Who would've thought...

That a band like Barenaked Ladies would sell a concert t-shirt designed especially for Mom's who may have objections to walking around their house with the word "barenaked" blazened on their front (or back, or anywhere).

And yes, even though my kids "know" sign language, that particular word does not appear at all.

So I can wear my t-shirt with relative ease, unless someone asks me what BNL stands for. I could always say it means "beautiful nature-lover" or something like that....

And the concert was so. much. fun.

We had front row seats. Did I mention we had seats in the front row?? Unbelieveable.

The Ladies' live shows are just great, and this one was no exception. They make such an effort to tailor each show for the location they play. And so there was much "ad-lib" rapping on smoked brisket, Kinky Friedman (an honest-to-goodness mayoral candidate this past election!), and the haunted hotel they stayed in. It was hilarious.

They seem like such "normal" guys, no self-inflated "panderings" to the crowd. They joke about their families, their moms, and life on the road. They admit missing their wives, all in between these amazing songs and funny dance moves, and all-around fun antics and jokes amongst themselves. They love seeing the crowd, as was evidenced by the number of times the spotlights panned the crowd, and the amount of eye-contact they made. DH nicely endured my gushes of "Steve smiled at me!" You'd think I had suddenly reverted to 15-year-old status.

It felt like 40-below-zero when we first got there (outdoor venue in 40 degree frigidness) but the music and dancing kept us all warm and made it bearable. Two hours went by in a flash, and suddenly we were making our way back to the car. But the experience has stuck with us, and we are still remembering little parts of the show and laughing at certain lyric changes and comments.

What a fun way to get away with my DH. It brought back many memories of our college years, spent driving up and down the California coast together. And while 5 kids, 2 cars, a house and many student loans have sobered us and made us more responsible, this trip proved to me that we are still the same together. The same things make us laugh, we pick up on the same oddities, and can still joke and tease like we used to. And to have a DH willing to endure my obsession with a certain band, and take me to a concert 3 hours away... well, you just know he loves me!

:)

Oh! And they played my blog song! This was amazing, because it's not a greatest hit, or anything. Just a great song... (click on the link and scroll down the page and click "Life in a Nutshell" to hear a sample.)

Odds-n-Ends

I'll be taking a short break for the next few days, as DH and I make a mad dash for points south to see our favorite band. Up close. Can't wait!


In the meantime, I hope to revisit the post I drafted but turned out to be Blogger's mid-afternoon snack. It was brilliant (of course!) and about family traditions. I reminisced about my childhood, and discussed the traditions we are trying (or accidentally) instilling in our own family. So, think about that. 'Tis the season!


Oh yes. And Advent wreaths and calendars and such. Has anyone gotten theirs together? Definitely something I need to address when we return. That and Christmas presents. Making the lists, ordering, etc. I think I'm about 1.5% done. Yes, not too thrilling.


We plan to drive up to my parents for Christmas this year. 12 hours in a car with 5 children ages 9 and under makes me petrified. We plan to use books on cd, but no dvd's. Any other ideas out there? I'd be most appreciative! Heck, I may even do a "contest" thingy where we try some of the ideas, and give a prize to the idea that worked best.... but I wouldn't know the winner until after New Year's. Would you remember? Me neither.

:)

Anyone else...

...have to have periodic "undergarment checks"?

As in,

"Are you wearing underwear?" (followed by a surprised look on the offenders' face as they realize that they *slapping head* utterly forgot that particular article of clothing when dressing themselves this morning)

Yes.

Us too.

<sigh>

Love Wednesday

There's nothing that says love like helping your older sister in her futile endeavor to keep the patio clear of leaves. And allowing your younger sister to wear the remnants of your own Hallowe'en costume? True understanding and compassion.

Misplaced

No. Not my brain or my car keys.

Well, not yet today, anyway.

Just me. And my entire family.

How in the world did we end up down here in Texas for the past ten years????

Yes, I do actually know how we got here, DH's schooling and all. But we are not doing such a great job acclimating.

Shall I explain?

1. We loooooove hockey.
2. We do NOT like football.
3. The Hockey team we all follow is a Canadian one for heaven's sake, the Vancouver Canucks.
4. NOT the Dallas Stars, which makes us even weirder.
5. DS #1's life dream is to run the Iditarod race.
6. He loves dogs.
7. He even made his own sled.
8. Unfortunately, the part of Texas we reside in rarely, if ever, gets the main ingredient needed for such a dream.
9. SNOW.
10. DS #1 had to fill in his religion workbook what his favorite 'smell' was (talking about how we use our 5 senses for God's glory...)
11. Answer? "The smell of smoke on a cold night."
12. ??????


On the other hand, we seem to be acclimating to the weather. DD #1 declared it was "freezing" today, when it is actually supposed to be 77. And while we may be wimps when it comes to cold, we can handle the heat quite well.

Maybe God does know what He's doing.

:)

Overscheduling, or Not enough to do?

I've been wondering about this lately.

Since we homeschool, the tendency is to try to ensure that our children will not grow up as socially inept. And, however distorted the vision is of recess at school, I think there are some important lessons to be learned there.

For example, how to deal with difficult people. How to play fair. How to be kind, and a good sport. Even, how to stand up for yourself.

Now, I do think that these things can be handled at home just as well.

Well, almost.

Have you ever noticed how kids react differently when there are "others" around? (no, not the weird ones, all of you fellow Lost fans!) I mean, when their friends are over and they get hurt, they tend to suck it up and keep on playing. And instead of whining about being fair, they figure it out. That's been my experience, anyway. Not much of this happens when it's just the fam. I get to play referee all day long!

Not something I enjoy about my job description.

Anway, about overscheduling.

So far, I have avoided this beast. The boys are in baseball, and their season wraps up with one last game tonight. The girls are not in anything, and I feel badly about that. I just wanted to concentrate on the schooling this first half of the year, and then see if we could add stuff in the new year. We really needed something for the boys, b/c all of the wrestling and running around the house was threatening my nerves and the light fixtures.

We try to get out for family exercise once a week as a family. Riding bikes, going to the duck pond, playing hockey with the neighborhood kids, etc. It's good for our bodies, and good for our familial bonding. (and neighborhood relations!)

I wonder, though, about more outside activites. Ones where the kids are with kids their own age. Obviously, these activites would be viciously screened by me. (good ol' Mama bear that I am!) I'm thinking ballet classes for the girls (really low-key, awesome teacher here in the area) more sports for the boys, and maybe an atrium class once a week for the girls.

Any ideas...thoughts?

We Came, We Played, We lost.

But we are still first in our division!

The soccer season ended today, with a stunning upset. The #4 team in our division beat us, the #1 team. Fortunately, we are so far ahead of every other team, points-wise, that this loss didn't knock us off the top place.

Yippee.

Well, I guess I could be that excited. I mean, I was just trying to hold my own out there, trying to fulfill my own personal goals (ha ha) like:

1. Try not to lose the ball to the other team every time it got passed to me. Maybe every other time.

2. Remember to turn away from pink-cleated girl whenever she came near the ball, since she could boot it from one end of the field to the other, and my face does not need to be on said ball when she does.

3. When heading the ball, using my head is essential, not my jaw, b/c that would render my attempts to chew my dinner utterly futile.

4. Ignore other well-meaning-yet-obnoxious forward on my team who does not practice what she yells (at me) about beating the other girls to the ball and passing properly.

5. Have fun!

Next season starts in February. Maybe if I start working out now.....

Nah.

;)

6 Hours...

...and 4 cans of paint later, and I am done.


Done with helping to paint a friend's living/dining/hallway green. (Kind of like my mother nature)

Done with painting her kitchen yellow. (Butternut, maybe?)

Four of us descended on my friend's house and we had a lot of fun painting and visiting and listening to good music. (I brought the music, so of course it was good...to me, anyway!)

We took a break for lunch and then were back at it for another two hours.

My arms will be sore in the morning, but it felt good to help a friend in need.

Staples

As the weather turns cooler ~um. under 60 degrees?~ two must-haves in the nut-house, two staples that send Papa nut to the store on his way home from work are:

-bottle of rich dark red pinot noir

-can of hot cocoa mix


'Tis the season!

Blogging friends

After my "We-wanna-meet" Saturday night dinner, I came away with a whole new theory about blogging.

I met some amazing women that night. As I perused their blogs for the entire month before-hand, I was able to catch some snippets of their lives, and the amazing paths they have trod. I tried to keep it all straight in my head on the drive out to Antique Mommy's home for dinner. But nothing prepared me for the honest-to-goodnes normalcy of these women.

There were no airs being put on. There were no looking-down-their-noses type attitudes. There was a lot of laughter, a lot of jokes, and much teasing and ribbing.

Remember, these women were meeting for the first time.

And I was one of, if not, the only newbie in the group. And instead of ignoring me, they actually wanted to know more about me! They took precious time out of joking with the friends they had already made, to make me feel at home. They were all so wonderful.

I pondered this meeting for the next few days, and came up with an amazing conclusion about blogging. (Well, I was amazed by it...doesn't take much, eh?)

Instead of making relationships more superficial (since the medium is so removed from actual personal contact) blogging actually helps people to know the "true you," no frills, and some baggage. Most people are brutally honest on their blogs, because it is easy to be. You can wander around the house finding the exact way to phrase your thoughts, and then pound it out on the keyboard. No-one is right there in your face to challenge you, and if they leave you nasty comments you can delete them, or take your time disagreeing. Mostly what happens is that you find a bunch of other bloggers who share similar views, have similar experiences, and you end up forming these great friendships.

The greatest part about these friendships is that people know where you are coming from. They know a bit about your past, your life experiences, your preferences, your idiosyncrasies, and maybe even your insecurities. And they like you anyway, and when they meet you, they already know all these things about you. And since you know each other so well, it's like meeting old friends.

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised how smoothly it all went at that dinner party. I thought for sure it would be awkward and I wouldn't be able to say a word to anyone. This happens a lot to me in big groups, and then I get written off as a snob. It's a flaw I have, and I am working to overcome it, and be more engaging and engaged, but it takes a lot of courage on my part.

To see a glimpse of these wonderful women I met, go here:

• Antique Mommy (Tina)
• Created For His Glory (Lauren)
• Days To Come (Jeana)
• Don't Try This At Home (Chilihead)
• Faithful Mommy (Faith)
• Holding the Mirror to My Soul (Kep)
• Holy Mama (Kelsey)
• Home Sanctuary (Rachel Anne)
• In the Midst Of It (Sarah)
• Kisses of Sunshine (GiBee)
• Life In a Nutshell (Megan)
• Minnie Moments (Minnie)
• My Mind...Lost...Strayed...or Stolen (Jan)
• Overhead Under Grace (Kelly)
• Raising Five (Katherine)
• Reflecting Him (AggieJenn)
• Rocks In My Dryer (Shannon)
• Shalee's Diner (Shalee)
• She Lives (Carol)
• Sing a Lullaby (CMommy)