Ta Da!

The porch is 99.99999% done (big sigh of relief). We are so happy with it and have been spending a lot of time out there already. This week is finally turning fall-like, so we will have the door open all the time. Hooray! I took some pictures, but they really don’t do it justice, you’ll all just have to come over and see it sometime.

Porch Time

Been too busy to write much lately. Brian and I have been working on the never-ending porch project. I really do like home improvement projects, however, I always always kid myself into thinking its going to take ¼ of the time it ends up actually taking. Always. Every time. You would think after redoing our entire house I would have a better idea, but I guess I am a slow learner. Anyhow, we truly are in the home stretch now. We’ve got the outside to paint and I have one more chair cushion to recover. Oh, and a threshold to keep the rain from running in under the door. Hopefully we will be done on Saturday (no kidding myself this time). It looks soooo great. We had a little taste of fall last weekend (note the sweats in HP’s pics) but we’re back to 80s and 90s, damn it. I am ready for cool days and nippy evenings to sit and relax out there. I will snap a couple pics of the final outcome this weekend.
In the meantime, here are a couple of the girlio. She is still cruising like crazy, clapping, pointing at things, and eating all kinds of new foods. She is standing all the time now – she doesn’t sit down much. The first one is at her new play table. The second is what happens every time I break the camera out. I have several pics like it.

Music makes the world go round

I went to Karrie’s last night to meet the ladies out on her deck to visit and drink wine. It was a lovely evening and the company was fabulous, as always. My girlfriends are truly the best—how lucky I am to have them. The weather was perfect as well. I love that fall is coming…less bugs, less heat, and more dreaming of high school football games and getting excited to don the first sweater. Fall is definitely my favorite season.
On the drive down to Karrie’s, I put a mix cd in that I hadn’t heard in ages. It had “If you want to sing out, sing out” by Cat Stevens on it, from the movie Harold and Maude. I’ll start by saying that is one of my favorite movies. It makes me laugh out loud AND bawl every time. So good. Anyhow, emotions overcame me hearing that song and I began to think of other songs that have that effect on me. Some are from my childhood, like, “I Started A Joke” by the BeeGees. I remember thinking that was the saddest song ever written when I was 4. I actually remember crying when hearing it.
Anyhow, here’s a short list of some that bring out a whole range of emotions in me.
“If you want to sing out, sing out” Cat Stevens – if you’ve seen the movie, you know. If you haven’t; rent it. It’s a simple theme. Cherish life.
“Eleanor Rigby” The Beatles – another one as a kid that broke my heart, no one came to the funeral! And all those lonely people.
“Tears of Rage” The Band – I’ve never heard so much emotion in a voice. This is a must listen selection. The fact that he committed suicide years later makes it even more heart wrenching. Plus, it is the most pertinent tambourine in a song.
“Summertime” Janis Joplin – just a great version of a bluesy classic.
“No Rain” Blind Melon – I think of college days and that little chubby bee girl. She gets me every time. Corny, I know.
“In My Life” The Beatles – Brian and I danced to this at our wedding. I sang it to Hattie everyday I was pregnant with her. Do I need to say more?
Here are a few more classics, for differing reasons. And this list is not even close to being comprehensive...just what's on my mind at the moment!
“Ophelia” The Band – one of the best songs ever. Ever, I say!
“Wish You Were Here” Pink Floyd - I could listen to this song a million times and not tire of it. A true classic.
“Little Wing” Hendrix or Clapton – same deal. Classic.
“Strong Enough” Sheryl Crow – perfect sing along (acoustic KBCO version is best)
“Black Coffee in Bed” Squeeze – another good sing along, and it reminds me of Lake Lotawana with Ferk when we were in grade school
“Stir It Up” Bob Marley – just for groovin
“Can You Hear Me Knockin” The Rolling Stones – their best song and awesome to rock out to. That’s a band term, rock out, right? (FotConchords)
“Working Man” Rush – only good played extremely loud
"Ghost at Number 1" Jellyfish - another one that is very good very loud
I could add another hundred, but will stop there.
Bon weekend.

Update the Resume

We have lots of new things to add to Hattie’s bag of tricks. She had a very big week. In addition to the four new teeth, she is now clapping her heart out at anything and everything. Even with a few extremely grumpy days, we’re now cheering for everything. Dinner time? Hooray! Another toy? Hooray! Poopy diaper? Hooray! It’s a bit like being at a sporting event with all that applause. Dancing is another fun thing she’s been practicing. There’s been a lot of booty shaking going on. She’s not exactly Baryshnikov, but we’re getting there. I can't wait until she can stand and dance...that funny, squatty-thing kids do. Love that. It's always good for a giggle. She has also been pulling up some, but not without a few comical faces getting there. You'd think she was climbing Everest.
And the last thing-the one that I, personally, have been dreading… stranger anxiety. Yuck. We went to Brian’s brother’s house on Sunday for a cookout and HP absolutely flipped out just walking in the door. Too many (somewhat) unfamiliar faces all talking to her at once, I guess. She absolutely freaked out. Multiple times. The fact that we were missing nap time to be there didn’t help much. The fact that everyone there, bless them, thought that they could ‘fix her’ if they took her and held her didn’t help. Obviously, as a parent I don’t want my kid to be in pain, sad, or scared. But, she’s an infant and these things are inevitable. My problem with big groups is that I don’t want to make everyone listen to my screaming kid. And I want everyone to know what a laid-back, fantastic kid I have 99.9% of the time -- that was not apparent in any way that day! Oh well, these are things we will get over, I suppose. She and me. Her and I; whatever. In the meantime, I need to get her out more and used to seeing unfamiliar faces and places more often. We tend to stay at home a lot. But, we’re going exploring more now. Hopefully this stage will be a short one.
Regarding the pics… I absolutely love the one of Hattie and Brian. It highlights the hilarious-looking new teeth (Hattie’s not Bri’s) and the fun we typically have. The second one is her in one of her new favorite places…under her exersaucer. I guess it’s her first official ‘fort’. The third one is our dainty little flower with her new, mean, scrunch-face which we’ve been seeing a lot of these days. It’s usually accompanied by heavy panting. She’s a flower, she is.