Lindsey Buckingham rocked the house!

 

Hal and I went to the Lindsey Buckingham concert at the Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta - and wow it was totally worth it!  The traffic, the ticket price, the broken parking meter that resulted in all of us getting parking tickets...he was amazing!  That man can SING and can do all sorts of things to a guitar.  He's a true musical genius and it was left brain mania to hear him for 2 hours!

Start Something That Matters - read this book by Blake Mycoskie

Currently half way through this book - it's the really neat story of how Tom's shoes got started.  If you've ever thought about your own start up, this is a great guide with lots of awe-inspiring stories built in.  Blake Mycoskie is one smart dude.  I now own 3 pairs of Tom's shoes and Sarah has one.  We love 'em.  That means my dollars put shoes on our feet and the feet of 4 kids without shoes.  That's awesome!  Conscious buying.

http://www.amazon.com/Start-Something-Matters-Blake-Mycoskie/dp/1400069181

The Madison County Fair

This Wednesday night Hal and I decided to take Sarah to the Fair - notice the capital letters to give the word emphasis.  When I was a kid, everyone looked forward to the Fair in the Fall.  Popcorn, pizza, corn dogs, and funnel cakes and all sorts of dizzyingly fun rides - plus a night out with our friends!  I don't know about you, but I never got to go out at night!  This was one of the funnest things to do all year and lots of times we even got to go on a school night.  There you go.  Until that one year when I sat down in someone's puke.  I can't remember the exact ride but "the whirly bird" comes to mind.  All I know is I sat down in the seat and felt an oozing warm wetness and then smelled that horrible puke smell, stomach acid, half-digested food, and nasty green bile.  It was a  yucky disaster.  My dad got so bent out of shape, and we pretty much had to leave because who in the heck brings a spare set of clothes to the freaking Fair?!  Ugh.  It was awful and I've been trying *not* to remember that night or the Fair ever since.   But last week Hal started talking about it, and then Sarah started talking about it, and then I found myself pretty much being coerced into to going or facing the fact that I'm probably a crappy mother.  So I went.

The smell of hay and cows and popcorn all mixed into one was the first sensation besides the colorful lights that I experienced upon getting out of the car.  There was the Boy Scout who was supposed to be helping us park but was instead more interested in playing with the gravel on the ground at his feet.  His mother kept yelling at him and I laughed in sympathy at her frustration.  Four bucks to get in wasn't bad - we had almost $40 in cash after raiding the kiddo's piggy bank.  I decided that this was a good opportunity to teach Sarah a little bit about how spending money works.  She got to buy tickets, food, and go on 4 rides all by herself.  She saw someone she knew and got so excited that she lost herself in telling us rather than saying hi to the person she'd spotted.  Hal tried the boiled peanuts while we listened to some live country music - I snapped a few pictures and just took it all in, and wasn't terribly focused on avoiding puke.  I guess the ER has softened me a bit where vomit is concerned.  Can't avoid those sights, sounds, or smells in the ER!   I visited the cows and tried to figure out whether or not I appreciated the showing of cattle and had a whole ethical debate in my head about whether or not I really should be eating meat.  I guess at my core I really am a nerd.

There is one thing that stuck with me though: one of the fair tents had merchandise for sale - almost all of it cheap cheesy crap from China but I took a look anyway (it's a woman's right to shop no matter where she is).  There was a hanger of flags and I looked all the way through them.  There were military flags, POW MIA flags, and rebel flags but not one actual American flag.  I understand pride in where you come from but the rebel flags need to go.  To me they are a sign of ignorance and hate nowadays rather than anything resembling pride.  They are simply outdated.  Fortunately there wasn't a long line of people hurrying to buy them.  It's funny to me that the same crowd of folks that would buy leather bracelets with christian fish symbols on them would buy the rebel flag as well.  There's a reason why that particular collection of merchandise was in that tent for sale.  Consumer demand.  Sad, but true.

Otherwise enjoy the pics!

Eight bucks for this?

A couple of weeks ago while walking back through the hospital from taking a visitor upstairs, I stroll by the gift shop.  Through the glass wall I see this and I have to go in for closer inspection.  I'm all for reduce, reuse, and recycle but I must admit, I'm not for this.  This $8 "recycled" plastic coke bottle just takes the proverbial cake.  Eight bucks?  For this?  Seriously?  Even if I carried a purse, I cannot imagine ever having one of these in there to "store" things.  I applaud the sentiment behind this product but come on.  Eight bucks?  Maybe $3 would be more reasonable but I still wouldn't bite.  Would you?

Whoa! Why haven't I already found this?

Read this now.  Ever wondered what happens when you die?  Who hasn't?  This book is fascinating!  Thanks Carla Baron for suggesting I read this!

Dear Virus, please expire.

Last Wednesday night I spiked a fever, then got the sweats, then threw up, then got the squirts.  It was hell, and I felt just awful.  So now it's more than a week later and I have to come home early from work because I'm running a fever again.  In fact, I've pretty much had a fever almost every day since last Wednesday.  I think there should be an automatic "you've suffered enough" expiration date on all illnesses.  I've also decided that besides the death of a loved one and perhaps a nasty break-up with the love of your life that vomiting is one of the worst human experiences.  I could live a thousand more lifetimes and not ever need to do it again.  Every time I throw up another food item gets scratched off my eat list.  This time it was Zaxby's chicken (that I'd pulled out of the fridge, leftover).  Once before it was spaghetti - I still remember puking so forcefully that whole noodles came out my nose.  Red Lobster was crossed off the list when I was 21.  What will it be next?  However, I must say that this virus - this god awful bug - prompted me to eat something I probably haven't eaten in 20 years...Campbell's chicken noodle soup.  I have no idea why except that I lost more than 5 pounds in one day and was starving so bad that my stomach was about to digest itself...and I was at work and desperate.  I kept it down.  Healthy and cheap my dad would say...if I gave him the satisfaction of telling him!  :)

Visitation

You all died so suddenly,
even when we knew it might come.
I see people die now.
I know that pain in the eyes of the ones they leave behind.

I've felt it eight times before,
and it's awful.
A great big elephant sitting right on my heart,
and he won't move to save my life, my mind.

During the days when I think of you I ask you to visit me.
I tell you that I love you, that I miss you.
That I'd love to just sit and talk.
I wish I'd come to see you more when you were here, like you asked me to.
I say this out loud.

But in the night, in those wee hours and my half conscious slumber,
this is when you come.
Your face shines through and I recognize you.
Rocking in the chair, standing in the corner, sitting on the couch.

There you are!
Sometimes you only smile.
Sometimes you tell me something I might need to know.
I say I love you.
You say I know.

Love lives on, and does not die.
The body, yes.  But only.
My soul and your soul, connected forever.
You have work to do now, and I've gotta finish this life.
But please, come see me anytime you can.
I love you.