Now for the matching commitment ceremony . . .

I lost the diamond to my wedding ring about a year ago. I've missed having a ring and we have spent a long time discussing what to get as a replacement. And today is the day is the day. Here is my new ring:


It will be here in a couple days from estate sales online. An antique ring that is already my size. Just like me and Stan, we were meant to be together. I hope it looks just as good on my finger!

The Great MN Get Together

The Keathly Family

We went to the Fair yesterday. After one hour driving around first mistaking Saints parking for Fair parking then trying to find a Park N Ride that wasn't full, we finally were at the Fair. Then we all discovered that we wanted to go in the late afternoon vs. late morning. D minus in communication to us. We saved ourselves from an F because we all managed to keep our attitudes in check.

We spent four hours eating, walking and arguing over my stroller driving style. If you get hit, I really don't care. Your feet are your own, watch out for them. I'm too busy keeping track of Stan and Jesse in the crowd.

Noah

We brought Noah to the animal barns but missed the swine and cow building because they close them at 3 PM. Lame. But we did ride the Big Slide. Noah loved it. The first word out of his mouth at the bottom was, "Again!"

Noah and Mama on THE BIG SLIDE!

Things I learned for next year:

1. Go later in the day.
2. Resign yourself to stay until the fireworks are over.
3. Choose the Park N Ride closest to home, not closest to the Fair.
4. Have a game plan/itinerary. Share/revise this with your Fair-going clan.
5. Only go with those who really want to be there.
6. Remember that County fairs are smaller and therefore smell less.
   

"That sir, would be my ride."

Stan and I have shared a car ever since we started dating, seven-plus years ago. It's saved on car and insurance payments, but cost on time and did give us a headache or two, make that one hundred and two.

But now, our saga is over. We are the proud owners of a 1995 Ford Escort Hatchback. Yes, I know. We are the awsome.

The Green Machine

We bought it for a mere $700. $100 less than my first car that I bought at 16, sixteen years ago. That was a Subaru GLF. A hatchback piece of tin that drove me and my high school / college friends all over this town. I just wish I still had the tapes that were in that car.

Pastafarianism - The New Religion (yummy!)

May you forever be touched by his noodly appendage. Ramen.

WHY YOU SHOULD CONVERT TO FLYING SPAGHETTI MONSTERISM:

• Flimsy moral standards
• Every Friday is a religious holiday. If your work/school objects to that demand your religious beliefs are respected and threaten to call the ACLU.
• Our heaven is WAY better. We've got a Stripper Factory AND a Beer Volcano.

Arg, gimme your monies!

Noah: The Disgruntled Pirate

The best part of childhood is being able to walk around in costumes and not be in danger of someone committing you to the looney bin.

Noah has a couple imagination supercharging outfits: Fireman outfit, superhero cape, cowboy outfit

Noah: AKA "Woody"

and now pirate regalia. Jesse said that all we need now is a monkey suit. . .

BTW - there was a gold hoop clip on earring that Noah doesn't like to wear. I wish it didn't hurt him. It really completes the "look". At least, that is, until we can afford to buy the kid some clothes.

103.8: Little Man Rocks A Fever

Noah: Diaper Ninja!!!

Poor little man woke up at 2 AM with one hell of a fever. As always, I got freaked out and had to read the "What to Expect: The Toddler Years" to read what I already knew. Kids fevers are HIGH. Just like their mosquito bites get HUGE if you let them scratch them.

Some tepid washcloths later we had a wrestling match to try and get some ibuprophen in Noah's system. He won. Big time. That kid can hold the liquid in his mouth, fake swallow and then spit it out well enough to win an Oscar. And that's a performance he started at a year old. Yes, he comes from a long line of manipulators. I just didn't think it would bite us on the ass that soon.

Good news is that the fever went down and he was mostly wonderful to be with. Except for the screaming. I still can't get over the metamorphasis that happens when a kid is sick. He's just so still. It's creepy. There's no TV or anything and he's just laying there. Chilling. A three year old. That's just so not right.

We're skipping daycare duty tomorrow to make sure that the baby doesn't get sick. So I have the next two days off before my next client. And boy, do I need it. . .

I Left Stan for Harry Potter

Someone finally loaned me the Harry Potter Series. A lot of people told me it was good and I was interested in reading it, but it took someone literally putting the book into my hands before it happened. So I moved to Hogwarts for eight days and finally resurfaced this morning after finishing book six. My dreams are filled with magic and I've been thinking of others as "muggles." Crazy. These books = 10/10.

I also watched "Open Water" this week, which again, everyone else has already seen. This movie = 1/10. Totally sucked. Horrible acting, bare bones story line and the sharks weren't even scary. I wanted to be freaked out. I wanted to be scared. I am terribly afraid of and fascinated by sharks. I was an easy target and they totally missed.

Next up =
Movie: The Station Agent
Book: Anne Tyler: "The Accidental Tourist"

VBS is not an acronymn for a sexually transmitted disease

Today I attended an organized religious event for the first time in almost seven years. Or is it eight? By "organized religion" I mean Christian. Lutheran to be specific, in this case. Our friend and neighbor is organizing the Vacation Bible School for the summer and I said I would take Noah. So this morning we were off to St. Paul's in South Minneapolis to take part in the "Kingdom of the Son: A Prayer Safari."

Before the festivities started, Noah was playing with other kids in the nursery so I took a walk around to see the sanctuary. It was an old church. Musty and worn around the edges. "World worn" if you will. The stained glass windows were simple and the decorations were dated from at least a couple of decades ago. I didn't feel at home here, but it did make me miss the church home I don't have.

The last time I atteneded church regularly it was in a community center in Uptown. A rag-tag bunch, but it was home for me. Almost. During college I attended my parent's church (which at the time was Evergreen Community Church. Wierd ass mother fuckers. Seriously. How can you be a church and not believe in sin? They might as well call themselves Unitarians.) or whatever church my friend's were going to.

When I was younger, I attended Bethany Missionary Church in Bloomington. I was there from the time I was 2 and my parents moved there to attend college, to about 22. The VBS there was amazing. Decorations were over the top, there was a music band, something planned for every second, and at least 100 kids attended. My memories of them are good. But my memories of Bethany as a whole are not so good. Most of what they did was enable my parents to spiritualize the alcoholism and abuse that was going on in our home. I'm sorry, but my Dad flipping out is not due to Satan, but the bottle of Jack Daniel's he just consummed. And no, I don't want to speak in tongues, I want someone to pound some sense into my mom to leave the cocksucker. THAT would be helpful, thanks.

(Insert throat clearing noise here.) Noah's first VBS experience wasn't the same as mine. But at least it's a first step, for him and for me into the world of organized religion again. I have my beliefs. I have my spirituality. I don't "need" church. But sometimes, I think it might be nice.

Avoidance Takes A Lot Of Work

Do you ever wonder how people view you? Today one of my mom friends said, "What? You mean you aren't perfect?" and she wasn't being sarcastic. It was a mix of flattering and weird for me to hear. I know that I can work hard, but I slack my way through most of every day, never getting close to motivated enough to do a whole heck of a lot.

I spend a lot of time on the computer and a lot of time watching TV with Noah. Basically, I sit on my ever expanding ass a lot. Then, after naptime, I rally the reserve forces of energy and clean the house and start getting dinner ready. Stay at home parents take note, this makes it look like you've actually been working all day. Then we have dinner, hang out and/or run errands and get Noah to bed late.

I don't get much accomplished. I'm not continuing my studies in massage like I want/ought to. I'm not exercising. I'm not journaling. All of these things would have positive results for me but I am avoiding them as if my life depended on it.

Is this depression? Or am I just lazy?

What A Man, What A Man, What A Man, What A Mighty Good Man.

Saturday marked our 6th wedding anniversary, which actually means we have been together for 7 years. Am I still happily married? Yes. Am I sure I married the right man? Yes. Am I insanely lucky? YES. Seriously though, just check out my hubby:


He gave me Noah, which sometimes I give him grief for (parenting can be SO HARD!) but Noah will always be the best gift I've ever received. Stan is kind, loving and incredibly tolerant of me and my female (over)emotionalism. He works hard to provide for his family. He works hard on improving himself and on being a good husband and father. And he is the person I enjoy spending time with far above and beyond anyone else (save Noah, who comes in a VERY CLOSE SECOND).

I love you Stan. Happy Anniversary Sweetheart!.