the zoo's bird cage

we were in a cage with hundreds of these birds:

one swooped down and pecked asa's head

and freaked david out...

asa found it to be pretty amusing...

i think the bird mistook asa's hair as a nest...

under the table

i probably have more drafts saved in my blogger account than i have entries that i've posted. i tend to second guess myself, my motives, did i write the entry well enough, etc., etc, etc. blah blah blah.  always a struggle for me. well, having a hard time writing lately, i dug up this entry that i wrote months ago.  enjoy.  :o)

i have a vivid childhood memory that played itself out this past weekend.  it was kinda freaky.  it was around 1982.  we were living in atlanta at the time.  sunlight penetrated through the windows.  it was saturday afternoon i think.  the house was clean.  the kitchen was quite.  my dad, my brother, and i were home...my mom i think was not.  the oblongated white tupperware that usually contained our sandwich bread...contained something else.  several glazed doughnuts lined up neatly in a row.  this was a rare phenonmenon.  i was a child raised on plain cherrios, fig newtons, total bran cereal, pudding pops, and pear halves perched on a bed of lettuce adorned with a dollop of sour cream sprinkled with raisins and a cherry on top.  to have doughnuts in our home was like having a good hair day on a rainy day...it just didn't happen. i remember as a child, i wanted a doughnut.  i craved a doughnut.  i had to have a doughnut.  but i didn't know how else to have one than to sneak it.  i knew if i asked for one, i'd be denied.  so i simply snuck into the kitchen, carefully opened the tupperware and slipped a doughnut out, leaving an obvious gap in the row of doughnuts.  i quickly snuck behind our kitchen table and perched down for a long summer's feast.  i was in heaven eating my doughnut, but much to my dismay, it ended abruptly.  my brother walked in...lord only knows why he walked in or even knew that i was in there or how he even saw me.  i was caught.  caught in the act.  my brother with his finger pointed yelled, eweeeee, i am gonna tell moooommmm.  i was humiliated, mortified, and actually pretty pissed off.  how did he know i was in here?  why did i not hide in a better place?  what kind of trouble am i going to be in?  will i ever get to enjoy a doughnut again without having feelings of guilt and embarassment (the answer to that is yes by the way)?  it's funny to think back.  why didn't i just confidently take a doughnut, slip into a chair and sit at the kitchen table and eat it? as i child, i hated i mean hated getting in trouble.  i hated discipline.  i wanted peace.  i wanted no anger.  but what was i thinking...if i had successfully pulled off eating a doughnut without getting caught, wouldn't i have been ridden with guilt?  i was a horrible liar and still am...my concious is too great.

so how did this memory play out this weekend?  david, asa, and i had just gotten in from being out on the town.  we both were busy with unloading the car, getting things settled.  asa was waddling around entertaining himself.  i was busy putting things in place, picking up toys off the floor.  and then i see this.  i had this outta body experience that jolted me back to 1982.  all i could do was laugh though.  when i squatted down for the second snap shot, asa was like hey, what's up?  no tears, no embarassment, no trama.  he quickly lost interest and reached over for a plastic frog.  i couldn't help though to think about my doughnut experience.  i have had eating issues towards the end of high school into my mid twenties.  i sometimes wonder if my childhood experiences with food had anything to do with it.  nonetheless, here are the funny pictures...

a minor set-back

the photos below give reason to why i have been a blog ghost for the past six months.  two surgeries on my thumb in addition to david's unexpected knee injury in february and subsequent surgery have defined our lives.  our recoveries have been all-consuming.  david's surgery was extensive. his physical therapy rigorous.  his attitude in warfare.  my surgeries were simple but with complicated recoveries. david walks with less of a limp each day. my joints immovable, but the arthritis is gone and pain for the most part. we are both learning how to adapt. it's amazing how you just learn to do things differently. you move on. you cope. you deal. you grieve. but you deal. i have to remind myself often to not get frustrated or have pity or be defeated. the times that i have difficulty opening a bottle or drop something or have to ask for help, i tell myself that it's OK...in comparison to a soldier who lost both his arms due to an unexpected roadside bombing or a soldier who's face has been blown off and has to re-learn how to blink or close his mouth to sip a straw. or our friend who is battling cancer as it attempts to rid him of life. in comparison...i have nothing to complain about. yes, our injuries and surgeries happened. yes, our pain is valid. yes, our struggles real. but our perspectives have changed. we have a choice. there is always going to be someone better off than you and someone always who has it way worse than you. it's a choice we have to live each day in the moment. so i am starting to sound like a motivational speaker and feeling pretty cheesy. hope to post again soon.

i had been having pain in my thumb for years from an old soccer injury sustained in college. i actually went to the doctor for pain in my left wrist back in the fall and just happen to mention that my right thumb had always given me problems.  the doctor was quite impressed with the severity of the dislocation (far left pic). i had surgery at the end of march to fuse the joint together using pins and wire (middle and right pic) and another surgery in april to remove the hardware (sorry, no pic).

IT IS FINISHED

so this is my first stab at painting in my life; however, what could have been painted in four days, five days max...i took an entire year. go figure. this is a painting that i gave my brother last year for christmas (unfinished) and re-gave it to him this year (finished). how tacky is that? thank you, david, for your patience.  it was a joy to be able to do this for him.  to see his face, his smile...made me very happy.  i really want to paint more, but just have to make the time to do so. i had a friend ask me recently to paint some scripture for her, so i am excited to have a project to tackle.  i made an extremely rough slideshow below of how the painting evolved.  the idea was to take several pictures with the painting in the same position.  it was hard to do that due to the fact that i painted it in our dining room, at david's parent's house, and a friend's art studio (in all, took about eleven hours total to paint).  i would like to create more paintings with them being set up in one spot, and take quality pictures with good lighting.

[ size :: approximately. 2.5 feet x 3 feet   medium :: acrylic ]

 

so the history behind this painting...as mentioned in this previous post, my brother has a great affection for van halen specifically the years that david lee roth lead the band.  this is a painting of an album cover of DLR's after he left the group (to eventually be replaced by sammy hagar). this is david lee roth himself dressed in face paint.  i am not quite sure what the theme of the album was/is, but if you know anything about DLR, he's pretty eccentric to say the least.

joys of boys

asa, david, and i were enjoying time together in our den the other day. david nestled in a chair, asa shuffling among his toys, and me relaxing on the couch.  i glanced down and noticed asa playing with his workbench.  he was busy at work cutting wood with his table saw.  as his attention quickly moved onto the next task, he fixated on a loose screw that needed to be fastened.  so he quickly scampered to his feet and set out on a mission for his red-handled screwdriver.  you could just see him think, "ewe.  round thing.  i need that red and grey thing that you stick in it.  i need it NOW."  he was scanning the room.  eyes darting across the floor covered with toys.  it was like a bloodhound sniffing out a bone. where is it?  where is it? where is it?  i noticed it was lying all by its lonesome in front of the fireplace and said, "hey, asa, the screwdriver is over there," and proceeded to point in that direction.  david was sitting next to the fireplace and said, "hey, buddy, it's over here."  we were unintentionally jockeying for his attention just wanting to help the little fella out.  as i told him again, he looked at me and saw my hand stretched out, finger extended.  and would you believe in all the encouragement and verbal direction, my son walked over to me and "pulled my finger" (and grinned).  i wonder where he learned that...

(this is the first and last time i've seen this expression)

pumpkin patch

i wish i felt like this everyday, don't you?

down :: set :: hut ::

this picture cracks me up everytime i look at it.  

it reminds me of an old football trading card. 

hilarious.

belated birthday post

i have been meaning to post a few pics since asa's birthday.  i am only two months late...not too bad.  :o)  i also want to awkwardly offer (seems weird to say this on a blog, but...)...if you'd like a birthday cake made for an upcoming birthday, i would LOVE to make you one. i had so much fun making asa's, and i am trying to find any excuse to make another one!  this is the first cake i have ever made (i am not sure if i should admit that or not).  with it being asa's first birthday, i didn't want a store-bought cake...didn't think that was fair (like he would know).  i guess it was my mom setting the bar pretty high with amazing childhood cakes she made my brother and me that motivated me.  i remember loving my birthday cakes and taking so much pride in them (mikey mouse, kermit the frog, shirt tales...).  so seriously...if you'd like a birthday cake, please email me. i will cover all expenses...i am that desperate to make one!  :o)

the HLC's fourth front foot ended up in a little 2 1/2 year-old's belly.  :o)

grind it baby grind it

david, asa, and i were on our way home from church this afternoon.  we were just tootin' along, emersed in conversation, and asa was having his own conversation with himself in the backseat. there happened to be a blip of silence, and we heard this ear-cringing noise behind us. asa has four teeth...the top front two chicklets-size ones and the bottom front two weeny ones.  he will somehow manage to chomp down exactly in the right spot and make this horrific grinding noise...much like fingernails down a chalkboard...ughr!  so this noise comes from the backseat and david pipes up, "oh, son, please don't do that!"  i do a little convulsion jig and say, "asa!  that's not good for your teeth, and it hurts your mama's ears."  the noise emerses again, and david glances back and says, "oh, he's gnawing on a toy."  i was like, oh, good....but still it sounded awful.  so a few moments later, the noise became a repetitive nibble-gnaw.  and i said, "ooohhhh, i hearwah a yittle squrriel in dah back sweet...are you chewin' on a nuwt?"  david glances back again and exclaims, "OMG, aly, it's a ROCK!!!"  (me: "WHAT!?!?  A ROCK!?!? WHAT THE?!?")  david manages to quickly reach back and confiscate the rock and hand it to me.  i was like, "does he still have his teeth or did he whittle them away!?!?  much to our happiness, his teeth are fine...thank god his two front teeth weren't whittled down to canine teeth.  in case you are wondering how he got the rock in the first place...we were at possum trot yesterday taking pics of asa, and he was pillaging around the gravel and picked out a couple to hold onto for dear life...as you can see from the pic below.  :o)  they obviously made their way into the car and hid in his carseat for him to find today.  oh what a hoot.  you just gotta laugh sometimes.

a made bed

i have been trying to be on top of things lately in all areas of life...housework, time with jesus, hygiene (not necessarily in that order).  i've had time to shave both armpits oppose to one, not creating a bed of laundry for our dust bunnies to nestle in (we crate them at night anyways), getting out of my pajama bottoms first thing in the morning, only letting dirty dishes sit in the sink for less than 48 hours oppose to a week, sweeping the floor daily oppose to monthly, spending quality time in the word.  i've also been making our bed every morning.  this may sound shallow or lame, but i have just realized after what? 33 years of my life how happy i am when i have made our bed.  i am like this chipper little dork prancing around because our bed is made.  it's the greatest thing.  so if you are ever having a daunting day or feelin' like a fat pig drowning in motherhood, just go make your bed.  it does wonders... actually, let me preface that spending time with jesus on a daily basis makes the day go better more so that making your bed.  but their is truth to having a made bed...i am tellin' ya.  am i a total dork, or does anybody else feel this way?

so i've posted this photo not to share the cute baby, but for you to be inspired by the bed that is made to the left of the cute baby (our dust bunnies crate is not visible because it's on david's side of the bed).

mountain day 2008

berry college's equivalent to homecoming is called "mountain day."  it's always the first weekend in october celebrating the birthday of martha berry, the founder of the college.  ¡viva martha! it's tradition for students to wear blue, pink, or white depending on one's class standing and gender. students participate in a "grand march" by holding hands, marching up and down a mountain, and dropping pennies in a basket at the base of the mountain.  can we be any weirder?  several of my friends and i congregated under the shadow of a large oak tree and had a picnic lunch...which is also tradition.  hundreds of alumni scatter across the base of the mountain, set up camp, and break bread together.  bluegrass music fills the air, children and babies continue to multiply each year, and i noticed this year that the dog population like tripled.  so here are several pictures from the group of friends we spent time with this year.  i wish i had taken more, but i was more into socializing than snapping shots.  oh well, there is always next year, and i am already looking forward to it!  berry grads, this year west mary won the t-shirt contest AND spirit award, central dana won the men's olympics, thomas berry (which is now a girls dorm...holy moly) won the girl's olympics.  peace out, friends.

the heat is on

so i know i know i know...it's been a while since i last posted.  i spent the weekend with some college girlfriends who blog and the heat is on.  my excuse that i had a walking one-year-old flew out the door when a girlfriend and mother of two told me that she updated her blog twice a week. i have just been going through my annual blogging justification funk.  ever since we were in costa rica, i have taken a blog sabbatical.  it's easy to sit on the sidelines with a towel over your head and ignore your surroundings.  out of sight, out of mind.  i think i view blogging as a form of discipline.  and i royally bite at being disciplined.  so how easy is it to just not do it at all?  :o)  i also struggle with not wanting to come across as egocentric, as well as, accepting the fact that people are genuinely interested in what's going on in my life.  so i am realizing it's time to boot up, pick the splinters out of my butt, and get off the bench and get into the game.  i know that i am not exercising my creativity, as well as, robbing others of joy in reading.  so get off your butt bertha and get it on.  word to your mutha.

here are a couple of photos from our weekend.  i love you all berry friends!  i'll put some more in a slideshow tomorrow.

summertime shots

hola bebé!

drawing to a close

the costa rican choir is singing outside with distant claps of thunder rolling beyond the mountains just outside our casa. massive bull frogs, exotic crickets…a multitude of creatures collectively lurk among the brush creating their evening lullaby. it’s almost deafening, but incredibly beautiful. bats are swooping through the night air, beetles are scurrying across the portico, mammoth dragon flies and moths are mesmerized by the street lamps.  this is our last night in costa rica.  so much experienced, so much to file as a memory.  it's truly been amazing...