Mike's Gone

They announced during Sharing Time in Primary that the Elder's Quorum would be bowling tonight at 9 pm. That's all fine and dandy for them, but Mike and I are on a 30 Rock kick--we're systematically working through all the seasons--and this really puts a damper on my night. But he's always complaining that the Elder's Quorum never does anything ("and the Relief Society is always doing things"--which is true) so he wasn't allowed to stay home, even when the temptation to watch another episode hit us both wicked hard. I've read a few chapters in my book, which I'm almost finished with but haven't felt up to reading lately--I think mostly due to being sick last week. Being sick always puts me off from reading, ironically. I just feel too tired to pay attention and take notes, etc., but I know that if I read it without paying attention or at least jotting some thoughts down I'm probably going to just forget about it and reading that part will have been largely worthless since I don't remember anything from it. It also takes longer 'cause my mind keeps wandering off the page and I end up back-tracking to figure out what's going on.

So, yeah, reading while I'm sick doesn't work out. Moving on.

I'm not sick anymore. Thank heavens. Last week really did a number on me, as demonstrated on Friday when I completely slept through my voice lesson--at 6 pm. That was embarrassing. My email to my teacher that night was just pathetic. Sunday I was well enough to fill in for a friend of mine who leads music for the Primary. Oh, my, she is the luckiest woman on earth! No, leading in Primary is not that great. It can be fun, but the big kids are constantly seeking attention (or avoiding it) and getting the Sunbeams to pass the teddy bear in a game of musical hot potato is like trying to get them to hold still while you saw their legs off.

But then you get to go to nursery. Oh, my! What an AWESOME gig! Man, that is where I'm supposed to be! And the best part is, two of the girls were home sick that day! (Not that them being sick is good, it was just nice to have such a small class.) It was Madie and three boys. They sit on these little carpet squares the teachers pull out for them and just stare up at me like high schoolers who think they'll get As if they stay awake! The three littlest ones--Madie, Ezra, and Weston--all lit up when I pulled out little suns on popsicle sticks for them to hold while we sang Jesus Wants Me For A Sunbeam. Weston kept running up to me every time I'd pull something out of the bag and clap his hands together until I gave it to him. Hahahaha! I was cracking up! Even Ezra, who has had three hard weeks of nursery so far, calmed right down and smiled when singing time began. Oh my goodness, it made my week, that's for sure.

Speaking of little kids being cute:

Her foot looks huge in this picture. Well, actually, her feet are pretty big. For an 18-month old anyway. I'm planning on sending her to clown school.

And here's a little sumpin'-sumpin' I've been working on for a few days now. Part of me feels like it needs to be longer, but then every time I go to write more nothing sounds right. It all sounds like I'm trying to hard to lengthen it, so I guess this is it. I dedicate it to Tani, since she's always asking to read my stuff. Thanks, Tani! You're too sweet--I'm sure everyone else thinks that too. ;) (P.S. I hate, haaaaaaaate titling things. I'm so bad at it! If you have any suggestions let me know.)

Days pass slowly.

Weeks fly.

Time itself knows not what it does,

But tumbles down as so many beads

Off a broken necklace

Bouncing and scattering,

Then slowly spinning to their stops.

If I Hadn't Shelled Out $1300 at the DMV

I might have accidentally shelled out a healthy chunk on one of these--in fact, maybe ALL of these dresses. But I must say, this would be far more justified. They're pretty awesome.

I love the houndstooth. 

Mike said, "I wouldn't mind seeing you in that dress." How much would you not mind, Dearest?

I love this one! The cut is great!

This one's cute. I like the one with the red top even better, though. (It just wasn't downloading.)

Have you ever visited ShabbyApple?

Paintings I Love, Part II

Today deserves a post. Do you know why? Because (a) I have mostly cleaned up the entire apartment after the mess it was in last night, (b) I have finished shopping for the week and planned the menu with extremely low stress, and (c) the smell of chocolate shortbread wafts through the air and inspires me to write. In fact, after this I think I might keep working on the poem I started Sunday. That's how awesome this day is.

By way of paintings, here's a great one for you. It's an unfinished sketch by da Vinci, presumably meant to be turned into a painting, but never prepped or transferred for it. It was stored away and by what anyone can tell basically preserved itself. Thank heavens! It's one of my favorites--one I would love to have hanging in my house somewhere. It's entitled The Virgin and Child with St. Anne and the Infant St. John the Baptist.

For those of you who don't know who St. Anne is, you used to be in excellent company, but no longer since I looked it up. :) We don't know much about her except from apocryphal books. Anne was barren, as any good woman in the Bible is, and prayed to God to bless her to conceive. An angel appeared to her and told her God had heard her prayers and that she would conceive a child who would be known throughout the world. Anne vowed that whether the child was son or daughter, she would raise it unto the Lord. The child Anne bore was Mary, the mother of Jesus. (This makes her the great-aunt of John, just in case you missed that.)

I love the pose of the figures. They all strike me as being real and divine at the same time. But perhaps more than Mary and Jesus, I am drawn to Anne and John. They show devotion, concern, and love for Mary and Jesus that is palpable. I can almost hear Anne teaching her daughter as she gestures toward Heaven. Their faces are both beautiful, but Anne's is animated and engaged. John also, leans in toward his younger cousin with an expression that says, "Send me, I'll go." I love it. I just love it. 

I hope that wasn't too cheesy for anyone. I'm not really a sappy person, but this one really gets me.

Paintings I Love, Part I

A friend of mine just did a post on some of her favorite works of art. My comment was getting so ridiculously long I just decided to come over here and do my own art post, so here we go.

In my Russian Cultural class I took a couple years ago we spent some time on Russian art. There's a lot going on over there, I'll tell ya. Those Russians...

One of the pieces that has stayed with me since then is Ivan the Terrible Killing His Son by Ilya Repin. Here's the short version of the back story: the man we know as Ivan the Terrible was known by his people as Иван Грозный. That second word, groznei, doesn't exactly mean terrible in the modern sense. Synonyms for it might be awesome, awe-inspiring, or terrific. However, Ivan suffered from what we think was mercury poisoning--no one is quite sure--resulting in a mercurial disposition; in short, he was very beloved of his people and seen as a man who did incredible things for his country, but his mood was very quickly shifted when provoked. This became worse and eventually turned to paranoia as he aged.

One night Ivan was pacing his hallways and the wife of his son and heir passed in front of him in her night gown. He took this as an offense and hit her so hard it caused her to miscarry her baby within hours. His son was obviously angered about it and went into Ivan to take it up with him. Ivan was, again, enraged and lashed out at his son with the large staff he always carried and hit him on the temple. His son died a couple of days later, leaving as the only heir to the throne his incompetent and imbecilic brother. Repin's painting depicts Ivan and his son just moments after the strike. The fear and concern in Ivan's eyes make the painting as tragic as the story.

Source

Other works by Ilya Repin include Barge Haulers on the Volga--one I'm sure many of you have seen--also awesome, and Sadko, which I just think is a cool painting. You can find them all at the source link under the image above.

This post is already really long, so maybe I'll just break this up into a bit of a series. I'll keep mine to just paintings, as difficult as that may be. I'll ask Mike if he'd like to participate too! Let's just get a Blog Art Festival going! And we can all thank Jessica!

A Look at Us

Some reasons why I said yes:

We look dang good together. 

Exhibit A: Dressed up for...Conference?

 You make me laugh so incredibly hard!

Exhibit B: Bill and Barb Schwatzky

I figured you wouldn't annul the marriage after you heard all the stories...

Exhibit C: Hicky Eyes

Exhibit D: Tiger Fights #1 (Sam also went into detail.)

Besides, I like a man who can run faster than I can.

The rock helped too. ;) Thank you so much for asking me! 

The Nursery Report: Part 1

Madie isn't 18 months old yet, but we really wanted to try and get her into the nursery at church. Mostly for Mal and everyone in sunday school's sake. It's really hard for her to sit still in the adult class, she just wants to run around and often gets bored really easily. Luckily, we don't have a nazi for a nursery leader and they let Madie in a few weeks early. Here is the transcribed hand-written report from Connie Lee, nursery leader:

Madie was wonderful in class today. She loved the rocking chair and baby dolls. She also enjoyed the rocking horsie, puzzles, and snack time. What sign language does she know? We know many signs - so if we know which words she can sign we will use them with her. She is so delightful! We love having her in class! Love, Connie

When I picked her up from class, she was so into the activities that she really could have cared less that I was there. One of the nursery helpers said she was on the rocking chair for about 20 minutes (obsessed?). The primary music leader said that she was really getting into the songs too.

The thing about Madie is she loves to be around other kids and is very active. She is very extroverted, which is kind of crazy to notice at such a young age for her. Being the youngest in my family and this being my first kid, I really haven't been around a child on a daily basis for a long period of time. Just some Madie tidbits.

Madie's Playlist

I was just climbing into bed on Sunday night when Madie started crying. It's very rare for her to wake up in the middle of the night and when she does she often settles right back down without much from me or Mike. But after a few minutes she was still fussing and since I was wide awake, I figured I'd pop in to see if she was lying down or standing up (standing up = determined to get Mum's attention). When I walked in she was wide awake and immediately started chattering to me. I pulled her out of bed and decided I would see if she would let me rock her. Because we've always let Madie fall asleep on her own, rocking hasn't been a big hit in the past; she's either too busy to be bothered with sitting on your lap or too interested in the adornments on the chair to calm down to a nice mellowness. Ergo, I haven't given it a shot in some months. Sunday night though, was different.

I sat her on my lap facing me and she leaned her face against my chest and held her blankie. Then I got to do something I haven't done in a long, long time: rock a kiddie and sing lullabies. It is one of my favorite things to do. Madie made it even cuter by looking up at me whenever I finished a song and signing, "again." And to top it all off, periodically she would look up at me and bring her face as close to mine as she could and then make a kissing noise (her version of a kiss).

Want Madie's playlist? "Hallelujah," "Baby Mine," and "Somewhere over the Rainbow" are a good start.

Irish Spring

74 degrees in Livermore today. Definitely doesn't feel like February, even for here in sunny California! A typical winter includes a lot of rain. Sadly we haven't had nearly as much rain as we typically do during the winter months. I remember times when it has rained for a week straight, but we have hardly had any rain since the new year. Too bad, because the hills are so pretty in the winter and spring. I was talking to a friend recently who went to the San Jose Mission (17th century Spanish Missionary settlement) recently and they said that California used to be green all year around until the Spanish came. Apparently the wild grass here wasn't suitable for the Spanish cattle, so they seeded a ton of Spanish wild grass which was a lot heartier and dried out in the summer. Anyone that's been to California in the summer knows that the hills aren't green anymore. The Spanish wild grass has flourished here and has pretty much wiped out the original California grass. Point I'm trying to make is it would have been nice to have it green all year long!

The orange, Madies current favorite food. She could probably eat a whole box of clementines if you let her. First thing she does when I pull her out of bed is ask for an orange.

Lake Del Valle

As you can see, Madie really liked sitting on Mal's shoulders. On the way back we saw a man with a bloodhound. He was tossing a stick into a creek for the dog to fetch when we walked up to them. This dog was so fun to watch, it really made me want one! I had to keep telling myself, "Someday, someday."

What a day for a hike though. Madie absolutely loves being outside.

The 3 Ms and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Today has been...well, frankly I've sat here for quite some time thinking of how to describe it and nothing seems to be appropriate for a family blog.

Madie was cute enough when she first woke up but decided about an hour into the morning to make it a miserable one. She threw fits for two hours. Two. Hours. When we decided to head to the DMV she threw such a massive fit I told Mike I would just stay home (I was going to go to the mall, Mike was going to the DMV). As soon as I said it I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach: the last thing I wanted was to stay in an apartment that needed cleaning with a Mad Madie. After cleaning up a bit, I locked myself in the coat closet until Madie toddled off in a puzzled, silent search for me.

Hey, don't knock it. It works.

Shortly after letting myself out, Mike knocked on the door and said he left something. We were all noticeably more controlled--Mike had let off steam in the car, apparently--and he asked if we should try again. Madie went into her car seat without a hitch and we were all lulled into false and fragile security.

I left Mike at the DMV in Tracy and drove a couple minutes down the road to Marshall's. Let me tell you some things about myself you may have guessed but might not already know:

1. I don't like Tracy. It's dirty, miserable little town with almost no self-sustenance. It's a parasite on the back-end of the Bay and would be much better if it were just torn down and allowed to be wild.

2. I don't particularly like Marshall's. I've been in a couple and just never found anything I really liked, but I'm usually willing to give it a shot if it's been a while. I haven't been in this one, and I haven't been in any for a number of years.

3. I hate DMVs.

While I was shopping at Marshall's, I was delighted to find a white tanktop I could use as an undershirt--mine is becoming bizarrely thin at the top and I can't figure out why--I also found a couple of other items that caught my fancy, but before I could start making my way to the dressing room, Madie decided she wanted to throw another tantrum. She threw herself on the dirty floor and cried angrily at me for not letting her push the cart into the clothes racks. I stood there and looked at dressed. We finally agreed on her being carried, since pushing the cart wasn't an option, nor was sitting in it.

I told the little Filipina woman at the dressing rooms how many items I had and she showed me to a curtained room. When I stood Madie on the ground she flipped out. She cried the whole time I was trying things on--I ended up only trying two, it was that much of an ordeal--and at one point when she calmed down to take a breath I hear through the curtain the voice of the Filipina woman:

"You know why? You know why?" I finally realized she's trying to talk to me. I didn't answer.
"It's because you make her too accustomed to being carried at home." I thought of all sorts of quips, but decided it was best to pretend I hadn't heard anything. Madie started crying again and I started changing back into my clothes. Again, as I was preparing to get out of the stall she tisked me and suggested I feed the poor baby. On my way out, she took my clothes and caught me by the arm--this lady was determined--"You shouldn't carry her at home, you know?"

I thanked her for her profound parental wisdom and skipped happily away, realizing the answer to my tot's tantrums.

On the way home Mike announced the car couldn't be registered in California for less than two thousand dollars until we proved some tax thing or other--you can add "I hate taxes" to the list.

Now there's a fly circling my head. In my house. I hate those things.

But I love cooking and trying new things, and I love whoopie pies, so off I go to experiment. Let this be National Whoopie Pie Day. Please? For me?

See If You Can Keep Up

I played basketball last night. The first time in two months; it felt good to get back on the court. The only problem is, when I get home around 10:30 or so, I'm to riled up to go directly to sleep. Last night I did stay in bed despite my wide-awakeness, but I spent at least 40 minutes laying on my side thinking over just one topic that has confused me for about a year now. The argument was held between my creative cooking self and my analytical self:

CC: A pint's a pound the world around.
AS: But a pint is two cups. Cup is volume. Pound is weight.
CC: I don't quite see your point.
AS: Well, there's just no way that two cups of feathers is the same weight as two cups of lead.
CC: Well, you don't cook with feathers and lead, do you? So that analogy is very poor.
AS: Look, there is just no way a pint is a pound for everything.
CC: And yet, it is.


The thing is, my AS can't compete with that. A pint really is two cups every single time! When a recipe says a pint of cream, I measure out the store-bought pint and it comes to two cups! When I read the label on a chocolate chip bag it says in one place: Nt. wgt. 1 lb. In another place it says: This bag is two cups. It's like magic! I DON'T GET IT!

You can see why I was up for an hour last night, just lying there arguing it out with myself.

So, Madie has started making elephant noises while she swings her arm in front of her face. It's adorable. Possibly even more adorable is listening to her read to you. I'm posting the video on FB. Don't you worry. In the mean time, let me entertain you with pictures of her new stuff:

Mike and I just couldn't take the pain of her biting our fingers on the nails while we brushed her teeth with a finger brush, so we finally bought Madie a real toothbrush. You can't see it, but it's the cutest little lion I've ever seen. Unfortunately, she loves to use it as a teether, so getting it away from her is kind of a hassle.

Since it looks like we will be staying here longer than we thought--which is already longer than we planned--we decided to set up a little more permanently. We moved the loaned card table and chairs over to the "dining area" of the apartment and put Madie's booster over there as well. It's great because now she can feed herself--her booster tray is just too small for her to do that with unless it's chopped up pieces of something. At the table she feeds herself eggs, bananas, sandwiches,  and yogurt. Mmmmmm-Mmmm!

Here's a quick story for you entitled Poor Little Feet! We got some great hand-me-down shoes from Tiff's girls over Thanksgiving--they were just perfect! They fit well and they had soft rubber soles so they were easy to walk in. Not to mention adorable, as always. We got compliments almost every time she wore them, which was a lot since they were really her only shoes. By the time we got home from Maine for Christmas they were already getting a little tight, but I figured we could use them for a couple more weeks while I looked around for some decent ones. I couldn't find any! Can you believe that?! I didn't know where Tiff had bought those shoes until someone said asked me what brand they were. I told her and she said, "Oh! Those are from Target!" Awesome! I never really shop at Target, but there's one not far away so I went and looked in their baby isle--nothing but slippers. Finally, on Monday this week (weeks after initially searching) I went to put Madie's socks on her and noticed a little pink blister on each pinkie toe. :( I tossed the shoes (they were also getting pretty worn after all the kids they'd been through) and took her straight to Target. It hit me right then: not the baby section! They're in the SHOE section! (It shows I'm in denial about the fact that she's growing when I don't even look anywhere but the baby section for shoes.) We found these babies.

She is loving them.