Bus was. I feel ooooooold.

5. Jasmine singing "I'll be there"
All right, I admit I didn't actually see any of this song (nor the second half of Michael's) due to kiddos bedtime. But I promise she was boring.

6. Kris singing "Do you remember the time"
This was gooood. He is cuuuuute. Joel liked it too but without all the extra vowels. Joel also caught the Jason Mraz vibe and that's fine but Kris is still in my bottom four-ish.

7. Allison singing "Given to me"
I ADORE this girl and I think she's amazing. Joel thinks she's going home, though, because "who's into rock anymore?" I suspect he's wrong, but I can see how her sound probably sounded a lot more fresh eight years ago when Kelly Clarkson started doing it.

8. Anoop -- Beat It
This was bad, bad, bad karaoke. And it was followed by a weird Hershey Kisses commercial where a kid hands a wrapped Kiss to his mom and she pops it right into her mouth. It made my fillings hurt.

9. Jorge Nunez-- Never say goodbye
I liked it a lot, actually, and then the judges went and ripped him to shreds. I really like Jorge. And Paula looks soaking wet. What is her DEAL!?

10. Megan Corkrey -- Rockin' robin
She looked super-embarrassed to be singing such a ridiculous excuse for a song. Her red dress was bizarre and exactly the opposite of the kind of clothes I want her to be wearing. The dress was weird, the song was weird, and yet there is something about the tone of her voice that I LOVE.

11. Adam Lambert -- Black & White
Let's get this straight: Adam Lambert is Constantine Maroulis: 2009 edition. And I mean that in the most loving way: drama geek with a fantastic voice and stage presence who has chosen a niche (possibly out of a hat) and is rocking it. Except Adam seems gayer -- I find myself strangely unattracted to him and there is something ungenuine (is that a word?) about him. Possibly his base makeup. Also I cannot STAND the name "Lambert" -- wasn't that the name of a pathetic sheep character in some cartoon of my youth?? That said, Adam's performance was brilliant. And I was really impressed by his comment about it taking a lot of hard work to get his performance the way he wanted it. I think that's something a lot of young performers misunderstand -- Adam doesn't just lay around all day until it's time to hop on stage and do his Aerosmith/Rolling Stones thingamajig. He WORKS HARD to get the sound and the effect he wants. Certainly he has natural talent, but he also puts in a lot of hard work to make it seem effortless and natural. Bravo!

12. Matt -- "Human nature"
Pretty darn good, but some of the end notes were weird for me.

13. Alexis -- "Dirty Diana"
Joel thinks she's adorable and he is totally right. I thought her performance was decent -- did anyone else notice that she's six inches shorter than Ryan Seacrest, even while wearing 4-inch heels? She's a peanut!

OK my top three:
Allison
Danny
Adam
Lil Rounds

Middle of the pack, hope they're safe:
Alexis
Megan
Jorge
Matt
Scott

My bottom three:
Kris
Michael
Anoop
Jasmine

Facebook profile photos

Kate, I really hope you don't mind me doing this. I just think it's ... well ... such a funny accident!

My cousin Kate:





Me:




I invite anybody else (particularly any other cousins, but the invitation extends to others with a similar look: Sarah McLachlan, for example, or the Progressive Auto Insurance girl) to post their competing pics. I dunno, maybe we can come up with a prize or something.

Chocolate cake for the toothless wonder

It is for sure, like, 50 degrees out this afternoon. Bring it on, spring!!

I found a couple Lucy quotes laying around on scraps of paper, and I doubt I've posted them yet so here goes:

"Mom. I'm gonna pick out the shirt, you're gonna pick out the pants. Is that clear enough for you?"

and

Lucy (immediately following some sort of meal or snack): "I'M HUNGRY!"

Me (knowing that she means "I'M BORED!"): "What did you say!?!"

Lucy: "I didn't say 'I'm hungry.' I said . . ." (she pauses to think) . . . "'I love you.'"

My little Eddie-man turns 3 tomorrow. Got to go wrap presents...

Anyway, yes.

Eddie continues to rebound as though he'd never even been under the knife... err, the pair of pliers, as it were. He was running around the house like his old self yesterday afternoon and it was all Joel and my dad and I could do to keep that kid on light-duty.

I can see Ed sticking his tongue in the new hole in his mouth, and the rice he was eating last night kept spilling out as fast as he could shovel it in. Also, sometimes he whistles when he talks, now... but other than that, all is back to normal for him.

Joel and my dad and I all took everything much harder, I must say -- when the dentist came in to confirm what we were doing for surgery yesterday, he was hinting that maybe the teeth wouldn't need to come out at all. Then he noticed something on the chart that he hadn't noticed before... NOT what a mama wants to hear in the waning moments before they knock out your son to rip out his teeth. No, what I want to hear is that the doc has been thinking about nothing else besides my son for the last three months. Ridiculous, I know, but could he at least pretend to be sure what he was doing?

It all did shake out OK, though -- like I mentioned, the teeth did really need to come out, and it all went seamlessly until Joel backed into a pylon in the hospital parking ramp and tore the plastic off our driver-side taillights. Grrrr.

We came home and proceeded to watch ... oh ... maybe four kid-movies in a row? Madagascar, Ice Age 2, Nemo, and some Veggie Tales. The grownups all catnapped, but NOT EDDIE. Stinker. He must've eaten seven popsicles and an entire tub of strawberry yogurt.

Joel (knowing he'd be home all day) called a garage-door-fixit company to take a look at our garage door. The door itself is only a few years old, but the opener has been flaking out on us for the last five years or so -- the first couple years, it wouldn't operate when the temp was below zero or over 100. Last year the range was 20-80 degrees and this winter, really, once it got below freezing there was no chance of it working.

It's a detached garage and we keep almost nothing of value in it, but still, we do live in a city neighborhood and it had been damn frustrating to have to manually tug the door open and shut (and even then it would buck and rebound and cause endless frustration). So yesterday, $360 later, it is completely fixed. We also found out that the mechanism was from 1983. So it'd been living on borrowed time for at least the last decade. It brings me great joy to watch my garage open and shut merrily along and I feel like a giant thorn has been removed from my rear end.

I'd better go call Grampa and Ed in from their rollick in the snow. It's lunchtime!!

The teeth have left the building.

Eddie and Joel and I all just got back from the hospital. Ed is doing GREAT. He's eating popsicles like they're going out of style, and holding court on the living room couch, while being doted on by his loyal admirers -- mostly Gramps and Lucy.

The teeth are out -- and it's a good thing, because the roots were very badly damaged, according to the doc. He and all the Children's Hospital staff were just wonderful, gentle, kind, and patient. It was a wonderful experience.

Thank you, everybody, for the thoughts and prayers and well-wishing. Gotta go unwrap some more popsicles!!

Say "sayonara" to those two front toofers...

Just wanted to post a beautiful new pic of the kids. We are all going to bed here -- Ed's surgery (to get his two mangled front teeth removed, in case you've been living under a rock) is at 7:30 AM Wednesday. I will post updates later in the day.

Drowning my sorrows in Cinnamon Life Cereal

I think I'm getting arthritis, at least in my right hand. The back of it hurts, kind of a lot, with a frequency that's starting to get irritating. UGH.

Kind of a cold, worthless weekend around here. It was sunny but pretty much too cold to take the kiddos out sledding or anything. Life is tough when your legs are shorter than the recent snow accumulation.

I spent much of Saturday at Pat Watson's photo studio open house. It was a fun time; I got to see several people I don't get to see very often; and most importantly I was out of the house. Phew. I also got to tuck into a massive grocery trip All By Myself. It felt good, and it feels even better to have something other than lonely, rotting carrots and Worcestershire sauce in the fridge.

Joel and the kids and I went to Augustana Lutheran down in West St Paul this morning, to check out their contemporary service. We liked it a lot, even though I'm not sure we can go back following Joel's behavior at communion. You can ask him about it -- I do not care to relive his wrestling match with the poor teenage kid holding the wine chalice.

We're on the countdown for Ed's tooth extraction (do I say "teeth extraction" since it's two teeth?) Wednesday morning, March 4. I will, if everything goes smoothly, post an update that afternoon. In the meanwhile say prayers/send power/think happy thoughts for Ed and for Dr. Mielke and for the anesthesia staff, and for me to hold myself together. I almost cried several times at our pre-surgery tour last Thursday night. Last Saturday, Pat and his other photog-friend were kind enough to snap a few quick shots of the kids, so I could get some pre-extraction 3-year shots of Eddie. He turns 3 this coming Saturday, March 7 -- hope his face is healed enough to down some chocolate cake by then.

Thursday notes

So it turns out my personal newspaper-fairy is actually my darling husband, who's been leaving every morning well before 7:00 to prep for his triathlon in July. Rats! Now I want my gift certificate back. Just kidding.

My pint of half-and-half went bad earlier this week, and when I look back and realize that I kept drinking the rest of the cup of coffee, even after I noticed it tasted weird, my tummy starts to hurt a little. Since my food budget is $2.82 until tonight at midnight, I thought I was going to have to go coffee-free for a few days until I discovered not one, but TWO aerosol cans of whipped cream in my fridge. Whose are they? Where did they come from? Who cares? They're mine now, and if there's anything yummier than aerosol whipped cream in my coffee, well, I just don't know what it is.

In the flurry of posting this week, I wonder if my note about the children I know (who have been taken from their home by their non-custodial mother), has flown under the radar. It's a terrible experience this family is going through -- the kids have been missing since Feb. 6. My post is several posts down. I know not everyone can give money, but sending some prayers and "power" their way would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Old-fashioned bribery

A little $20 Target gift certificate worked its magic for the Gronau family this week. I sent it to our newspaper carrier a little late (like, maybe early February) as a Christmas gift. Yesterday our paper (the Pioneer Press, my favorite paper in the whole world) was tucked inside our screen door. This morning, inside the screen door, I found the PiPress AND my East Side Review (a local rag that I'd seen sitting in my lawn yesterday).

Talk about service!

So far, I guess I *am* technically having fun...

OK so I thought I would dye my hair blonde today.

But considering it started out nearly black (which is apparently my natural color these days. I swear it's been getting darker and darker recently -- as though to really emphasize the gray. Sweet.)

Anyway, I left it on for 80 of the maximum 90 minutes but now I'm approximately the color of a school bus. Objectively, it's an Orange that would be super-lovely on a geranium or perhaps a lioness. The good news is I've never seen anybody with this hair color. The bad news: I've never seen anybody with this hair color.

Argh, these are terrible pictures. Too much face, not enough hair. Let me try again...

Wow, it looks a lot lighter from the side.

I bought another box because I figure with the dark starting color and the coarseness of my hair, I probably need to reapply. But I have to wait at least 24 hours, so we'll see what I end up with.

It also turns out that now the only color I can wear is black. *sigh*

OK also I took the kids sledding at Battle Creek this afternoon, in lieu of the facade we now call naptime. That place is AWESOME!! We had it to ourselves, and we had 3 sleds which was good because Lu and Ed both insisted on going alone. It's a good thing it's only a mile and a half away, though, because we only lasted about 20 minutes. It's exhausting.

So, these kids I know from ECFE have been kidnapped...

I can't believe I'm posting about my stupid Oscars stuff when this is going on. I know this family very well -- Rainbow and her kids have been an integral part of my ECFE experience for the last 18 months.

Much of what follows has been copied and pasted (simply meaning I didn't write it), but please read on.

A friend of mine from ECFE, Rainbow Espinoza, is in the middle of a terrible crisis -- the details are below. The Dayton's Bluff ECFE network is trying to get the word out in support of her family. As parents, all of us fear something like this happening to our own families. I am sure it is very difficult for her to ask for help in this way. If a monetary donation would be possible, a pay-pal account has been set up: http://sites.google.com/site/mayaandrojocomehome/ It doesn't need to be much - $5 and $10 adds up within a large group.

If giving money is not an option, please consider sending this to others who may help. Rainbow has said it is ok to share the information as it may aid their search. Prayers and positive thoughts go a long way!

It takes a village...

RAINBOW WRITES:
Hi everyone,
Unfortunately I have some bad news about my step-kids, Maya and Rojo. Those of you who know the story, you can skip to the bottom of this message where I'm making my ask. Background:
My husband, Rafael, has had full legal and physical custody of the kids (Meg interjects: Maya is about 7 and Rojo is about 5) for the past 2 years and they have lived with us for the past 3 1/2 years. The mother, Cindy Adler, appealed the decision twice and was denied both times. Over the past year things with Cindy have deteriorated quite significantly, and it has become quite obvious that the purpose of all Cindy's visitation with the kids has been to interrogate and drill them about what we do in our family. Last fall we filed for supervised visitation during her parenting time. Rafael and I also pulled the kids out of school and my mom and I have been job-sharing the duty of home-schooling this year.

After many trips and countless calls to several different police departments in the area, apparently the mom decided she wasn't going to get anyone around here to believe her story of the children being abused and neglected by Rafael and I. So she began the process of planning to run away with the children.

On February 6th, she picked the kids up after school and hasn't been seen or heard from since. This would have been her last time to see the kids before the court day where the judge would hear our argument to limit her visitation rights. It becomes clearer every day that this was very pre-meditated and calculated, not simply a last-minute plan to run off. There's a friend of hers who, willingly, came to the cops last Thursday (after seeing there was a felony warrant out for her arrest on the news) saying that she drove them to Missouri and dropped them off in a rural, mountainous region north of the Ozarks.

There is a large team of local cops and US Marshals working on the case, going house to house, searching places and questioning people. They are not finding people to be helpful or coopertive, even though they have information. It seems a lot of the people mainly involved are connected through a church group of evangelicals that have done this sort of thing before and are good at it.

Today (this was last Thursday, Feb. 19)
Two important things happened today. The first was the court hearing happened and the judge made a very favorable ruling for us.The other thing that happened is we had a meeting with the cops in charge of this investigation. They gave us a run-down of what they can tell us about what has happened so far and advised us of some next steps. They feel confident about the ability of the Marshals to find them, since this is their job and their only job: to find people. They have the technology and resources to find murderers and lots of other people who need to hide out. They are taking this very seriously and still have leads they are following.

However, the people there in the region have been less than willing to cooperate as of yet. Here comes my ask...

What I'm asking you to do... if it's possible:
First of all, the cops are telling us that since money is the universal language, a reward might be helpful in encouraging people to talk. We, clearly, have pretty much exhausted our funds in legal fees at this time and still may need to hire a Private Investigator down the road. The cops don't think it needs to be much, because money goes a long ways down there and the money is only rewarded in the event that the information leads to finding the children.

We don't want to make a hardship for anyone, but if you can, we would REALLY appreciate any amount of money to help put up a reward. We will keep track of who gives what and in the event that it doesn't get used, we will quickly return it to you.

The second thing we are asking is if you would forward this email to people you think would be able/willing to donate a few dollars for this cause.

The third thing we are asking is that if you, or anyone you know, has contacts in south-central Missouri we would ask you to contact them and send them the flyer with an ask to post it around their community. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is flyering their network (apparently pretty actively) but it always helps to have more than one way to get information into a closed community. Especially important (because of the religous connection) are people who are involved in a church organization in that area. You'll see on the flyer information that she might be disguised in a Burka and using Muslim names for the children, however, the cops believe that this tactic was only used to transport them from here to there and is not currently accurate. Clearly, she would stick out like a sore thumb in this area wearing a Burka.The link to the flyer is here: http://www.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PubCaseSearchServlet?act=viewPoster&caseNum=1116002&orgPrefix=NCMC&searchLang=en_US

Our home address is:
Rainbow and Rafael Espinosa
661 North St.
Saint Paul, MN 55106
(651) 774-0661

Please let me know if there's more information you need about this that might help and we really appreciate anything you can do. Also, if sending any money causes any hardship at all (these are not easy economic times for anyone) please do not do it. This is a horrible ask to make, and I really hope nobody is put-off by it. We will, of course, keep you updated, should anything significant change. Thank you for your support and we hope to bring an end to this very soon.
Rainbow, Rafael and family

When I call on Jesus, I wear a monocle

So yesterday I was listening to "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" on NPR, and they were making fun of Michelle Bachmann (R), US Rep from Minnesota, and her crazy comment about America "running out of rich people." They mentioned a sudden overabundance of monocles and jodhpurs (I'm sorry, I'm totally not going to take the time to Google that spelling). So apparently I had monocles on the brain, because this morning I was listening to the local Christian music station and the song "When I call on Jesus, all things are possible" came on. But I kept hearing her sing "When I call on Jesus, I wear a monocle!" and it made me giggle. A lot, because it becomes a very repetetive song. Then I imagined Jesus IN a monocle. And jodhpurs. Also funny.

OK I caved, and looked up "jodhpurs" and for the record I totally guessed right. But it turns out I misspelled "repetitive." Oops.

Watched the Oscars last night and enjoyed it thoroughly. Before the show, we ate a complete 81st Annual Academy Awards dinner, complete with:

Indian honey-curry baked chicken (a'la Slumdog Millionaire) (Side note: this was delicious and the recipe was super-easy, if anybody wants it) ...


German (a'la The Reader) Hot greens-and-bacon salad...


"Pitt"-ed peaches dolled up to look like ... um... buttons?
OK it was a bit of a stretch, but I knew nobody but me would eat any "button" mushrooms, and there is a total lack of foods named "Benjamin."


"Frost/Nixon" brownies.. the only people who might get this joke were actually at dinner last night, but since that was really only 3 people I'll try to explain. Several years ago the show "Whose Line is it, Anyway?" did a bit on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?". I'm SURE you can YouTube it. Anyhoo, the multiple-choice answers were something like:
A. B
B. C
C. A
D. Richard Nixon
E. A jar of almonds

Anyway, these brownies had Frost-ing and also some almonds. I promise you, it was equal parts funny and delicious.

And to drink, of course, we had....

Milk!

Real lazy Saturday

It's a rare weekend with only a few optional activities planned. But here it is! We got a few inches of snow last night and even I have to admit the fresh snow is quite lovely. Joel finally got the kids out in it about 20 minutes ago -- our excuse this time was that their good mittens were in the wash, having been thoroughly muddied several days earlier.

I'm waiting for my meat loaf to finish cooking. I sorta forgot to make sides -- I bet I have time to steam up some peas, or something. I've been wayyy unmotivated to cook the last couple evenings, but it's been turning out OK.

Joel and I are going to a Grown-up Party tonight and I have neither any idea of what to wear, nor an appropriate host-gift. I don't think a bottle of three-buck Chuck is going to cut it. For the hostess gift, I mean -- though I doubt it would cut it as an outfit either.

Don't forget to watch the Oscars tomorrow night!

Flat of a board

Hello, happy Wednesday. Lucy and Lily are playing, nicely but not especially quietly, in the living room, and Ed is in (though not down and certainly not out) for a nap in his room. I'm left to tackle a monster to-do list, including "bake bread" and "write a play." It might be a busy day!

A couple cute, quick kid stories to share. We were at the pool last Friday and Lucy took one glance at a large and active water-aerobics class and asked "Mama, what are those grandmas doing?"

Lucy, also, has had an explosion of writing. A couple weeks ago I was very surprised to see that she'd written the first 5 letters of the alphabet on her chalkboard. She continued to write through J, when I took a picture, and kept on until T when she lost interest. Occasionally she needed teensy reminders of what letter came next, and I think she skipped N, but overall she was totally doing it. A few days later, we got a note from ECFE saying that, for Valentine's Day, Lucy should make a Valentine for the other 11 kids in her class. They gave the option of letting your child cut-and-paste the other kids' names from a sheet of paper, OR have your kid write (or play-write) the other kids' names, or simply draw each other child a picture of some sort. You could get store-bought cards, or make them, or whatever you want. ANYWAY, for Lucy, this simple assignment was nothing short of a communication revolution. She spent just about every waking moment for the next week making cards, envelopes, and letters for everybody she knows. We made Valentine cards for all the kids in her class, the teachers, and our immediate relatives. (Auntie Jamie got one that said "Paper Glue School" because Lucy was fascinated with the words on the glue bottle at the moment.) We made dozens of cards for Daddy. We made piles of other cards for everybody else Lucy could think of (and if you didn't get one, it's because it got lost in the resulting paper avalanche). Her ECFE teachers remarked that she had to be dragged out of the writing-table for snack time. The girl was obsessed.

It's been amazing watching her start to realize the new things you can do when you can read. For example, once you can tell an "L" from an "R", you can totally be the Spinner for Twister (even if your legs aren't quite long enough to have Right Foot on Red while still keeping Left Foot on Green). And she can tell which mail is for her, versus those for Eddie, Megan, or Joel. But Lucy is still the first one to remind us "I'm only FOUR!" if we ask her something too challenging.

Then there's Ed. Sweet and charming as can be. "Flat this out!" means he wants you to lay his blanket flat on the floor so he can sit in the middle of it and be wrapped up like a Baby Dumbo bundle from the stork. "Flat of a board!" means he wants to lay flat ("AS a board") on the ground for you to pick him up. And last week I presented him with a bowl of minestrone soup, of which he took one bite and made a horrid face. "What a face, Ed!" I said, to which he responded, "I said "oh, brother!" with my eyes."

We've come to a peaceful agreement about what to do about school for Lucy next year -- basically we've applied to the St Paul 4-year-old program and if we don't get in, we have two great backup options that we're happy about. A big chunk of me wonders whether I shouldn't keep my baby girl at home with me for one more year... then there's the chunk that struggles to challenge her burgeoning brain around the house. Then there's a third part that wonders if I oughtn't pay for a nice 3-year-old program for Ed, and enjoy some serious time to myself? To write, or teach dance, or something. It's pretty tempting but not something we've given serious thought to.
OK I really have to go do some work around here. Cheers...

Carry me up, Mama

Well, I woke up today in a bit of a funk -- after weeks of feeling pretty good about life. Some days I feel like I'm really failing as a wife and mother. I really wish I had more patience with the little-kidness of my little kids: their slow feet, their selective listening and obeying, their picky eating, their trails of giant messes everywhere.

We visited another preschool last night: Crossroads Elementary in the Dale-Como area of St Paul. It's a public school where you can choose either a Montessori track or a Science track, and it's a year-round school. I'm really interested in the year-round option -- I think the traditional long summer break is detrimental to kids' learning, and I've always been the kind of person who much prefers frequent, shorter breaks over one giant break. I also think year-round schooling better prepares kids for life -- I remember a giant shock when I graduated college and entered the workforce and suddenly summer no longer existed.

Anyway, visiting the school gave me another kick in the gut that Lucy will be in school in September and I can't stop it! Depending where we choose, she'll be in a half-day program 5 days a week OR a full-day program 2 days a week. I'm sure she's ready (she's bored at home)... but she's my baby, my first baby, and it's scary sending her off into the great unwashed masses.

Ed woke up the other morning constructing more complex sentences (that sounds so dumb the way I wrote it, but Joel and I were listening to Ed go on about something the other day and Joel turned to me and said "Wow, he's taken another leap in language, hasn't he?" and it really was overnight). Every day we experience evidence of his incredibly sweet nature, whether it's sitting with him on the toilet (where he inevitably coos, "Mama, I love you SOOOOO much") or watching him interact with Lucy and his other peers (when he gets frustrated with a playmate, we watch as he'll raise a hand as if to strike the other child, then think better of it and (often) drop the hand and find another way to express himself, often vocally).

Lucy continues to work at her letters, like, ALL THE TIME. I gave her a spare 2009 calendar and she asks "What month is it? What day is it? When is September?" all the time. The other day she opened to January and wrote a different letter on every day. Well, sorta -- C and R were duplicated with some frequency.

Ed has this dinosaur coloring book, and he's obsessed with the mammoth. "It's the last mammal, Mommy!" "That's mam-MOTH, Ed." "See? Mama? The LAST MAMMAL!!"

Also he picked up a plastic camel yesterday and said "Look, Mama, it has two mumps."

Uh-oh, two 4-year-old girls are ganging up on Eddo...

Just a quick Monday-afternoon (hah! That's when I started writing this. But it's Wednesday now and the following still applies:) check-in before I have to go tackle some laundry and dishes and prep for my dance class...

The Kalahari waterpark was SUPER FUN, as long as you remembered to bring all your own food and snacks, as prices at the resort are insaaaaane. We arrived around 2pm Saturday, checked in and swam until 5pm when the kids totally melted from all the excitement. (We did not actually remember to bring our own snacks, but Joel's parents brought some stuff and now we know the story for next time.)

Part of said excitement came as we started to explore the waterslides. There are, bafflingly, very few height/weight restrictions for waterslides, so when I saw that one was OK for people above 42" tall, I thought, heck, Lucy can go on that! So she and I walked up to the top, and I told her how to lay (legs crossed, hands behind head) and I told her I would meet her at the bottom. I went first, knowing she'd need help getting herself out of the pool at the end.

I then spent MY whole ride (maybe 20 seconds?) and HER whole ride (another 20?) completely convinced that I had killed her. The slide was SCARY. It's pitch-black, it's FAST, it's SPLASHY, and it's super twisty-turny. It way surpassed my appetite for thrilling, and when I got to the bottom I realized the guy at the top would send Lucy right away, and there was nothing I could do to stop her from having the same terrifying experience. When I saw her little body coming out the chute, laying back (as I told her to do) but looking limp and lifeless, I thought for sure she had perished from shock. I pulled her from the water and she opened those big blues and to my total amazement, she didn't cough or spit water or even cry. She mentioned it was scary and didn't want to go again. Her heart wasn't even really pounding. She was happy to go back in the water but we didn't do any more slides that day. The next day, however, to my total shock and amazement, she went back on a whole bunch of (other, brighter, slower, MUCH less-scary) waterslides all by herself, or with Joel or Donna or me on a tube. What a trouper. On the other hand, it took three or four whole days for me to completely recover. It was an awful feeling.

In other learning-to-let-go news, yesterday we visited a preschool for Lucy for next year. It's the Community of Peace Academy charter school, so it's free, and it would be 3 or 5 full days a week next year. We liked it, and Lucy and Ed LOVED it, but we have several other visits yet to make. It's so weird to think that in 8 short months, we'll be kissing her goodbye several days a week. And Ed will follow the next year. Sob!

OK so just a couple around-the-house sort of things. We've been composting since the summer. We take all our fruit and vegetable peels/seeds/leftovers, bread crusts/crumbs, small bits of paper, egg shells, coffee grounds and filters, and basically anything that's not plastic, meat, or dairy, and we toss it in a big pile in the yard. I *think* the plan is to use some of the year-old compost in the garden, as mulch or fertilizer or whatever. Composting is important because it keeps food items out of landfills. Organic material, when crammed into a landfill and left unexposed to air, contributes to toxic gas output. It also decreases the amount of garbage our household produces. Now that we're composting, I swear ALL we throw out are plastic bags. Literally -- our trash is FULL of the plastic bags that come with lunch meats, cheeses, bread, produce, etc. Plus the yogurt/cottage cheese tubs that we, inexplicably, can't recycle here. It is so gross.

I'm also particularly proud of some of the food choices we're making around here, so I'm sharing just in case anybody else cares to talk about healthy eating for families. I just made a $69 shopping trip where, as I looked over my receipt, I found I'd bought almost exclusively whole foods -- fresh and frozen fruits and veggies, no-sugar peanut butter, plus cheeses, eggs, milk and butter. Stuff that "remembers where it came from" and still shares characteristics of its original food or animal source. I did get some jarred preserves, but even those were reduced-sugar kind.

The menu that spurred that trip looks like this:

Breakfasts:
1. Lucy likes "egg in a hole" where I cut out the center of a piece of whole-wheat bread, then fry the bread in a skillet and break an egg into the center. She'll sometimes eat 2 of these if she's hungry.
2. Ed eats oatmeal -- I buy the quick-cook kind, and toss it in a bowl with raisins, cut-up dates (NOT the pre-cut sugared kind, but the date-shaped, unsweetened whole dates. They're not super-easy to find, but worth it!) and very-finely-chopped walnuts (I make it almost like walnut-dust, and he doesn't even notice it, but it adds good fat to the bowl). It took a while, but I weaned him off any sort of added sugar.

Lunch:
Listen, my kids LOVE PBJ. I don't fight it; I buy no-sugar peanut butter and low-sugar preserves, and whole-wheat bread. I serve it with milk and some kind of fruit on the side.

Dinners:
This week I made my mom's spaghetti sauce with tons of extra veggies, because I only had half a pound of italian sausage. I used carrots, green peppers, mushrooms, onion, spinach, and some frozen tomatoes from my garden last summer. I served it with whole-wheat spaghetti noodles and some super-treaty french bread (white! argh!) with real garlic and butter and some mozzarella cheese on top. I also made a spinach-zucchini-mushroom-green pepper salad for the side.

Tomorrow I think we're doing some pork stir-fry with more veggies and some fried rice on the side. Friday night is my mom's Nothing-For-Dinner recipe, which is just brown rice under a heated can of black-bean soup under some veggies (green peppers and mushrooms, probably) under some melted cheese.

2 funny kid phrases I need to write down: Lucy comes at me with an inside-out shirt and says "Mom, can you unside this out for me?" And she also pronounces upside-down "up-spy-down". And Ed says "airplane" like "urplane". And about a million others.

Eddie says "I want foot-jamas! Mama where's my SWORD?"

Joel's parents rented a room at the Kalahari resort in the Wisc Dells for tonight (they are going to a wedding for a friend of Julie and Jamie), so we are slowly getting woken up and packed for a day at the water park... and whatever else this place has to offer. Joel said something about go-karts and an indoor driving range. We'll see! It's exciting to get a bit of a getaway in this season.

March 4 (the Wednesday before he turns 3) has been set for Ed's teeth-extraction surgery. Any prayers or power available, please send 'em our way (and the doc's and anesthetist's way as well). I'm not really sure what I can do to prep Ed for the experience -- apparently Children's Hospital has pre-op videos for kids to watch online, but the links are broken at the moment.

This was our Dec. 29 attempt at building a gingerbread house. The homemade sugar-glue worked like a charm -- but much of the house was broken at the start, so we ended up making gingerbread boards. They still tasted great.




The next 3 pix are from last Monday. Temps in the 20s felt like a tropical paradise! I shoveled with no coat and no gloves on and I actually considered eating lunch outside, for about four seconds. There was much happiness in Gronauland.


We wished our friend Josie a very happy 4th birthday! Lu and Jo put on quite a show for us, modeling some of Jo's new dancewear.

...And I've never been to Boston in the fall

MPR cancelled my favorite program, the 89.3 Morning Show with Dale Connelly and Jim-Ed Poole, but you can get it streaming online, which has actually been better for me, since I used to miss all but the final hour of the show since I'm not typically awake enough to turn on the radio before 8am. So NOW I can start listening whenever I want, and I'm guaranteed up to 3-4 hours of folk music every day! It's seriously my favorite thing.

The kids are suffering a bit of post-Christmas letdown. If Christmas is over, they question, why do we still have the Christmas cards hanging up? Why do we still see Santa statues in peoples' lawns? How come we never made a wreath out of branches from the tree in our yard, like you once accidentally thought out loud, Mom? When is it Christmas again? If Christmas is over why is there still snow outside? Why is it still so dark at dinnertime? Why didn't Santa bring us a cat? Why is our Christmas tree out in the yard in a snowbank? WHEN IS IT CHRISTMAS AGAIN!??!?

We had a lovely relaxing weekend, though staying in snowy Minnesota meant we had to miss my cousin Amy's wedding to Dan. It sounds (and looks from the pix sent by my cousin Kate) like it was a blast! Congratulations, you two.

Lots of exciting things going on around here -- we made the decision to wait another year before sending Lucy to kindergarten (her birthday is Sept 2 and the cutoff is Sept 1) so we've applied her to attend the St. Paul Public Schools' pre-K program in the fall. Acceptance is on a lottery system, so now we wait. And, in the meanwhile, visit the schools we'll have to consider if she doesn't get into the SPPS program.

Ed is (without his knowledge) soon having surgery to remove his badly-mangled 2 front teeth. You might remember that he bonked them in November '07, which chipped one tooth (and also cracked it up into his gum) and greyed the other front tooth. Since then I can think of at least 2 other times he's whacked them. The teeth were stable for a while, but right before Christmas he got an infection way up in his gum from the cracked tooth. Antibiotics took care of it until the doc could look at it -- and he suggested either a baby-root-canal or just pulling the teeth. Since Ed's only 2 and therefore A. highly likely to keep falling on his face, and B. not getting his permanent teeth for at least 3-4 more years (thereby increasing the window in which an infection could recur), we decided to go with the extraction. Now we're just waiting to hear when the doc can meet us at the hospital -- probably in February. Ed will have to have general anesthesia, which makes me VERY nervous. All we can really do is trust the doctor and God's plan for us. More updates will come as we find out the date.

In other news, I am now my kids' dance teacher! We adore Miss Lee at Linwood, but my teaching my own kids saves us $40 a month... and I was getting tons of requests from ECFE parents to teach a class in the studio at the Dayton's Bluff Rec center. There was so much interest, I'm teaching 2 sections, and it is SO much fun to be working with the younger age group again! I have a couple older kids (age 6-10) in the Wednesday group, but several 3-4-year-olds as well. We have an absolute blast.

I'm also co-directing three-ish productions of Pirates! The Musical, opening this week at the Maplewood Community Center. This is for kids grades 1-6, and I'm working with an Ashland group (kids from the community), a group from Oakdale Elementary, and a group from South St. Paul. I even co-wrote one of the scenes -- maybe I have a future as a playwright! If you have kids, you might want to bring them to see the show -- it runs this weekend through the first weekend in March. See www.ashlandproductions.com. The show is only about an hour long, and not scary-piratey at all. Just VERY silly-piratey.

I mentioned before that I was auditioning for Seussical, but it turns out I am not actually going to be involved in the show. I went to an audition at the Ordway (it's a professional theatre in St. Paul that often hosts touring shows) on Saturday for Singin' in the Rain, and I was immediately cut. So my ego's been taking a couple hits here and there. *shrug* Such is life.

Oh but here's a wild story! So a couple weeks ago I was watching "Superstars of Dance" which is TOTALLY a guilty pleasure because it's a ridiculous show, and they had a Bollywood number on, and I got all up in arms because I SWEAR I don't understand Bollywood dancing at all. Joel and I had a lengthy discussion about it (meaning I kind of went off for a few minutes, and he patiently nodded while keeping one eye on Michael Flatley), which ended with me saying I really didn't think I would dance any worse than these supposedly-highly-trained Bollywood dancers.

The very next day I got an email from a gal who's taken ballroom dance lessons from me in the past -- she and her boyfriend are getting married and REALLY want to do a Bollywood number for their first dance. I could just about hear God laughing: You think you're so talented? Let's just see about that. Anyway, I'm not sure it's still happening (I mean, I'm sure they're getting married but not certain I'll be involved), but the timing was really impeccable.

OK I've got more but I need to go shovel. Happy Monday and Happy Inauguration Week!

Spectacular! Spectacular!

This is NOT, and I stress NOT, the "Christmas Show" I was in.

This, however, IS the First Annual Gronau Christmas Talent Show/Pageant, held Christmas Eve in Monticello, Minn., directed and produced by my dearest darlingest mother-in-law, Donna Gronau.

Enjoy!

The kids singing Seussical

I think Joel must've taken this. Hope you get a kick out of it!

Seussical auditions on Monday. Wish me luck!

Someone please let me know if this works!

Trying to add a video. Let me know whether it works -- there's lots more to come!