baby danger: the legend grows

tonight, i am hanging out with my ridiculous nephew.  three and a half year olds are hilarious.  and exhausting.  luckily, this one's been sick, so he's not at full energy level right now.  which means he still has 400% more energy than me.

it's pretty fun to compare him to shorty mcgee...they are very very different.  she was extremely verbal very early on.  he is just getting to a semi-verbal point.  he mostly just repeats things in his stinking adorable voice.

dooby doob?  chardie browd?  bye, buddyyyyyyy.

baby danger and shorty are also very similar in some ways, though.  they are both super smart and super musical.  i am pretty sure shorty will, like her father, master every musical instrument and be the star of many stage shows.  baby danger will probably get totally into guitar and start a cool hipster band.  he'll definitely rock some skinny jeans.

the little man has the best smile, an incredibly joyful heart, and gives the greatest hugs and kisses.  although he is a total stinker, he is also a total sweetheart.

he is currently hiding under his jake and the neverland pirates blanket yelling, 'yuyu, where are you?' (not quite the master of l's yet) and then giggling to himself.

it's really too bad i don't like my nephew at all.

table for one, please

i don't want to be around people
because people keep talking
and talking
and talking
to me
and social etiquette dictates
that i should not ignore
slash punch
them
gosh i'd hate to be
rude
because standing and spewing nonsense to me
definitely isn't
rude it's just how society works
you know
there are
just
too too too
many words
too too too
much noise
and my cranky introvert heart
just wants to rip off
these freaking work clothes
put on some sweatpants
and be alone
in the quiet
for several hours
or years
depending on how it goes

this. all freaking day long, this.

because why not?

i became a notary today.  what did you do?

there's a song in my heart

i was in organized choirs for 13 of my formative years (even though my family swears they didn't know about 4 of them).  i love singing.  i love hearing voices blend and harmonies weave around melodies. 

i play guitar and have written bunches of songs and even recorded a cd, but i know i am not a soloist.  never have been and don't want to be now.  i am a choral singer.

i love singing alto.  most of the time, i don't have my mom's gift of being able to pick out a harmony just from hearing the melody.  as with most things, i have to work hard before i become ok at it.  but i really enjoy nailing the harmony once i have learned it.

we are doing a very small choral number at church on sunday, and we had a rehearsal last night.  i had a ridiculous amount of fun, and it made me miss being in choir badly.  i don't know if i miss it badly enough to throw on a fuschia dress and character shoes again, but...

my name is holly, and i love choir.

heather jean

it is my big sister's birthday.  she is pretty rad.  33 is a cool number.

if you don't know heather, well...you probably should.  here are some things to help you know her even better:

she has an alien baby in her leg.  there is a long story about it.  with many pictures.

she can keep track of sports facts like nobody's business.  if a player ever even once thought about playing for the colts, cubs, or pacers, she knows them.  and will track them for the rest of their lives. 

yes, she is a cubs fan.  this explains really so much about her.  even though i am a deeply devoted brewers fan, i can accept her love of the cubs because i know it actually stems from her love of grandma willman.  and that is a perfectly acceptable thing.

heather is 15.5 months older than me.  she was small as a baby, and i was big.  so many people thought we were twins.  we are not. 

i am not sure how this system started, but since we are close in age and both girls, we got many presents that were the same except for the color.  she got pink, and i got purple.  i don't think either of us really liked how that turned out.

heather and i have been on world adventures--we went to mexico three times together in high school.  but our real dream was to be on the amazing race.  we have loved that show since the beginning and auditioned for it when we were in college.  heather still has our audition tape.  yes, vhs tape.  we are old.

bean and i have done many interesting things together.  we are inventors of a perfume, we were put in charge of the children's ministry for a whole summer at grace, we got our ears pierced at the same time, and we roadtrip well--who wouldn't want to try and guess all the counties in indiana while you drive to wisconsin?

heather is a servant to everyone around her.  she loves really deeply. 

as the highly introverted middle child in a loud family, i have not always been able to enjoy having all my siblings around me all the time.  but living in wisconsin really gave me an appreciation for each of them individually.  especially since i moved back, it has been cool to see how i feel so thankful that heather is not just my sister but a dear friend to me.

happy birthday, dear bean.

5 quick thoughts

1) a post will be forthcoming regarding veronica mars, but i am waiting until kristen has watched the movie.  you are welcome.

2) my community here is challenging the crap out of me.  in such a good, loving, and grace-filled way.  i am so thankful for this season of life.

3) my room is the lame one in our apartment.  it is full of bugs and has produced leaks in two different places.

4) spring is fighting and clawing its way into existence in indiana, and i am cheering it on like nobody's business.  winter must die.

5) i am in the process of renewing my passport right now so that i can potentially go to nicaragua in july.  more to come.