Locks of Love

Deborah has been growing her hair out for a long time now so she could donate it to Locks of Love. This organization takes hair donations to make wigs for children who have lost their hair. It's a really wonderful organization and when her hair started getting long, she decided to grow it out longer so she could donate it for a wig. Yesterday while she was visiting my parents, she finally got it cut by my old stylist.

I think her new do is absolutely adorable and I'm so proud of her willingness to cut off more than ten inches of hair to give it to someone who has none. I've posted a couple of pictures that my mom sent me. Go Deborah!!!

Musical Monday

I know I'm a day late, but I missed it last week and I didn't want to miss another one. So it's a Tuesday installment of a Musical Monday.

When we took the kids up to Mom & Dad's on Sunday, I had a chance to visit with my best friend from high school. We grabbed a coffee at a local grocery store and just had a chance to shoot the breeze for a little while. Nothing major going on, just a couple of friends enjoying a cuppa while catching up on life.

I think these moments are so important. Certainly the big events are always fun. I love getting to "do stuff." But there is a niceness to being able to enjoy simple things like a cup of regular coffee in a grocery store or a night at home with your spouse or playing a game of Monopoly with your kids. Things that aren't particularly special on their own, but are a joy when you're able to do them with people that you love.

Today's song reminds me of that. Something that alone isn't anything very memorable or important in the grand scheme of things, but has its own innate beauty. Enjoy Nightswimming by R.E.M.

Nightswimming deserves a quiet night.

The photograph on the dashboard, taken years ago,

Turned around backwards so the windshield shows.

Every streetlight reveals the picture in reverse.

Still, it's so much clearer.

I forgot my shirt at the water's edge.

The moon is low tonight.

Nightswimming deserves a quiet night.

I'm not sure all these people understand.

It's not like years ago,

The fear of getting caught,

Of recklessness and water.

They cannot see me naked.

These things, they go away,

Replaced by everyday.

Nightswimming, remembering that night.

September's coming soon.

I'm pining for the moon.

And what if there were two

Side by side in orbit

Around the fairest sun?

That bright, tight forever drum

Could not describe nightswimming.

You, I thought I knew you.

You I cannot judge.

You, I thought you knew me,

This one laughing quietly underneath my breath.

Nightswimming.

The photograph reflects,

Every streetlight a reminder.

Nightswimming deserves a quiet night, deserves a quiet night.

Vacation One

Okay, so the next two weeks I'm not really going anywhere, but the children are all going to my parents' to visit. So from tomorrow through July 25, Jason and I have the house to ourselves. We're hoping to use this as an opportunity to get some cleaning done in our (very scary) basement. The (very scary) basement is in great disarray and has needed a good cleaning for about two years, so we're hoping to make some serious headway.

We're also hoping to catch a couple of grown up movies. I really want to see the new Batman movie and even though Rotten Tomatoes gives Hancock lousy reviews, I kind of want to see that one too. The new X-Files movie doesn't come out until the kids are home, so we may have to hire a babysitter for that one. Of course, I'm pretty sure that we've already seen the best movie of the summer -- twice even! If you haven't made it out to see Wall-E yet, get your rear to the theaters to see this one. It is absolutely one of the best movies I've seen in a long time.

Beyond that, I'm just looking forward to some quality alone time with hubby. We haven't had a night alone for a while now, so twelve days without the young 'uns will be a much welcomed break. Even though we'll both be working some, it's going to be so nice to have our evenings totally free. I'm sure I'll check in occasionally, but I wouldn't count on very many posts in the next two weeks!

Where was that again?

Today in KidZone, we were studying Daniel (oh, and the slinkies were a huge hit!).

The storyteller was asking the kids where Daniel was. He said it wasn't a very nice place. The answer from one of the little sweeties?

Ohio.

The Great Slinky Run of '08

Tomorrow for the kids they're talking about Daniel as a part of a superheroes theme (his superpower is confidence). Since we're talking about him, I decided to sing Lions with the kids. It's also called The Slinky Song in some circles, because Mike & Geo added some slinky riffs to it at some point.

So I'm thinking, "Okay, I need to get a couple of slinkies so the kids can participate during the song." No biggie. I know you can't find the good, big metal Slinkies any more, but I knew that they sold the smaller ones around here. I decided I'd run to the bottom of the hill to the Family Dollar to get a couple, since last time I was there they had 4 or 5. Even if they didn't have that many, I figured I'd at least be able to find one for Jason to use with me.

I got to the store and they didn't have any. Weird, since they recently had many, but okay. So I drove over to Big Lots. They have everything and again, I know I've seen metal slinkies there in the past. Couldn't find any, talked to a clerk -- nope, sold out.

I walk across the street to the Dollar General (sister to Family Dollar). Still no Slinkies.

Jason finally had to go to (grrrr) WalMart to find some. What I want to know is what all of the people of Fairmont needed with the Slinkies in our town???

Five Things

I got tagged in another blog that I just happened upon today after browsing through some comments. So here goes!

1. What were you doing ten years ago?
Hmmmm... I think we maybe went to visit my parents with Deborah for the Fourth of July. That or traveled down here to WV to visit Jason's family. Either way, I'm pretty sure we were headed somewhere with a relative newborn.

2.Name five things on today's "to do" list:
a. figure out how to make s'mores inside
b. go see Wall-E again because it's raining (and plus that movie is teh roxxors!)
c. learn the songs for next Thursday's Kid Stuff
d. make my bed (oops!)
e. call a friend

3.Things I'd do if I was a Billionaire: Probably blow it all on eBay. But I hope I'd give a lot of it away.

4.Three Bad Habits: ice cream, wasting time on facebook, too critical

5.Five places I've lived: Fairmont, WV, Lakewood, OH, Saxonburg, PA, Slippery Rock, PA, Sarver, PA

6.Five jobs I've had: Dairy Queen manager, race track pizza girl, Comcast customer service, church organist, college choir music filer

7..Five People I'm Tagging:
John, Chuck, Tina, Robin & An

Wii-vangelist

I was looking through some old posts and I can't believe I haven't blogged about my Wii at all!!!

Let me just say, this is the most fun ever. Jason found one right before Mother's day and bought it for our family along with a copy of Zelda: Twilight Princess for me (I heart Zelda games). O.M.G.

We have such a blast playing this thing. We only have a few games, but the game that just comes with the system is absolutely wonderful. We have so much fun. You're able to create a little avatar of yourself called a Mii. It's totally fantastic to sit down after the kids have gone to bed, pop in the boxing game and Jason and I can just beat the snot out of each other. We're thinking of creating Miis of people who annoy us and playing against them whenever we have a particularly bad day. It's very cathartic.

I know that there are far more sophisticated game systems out there, but honestly, with a family, I can't recommend the Wii enough. It's very kid-friendly, and the remote (or wii-mote) is totally smart. Plus, we've been able to download some old-time Nintendo games and play them. I'm able to play Super Mario Bros. again -- something I haven't done since sitting with my college roommates! We're hoping to get a WiiFit soon, as it's received really strong reviews and we figure that if working out is a video game, that can only be good!

If you can get your hands on one, check it out.