Elora and Isabelle were bored

Note #1: The following babies have never met each other in real life. The described conversation is pure conjecture.
Note#2: I don't have photoshop. I only have that dumb paint program that comes with Windows. This is my excuse for any poor picture quality.

“ I’m bored,” sighed Isabelle Rose as she lay on the living room carpet with her favorite cousin, Elora Mae.

“Me too,” said Elora. I wish there was something exciting to do. Nothing ever happens around here. Its always the same old thing: eat, sleep, cry. I’m tired of it!”

“Remember that time we got buried in the laundry and screamed for three hours?” smiled Isabelle. “ That was so fun! I wish we could do something like that again.”

“Yeah, that was pretty cool,” replied Elora. “ But my favorite day was the time we went exporing the universe! My highchair suddenly turned into a space ship, and you were the best starship fighter this side of Tatooine, and…”

“Wait a minute,” Isabelle interrupted. “That never happened! Besides, if anyone’s highchair were to turn into a spaceship, I think it would be mine. Sheesh!

“Hey, I know something we could do," Isabelle continued. " How about we attack our sock monkeys from grandma Kimber! Remember that time you got yours in a head lock and he couldn’t get away? Your mommy had to come break up the fight because she was so worried you would destroy him for good!” Isabelle chuckled at the memory.

“ That’s true,” agreed Elora. “That might be fun if my mommy hadn’t hidden Mr. Monkey from me for his own protection.”

"Hmmm. That does pose a problem,” muttered Isabelle.

“Well,” Elora said, “we could always go play outside! We could eat grass and spit on bugs all day long. What do you think?”

“ Oh I love spitting on bugs!” shouted Isabelle. “Awww, but my mommy said its too hot to go outside today. Wait a minute…where are our mommies anyway?"Isabelle looked around in sudden confusion and began to cry.“Where’s my mommy!!” she wailed.

“Oh, don’t cry Isabelle!” Elora soothed. “Our mommies are just out fighting evil in the world with their magical mommy powers and…um…magic wands!”

“Really!” laughed Isabelle, her tears forgotten. “ Our mommies are the coolest mommies ever!”

“You got that right,” Elora nodded.

And with that the girls were quite content.

the end

Saturday in the Northwest

If you’d like to hear the story of another one of my cool Saturdays (And I know you would) read on.

This weekend was pretty exciting. In the morning we got to watch about 1,300 youth perform in a dance festival. In the afternoon we got to visit one of the biggest Asian grocery stores in the Northwest. In the evening we stopped at (of course) Wal-Mart for some last minute items, and that night, I got to exercise my art degree in creating exciting birthday cards for two of my brothers!

I know you’re just dying to hear the details, right?

First, the dance festival.

Who is involved?

Participating in a Multi Stake Dance Festival is usually a once in a lifetime experience. Nearly 1,300 wonderful young men and women, ages 12 through 18, from the Bellingham, Bothell, Lynnwood, Marysville, Mount Vernon, Shoreline and Snohomish stakes will be performing April 22, 2006 in the Marysville-Pilchuck High School gym.

Pretty big stuff, huh. And that’s right from the web-site’s mouth.

It was cool because I know all of the youth from our ward, being one of the Young Womens leaders. All of the young men dropped out before the four month practices were done, but at least five of our girls stayed on and participated. I was surprised… I must admit, if our Stake or town had done something like this, I don’t know if I’d have been too keen on participating, though my attitude would be different these days.

It turned out to be a very good show. They wore elaborate costumes for each dance, and put a lot of practice time in. My favorite dances were the Asian dance by the girls, and the Polynesian dance by the boys from many Stakes. The former involved fans and hitting chopsticks with a lot of moving around, the later consisted of a lot of slapping and hitting the floor. It was neat because they had a Polynesian boy in full native garb leading them. Elora really liked that part. There were also dances involving jazz music, hip-hop and other selections. The show was supposed to be in commemoration of the life of President Hinkley, although I'm not sure how that last music selection really fits in.

After the show, we were obliged to follow the long line of cars that inevitably follows a large-scale LDS event. I didn't mind the wait though; spring is in full bloom and Marysville is a quaint town that I wouldn't mind living in someday. Perhaps.

We ate a quick lunch at home then it was off to Seattle. My brothers Dain and Thorin are both celebrating their birthdays this week. Dain is majoring in Asian studies in college and loves Japanese stuff (including his Asian girlfriend), so we thought it would be cool to get him some items from Uwajimaya (pronounced wa -jee- my- uh). Uwaji-what, you ask?

With over 400 employees Uwajimaya is one of the largest Asian grocery retailers in the Pacific Northwest. Since the beginning Uwajimaya has evolved beyond providing basic grocery staples and become known as a tourist and destination store. Uwajimaya believes good customer service is paramount. Its reputation is built on being known as the information specialist on all things Asian and part of its mission is to educate the customer on all aspects of Asian cultures. Uwajimaya's pre-eminence among Asian stores comes from its use of modern technology, its emphasis on cleanliness, and its adherence to its business philosophy.

I had been teasing Dain about getting him squid for his birthday, so I thought, "Hey, why not?" So we got him canned Squid, roasted Eel, Wasabi, and a bunch of cool food items with Japanese lables all over them.

Joseph actually got some squid for himself too, and he ate the whole sardine-style can full. He said it was pretty good, but you have to watch out for the beaks because they're crunchy. Yum.

We would have loved to stay longer, but Elora was pretty tired and cranky by this time. We drove to the neighborhood I used to live in before I was married, where I fed her in the backseat. Even this was exciting, because while we sat there, we saw a ferari get rear-ended! I always knew there would be a wreck on that corner.

Now I will skip over the Wal-mart part...you've heard it before. And if I had a scanner beleive me I would show you my interesting and innovative birthday cards. Alas, this is not the case. Suffice it to say they were nice.

And now, dear friends, I will leave you with what you've been wanting to see.

Pictures of the Spring weather, accompanied by my lovely daughter!

Spring Is In The Air

After reading a lovely post that displayed spring flowers in effigy, I felt I too had to celebrate the season and the simple things it brings. Okay, and some of this applies more to summer, but I will still call this:
Spring: a montage of verse (written several years ago) and pictures (only some are mine).

In the tree on a rainy day

surrounded by the slow drip
and soft glisten of green
sodden branches seep through
my well worn jeans
as I perch serenely above
the subdued earth.
a still-brooding sky
stares down in sullen contemplation
on my upturned countenance,
and I return the look silently waiting.


Sky
Roiling clouds of titan proportion rumble distantly
serving to remind us of our humanity.



To Be Cherished
Those were the days
that seemed to never end
charged with the fire of childhood
tempered with the passing breeze
and held together by the imagination
of a barefoot young girl.

(okay, this next one was written by my friend S.O., and I didn't ask her if I could publish it, but I love it so I hope she doesn't mind. I think its more about summer than spring, but its great!)

4/2/98
To the hut
With haste I snatched
the paper bag, filled
with soggy raisins and jelly sandwiches.
I must hurry to begin
the adventure
which exists on the other side of the field. I found my other shoe
and the journey began.
Under Poplars I tripped - though
they could've been oak or maple or quaking aspen. I mumbled
repetitious rhythms as I plodded steadily along
and monotonously marched while the tune replayed again and again
over and over
beating... like armies.
Over my shoulder disappeared
the red bricks baked by the sun
which slowly became a large
gold plate. The clouds - white napkins.
Silence dominated the air until quickly
past me the cat ran
with her kittens that aren't born yet
a thing I didn't comprehend.
The first gate I climbed. The second
I slid between the slats and I arrived.
This time
only one scratch, my skin cut by
the rusted wire. No tears
fell and I climbed
the creaky ladder to the loft of
the old barn. Why?
Because here I exist.. I dream.
And it is quiet
everywhere.. except
for the crinkle of the paper bag.

So thats it for now. I hope you enjoyed it!

The Date

This font is called "Lucida Grande". I don't know that it looks much different from New Roman Times, but it sounded lovely, and I thought a post entitled The Date should have a lovely type font. Hmm. They need more font choices.

So last Saturday, my husband and I decided to go on a date. Our last "date" without our daughter was on our two year (!) anniversary in December. We went to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire at that time, but I didn't enjoy it as it was our first time leaving Elora with anyone. But, seeing it on video this week assured me that I wouldn't have been that impressed without the baby in the back of my mind anyway. Good fun, but not great. The book was better.

This Saturday, we were also going to see a book turned movie. We had found a theatre that was still playing Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Our first Christmas together, Joseph bought me the book series and I found it surprisingly enjoyable, despite my memory of despising said books in middle school. (My favorite in the series is The Magicians Nephew.) The previews for said movie had built our excitement, because Lucy wasn't buck-toothed, and Aslan wasn't a bad anamatronics puppet. There weren't even cartoon ghosts as one might fear based on previous versions.

We made preparations for a last minute babysitter, looked up movie times, and did our grocery shopping in the morning so we wouldn't have to worry about anything that afternoon. By now, Elora has been watched many times on the days that I work, and I knew she could handle it. True, this was the first time she was being watched by a 12-year-old young woman rather than an adult, but I wasn't too worried.

The movie started at 4:20, at a huge 16-plex theatre in the Alderwood mall, with each theatre having stadium seating. Nice. I told "sally" (names have been changed) to come over at 4:00. That was my first mistake. The theatre is actually about 20 minutes away. sally has never been to my house. So, naturally, sally was ten minutes late and we didn't have more than ten minutes, much less twenty, to get where we needed to go.

Joseph drove like a madman through the mall traffic, where the drivers didn't seem to understand that we were in more of a hurry than they were. In fact, most seemed oblivious to the 'Baby on Board' sign in our back window, and we almost got in a few accidents. Okay, you're right, the baby wasn't on board, but they should still respect the sign!

Finally we pulled up next to the large and spacious theatre, and Joseph said I should get a place in line while he parked the car. I held out my hand for his debit card as I had paid for the babysitter earlier, and I left mine at home. Joseph looked at me blankly. "I don't have it, you do." he said. I smirked; he always plays this game when I ask if he has the keys, or something of similar importance, and he inevitably cracks a grin and pulls them from an inner pocket.

"No really, it's in your coat; you had it when we went shopping this morning!" He insisted. Uh- oh. That didn't sound like his joking voice. And as I felt around vainly for the plastic card, I realized this didn't look like the coat I'd worn that morning either. Already stressed from the hectic car ride, I couldn't bear this new complication and I burst into tears.

I know. Pathetic. Its just a movie, right?

Joseph still had his head on his shoulders though, and he lost no time in getting us back to our apartment. Miraculously, we again avoided any car accidents. I didn't want to go inside because I didn't want the baby-sitter to see me, and I had no idea what to say to her. Joseph retrieved his card from my coat in the closet, and quickly looked up all the other theatres and movies playing in the area. He printed off the list and brought it out to me in the car, where I grumpily reviewed the offerings.

Watching Narnia was now out of the question; it didn't play again until 8:00 that night. Lets see, pay the babysitter double and hope the baby doesn't get too upset that she hasn't eaten in seven hours? I think not. Most of the shows out were rated R or looked really stupid. I hate wasting money seeing a movie that isn't special, but I still wanted to go out.

Finally I settled on The Pink Panther, with Steve Martin. Because it didn't play until 6:00, that meant we had to pay full price....which here means $9.50 a person. Yeah. Now thats a real waste of money. Especially since the sitter was already getting a $20.

But because we now had an abundance of time, our drive back was much less stressful. When we sat down in the theatre we were actually in a good mood. And although the movie was indeed corney and pricey, Joseph loved it and I had fun being with him.

So what if our date cost forty dollars and we didn't even eat anything? ( a small soda was $4.00)So what if the baby got a really bad diaper rash because "sally" didn't change her diaper the whole time we were gone? So what if she let her chew on a chapstick container that she could have swallowed and choked on? And so what if those twenty-somethings in that red car almost rammed into us on purpose? (jerks.) We had a fun date, and I'm not complaining.

.

But mommy I missed you!

(I couldn't resist at least one)