mindaTHINK

Africa is a Continent.

This past weekend was all about Africa.  Which I have to remind myself is sort of like saying this past weekend was all about North America.  Not very descriptive, if you know what I mean!

Our friends Don and Danielle Pierce and their children are here from Uganda, and we were so privileged to get to hang out with them Friday and Saturday morning.  The girls are so grown up now, you can really see the positive affect their new lifestyle is having and Andrew was in heaven the whole time.  He said yesterday when we were talking about their visit, "Those girls are seem the closest to God of any kids I know.  You can really tell they love Jesus."  We spent the afternoon and evening catching up and in the morning after breakfast we got to see movies and photos (some of which I have in my hot little hands for scrapbooking purposes!!!) It was a lovely time and we sure hope they can squeeze in more time with us while they are in Minnesota.

Saturday night we headed to the Fabulous Halloween Party of Park and Julie.  We had a great time and Andrew was in the haunted house more than out of it.  The kids kept mixing us strange, horrifying drinks in the garage, and some of the parents mixed me a drink that about knocked me on my behind!  Goldschlager, 'nuff said.  Andrew AND Scott won the brain game.  Andrew got a cool bag of party favors: Scott got half the brain.  ICK!  It was disgusting, but he was brave and took a bite anyway!  What does all that have to do with Africa?  Um....we were looking at a globe at one point and talking about how people say Africa but are more specific about countries elsewhere in the world.  Weird!

Then the top off of the whole shebang.  LION KING at the Orpheum Theatre downtown.  Dave and Lisa treated us to something we could never do on our own, and we treated them to dinner at Palamino as a thank you.  I had my first Mojito (and my second!)

The Lion King was AMAZING!  I can't possibly convey how wonderful it was, but can only tell you that I cried TWICE at the beauty and wonder of it, and Andrew was on the edge of his seat agape the whole night.  Truly amazing! 

Then of course Monday was the second date of our Young Writers Workshop and the african tie in there was the natives were restless!  It was crazy and fun and all the kids' stories are coming along nicely!  Its going to be so fun to see the finished product at the end!

So, here are some random raw photos to illustrate the last four crazy days!

Let the music move you

Andrew and I attended a Folk Music and the Orchestra concert at Orchestra Hall in Downtown Minneapolis earlier today. I am a huge fan of the arts, and one of the many perks of being a homeschool parent in a metropolitan area is reasonably priced tickets to arts events like this. For $5 a seat we get to not only hear the full might of the Minnesota Orchestra, but with every Children’s Concert we get to see actors or dancers or famous musician’s that really seek to connect the kids to the music.  This concert featured a viola performance by Miss Minnesota 2006, Peter Ostrousko, and a hungarian dance troup.

I realize not everyone lives near a city with a symphony or orchestra, but if you do, I highly recommend you search it out and see if they offer a kid friendly program at all throughout the year. Attendance at orchestral events is down in recent years and if you call the box office you will probably find a staff very willing to work with you and help you find a concert you can afford.

Now if you are saying poo-poo to the idea of classical music, I say you really need to give a live concert a chance. I love to close my eyes during a concert and let the unfamiliar music take me away to another place. You don’t have to be an expert or a longterm fan, but I promise you if you give yourself the chance to try it out, you will be changed in some way. If you are a harried mom of young kids, find a babysitter and go, nothing is more relaxing!

Here, take a taste here (you'll have to turn off my music player above first!)

http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/audio/BEETHOVEN_Symphony_No.3_IV_Finale.mp3

After the concert we headed out to one of my favorite restaurants, Bombay Bistro in downtown.  Beautifully appointed, with a charming staff, this fast paced buffet style restaurant is so richly scented when you walk in the door you already feel like your dining!  While there we talked about an upcoming concert at Orchestra Hall of a famous indian artist that will be joining us for the evening. I love the popular and world music concerts that are also at this venue.  If you really HATE classical music this might be another option for you to try, although these concerts tend to be more expensive and less likely to have rush tickets available. Still it never hurts to try!  Here is a little clip from that upcoming concert.

http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/audio/ANOUSHKA_SHANKAR_Beloved.mp3

Absolute Desolation

Yesterday on my way to an appointment I exited the freeway at the 46th street exit.  This exit is pretty famous for its ongoing line of beggars who will stand and hold a sign in hopes of some money.  I'm not sure if it is the large, very wealthy church just a block or two away, or that it is just far enough outside the downtown area, yet still on a good busline to make it a safe spot, but it is a place where you can routinely teach your child about the downtrodden if you so choose.

When Andrew is in the car, we usually will pass a few dollars out the window.  This is really a weak response to someone in need, and I'm never happy after the fact.

Yesterday the light was red as I came off the exit and so I was several car lengths back from the person who had claimed the corner this day.  As I waited for the light to change I was struck by his sign:  First of all, Absolute Desolation is a slightly more elevated sign than what I normally see.  Secondly, the handwriting was very neat and everything was spelled correctly.

As we moved forward with the light change I noticed two more things: this man was young, probably only 20 or 21, the age of my son Jason.  He was very good looking and didn't have that hollowed out look of a junkie.  And then the kick in the gut:  He was crying.  Honestly, I've never seen anything so heart rending in my life.  Think of Will in Pirates of the Caribbean standing beside the road holding up a sign of complete humiliation and surrender, eyes red, tears streaming down his face.

Of course I was already in a down mood.  The fires in California are hitting home as the affect so many of my new found online friends. 

Sometimes this world is just a very sad place. 

I hope someone came along and did more for that young man than I did. 

Why the Tooth Fairy never flew with me

So in a few hours (12 to be exact, not that I'm counting or anything) I'll be visiting the dentist for my first checkup in SIX years.  Yep, September 11, 2001, I'm sure that date rings a bell for you, was the last appointment I had with a dentist. 

Now before the morning of 09-11, don't get me wrong, I was already horrified by the prospect of a visit to the dentist.  And really there is no logical reason, since I've always had super nice ones.  But I'm afraid the end of security in America as we have known it for several hundred years only added to my neurosies.  So. Then.

My deal with the myth of the tooth fairy is this:

No one LIKES going to the dentist, so why didn't the fairy tale grow in a way that is more suited to our dreams?  In that,  instead of scraping tools and air blowers and water torture devices and suckers every six months we instead go to sleep and the tooth fairy comes and cleans our teeth and fixes anything that needs sorting out in that ole mouth while we are blissfully sleeping? Hmm?  I ask you.

Instead, we get nothing as adults, nothing.

Gip if I ever saw one.

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Here is some updated art...I had a scrapathon weekend and it felt good!

Nessa is a doll I know from online who lives in Belgium.  She speaks CHARMING english and I love knowing her.  SO full of energy!

a quick and fun layout about video games.

I like stating my beliefs in my layouts.  It's like making a pledge.

Erin HATES working with my bangs when she cuts or styles my hair.  When I saw this old photo I had to laugh, because look at those suckers!  apparently they've ALWAYS been a problem!

We interrupt this boring to do list with some fun.

Saturday.  Sever's Corn Maze with Marcy and the boys.  Crowded.  Sunshine.  Noisy.  Perfect temperature.  Muddy.  Fun-filled.  Good times.  Crabby boys on the way home.

The To Do List

So, I took a step back midweek last week and plan on staying that step back until Friday of this week.  Why?  The ole To Do list is overtaking me.

I love the time I spend at www.tallyscrapper.com and I love scrapbooking nearly every day, but with adding in a workout and extra shower every day and trying to keep up with added homeschool tasks and getting a new job up and running, I've fallen behind on everything else.

So, here is the To Do List I've been working from and will continue to whittle away all week:

Mail Tally packages to Tami, Keely, Christy, Addie

Get Squngee supplies in order

Purchase Jason's 21st birthday gift and wrap

6 months business income prepped and calculated

Update email address book with phone numbers and addresses

Copy Jason's book and pass it along

Read Scott's novel, comment

Order any missing Squngee parts/get parts back from Nate

Make 100 Squngees and deliver

Paint diningroom

Paint hallway accent wall

Paint rest of hallway

Clean out hallway closet

Put camping gear in garage locker

Catch up the laundry

Seasonal clothing maintenance-Minda

Seasonal clothing maintenance-Andrew

Check in with Nisa/Wes re: status

Order Tshirt from Wes

Clean my closet

Pay Bills

Buy that treat for Chris, try it out, mail it

Make TallyRally photo discs and mail to Tami and Chris

Buy final items for monthly kits

Mail final stuff for kits to Christine

Work on Scott's closet and bathroom

Get cleaning kit put together

Complete cleaning checklist and send to first customers

Talk to Julie about her cleaning business

Talk to Rachel about her cleaning business

Meet with first customers

Put together Beethoven mystery kit

Order tickets for Guthrie and Park Square theatre events

Update paperwork drawer

Clean out junk drawer

Develop three week menu system/shopping list

Grocery shop

Catch up photo downloads and editing

Complete digital layout for Lisa

Complete digital layout for contest

Find out about Grandma at Thanksgiving

Declutter laundry room

The great Andrew toy adventure...

Put together parts for game for Writing group

Meeting with the Man

Recipes to the cousins for book

Email Joyce Golden about Erins wedding

But I still took two hours today and put a few pages together.  Here are two of the three and another couple from a few days ago:

Da Bomb

So, last night for our women's group we decided to pray the whole time.  Two hours.  Prayer. 

And during the prayer time I got called a smart bomb.  Able to go around corners and buildings and stuff to hit my intended target.  Oh so unfortunate if I go off too soon.

I guess Lisa thought it was an appropriate analogy, because she did this:

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That girl cracks me up!

I've been running...

I realize this isn't interesting to many, but I've been running.  Since the day I got back from Boston, inspired by my new friend Tami, I've been running.  My goal is six times a week, but for the third week in a row I'm not going to make that.  My goal the first week was to actually do it all week.  I ran 7.8 miles in four runs.

My second week I ran five times for a total of 10.9, a nice improvement.

This week my goal was 12 miles.  I have 7.8 of that socked away, so just two 2.1 mile runs left this week.  No prob.

Today's run was horrible.  I was completely off pace and felt like quitting with each step.  So I decided that I would run 3 miles instead of 2.4, just keep going when I got to 30 minutes instead of cutting it off at that point.  Which made me realize I have a long way to go.

It took me 41 minutes to get that three miles out.  If I were to run a 5K today it would take me nearly an HOUR!

My long term goal is to run a 5K in a 30 minute run (that's 4 minutes of warming up, 30 minutes of running, 4 minutes of cooling down)  Right now that long term goal is looking impossible.  But I won't give up just yet.  And if after awhile I realize that my body just isn't going to give me that speed, then I'll give myself a different goal.  But for now this one is staying.

I'm taking a step back from scrapbooking for awhile, which translated into normalspeak means I'll be like everyone else and only spend a couple hours over the next two weekends creating and only an hour on the internet each day.  The rest of my life is screaming at me, health concerns of relatives, a small crisis at church, starting a new job, the house slowly falling apart around me,

and the good things,

Andrew renewing an interest in extra homeschool stuff, the running, a storybook workshop for kids coming up,

and I realized I need to "put my big girl pants on" and get everything else running smoothly again before I continue with my daily scrapbooking. 

Here are a couple of the latest pages though:

Boston Layouts: A Beginning

Finally getting a moment to post a bit about Boston.  It was really a wonderful trip.  Everything went smoothly, I loved everyone I met, sightseeing was wonderful too!

Here are the first few layouts I've done about the trip:

The cover of the album

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Section dividers

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