Halloween Time!

Greetings from Luigi, a Sock Hop girl, Pippi Longstocking, and a fairy princess!

Oh, and Uhura.

YouTube Tuesday: Move me

I'm not feeling particularly eloquent today, so I will let the video speak for itself.

It moved me.

Embedding has been disabled, so you have to go to the link.

Just click it. You'll be glad you did.

Practice Compassion - Narayan Krishnan

Little Monsters

No, I'm not calling all Lady Gaga fans. I'm talking about what I made for the kids. I've been on a Silhouette kick lately. I know, I got it for Christmas and I'm now just playing with it. In my defense, though, I was working up until the minute we were evacuated in March, then we were gone, and then we were back with a long, hot summer & 4 kids in the house. I've been learning the machine since they've been in school.

I love my Silhouette. I was surfing through the Silhouette Studio shop and stumbled upon an unfamiliar price. $1.29?? What? Images usually range from .50 cents to .99 cents. I looked closer and saw that it was a "kit". Ah, mine eyes hath been opened! No, I didn't buy the kit, but it gave me the idea. I drew monster bodies, hair, horns, eyes, noses, mouths, teeth, arms, tentacles and feet and had my magic machine cut them out for me. Can you imagine cutting out all those shapes? Blerg.

Yup.

Watch out. I actually decorated for Halloween.

The bats? Courtesy of my fine skillz on the Silhouette.
Have I mentioned how great it is?
(really, how many times do I have to mention it
before they send me free stuff?)

How is your eyesight? Have you checked it recently?

YouTube Tuesday: Thwarted

It's not like I'm already having a hard time blogging. Then Bahrain has to go and arbitrarily block a video. Why do I say arbitrary? Because we found that video on YouTube since we've been here in Bahrain. My girls have watched it as recently as August. It's not a great video; but I wanted to share it and I can't. It was the music video for the song "Step by Step" by ...... drumroll ...... New Kids on the Block. Yes, my girls are listening to a group that I listened to at their age. I was in 6th grade (same as Eliza) and 11 turning 12 years old (same as aforementioned daughter. yikes) My friend Tiffany lent me her brother's tape; I had to promise to be careful. I think I blasted the tape everysingleminute that I borrowed it. They were the *original* boy band. I had a NKOTB nightshirt; all the girls liked Jordan Knight, though Donny was #1 in my book.

Anyway, this video is the best I can access from this country. It's pretty recent; they did a reunion tour in Summer '10, I think? You know what Mairyn said about this recording? Their voices did not sound the same. Yeah, that's what happens after 20 years. Yikes again. But they still got the moves; that robot-like move they do at the beginning of the song? Swooned me 20 years ago on MTV, still swoons me now. I wish I could show you the original music video. It was hot; like white T-shirt & vest, acid washed jeans hot. H-A-W-T. If you're in the U.S., look it up. I'm sure it's not blocked there. ;-)



And in other news, I'm working on this song right now. I heart Ok Go.

"O" is for October

"O" is for 'October' and 'October' is for 'Order'!

That's what my mantra is for this month. I have made it through almost a month of school. (yipee) A rhythm of life is beginning to emerge. We're still getting some of the extra-curricular activities nailed down, but things are pretty smooth. For the Mama at home, some days I can hardly keep my head above water, and others I actually have time to myself! I have many interests, goals and hobbies. I actually have my own "space" in this house. The problem is that "my space" is a disaster.
It is: my office (i have my own desk & computer)
the sewing room
craft central
resting place of my guitar
and the last refuge of anything that doesn't have a place.

If you break this last year down we have: August to mid-November: get to Bahrain, wait for our stuff; Mid-November: get our household goods & start a new job the same week; Mid-March: Evacuate to the U.S.; End of June: Get back to Bahrain; July & August: Keep 4 kids & 2 adults sane through the sweltering heat of a Persian Gulf summer. Lo and behold, here we are, one year later!

I have had to "re-find" things because I forgot where I put things when I unpacked. And then we come to my office and there are things that really haven't been unpacked. I wish I could get over my pride and show you a picture of the disaster that is "my space", but I can't. I can say that I am sick of rifling through piles of bags & boxes. I can't do anything until this space gets whipped into shape. So that is my goal for October; order.

The Power of Zero

I like that my kids are old enough to get themselves basic snacks. I love making them food & goodies, but sometimes it's nice when they get themselves some crackers & cheese. They've all had to take my "Proper Use of a Microwave" course before they are allowed to use it unsupervised.

Anyway on Saturday, about mid-morning snack time, I'm in my room and Grant comes running in, "Um, Mommy? There's smoke coming from the microwave."

What the what?! I sprint to the kitchen and sure enough, the microwave is open and there is smoke billowing from inside. There isn't any actual fire, so the girls and I scramble to open doors, shut other doors and get the smoke OUT! While I'm windmilling a dishtowel in the direction of the door, I notice Grant is nowhere in sight. I call for him and he slinks into the kitchen. I asked him what happened. He said, "I think I put 'three-zero-zero' instead of just 'three-zero'. I told him he's not in trouble, just pay attention next time. I'm not one to throw stones, I've put various food items in for 'four-five-zero' instead of 'four-five', etc.

Is the cheese on bread done?