my kind of motivation

memorial day weekend

This past weekend was especially fun because not only did we get a chance to meet up with our potential new puppy, Max, pictured below with Michael (I'm holding Pebbles), we also got to see Bon, Brian and Susan!! We did some shopping, lots of eating, and a surprising amount of time relaxing at the hotel. We love Kansas City!!

Pebbles and Max hit it off perfectly. They ran around, sniffed each others' butts and panted in unison. So so cute! He's two years old and was horribly neglected as a puppy. They found him chained up in the backyard with his hair all matted down and tangled in a cord. He is blind in his right eye too. So sad. But he is surprisingly good natured and sweet. His personality is pretty close to Pebbles its amazing. We will probably be picking him up some time in July after the move and probably after our trip to Vietnam. Although I would love to have him now. :-)

We spent a lot of time with little Susan. Who has grown up so much since the last time we saw her. And it's unbelievable how much this girl smiles. Susan has a constant smiled glued on her face and is all about laughing and talking. Absolutely adorable!

And I have never seen any baby sleep with their legs straight up in the air. So funny! We can't wait to see everyone again soon at Caro and Tom's wedding.

Ladies and gents!!!!!!!!!!! or ladies and babies!

Life is moving faster than I would like for it to! But that is alright! So many things to tell you guys!
First of all, Carlos finally wrote me a letter from death row...he would only send me cards on big days like x mas and new years... and was always very brief. So, I was excited to receive his letter. He has no money so no stamps no paper. Basically abandoned. His boss stopped sending $, which really sucks.That same day, I wrote him a letter.. Friday i got another letter. i was very excited...so i missed 3 calls from him that week. i was mega busy and didnt recognize a 1877 number...i needed to set up an account, needless to say, He called me Friday a week ago...probably the saddest call i have ever received. I was hysterically crying...just broke my heart into a million pieces. He did get to meet Billi my best friend here, they exchanged a few words and then Carlos started crying.... very emotional to think how different our lives are. He was very happy to know Tom and I are getting married and is looking forward to meeting Tommy. I think we are planning on going September, we will be in Wichita for a wedding, so we might take the leftover days of vacation and head to the OKC.
Anyways, i sent some money and he now has new shoes and jumpsuit and he can buy cans of food..since the food really sucks, he says, they changed warden, which is terrible, i liked the old Warden. I am receiving a letter from him at least once a week. So hopefully we can continue this way...we are awaiting scheduling for oral argument...but procedure is moving quick... as much as i LOVE hearing from him, it really affects me emotionally, just kinda fucks me up a little...it saddens me very deeeply, so I just need to find a way for it not to affect me as much.

Anyways, that was good news onto the next subject.! Wedding! we are super excited...and about camping..We went camping in the everglades for the first time! OMG! i have to send u guys the pics, we'll upload em tonight...AMaaaaaZING, we saw dolphins feeding in the wild and crocs and allis and eagles grabbing fish from the ocean, it was just like being in National geographic...we had sooo much fun, we also stopped and picked up some tomatoes and squash with some mexican farm workers..it was fun timeS! We've been quite adventurous during weekends, since we are getting hammered at work! Tom is just like getting killed...so we are counting months to "NO LOANS LEFT" so he can quit and we can have normal nights..none of this 4am getting home shit!

WE got our first apartment, its 4 blocks from the beach, next to the park, the pool and the dogie park! its a block from whole foods and lincoln road, espanola way( we had our first date at a french restaurant called a la foile!). We are really excited.It's a 2/2 with parking a little blacony...bathrooms are art deco- yellow/blue white....it shall be interesting... it is HUGE for south beach! We are getting cruiser bikes and im gonna get a basket so that I can take Dante grocerie shopping, if we can train him to be a South Beach dog. In South beach all these Europeans, teach their dogs to wait outside of the grocery store...so when you go shopping ,outside the doors you can see like 3 doggies just sitting down waiting for their owners.. Dante is now off the leash when in the park which has no fences or anything, but doggies just roam free (we no longer do that, given the last biting tendencies Dante has had, BUT, we hope to have him be all south beachie soon).

We are moving in May 1, my friends are helping me while Tom goes of with 18 guys to Key West for his Bachelor party! We were planning on having bachelorette in Islands of Adventure...we might do it that weekend, but honestly, everything is so expensive, id rather go explore some new restaurants we found and have a progressive dinner.....so i dont know, we'll see..I will call you guys during my "bachelorette" Billy is in charge of it, so we shall see.

I still havent decided on shoes....centerpieces is still up int he air and a buncha other stuff...but we'll figure it out here in the next wouple of weeks since we have 60 days til THE DAY! i'll post some pics and i will also post other cute notes from wedding stuff....

i need your help with little thigns with the wedidng.ill list em later...


love you and miss you guys a loooot!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mr. and Ms. Asian OU Pageant 2009

Michael and I hosted the pageant last night and it was a blast. Michael is a former Mr. Asian OU 2001-2002 and we were both officers of AASA, the organization that orchestrates the whole event, back in college. Peter is their freshman rep and my cousin Mimi is the VP this year. It was a 4 hour affair complete with opening number, traditional wear, talent competition, impromptu questions, raffle giveaways, intermission entertainment, and free food for all at Wong Key. And amazingly we were funny. We planned out little comedy routines, based entirely on our relationship, and we received so many compliments afterward. I still can't get over the fact that people were laughing. We had a pre-recorded audio segment for our opening when we were announced that was cute. I had costume changes. Michael had makeup touch ups. I even got to smack him on the head. It was a lot of fun. Plus it gave me an excuse to wear one of my favorite dresses. And we got a fun gift basket filled with goodies. I have to say though, the rehearsals were a pain to go through, but the whole experience was worth it. Plus I got to see my lovely Phi Dee sisters perform. And one of my lovely sisters, Lydia Le, won the People's Choice Award for Ms. Asian OU. Sadly she didn't win - she was robbed. :-)

pet peeves

So I have to confess to all of you about my recent addiction...facebook. At first, I hated it. I joined because everyone joined. Then I neglected it, only coming on to confirm friends. Now I check my facebook multiple times a day - on my phone, when I get home, when I wake up. I think it's because they recently announced my 10 year high school reunion and now I've discovered a million old high school friends on facebook. And of course it is weird to see them all grown up and married with kids.

Which brings me to my biggest pet peeves....people who list in their interest section their husband, their kids, or spending time with their husband and kids. Some people list it in multiple ways and use exclamation points, which is even more annoying to me. I'm sorry, but that is not an interest. Okay I'm not trying to be a hater, but an interest is like running or reading or cooking. If you're married I would hope you like to spend time with your husband. That's why you married him. If you have kids, you probably wouldn't be a good mom if you didn't enjoy being with them either. But if that is your top number one interests to which you put exclamation points...I'm sorry but things rarely deserve an exclamation point. (pet peeve #2 - overuse of exclamation points)

I guess this all began one day when I was stressed at work, came home, confirmed some friends, all to find that they were all moms or newlyweds with interests which all included their husbands and kids and every entry was about how they were baking cupcakes with their "wonderful" husband or they were taking the "love of their life" (baby) to the zoo (at like 2 o'clock in the afternoon?!). Come on! Who uses adjectives like that? Maybe I need to be more enthused about Michael and pebbles.

Nope can't do it. :-)

Henry's "Irish" Side

This was Henry on St. Patrick's Day. Little Irish love bug . . . He had pictures at school and they are quite literally the cutest things I've ever seen. He took pictures with his favorite teddy bear, Good Night Bear.

Kim, please tell me Michael made corned beef and cabbage - it wouldn't be a stereotypical Irish gathering without corned beef and some type of alcohol. I hope the recipe club meeting went well. One of these days Caleb and I will get off our lazy asses and do something like that! (We did, however, do all of the yard work and clean out and rearrange the guest room. Doesn't sound like much but with Henry following and "helping" it was quite a task. Everyone have a great week!

Bon - must see another picture of Susan SOON!

Top Ten . . . .?

Ooooh . . . I like this . . . everyone must list a top ten. Mine will be: Beth's Top Ten Rock Bands

1. Guns and Roses

Because Slash is hot.

2. Rolling Stones

Because Mick is still wearing tight pants to perform.

3. Michael Jackson (clearly using the term "band" loosely)

Because of "Billy Jean" and "Thriller." Enough said.

4. Beatles

Because people will freak out if they aren't listed in the top 5 of any list.

5. Pearl Jam

Because I still have embarrassing flashbacks from my junior high dances.

6. Toadies (also using the term "rock" loosely now . . .)

Because they sing about scary crazy people.

7. Oasis

Because I still remember every word to "Wonderwall."

8. Pixies

Because they are like the Toadies, only famous.

9. Metallica

Because I don't want to admit that I listen to my Aerosmith greatest hits album more than my Metallica S&M CD.

10. Big Al Carson and the Blues Masters

Because I'm exhausted and can't think of any more rock bands . . .

top ten: romantic comedies

I love baking and/or cooking while watching romantic comedies. It makes for a perfect Saturday afternoon. Especially if I'm baking/cooking for friends later that night. I just made a chocolate guinness cake and helped Michael make his beef and potato cabbage irish something or other, while watching Two Weeks Notice which made me think about my all time favorite romantic comedies. This list includes only western ones as asian romantic comedies are in a league of their own.

And starting with my three favorites:
(the rest in no particular order)

1. Love Actually

Far and away my all time favorite. A must watch every Christmas and Valentine's Day.

2. Two Weeks Notice

Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock's dialogue is so cute! They are my favorites. She is the lawyer I wish I could be.

3. Hitch

Too funny for words.

4. You've Got Mail

There is something so sweet about the way Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan fight whenever they see each other.

5. Sleepless in Seattle

Classic.

6. Knocked Up

Too funny.

7. Bridget Jone's Diary

Who doesn't love Mr. Darcy?

8. Something's Gotta Give

I watch it everytime its on TBS, which is like every other month. I also went to the restaurant Le Grand Colbert featured in the movie in Paris and loved it.

9. Love Potion #9

It's so bad it's good.

10. How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days


Honorable Mentions

Notting Hill
Pretty Woman
Music & Lyrics
About a Boy

Vintage Henry

I was poking through old pictures and came across ones I took of Henry in the front yard when he was 8 months old. He IS getting big, Carolina. It freaks me out. He has Caleb's blonde hair from childhood and my curls. It's getting so long that he's sporting a very foxy 80-style permed mullet. I'm just too sentimental to cut it (plus I'm afraid Henry will freak out, turn his head too fast and get stabbed in the eye with sharp scissors . . . .)

I don't think the Muckala clan can swing NY - mainly b/c we are pushing it on taking time from work as it is. We will be with you in spirit, Caro World Traveler!

We are good, Caleb started the new job and is optimistic. I had a good day at work - potential summary judgment on the horizon - and am looking forward to a weekend of slowing down and catching up on . . . everything. We have decorating to finish, a yard to prune, a garage to clean out, a zoo to visit . . .

Books I recommend: NOT the Hobbit. Too slow. Just read "Twilight" again, OK? (Kidding.)

MEGA PSYCHED!

Life is moving quickly!!! i cannot believe how big Henry is. Things are going great here.
Planning is coming along smoothly, Tom and I are having fun and I have actually managed to get him involved in a couple of things.

In bogota! He met my grandmother and a couple of friends!!!!!!!!!!!! we tried all sorts of fruits food, we were super explory, explory, Bogota is such an amazing city, it just keeps surprising me.!! We found the most amazing amazing restaurant i mean the best restaurant we both have ever been to! they only work with native products from amazons and pacific coast!!!
We didn't feel unsafe at all..so that was really nice. We are planning a trip to the Coast of Colombia in April, its sooo cheap to fly right now! We'll see, since there's so much going on at work, life..so now its a matter of TIME!

We have been working really hard with our non profit and organizing triathlon races and others, so it's been couple of really hectic weekends...but we are so excited about everything that we are having a lot of fun...

His bachelor party is May 1st and has like 20 friends going to key west so its pretty exciting ! we'll have a dinner before they go and so he's psyched. Tom's GM can't come to the wedding, so we are having a reception up there after the wedding, sometime late July.We might even have a little ceremony for her.

Tom's aunts and mother are arranging a shower for me in NY in April, which is super sweet of them, so we'll be going up there. My friends from NY will go and my friend from Chicago might go as well. Depends on dates, I will give you dates if you guys want to go. Obviosuly i dont expect any of you to come since its just too much money in a bad economy right? im sick of hearing that..bad economy... I'll keep you guys super posted.

Can't wait to see everyone! So far it looks like 58 or so people are going. We'll see how that goes. Ill try and post pictures of the bouquet..it's coming along nicely... i tyhink you guys will appreciate it. We are also asking for people to send back a quote in the RSVP, which is really not an RSVP, but whatever. We want to incorporate them to our ceremony...also....it looks like bagpipes are in the forecast!!!!!!!!! ha

love you ladies...miss you guys so much...i miss the chapel and studying for finals...

i almost almost miss KRems voice!!!!!!!!!

love you guys,

c
picture of the MIT race this last weekend

Must Read: Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

I love to read books on the plane. It's really the only time when I have no interruptions, no cell phone, no email, no internet. I can read a book without feeling bad that I'm not doing something else. On my way back from Santa Monica I read the most fabulous book, Blink by Malcolm Gladwell.

Blink is about the power of our unconscious and rapid cognition. A quote that perfectly sums up the book's unintentional premise is by Sigmund Freud: "When making a decision of minor importance, I have always found it advantageous to consider all the pros and cons. In vital matters, however such as the choice of a mate or a profession, the decision should come from the unconscious, from personal life, we should be governed, I think, by the deep inner needs of our nature." This appears to be true from Blink. Gladwell provides very everyday and easy to understand examples about why our best decisions about the most complex of problems are best made by instinct, often in a split second. He also shows us how the more information we have about something can actually bog our mind down and make us less accurate. He explores a wide range of topics from love and marriage to the difference between coke and pepsi. He discusses our unconscious bias towards things such as race, gender, and even height. One that may be interesting to Beth - gender bias in classical musical, particularly brass instruments and how that problem has been somewhat solved. The lawyer in me also loves the fact that he provides endnotes and I can look up each of the studies he cites to in order to make my own assessments.

There are three topics in the book which are of particular interest to me. The first is his discussion about the mathmatician turned marital researcher, John Gottman. Gottman is able to predict with about 93% accuracy whether or not a couple will get divorced. Shocking, isn't it. Based on watching a few minutes of videotaped footage of a couple having a conflict discussion - and in the book's example the couple were just talking about their dog. He evaluates not only what they are saying, their body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice all with exact scientific precision. We may see a happy couple having an amusing disagreement about their dog, but he sees unspoken cues that detect contempt in a marriage. Signs that he can even see in newlyweds. The second concerns racial bias and a test called the implicit association test or IAT. You can take the test at www.implicit.harvard.edu. The IAT can test for many kinds of biases, but the most popular one is for racial bias. The results are often disturbing and almost entirely unchangeable. You can literally take the test everyday and get the same result. Of course, there are factors that could change your perspective as the book points out. The last area is mind reading, or more accurately reading someone's facial expressions. There is a very scientific way of doing so, in fact about 500 people in the world are certified to do so. And they can do so with astonishing accuracy. It is no surprise that Gottman has employed much of the "mind reading" principles into his area of study on marriage.

Anyway, if you haven't read this book, please do. I think it is the kind of book that engenders lively conversation.

There's a New Muckala . . .

On February 18, 2009 we welcomed a new Muckala into the world: Max Hugh Muckala. Max is the first child of Caleb's brother Erich, and his wife, Ashley. We had a few scares: emergency C-section, visit to the NICU for Max and an emergency surgery for Ashley following the emergency birth . . . it was pretty scary for a while, but we have an adorable new Muckala in the end, so we are pretty excited. Henry could not resist letting his Aunt Ashley and new baby cousin know that he was thinking about them . . . he's such a sweet boy. More to come on the Muckala clan . . .

Henry at the Park

This is my baby and his Brown Bear. We had a "Henry and Momma" weekend recently and we went to the zoo and the park near our house. He's getting so big . . . he's fourteen months old now and extremely stubborn. When you walk in a room he says, "Hiiiiiiiii." He's also started randomly yelling to get attention, which wasn't much fun when we were out this Saturday celebrating Caleb's new job (Insurance Department - perfect for him and a state job so GREAT hours and benefits).

Henry is just so amazing right now. It's hard to imagine having another baby as perfect, but I know I'll feel the same about the next one . . . in twenty years . . . I mean, we have finally started getting our sleep again and I'm back within 3 lbs of the my "pre-Henry" weight . . . I'm not giving that up too fast! Another post soon . . .

Je t'aime Paris

So we are back from our trip and I have to say that it was my favorite to date. Paris is everything it lived up to be. In winter it is romantic and relaxing. We stayed on a quiet residential street right off the Champ de Mars park just south of the Eiffel Tower. We were a within a couple blocks walking distance of the Eiffel Tower and could see it from our street. There was also a metro stop just around the corner making it so easy to travel anywhere in Paris. One block away was Rue Cler, the cutest neighborhood street market. There was a butcher shop, cheese shop, produce market, bakery, flower market, chocolate shops and several restaurants, cafes and creperies. Every morning we walked over and bought croissants and other pastries at the local bakery then walked or hopped on the metro to get to where we needed to go. Michael took this picture of the street we stayed on, Avenue de la Bourdannais and as you can see, there is the tower lit up at night in the distance.

I love eating in Paris. The food was amazing. How could you not love croissants, baguettes, cheese, foie gras, duck...the list goes on and on.

I love Paris in winter. Fewer tourists. I hate tourists. I hated the crowds in Italy and Greece. It was suffocating the crowds. But Paris felt like home. Few tourists, few lines, quiet streets. Just us and the city and sounds of french speakers everywhere.

I love the Paris metro system. It takes you everywhere and anywhere cheaply and easily. It's considered the best in Europe and rightly so. I even love the performers on the metro and the fact they always play my favorite song (Michael and I's first dance song at our wedding) La Vie En Rose. And they even play When the Saints Go Marching In...which makes me think I'm in New Orleans.

I can't believe our trip is over, and I can't wait to plan our return. :-)

C'est si bon!

Coeur de Pirate Comme des enfants from Dare To Care Records on Vimeo.

In the spirit of tomorrow's travels...

Aggel Flaggel Klabbel - Snurp!

So, Susan had her first visit to the zoo last weekend. Then, this weekend, my parents came for a visit. We have had such a good time!

She is getting so big. She likes peas, hates green beans, and the verdict is still out on sweet potatoes.

Brian and I had our first date since Susan's birth. We went to see Slumdog Millionaire and then had wine and cheese at a local French Bistro.

Oops, she's calling. Gotta go!

Love you guys,

Bon

Fidelity Video

Love this video...
"Fidelity": Don't Divorce... from Courage Campaign on Vimeo.

Recipe Club

So last night was my first recipe club event. Michael and I hosted. We only had 8 people show up, because its Valentine's weekend and many couldn't come. We did Italian food so it would be easy for everyone. It was a success. People who have never cooked, went all out, with the help of Google of course. Michael made Toscana soup, his version of Olive Garden's sausage and potato soup, one of my favorites. I made Frutti di Bosco Zabaglione...dessert. I baked a from scratch buttermilk pound cake, chopped up the cake into chunks in a wine glass. Chopped up berries with some sugar syrup. And topped it off with some home made zabaglione - an italian whipped custard. Yum. Suffice it to say it was a hit. And Michael and I tied for first place. :-) The prize was a bottle of Prosecco - an italian sparkling wine, so we just poured it for everyone to share. The evening was capped off with a hilarious game of password. Since everyone left late, and we were exhausted we went to bed before cleaning. Which we never do. So now we have a kitchen full of dirty wine glasses and bowls. Yuck. And we're out of dishwashing soup.

But before I clean I'm going to get dimsum with my family. Hopefully they don't ask to come over...Talk to you all soon.

After 6 years of no Colombia...here we go!

So, for Valentines weekend Tom decided we should go to Colombia.











Now that i can travel, things will change a bit even though we intend on fully exploring America First! But now we can fulfill our many plans and dreams of going to African and helping distribution of our Insecticide Treated Tents, we started a Non Profit called "NET A BED" we are trying to fight against Malaria in some areas that have been neglected by the UN when dealing with distribution of tents, there is a strategy as far as fighting Malaria, which is interesting, but it is slowly spreading south and there is just so much need for these tents. I am primarily interested in Togo, that country makes me really curious. I'll devote a blog entry on this later. Anyways, Tom's brother is currently in Nairobi, Kenya in one of the southern slums, Dagoretti Corner, helping AIDS patients. The stories are heart wrenchingly sad...

We are making plans to try and do a yearly trip that is solely devoted to volunteering, whether it be in a Mexican orphanage or in Cambodia. But we are sticking to it. Currently, we decided to try and focus on our community, since I didn't have a work visa. The program began this month and we were all assigned a mentee between age 15-18, they are coming out of the Juvi detention Center and they are so sweet. I want to take them all home. Tom and I taught a music class and we are also teaching a running clase. These kids are soo so sweet. We don't know jack about the music they hear, but we are slowly learning! ;) , they are just kids and then you see a bullet wound and you realize the types of lives these kids have been living.... no opportunities, no parents, their gangs have been their parents...we are pretty excited...there is a trumpet player in the class (beth I thought of you!) so we got him a trumpet!

I'll keep you posted. I'll meet my mentee this weekend Latavia is her name...she has the cutest smile ever!!


So, COLOMBIA. We are going Feb. 26 til March 1st. We are SUPER PSYCHED! I get to see my granma and show Tom all the things I talk about when referring to Colombia. It will be an experience, even for me. It has changed a lot but we are super looking forward to it!!

I'll let you know more about wedding plans and stuff later... a lotta changes coming, moving to the beach with the europeans....Dante is starting Day Care...

Hope everyone is doing awesome!!!!

love u and miss u.

Countdown to Paris

So I have been planning our trip in the evenings now for the past two evenings. Because we have so little time over there I decided we needed a meticulous schedule that would make the most of our time over there. So I revived the itinerary - the one I used for the wedding and turned it into a trip planner. I am nothing if not detailed. Scheduled by the hour, taking into account estimated times between metro stops and allotting time in each destination based on Rick Steve's guidelines. I even put down potential restaurants in each location for every meal, by cross referencing with my Pudlo Paris book. I don't want to waste my time eating overpriced touristy food. And I also don't want to waste time wondering where we should go. And with the Garmin, finding places should be easy. It served us well in Italy and Greece. Now I realize some of you may be thinking that having such an exacting schedule would not be fun because the whole fun of traveling is wondering around and getting lost. Not to worry though, I scheduled in some very low key exploring the city activities. Of course they come with maps and specific picture points, but we can always pretend to be lost. :-)

Now of course I am a little bummed. Weather in Paris and London hasn't been so good the past few weeks. I'm tracking the weather daily. I had imagined myself in Paris in a very particular way - as you can see by the picture. But I suppose I will have to reinvent that image. We didn't want to look like tourists, but I suppose there is no getting around that now considering the weather. I am a little hopeful though, some of the days look like they will be in the 50's. Yeah!

More randomness

So to catch up a few random events of the past couple weeks.

I saw a beautiful movie recently, you have probably heard of it...Slumdog Millionaire. It is so wonderful. I'm rooting it for a best picture at the Oscars. It is funny, sad, romantic, everything. It is a love story about a lowly guy from the slums of India who winds up on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (India version). The movie through a series of flashbacks shows how he was able to answer each question on the show and how each question relates back to the girl that he loves and the reason he is on the show. It might just be the best movie of 2008.

I've been pretty active in my sorority lately. Teleconferences, planning, meetings, social events. It's part of my trying to stay connected with old friends and get new ones. Part of my new year's resolution was to be more social. So I'm starting a recipe club and a supper club with the girls in the group...plus a few friends (that includes you Beth, if you're interested). I sent out an email and facebook'd some people and got a lot of interest. My target date is Feb. 6th for the first recipe club meeting. The night before my sorority's Founders' Day. Which reminds me I need a dress....gotta go shopping. :-)

I planned another baby shower at work. This was for one of the secretaries at my office. It turned out beautifully, and now I'm sort of the unofficial party planner for the office. We had the shower at noon on Friday and it just so happened that noon, Julie (the attorney having triplets at my office) was at the hospital about to deliver her three babies. She had them at 1pm on Friday. Crazy, huh. Three perfectly beautiful babies, all things considered. Check out their blog at http://leclercqfamily.blogspot.com/ for an update on their status.

All the baby madness makes me want to buy baby stuff and reaffirms my belief that I want babies some day. I think 2012, Year of the Dragon, sounds good to me. :-)

I'm reading....

It is sooo awesome to see everyone's entries!!!!!!!!!!! yey!!!!!!! totally excited about that! it's like being in everyones living room for like 10 seconds!

I'm reading 3 books, 1 is like crack...or the equivalent of revolutionary road, or the Okie girl, or twilight. It's PATHETIC, John Grisham's the appeal...i know, its shameful, but it's like crack.It makes me laugh, because the guy describes his characters in such black and white detail, that it's freakin insane!! I treat it like a comedy to be quite honest. I'm also reading 3 cups of tee, beautiful book that Tommy gave me. Mortensen's organization (the writer), is the Central Asia Institute, that helps providing education to girls in Afghanistan and Pakistan. He stumbled upon the whole idea, when he tried climbing K2 and was saved by some of the people he started helping! It's quite awesome and it helps me stay motivated. We are starting mentoring for kids in Overtown (1 of the poorest cities in the country), we are teaching them how to enjoy music (Tom's gonna teach em guitar) and I'm going to be their running instructor! These are kids that, just got out of jail, so we are tying to keep em off the streets. DOWN DAM RECIDIVISM! Quite awesome, i must say!

The third, is about the history of Wyoming and the National Parks of the West! P.S. that think that hurts the horses that people put on their boots, EM YEAH...invented guess where....in Texas NOT Wyoming!

Tommy and I are going to start in Yellowstone and then head to Seattle and Oregon...we plan on taking 3 weeks. We shall see. We are psyched! I'll write about wedding stuff later...but, it's coming along beautifully! It's good.

Beth, I think that is such an awesome idea!!!!!!!!!!!! great! I am excited for your plans, let us know what happens ,what you are interested in, all that!

Bon, you are an awesome attorney, I think, I'd rather have you in Texas!!!!!!!! yey

Kim, that movie looks, sooo sad....oH OH OH, ok an awesome movie....the Wrestler, I cannot wait to watch it tomorrow night!!!

more later!
c

Susan in Kim's Dress with Mikey on the Side

Congratulations Caro! I can't wait for Yellowstone.

I hope this picture turns out okay- I tried to move it, and I may have distorted it.

Brian and I recently acquired cable and now I'm hooked on Paula Deen. I can't get enough of her! I don't make her food too much because of all the butter, cream, and bacon. I just love watching her cook. It's like being in the kitchen while my mom and Aunt Claudia cook for our holiday meals. Brian and I also get a kick out of how much of a blatant flirt she can be. Sometimes with her guests, sometimes the camera, and many times the food!

That said, I joined weight watchers just before the holidays. Today, I found out I've lost five pounds. Yea, gold star for me. I am down to my law school graduation weight. Five more pounds, and I'm down to my pre-pregnancy weight. I won't stop there though, as I'd like to get to pre-law school weight.

My current read is a Sarah Vowel (sp?) book that Brian got me for Christmas. It's called Assassination Vacation. It's pretty funny. She is a historian of our generation that has a very unique voice - similar to Lisa Simpson's. And, she's from Oklahoma. Assassination Vacation is about her travels to various cites that have connections to three presidential assassinations. The first is Lincoln's, of course. She points out that Booth, being an actor, picked exactly when the audience would laugh as the moment for his assassination. During the tour of Ford's theatre, no one gives you that laugh line. That is because it is not funny. I assume it was in Lincoln's time. She takes pleasure in knowing that Lincoln's last conscious moment was one of guffaw. This was especially touching to her because of the many hardships he endured while alive. I mean, isn't that a great point? Here he was at the end of the Civil War, his first love dead, his sons dead, his wife inconsolable, and in an ebb and flow of life long depression. He was shot, presumably, while laughing. Anyway, I can't wait to read more.

In MO, we have a new Governor implementing "change." It seems as though I've survived the first round of layoffs. Wish me luck on those to come.

Miss you all tons!

Bon

My first attempt . . .

This is my first attempt at blogging, so please excuse the rudimentary fashion of this post. Mostly, this is simply an attempt to see if I can do it correctly. In response to Kim's last entry regarding Revolutionary Road, I have already decided to avoid the book entirely and possibly the movie. Not sure I can handle hearing the story without becoming irreversibly depressed. I am most interested to hear your critique of the Twilight series. I, too, took my shameful turn in reading the series - and this exactly what I felt as I turned each page - shame. I definitely share in part of Kim's assessment - absolute predictability. The series was also HORRIBLY written - I can't even begin to provide a detailed explanation of why because there is simply too much to say. However, I cannot deny that my easily entertained mind found the story interesting - particularly the concept of having forever to live without the inconvenience of even sleeping. Since reading the series the first time - yes, that's right, the FIRST time - I haven't been able to stop cataloguing all the things I would use my eternity for: go back to school and become an archaeologist, travel to every country, finally learn French . . .

As you can see from my profile, I've decided to reclaim my personality in a way. It's so easy to get caught up in school, study, career, work, home, husband, baby . . . that you forget the things you used to do for yourself. I regret to say I've fallen into that very trap. So I've decided as of late that I will pick up where I left in college and start living MY life again, without placing so much importance on where each step I take will lead me. I may start writing again, maybe take dance lessons . . . whatever. In all I do in the next however long period of my life, I do promise that I am making the commitment to be a more consistent blogger and more available friend.

Congrats to Bon on returning to work - Congrats to Caro on your engagement and setting the date!

Currently Reading...

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates. I saw a preview recently for a new movie starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, Revolutionary Road, which looked pretty intriguing and when I found out it was a book I had to go get it. I'm about half way through now, and it is nice to finally read something with depth (unlike the Twilight series, which was nothing but a guilty pleasure at first and quickly became incredibly boring and predictable) and not about vampires. After reading all four books in the Twilight series I read Charlaine Harris' Dead Until Dark. It is also a series, the southern vampire series. HBO has a show, True Blood based off of it that everyone keeps telling me is so "awesome." Well, the book was okay.

Anyways, back to Revolutionary Road. It is about a young couple, Frank and April, in the 50's who seem perfect. They live in a cute suburban house with two young children. Their lives are in actuality suffocating them, because it is no longer what they originally dreamed it to be. They enjoy talking about their hatred for suburbia and the people who populate it with their insignificant issues, but come to realize that everything they said they hated is what they are. The book deconstructs the "American Dream." It can be very depressing, but also incredibly fascinating.

Here is a passage I find myself reading over and over. It is when Frank and April are having a fight early on in the book and Frank is reflecting about how the whole mess started - with having a child, he didn't even want, too soon. Wasn't it true, then, that everything in his life from that point on had been a succession of things he hadn't really wanted to do? Taking a hopelessly dull job to prove he could be as responsible as any other family man, moving to an overpriced, genteel apartment to prove his mature belief in the fundamentals of orderliness and good health, having another child to prove that the first one hadn't been a mistake, buying a house in the country because that was the next logical step and had to prove himself capable of taking it. Proving, proving; and for no other reason than that he was married to a woman who had somehow managed to put him forever on the defensive, who loved him when he was nice, who lived according to what she happened to feel like doing and who might at any time -- this was the hell of -- who might at the end of the day or night just happen to feel like leaving him.