days in the life of a
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January 2011
click here to read older January 2011 posts....
January 26, 2011
JANUARY ROBINS
When I started this blog/website two and a half years ago, I made the commitment to myself that I would post something new nearly every day. I figure that if people use a few of their valuable minutes to visit the website that they should not have their time wasted by not finding something to read when they get here.
Most days I have no problem at all coming up with some photos and/or commentary to fill a column. It may not be all that interesting or earthshaking, but I nearly always have SOMETHING to say.
But lately (I'm blaming it on SAD..."Seasonal Affective Disorder" caused by the long, dark,unending string of gloomy January days in Indiana...) I've been uninspired. Oh, I could post photos of the grandbabies every single day, but I don't want to steal Dana's thunder...they are HER children, after all, and she totally has posting priority. So I try to contain myself and find other things to write about as much as I can.
But, let's face it, contrary to what you all may believe, life around here is not all that newsworthy. I barely stick my nose outside when the weather is this yucky and even if I did, everything is still in its winter-hibernation state, just trying to survive until spring.
So I've struggled a little (I'm sure you've noticed...) since the holidays getting the creative juices flowing again. Blah, blah, blah.......
Yesterday as I was leaving the house, I randomly grabbed my camera and stuck it in the VeraCruz, hoping I might find something photo-worthy to capture...even though my daily plans were totally unpromising and uninspiring. I mean, how exciting can a morning of tennis and afternoon of car repairs really be?
Then as I was stopped at a traffic light in town yesterday, I noticed a flock of robins flying and flurrying around this tree. So I grabbed my Nikon out of the back seat and started snapping through the windshield.
The robins were feasting on the red berries from this tree and looked so bright and energetic against the white (blah!) sky and the stark branches.
God, in His mysterious and delightfully unexpected way, had surprised me with a splash of red beauty in the midst of January's dullness and made me smile as I sat in traffic on a slushy highway on a very hum-drum ordinary day...
...January robins!
January 27, 2011
SERVING UP SMILES, WITH A SIDE OF DROOL
Kim and I got our grandsons a '50's Diner for Christmas that is just adorable... a play kitchen that definitely has a masculine attitude.
Boys need to learn to cook too!
I should have totally staged this shot so I could show you an organized diner with the coffee pot percolating and everything in its place...but hey, this is real life with a VERY REAL almost-toddler and I don't think everything's been in its place since the moment we gave it to them.
One of the really cool things about the diner is that there are two sides to it, the cooking side and a dining booth side, so in theory two or even three children could play there together harmoniously and out of each other's way.
That, however, is only a theory and has yet to be proven true for more than 30 consecutive seconds....
My personal favorite feature of the diner is the little jukebox on the table that plays fun '50s tunes.
Kaden loves the music too, pressing the button and bopping around to the songs.
At first our little food-lover Kaden thought/hoped the french fries and hotdogs and ice cream were real!
The food may not be real, but you wouldn't visit our diner for the food.
This diner only serves up smiles...with a side of drool!
January 28, 2011
HAKUNA MATATA
As I was purging my closet, I came across a disposable waterproof camera that I had used but never developed.
Not sure what was on it, I took it to Walgreens and what a delightful surprise! As I began flipping through the photos I enjoyed a mini-vacation in my mind reliving a special adventure from our days in Zanzibar last March.
I shall set the scene for you...
After a fabulous but exhausting 2-week safari, Kim and I flew to the island of Zanzibar just off the east coast of Tanzania for a few days of tropical relaxation before flying back home. It was exotic and gorgeous and oh so very, very, VERY HOT!!!
We had booked 3 nights at a resort called Ras Nungwi on the northern tip of Zanzibar. There were very few guests there and we practically had the place to ourselves, and we thoroughly enjoyed doing nothing for two days. (I started to say "just chillin' ," but that would have been totally untrue because there was no "chillin' " to be done in Zanzibar!)
At the end of our stay, we thought it would be fun to do a romantic sunset dhow cruise on the Indian Ocean. We donned our swimsuits, stashed some tip money in a ziplock bag to keep it dry, and met our crew at the "dock."
This is where the waterproof camera comes into play. Captain Henry and his mate Songoro convinced me to entrust my Nikon to their "waterproof" case (inside the pink tub!) while Kim and I waded across sharp coral reefs through neck-high water to climb aboard the dhow.
I was understandably VERY LEERY about even taking along my nice camera, but they kept insisting, "hakuna matata"..."don't worry"... a phrase they repeated many times during the next 2 hours aboard this rickety handcarved sailboat.
As the waves began carrying the dhow away from the shore, Captain Henry...
...and Songoro hoisted the sail.
As I looked up, I thought for a moment that I was in the middle of a scene from Waterworld.
Waterworld minus Kevin Costner. (But I DID have Kimmie...does that count?...)
Capt. Henry was very cute, though.
Hakuna matata... every time I gasped when the dhow began a little too much rocking for me.
Hakuna matata... Songoro laughed at the crazy white American woman...
I took a lot more photos with my nice camera, which you can see from last year's post (if you want) by clicking here.
But it was beautiful and adventurous and peaceful and exotic and everything you'd expect sailing in a rugged dhow at sunset on the Indian Ocean.
Oh... did I mention how very very completely utterly DARK it quickly gets after the sun goes down on the Indian Ocean off the coast of an island with no lights and the crew just now mentioned that we'd have to SWIM back in to the dark shore because they can't bring the dhow in too close and risk hitting the coral reef???
Oh...and did I mention that NO WAY were we going to swim back to shore in the dark (I'm not even a good swimmer in a lighted pool, let alone in a dark powerful ocean!) and I told Captain Henry that we'd spend the night out on the dhow before I'd be swimming in the ocean in the dark???
Oh...and did I mention that he threw back his head and laughed and laughed and said...you guessed it... hakuna matata???
And Henry radioed his boss who came down and helped maneuver the dhow as close as possible into head-high water and the three of them walked us through the inky waves into shore and all was well.
The boss told us the next day how thrilled Henry and Songoro were with their $50 tips and they had treated all their friends to a good time at the local bar the night before. I can only guess that the subject of the wacky, 'fraidy-cat, white American couple may have been tossed around that bar in laughter a few times...
Whatever....
Hakuna matata!
January 29, 2011
SATURDAY SNAPSHOTS AND SNIPPETS
Let me just start this post out on a celebratory note...
IU WON!!! Not just any old game, but a big game...beating #21 Illinois on Thursday night.
Not that most of you will find that too exciting, but for our family it is HUGE! The past several seasons have been horrendous for the Hoosier nation, watching in disbelief as the storied basketball program disintegrated right before our very eyes, struggled under questionable coach choices, and finally right the boat with barely a skeleton left on which to begin rebuilding our beloved Indiana University basketball team.
But it's happening...and this week was a big turning point for the Hoosier faithful as we celebrated with the team the first big win of the NEW Hoosier dynasty.
Whoever was responsible for hiring Tom Crean as the coach really got it right!
I love this guy! Okay, maybe I don't "love" him...but he is such a class act and he has such a passion and heart for Indiana University basketball that's it's really hard to believe we're lucky enough to have nabbed him.
And he loves the fans who have patiently stood behind him and this team as they've gone through inevitable growing pains over these past three seasons. Kyler told us that after the exciting win on Thursday night, when any other coach would be celebrating with a few select people on the court or in the locker room, Tom Crean was out in the lobby with the ordinary fans, shaking their hands and chatting and high-fiving people as they were leaving.
That's the kind of coach he is, the kind of man Tom Crean is.
He is a CLASS ACT all the way...and he is leading IU basketball back into the national limelight.
It's about time...
Kim came in from the barn the other night and happily announced that there had been a big change in the weather.
When I questioned him, he answered, "It's warmed up to 33 degrees! It was only 23 this morning."
"Gloomy and 23 degrees" to "gloomy and 33 degrees" does NOT equal a big change to me.
Whoop-di-doo.
A big change, and one worth getting excited about, would be "sunny and 53."
Or, at this point, "SUNNY" would be a big change all by itself.
Maybe the sun is waiting for February to show its shiny face again...
Speaking of Kim...
He's into his never-ending midwinter job of pruning his fruit trees. Every single Saturday is spent climbing up and down the ladder, lopping off unwanted branches, dreaming of the trees being loaded down with apples and peaches and apricots and pears and cherries in a few months.
Crazy guy, he is!
Rascal and I have had words recently.
Okay...I have had a few words with Rascal.
Ever since he got his hair cut a couple of weeks ago, he's been (according to Dana) "cold" and "wants to snuggle."
Snuggle... in my covers!!!
Uh, no...the last thing I want to smell when I cuddle up at night on the couch under my cover is Rascal-odor.
So I had some strong words with him.
And, as you can see...I totally intimidated the poor puppy...
"Get off, Rascal!!!"
And that's all I've got...
That's the kind of week it's been around here, Blahsville all the way.
I don't even have a pretty sunset to show you. The days are gloomy...dawn-gloom becomes morning-gloom, then mid-day gloom, afternoon-gloom and dusk-gloom...and then it just gets dark.
So I'll leave you with one from way back at the beginning of January (the last time we really saw the sun, I think) ...
Tootles!
January 31, 2011
MAYA WRAP
Funny how trends come and go, and age-old ideas suddenly become "new" with another generation.
That's how it is with today's parenting trend of "babywearing."
More and more modern mamas are keeping their babies close by "wearing" them in a baby sling next to their bodies. It's nothing new...Native American mothers wore their babies in papooses and in Third World countries all over the globe women wear their babies in scarves and slings around their bodies.
But now the trendier, modernized parents in America are recognizing the benefits of what they are calling "babywearing," and baby slings and carriers are all the rage among new parents.
As you know, I always like to stay ahead of the trend curve (?), so when Karter was born I found the instructions for and made a Maya Wrap for Dana to use. In typical Terry-form, I bought enough fabric and rings not for one wrap but for several, since I thought at the time that every new mother I knew MUST have one.
Well, I had forgotten about the Maya Wrap supplies until my closet-purging day (it's amazing what one discovers doing that!), and I got all excited over the Maya Wrap again and decided to make one for the upcoming baby shower of my niece Leslie.
It's a very simple project...2 1/4 yards of a non-stretch strong cotton fabric that looks good on both sides (I used some batik-style fabric) and 2 3-inch very sturdy plastic rings.
A little hemming, some carefully stacked pleating on one end, a few strong seams through multiple layers of fabric, and you've got yourself a Maya Wrap.
This old Singer still sews absolutely beautiful seams! Mama had it before I was even born and I've had it on-loan from her for the 30 years I've been married. Very classic and basic, and I really do still love this old machine!
It's for babies up to 35 pounds, so even though Kaden is a little past this stage and would get pretty wiggly in a very short time, he loved modeling it for us with his mommy Dana.
There are several different ways to use the wrap from newborn to toddler, and I think it would be a wonderful alternative to hauling a stroller around.
But anyway, there you go...a Maya Wrap...a new twist on an ancient tradition. (I think it really is true that there is nothing new under the sun...)
