What are You Still Doing Here?

I found out the other day that not everyone knows we've moved!

From now on, go here:

http://theinnerdoor.wordpress.com


See you there!!

Mama Leone Left a Note On the Door...

We're movin' out!!

I've found us a nicer place in a better neighborhood.

Click here to join me there, 'cause you should never argue with a crazy ma-ma-ma-ma-mama! You oughta know by now!

100 Things, Part the First..

Kizz and I were IMing yesterday about the "100 things about me" posts that people have attached to their blogs. Intrigued by the idea, I started a list a while back and am slightly embarrassed to say that I've not made it past item #60. It's possible that I'm not interesting enough to list 100 things about myself.

Anyway she posted a starter list of her own here, and she's inspired me to start putting mine up. I'll do it in ten-item increments once a week. Hopefully, that will apply just enough gentle pressure to get me to think of the last 40 things I need to hit 100....

Here they are, in no particular order (except #1 and #2, which are exactly where they're supposed to be....)

1. I love my husband.

2. My life finally felt right when I had my daughters. I came to this lifetime to be their mother.

3. I very nearly failed algebra in high school.

4. I must start every morning with a glass of Ovaltine.

5. I once thought I might like to grow up to be an archeologist.

6. I am mildly afraid of flying.

7. I fold my family’s underwear (my sister thinks this is hysterical).

8. I have at least four best friends. That fact doesn’t diminish the fierce love I have for each of them in any possible way.

9. I am a sympathetic puker (I literally passed out the last time my youngest threw up in my presence)

10. I think Ben and Jerry’s Phish Food may well be pint-sized bits of heaven.

Getting Into the Spirit

I'm in the process of getting all our holiday preparations underway. I've already started thinking about the menu (and about delegating dishes for willing guests to contribute), and Husband and I put every table we own (we own three, in case you were wondering) in the dining room to see if we could seat everyone who's expected for Christmas dinner (we can!). I've got a to-do list of things I don't want to forget to get done as December 25th gets closer and I feel more harried - cleaning the downstairs bathroom, cleaning the loft in anticipation of Beloved-Brother-In-Law's arrival, buying, washing and ironing table cloths, that sort of thing.


At least four of my christmas-themed CDs has come courtesy of Hallmark: James Taylor, Michael McDonald and two multi-artist collections. I went to iTunes the other day and bought a Charlie Brown Christmas album and Sarah McLachlan's holiday CD. Over the years, I've managed to collect most of the Very Special Christmas CDs, and have downloaded various classics from the likes of Burl Ives, Johnny Mathis and Frank Sinatra.

I have some favorite pieces. I love most of the Charlie Brown soundtrack, mostly because I have fond memories of watching the christmas special on television as a kid.




My appreciation of jazzy understatement is carried over in the Snowbound album by a group called Fourplay. I love pretty much everything that both Michael McDonald and James Taylor have ever done, so it's no big leap to think that their offerings of holiday music are among my favorites.



I haven't listened to the Sarah McLachlan CD all the way through yet, but the snippet of Song for a Winter's Night that I listened to while trying to decide whether to pony up the ten bucks for the download brought tears to my eyes.




My all-time favorite christmas song comes from Sting. He offered a version of Gabriel's Message to one of the Very Special Christmas CDs (I'm not sure which one, exactly), and I love it. It's essentially just his voice, layered back upon itself at least four times. I haven't figured out how to add audio to blog entries, or I'd post it for you. It really is stunning.

(Note: This is not an official Hot People post. Any similarity to a Hot People post is entirely coincidental.)

We're Not Early Risers...

I work at Tiny Community College in my hometown. The receptionist for the college is a perfectly lovely woman; we'll call her Ms. Moon. She is exceedingly warm and friendly, and I make it a point to stop and chat with her whenever I come to the main campus.

It turns out that Ms. Moon lives right down the street from me and has been passing by my house on her daily walks through the neighborhood, she tells me, "since before your house was even there!" (In case you were wondering, we moved in on Mother's Day weekend of 1992.

Now, Ms. Moon was delighted to find that *I* live in that house - she's been wondering who occupies it because she swears that she's never seen a living soul in or around the place. She's absolutely convinced that I'm fibbing when I tell her that we're home, practically all the time, and that there's no earthly reason that she shouldn't see signs of life when she walks by.

It was when we were discussing this point this morning when another professor walked by and overheard us. She chimed in with the fact that she was aware that Ms. Moon makes her daily perambulations at ungodly hours of the morning. "Don't you take your walks around five o'clock or so?" my colleague asked.

Well, DUH, Ms. Moon! THAT'S why you never see signs of life at my house when you walk by - there ARE NONE at five in the freaking morning!!

She Is Her Father's Daughter

Punkin' Pie's been working on a paper chain for the christmas tree for a few days now. This afternoon, my nephews were visiting, and this was overheard at the table where the kids were drawing:



"Punkin', your chain broke."

Punkin' investigates the damage and replies, "No, the chain didn't break. The glue failed."



Can you tell her daddy is an engineer?


I live for this stuff....

I LOVE This Commercial

I think this may be my favorite commercial (and a good thing, too, because it's on pretty much every time the Patriots' game breaks for ads). I love the positive attitude it has, and it makes me happy every time I see it.

(I also laugh every time the latte guy squeals like a girl, but that's just me...)

The Artist and the Art

I consider myself a writer.



I've never been published. I've never earned any money for my writing. In fact, I've spent a small fortune in pursuit of an education that would help me become a better writer.

I have no desire to write the great American novel, or a collection of poetry or even a short story in a magazine.

I've never submitted a piece of my writing for a competition or penned a letter to the editor.


I don't think any of these things are necessary, though, for me to claim the title of "writer" for myself.


I live a "writerly" life, if such a thing truly exists. I love language and exult in its eloquent use. I read every single day and am bereft without a book. I write every single day, whether it's a post on a blog, a thought or critique or response to something I've read or seen or heard, a note in my children's lunch boxes, or an email to a friend. I notice things, not so much in colors or scents or pictures, but in words. I compose in my head, turning the things I see or hear or touch or smell into language that I can use to share my experiences with others.


I am forever in an effort to put the ineffable into words.


I love a good story, whether it comes from my own experience or someone else's. I have learned - and continue to practice - the craft of taking the ordinary events in life and focusing in on them, highlighting specific moments or actions, and writing them in such a way that captures their essence, either for myself or for someone else. Some of the highest praise I've ever received for my writing has come from people who, after reading something I've written, have told me that they know exactly what I meant.

I don't have many creative outlets. I can't sing or paint or build things in any way that brings me any joy. I can write, though, and it is in writing that I find out who I am, what I think, and what is most important to me.


I am a writer.

World AIDS Day

Show your support in any way that you can.

End prejudice and work for education.

Remember those who came before.



*In memory of Jerry Huffman, beloved uncle