Showering!

Yesterday my Aunt's A&A threw a baby shower for me. It was lovely and totally overwhelming. My mom has gone crazy about becoming a grandmother - much to our benefit! Everyone was so generous. This baby will be spoiled indeed!
Thank you to my wonderful family for everything - our little bird is blessed to have so many wonderful people around him already.

The big Three-Oh

Michael turns 30 tomorrow. Last night we celebrated with a few friends and family and Shawnee Mission Park. I was nervous about the weather at first but it turned out to be fantastic. The view of the lake was breathtaking, there was a campfire with all of it's fragrant goodness, great food and lots of fun as we celebrated Michael's advanced age with a Transformers birthday cake!

I'm so pleased that we managed to pull off a small party for him. 30 is a birthday that should be celebrated.

Cajun Food is still my friend

I've been bit worried that finding myself in the baby-way would put an end to my eating spicy food. I don't love super hot, but I do love Cajun and Indian spices and they can both be on the hot side.

Last night my parents took us out to The Jazz, where I always get Shrimp Etufee. I love it, it is spicy and almost burns my tongue on the first bite - but then my mouth is nicely seared and I can enjoy the rest of it. I debated getting it last night, fearing I would regret it later. But in a WTH moment I ordered it anyway. It was as good and as hot as ever.
Admittedly I did eat 6 Hush Puppies while eating it (dipped in cocktail sauce - yum!) to cut the spice, but over all it was very satisfying.

And much to my surprise - I'm not really regretting it at all. My acid reflux was a tiny bit stronger last night than normal, but an extra Tums took care of things. So I call that a success!

Of course I only eat at the Jazz about every 6 months to a year these days, so I think I've gotten my fill for a while.

(Oh and thanks Mom and Dad, it was great to see you and eat some spicy food!)

Dancing Queen

I shocked Michael with my mad dancing skill last night. We were at the wedding reception for my best friend's little sister - My second family - the Jonsies!
I spent about half my time from 6th grade to 12th grade at their house, so it was really special to celebrate with them. The bride was beautiful and I couldn't be happier for her. But it is crazy to think that the closest thing I ever had to a little sister (unless you count my brother's drag phase - he looked better in my prom dress than me...) is now a married lady!
At the reception their was dancing! Lots of dancing. Lots of "I don't care who's watching or what I look like" dancing. So much dancing that I'm pretty sure I fractured my toe. (It hurts every time I take a step)
It was such a wonderful time, a wonderful celebration for a wonderful family.

Congratulation's N & B!

Impossible to decide

I don't think any one musician has had a bigger impact on my life than Harry Chapin. He's my Bruce Springsteen - only I can't see him live because tragically he died 3 days before I was born. So many of my favorite memories have him singing in the background. My family singing off key to his records. I just discovered videos of his concerts on YouTube but I can't decide which ones to post, so here is the first of many I'm sure.

So let's start with Mail Order Annie. Nothing like a ballad about a mail order bride arriving on the Dakota plains to start the weekend off right.

Mother's Day

Mother’s Day was sunday and amid assembling a rock wall (irregular shapes make for difficult, but more rewarding wall-building by the way) I was thinking about my mom. About how much like her I am and hope to be. She is fierce and determined and always puts her family first. Even if that means doing things they don’t like. Like yelling at my teachers and making us attend classes on manners.

Looking back I see how important the little choices she made were and I can only hope to do so well.

Honeydew

Cutting up a honeydew melon reminds me of my grandfather.
I think the first time I ate honeydew was from his table.
Most likely his bowl.
Grandpa loved melon.
I'm sure that I get my love of this sweet green fruit from him.
And I like that.

Somehow today always catches me off guard

My Dad's birthday is August 26th (er...25th!), I know this and yet every year the 26th (25th) arrives and I am oblivious to it actually being the 26th (25th). It happened again this year.

So Happy Birthday Dad!

Here are ten great things about my dad.

(Yipes, that was worse than I thought. sorry.)

Home Again, Again

This time its home to my little yellow house.
No matter how lovely the trip, or nice the company, finally walking through your own door is delightful. I'm a Cancer - a home body and this body couldn't be happier to be heading to her own shower and bed.

Home Again

In the morning I leave for a trip with my Mom, Aunt and Cousin. Tonight I'm staying at home, my childhood home. The home I haven't really stayed at for 2 years. I've slept on the couch here once or twice when I've had early flights, but that's about it. Tonight I'll be sleeping in my old room, which still has the glow in the dark stars I stuck on the walls years and years ago. Strange. The house looks different - both bathrooms have been remodled, there are new couches and alt he carpet has been replaced with wood floors. It's a nice change, the house looks great, but its not the same. But the family is, its nice to spend time with them.
Mattie and I hung out tonight. He's a good kid and it was nice to hang out with him while we wandered through Target.
Well I've got a plane to catch in a few hours so I'm off to bed.

political

My mom said I was a raging liberal.
I'm not sure how I feel about that.

On one hand YEA!
On the other HUH?

Mainly because in the circles in which I run I am the conservative...or at least the moderate.

It's a strange place for the girl who went to Republican rallies as a kid...but who hasn't voted for the GOP in the past 5 years.

So I may be a liberal, at least I'm in some pretty good company.

Sorry Mom and Aunt Gail, Michael's Dad and the many other delightful and not crazy conservatives I know. But I'm 25 years old and the Dems have me!
Feel free to blame the Jones's for starting me down this path...and almost all my friends for finishing me off!

looking back at my future

Tonight I went to see the play "Leaving Iowa" at the American Heartland Theatre with my parents and Michael's mom. It was sweet and funny and reminded me of what's in store for me and our future off-spring. ROAD TRIPS! Most likely boring road trips with screaming children and Michael just happy to be on the road.

It was a really nice evening and if you live in the Kansas City area you should check it out. (www.ahtkc.com - this is my shameless plug for the place of my past employment)