Thaw before reheating.
… get thee to this website!!
And to the artists of the world: get to work in your chosen mediums. Glorify our unique shapes, colors, and textures. We are Mothers — these are the bodies that make the world.
Except for the feeling I get when I look at my kids, nothing has made me feel better in my skin than this wonderful site.
We went on down to the Audubon Zoo, and they all axed for you…
Today was Michelle’s last day babysitting on her regular schedule with us, so we went on a special trip to the Zoo this morning.
It was HOT.
Despite the heat, Will had a great time checking out the animals.
The white tigers and lions were out… although asleep. When I told Will I was disappointed because I couldn’t remember what they say, Will was happy to remind me: “Rroooaarr!”
The heat knocked Kate out for most of the visit. I was a Bad Mommy and forgot her sunhat, so I spent most of the visit wheeling her from shade patch to shade patch. (She was protected by her car shade, too… I’m not that bad of a Mommy!)
Most of the animals were ready to show their best sides.
The elephants, in particular, were quite content with our visit to their back-ends.
Will showed us some sweetness, too. Especially when, 90 minutes after our arrival, Little Man asked to be picked up and taken home. Even after his nap, Will was still dragging. We figure that this is a new level of pooped… after a trip to the Zoo, Will is Zooped!
Step One: Look Cute
Step Two: Kick
Step Three: Grunt for Effect
Step Four: Celebrate… I’m on my side!
I left Kate to play on her activity mat while I did dishes. Her coos and goos and woos were so darn cute, I had to stop mid-pot and find out what all the excitement was about. Apparently, the excitement was her! She was just smiling away, happy as can be… looking at herself in the mirror.
Finally, our government is doing something right in regards to the crisis in Lebanon and Israel. They are waiving the “evacuation fee.”
I was pretty ripped when I heard that there was talk of a fee. It’s not like U.S. citizens were asked by the Embassy to leave due to pending danger. This came out of nowhere. Plus, the U.S., the wealthiest country in the world, was the only one asking citizens to sign promissory notes of repayment. How embarrassing.
In what must have been an OCD fit, I hit the porch at 8am this morning armed with a nozzle sprayer, bucket, detergent and sponge. Our house got a bath. The front of it at least. 
Scrubbing only occurred from my height down. But it still made a huge difference. I’m much, much, too excited over that awesome sprayer handle. 
Other improvements include:
– New ferns. The old ones were threatening to become fireballs in the heat.
– Grass seed and dirt over the existing “grass” (i.e.: weeds that grew in over the pebbles we’ve been digging up for the past two years)
– Caladium (19) and vinca (90). Please grow in nicely, little plants!
Don’t ask about the backyard. Remember that patio Paul dug up? Yeah, well, we’ll let you know when we find it again. It’s that scary.
Commander’s Palace wasn’t there serving lunch this week (total bummer!) but we didn’t come home empty handed. Michelle (babysitter extraordinaire) joined the three of us for this weekly adventure. We enjoyed strawberry and pineapple popsicles (with huge hunks of fruit, big yum!) and blueberry lemonade. Three herbs (basil, spearmint, and rosemary) won out of the great selection of flowers and plants to make it to our front yard. We also scored some edible treats — eggplant, squash, creole tomatoes, pea pods, and coconut flan!
Where is our girl shortly before midnight? Why, she’s rockin’ out…
… celebrating her first roll over. (From her back to her side.) Yikes!
Paul’s doing the second coat (final) cut-in… but we don’t have enough paint to roll! Hopefully we’ll be able to start loading it up Thursday or so. We have no idea when we’ll get around to painting this room, though, so this will be the lone great white shelf for awhile.
Written by Marcia Inhorn, one of my University of Michigan advisors and mentors, I think this short editoral is a wonderful example of how narrowly viewing ‘the Middle East’ as monolithic, rigid, and singularly defined leads to lost opportunities for science, culture, and technology — and fuel dangerous social and cultural misunderstandings.
“… I came away with a new appreciation of the country’s long history, rich culture, and bright, motivated scientists and professionals. Unfortunately, few Americans know anything about science or technology in Iran except in the context of nuclear weapons. What our government tells us about Iran is that it is a member of the “axis of evil.”
Such fear-mongering is very unwise. It leads to closed minds, closed embassies, restricted visas, and other limitations on travel — even the possibility of war. Although the American and Iranian governments may never see eye to eye about most issues, surely it is possible for our two peoples to have peaceful exchanges of views …”
