tag lag

I'm late responding, but here goes my 8 very random facts. You already know the rules, but the rules say I have to post them here again so:

No obligation, but you've been "tagged." Read the info below and join in on the fun on your blog if you want:
1. Each tagged "player" starts with 8 random facts/habits about herself.
2. A tagged person must write a blog entry about her 8 things and post these rules.
3. At the end of the blog, the tagged person must include 8 people to get tagged, and list their names.
4. Leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

1. I'm addicted to q-tips. I don't smoke them, but I clean my ears about 4-5 times a day. That's an average 9 q-tips every 24 hours. Though I actually prefer the generic brand so let's say *cotton swabs.* Don't tell me this is an unhealthy habit because I know and don't care.
2. Coming up, I loved pickles (Kosher dill are the best.) My family and college roommates can attest to this. But since my pregnancy with Anna Kate, my cravings for them actually have gone away. I still really like them, but nothing like I used to.
   
3. I love lamps.
4. My favorite flavor is cherry, unless we're talking icees then it's Coke. i don't like blue raspberry anything.
   
5. I'm very particular about my writing instruments. When writing a letter, it must be a Sharpie extra-fine tip.
6. My dream job is to be the person on Trading Spaces that builds all the furniture.
7. I've never mown grass in my life.
8. I don't get the sudoku craze. I love word puzzles.
   

8+ I tend to procrastinate. (But I work well under pressure.)

8++ I sometimes break the rules and I'm not tagging anybody :)

vacation

greetings from ft. walton beach

slide show coming soon...

half of three scores and ten

Rafe, shown here with his "I hate to take pictures" face, turned 35 this weekend! For his b-day, we went to Dallas to see the Mavericks play the Jazz. He got to see his boy Paul Millsap, who now plays for Utah:

I got to see (live-in-action!) 7-foot German Maverick Dirk Nowitzki, soon to be MVP:

A great time was had by both. (Other celeb spottings included: Mark Cuban, Bill Bellamy, Joel McHale of The Soup, Raven Simone, and Brandon Routh of Superman Returns. You take what you can get.)

easter egg hunt (blah, blah, blah)

the easter mama brought them baskets (yes, that's what i told them)yay! paintbrushes!

the thrill of the hunt
she's happy here
elle and rhoda
my mom's azaleas
stopping to assess the situation...poor strategy, my childelle and egg
my boy Logan
baby girltrying to keep that sweater on...at least we didn't get snow like shannon

...and they must find something to cry about...
...both at the same time!

Oooh, I'm just like them. A whining, crying little girl with a complaining heart. And because I'm just like them, we've been butting heads like nobody's business. Especially the 6-year-old and me. I have so little patience with her right now, probably because I see myself in her over and over again and I can't stand it. So maybe pray for Anna Kate and her mother if we come to mind.

As for the blah, blah, blah, (a little a-hrefing for you AD fans) that's how I've felt the past few days. Generally discontented and blah. Ugh. Not exactly thrilled with the occupation I've been given. That's just the truth, folks. I have seen my utter selfishness in whole new lights and it hurts. I hate it. And joy just feels a bit elusive today. I've never been more aware that in every detail of my life, I am at the mercy of the One who made me. I love these two girls so much and lately I have not been the kind of mother I would hope for them...I want to love them as the ultimate Parent loves me. And I can't do it. Unless...
God, please help me...again have mercy....

I will lift up my eyes to the hills, from whence comes my help. My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not allow my foot to slip; He who keeps me will not slumber...The Lord is my keeper; the Lord is the shade on my right hand. The sun will not smite me by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will protect me from all evil; He will keep my soul. The Lord will guard my going out and my coming in from this time forth and forever.

This I call to mind, therefore I have hope. The Lord's lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is His faithfulness.And thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ... 2Cor 2:14

snapshots of the little boogers...march 07

experimenting with sponge rollers

I'm begging Elle to smile here...

typical...

Elle throwing gang signs?

AK's new friends, "Crystal" and "Diamond" (hehe)

Elle doesn't really like "callapitters"

Anna Kate loves 'em

Elle's warming up...

Letting the friends go a week later, after we acquired 10 or so...

Bad News about Crane Flies

I've heard it rumored that every Spring a specific insect will overpopulate for some reason, and an abnormal number of that one certain pest will start bugging around. Maybe my Tech friends remember the ladybug infestation in the dorms one year, then the stenchy cricket explosion the next? You couldn't walk across Centennial Plaza without getting cricket guts on your shoes and nausea from the smell. Well, this year it has to be the Mosquito Hawk. Maybe it's just me, but I host at least 20 of these visitors every day in my home. And apparently my little house guests keep sending word to their friends about the wonderful amenities at the My Last Name Hotel.

The things are getting on my nerves! They're big, dumb, and invading my space. To make matters worse, Elle is petrified of them. "Mama! I don't like those mosquita hops flying all around this house!" And that's what they do: flit all around this house, only to lay to rest (I'm sure it's all the hurried breeding they've done that's killed them) on my window sills, the overrun cemeteries that sit under my windows.

The good thing is they pose little challenge to their predators. They're super slow and kinda nervous. If they weren't so easy to catch and flush down the potty (or if I'm feeling merciful, throw outside) I'd surely be a bit intimidated.
I kid you not, there is one so close to me now, I can hear its stupid little wings flapping against the wall. Aaaaaaargh!!!!!

But! I'd always heard these clumsy things eat mosquitoes! Right! Haven't you? So, in hopes of assuring myself of this redemptive quality, which is a huge one if true!, I googled the mosquito hawk. Here's what I found over and over again:

What people often call "Mosquito-hawks" or "Mosquito-eaters" are actually Crane Flies. Crane flies are large tan-colored fragile flies with long legs. Contrary to popular myth, Crane flies do NOT prey on mosquitoes.

DANG! Now I just hate them!

..... I remember when I didn't mind the ol' crane fly. Seems like yesterday. I mean, they don't bite. They don't swarm around your head. And, back then, their *duh* quality was kind of endearing. And, of course, I thought they hawked mosquitoes. So, compared to all the other pests coming and going out my front door, I kinda liked the little boogers. Not no more.

If you're disappointed like I am, that not only is the mosquito hawk annoying but completely worthless, take heart: I have found satisfaction in a new sport you might also enjoy. It's called "sneak up on the mosquito hawk with your Dust Buster, turn it on, and watch the number of 'em in your house decrease by one." The bigger ones are fighters and sometimes escape the suction, but I'm getting good and they'd do better to just stay out of my way and outta my house!!!

my top five

Prospect Street, Gloucester, 1928

Hotel Room, 1931

Rooms by the Sea, 1951

Compartment C, Car 293, 1938

Early Sunday Morning, 1930Chop Suey, 1929

El Palacio, 1946

New York Movie, 1939

I never met an Edward Hopper I didn't like. Love, really. This is my top five. It's a loose five 'cause they're all so amazing...it's impossible to pick. This list almost does for me what my other top five does.

( But that is another subject. )

bittersweet chocolate stain

My weekend project was staining this rocker. (I say that like I have a project every weekend. Ha!) Six years ago when I left the office of Brian D. Basinger, D.D.S. to stay at home with Anna Kate, my boss and co-workers gave me this chair as a baby/going-away gift. It is very special to me for that reason and because, of course, it's where I rocked my girls when they were little. It was in the nursery with Anna Kate til she turned 2. Then, when she moved up, the rocker stayed put in the nursery for baby Elle to come along. But a few months ago, Elle's room got to be so full with toys and other junk that I decided it was time for the rocker to go. I could never really part with it, so I had to find another spot for it: the den. Not my choice of seating for that room, but we did need another chair in there so...I decided I'd stain it to better fit with the other furniture in there. I finally got around to it this weekend.

It was an emotional thing to do, taking the rocker out of the "nursery." Cause you know what that sounds like: sounds like not having any more babies. Rafe and I are content. We feel complete with our two girls. So we're not wanting to have any more children. Still, it's sad to know there will probably never be anymore tiny feet like Noel's, or miniature fists clenched around my index finger, or sweet feedings in the middle of the night with that stare into your face that tells you no one will ever be more in love with you... But, with the ones God has given us, how could we ever ask or want for more? That's how I feel right now.

So, anyway. About this staining business, I have some words of advice: don't skimp on the preparation process. I know, know, KNOW this, but I was really looking for a quick-fix, wanting to get away with not much effort. The rocker had never been stained, but did have a couple coats of polyurethane. But I found my lazy self barely sanding the thing, much less chemically stripping all the poly off, which I totally should have done. So with my fingers crossed, I went to work staining, somehow trusting it would work like it should, the chair magically absorbing the stain as if the wood were bare. Well, it didn't. I chose a stain called Rich Ebony, which I imagined would be very dark, almost black...like ebony or something. Instead, it ended up this chocolate color--not exactly what I wanted--but all in all, it's fine. Because it's still my special rocker.

And now we have more space in Elle's room for big kid stuff. A good thing. But I will miss using my chair for its once intended purpose.