It’s all Brendon’s fault.

I often have a song bouncing around in my head, but for the last 4 days, I have had the same song playing in my noggin over and over.  It’s not annoying, but it’s like when U2 went mainstream and I turned off the radio whenever I heard one of their songs so I would never get tired of it from the overplay. I don’t want to ever get sick of this song.  It’s pure genius, actually. This song.  Its infectious melody, witty lyrics, make me laugh each time I realize I’m trapped in the web of it’s amazing hook.

It all started when Bren put Eagle vs. Shark on our Netflix que.  He put it there for me because it was a Sundance winner, quirky, from New Zealand, and quirky.  He knows me, that Bren.  He knows I love the quirky. I did love that movie. He chose well.

I got to thinking the next day about the actors in the movie so I looked them up on my trusty movie source site and found the actor and then looked to see what else he’s done.

Then I saw that he had a show on HBO. And because we only get 11 channels on our TV, I’ve never seen this show.  I’d surely like to and surely will thanks to other avenues. Somehow I ended up on youtube watching all their clips. I may be behind, because of my lack of HBO. Maybe all of you out there have also seen this already.  I am 40 now, slowing down. I remember some of the cool & crafty mom blogs I read referenced this song for the same reason months ago, but I didn’t get it then.  

Now I do.

Why is this Flight of the Conchords song so particularly juicy? It totally encapsulates my French speaking abilities.  The lyrics are right out of a first year French text book, and as a person who can still recite the first French dialogue she ever learned in 1984, I totally connect with this. Veronique? Mimi Chantel?  How about you?  You were much better gaining the language than I, but c’mon… doesn’t it just take you back to our l’école avec Monsieur Ettienne? “Écouter et répéater”? The Scarlet Pimpernel? 

Ok, the song. I’m sure it will still be in my head tomorrow. Feel free to join me. The boys are singing it this very second, and I bought the MP3 from Amazon. It’s a keeper.

Consider yourself warned.

We have a hawthorn tree in our backyard that I really hate. I never thought I’d actually hate a tree, but I do. I would love this tree from afar, but right out our back door, it’s a nuisance.  It drops leaves and berries all year long, too much for our up-keeping  attempts. It’s branches all end with a thorn (thus the name) that is ripe for poking a boy or two and puncturing a perfectly good Croc.

Winter hit us here like it never has, leaving us mostly snowbound for the better part of two weeks. I’ve been wondering how our temperate climate wildlife friends have coped with such a change in their environment. I got some bird seed for the ground feeders, but was surprised to realize I’m glad for the hawthorn tree.

Our squirrel friend comes and hangs out in the tree and feasts for a couple hours a day.  It’s funny and a bit nerve-wracking watching him run his ice-covered power line highway, with slips and great saves.  He makes it to and from our tree just fine.

I love watching him grab and eat the red berries, throwing the seeds to the ground, but will mostly likely curse this guy when hundreds of tiny hawthorn tree babies pop up all over our yard in the spring.  For now though, I’m glad it provides a meal or two during this snowy season.

I packed my bag on Thursday and took the evening train to Tacoma.  It was lovely.  A little snooze.  A little ipod.  A little crocheting.  Brain turned on simmer.  Birthday weekend.  I had a lot of beautiful thoughts and memories about Tacoma running through my head on the train.  Trains must bring out the romance as I was really scripting a love letter to the city in which I once lived.  Since I didn’t bring my computer with me, that all stayed in my head.  Which is ok.  They were lovely thoughts.  

I’ve taken the train to and from Tacoma quite a bit over the years - mostly when Bren lived in Oregon and I was still in Washington and didn’t have a car.  It’s still nice.  I highly recommend it.

My faithful pal Amy (yes, there’s 2 of us) picked me up and she took me to my chateau for the weekend, her little house on a lake. It reminds me of Michigan.  She’s from Michigan too. I think that’s why she chose to live there.  All the lake beauty, none of the snow.

While the weekend was a celebration for my birthday, it was also a celebration of a friendship.  We met on my 20th birthday as part of a group planning to study abroad in Poland in the summer of ‘88. She drove me and a couple others in her Buick LeSabre “Bessie” to the only Polish restaurant in Grand Rapids so we could all get acquainted.  

She’s still driving me around.  We spent most of the weekend in her car, a Saturn this time, driving from thrift store to thrift store to Korean store to Japanese store and to Seattle and back.  Of course she drove me to my favorite places to eat. 

I love this building.  Not only does it look like it could be in Nampo-dong, Pusan, it houses the best Korean noodle shop in all Tacoma.

All through lunch I kept on saying, “I am so happy,” while doing the happy food dance. I’m so glad I can still do the happy food dance at 40.

After more thrifting, we drove by our old neighborhood on the North End and sighed as we passed the coolest apartment I will ever live in.  Dang. It was a sweet thing.  

Even with all the meandering, we made it to The Lobster Shop for it’s twilight menu. Shoot, there I go eating early bird style already.  I did enjoy the view of The Mountain and The Sound.

We spent Saturday in Seattle at the Phinney Neighborhood Center for the Winter Arts and Crafts Festival for a little inspiration.  Then moved on to Ballard for fun shops and a new pair of reading glasses for my aging eyes.  Luckily, they’re green.

When we drove by the Space Needle, I said, “Can you believe I used to live here and I’ve never been in the Space Needle?”  
And Amy replied, “Uh, yes you have.”
“What?”
“Yes!  Your parents paid for both of us to go up to the top when they were out here visiting once a long time ago.  They couldn’t believe we had never been up there.”
“We did?”
“Yes.”
“Wow, I really don’t remember that. You’d think going up in the Space Needle would be something a person would remember.”
“Yes.  One would think…”

This is  why I keep her around.  She’s my memory-keeper for the vast majority of my 20’s.  

On to Chinatown…

…for my absolute favorite, hand shaved noodles and spicy cucumbers at Shanghai Garden.

We kicked back in the evenings and watched tv because Amy has cable. All the choices were so so lovely.  

Sunday, we met our pal Diane for breakfast then headed to the train station.

So much fun. What a gift. Thanks Amy.

When I got back to Oregon today, I was greeted with cute boys racing toward me at the train station.  I wish I had a picture of that. It was a gift. Thanks boys.

Some of you might be wondering what my boys were up to while I was gone.  Our little half bath is looking mighty fine thanks to my spouse and my awesome brother-in-law.  The house was even picked up when I got home. What a gift. Thanks Bren & Ron.

My sis-in-law showed up with her mother-in-law’s famous chocolate cake.  What a gift.  Thanks Erinn.

Thanks everyone.  Great way to start a new decade.

*Excuse me while I go wipe a few tears.  This 40 thing is taking a little while to sink in.

I adopted both my babies in my 30’s.  Adoption is a tricky process that leads to all types of feelings you never knew you had. Especially when it’s your first baby.  Just like motherhood.  

All I wanted was my baby, but without the physical sense that most moms get - a baby slowly growing inside one’s belly with a date of arrival, even an ambiguous one, I felt like I was standing still, with the scenery flying by.

Jewel came out with this song in 2001 as I was waiting, pining for my baby.  The video doesn’t tell my story, but the lyrics do, at least my manipulation of it.  And the chorus makes me cry every time.

Do you love me
Like I love you?

Or am I standing still
Beneath the darkened sky
Or am I standing still
With the scenery flying by
Or am I standing still
Out of the corner
Of my eye
Was that you
Passing me by?

My baby is now a strong, talented and smart (oh, so smart) seven year old boy. I wonder if he were to ever hear to this song, would the lyrics spark a wondering about his birth mother?

Oh, how I love my boy.  He’s one of the biggest blessings of my 40 years.

And I haven’t stood still since he showed up.

The day before my 25th birthday Brendon landed in my life.  For those of you who know him, he does kind of leave a lasting impression, so there was no doubt that I would never forget him since my roommate and I were his expat “Welcome to Korea” party. He was the newest arrival to our small teaching staff at the English language institute at which we worked in Pusan.  Amy and I (yes, there were 2 of us) picked him up and took him to the American-style pub O’Kims, in an effort to ease him ever-so-gently into the Korean life we had there.  Little did I know that he was well versed in the ways of pub life and dancing to Ace of Base.  We had a fun night.  

Because of the interesting personalities of the other expats at our school, Bren ended up hanging with Amy and I a lot.  Our teaching schedules were split, 4 classes in the mornings, afternoons free, 3 classes at night.  We spent a lot of afternoons getting lunch at our favorite eating spots, marvelling at Bren’s ability to eat a whole pint of ice cream (which he still does) at Baskin Robbins while dodging the pesticide sprayer coming down the street, and watching videos in his plush classroom.

And that’s where our story started.  We became great friends.  And that fact has never changed.  

There’s a geographic crooked path after that to where we are right now, but there definitely was a path laid out for us, and we just went along for the ride.

So today’s song is by my favorite, The Cure, which Brendon hates.  He still teases me when I wear my thinning Robert Smith t-shirt.  But I love it.  

And I love him.  

But not in an old t-shirt kind of way.  

In a Love Song kind of way.

***ok, before I get comments about Ace of Base, remember, we were in Asia in the 90’s and this was everywhere along with Shin Seung Hoon (who’s awesome).  It was just like being trapped in the Midwest in the 80’s with few options outside of Europe whining on the radio.  <smiling!>

*** and ok, I keep getting sucked into looking for my favorite Korean pop songs from 1994.  Seo Taiji was huge and this song makes me so so happy.  As does this band, O15B (Gong il Oh B).  Lots of smiling today…

December 1 is always my trigger, only 6 more days.  Usually it’s a fun and exciting countdown, but this year, I’m not quite sure what to think.  I guess it’s still fun and exciting.  Regardless of any awkwardness I’m feeling this week, I’m trying to keep it understated while sprinkling it with a bit of fanfare.  

So, this is my theme song for today.

* Note:  Whoa. The video gives too many bad flashbacks from high school. Tomorrow’s theme song definitely needs to be from The Cure.

My littlest cowboy turned four this week.  No more babies in our house.

Sometimes we spend an occasional Sunday at “alterna-church” usually out in nature, tromping and exploring.  It’s difficult not to since we live in such a beautiful place and have two boys who love tromping and exploring.  Today was such a Sunday, inspired by the salmon spawning season.  We drove to the Tillamook Forest Center with the hopes of seeing salmon swim upstream, jump over hurdles… witnessing the last leg of their amazing journey home. 

We watched for jumpers, we checked the calmer pools for resters, but we didn’t see any salmon. 

We did see a miracle or two.

Bren and I got married eleven years ago today in a tiny mountain church with a rainbow as the backdrop. My brother was my man of honor, I wore purple shoes, and B and I rode his skateboard around the church yard to kill time.  Some awesome people flew from Michigan, California, Texas and Nevada to be here, bless their hearts.  It was a nice, kick-back evening.  

Our wedding treats were Swiss pastries from JaCiva’s.  Six different flavors. Yum. 

So today, we went back to our favorite part of Portland.  Back to one of our favorite places to eat for Phil’s Ono Yakisoba. Back to JaCiva’s for their ‘After Dark’ dessert room. It was difficult to choose which treat to try, but we managed.

I had “a slice of 7th heaven” or chocolate 7 ways.

Bren had the special hazelnut torte.

And we got some of those Swiss pastries we had at our wedding for mom and dad, our gracious babysitters.

Yum.  

Thanks Bren.  

For everything.

I have a talented pal, who is the art director for a very cool magazine and he asked if I’d do him a favor. Embarrassed, I said sure.  Even though I’m more comfortable behind a camera than in front of it, any excuse to wear my plaid Chuck Taylor’s, Levi’s and my hair all wigged out, I’m there.  The photo shoot left me out of breath, a nudge that I’m out of shape and nearing a new decade, but it was fun. Thanks Darryl.

There was a rumor she’d make a cameo on SNL, so I stayed up way too late and laughed oh, so much.

Even though the calendar says it’s September and kids are back in school, with 80+ degree weather one might argue that Fall isn’t here *quite* yet.  But, yesterday at T’s first soccer game, you could just tell by the way the sun was hanging in the sky that fall is here.  Then, Ash found a red leaf on our walk today.

Fall has, well, fallen.  I do believe.

Sometimes when you realize

you have something important to say

you express yourself

and it is appreciated.

The sun finally appeared today, making it actually feel like the first day of summer break.  Truman was a little bummed leaving school yesterday because he had first-grade-teacher-love for his first grade teacher, and will miss her.  After making an 8-page booklet dedicated to her, with pronouncements of love and appreciation perfectly illustrated with his best snakes, tigers, and everything he loves that’s not a weapon, he told her good-bye.

We spent most the day with neighbor girl, who we love, and a special summer break favorite, backyard fun at the cousins (who we super love).

Next up, our first Harvest Box from our CSA farm on Tuesday!  Can’t wait!

Happy summer everyone!

i love this song.

Wow.  What a week.  I’ll try not to whine, but after twelve days of boy illnesses, a bout with it myself, antibiotics, and a spouse in Boston, I’m beat.  I really don’t know what I would have done without my mom (and dad) around during this time.  Especially their willingness to take feisty small boy away from his sick and easily agitated mother brother.  Thanks mom.

I still don’t feel great, so perhaps the weepies are close at hand.  Then I checked my mailbox and found a fat envelope filled with teacher warm fuzzies.  

And I wept yet again.  

Another group of fabulous young adults are graduating from high school, young adults that blessed me with their laughter, brilliance, and energy every day during their 8th grade year.  Wow, we did have fun that year.  I have lots of memories from this class of kids a whopping four years ago.  Even a kid from my math class wrote a sweet note.  Yes, folks.  Math.  

 I love whoever at the high school does this.  They know what gets at a teacher’s soul.  This pack of notes would have been a gift, no matter the circumstance.  But today, weary and tired, I appreciate them all the more.  

Congratulations class of 2008.  You are the ones we’ve been waiting for.

Boots: $12 on ebay

Hat & vest: $11 at the local trift store

Holster: $1 thrift store purse - repurposed

Bandana: free from my stash

Badge: homemade

6.75 year-old who wants to dress up and play cowboy: priceless

At last Saturday’s t-ball game he swapped out the mismatched boots for his fire helmet.  He’s becoming famous with the t-ball crowd for his fashion sense.  And, honestly, amidst all the baseball caps, this was pretty cute.