My Little Bibliophile Pony

This toy was confiscated two nights ago.
You know why? I'll give you a hint. Someone was staying up late reading and that star underneath her necklace causes little LED lights to flash on her cape and in her horn when you push it.

Apple Picking

A family from church invited us to pick apples from a friend of a friend's tree (I love how that works in Indiana). The temperature dropped. It's crispy cool here now. And the apples were, too. J and their boys climbed 20 feet up, to get the juicy, bug free specimens. The girls had so much fun, and ate so many apples. It couldn't be helped.

So now we have two of those blue baskets on our front porch waiting for someone to make apple something out of them. Sauce, butter, jelly, juice? What would you do?

Indiana, Au Naturale

Last weekend our friends showed us Natural Indiana. Which is a lot different from what you see traveling to and fro. That would be Farming Indiana (soybeans or corn, take your pick). Nature in Indiana has streams, rocks, neato fossils and crinoids, and pawpaws (just like Baloo. And they are scrumdidliumcious).

I like Nature Indiana. It's beautiful. It's close. It's not incredibly prolific, but it will have to do for now. And if we can find some more of those pawpaws, I shall like it even more.

Today

Right this second, Jesse is interviewing (by telephone) with a school in New Zealand. For whatever reason, I think it's hilarious that there is the vague possibility that we might go there. We really need a gypsy wagon.

It was 94 degrees here today. It looks like autumn is coming tomorrow or the next day. Maybe next week? I was so depressed by the heat, I looked at the weather in Maine. Perfect fall temperatures. Highs in the 60's, low 70's. Lows in the 40's. We are trying hard not to miss Maine. It's not working especially well.

We have been working especially hard with Mermaid in math. She has math anxiety. She's actually pretty good at it, just needs to gain confidence. Monkey wants to learn math, too. She's eerily quick. Sometimes, she makes me nervous.

Last week, we went on a bike ride. The bike path follows a narrow wood to the creek. The kids could almost wade across. We hear people kayak and canoe down the creek. I am a little suspicious.

Happy Birthday Tutu

Today is my Tutu's 85th birthday. She is one of my favorite people. I got to spend a lot of time with her when I was in college. I would ride the bus to her place where she would feed me (she is an AMAZING cook), give me great advice, and make me feel completely at home. She loves to talk story. And she has a great way of tilting her head and getting conspiratorial when the talk gets juicy. She made an amazing life for her family. Tutu gave me her love of creating, cooking, and her amazing practically wrinkle free skin (bless her for those fabulous genes). I wish I could come celebrate and plant a kiss on her cheek. I love you, Tutu.

And thanks for flying from Hawaii to DC when I was born.

Funny Friday

Totally made my day. I was completely busting up. If you're not into bleeped f-bombs, then give it a skip. But if you're an snl fan/Jack Johnson fan, so funny. Made me think "I guess he really did go to Kahuku."

Good for the Soul

Sometimes I think that Indiana might suck my soul out. I feel like my sense of fun and humor is trickling from me like a slow leak. Then something amazing happens. Like...

A man with a sidearm, a fugitive recovery t-shirt, and a wanted poster knocks on my door asking for some guy the previous tenants knew. I wanted to ask "are you a US Marshall, like Mary on In Plain Sight or that super intense scary guy on Justified? Or better yet, a bounty hunter, like Dog? Did the previous tenants hide him from the law? Do you take SAHMs with you sometimes on stakeouts? How exactly do I get myself one of those rocking t-shirts?"

So now I know why the neighbors welcomed us into the neighborhood with such relief. Why our landlord was more than happy to give us a 9 month lease.

Rest assured, our neighborhood is actually pretty good. (Though some neighbors down the street have had the police over a time or two.) A little spicy. But in a good way. A soulful way.