Simple Things
christina is hosting the simple things today.
a call out to bloggers to "show what we appreciate, and what we are grateful for - no matter how big or small, these things may seem."
if christina asked me to dig ditches with her all day long in the hot sun, i'd be the first to sign up.
in an effort to help the haiti rescue and rebuilding, she is giving one dollar to doctors without borders for every participant.
thank you christina for inspiring me daily. here is my laddleful of love to you:
katie's simple things 1/27/2010
freshly scented, french milled soap
clean, empty notepads. ready for my days' plans, ideas, and aspirations.
homemade morning coffee. french pressed with ground cinnamon. a mug reminding me what matters most.
waking up in the middle of the night holding hands with hh.
fresh, inexpensive, trader joe's flowers on my desk
our sweet tree standing tall again. post storm destruction. so glad we were able to keep you in the family.
peanut m& m's, and don't you dare try to substitute plain!!!!!!
profanity. terrible, i know. i'm a good girl otherwise. i just like to swear.
perfume before bed, after my bath.
afternoon naps.
mornings. the promise. the second chance.
this song.......it renders me tear faced every time i hear it. but happy, oh my god, i'm so damn lucky kind of tears.
it's hard to have animosity in your heart with this music in your soul.
i'd love to twirl on fence posts with you, na-na-na'ing to this song.
happy wednesday. love, katie
cloud nine weekend
oh my! don't you just love open weekends that just melt seamlessly from no plans set, let's see where the hour takes us to ....well isn't this delightful and unexpected? this morning i found myself making snow angels lying in bed; giddy still from our joyful non-events.
i think the weather played a major role in my dreamy weekend. seventy degrees, skies pale blue, just enough clouds to make it girly and scenic.
let me summarize (smile).
the beasts got an outing to the park.
football silliness at the local high school.
a presidential 40 yd field goal kick costing hh to fess up the big dough in a lost bet.
i found my new favorite nail shade.
the MOST beautiful flowers (big, fat peonies!!!!!) delivered to my doorstep
a fish taco so delicious, only expletives and moans suffice.
a bubblebath or two. or four or five.
where i finally finished a nice, didn't suck, book of short stories.
all the while green fiddlehead fragranced the house with tea, clean cut grass, and spearmint.
and as you can tell, i'm back to taking photos again. sadly, alice, at only 3 months old, was on the fritz. a lemon. i had to return her. tamra is her replacement. i'm already attached. tamra the camera is a sassy shot and hasn't given me any grief since we've started courting. i think i've found my new dance partner.
happy monday friends!
click book, nail polish image for more information.
Like Celine says...........
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gg9WZ2PFq-w&feature=related]well, we're here. it took us 5.75hours. we stopped 3 times because i insisted on recreating some of the highlights of celine's performance. specifically, the one-legged air guitar ending in a lifted point-flex, point-flex. the calabasas 76 station got the left to right peace sign across my eyes, as i bobbed my head off beat, front teeth to chin. when i had to pee, and didn't want to use the public restrooms i'd just borrow celine's quick, little, grapevine steps around the car; totally solved the problem. the only time things got awkward was when i held her tyrannosaurus rex (1:17) move? HH and the beasts started barking at me to stop, locked me out of the car, and refused to let me in until i promised to cease my homage to miss dion.i complied. but i must say, the ride was definitely not as fun. hmph. gobble gobble.
We're on a Road to.........Somewhere
the car is packed. the playlists are complete. this evening, after my last class, the beasts, hh and i will depart for a 7 hour road trip.tonight begins my favorite week of the year. pebble beach.my entire family under one roof for 6 days. thursday we'll feast at the lodge. i think i've had halibut the last 5 years. no mom's stuffing, no aunt charla's pumpkin pie, no dad carving the turkey. and thank god, no marshmallows amidst yams???!??! (seriously, are you kidding me with that?) this thanksgiving tradition is the only i know, and i crave it all year.13 of us in one house. a lot of ativan prescriptions.divorce. reconciliation. secrets. court. businesses. loans. illnesses. death. this is family. this is my family. this is my beautiful, perfect family. for all the painful tears shed, there have been more tears cried out in hysterics playing cutthroat matches of michigan rummy, or spilt over mugs of coffee during marathon morning fireside funnies. pretty much all my brother has to do is look at me a certain way, and any beverage i'm drinking squirts out my nose in convulsive laughter.
don't get me wrong. i'm sure we will always tote along our buckets of bitterness and "our" versions of the past, but it doesn't change the fact that i bloody love these people to death. and, for this one week when we are together, i have a smile in my stomach, and my face, and i twirl from my eyes to my toes.*images: www.flickr.com/photos/bobmerco/4021421641/www.flickr.com/photos/anezmablack/4126787098/in/pool-blackandwhite
I Succumbed!!
well, if HH doesn't want me putting up a bubble gum pink, Christmas tree (again,) he should be a little more courteous whilst primping for his Sunday 6am tee time.as he channeled his inner John Daly, whacking the silly white ball through the dragon's mouth, the early awakened beasts and i begrudgingly made the most of our unexpected wake up call. we decided to yield to madison avenue, the malls, markets, and plain ol' holiday madness. the four of us surrendered to starbucks: their evil eggnog lattes 1 friggin day after Halloween?!?!!?! we put up the christmas tree.two french presses later, we four were cutting a rug to Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass Christmas Album (a must for tree decorating) and erected the pepto bismo-like sapling.why such a hue for a Christmas tree you ask? well........my mother IS Christmas. i think last year she had 7 trees? each more beautiful than the next with tulle, crystals, feathers, fresh flowers, real life fairies, etc. Preston Bailey would have pee'd himself. one gigantic wall in her house just........nutcrackers (giant, wee, grisly, angelic, russian, asian, ???) there isn't a room in her house that does not emit clover, amber and orange spice. the woman knows how to stage a holiday home. one walk through jane's house during christmas time, BOOM!!, osama bin laden, on his knee's, saying the apostles' creed, giving his life up to jesus. she's that good people.anyhow, i know my time constraints: limited. and i know my talent for being crafty: nil. i need a tree that requires zero ornaments that comes pre-lit!! and what girl doesn't want a pink tree?!?!?! i may not convert muslims with this tree, but i may help some boys come out of the closet. it's the season to give people!!!!!!TA-DA!!!!!!
Weigh in please
So HH and I are planning our next honeymoon, and we need your help. We can't decide whether to go on a relaxing vacation: think lounging by the pool somewhere tropical (Bali, Costa Rica, Belize.)
Or do we go on a "trip" where we actually learn something, see new things, smell new scents, etc; thinking along the lines of Egypt, Russia, or New Zealand.
So what do you think? Rest, relaxation and foo-foo drinks under an umbrella? Or the camels and I comparing toes in the desert?For the record, our first honeymoon was both a vacation AND a trip. We Eva & Juan Peron'd our way all over Buenos Aires for the first five days, and then rejuvenated in Carmelo, Uruguay for the last five. The perfect honeymoon combo bite.
*photos: aman resorts, www.mythicalireland.com
Canine Flu
Well this pretty much sums up the view of my weekend. Except for the two classes I taught on Saturday I pretty much have been in my bathtub trying to get warm. Even though, remarkably, the thermometer reads I am QUITE toasty??!!?!?!Swine flu you will not have me! I do not eat swine, I do not socialize with swine (by choice), and I'm certainly not going to be infected with your silly cliche'd virus. I've decided instead that this is the canine flu. If I were to get a virus I would much rather it be of the pooch variety, so that is the way it will be (arms crossed.)Grand illusions of tag sales, planting succulents, reading Tolstoy, adopting a Korean orphan (with special needs of course,) and re-picketing the front fence were dashed friday afternoon when my fever spiked so high I started conversing with my nightstand.Six shots of Nyquil, 4 doses of Comtrex, 100,000 Oscillococcinum pellets, and a partridge in a pear tree later, and I was not only still sick, but I was crazy high from all the Nyquil.Sunday night I felt I owed HH. He had scrapped all of our weekend hijinks in exchange for taking care of Althea Flynt. I rarely cook for my beloved. It's not that I don't love to cook for him, but it's so much easier to nap instead.
Two different stir fry's with the intent to arm us both with the phytonutrients necessary to stave off any other virus' and or bacterium that try to come knock us down. Watch out muthafucka's we've eaten our veggies!!! GRRRRRRR!!!!
And lastly, because it's that time of year, and because he is the hunkiest of hubby's' I made pumpkin bread for HH. I must say the recipe I use is AMAZING (I omit the walnuts,) but another incredible recipe (and 90% less time and energy) is the Trader Joe's Pumpkin Muffin/Bread Mix.
Stay healthy friends. Love, Katie
simple math really......
THIS:
EQUALS:
I mean, REALLY boys, how hard is it to change the roll?!?!! It's become such a problem I've made a deal with HH that the next time he leaves me cardboard in the loo, I get to buy myself a present courtesy of his hard earned money. Because the man IS brilliant, he could not argue that this was fair. This is the perfect opportunity for me to get my hands on that Coco Cocoon I've been eyeing!!! How cool is Karl Lagerfeld to pick Lily Allen to enact Miss Audrey in the new Fall campaign?
One Year
One year today you became my HH (hunky hubby.) I'm still twirling that you picked me (you're pretty lucky yourself mister.) One year and i still sometimes get a little nervous when your name comes up on my phone screen. One year and i still want you to come home early every night from work. One year and your teeth flossing joke still makes me laugh night after night. One year and I'm definitely OVER your inability to help me recycle the plastic bottles in the house (do we need to even go there why we EVEN have plastic bottles, honey?) One year and not a day (more like an hour) goes by without thinking I can't wait to tell him this. My sweet boy, we may not be the type which "completes" one another, but I'm definitely less Dre without you as my Snoop.p.s. one of my favorite blogs a cup of jo is on her honeymoon. in her absence she's guest blogging "our secrets to a happy marriage." they're all very different, as are all marriages. i'm enjoying them immensely. enjoy.