Haven't blogged in awhile... to be honest my whole internet surfing activity in general has decreased... trying to spend more time amongst the non-virtual aspects of life I guess.

So, fall is coming.

My favorite season! Always lulls me into a contemplative state of sorts for some reason. Maybe it's all the pretty colors.

:-)

The concept of "appreciation" has been circling my mind lately. I think that, in my life, I'm often not really appreciative of what I have at any given moment, but rather I dwell on what I feel I lack.

I think that's a pretty sad way to be. So, in the spirit of the changing colors of the leaves, I'd like to change this about myself.

It's a work in progress. But right now I deeply appreciate the abiltity to share this with whoever happens to stumble here.

Have a great day!

Happy 4th of July!!

May you eat lots of delicious barbequed foods, drink buckets of beer and be dazzled by beautiful colorful explosions of lights in the sky.

My twins are 9 today... ok, well technically today and tomorrow as they're 15 minutes apart but born just on either side of midnight... but, I suppose it's accurate enough to say, they're 9 today! We celebrated by having 11 9 year olds run around our tiny apartment for 4 hours yesterday. Surprisingly the place is still standing. And the newly filled in holes in the walls are still covered. Will wonders never cease?

And I'm just amazed at how fast the time has gone (and is going) by.

Time is weird. It's flow feels so erratic and subjective. I think, having kids, watching them grow, puts a whole different perspective on it.

And in other news, I finished my first term of massage school...one step closer to my dream career... So, yay.

No shameless plug intended (of course) but my birthday's coming up, and my husband got me the best present ever! A ride in a hot air balloon. Oh my goodness! It was so magical! I don't even know what to say about it. It was absolutely amazing. The whole thing was like a dream. He took me to a bed and breakfast in New Hampshire (this, I thought was my present, which, trust me, would have been enough!) My sister offered to watch the kids, and I thought to myself, wow a whole night's sleep, what could be better than that?... To my (at the time) dismay, he told me we'd have to wake up very early for a big surprise. I was none to happy. I said, "unless you're taking me to the moon, I'd rather sleep." Little did I know what he had in mind... So reluctantly I woke up at 4:00 in the morning to go on this mysterious adventure...

But it was so worth it! I've always dreamt of being in a hot air balloon! It always seemed like one of those fanciful things that are nice to day dream about, but you know in the back of your mind will never actually happen.

But it did!

I saw the sun rise from 4,200 feet in the air! And we landed in some guys front yard. It was all just so incredible.

If I ever learn how, I'll post pictures.

Or, there are holes in the walls...

So, we're in the midst (good word) of a huge plumbing project which means that we have very large gaping holes in all of the walls and ceilings of our apartment. I'm finding this extremely disconcerting. I know the walls aren't really *solid* but I like to pretend they are. Now that everything is all exposed and I have flakes of plaster everywhere...I know better.

Hmmmm... I guess delusions are nice sometimes.

Ok, so we did it. We got a cat! For real this time, not just babysitting someone elses. :-)

She's a big (I mean big, You pick her up and automatically make that "ooof" sound) old (6) sweetheart! The first day the baby chased her all around the apartment, tugged at her whiskers and stepped on her tail. She hid for the next 3 days. She's just begun (day 4) to come out of hiding now and then.

I really really love adding a cat to our family dynamic!

I would have posted the title in colors if only I knew how...

We're in the process of painting our kitchen a bright sunny yellow. (And by we, I mean my husband and my twins) The baby and I are "supervising" :-)

It's looking great. Very cheerful!

So, our room (me, hubby and baby) is teal, the twins room is purple, the kitchen is yellow.... Now I need to think of a color for the living room.

I suggested painting the celieng sky blue, with a bright yellow sun in the middle, and a big rainbow on the walls, but my husband didn't go for it.

So...I'm thinking maybe a nice bright orange...

Anyway, I love colors.

Just wanted to share. :-)

Well, he's back!

And the ship stayed, more or less, afloat. Thanks for all the navigation help all. :-) My nautical friends. Ok... enough with the boat metaphors?

never.

But now I really want a sailboat!

A few minor casualties...

The Wii stopped working (husband fixed it)

The diaper genie broke (if you're not familiar with these things, you're better off. ;-))

A cabinet door fell off it's hinges

The garbage disposal isn't working

But all in all, things went pretty well.

I think he's happy to be with us, but sad to not be in the land down under anymore. He really fell in love with the Aussie ways. :-)

Ok, my husband is on his way to Australia....

This will be the first time, really since I've known him, that we'll be apart for so long... I know it's only 2 weeks...but he has a very heavy hand in keeping this ship running (somewhat) ship shape... so... here's hoping we don't get lost at sea without our co-captain.

:-)

But hey, I have all of you lovely people who occasionally glance at my meandering blatherings here, so what am I worried about.

You all can steer a vessel such as this one, can't you?

;-)

So we recently got a cat! Well, not really... we're cat-sitting for my brother for a month while he's home from school...

I cannot tell you how much fun it is to have a cat and a baby. But I'm going to try. :-)

It's great!!

Some of their favorite activities:

-the baby crawls around chasing the cat, who darts away as soon as the baby gets within touching distance.

-the cat jumps in the play pen with the baby, then quickly jumps back out again

-the baby drops cherios from her highchair, which the cat bats around the floorthen chases after them.

The baby is fascinated with the cat. The cat is wary of the baby... But today we made great strides. The cat allowed the baby to pat her for a full two seconds while she sat in my lap.

I'm not looking forward to giving this cat back in a month!

A young man, his head filled with questions, "Who am I?" "Why am I here" "What is my purpose"

These questions kept him awake at night.

He decided to seek out the wisest person in his town... after much investigation he found out that person worked at a nearby inn.

He went to that inn and said to the owner, "I have heard that you are wisest man in town... Please tell me, who am I? Why am I here? What is the meaning of life... Please, tell me, what is your secret!"

The innkeeper looked into the eyes of the young man.

"When the dishes are dirty, I clean them. I pay extra special attention to making sure not a crumb of food remains on them."

The young man stared, waiting for more. But the innkeeper was silent.

"That's it?" He asked, incredulously.

"That's it." The inkeeper said.

And so, I think, sometimes... It really is that simple.

When the dishes are dirty, wash them.

Taking yourself out of the picture could be the big secret to finding out who you really are.

eh, just some random musings from a sleep deprived brain.

:-)

Am I doing all that I can, while I'm here... This isa question that haunts me. I think, the greatest tragedy in life is wasting your time. Time is all we have. And it's everything we have. We need to make the most of it. Do I sound preachy? Well, it's nice to have a pulpit. :-)

I don't want to miss any opportunities...I want to live my life to the fullest...

That's a big statement in a few words.... and it's easy to say.

Hard to do.

But I keep on trying.

So...

Ok...

I guess that's it for now. :-) Grab life by the horns and hold on tight. And enjoy the ride. :-)

I now return you to your regularly scheduled programming. ;-)

I was walking down the street today. I had just picked my kids up from school and we were on our way to the dentist's office when we saw this full grown turkey walking towards us on the sidewalk. It was one of those "rub your eyes and make sure you're really seeing what you think you're seeing" moments. So, after rubbing my eyes and verifying that the turkey was in fact there, we stopped to watch it saunter (or perhaps it was ambling?) past us and make it's way to wherever it was going. It was one of those random moments that for me, makes life so enjoyable.

Then to top that off, on our way home, we saw a man who had tied a rope about 4 feet (my non U.S friends will have to translate that into meters) off the ground between two trees and was using it as a tightrope. I guess he was practicing for the circus.

Anyway, life is full of surprises. :-)

Which is better? Unquestioning belief, or critical analysis?

Ok, taking into a account that this is a global community, some of you may not be familar with the latest U.S congressional scandal... Senator Larry Craig was arrested for "lewd conduct" at a Minneapolis airport restroom stall...

Now, what has me upset are a couple of things... None of which are the fact that Craig is apparently gay or gay-ish...

What upsets me about all this is, first of all, here is a man who has campaigned adamently against gay rights. He has worked very hard to see that gays are not given equal rights...

And secondly, what really has my panties in a bunch, is that there are actually right wing folks who think that when people like me, bring up this hypocrisy, that we are being anti gay.

Forgive me for shelling out an old and tired expression... But, if I had a nickel for every self righteous, conservative, family values, anti gay church going man who turns out to be gay himself...

I'd be rich.

so...

What's the problem?

Here's my thinking (and it's kind of circular, but this is as far as I've gotten)

Society... (at least American society)... makes it very hard to be openly gay So... many people stay in the closet... They're filled with self loathing which often causes them to be outwardly anti gay.

Ok... But what is "society"... It's us. And what causes society to be so anti gay?

People like Senator Craig.

So...

What's the fix?

Seems I was kicked back to a level 1.

I can't help but get the feeling that someone in the powers that be here does not like me.

:-(

Why, oh why, won't you let me climb up the great tv.com tree and swing from your branches?

*starts climbing again, slowly, slowly*

Ok, I'm sorry to do it, but I'm going to get a little bit political on you guys for a moment....

This whole Gonzales resignation thing has really gotten me thinking. Why is everybody in Bush's inner circle jumping ship? Why now? Is it because they know that some **** (I hope I can swear here without getting modded) is about to come to light...Is it self preservation (or an attempt at so), or something else. Rove's resignation I found particularly peculiar... He's a crafty S.O.B... I wouldn't put it past him to jump off Bush's sinking ship onto one that seems more seaworthy... the next G.O.P candidate perhaps?

Anyway, all these people who have been so... ummmm.... determined to "stand by their man"... suddenly can't get away from him fast enough.

What's going on?

I realize that this is a global community and I'm sorry if my political rant seems a bit... america-centric.

Unfortunately, American politics have had a huge impact on the world as of late though.

P.S... well, apparently we cannot swear here. Ooops.

Ok, so I'm 3% points away from "graduating" to a level 2... So I'm making a shameless blog in order to (hopefully) boost my points up a bit.

Pretty awful eh?

So, here's a weird thing... I'm lactose intollerant, but I can eat creamcheese and goat cheese. I guess the world works in mysterious ways. :-)

What else can I ramble about?

I had a weird dream last night... I dreamt that I had signed up for a myspace account (I'm probably one of the last people on earth who doesn't yet have one) and instead of it being a computer thing it was a membership to this cafe... and Zach Braff was there and he wanted to be my friend.

Silly huh?

Oh.. and my cat's breath smells like cat food.

(disclaimer... I don't actually have a cat)

Well, I just got back from a camping trip and I have to say that I feel great! There's something about being surrounded by trees and fresh air that just... invigorates my soul. Even the baby loved it. She slept better in just blankets on the floor of a tent than she does in her crib. Go figure.

The only drawback was it was a lot colder than I anticipated...and the people in the tent behind ours snored really loudly..So, I spent most of the night shivering and dreaming of buzz saws. ;-)

Still, it was a good trip.