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.

i'll try being delightful

just as a nice change of pace, today i will discuss delightful things.  let's see.  where to start?

1) a delightful memory: in fifth grade, we had classroom auctions.  my favorite thing i ever bought at one of these auctions was a typewriter.  i still own this typewriter, although it is sitting in my parents' basement.  i think typewriters are super cool.  i love the noise they make.  however, when i am writing on my computer, i edit while i type.  so...that would be tedious and awful on a typewriter.  also, typewriters make me think of frank in you've got mail.

2) a delightful movie: you've got mail.  enough said.  but not really...enough good things could never be said about this movie.  i love it, and it tightly binds my heart with mj and jb's. 

3) a delightful near-future event: jb is turning 30 in a few weeks!  this is wonderful, because she has graced the world for three decades.  and because it means i get to go to wisconsin. 

4) a delightful near-past event: i helped pull out one of shorty mcgee's teeth last week.  she was a lot like heather in this whole process...as in, i could have blown on it to make the tooth fall out...that's how loose it was.  ha.

5) a delightful medical update: i used to have nosebleeds alllllllll the time when i was little.  but with the exception of being smashed in the face with a broomball stick and a frisbee, i can't think of any other recent nosebleeds.  heehee...i know you want to see this picture.  classic. 

(for those of you unfamiliar with the situation, i was playing broomball with junior high students and took a stick squarely to the face.  this picture was a few days after it occurred.  the result was a shattered nose, stitches, and two black eyes.  it.was.awesome.  (aside within an aside here: when i say it was awesome, i legitimately mean that.  i love injuries, and this was the first time i had ever gotten stitches.))

6) a delightful heart thing: our small group started last thursday, and i really love them.  i love them so much that i created a spreadsheet that has multiple tabs, and i contemplated how i could incorporate conditional formatting.  community and spreadsheets.  yesss.  which obviously leads me to...

7) a delightful work thing: spreadsheets are sooooo great!  i like that i have a job where i get to use them with regularity.

8) a delightful sports thing: i am delighted by the number of badgers in the super bowl this year.

9) a delightful food thing: aunt sue's tea house in marion certainly qualifies as delightful.  mmm.  tea.  scones.  i am drooling just thinking about it.  must.roadtrip.soon.

i bet you didn't know i had ten delightful things in me today, huh?  here it is:

10) a delightful truth: winter ends.  it always does. 

ooh baby baby

hey, remember that time that my sweet noah was born, and i was so excited that i ran over my phone with the lawnmower?  oh noey.

and then that chubs named lily was born.  oh gosh.  her face was so fat, she couldn't even open her eyes.  haha shorty mcgee.

and then i was with brittany as she got her epidural to have daniel.  that was a special sister moment.  baby danger was the exact opposite body shape of lily...long and skinny.

and now, james dean aka baby j squishy jd james jimmy jim jim jim jim jim is on his way.  making his appearance in a few hours.  i am...a little excited.

my niece and nephews are pretty much the greatest things on the planet.

the monthly cooking segment: bean and lily's meal of champions

so bean and lily came to visit.  many exciting things happened on this visit, but i'm sure their favorite part was the meal.  ha.  not really.  lily got a pink slicky, ben acted like a dinosaur, and the pie was soup.  so more interesting things happened.

but anyway.

i fixed them a meal.  it's out of my super cool wisconsin cookbook.  it involves macaroni, cream of mushroom soup, tomato soup, cheese, hamburger, and french fried onions.  it's easy and delicious.  there was also garlic bread, peas, salad, and a sugar cream pie.  it turned out mostly fine, though lily tried to choke herself by sucking up the peas.  but she didn't.  so it was fine.

also, we performed baby shark for everyone.

my siblings have produced really good-looking children...

in case you didn't see these on facebook, here are lily (rainbow brite) and daniel (yoda) in their halloween costumes. yes, they are adorable. i am aware.

more things i am learning in grad school

1) aunt betty is really selfless and gracious. she cares for people well. i am the uber-undeserving recipient of that care.

2) not everyone appreciates sarcasm. and i am apparently really sarcastic.

3) i LOVE meeting with students. i am constantly surprised at how much i enjoy spending time hearing about their life stuff. they are awesome.

4) i have subconscious methods and layers of self-protection that i have not even begun to uncover. it's true: i'm still a work in progress.

5) grad school is preparing and equipping me for something in the future, but it doesn't matter what that happens to be. i have really specific purpose and joy right where i am. holy bananas!*

*yes, i did just shout out to lily. the three year-old. who does not read my blog.

late poetry

if you're in the mood for a little poetry, i uploaded three new ones. i wrote them a few weeks ago and have been too busy/lazy/tired/obstinate (stop me when you've heard enough) to post them.

i had a really great morning reading and writing...i have some big dreams and thoughts to share with you soon...want to hammer them down a little bit before i get them up here. but be prepared for a big 2011. that's all i'm going to say. :)

i know this picture really has nothing to do with the post i just wrote, but they're so cute. it's hard not to plaster their pictures everywhere. i heart lily and ez-c. :)

oh, hey, a new baby...

ok, i am FULLY aware i have been shamelessly neglecting you for several weeks. i sort of apologize. but not really. it's been a little busy in my world.

1) winter. gross. i hate it. mostly because of my car and the completely probable reality that he will slide off the road and kill me. but also because i just like summer so much better. sunshine that doesn't blind me from the glare off the ground is preferable.

2) school. yup. i had some. i am totally done with all of my homework and projects and papers (and trust me when i tell you it was a CRAPLOAD, especially last week). i am spending today finishing grading stuff for my freshmen, and then i will be donezo.

3) brittany and bradley had their baby on my dad and grandma's birthday! at 6 pounds, 3 ounces and 20 inches, he is a tiny little bundle of sweetheart and joy. when lily was born, she didn't open her eyes forever...probably too difficult to open them between all the rolls of fat. haha. charmer daniel bradley, on the other hand, was just wide-eyed and enjoying the world right away. he is a doll. and watching lily with him was amazing. just precious. she sang, 'have i told you lately that i love you?' to him.


so. now that my chaos is coming to an end, you can expect a regular bevy of updates. actually, you might get several today. i have a few poems and a song to upload. and some other stuff. so we'll see. anyway, friends, i am back.