When you're ready; you're ready.

At the playground there are two slides.  One is for the little kids and you get there by climbing up a flight of playground stairs.  The second is for slightly more daring kids and it's located at the top of a second flight of stairs.  It also is a corkscrew slide.  Typically we relegate our playing to the smaller slide though we have gone down the big slide together once or twice. Claire climbs up the stairs to the small slide, sits down at the top and then does a sort of turning maneuver (the same one she does if she's climbing down off of the bed or the couch) and slides down on her tummy.  She laughs like crazy, eats some of the wood chips at the bottom and runs around to the stairs again.

Yesterday when she got to the small slide, she turned around and smiled at me and kept climbing up.  Almost before I could reach her she had turned around and the top of the tall slide and gone twirling down its cork-screw turns.  I would never have guessed that she was ready and I would never have sent her down on her own.

Claire is emerging as a head-strong determined little person.  I am reading about and thinking about discipline (oh if only we didn't have to discipline our children and they just came out knowing that you shouldn't hit your mom in the face whenever you get the chance). And even as we are working on discipline in my heart I am repeating over and over the words, "Don't ever stop being so brave.  Don't ever stop knowing your heart and what you are capable of."

This is just to say

This is Just to Say

I have left
the dishes in
the sink since last night

and have spent the
day cleaning little hands
playing in the sun and
jumping in waves


Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

*Embarrassingly that is a real picture from my kitchen this evening

Randomly enough...

Auntie Melissa sent a gift this week.  100% success.  Thank you Auntie. 

Don't mind the nakedness of the pictures (that's one of the ways we keep the fever down--not the pictures but the nakedness) and I swear that we do feed her.

*****
This has been a hard week.  Claire has 3 new teeth in the last 4 days.  The fevers have been high, the crying bouts long and no one in the house has slept all the way through the night in over a week.  Yesterday I called my mom.  Claire was crying on the porch, I was nearly in tears and I just said, "I need to hear that it gets better."  She assured me that it does--that babies' teeth come in and some day in the not-to-distant future we will play and have fun again.

Claire just started screaming 30 minutes into her nap so I jumped out of the shower and rocked her wearing nothing but a towel for 40 minutes.  She screamed the whole time--it's that darn 3rd tooth of the week still pushing it's way through the gums.

I am moving forward with faith...it does get better.  It gets so much better.

****
Have you read this article yet?  You should.  It's thought-provoking.  While I was sitting in church on Sunday they announced that one of the people who was going to address us had just returned from being a missionary in Dallas where he taught in Spanish.  The 50+ year old man behind me leaned to his wife and said, "Spanish speaking in Texas?  Must have been preaching to those illegals." He said, "illegals" like is was a terribly dirty word.  I wanted to turn around and punch him right there.  Don't worry, I didn't.  It made my heart sick to hear him especially as he was with his 2 teenage kids (keep in mind that the freeway signs by my house list the distance to the international border and it's not far). 

Talking about immigration gets me all riled up because so many people forget that we are not talking about "illegeals."  We are talking about human beings and families and little kids and people who just want a better life.

****
And lastly, if you're wondering how I feel about The Book of Mormon Musical the answer is, I'm pissed.  I consider myself a very liberal Mormon but I'm still not going to say it's okay.  I don't believe in making fun of other people's religious beliefs. Period.  I am not going to see it and I don't think you should see it either.

Were you waiting for the rapture?  Great, I'm not going to say one word about it being silly, I'm not going to join facebook groups that are getting ready to go looting when all of the good people are taken up because I don't diss other people's religious beliefs. I'd be just as peeved if the musical were called The Torah (and quite frankly, I think a whole heck of a lot more people would be peeved if that were the title).

Luckily, this guy's with me. 

Book Club Reminder

Ladies and gents I just wanted to remind you that for book club this month we are reading Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.  I started this book club because I wanted to continue to read challenging books and talk about them (a girl who stays home with a toddler has to make sure that she uses her brain every day).  I read lots of books that I don't talk about on this blog but I wanted to be sure to continually read books that couldn't be summed up with a declaration of either being on team Edward or team Jacob.

That being said I should warn you that Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is written for a 3rd grade audience.  Let's call this break from the Pulitzer prize winners our summer vacation.  And instead of reading something so sad we want to poke our eyes out (March...I'm looking at you) we're reading something fun and light-hearted.  One of our book club members recommended it and it had this glowing recommendation on Amazon

"This review is from: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Paperback)

I got Where the Mountain Meets the Moon in my Easter basket. This book is so creative and I haven't read anything that even stands up to this book. The characters and art in this book are amazing. I am in third grade and would recommend this book to anyone who likes reading. This book was very touching and even gave me some tears in my eyes. I loved how the author told about Chinese culture and legends. I couldn't put this book down! Go grab yourself a copy today...quick!"

How could we say no? On July 1st we'll talk about the book and we will be accepting comments from all friends, book club members and third graders.

If you're trying to impress the hubbs....

I've mentioned before that the hubbs doesn't like celebrating.  I mentioned this to a couple of friends who were over and the hubbs said, "I believe in giving Christmas gifts."

If it were up to him that would be the extent of present-giving in our house.  There would be no house decorating and "made-up" holidays like Valentines and Mother's day would be totally ignored. That being said, it's not like the hubbs is a party-pooper.  He loves traditions.  He loves telling us about what they did when he was a kid and he always wants to recreate those experiences. During Christmas his family always made these gluten-free cookies and treats (his grandma has celiacs) and he always wants to bake those with  us at Christmas.

So when preparing a celebration for Father's Day I have to be careful.  I need to remember that it's about tradition and then he'll like it more.

I've also been struggling with this one little thing (and if any of you have advice I would love to get it). But I don't make my own money anymore.  It feels funny buying a present for the hubbs with money that he made when he would rather just save the money (it also feels funny buying clothes for me and other expendable items when I feel like the money isn't mine--really, advice anyone?).  It's just a little tricky.  I'm still adjusting to not having money of my own anymore. (and just to be perfectly clear this has nothing to do with the hubbs he is generous and does not begrudge me staying home)

The hubbs grew up in Oregon and he remembers summers spent picking blueberries and strawberries. A couple of weeks ago he was telling Claire and me about the day they went to pick strawberries and how it was one of the best days of the whole summer and how they all made themselves sick eating strawberries then they spent the afternoon making jam.

To start off Father's Day 2011 weekend we went on a family date to pick strawberries.  This is a little different from Oregon in the 80's--it was WAY more expensive than buying strawberries from Costco but more sunny and we did follow family tradition and ate so much that we got sick.

Saturday night Claire and I worked on a card for the hubbs with some friends who came over.

Then on Sunday we presented the hubbs with his gift and card. He got some strange soda from the local Bev-Mo (the hubbs likes non-cola soda but I never buy it).  The plan was for Claire to take the hubbs a bottle of grapefruit soda (the flavor that the hubbs used to drink with his dad) with a card that said "Thank you for sharing the things that you loved to do with your family."  Then she was going to take out a six-pack of other flavors with a card that said, "and thank you for trying new things with me too."

It didn't work out exactly as planned but the hubbs got the general idea and he got the soda. 

Father's Day success

Houston, we have a molar

We are in the process of getting 1st year molars.  Don't fear, I'll spare you the story of long nights and high fevers because there is so much more to talk about. Summer for instance.

 Welcome Summer* we are glad you're here.

 *This is the first time since 2003 that we are not throwing the annual Summer Solstice Party.  It'll be back next year friends and you'll have all the time in the world to recite poems, read stories and sing songs.  We may throw a small summer solstice party in our living room this evening. It will involve a fever-ish baby walking around in nothing but a diaper while we sing songs and play the guitar (it will probably also include the hubbs rolling his eyes while he tries to figure out how he ended up married to such a hippy but I'll make treats so it will at least be a wash for him).

Picture from here

Dads

I'm sorry that I don't have a retro 80's style picture of me and my dad.  I also don't have a picture of the two of us at my wedding.  Even though those two things do seem to be the most important part of writing a blog post about father's day I'm going to push forward anyway.

I have the best dad.  Once, when I was still single, I was talking to two of my favorite people, Mr and Mrs. Miller.  We were talking about marriage and life and I said, "I don't know if I can ever get married because who could I marry that would hold a candle to my dad?"  Instead of coddling me the Millers just said, "yeah...that's going to be hard.  Your dad is really amazing."

It's true.  In high school I remember going to my car to leave for school (which started really early) and I would find the car running in the driveway, already warm and full of gas.  There was also always sure to be a tool-kit in the trunk.  When my dad comes to visit me now it's the same kind of thing.  He put shelves in my garage, hall closet and laundry room (if you live in a little apartment in SoCal extra shelving is like manna from heaven).  He tells me that I don't need to help him and that I should go and spend time with Claire.  He just works away  his whole vacation and fixes up my house. And sometimes after he's left I'll find a case of diet coke in the garage (really what says love like a case of diet coke?).  My dad stops to help people who have flat tires on the freeway, is an incredibly hard worker and has an open invitation breakfast every Saturday morning where he cooks pancakes, waffles or crepes.

The really lucky thing is that I did find someone like my dad.  He's not as good as fixing things as my dad is but he is kind and gentle just like my dad and that is more important than the fixing things. The hubbs spent most of Father's day weekend...fathering.  He made Claire breakfast, took her running, helped with babysitting co-op, changed diapers and played all weekend long. We did plenty to celebrate him (the hubbs does not love celebrating but he did a good job of being grateful anyway) but the hubbs was just his good fathering-self. 

So to these two men. (Sorry about the pic.  It was the only one I had of us together.  Though actually...I guess it's pretty appropriate)

Thank you for being the best example of what men should be.

Thank you for taking care of me and loving me.
You are more dear to me than you know.

Cowboy Cookies

I like most things that have to do with cowboys...cowboy poetry, cowboy boots, cowboys themselves. So it should have come as no surprise that I love cowboy cookies too (I will not divulge how many of these I have eaten today but I will just tell you that making them at 8 in the morning made for many hours of sampling).  The first time I ever tasted these our friend *Courtney brought them to a class she was teaching.  She said that people wouldn't remember the lesson but they would remember if she brought really good cookies.  I'm not sure if that was a self fulfilling prophecy but I don't remember the lesson.  I do remember the cookies. I probably don't remember the lesson because my mom and I talked almost all the way through it trying to figure out what made these cookies so dang good.  Courtney was kind enough to share the recipe.

This makes a lot of cookies.  A.  LOT.  Like 7 dozen. Like so many cookies that they didn't fit in my mixer and they didn't fit in the largest mixing bowl that I own. So only make it if you have somewhere to put 7 dozen cookies.  Courtney's mom doesn't believe that you can half the recipe--she says it turns out funny, but Court said that she did it once but still used the same number of chocolate chips (I like your style miss Courtney) and it worked out fine. Next time I'm going to try that.  And I'm also going to add macadamia nuts--you should too.

Courtney's Cowboy Cookies

1 lb butter (that's right...one pound of butter)
4 eggs
2 c white sugar
2 c brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 tsp soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
4 c flour
2 tsp cinnamon
1 bag milk chocolate chips
1 bag white chocolate chips
1 14 oz bag of coconut
3.5 cups of oats

Cream together the butter, eggs, sugars and vanilla.  Add the dry ingredients and mix.  Add the chocolate chips, coconut and oats.

bake for 8-10 minutes (my oven required 9.5 minutes).  They should have brown little coconut tips but still be soft in the middle. Let them stay on the pan for a couple of minutes before you move them to the rack.


*Courtney has a special place in our hearts because she was the first person who was not a relative to watch Claire.  She did a great job.

It's my favorite

Yesterday the hubbs' boss sent home a present for Claire. His kids are too big for it and it is the perfect size for both our porch and our little lady.

It was an instant hit. 

Right after this picture was taken we learned the hard way that the slide is better played with in pants and socks.  As she was sliding down her chubby little legs stuck to the plastic.  Her body stopped instantly but her head didn't.  She tumbled forward and did a somersault down the slide.  It was actually pretty spectacular (and she only cried for a second).

She loves the slide.  This morning she got up and right after we got dressed she headed out to play. 

She loves it almost as much as she loves the shoelace that she carries around all the time, her red shoes or any of her 4 toothbrushes. (you can see the shoelace in this picture--and you can barely see her red shoes in the pictures above)

On Monday Claire didn't have any of the typical "poverty toys" she usually carries around and the darling girl who watches her at the gym smiled and said, "Claire, where's your toothbrush?" For just an instant I was ashamed and felt like I shouldn't let her take her toothbrush to the gym everyday. But it was just for an instant.

I'm working at letting Claire be the girl she is.  I'm sure that when she picked up a toothbrush I could hand her a baby doll and she'd take it but there is something about that that seems....wrong somehow. She loves toothbrushes (and babydolls, but toothbrushes best) and I believe in letting her be the kind of girl that she is. So I put the embarrassed thought out of my head.

If she wants to take her toothbrush to the gym everyday, she can.  If she wants to be the kind of girl who sits on top of the slide with her shoelace in hand, I'm okay with that too.  And when she falls off we will gather up our girl, gather up her shoelace and head indoors.

And later, while sitting on the counter and doing dishes, we will sneak some of the chocolate chips which are actually for the cookies* we are baking tomorrow for the new neighbor and we won't think anything of it. Because we are chocolate-loving, shoelace-carrying, toothbrush-toting ladies.

*We're trying a new cookie recipe from our friend, Courtney.  I ate one of the cookies once and I swear it was the best cookie I have ever tasted...if it works out as planned I'll post the recipe tomorrow

Well I'm glad we got that taken care of

Remember how I cut my own hair a few weeks ago?  Yeah....It's pretty much been ponytails and buns on top of my head since then. Not after today.

Updated color? Check. Mom haircut (which I love)? check and double check. 

Yesterday I took 3 little girls to aquarium at Legoland.  We had a great time but I'm counting it as my workout for at least 2 days this week.  And I think it means that I've earned the mom haircut and new color.

This may be a bad idea......

I'm not sure it's a good idea to ask for parenting advice on the internet (it seems like it's opening a whole pandora's box of opportunity for crazy people to talk to you) but I'm going for it.  Bring on the crazy.

Remember when we went "hiking" with 6 kids under the age of 5? One of the things that I didn't mention about that trip is that we were camping with 4 other families who all have children older than Claire.  They also happen to be people I really admire as friends and parents. I learned so much by watching them interact with their kids. One of the lessons I learned came from a mom who's 3-year old started complaining about 2 minutes up the trail. Instead of scolding him she said, in a very animated voice, "Hey...I would really like to tell you a story.  This is a story about a girl named Cinderella."  She then proceeded to tell him the story of Cinderella.  I didn't think it would work.  I figured that the boy had heard the story or watched the movie enough times that he would be able to tell the story himself.

I was wrong.  I don't know exactly how many stories they got through on the trail but by the time we reached the petroglyphs they were on to Little Red Riding Hood.  The mom had promised treats when we got there and they broke out sour gummy worms and passed them around.  Not 2 seconds after her had his sour gummy worm in hand the 3-year old said, "what happened next Mom?"  And back to the story they went.

I've taken over that practice.  When Claire gets fussy in the car or as we're walking someplace I start telling stories.  It seems to calm her.  It's testing my story-telling skills (I'm going to need a refresher in some of the fairy tales) but today I ran into a moral dilemma.  We were coming home from feeding our friends cat (I will try to get video of Miss C chasing the cat because it's hilarious...hopefully coming later this week) and Claire was fussing so I started telling the story of the 3 little pigs. 

We got into a little trouble when the wolf got into the house of the first little pig.  My little brain started racing.  Do I tell her that the wolf ate the pig?  Do I tell her that the pig got away?  I weighed my options and decided that the pig got away and ran to the other pigs house.  When the wolf finally tried to get into the last little pig's house by climbing down the chimney I ran into the same problem.  Do they burn him up? Cook him in a pot of boiling water? Or does he just get his tail singed?  I went with the latter but was sure to emphasize that he learned his lesson.

Fairy tales and stories are full of terrible violence.  Nature is also full of violence (wolfs really do eat pigs and it's not pretty or a slow painless death for the pig). Do you expose your kids to that?  Do you tell the stories the way they were written or do you soften them for sensitive ears?  Really, I'd like some suggestions....



And in totally unrelated news.....we are certainly ready for summer.....(that last picture is of the steal of a tent that the hubbs scored at the REI garage sale.  We were so thrilled that we had to set it up in the common green area of our complex after dinner)

Color me Flattered

This morning I was featured on Simply Utah.  It is hands-down the nicest review I have ever had.  They were so kind.  It was very flattering.  Simply Utah is a great site that highlights local businesses and blogs.  And even though I don't live in Utah (anymore) they still let me be part of their team because I love Utah.  If you like supporting small businesses you should check them out.

My feature on Simply Utah did remind me how much I like blogging.  I know that it's a somewhat selfish venture (check out the posts that Lyndsay referenced--I have told you all about Clinton Kelly, Full House...I am sure that the list will just get more and more embarrassing as time goes on) and I just wanted to say, "thank you" to those of you who read this.  Thank you for indulging this selfish little spot.  Thank you for commenting, for reading and for the first 100 posts--here's to 100 more.

As you well know, I like to show appreciation with food but a chest cold seems to have taken hold at our house and there is a small girl on my lap who sounds a little like a warthog.  So instead of sleeping (which she normally does in the afternoons) and writing (which I do while she sleeps) we are eating cheddar bunnies and watching Kipper the Dog.  So there will be no baking today (we also don't have any eggs).  Just snuggling and snorting.

Nerd Alert

The bad thing about watching movies (or masterpiece theatre classics) on Netflix of books that you love and have read multiple times is that you know what it going to happen.  So even though you love seeing Heathcliff and Catherine as young people running around on the moore you know that in not too long Catherine will be wandering the moore half-mad and will die from the exposure.

The good thing is that if it's getting late and Mr. Rochester has just proposed to Jane Eyre you can stop right there (feeling all lovely-dovey and romantic) and leave the hard part for tomorrow.

 

****And if you haven't watched Downton Abbey yet (also from Masterpiece Theater and available streaming on Netflix) you should stop reading right now and being.  Right now. You will love it.

What better way to celebrate 100 blog posts?

That's right people--100 blog posts.  I feel like we should have a party.  Maybe we will.

What better way to celebrate than to tell you about one of the many reasons that I love the hubbs.

On Monday I got an email from the hubbs titled, "Do I need a makeover?" The content of the email was a casting call for the local TV station looking for dads who needed a makeover for their annual father's day makeover show. I love a good makeover, I love watching them and for a moment I considered nominating him (just to indulge my makeover love).

At dinner he asked me if I had gotten his email. I smiled and told him that I had but that I didn't think he needed a makeover.  Now that the hubbs has realized that he does not wear an XL or XXL (the hubbs is 6'4" and wears a 34x34 pant--it has taken some months to convince him that this qualifies him as a large at the biggest) he's a great dresser.  No makeover needed here.....

 We'll take him just the way he is.

Do I still get to call myself a feminist?

Last week while parusing facebook I saw this.  It's an ad for The Body Shop (obviously).  I guess Matel sued and the ad was taken down before it was even distributed.

I wanted to love this ad.  I wanted to feel like I felt with the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty.

But I didn't.  I didn't feel empowered.  I didn't feel like I was given tools to deal with the pressures that society puts on me and I put on myself.  I almost felt like they were poking fun.  Is it the over sexualized pose? the frizzy hair? the eyes?  I just don't know.  It could be my own prejudices coming out (we've talked before about my food and body issues) but I don't know why we have to pull our image of sexuality from a woman (of any shape or size) with pouty lips, ratted hair and a seductive stance.  It just feels like that woman is trying to be what men think is sexy.  

I find the women in the Dove ads about 100x more sexy than the come-hither pose of The Body Shop.

Is is just me?  Do I have to take feminist off of the list of words I use to describe myself?


**Due to an overwhelming response we will not be reading American Pastoral for July.  Lisa described it by saying "American Pastoral is a DARK book. There are scenes that still haunt me a decade after reading it."  I'm not sure I'm up to that after March.  So let's take a break and read something that isn't going to leave us losing faith in humanity. Let's step away from the Pulitzer Prize winners and read Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin which Lisa also recommends.

Book Club: March

There were times while reading this book that I looked over at it sitting on my bedside stand and just couldn't pick it up. Sometimes I do that if a book is boring or if the story is making me nervous but this was different. I couldn't pick it up because I felt like I was watching a man being stripped of his pride, his ideals and his belief in humanity.

The writing was incredible, the story is good, the characters are strong. But be prepared, I don't know if you have ever read a book that is this sad. Perhaps book club member Rachel put it best when she said, "Oh March...March made me so sad."

Book club member Joan said, "I loved the book. It didn't make me sad, but it was sobering. I grew up with a father whom I adored, but he wasn't as successful at negotiating the world as he wanted to be. I guess that's part of the reason the book resonated with me."

For those of you who have not read the book, the basic premise is that it follows Pa' March (who we know from the book Little Women) as he is "away at war." Pa' March, an abolitionist who has been part of the underground railroad goes off to fight in the civil war. He is a minister (being too old for the cavalry) and spends most of his time helping out and teaching the x-slaves to read. I won't give away too much of the story, but the x-plantation he is working on is recaptured. Pa is injured and ill and is sent to a hospital in the North to recover.

As he is starting recovering physically, he questions if he will ever be able to recover mentally. He sees terrible things happen to good people (on a side note, I liked how the book was able to portray terrible things without being too gory). I have since found myself thinking about recovery.

The world breaks all of of us and yet, we recover. We are able to get up in the morning. Our first boyfriend breaks our heart and we're sure that love doesn't exist but we date again. And maybe not to the extent of Pa March but I think we each lose our faith in humanity and remarkably, we come back. We may be a little less trustful, a little more guarded, but we come back.

As Ernest Hemingway said in A Farewell to Arms, “The world breaks us all. Afterward, some are stronger at the broken places.”

So book club, here is the question for March (and the good news is you can answer it even if you didn't read the book)

How do we recover? How do we become stronger at the broken places?




**Just a warning, not all of our book club members liked March. Mary said, "I was so excited to read this, since I love Little Women so much! I was thrilled to think of the possibilities that are gained from seeing the stories through the eyes of Mr. March, their father.

However, I was sorely disappointed. The story was not written in the same spirit or style as the original, which can be expected with a different author. However, the main character did not have the morals and character that you would hope, gleaning from an optimistic book like Little Women."

***Next month we are reading American Pastoral by Philip Roth.  First Friday of July.  I have no idea what the book is about but it sounds very patriotic doesn't it?  Perfect for July.

And the sunshine was lemon yellow...

This weekend has been sunny and warm(ish) and wonderful.

Welcome Summer

This is our new friend who tries to sneak into our house at every opportunity. He likes the fact that Claire leaves Cheerios and Chex all over the floor.


Just the right kind of weekend* for this

Lemon Cake (modified from Ina Garten)

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/3 cup grated lemon zest (6 to 8 large lemons)
• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  

For the glaze:

• 2 cups confectioners' sugar, sifted
• 3 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and sugar 2 loaf pans (yes, that's right...chubby girls don't use flour we use sugar).

Cream butter and sugar in the bowl of a mixer, until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on medium speed, add the eggs, 1 at a time, and the lemon zest. Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In another bowl, combine lemon juice, buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately to the batter. Divide the batter (which will be very thick) evenly between the pans, smooth the tops, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean.

Allow the cakes to cool completely.
Combine confectioners' sugar and the lemon juice in a bowl, mixing with a whisk until smooth. Pour over the tops of the cakes and allow the glaze to drizzle down the sides.

**this could also be because the lemon tree is fully producing and we have more lemons than we know what to do with

Thank you Internet

There are days when I sit down at my computer after Claire goes down and I wish that the internet would give me more...more status updates, more interesting articles, more thoughtful blogs.  This was not one of those weeks.

It's no secret to anyone that knows me that I am an NPR freak (much to the hubbs chagrin).  More specifically I am a This American Life (TAL) freak.  I listen to their podcast while I work out and then I constantly bring it up in conversation all week long.  It's a great way to pretend like I'm informed when really I'm mostly not (if you like free podcasts the planet money team also has a great one).  This weeks' podcast is not to be missed.  Did you know that there is a test that they give to people to find out if they are psycopaths?  There is.  The whole TAL team took it.  It is supposed that 1% of the average population scores "high" on the test as does 25% of the prison population (which is sort of to be expected).  What I didn't suspect is that 4% of CEOs also score 'high' on the test.  It's an hour long but so worth it.  Here, take a listen.

And then this morning I saw this awesome Tumblr called Awesome People Hanging Out Together which is full of exactly what it sounds like it would be full of--pictures of awesome people hanging out.  Like Walt Disney and Salvador Dali or Andy Warhol and Alfred Hitchcock.  (blogger seems to be having a fit or I would have just posted the pictures for you so you'll just have to go there yourselves.)

Happy Internetting my pretties.
So what did you find on the internet this week that will dazzle and impress?

**Bookclub, we're reading March for Monday so you have the weekend to finish.

A new kind of soundtrack

It is nap time.  Or, better to say, it's two-a-day nap time.  And in the other room my baby, who is in her crib and in a two-nap-a-day world would be sleeping, is singing loudly.  Every now and then I hear the springs of her crib as she jumps up and down.

When I was in high school and college I remember feeling like there were certain songs that were the backdrop of my life--that if my life were a movie (an overly dramatic and somewhat boring movie) these song would be the soundtrack.  My personal soundtrack heavily featured Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan (I was pretty nerdy even then).

The soundtrack of my life has changed.  It is now made up of a small girl talking to herself and singing.  She has one thing that she can actually 'say' and that's "where's Claire?" She says it upwards of 30 times every day and she puts her two little fists in front of her eyes. When she moves her fists away she expects you to exclaim "there she is!" and then she laughs like crazy.

And that little laugh which has been added to the soundtrack of my life is one of most lovely songs I have ever heard.


***I wish that I were brave enough to write a whole post about grammar but I'm not.  I feel like it would just be an opportunity for everyone to point out all of the grammatical errors that I make.  I care about grammar.  I proof-read my posts and I swear that I know the difference between two, too and to and weather and whether.  I can even tell you the difference between affect and effect. 

Today I sent a letter to the real estate agent who manages our rental agreement asking if the landlord would consider extending our lease for another year and I used the wrong kind of to. I didn't notice it until a second after I hit the send button and I could still see the letter on the screen.  It was just too late.  Now if he doesn't renew our lease we'll never know if it's because he wasn't going to anyway or because he doesn't think that you can trust someone with your home who you can't trust to use the correct kind of 'to.'