Mama's Day.

My dad and I baked a pretty bumpin' roasted veggie pot pie for my mama. I did most of the cooking, but I give him full credit for peeling the parsnips!

So it looks like a typical over-glazed pie...but on the inside you'll find cauliflower, parsnips, carrots, sweet red pepper and lots of other delicious things.

Mama's heart cath results came back mostly flawless. She has a gnarly bruise that I would love to post a picture of on here because it's THAT impressive, but my sweet mother would be mortified to find a picture of her inner thigh (amazingly bruised or not) floating around the internet. Just take my word for it. It's far worse than anything Marvin has ever acquired from skateboarding.

Speaking of Marvin, look at this picture I came across today:

Six years later, I still have a huge crush on that boy.

Our anniversary vacation plans have changed a good deal due to the oil spill and visit from the Reilly clan. No more New Orleans, and now a four day mini-vacation to plan instead of a seven day trip. I was thinking Hot Springs...the Al Capone suite at the Arlington...but since we tied the knot near the 4th of July it might be hard to get reservations with such short notice around that date. Any suggestions?

It's 10:30. That means French toast time. Happy Wednesday.

Easter weekend.

It was lovely.
Egg dye & hunt with my parents.
Garden party with Shelly, Adrianna, and Mama Kathleen.
Word games & Scrabble.
Home town grocery shopping.
Native American things & coffee.
Yep.

Thursday mornings are now devoted entirely to housekeeping and working on projects since I don't go to work until eleven. I'm as happy about this productiveness as I am about SPRING.

I finally experimented with the detox foot patches. Here's what I've concluded: the patches turn brown/black when your feet sweat on them...the color is not caused by the removal of toxins. The patches turn the same color when held under the tap. But I don't think this necessarily means that they aren't capable of removing toxins from your body since sweating can play a pretty big role in the detoxification process. I didn't feel any different after using the patches, but I wasn't ailing to begin with. So the color change doesn't equal toxicity, but the patches work for a lot of people...just like the gunk in an ear candle isn't earwax, but tons of people swear by the candling process. (Internet research tells me that apparently some detox pads are complete hoaxes. Make sure your detox foot pad has some or all of the following chemicals: chitin, chitosan, vitamin C, silica, starch, and eucalyptus oil. Lengthier explanation here.)

If you need a new age hooey mythbuster, I'm your woman. Or guinea pig.

I haven't felt like this since '99.

I don't remember how to sleep.
Last weekend was phenomenal.
I adore my family.
I beat my mama at Scrabble for the first time in my life.
My heartiest laugh of the year was shared with my dad.
2010 needs more coffee and conversation and quiche and attention deficit strolls with Adrianna.
I've been listening to Placebo. And Shakira.
About the video for She Wolf: Is that a glittery birth canal? I'm convinced it is and would like to put in a request for a glam birth canal and sweet contortionist skills! Or at least rhythm and belly dancing lessons.
We're thinking about changing Mr. Eko's name to Rainman. I'm sure you can guess why.
The latest episode of LOST left me with one fist in the air, mouthing the word, "WAAAAAARRRRR!"
It's detox time. Hello fruit and tea.
I know I've said it before, but life is so good. But I've really got to work on this sleep disorder.

Snowventures.

Last weekend was a winner. Friday night was spent playing cards with the ladies. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday were devoted to a solo road trip into the mountains to visit my mama and daddy. I love a good drive alone periodically for planning, reminiscing, singing poorly, and admiring the scenery. I got to the snowy parts of the drive just at dusk and just as "Dreams" by The Cranberries started to play. I had an incredibly strong urge to veer off the road into a Narnia-esque field, get out of the car, and spin in circles. I reminded myself that the little events in my life are in fact NOT cheesy scenes from a movie and kept driving. But I smiled the rest of the way.

At home I ate some of my mama's homemade vegetable soup (canned with vegetables from last summers garden...including OKRA! mmm!) and sweet potato pie. We watched a bunch of Freaks and Geeks and went through mounds of old paperwork from the locksmith shop. Closing a business is a lot more tedious than I'd realized.

I miss living in such close proximity to trees and wildlife and falling asleep without the glow of a street light complicating things. I also miss snow.



[The last two photos are of a frozen waterfall and the rock I chose as my defense against potential forest predators after seeing some prints in the snow that either belonged to a big dog, a coyote, or a really big cat.]

Baby Jesus.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

It was a good one. Possibly even the best. My mama and daddy braved the chance of snowy mountainous roads to spend yesterday and today with us. We opened gifts and went out to eat and watched some SNL last night and then ate a homemade Mexican feast today. Now my parents are on their way back home, Marvin is sleeping off his calories, and I am catching up on some long overdue movie-watching and R&R. As usual, I was too caught up in the fun-havings to take any pictures. Documentation or not, I'm really thankful to have a home and a family and plenty of food and the means to share with people who don't have the comfort of those things.

My dad has shut down his locksmith shop after twenty years of business due to the sluggish economy. He seems to be more concerned about getting bored than about not having income and I admire him for that. He insists that they'll get by on wood-cutting and knife-making and gardening and crafting and odd-jobbing and my mom's meager social security check and I hope he's right. I'd hate for them to have to start selling their land to pay the bills. I've promised myself not to worry. We always got by when I was little before he had the business, even if just barely. Eatin' squirrels and beans. Surely it will be easier to manage now without a kid to take care of. And if not, the kid will do her best to come to the rescue.

I wish everyone who reads this the happiest of days. YOU. ARE. ALL. LOVED.

P.S. - I am also thankful for Etsy...or just the general finding of oddities: