Thermometer

Found: In a bag of miscellaneous sewing stuff from Goodwill.

It really works. That is honest to goodness mercury inside. Dangerous, I like it. The question is: what to do with it? The gold backing is cardboard not metal.

I humbly ask for your suggestions.

For God Has Given Rich Brown Soil, The Rain and Sunshine Too...(Well in our case Farmington Gardens gave us the soil.

(please excuse the dirty face)

Mr Moss is EXTREME!

It is my brother's birthday today. He is 18 months younger than me and we used to do everything together. He is one of the few people that I let shorten my full name.

I didn't feel that I could do him justice in a birthday tribute and luckily, his wife - the lovely Mrs Moss -did it instead . Check it out.
Everything she says about him is true. He is a great dancer- I love dancing with him. We had a lot of fun dancing at his wedding and there is a video of it that I have never seen. (Maybe they are hiding it from me because I am not as great of a dancer as I think I am.....)

When Mr Moss was 19 he had his wisdom teeth taken out. My parents were out of town so I waited for him to come home from the dentist so I could take care of him. He waltzed in and mumbled through the novicaine that he was headed out with his friends to go skydiving. I protested because I am responsible. He went anyway.

The lovely Mrs Moss will have to post the video of his train hopping because it is insane.

Careless Talk Costs Lives

I dream of riding along city streets and country lanes on my sky blue vintage bicycle while wearing one of my fabulous full skirts with a bottle of sparkling cider, a baguette, something leafy and green (or flowers perhaps) and a Scotty puppy tucked into the basket.

I might be on a reconnaissance mission for the British government doing my part to fight the Gerries. I will discreetly snap photos as I run my fingers through my perfectly set hair when I stop for a rest. I must be careful not to puncture a tire because there is a shortage of rubber you know.

Because really, could any other bike be fit for me and my sense of style?

I found the perfect bike on Craigslist, I will just hope that Moose loves me more than that guitar amp he thinks he needs to buy.

***I really wish I had kept my then vintage bike from when I was in Junior High. It was black with white accents, classic lines and a 3 speed in the handle that you turned like the gears on a motorcycle.****

******* Update*******
My bicycle is now copper and I am wearing a trench coat and black beret. I am a member of the French Resistance smuggling weapon parts in hollowed out books. The Nazis think I am a little bit of French stuff but I have too much "Je ne sais quois."

The fate of Bad Bunny

Sorry to keep you waiting and wondering as to the fate of Bad Bunny all this time. Here is my excuse: A very busy not to mention unplugged week before Easter followed by another very busy and still unplugged week. The Lovely Mrs. Moss won Bad Bunny and he is sitting on her shelf thinking up mischief as we speak.

I promise my next giveaway will be better executed.

The Otherside

Last month we had a date and I could have just kicked myself for not bringing the camera. If my photos were ever good I would go back and recreate the scenes. I found a sitter and Moose took me to The Otherside (of Portland but it might as well be the planet) to go mattress shopping, to lunch and Yarnia.

We went first to Cotton Cloud Futons to check out their natural Latex mattresses. Of course I liked the very soft one and Moose liked the firmer one. We flopped ourselves back and forth between the 2 beds for quite a while and then found an innerspring mattress with a memory foam topper that we could agree on.

As we were walking to the next destination we passed a wig store. A whole store with wigs. I could imagine the fun of Moose and I modeling wigs and taking pictures.

Then we arrived at Sleep Country USA (Why buy a mattress anywhere else?) As I walked in there was a life-sized-ish cut out of their new spokes lady and while I like her I really miss the old girl. Then Moose and I flopped about on 3 Temperpedic mattresses and 2 Nature's Rest Latex mattresses. We decided that while the Temperpedics were very interesting we liked the really expensive Nature's Rest best. Moose loves Temperpedic pillows.

Then we left and headed to Yarnia. Yarnia was fun but not all I expected it to be. In the end I realized I am a boring, solid color type of girl and twisting my own fiber was not as great as I thought it should be. Moose had a blast though, he kept bringing me fibers to test out, I wish I had my camera for that.
Ultimately I DECLINED to purchase ANY yarn at all. I guess I am just a boring old Cascade 220 gal.

Then we set out to find a "Portlandy" restaurant. We went to the most "Portlandy" street of all, Hawthorne. We selected a restaurant because the girl busing the table had dreads and a bandanna on her head and decided it was Portlandy enough then parked along one of the side streets of cute craftsman houses completely lined with parked cars. There was a front yard with a buddist shrine and sand garden as well a stone wall with door hardware embedded in it.

Our waiter was a young guy with enough tattoos for 50 sailors and multi-colored, multi-length hair. His finger tatts spelled "G-O-O-D" The patrons were of all sorts and I resisted the urge to maul the woman sitting next to us with her Obama Biden '08 shirt on.

We had fun examining the people on the street and wondering how one part of a city can be so different from the other.

There are a LOT of pet stores on the trendy streets of Portland, but very few children. Telling?

Have a New Kid By Friday

In an effort to avoid becoming the mother of a child with a rap sheet I have been doing several things.
1) praying
2) the Unplugged Experiment with lots of hard work and imagination.
3) re-examining The Color Code in an attempt to understand my white son.
and
4) reading parenting books.

I have had the above book on hold for months and it is finally here. I am hoping for a new kid by Friday, May 1. I'll post pictures.

The boys seem very threatened by this book. They saw me reading it and began attacking me and trying to steal the book. Boba Fett hid it under the couch. I wonder if they think I am going to trade them in.

Sabbath Leaves

Our Beautiful World: Gardens I am grateful for nice new recycled garden beds and fresh black soil. I am thankful for rain, sunshine and little seeds. I am thankful for little lettuces sprouting in my garden.
Striving: to be a better Mom

Saturday Night Cinema

Sorry for the unexpected Hiatus but my duties as a Mom preempted my duties as a blogger turned movie critic.

Cleopatra
Date: 1963
Directed By: Joseph Mankiewicz
Starring: Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton. Also Hume Cronyn and Martin Landau

This movie is an epic. Epic film, epic story, epic cost, epic cinema legends, epic costume changes, epic length, epic amounts of sparkly blue eye shadow, epic everything. Cleopatra almost ruined Twentieth Century Fox, Elizabeth Taylor solidified her role as diva. She and Richard Burton began their infamous affair on the set and the movie cost a lot of money.

The costumes in this film make me chuckle. It is fun to see all of the pictures from my costume history book on screen but some of the designs are laughable though stunning. And I don't think even Cleopatra herself had that many wigs. Liz Taylor had 65 costume changes.

My favorite lines:
Cleopatra: You come before me as a suppliant.
Antony: If you choose to regard me as such.
Cleopatra: You will therefore assume the position of a suppliant before this throne. You will kneel.
Antony: I will WHAT?
Cleopatra: On-your-knees!
Antony: You dare ask the Proconsul of the Roman Empire?
Cleopatra: I ASKED it of Julius Caesar. I DEMAND it of you!

Serious passion and serious cleavage.

Mission Impossible

The Mission was to throw a 9 year old birthday party. Commander C was all set on a bowling party when I read about this party and BEGGED him to let me do it instead of bowling.

We got online and ordered spy gear for 12 boys from Oriental Trading Company. I went all out and it only cost $60. That is a lot of money but compare it to $13 per boy at the bowling alley - food not included.

Then we made 12 invitations that read like the opening of an episode of Mission Impossible complete with photos of

our kidnapped Oddishand the villains, Captain Quacky and his clan.

We addressed them ransom note style by cutting out letters from old yoga magazines and pasting the invitees' names on them.
The plan was to deliver them in a suspicious manner but it ended up me slipping them to parents when I saw them in case I never got another chance.

All 1o of the 11 invitees showed up including the one I forgot about and add Commander C and Boba Fett and there were 12 boys! They were given their disguises and photos were taken. Then the photos were posted into their file and they hand stamped their spy names inside.

Then we fingerprinted each other and examined each other's prints, I have a really cool central pocket on my forefinger.
Thanks to Grandma Whitehouse who sent a forensic kit just in time.
Then I kept the kids busy while Moose ran about the neighborhood with the speed of a cheetah placing clues in strategic spots.

Then he called us and gave the A-team their mission. A-team took off and I held B-team at bay for a very long time. Then B-team was sent out on their mission. As soon as they left I placed Oddish and Quacky's clan in their spots and waited.

There were some hiccups like A-team taking B-team's coded clue; but all in all it was a success.
Then we had cake that had been dusted for prints and then I let them watch an episode of the 60's Mission Impossible and waited to be rescued by the parents.

Oddish rewarded his rescuers by giving them his cash.

To China With Love

Dear Grandma and Grandpa Whitehouse,
Thank You for the dress and purse from China. I want to go to China.
I have my shoes on, let's walk to China.
Love, Nutmeg

Would you care for some TEA?

It was big, as I expected. Guesstimates are between 4,ooo-8,ooo Portlanders packed themselves into Pioneer Courthouse Square for the Tax Day Tea Party.
I brought several friends along. The square was full, but we weren't packed in like sardines or anything. You could move about it needed but it was much more comfortable to stay put.
That didn't stop Commander C and 2 other 9 year olds from going about distributing the 100 free copies of The Declaration of Independence and The Constitution that I brought along. I had planned to give them to people on the street who weren't part of the Tea Party but people at the Tea Party were SO grateful for them that I am very happy that I brought them.
It was patriotic. There was a reading of the ENTIRE Declaration of Independence accompanied by a lot of cheering. There was a pledge and I must say it is inspiring to say it in unison with 5,000 of your closest compatriots. There was a prayer that was "non-denominational" However, it was little too evangelical for the Mormons in the crowd. Mostly we were confused trying to figure out if the actual prayer had started yet and then we we alarmed at the irreverent echoing and cheers. We all said "Amen" and looked at each other furtively wondering if we really agreed with the prayer or not.
There were some great speeches including one about community. There were more anti-Obama signs than I would have liked to have seen, I really thought it took away from the message of out of control spending. Keira and I felt a little saucy about any would be IRS agents looking for someone to Audit.
The I "heart" Reagan "tea" shirts were worn and someone asked me to make one for her. I agreed. We had so much fun. I now consider myself a "real" Portlander with a protest under my belt.
The environmentalists put the kibosh on our dumping the tea in the river, so we had to make do with dumping the tea in bins. Still, it felt great. Someone did dress like an Indian. That takes guts.

I brought Commander C along because I wanted him to feel what it is like to be with people who are united behind the Constitution of the United States of America. I wanted him to feel thousands of people chanting "U.S.A." I wanted him to feel thousands of people who love our freedom enough to fight for it.

He knows about the Boston Tea Party of 1773 and why it was held and now he can say he was at the Tea Party of 2009 and why we were there.
He loved it.

I want my children to cry when they think of men and women fighting for their freedom, when they hear a patriotic song and when they see our great monuments, as I do. I want them to be angry and speak out when they see our rights and freedoms being taken away, as I do.

I want the hearts of patriots to beat within their breasts.

9 years of Attitude

It's Commander C's Birthday today. This is his latest self portrait.
Commander C was born in the hospital in Indiana. I remember his reaction a few years ago when he realized that he was born in the hospital. He was amazed, confused and a little disappointed. To him babies are born at home. I LOVE THAT!
When he arrived he looked like a little alien. He was such a pretty colored baby and so calm. He didn't cry he just looked around with eyes of wonder. He was my biggest baby 9 lbs ( I blame all the Whoppers I ate) and he continued to gain weight rapidly (though not as rapidly as Boba Fett.) He was 30 lbs at 1 year. Then he stayed 30 lbs for the next few years.
He was a good natured jolly baby. When he laughed it sounded like he was honking.
He slept a lot and never cried. We used to joke that Heavenly Father sent us an angel because he knew we were too lazy for a regular baby.
He grew up and I was convinced that he was a genius because he knew all of his letters at 21 months. I waited not very patiently for the next 4 years for him to decide to read. He was a big fan of Yu-Gi-Oh even when he was small.
He has the cutest personality. He likes to joke around.
He has always been very artistitc and lately he has taken his crafting up a level. This is "the Bad Apple"
He just earned his Wolf Badge in Cub Scouts last week.
He has always had a special bond with Nutmeg. When she was born he said "She looks just like a little angel" and it was love ever since.
He is amazing at all sports.
He comes up with the coolest ideas.
He has his own blog

He made me a mother, he changed my life in every way and I am not exaggerating.
I love you.

Preparations

Two Protest signs (one double-sided): Check
One box of tea: Check
One Sexy, hand silk screened, fiscally sound "tea"-shirt: Check
Messenger bag with 100 copies of the Constitution to distribute to ignorant Americans: Check
One Camera: Check
Two cell phones: Check
One 9 year old birthday boy: Check

We are ready.

Happy Easter - Sabbath Leaves

This is a repost from a while back. It seemed appropriate for this day celebrating the resurrection of our Lord and savior. Today is very blustery yet there is sunshine in my soul. My house is filled with cherry blossoms, Easter eggs and blessings overflowing.


The other night I had a dream, a vision of the second coming.

We were standing in a building when suddenly there was a tremendous boom accompanied by an engulfing bright white light that shot in from the atmosphere like a comet. The light was bright brighter than anything you have ever seen but it didn't hurt your eyes. It penetrated the whole world. Every corner, crack and crevice was filled. There was not a soul on earth that didn't see the light. "So this is what it means" cried out my soul "When they say that when he comes again everyone will know it."
And HE was there. His coming had knocked out all of the windows and everyone in the world could see him from where their windows had once been. We were all drawn to him. He was beautiful, blonder, younger than I imagined and did not have a beard. I could barely keep my feet on the ground as they kept rising up behind me so I could fly to him.
Those who were not believers tried to rationalize it all away but they could not because he was there. We were sorry for them but he was there and our hearts were filled up.
I went to him and told him I was not worthy. He understood.

Mosiah 27: 31"Yea, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess before him. Yea, even at the last day, when all men shall stand to be judged of him, then shall they confess that he is God;"