She's quirky, that one

Juju: Mom, did you fart?

Me: No.

Juju: (laughing maniacally) I did!

Me: Gross!

Juju: It smells like tacos! (laughs so hard she falls off the bed)

A few days before:

Juju: (sinister sounding laugh) Mom? Did you see me fart?

Me: Yes, I saw you.

Juju: Farts! Aren't they beautiful?

Books

I have been doing an insane amount of reading! All this cold and inversion and being home for 5 days straight equals a lot of time to NOT GET OUT OF BED!



Book Report!



Good Girls Gone Bad by Jillian Medoff

Hated it!



Something Rising (Light and Swift) by Haven Kimmel

Pretty good. I had high expectations because A Girl Named Zippy was FANTASTIC! but this one was just ok.



The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd

Finished this yesterday. LOVED IT!



On deck for the next couple weeks:

The Handmaids Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Solace of Leaving Early by Haven Kimmel

Our Lady of the Forest by David Guterson

Sea Glass by Anita Shreve

Number 8

*sigh*

I'm going to take a bloggin' break for a while (I have been unofficially for about a week) and I will leave you with this:

A friend of my mom's posted this..I think it was somehow related to the election and John McCain has 7 houses or something stupid but the question was, "If you could own 7 houses where would they be?"

First...Right here. All alone.

Second...

I don't really like big houses but if I could pick one of them to be extra large it would be a cabin. A cabin with a creek just deep enough for sitting in a lawn chair in the middle, lots of hiking nearby, lots of snow in the winter and a mess-o-bedrooms with a bunch of bunk beds and a loooong dining table with 20 chairs, a huge kitchen for some group cooking/eating, a fire pit outside, a huge fireplace inside (damn efficiency, I want real wood and flames) a closet full of board games, a heated porch to hang your cold snowy clothes, a meadow that has wildflowers in the spring and maybe even a little garden (all practicality of upkeep aside).

Third...

Doesn't it just look FUN!?

I checked out a tree house in Mexico and it was so cool! The problem was that these houses were built in trees because of seasonal flooding. Not so much fun.

Fourth...

I would love a big 'ol creaky farmhouse that is maybe even a little creepy. It would need a barn for sure, with a hay loft, and a huge flower garden, a short fence covered in some kind of flowery vine, grass, trees maybe some chickens.

Fifth...

Pacific Heights neighborhood in San Francisco but only on a beautiful day with a little breeze, a lot of sunshine and a view across the bay as far as you can see. That was a perfect, perfect day that makes me hold a special little place for that neighborhood. Not to mention that it's full of beautiful houses!

Sixth...

and Seventh...

The most realistic and the one I want the very most...

A perfect craftsman bungalow in my very own hometown.

2 bedrooms, one bathroom, garage in the alley, front porch, wood floors, plenty of windows, small yard, walking distance to school. A girl can dream, right?

Lovin' Right Now

1. Making a couple things for Christmas from this book and this blog.
Making things used to be my favorite thing to do, but lately (my mom is a little horrified, I think) my "maker" is totally broken. I haven't even bought any pretty paper lately. Maybe it's coming back, slowly.

2. New books from the library.
I get so caught up in buying books that I forget that crazy little thing called borrowing.

3. Different ways to celebrate winter holidays.
Jodeen (yoga teacher at school) talked about Solstice today in my class. Saturday night I'm going to incorporate her idea into our little Solstice celebration. Isn't that what we're calling it, Jen? hehe

4. A stack of wool sweaters from the thrift store.
To felt and recycle into cute little things like this! Gotta get lots of things to do in the winter! This will be our first NO TV winter. Cross your fingers for us. This book is so adorable.

Browsing

I always like to take a little looksie at the blogs that other people read.

I finally got around to checking out the blogs that N*77 and The Dead Acorn read regularly and I came across this little gem:

Hmmm. I wonder if The Dead Acorn thinks this one is funny?

And on N*77:

Moping With Intent To Gawk said:

"Junior seemed nonplussed by the entire transition while Mom and I fretted through that first night, the walkie-talkie baby monitor action is something I'll have to get used to. Not sure if it allows me to rest assured knowing I'll hear the mayhem when it starts or if it just furthers the level of paranoia I'm already experiencing."

Ah, reading this brought back memories of that baby monitor paranoia.

Hey P77: It furthers the paranoia!

I remember the day that I made peace with it. I read in a book or magazine something like:

"Turn it off!!! No one I know owns a house so big that you can't hear your baby cry. Baby monitors are the devil!!"

Something like that. So I said goodbye to the monitor and voila! better sleep for me AND Juju! Apparently she didn't want me all up in her face every time she sniffed any more than I wanted to haul out of bed!

Quote Of The Week

"You're a teacher and a democrat. You can't say 'retard'.

-Joe O'Dell

Happy Birthday To You!

Dad,


Happy Birthday!


Love,

Your favorite kid
(That's me, right?)