Thursday, December 30, 2004

.

"No man is an island,
Entire of itself.
Each is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
Each man's death diminishes me,
For I am involved in mankind.
Therefore, send not to know
For whom the bell tolls.
It tolls for thee.�


-John Donne

I've been feeling kind of helpless about the huge loss of human life from the massive tsunami that happened in Asia this past week. It's the kind of thing that makes you feel not only incredibly sad but also guilty for complaining about everyday annoyances. I'm going to donate to the Red Cross today because it's the only thing I can think of to do. The whole world came together to help Americans when we lost 3,000 people on 9/11. I can't even begin to wrap my head around a number like 100,000 lives lost so I feel like I have to do my part, even if it seems tiny.

Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Winter Blahs

I always get in a little funk after Christmas is over. I think it has something to do with the fact that I'm the type of person who loves having stuff to plan for and a million things to do and when all of a sudden it drops off and I have to go back to my normal schedule I get a little crabby. I suppose the fact that my kids have had the sickies for the past few days hasn't helped either. I always hear about people who get depressed or stressed out around the holidays and it never makes sense to me. It's the months after New Year's and before spring begins that always gets to me. November and December are always exciting with lots of things to look forward to and people to see but the January and February are filled with cold and blackish-grey slush and cold and dirty cars and cold and EVEN MORE COLD. It also still gets dark ridiculously early and there are no more Christmas tree lights in the house because I'm also the type of person who can't stand to see Chrismas lights after January 1st (much less all the way into February and March- seriously, I can understand not climbing up onto the roof in the bitter cold to take them down but WHY must you continue to turn them on people??)

Anyway, on Friday we are all heading up to Milwaukee for New Year's Eve. It's the first time in five years that we've gone anywhere on this day since Russ was so nice to invite our little munchkins to sleep over at his house as well. And because I've been thinking about stuff like this all week, here is my list of things I want to do and/or see in the coming year:

1. Go to New York City (where I will of course, attend a taping of The Daily Show)
2. Visit Washington D.C. with the girls. Not only have Jason and I never been there, but I think it would be great for Juliana to see as well. Plus, apparently we can go have coffee and doughnuts with Dick Durbin and Barrack Obama. Yippee!
3. Go back to Las Vegas. Because why wouldn't I wan't to?
4. Since something on my list has to be non-travel-related: Get back into a regular yoga routine. I've been doing lots of Pilates and aerobics lately but not enough stretching so I really want to work on getting my flexibility back. Plus, my dad gave me a stationary bike for Christmas. (Not that a bike will get my flexibility back but still, Yay!)
5. Work on organizing/scanning all of our mountains of old photographs and negatives. This is my last major obstacle on my way to organizational glory.
6. Repaint our bedroom.
7. Enjoy my girls every single day, even if Juliana is determined to make me crazy and Ava has a never-ending stream of boogers coming out of her nose because someday they won't be living in the same house as me and I won't have any boogers to wipe or any punishments to hand out.

Speaking of my girls, this list will have to be continued later. Duty calls.

Saturday, December 25, 2004

Merry Christmas Everyone

xmasmorning.jpg

sleepy.jpg

Now that the presents are opened, can we go back to sleep?

Thursday, December 23, 2004

A June Cleaver Moment

This afternoon, I am bringing Juliana and Ava to Aunt Shelly's house for a sleepover and Jason will be taking me out to dinner at Sullivan's Steakhouse in Chicago and then to the movie Ray. Because I won't have time to stop home and change inbetween dropping off the girls and meeting Jason downtown, I am sitting here in my black cocktail dress and heels at one o'clock in the afternoon. (We are leaving in just under an hour.) Also, since it's easiest for me to shower and dress while Ava is napping, I have been wearing this outfit since 11 AM, in which I vacuumed the living room rug, chopped vegetables for the veggie pizza appetizer I'm bringing to Christmas Eve dinner tomorrow, and made two batches of sugared pecans. I made sure to wear the handmade apron I got from my Grandma for Christmas a couple of years ago so I wouldn't spill any egg whites on my lovely dress. All I need is a strand of pearls and the"Leave it to Beaver" theme song playing in the background and I'm all set.

MARTHA STEWART EAT YOUR HEART OUT.

Monday, December 20, 2004

The Jokers I Spent Saturday Night With

The Lindens had their annual Christmas cocktail party this weekend. Here is some photgraphic evidence:



russ and julie
Russ and Julie with a stuffed monkey.

paul jordan
Paul

jenny jordan
Jenny. (We like to take pictures of other people taking pictures.)

tracey and jason at the lindens
Aww.

tracey and jason at the lindens
Having a good time.

jeff with monkey blanket
Jeff enjoying the monkey baby blanket we got for him and Kim.

I'm kicking myself for not getting a photo of Kim since she is the happiest, most rosy-cheeked pregnant woman I've seen in quite a while. Grrr!

Thursday, December 16, 2004

Tuesday, December 14, 2004

Viggo.

viggo.jpg

I'm going to go buy the Return of the King extended dvd this afternoon. Life is good.

Sunday, December 12, 2004

Birthday Girl

birthday_girl.jpg


opening presents

Opening presents...

pooh

Everyone loves Winnie the Pooh

:-)

Love is patient; love is kind
and envies no one.
Love is never boastful, nor conceited, nor rude;
never selfish, not quick to take offense.
There is nothing love cannot face;
there is no limit to its faith,
its hope, and endurance.
In a word, there are three things
that last forever: faith, hope, and love;
but the greatest of them all is love.

~ 1 Corinthians 13 ~

Friday, December 10, 2004

Christmas Eve, 1998

christmas1998.jpg

This photo of me and Jason was taken six years ago on Christmas Eve at his parents house. The funny look on our faces is probably a result of having to keep the secret that Jason's sister Michelle was pregnant with our niece Bailee at the time. When she finally told everyone the next day, we proceeded to give the worst fake surprised reaction ever. You should have been there. Anyway, I thought this picture was amusing because Jason had such a skinny head back then and I'm so very thankful that he has abandoned the goatee look now. THANK YOU!

Lots of stuff going on this weekend. We're preparing for Ava's first birthday on Sunday and I have some music editing for Juan to do. He should be coming out to Ava's party too so YAY! I got to go to his company's rehearsal on Thursday and I'm so happy that he is making good work. I have a lot of things on my mind but I just haven't had the time for a detailed post- plus I've been trying to have a positive attitude lately and not let all the things I read about get to me too much. (For instance, Ann Coulter claiming that Canada should be grateful that we "let" them live on the same continent as us. WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS WOMAN? I can't figure out if she says the things she does to get publicity or if she really truly is just a sad, sad excuse for a person.)

Thursday, December 9, 2004

Acceptance is Controversial

There is a really interesting ad put out by the United Church of Christ that some networks are refusing to air. Since you probably won't see it on your tv, you can watch it here. I think it has a great message.

Sunday, December 5, 2004

Reason #187 Why I Love My Best Friend:

Because she drove from Milwaukee to my house on a Saturday night to watch my four-year-old and one-year-old (along with her own almost-four-year-old) so Jason and I could attend a wedding reception where we drank wine, danced to Elvis, and hung out with my eighth-grade math teacher reminiscing about 1992. Oh and did I mention that I got Jason to dance with me in public? And that I got to talk to one of my most favorite teachers ever- who actually remembered me after 12 years and who I'm apparently slightly related to? Ok, I guess I did, but I just had SUCH A GREAT TIME LAST NIGHT and I wouldn't have been able to go if it weren't for Steph. Plus, today she offered to change a poopy diaper even after she had spent her entire Saturday night with three girls whose combined age barely equals a third of hers. (I didn't really mean for that to sound like she is totally old, but I guess it did. Sorry!) Anyway, what more could you possibly ask for?

Thursday, December 2, 2004

"Sing of Good Things Not Bad, Sing of Happy Not Sad..."

After talking with Steph the other day about feeling the need to do something creative, I finally took a look at the Garage Band software on Jason's computer and recorded a couple of songs on my guitar. It's been so long since I've even tried to play anything, but I really miss singing so I thought I'd give it a try- even if the only people who ever hear it live in this house. I could practice more, but it's singing that I love to do more than playing the guitar. I guess I need someone to play for me! Or I could practice. Yeah. It's probably the dancer in me that likes to think of my actual body as the instrument rather than other extraneous objects. Around this time of year I tend to listen to more choral music and it makes me miss when I used to sing in the A Cappella and Madrigal choirs in high school. The music is so beautiful and I really enjoyed the challenge of learning a new piece. So I guess my point is that I like music and I should make it more, in whatever form it may take.