A cure for what ails you

I (reluctantly) went to see Momma Mia this evening with a friend. I guess I’m a fan of girly movies, but I was pretty sure this one was going to be in the wait-for-the-DVD catagory of girly-flick. It was so much better than I was expecting. It cheered me deep down in all the sunk in gloomy spots. Beautiful scenes, beautiful people, and lovely suspension of reality. It was lovely. Loved it. I don’t endorse the underlying moral messages, but hey sometimes you just need a laugh. And a cry. And then another laugh. If you are in need of a good giggly, deep down warm feel good movie–see it.

 

memory lane

I’ve been commuting between my house and the hospital where I’m having my treatments every day this week.  During the hour + drive I listen to NPR because, frankly, I wouldn’t begin to know what music channel to listen to.  The other morning a story came on that was an endearing trip down memory lane.   Like a lot of GI’s kids I had the great privilege of living in Germany as a child.  We lived in a German neighborhood for the first year or two and then on Rhein Main AFB for the rest of the time.  When we lived off base we were bussed in to school.  I attended Halverson elementary school.  Our school was named for the famous “Candy Bomber” known to post WWII East German children as “Uncle Wiggle Wings”.  This story always makes me cry.  After the war Germany was sliced up like a pie.  The Allies (US, France, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union) took control of portions of Germany.  The Soviet Union’s plan to rebuild Germany differed so much from the other allies plans that they ordered everyone out and stopped supplies from getting in to East Germany.  The people in East Germany, having just been through a war had lived on sub-starvation rations for years already.  Tensions were high, any attempt to alleviate suffering could easily have led to WWIII.  A British Commander suggested an alternative, an airlift.  Allied forces would drop food, fuel and supplies from the air.  It was a beautiful moment in history in my opinion.  Lt. Gail S. Halverson was one pilot who was a part of the effort to get food to the East Germans.  The NPR story talked about how Halverson split two sticks of gum he had to share with some East German children.  He was so struck by their reaction that he decided to do something he named “operation little vittles”.  He told the children to look for his plane and he’d drop candy to them.  When they asked him how they’d know it was him, he said he’d wiggle his wings as a sign.  He bought up all the candy he could find and took up donations from his friends and coworkers from their rations and tied chocolate and gum to handkerchiefs so that he could drop candy from his plane.  These were children who didn’t have enough food to eat.  The idea of candy was magical for them.  The NPR story said that to this day, Col. Halverson is a celebrity in Berlin and 70 year olds will come up to him with the handkerchiefs they collected from his candy drops.  Then Lt. Halverson was breaking the rules to do this sweet act of compassion and charity.  He was nearly courtmartialed, but when other pilots heard about his operation, they began dropping candy as well.  I got to meet Col. Halverson when he came to Germany for our elementary school dedication.  I also attended church with his grandchildren so as an added bonus he also was there for my little brother’s first pinewood derby race in cub scouts.  I shyly asked if he would pose for a picture with my brother and his car.  He was such a sweet, down to earth guy.  He not only posed for the picture, but he hammed it up as well.  I have got to dig up those pictures somewhere.  It is men like Halverson that keep hope alive  in this world.  Things are looking bleak, there are so many things to worry about and get uptight about.  But I know that whatever is likely to descend on us there will be people who will hold up beacons of hope and compassion.  I know it because humanity is created by God, its in our nature to bridge the chasms of ugliness and brutality.

 

Awesome

(These last ones I got with blue on the inside)

Anti-glare coating, scratch resistent coating–the works $12.95/pair.

$43.00 total including shipping.

Don’t you wish you wore glasses?

http://zennioptical.com

I’m not getting paid for this. If the glasses are crap when I get them I’ll let you know.

 

Shape Pilates dvd

I just tried this pilates workout. It is really hard to do pilates from a dvd. Its hard to know if you are doing it right. I’ve tried a couple different ones and I hated them. I bought the Windsor one off the tv and really hated it. It was so silly and hard to follow. I picked this one up from Shape for two reasons. 1. It was cheap and 2. It says it supports the breast cancer research foundation. I didn’t even realize it came with that cool pink band until I opened the dvd. Even though it says so on the cover. It felt so good to do this workout. Usually I’m watching the clock to see when its going to be over. I was surprised when this 30 minute workout came to a quick end. I am the least coordinated person in the world and it was really easy to follow. It remains to be seen whether or not its effective, but I didn’t mind doing it and I can’t say that about any of the 11 other fitness dvds I’ve bought.

 

The solar system

The solar system has come to Asher’s room. As you can see, the kids were so excited about it. Asher has expanded his love of Star Wars to include everything that has to do with space. So our new favorite show (well in the past few months anyway) is Zula Patrol. The kids will watch it over and over when I allow it, and its a really entertaining way for kids to learn about science. So to feed their interest in space, we spent the day yesterday going to the Planetarium. Unfortunately for all our effort, we didn’t actually make it in to the show. We were late and they didn’t want to seat us because it was a packed theater. But its just as well I guess, the people we know who did make it on time said it was really boring. Didn’t hold a candle to the Zula Patrol. After the show was out the projectionist (?) did let the kids go in and see what the theater looked like. Asher told her he was going to be an astronaut when he grows up. I thought it was cute until I thought about the actual prospect of my boy leaving the earth’s atmosphere… I’m glad kids turn into teenagers before they are adults. I’m going to have to let go at some point. Its going to take a huge dose of teenage rebellion for me to feel okay about my children entering the world on their own. Space is another story.

 

Masterpiece Theater

I have been hooked on Masterpiece Theater for the past 5 weeks. I haven’t been this into it since The Forsyte Saga. How could you not love the disturbingly flawed Soames? I can’t think of Damian Lewis as anyone else but Soames! It started with the MT version of Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. It is absolutely the best on screen version of Jane Eyre that I’ve seen. This Mr. Rochester was so much more love-able than others I’ve seen. The actress who played Jane was perfect. She was just pretty enough at a certain angle but still “plain” enough to match Bronte’s description. Immediately after Jane Eyre, they started advertising The Complete Jane Austin. First was Persuasion, then Northhanger Abbey and yesterday Mansfeild Park. If you’ve read the books the 1.5 hour film adaptation is not quite sufficient. But I love them anyway. I haven’t read Mansfeild Park yet so it was by far my favorite in the series. Its good stuff to watch while folding laundry.

 

One thing I love about my neighborhood

Awesome garage sales

$75 Crate & Barrel Couch

 

The New Year

Today was one of those not-much-got-done Saturdays. It really affects my mood when not much happens on Saturday. And since its the first Saturday of the year I’m doubly annoyed. New Year is always such a downer to me. It always has been. I think I just wish we could stay in the sparkly buzz of Christmas a little longer. Every year it whooshes by faster and faster. One thing I did accomplish was putting all the Christmas decorations away. And I took the children for a walk. Getting outside is always helpful, and seeing my children run and play is always so fun. So in an effort to try and lift myself out of my New Year depression I think I’ll write a list of some of the things I have to look forward to this year… I like lists.

1. The conclusion of Masterpiece Theater’s Jane Eyre tomorrow! *Ahhhh, now they are doing a Jane Austin complete works series…I’ve died and gone to heaven!

2. Asher’s birthday this month, he’s turning 6!

3. Getting baseboards put back on our house.

4. Making something pink and sweet for Valentines Day.

5. Getting my new vacuum in the mail.

6. Having ceiling fans in all the rooms for summer.

7. That short period between winter and spring where the weather in NC is perfect.

8. Longer days.

9. All the sweet milestones Hannah will reach this year. First roll over, first tooth, crawling, maybe even walking!

10. Having all my kids home in the summer!

 

Merry Christmas

I escaped the house last night to do some last minute stocking stuffer shopping. I brought Hannah with me because Hila’s best friend/cousin was spending the night and I didn’t want BJay to feel too overwhelmed. So I was wandering the isles looking for some baking cups that I knew wouldn’t be there when out of the corner of my eye I spied a woman who was looking for something. She saw the baby carrier on my cart and came toward me. I was expecting her to ask me a baby related question. She quickly handed me an envelope and said Merry Christmas! I was a little taken aback and said thank you. And before I could comprehend what just happened, she was gone. I looked at the envelope in my hand and the words “Merry Christmas” were written on it in red ink. I opened it and there was $50 cash inside. I may not be the most needy person in the world, but $50 is a big deal to me. I stood there in the isle and cried a second. I don’t know why. Nothing like that has ever happened to me. Maybe the fact that someone was going out of their way to make the world a Merrier place at Christmas struck me as wonderful. I LOVE giving gifts. I am absolutely giddy this time of year because I love to give people things that I think they would like. I love to make and buy things that I know my children will love. I’m not trying to brag but I honestly don’t ever think about getting anything for Christmas. So I guess that is what struck me when the anonymous woman gave me that gift. How nice it is to recieve things that are joyfully given. So I thought I’d pass on the Merry Christmas! Sorry, I’m keeping the cash!