7 RANDOM CRUMBS ABOUT THIS CUPCAKE

A meme. From the lovely Schmutzie. (I'm more than a little embarrassed to say how flattered I was that she picked me. I'm sure it doesn't mean what I think it means. What I hope it means. She, like a lot of innocent victims, was probably wooed by my incredibly sexy avatar. Which can be seen here.)

Anyway, the rules of the game are:
- Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
- Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
- Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
- Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Let's hit it!

1. My best friend has been my best friend since we were both 12. Which she likes to say has been 15 years. I like to say, "How old do you think you are?" It's been 24 years.

2. My idea of the worst job in the world would be working in one of those tiny box perfume shops. The only thing worse than a rotten smell surrounding my head is a cloud of various perfume smells. I've been known to get nauseous and head achy from strongly scented candles.

3. I was vegetarian for a stretch. I resolved to eat meat again on New Years Day, 1995. I have successfully kept that resolution ever since. The hardest part of going veg for me was not having gravy. There is no good veggie substitute for sausage gravy. On biscuits. With Bacon.

4. My first baby came via c-section. The next one was a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean). I had epidurals with both. I waited to go into labor on my own with the first (11 days late) and induced with the second (10 days early). And also, when my daughter (the first one) was born she weighed 11 lbs., 1 oz. **I share this fact with anyone who stands still long enough for me to get the words out. Cause eleven pounds is a fucking lot when it is trapped inside your belly skin.**

5. The summer I was 8, when I lived in Glen Burnie, Maryland, a group of churchy teenagers drove through our neighborhood dressed as Star Wars characters in a big churchy bus. Luke and Leia and Chewie and Darth hopped out and gave us fliers for the vacation bible school at their church. So I went.

6. I worry about books that aren't being read. I believe that a book only has a life if it is being read. Library books are the luckiest of all the books. And I don't just say that because I am married to a sexy librarian.

7. My favorite thing in the whole, entire world is the silky end of of the blanket. Which makes me borderline mental.

When I asked Rube, "What's weird about me?" he said, "You watch dead people." But I already told you guys that. Geeze, hate it when I piss away the good stuff the day before Schmutzie tags me for a cool little meme.

And now a word from...

Mominitup (who has the same MIL as I do, though we've never met)
Badger, famous for her wit and culinary delights
Slurping Life's Melody
Rose at Kikarose, also a Californian
A lovely woman known only to me as Dapoppins
And representing the Testosterone Tribe:
My new friend Chuck
And my longtime friend and former coworker Adam

Thanks to you all!

ALL HAPPINESS DEPENDS ON A LEISURELY BREAKFAST

The kids and I had our first regular sit down breakfast of the school year. I made strawberry banana pancakes. (We ate them with some of the marionberry syrup that our lovely neighbors brought to us from their family trip to Oregon this summer. Yum!)

Making breakfast for my kids is one of the routines that I love about our mornings together. It is a meditation of sorts for me. We'll occasionally have pancakes, waffles and French toast. Regularly we have oatmeal, yogurt with fresh fruit and granola, toast and fruit (often with our homemade jam), and sometimes we'll have eggy breakfast sandwiches (now with local eggs from my lovely neighbor's chickens).

I learned long ago, mostly from my father, that meal preparation is a tangible act of love. In setting the table with our lovely blue and white plates, making minty tea for Maddy in her new happy face mug, letting Levi pour milk on his cereal from a small pitcher, I am loving them. And whether or not they realize this fact, the point is that I know. I must feed them. I choose to make this time a little bit more special when I am able.

These days I am taking some time for quiet and some yoga in the morning. I am cutting back on caffeine and I am often making my bed. I'm never going to be perfect. I may holler at my kids while they eat the meals I prepare. I will fail miserably at things that are important to me some days. But some days I'll do some things well. And I will feel hopeful. Today I feel good about the pancakes.

Even though Maddy said she could do without the bananas. Sigh.

POUR MOI? OUI, OUI!!

Things that I don't love about living in the mountains:

1. Driving forever and a day every time we need to do so many things.

2. Being home alone at night because we are so far away from emergency response and what if something happened? How long would it take the police or ambulance to get to us?

Hmmmmm.

Yup.

That's about it.

Things I love about living in the mountains:

1. Trees the size of small countries just outside my windows.

2. The big and small birds that live in those trees. And the animals that call my yard their home.

3. The air and the space and the privacy.

4. Meals on the deck outside feeling like we are sitting on top of the big beautiful world.

5. The neighbor who walked up to me at the mailbox to give me something. Fresh eggs. From her chickens.

The list is much longer than this, but today I am feeling so touched about the beautiful, soft brown, fresh eggs.