Pirate Ninja

Rad.

"How old you is?"

An unforgettable conversation with a 5-year-old Head Start boy:

Waiting for the children to line up after Story Hour at the library, children were looking at my necklace.

Me: "You like my necklace?"
Them: "OH yes."
"Do you know where I got it? I MADE it. Do you like to make things?"
"Yes."
5-year-old: "How old you is?"
Me: "Guess. I'm pretty old."
Him: "You is seven."
Me: "You're close. You going to make me something for my birthday? It's in the summer."
Him: "Turn to the side. Let me see your size."
I turn sideways one way, the other.  "Is that good? What are you going to make me?"
Him: "I'm going to make you a dress."
Me: "All right! I can't wait!"

Fantastic day as a Youth Librarian.

Dinner, Drinks, and Pictures of a Stranger's Birth Canal

Ahhh, date night in Hartsville. My loving husband took me to one of my favorite restaurants in the local area, Bow Thai. With severely limited choices of fresh veggies without animal fat added, this is truly a treat. After dinner we strolled over to the Midnight Rooster, my absolute favorite place to eat. The coffee shop/vegetarian/sushi joint was open late for live music, which we arrived with enough time to sit and order a drink before the show started. We were directly behind a couple in their 50's/60's who thought it was necessary to bring their laptop out to the live show. The woman felt the need to open the laptop and after letting it start up, a slide show began of all the personal family photos. Now, usually the people in a joint like this are plenty of entertainment for the preshow conversation, but we couldn't take our eyes off the slide show directly in front of us. In ~5-10 minutes, we learned how many children this woman has, how many grandchildren, and we actually witnessed one of her grandchildren be born. OH yes, gore, blood, and boobies. Mark and I were completely embarrassed for this woman but we couldn't tear our eyes off what we were seeing. From there it moved to family camping which included breast feeding. What kind of family is this that allows grandmothers unlimited access to the delivery room and full-frontal breast feeding photos?? It scares me slightly because I know my mother would love this kind of access. We couldn't help but laugh at what we were seeing. I wanted to put a stop to this but by now the band had started and conversation was not going to happen. I could just imagine yelling at the top of my lungs to a stranger, "I just saw your daughter's vagina...again. Can you please close your laptop?" So I decided to write her a little note. By the time this was finished, the daughter, whose breasts and vagina had been on display for nearly 10 minutes, walks up and slams the laptop closed. I didn't notice this but Mark was witness to it all. Nevertheless, what a memorable date night.

Our Words Have Power

Happy 30th

Birthday girls...how I love her. She reminds me of what it's like having real friends around again. I'm so proud of her and so thankful I have her. Once a year was too much time between visits. I will be seeing you more often, lovely Sara. More lavender cheese, please.

bike.

I dig my new ride. A gift for my 30th and grad school graduation. I think I probably asked for the same birthday present 20 years ago.

Ohio Snowstorms, library books, and "the damn satellite"

In less than an hour, my father has informed me that a storm is going to hit Ohio, covering the ground in 2" of ice and possible 8" of snow. He told me this today on my drive home from student teaching high school English at a local rural school. I looked through the long-leaf pine trees that flanked the two-lane road and took a deep breath of relief. I had no winter weather coming my way. I did not have to worry about walking around in snow pants and hiking boots for ten days or waiting out the freeze until the ground reappeared; No salt stains on my jeans or ice chunks in my doggie's tail.

My father stated that the television was down. (Important side note: my Dad is a journeyman carpenter whom I respect immensely. He recently was given a 50" television set after completing a job and he's as proud of it as the golden leg-lamp in A Christmas Story.) He then followed up with the fact that he's down to a couple of books to read and a snow and ice storm is about to hit. I thought, cool! What a great time to visit the library and pick up a couple of books. His response?

"I don't want to read a book, Morgan, I want the damn satellite fixed so I can watch my TV."

But of course.

Hunka, hunka...

I think it's quite fantastic to look over at the loving man next to me, have to catch my breath, and think to myself, "I'm married to that! Thank you, Jesus."

Cooking with Dog

I will not take credit for this found art...but you know who you are. And I thank you so much for sharing with me. I will spread the love. For your viewing pleasure:

Emailing my best three-year-old friend

My best friend's daughter has been a joy to see develop and grow. Since we moved away, I have been sending video and stills of myself, Mark and the animals--and she loves them. So now we've decided to email. It was too cute not to share:

"MoeMoe- I love you. my room. Um... I'm setting with daddy. Kitty is so good. I
miss you MoeMoe. I want to pet kitty. I love you MoeMoe & Mark.


Now we are finding all of the m's. So funny. We love you and wish we could pet
Kitty's soft squishy belly. This is so fun. We lov eyou"