The Living Without Series

This is a series of posts that I wrote back in 2006 on living with less stuff. Check them out: liv011Living #2liv031liv04

My Friend Melanie and Her Big Pink Scarf

So back to the Barftastic Weekend.  This is my friend Melanie, she and her family came to visit us for the weekend.  She’s one of the things I miss most about St. Louis.  When she sent me this photo I couldn’t stop laughing because it says so much about us…let’s talk about it.

1. What do you notice first?  Could it be that big pink scarf?  I’m just wondering.

2. At some point I’ll need to take Ellen to the doctor to have her jaw realigned.

3. Yes, the evil looking chick that popped into the photo is Ellen.

4. Melanie had to wear that stocking cap because she didn’t want to wash her hair…I love her for that.

5. Her daughter is poking her little face into the photo and I hope that she and Ellen will be really good friends someday, they have about the same age difference as Melanie and I.

6. The night before this photo was taken I was puking up shell fish, beer and a spinach salad, I’ve never experience anything quite so uh…barftastic.

7. I am ten years older than Melanie.

8. I appointed Melanie as the official mentor to my daughter and she takes that job very seriously and I love her for that.

9. Melanie sends my daughter sweet messages laced with humor and pearls of wisdom.

10. Melanie has bought me a mop and made me laundry detergent and she’s mopped my floor and done my laundry.

11. I’ve cleaned out her freezer and redecorated her shelves.

12. She’s the cheapest person I know and probably the most generous.

13. She posted this video on facebook and I watched it while I was talking to her on the phone and now I can’t stop saying , “Welcome to Canada!”


Fast Tube by Casper

March 3rd, 2010 | Category: Some of my friends | 39 comments

The Faces of My Weekend

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Let’s recap the weekend to some faces that are burning up the inside of my camera.

Ellen rolled her ankle during the warm up before her first game, got poked in the eye, smacked in the jaw so hard she couldn’t open her mouth or eat for several hours, had her fingers slammed in the van door and caught a head cold.

But, she had a great time at the tournament!  At least that’s what she says.

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Isaac fell off a slide and landed on a metal pole and limped around like an elderly man the last day we were there and to make our stay at the grossest hotel in existence a tad bit nastier he tarted puking at 3:00 in the morning.

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We watched some really great games.  Our girls placed 5th and our boys came away with 3rd.  I was so proud of them.  We don’t have a single Senior on either team, so they are young and can come back again next year with the same team dynamic!

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I’m so glad to be home and so happy basketball season has come to an end.  Now I can fix dinners and have everyone around the table instead of shoving their heads into the pantry and hoping they get their fill.

But wait!   Have I mentioned that I’m the track coach?  Um….yeah, there are no words to explain how that happened.  I’m thinking the kids are in for a HUGE surprise.  Do you think letting them sit in a circle telling their funniest stories counts as a good training workout?  I guess we’ll find out soon.

This post is a perfect example of what happens when other people use my camera for their own entertainment…it’s like they forgot I have a blog!

March 1st, 2010 | Category: Me, Some of my friends | 16 comments

Wichiturd State Tournament

We’re headed to Wichita for state basketball tournaments today.  I can’t say that I love Wichita.  It’ always a huge mess of construction whenever I go there and the only reason I travel there is to watch my children play sports.  If you’ve been reading this blog long enough you know that sports are not exactly my favorite thing, but I have a husband and children that love them…so I’m a reluctant sports’ mom.

Actually, I must admit this little secret.  Come closer so my husband can’t hear…I’ve kind of, sort of, maybe a little bit enjoyed this basketball season.  And let me tell you why….boys.  Please don’t tell my daughter this, but the boys team is really fun to watch and I have to sit through my daughter’s games in order to see the boys play.  The boys have had several games that went into overtime and they’ve come back from being far behind to win and their games are just so much more…like watching basketball.

Okay, so really I’m going to state basketball to sit through my daughter’s games and to watch the boys play.  I’m a terrible mother, please don’t tell my family.

And one more thing I need to tell you, Ellen hasn’t made it through a game without body flopping on the court at least twice.  She is constantly on the floor and by the end of the game she usually has a list of injuries that she’ll need a day or so to recover, elbow to the gut, jammed fingers, poked in the eye, scratched on the nose, bruised knee and the list grows.  So, I think it only appropriate that I re-post this video to give you a little peek of her sweet flopping moves and then you’ll essentially feel as though you’ve seen her play basketball.


Fast Tube by Casper

February 25th, 2010 | Category: Me | 31 comments
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