The Happy Red Meadow

The other day in my dining room, there was a flock of farm animals grazing upon a lovely red meadow.

 They were lovingly tended by a happy little farmer.  No candy on earth is as sweet.

Smoothies And More

For my next Virtual Birthday Present, I would like to have a power blender.  I would take either a Blendtec or a Vita-Mix because they are both amazingly powerful. 

We received a KitchenAid blender as a wedding gift, and I always thought it was the best blender ever.  But that was before I heard of these Power Blenders.  

Apparently, you can blend up a car in these machines because they are so strong.  One Vita-Mix user said you could replace the blades with dull sticks of wood and still crush ice in seconds because of the intense speed created.  That is a little scary to me, I have to say!

Recently, we have been drinking lots of yummy Green Smoothies, which consist of some frozen fruit, a banana, some water, and a few handfuls of spinach (or something else green).  Our blender does a great job of liquifying the ingredients over the course of 3 to 5 minutes (if you don't want any lumps whatsoever).  

Our friend JD has been on the same Green Smoothie kick, and he has a Vita-Mix.  I asked him how long it takes to make one in his blender.  His answer:  "Fifteen seconds."  Wow.

You can also grind wheat, knead bread, cook soup, make ice cream, make nut butters, and a million other things with one of these.  Oh, and make whole food juices without the messiness of a juicer and leftover pulp.  And it cleans itself easily.

Sounds really handy, doesn't it?  Eating healthy food would be a breeze, so I would consider it an investment in our health.

Cost:  around $399

Zap To It

Here's the fanciest Virtual Birthday Present I am giving myself this year.  It is the ZAP-X 100% electric car.  Here are some of the vitals:

• Speed:  0 to 60 in 4.8 seconds; top speed 155 mph
• Mileage:  about 1 cent per mile
• Range:  350 miles per charge; 10 minute re-charge; 9,000 life cycles
• Interior:  Seating for 5 + 2 with European ergonomic design
• Carputer:  All electronic touch screen with Windows XP (the tragic flaw...), Wi-Fi, blue-tooth, high definition video, iPod ready, Fire wire, USB2 and Mini USB ports
• Extras:  Keyless bio-metric entry and ignition, energy-collecting windows and windshields to harness solar energy

Cost:  $60,000 total cost; $25,000 to reserve one

What I love about this most is the fact that you can just plug your car into ANY electric outlet for 10 minutes and then drive 350 miles!!!  Forget about all the $4 gas prices.  And the 'car-puter' sounds very handy (and would be even better if it were a Mac...).

I wonder how Curious George looks in high definition.  Does he get his make-up airbrushed on?  I'm sure Bella would love to find out!

The Vital Things First

First of all, I cannot even think of giving myself anything for my virtual birthday (even imaginary) until I first get these things:

• A Child and Family Reunion
• A New Mother and Baby Kit
• An All-Inclusive Mongolian Ger
• A Sewing Machine and Training
• A Girl's Bicycle
• A Pair of Goats
• Some Fruit Trees

Wouldn't you like to get some of your own?

Not Quite Yet

My younger brother told me recently, when I congratulated him on reaching the ripe age of 36, that I was almost forty.  I told him that I am NOT almost forty; I am almost thirty-nine.  (I think it looks better written out like that - not so shockingly large, I think.)

Today is the last day I can officially be almost thirty-nine because tomorrow I will be actually thirty-nine.  And on this, my birthday week, I would like to do a series of posts on Virtual Birthday Gifts I would give myself if I had unlimited funds and otherwise different circumstances - things like a solar-powered house, an electric car, etc.  Stay tuned...

Enough Pink To Last A While

I think she got excited about everything matching.

A Perfect Day

After so much despondency in the last blaaaahg, I had to tell you about Sunday's perfect day.  It included the following wonderful elements:

1. My husband got up with Butterfly and I slept an extra hour
   
2. I got to see fun friends at church
3. Our brand new pastor encouraged us that it is never too late to invest in those old dreams 
4. I had lunch with my husband, my angelic child & a marvelous friend OUTSIDE under a blue sky with white clouds
5. We shopped for yummy, healthy food at food heaven, a.k.a. Whole Foods
6. We went window shopping under the sunshine and had yummy raspberry gelato
7. We ran into another friend and had a nice catch-up chat
8. We were all happy, healthy and well-rested

I love those days, especially when they turn into a week.  I guess one nice thing about being sick and having a boring week is that the next week is marvelous just by default!  

Here's to wonderful days and weeks and months and years!

Gloom! Despair! Agony!

I have had an unwelcome visit from a stomach flu bug, and in addition to the physical unpleasantness, the extraneous disappointments have really gotten to me this time. 

• I was really doing well on The Green Smoothie Challenge and was on my 10th day in a row of yummy, healthy green-ness. (I started a week early.)  However, now I feel like I never want anything green ever again.
• A while ago, I banned High-Fructose Corn Syrup from my house.  Yesterday, I was forced to allow 2 liters of the carbonated crap in the door (and in my body) in the form of ginger ale.  I didn't have the heart to ask my husband to travel 45 minutes out of his way after working hard all day (and before cooking his own dinner, caring for our toddler and cleaning up) to get me the healthier version from Whole Foods.
• Ditto on the white noodle stuff.  You can't get chicken-noodle soup made with whole-grain pasta at Kroger.  I wonder if you can get it anywhere.
• My daughter has probably become a Curious George addict since she has watched multiple episodes a day for the last three days.  But I wanted her to have a little fun since I certainly haven't provided any for her.  Except for pretending to be the baby when she was the mama and cooking food for me in her little kitchen.  She did like that.  
• Since I joined the Y on Valentine's Day, I have been very consistent in exercising multiple times a week.  Not this week.  My muscles are surely atrophied by now.
• I hate missing much anticipated, once-a-year events because of a stupid virus.  Today I have to do that.

So there you have it.  The blahs.  From the melodramatic viewpoint of an ENFP.  But the good news is that I am the last member of my household to experience this evil, so when it's gone from me, hopefully it will be gone forever.

Happy Amplification Day

I've been wondering why we call this year Leap Year and today LeapDay. 

Most of the definitions for leap refer to jumping over or passing over something.  But this is the one year we don't skip a day.  

Shouldn't the other years be leap years and this one be called Amplification Year?  Or something a little less antonymic than Leap Year?

What do you think?

Confessions Of An Idiot

I wasn't feeling well today, so I watched some mindless tv on the web while my daughter watched Curious George on the real television.  And there is no doubt Butterfly was on the higher entertainment echelon. 

It was one of those shows where they used to all be high school kids, but now they are all adults because they skipped a few years between seasons.  So they were showing a flashback from 3 years ago to catch the viewer up.  Well, in the scene that supposedly took place 3 years ago, this guy was using what was clearly an iPhone to text his girlfriend.  But there was no iPhone then.  Not even a $599 one.

So I was telling my husband about it a few minutes ago, and remarking that I couldn't believe that no one - writers, actors, directors, producers, editors - absolutely no one caught the anachronism or bothered to do anything about it if they did.  I said, "They must think we're idiots."  And he said, "Well, what show was it?"

Then there was just silence because I couldn't possibly admit to my exceptionally intelligent husband the name of the actual show. I like to maintain at least the illusion of the clever wife, you know.

And I realized that maybe they are right. We are idiots.

Is There A Fashion Gene?

Yesterday, Butterfly showed me this picture from one of her books and said, "I want to wear this dress, Mommy."

The night before, she wanted to wear bunny pajamas like the ones in another book.  I had to convince her that the Kitty Ballerina pajamas were MUCH better because the Kitty Ballerinas would be dancing on her tummy and into her dreams when she was sleeping. 

She is not quite two and a half. 

I guess I will teach her to sew as I learn.  She's already pretty good with the pins and pin cushion.

Six Of Six

(This is the SIXTH of six interesting/quirky/random things about me.)

Recently, I discovered that I have a form of synesthesia, which is "a neurologically-based phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to automatic, involuntary experiences in a second sensory or cognitive pathway".  I have the Spatial Sequence or Number Form type of synesthesia, where "numbers, months of the year, and/or days of the week elicit precise locations in space". 

What it means in simple terms is that when I think of a number (or day or month or year or time of day, etc.), I see it on a three-dimensional map in my mind.  The numbers are always in a very precise location on the map, and I cannot think of a number unless I also see the map in my mind's eye.  Here's an example of someone else's map of their numbers.  (Mine is different; it's more vertical and three dimensional and hard to describe!)

Until I was reading wikipedia one night, I had NO IDEA everyone didn't do that!  Here's how it happened: we watched a movie one night called The Prestige, and one of the characters interacted with Nicola Tesla, an actual historical figure. My baby woke up while we were watching, so I went upstairs to nurse her back to sleep, taking my laptop with me. While I was nursing, I looked up Tesla on wikipedia and was reading about him. I learned that he had synesthesia, which I'd never heard of, so I followed that link.

So there I am reading about how some people see colors when they hear certain notes of music and some people see letters as colors (like A is always red, etc.). When I get to the Number Form type, it showed an example of someone's map, and I thought, "What??? Isn't that normal???" The ODDEST sensation washed over me, and I felt like someone had just given me information that related to my whole life just in that instant.   Kind of like being told that you really were born in Africa instead of Mississippi, though not quite as dramatic.   It was really bizarre.

Ok, there you have it - the sixth and final interesting thing about myself.  I think this series can officially catch my blog up to 'current' status because surely I've written more today than I would have written over the past 5 months, don't you think?  Does this mean I can wait 5 more months?  Just kidding!  I have lots to post now from my browsing.  Maybe I'll actually do some writing!

Five Of Six

(This is the FIFTH of six interesting/quirky/random things about myself.)

I am center-brained. I am neither left-brained or right-brained, according to the tests I have taken. I am also neither auditory or visual when it comes to processing information. Sometimes I solve a problem using my left brain, and at other times I solve the same problem using the right side. Sometimes I process information better visually and other times I process the same information better audibly.

I am really center-brained when it comes to all that stuff, which is why I love to create things AND do crossword puzzles, I guess. I write with my right hand, but I can also write quite legibly (and almost neatly) with my left hand as well. Maybe I should say I am left AND right brained, auditory AND visual: all of the above!

Four Of Six

(This is the Fourth of six interesting/quirky/random things about myself.)

I love to do crossword puzzles.   I think I inherited it from my grandmother, who would always sit in her beauty shop between customers and do the puzzle in the back of Star magazine, back when it looked like a newspaper insert.  When she finished that one, she'd always have a whole book full of them ready to be solved with help from her handy Crossword Puzzle Dictionary.  I am pickier about my choice of puzzles, and my favorites are the huge New York Times Sunday crosswords. They are challenging enough to keep me interested over a long period of time and usually not that frustrating, unlike the NYT Saturday puzzles which are tiny and impossible.

Oh, this is funny: I once recorded a PBS special about crossword puzzles, their makers & their solvers, and it was so interesting.  However, I was only able to watch it half-way through because it made me want to go do some puzzles.  I still have the recording but have been unable to finish it for the same reason!

I usually do a puzzle (or two) in bed to help me fall asleep.  The reason it works is because it helps my mind focus on one thing instead of going off into millions of other thoughts that keep me awake like analyzing Lost theories or worrying that there are 27 million people or so RIGHT NOW enslaved around the globe or wondering what will happen to the Kenyan children when 50% of the adult population of Kenya is expected to die from AIDS in the next 5 years.  You can see why having only one puzzle to solve would relax me, hm?  And the ones on paper are at least solvable.

Also, did you know that crossword puzzles help delay or prevent (or something like that) the occurrence of Alzheimer's disease? And you can work up to doing difficult puzzles; just start with the easy ones (like The Tennessean or The City Paper) until they bore you to tears because they only take 4 minutes to do and then move up to harder ones.  I've found that sometimes if you put the puzzle down and come back to it later, some of the answers that eluded you for so long in one sitting just pop right out at you in the next sitting.  

Three Of Six

(This is the THIRD of six interesting/quirky/random things about myself.)

I love to do and make creative things.  Once upon a time, I was afraid to create because I thought that what I created would not be 'good enough' or 'perfect enough' or whatever enough. However, I have had the great privilege to be surrounded by creative friends who MUST create to live, and they have all encouraged me SO much to JUST DO things.  Just think of something and do it.  Even something as simple and silly as decorating an old Altoids tin.

So I DO create, whenever I get the chance.  Through it all, I have learned that the process is what is important - not some standard that you hold the end result to.   It has been very liberating and ever so rewarding to me.  I know that some people, when exposed to excellent art, feel intimidated and think "I could never do that".  But I just feel inspired and encouraged and thrilled with the possibility that, although I probably can't do THAT, I can do SOMETHING, and it will be FUN!

I really look forward to being creative with my daughter in future years, as her budding creativity progresses beyond the artful use of words and silly little dances and songs.  She has been a great inspiration to me ever since I learned to sew after she was born.  I started making her fun blankets and burp cloths because she spit up on a continual basis for the first few months of her life. We needed to have multiple (clean) bibs and burp cloths at all times, and frankly, the ones I found in stores were terribly uninspiring.  I never got around to attempting bibs, but I am still doing blankets and burp cloths for friends and an occasional craft market at our church.  These are some burp cloths that my mom helped me make this past Thanksgiving.  She did the sewing and I designed and cut everything out.

Now I am ever so excited to start on clothes for her.   I made this little skirt out of jeans that wouldn't stay snapped (on the inseam) and an antique pillow sham from my grandmother's house. I really want one for myself, but there's not enough of the sham left....sigh. 

If you'd like to see some other things I have made, you can go here.  Oh, and I got a bit creative with wrapping Christmas gifts this year, so you can see those as well in the Wrapping Art category.

Two Of Six

(The SECOND of six interesting/quirky/random things about me.)

Because of my interest in genealogy, I love to make family trees.  I can fill in my own completely for 5 generations, and incompletely lots further back. 

I made my parents this really huge one for Christmas, which you can see in a larger file here.  It includes all the full names & birth dates that I had available (and that would fit in the frame). 

My parents are the main branches that meet at the trunk, and the date in the middle is their wedding anniversary.  The tiny twigs on the tree are birth dates, and the 'fruits' under the tree are my brothers and I, along with our spouses and children, grouped into families.  I also made smaller trees for my husband's parents and for his sister & her husband.

The process itself takes a lot of cutting & gluing of tiny slips of paper, but it is surprisingly fun to me.  I say 'surprisingly' because I typically don't like tedious processes that require lots of patience and attention to detail.  But as I handle each person's name, it captivates me, and I try to imagine the person and what kind of life he or she lived.  The people come alive to me, so that even though I didn't know them in person, I have learned their names.  

Maybe someday in the afterlife, I'll overhear someone being introduced as Elijah Strong Nichols or Stella Victoria Collins and run over to meet them.  I'll say, "Hi! I'm your great-great grandaughter."  And to Stella, I'll say, "My daughter shares your birthday!"   And they'll say, of course, "Well, we know that sweetie. It's so good to see you!"

One Of Six

My friend, Her Royal Excitedness, has 'tagged' me from her blog to write six interesting/quirky/random things about myself.  I think her words were something like,"since she hasn't written anything on her blog since September and she probably has a great list".

Well, it is TRUE that I haven't written anything since September, but I don't know if I can come up with anything about myself other than that I am a mom and a wife. I seem to have lost my former self in those roles that consume all of my time. But I'll try to remember, so here goes: 

I am really interested in family genealogy, and I have traced all four lines (via grandparents) back quite far. I have really enjoyed finding out their names and where they came from. Some started out in England, went to New England, and eventually ended up in Alabama, where I am from. I could probably be a Daughter of the American Revolution through one of those lines because I discovered one of my ancestors served in the American Revolution; however, the documentation requirements are pretty strict. Maybe by the time Bella goes to college we will have found everything we need, and she can get DAR scholarships.

I have traced the Glasgow (my maiden name) line back to Ireland, but I am stuck there. I was always told that they were from Scotland since Glasgow is there. Perhaps they started out there and made a stop for a while in Ireland before continuing to South Carolina and eventually Lamar County, Alabama.

Last summer, I decided to try to find the graves of as many of my closer ancestors as I could when I went home to visit my parents. I discovered that every single great-grandparent (8 total) is buried within 15 minutes of where I grew up and my parents still live. I also found several great-greats and some even beyond that. I took pictures of all of their tombstones to document my findings.  

Here is the tombstone of Wilson Archibald Glasgow, my great-great-great grandfather, discovered 5 minutes from my parents house. (See what I mean about the names!) It is in teensy old country church cemetery that is situated about half-way between my house & where we went to church. I drove by it so often and never even knew he (and his wife and children) were buried there. There was another marker on his grave indicating that he was a Confederate soldier.

(Apparently this stuff is way too quirky to keep short.  Or maybe I've just missed writing so much that I can't stop.  This is enough for one post.  Stay tuned for the rest!)

It's My Pity Party

Lately, Butterfly has been having a difficult time when her opinion of what needs to happen differs from her parents' opinions of the same.

The resulting drama can be quite annoying EXCEPT that usually amidst her quite tragic tears, she will sob out, "Oh Baby Butterfly, Baby Butterfly." (using her real name, of course.)

It cracks us up every time. I don't know if she is trying to comfort herself or is just feeling sorry for herself, but it is pretty cute. It doesn't WORK, of course, but it is cute!

The Making Of A Rock Star

Butterfly in the studio recording her latest album, "The Pin-sy Spider (aka Itsy-Bitsy Spider)", the follow-up to her last best-selller, "Now I Know My A B D's".

Conversations With Butterfly

Inspired by Her Royal Excitedness and her Conversations With Judah, here is the first installment of Conversations With Butterfly. These are some of the fun moments I can remember right now. There have been SO many more.

(Keep in mind that Butterfly is not quite two. She is rather loquacious, however, which is her first discernible resemblance to her mother.)

SETTING: Several months ago while Butterfly was tasting her toes.

Daddy: Are those toes good?
Butterfly: Yes
Daddy: What do they taste like?
Butterfly: Bananas

SETTING: In the car yesterday

Daddy: Butterfly, what are you eating?
Butterfly: Dinosaur (as she nibbles on her plastic toy)
Daddy: What does it taste like?
Butterfly: Bananas
Mommy: Do you want some bunny crackers?
Butterfly: No
Daddy: What do bunny crackers taste like?
Butterfly: Rabbits

SETTING: Shopping at Target last week

Mommy: Butterfly, we are looking for some skewers. I wonder where they are.
Mommy: Here they are! We found them!
Butterfly: Good job, Mommy!

SETTING: Missing Daddy who has gone to work.

Butterfly: Daddy here?
Mommy: No, Daddy is at work.
Butterfly: See Daddy?
Mommy: No, Daddy is at work.
Butterfly: Pretend Daddy?
(A while later)
Butterfly: Daddy here?
Mommy: No, Daddy is at work. Would you like to talk to him on the phone?
Butterfly: SEE Daddy.
Mommy: Let's call him.
Butterfly: Hello Daddy! (on the phone)
Daddy: (something)
Butterfly: Daddy working hard!
Daddy: I am so proud of you. You slept all night long last night.
Butterfly: Till the sun comes out!
(more conversation)
Butterfly: Bye-bye. See ya later.

SETTING: A friend brought Butterfly some toy dishes and food. They were going through the food, and Butterfly was telling her what everything was.

Valerie: What's this? (holding an egg)
Butterfly: Egg
Valerie: What's this? (holding a banana)
Butterfly: Banana
Valerie: What's this? (holding cucumber)
Butterfly: Pee-pee!

(She'd only seen a cucumber chopped up & never whole, but she HAD seen Daddy getting dressed! She'll be so embarrassed by that answer one day....haha!)

SETTING: Butterfly is still nursing during the day, but we have begun to do it less frequently, which is new to her. She has somehow picked up some negotiating techniques!

Butterfly: Nursey night-night (she says this even when she doesn't want to go to sleep)
Mommy: Not right now. We just nursed 5 minutes ago.
Butterfly: Nurse real fast?
Mommy: We can nurse later.
Butterfly: Nurse just a minute?
Mommy: Not right now, sweetie.
Butterfly: Pretend nurse? (Her last resort!)

SETTING: Butterfly got her Ibuprofen bottle & dropper off the table and was trying to open it.

Mommy: Butterfly, you can't open that. (Meaning both that it's impossible and you shouldn't be trying.)
Butterfly: Pretend, mommy. (accompanied by a look that said - no kidding - Gosh, mom, I'm not stupid! - just like a miniature teenager!