Ring Out The Old

As the last few hours of the year melt away I am a little bit sad, a little anxious, but mostly hopeful.
Hopeful that 2012 won't be as stressful as 2011.
On a global level; I hope we all can learn to get along. I get that every culture has their own history and holidays and traditions, but so many traditions come from other cultures originally and since we all started in a pond somewhere in Africa so it shouldn't be a big deal to let the small stuff go, right? I hope we can see the evidence of that this year.
At the national level; I hope we can become more responsible. Bring the factory jobs back to our own country and employ our own people rather than send all our money and jobs out. I know it makes more money for the board of directors but it doesn't help the economy in any way.
For the state; I hope we can figure out how to balance a budget. I don't understand why a problem that has taken years to create is expected to be solved in six months and I hope to see a measure of moderation in the cutting that needs to take place.
City-wise; I hope we will stop being a gigantic pile of selfish, greedy, stupid people and take an interest. Not in a solve-hunger-in-Uganda kind of way but in a care-what's-happening-with-our-neighbors-in-the-house-next-door kind of way. The 'think global, act local' adage is cute but means nothing unless we let the lady with two kids get in front of us in line and worry less about what the media tells us is cool and read a book. Or look at what the political candidate means rather than just what s/he says. I hope to see a rise in intelligence and kindness.
Familial; I hope we can communicate more, talk less behind people's backs and complain less.
Personally; I hope to be more organized and waste less time this year. I have a lot to keep track of and I really need to be on top of it all. I have felt one step behind a lot this year and I don't like it.
Those are my hopes and dreams for 2012. Of course, if the Mayans are right we don't have to think about any of it. If they aren't then we're going to be in the exact same place 365 days from now.

This is me and HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!!

Not A Creature Was Stirring

There has been a lot going on and I will get to it and tell you all about it, but tonight I need to remember Christmas; the calmer Christmas Eves of my past when it was all twinkly lights and pine fragrance, (some) presents and carols. My brothers and sisters and I would get in our pajamas, sit around on the floor and listen as my dad read a story to us out of the big, red "Christmas book."
Then out of the Bible we'd read the account of Mary and Joseph going to Bethlehem and all the visits of that one night so long ago. We'd have "snack," say our family prayers, we'd brush our teeth, hang our stockings and settle down, too excited to sleep and wanting to so much so Christmas would come.
Things have changed significantly since those days. People coming from far and near, arriving and departing at different times, jobs, spouses, kids and all that.
I love my life and I love the changes but sometimes I wish I could go back to that time when it was just me and the tree and a cookie and the itchy, magical feeling that comes the night before Christmas...

This is me wishing everyone a feeling like that tonight.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I Did Most Of The Falling

Do NOT laugh.
But.
I think I sprained a thigh muscle yesterday at church, playing ring-around-the-rosy in the Nursery.
...
In my defense, I was wearing three inch heels, there were three of them and we played over and over and over for 25 minutes straight.
How does one say no to three angelic faces begging " 'gin!, 'gin!"
I couldn't, obviously, but now my leg really hurts when I get up and down from a chair or in and out of the car or any other sort of seat.

This is me and I know I'm not in the greatest shape, but really?

We Belong

'Tis the season and all that - I will have to mail 4 or 5 boxes myself later this week - so I shouldn't have been surprised when mysterious packages started arriving on our doorstep. There hasn't been a note on any of them though and after I opened one - almost spoiling a Christmas surprise - I've just been piling them in a corner of the living room.
Hopefully none of them are perishable.
Then, last night, I overheard Tarzan on the phone asking about a membership kit that was supposed to have arrived. We rifled though the stack and, fortunately for the guy on the phone, came up with it.
See, we had joined the Fridgetop Root Beer Society.
Tarzan really likes root beer and over Thanksgiving he and Floyd did some talking about ways to spread the love. It's still in the embryo stage but he's having fun networking with the owner/CEO of the Root Beer Society.
(Tarzan joined Facebook! That's how much he's into this.)
They've exchanged emails over the wonders of the new flavors that are in the membership kit - the Sprecher was super smooth, the Gray's a little zippier.
Also included in the kit; two "official" membership cards, a cute mug that can be frosted for crisper tasting, the history of the company which is a really funny read and a bottle opener which comes in handy for people who don't use their shirt to open a bottle cap. All profusely stamped with the name of the ccompany and the website.
I think we're lifers.

This is me and I'm contemplating how Tarzan would take it if I framed his member's certificate for a Christmas present...

The Good News

On a lighter note, my USC Santa hat does keep my head really warm while out and about:

This is me, keeping positive.

Multiplication

I'm about half done with the Christmas shopping - which I love to do, pick out gifts I think others with like, plus it's shopping with zero guilt - but there's still the wrapping and the shipping and as soon as one thing gets crossed off the list three more appear. I don't know how it happens. I try to schedule things out. We started working on the Sunday Christmas program almost two months ago but now we're down to two weeks and Tarzan hasn't even looked at his piece yet. The guy whose supposed to be playing the guitar - acoustic - hasn't been there the last two weeks so I don't know if he has time to learn his song. The kids are way more interested in presents than singing.
And I know it will all work out. The presents will get bought, and delivered, and the program will be good.
It's just the anticipation that makes me antsy. Timing is not my gift and I really worry about forgetting something serious.
Like sending the outline to the lady who does the program so she can print it out.
Or asking the guy to play Santa at the party this weekend! That's what I was supposed to do this afternoon. Oy.
Send some good scheduling thoughts my way.

This is me and maybe I should develop a mantra; "it will all work out...it will all work out..."

Star Wars: Fodder For Anyone

QC sent this to me a (long) while ago:

I only just got around to clearing out the Inbox of that email account and found it just as amusing now as I did then.
(That's my measure for whether things are really funny.)

This is me and this movie is good for so much stuff.

'Tis The Season

I loved my iPhone before, but now it is getting serious.
Over Thanksgiving with Tarzan's family I was lamenting the fact that there weren't any good ring tones on my iPhone and I didn't want to spend money to get any. Floyd mentioned it should be possible - I just had to trim the song to the right length and find out the file extension to change the song to.
And it worked.
(Floyd is a genius. If you ever need to know anything, he is the man.)
So tonight, following these instructions, I took my favorite 1:53 of Jupiter, cut it to 0:40, changed the extension and voila! I now have it as a ring tone.
Awesome.
Then I got a little crazy and did a Christmas one too. We will see if Mannheim Steamroller's God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen will wake me up in the morning.


This is me and the magic of the iPhone never ceases.

Where Does It Go?

Why do my best ideas for this blog come to me when I am laying in bed and have no access to a writing utensil or even my iPhone?
(I leave my iPhone in the bathroom, charging, so that when the alarm goes off in the morning I have to get up and go in another room to turn it off. I am much less likely to ignore it and go back to sleep that way.)
Last night, for example, I was all tucked in, the kittens were snuggling on one side and Tarzan was on the other and I thought of a brilliant topic for discussion. I considered getting up to write it down, but it was so warm and comfy and the kittens won't come back if I disturb them so I thought I'd leave myself a reminder for the morning. It was a good idea, I promise. But whatever cairn I left for myself was all over the floor when I got up today and of course I don't remember what it was about.

This is me with curses for my inferior memory and lack of a pen.

Unexpected

I have to say, DaddyScrubs.com sounded WAY cuter on the radio commercial.
Also, the text on the website is suggesting these are a MUCH bigger deal than they seem.
I could MAKE these things myself, with some old hospital scrubs - don't ask how I have them - and a fancy marker.
Bing, bang, done.

This is me and what am I missing?

Suggesting To My Mind

So, the human mind is a weird thing. (As I am sure you are aware from my multitude of Weird Dreams.) But beyond my nightly brain dumps are the images and sensations that develop over the years and we aren't even aware of it.
Take tonight for example. It wasn't a cold day by any means, not baking but in the mid-60's. Fine for the last day of November in The Jungle. Even when the sun went down it didn't get too chilly. But right around 7pm this wild wind picked up and started blowing things around. Fairly heavy things, boxes, cans, chairs, trash bags. It blew and blew for almost an hour. (Poor outdoor kitties had their water bowl all filled with leaves and dirt and rocks and stuff.) As soon as the wind started howling - and it was howling, which is weird for here; there's not much room to pick up speed for a howl - I got really cold. Even being in the house, where it was warm, in my sweats and eating warm food, I was chilly and shivering. I can only suppose it comes from my time in The Frozen North where winds like that brought ice storms and blizzards and things like that. Don't know. But it started me thinking; what other sensations come from our past but trigger vivid feelings?
Does fire make you extremely warm too? Even if you're outside and taking two steps from the BBQ pit will start the ice forming on your nose does the feel of the fire make you think of July and heat waves?

This is me and am I just totally nuts?

Winding Down

I'm about out of steam for this year's NaBloPoMo. Thankfully tomorrow is the last day of the month. I do have some handy iPhone pictures to share with you for today. This is Tarzan and me waiting to board the plane to come home Sunday very early in the morning: I was exhausted and went to sleep as soon as I sat down. Didn't even notice when we took off and didn't wake up for drinks and snacks, which is unusual. (Hey, if I'm paying that much for an airline ticket, I'm getting all the orange juice and Sprite they will give me.) Upon landing, and waking, I thought the pilot was kidding when he stopped the plane and said we were getting off here:He wasn't.
Sure didn't look like a normal gate. I think that was the longest hike from plane to baggage claim ever.While we were waiting to deplane I captured Tarzan's errant eyebrows, just so you know I wasn't making it all up:There you go, proof positive.

This is me and I am so scrounging for material. Is it obvious?

Noticed In The Bathroom Mirror

Whenever someone in a movie or on TV brushes their teeth I comment that they must not be using real toothpaste because there isn't any foam. (I'm a stickler for details like that.)
Then, this weekend, as I was brushing my teeth at Tarzan's parents house I noticed *I* wasn't getting any foam. Same technique, same brush, same toothpaste as I use at home. Different results. And again in the shower; my shampoo just didn't have it's usual suds. By that point I was paying attention and tried to make lather. It took some effort and it wasn't as airy.
Does anyone know if it's an altitude thing? Or an ocean thing?
Last night though, as I was getting ready for bed, my toothpaste was super foamy and that made me feel better.

This is me and things are back to normal now.

USC vs UCLA

Yes, yes, the game was yesterday. I know. But it was a night game locally, which made it even later at Tarzan's parents house - this is partly why the PAC-12 gets no respect, no one on the East Coast can stay up to watch our games - and we had to get up in the middle of the night to catch our airplane home. So we had to hold on and not read the paper or listen to the radio until we got home.
Oh boy was it hard keeping the people at church from telling us what the score had been. It was a good one.
And if this had to be the last game of the season, I can think of no better way to end it.
USC: 50
UCLA: 0
That's correct. 0 points. That's what's called a shut-out.

This is me and it didn't look hard to do.

The Muppets

Gamma was a doll and took the entire family out to see The Muppets movie this afternoon.
So. Much. Fun.
It was really cute, funny, not too cheesy - the bad guy rap was a little much - and it had all the best Muppets in it. Kermit, Miss Pigggy, Gonzo, Beaker! I did miss Animal doing his "Aaaaaaniiimaaaaallll" fit, but he was awesome still. I don't really understand this new Walter character, but I guess there had to be a catalyst for the whole story and he was it. The Swedish Chef with the flamethrower was classic.
Jason Segel and Amy Adams were not overly involved but enough so the dancing was not out of place and it allowed some of the things Muppets just can't do. Jack Black's part was minimal which was a sad, but I get it was about the Muppets not the people. (He's also uncredited, which I don't understand.)
And Mickey Rooney. So fun to see him in a cameo.
A ton of other stars made cameos, including one of my new favorites, Jim Parsons, from The Big Bang Theory.
Not a complicated story and so it was the real talent of the Jim Hensen company and the puppeteers that came through. If you're looking for some way to spend $12, go see The Muppets. So worth it.
Thanks Gamma, that was excellent.

This is me with a great end to a great vacation.

Awesome Squared

The other thing I forgot about Tarzan's family is the concert after the sushi party the day after Thanksgiving. Despite all the leftovers in the fridge, we get out a bunch of rice and seaweed, fish and vegetables and make a bunch of sushi. We invite over friends and talk and eat and laugh. It's awesome.
Then all those who play instruments pull them out and they play for us. There are many great videos from this evening's performance. Phatfiddle has some flying fingers, Sunshine is learning violin, Teaq played the theme from Star Wars...so much fun.
But my personal favorite was Tarzan's piano duet with his brother QC. Every year we have been married whenever the family gets together they ask to hear Jubilation, a duet the brother learned in middle/high school and won some competition with. It's been so many years since they played it together though that one or the other invariably misses a part or forgets a bit and then it all falls apart. I have never heard the piece through entire.
Until tonight.
Tarzan has been working on it for the days we've been here and I figure QC has too because they finished. It was excellent. And I was prepared enough to be able to share it with you:


If you didn't know, he's the one on the outside end in green. My only regret is that the video cuts out before you are able to see Gamma through her hands in the air in celebration of their feat.

This is me happy to be married to that talented man.

Happy Thanksgiving 2011

It is that time of year again when we pause for a moment, eat a lot of turkey and sides and hopefully count our many blessings. My three kernels this year are:

• Tarzan. It's a little cheesy and I get groans at the dinner table because I say it every year but it's true. I am thankful for him and for his willingness to do whatever is necessary. And without complaining, whining or shirking his duty. It's a little amazing.
• My education. Not my formal education at USC - though that was awesome - but the practical one I received from my parents wherein I learned to desire to learn. I know what words mean in a regular conversation and I don't have to take a calculator to the grocery store. I know enough to know more and that is something I am very thankful for.
• Family. The ones we are eating with this year, the ones back at home, the ones that live on the other side of the world. I am thankful that we are given families on this earth, to come to, to grown on our own and to continue on.

This is me and I hope your day is spent with lots of people you like and good food. Happy Thanksgiving!

Whirlwind

I'm not sure why I don't remember that visits to Tarzan's family are always filled with adventures and PLENTY to do. From the moment we landed early this morning we've had places to go and things to do.
Tarzan, his father and the other men sleeping in the house this weekend had "guy things" to do. The girls and the kids went to the park and then the mall wherein we took about a thousand pictures of the small ones riding the indoor train. Too cute. I'll get some up here as soon as I figure out whose camera we were using. (There are so many.)
Then it was lunch and naps and a tree came down in the backyard. (It's also one of the things I forget; when we come here there are tree branches that need to be sawed off and piled up.)
Dinner was across town at QC's house and it was lovely. We all ate so much we didn't fit in the cars to come home again.
Then it was some family history notes and I scoured Gamma's brain - and piano bench - for music for our Christmas program.
Because we hadn't done enough yet today we watched Coraline - which I liked more than I thought I would but don't know if it was such a good idea to do so right before sleeping - and now I am off to bed because we only got four hours last night and I really don't know what time my body thinks it is now.

This is me and it's a whirlwind every time. I should send myself a memo.

Change Of Pace

We're leaving tonight to visit Tarzan's family for Thanksgiving. Rather than leave early in the morning - as with other trips - we're leaving late at night and arriving way early in the morning.
MusicMan is a sweetheart to come and get us.
I don't know that I could do it.
But we're the last of his siblings to arrive (two live nearby making that way easier) which means the welcoming committee ought to be epic.

This is me and more exciting posts to follow.

In The Dawn's Early Light

It was a clear, crisp morning in The Jungle. Bright and sunny and cool, a typical November day. ATL and I headed out to the car preparatory to taking her to work. As I rounded the rear of the car I noticed the result the combination the torrent of rain from the previous night and morning, the black fabric roof of my car and the early morning sunshine had made:

This is me with my iPhone coming in handy again for pictures.