kindly burn the negatives

facebook is making me nervous.

i’m cool with the whole
’see where people are +
what they’ve been up to’
idea,

but the Terrifying Reality
of people pulling out
old
photo
albums
and freely disseminating the
contents for world-wide consumption;
the torture
of the technological age.

aye, caramba.

high school homecoming court
(back row.
does it look like my
hair is on fire?
that’s a whole lot of aussie spray+scrunch;
i can still smell it
if i close my eyes
and think about high school)

just when you thought
my hair couldn’t get
any bigger,
someone will dig up
more of these photos
and i’ll have no dignity left.

oye.

slow ride

the fairway elevator
made the ny times?!

‘going up? don’t be so sure’

thanks for this, jim h.;
cracked me up.

ps – here’s why i braved
the elevator today:
-veggie booty
(and pirate’s booty
and pirate cannon balls
and tings)
-seventh generation dishwasher liquid (lemon)
-ecover stain stick

it was worth it.

the funny thing was that
on the way up,
there was just
another woman and i
(she was maybe in
her early 70’s)
and she commented
that we should
‘win gold stars’
because we made it in
the elevators without
having to fight off
any other people.

so the 16-second ride
passed rather quickly
because we were
sharing a laugh.

and had plenty of
elbow room.

nailed it

the letter ‘n’
that is.

m might be for flower,
but n is for our
nine
noodle
necklace.

cha-ching.
my brain was at least
in the ‘on’ position
this week.

i love these six sweetest girls.

after music  w/  ms. suzie,
we do snack  +
then circle up for
attendance.

the three preschool girls
meet in nathan/henry’s room.

anne rocked the
rainbow/paperplate/cottonball craft,
making good use of her
style/design skills
from her ‘old life’.
(read: before motherhood)

and we read
‘napping house’
in closing

and they quickly
volunteered the ‘n’ (napping)
connection.

whew.
yay.

now i need a nap.

ps -  the girls would probably
want me to include  the
Really Important Part
of preschool,
you know,
snack.

triscuits + carrots, baby.
oh, and water.
woweeee.
so posh
i can’t stand it.

a very pleasant thursday

nathan said you could make movies
in photobooth
and insisted on
showing us how.

our very first one.

henry’s lifetime timeline

the little trail of stickers
along the bottom
say,
in his careful-but-quick lefty scrawl

‘learned to walk’
‘learned to ride my bike’
‘went to colorado’
(with zig-zaggy mountains drawn
across the top)
and
other memorable events
that make up
his six zippy-happy years on
this planet.

puzzles-r-us

making lists

i have a bucket of white paint
and i’m not afraid to use it.

black spindly table, check.
black curvy mirror, well…

cory appealed to
my design sensibilities + suggested that
perhaps it’s current chippy-black
offers a more interesting visual contrast
on the wall.

spared.
for now.

dance-tastic

we must’ve watched this
six times this morning.
beyonce+justin’s snl

and this german
soccer-player-uniform dancing
comes in a close second.

thanks, swissmiss.

and i totally should
get this t-shirt
for tracy t;
she is all that.

ps-  if it wasn’t 25-freezing-degrees outside,
i’d slip on my trainers +
go rescue this abandoned wrapping paper.

gung hay phat choy

happy yr o’ the ox.

and this is the
cutest photo
in celebration of that…
will, sylvia + mia
(and baby haas)

happy 2009, indeed.

baby-ville

a groovy citywrites client sent
me a pic of
the shower favors.

the wagon’s owner
looks a bit confused.

6:40am

my spacebar went kaplooie
a few weeks ago.

(can you say ‘ctrl-v’ every time
i want to make a space?
crrrraazy-makin’.)

so caroline and i hopped on
the m5 this morning
to head to the
magnificent
Glass Box
that is the apple store
@ 59th/5th.

you would’ve thought we were
in a castle
given c’s awe+wonder.

she must’ve tried five different
ipod/shuffle/nano/earphone set-ups,
eyes wide,
boopping along to
vintage madonna +
current lady gaga.

too[ctrl-v]bad[ctrl-v]the[ctrl-v]earliest
fix-it[ctrl-v]appointment[ctrl-v]i[ctrl-v]could[ctrl-v]get
is[ctrl-v]thursday[ctrl-v]at[ctrl-v]6:40[ctrl-v]am.

oye.

soup-er duper

how do you really feel about it?

the soup i made for dinner,
that is.

3 adults* = thumbs up
4 children = not so much

*and the-other-cory + carrie are eating
the leftovers,
so that might boost
the favorable-rating.

friday after school = library time, baby.
cozy cozy + books for the wknd = happy-all-around.

i came home with:

this last one is quite
amusing.

which should balance
out the first one, no?

‘m’ is for ‘flower’

that’s what i’m hoping
they don’t take away
from today’s lesson.

we love ms. suzie.

the plan:

we made flowers from
our handprints
for our mommy.

M.
mommy.

seemed like a good idea
to me yesterday,

but today,
it seemed more
like

F.
flowers.

genius.

but when you blow gently
on the back of the flower,
it looks like your fingers
are waving.

actual genius.

you just never know

file this under:
i didn’t see that one comin’.

the four of them spent
t w e n t y
quiet-ish
minutes
on the rug
playing polly pockets together.

photographic proof of the miracle,
about 10 minutes in.

i can see you (unwisely) asking nathan,
’so, play with dolls much?’

and he gets all,
‘uh, no. nosiree.
no, of course not.’

shhhhhh;
it’s our secret.

tears on the subway platform

the other day,
a couple sitting behind
us at the cafe
was having
some sort of
‘break up’ talk
that involved a
lot of tears,
a lot of tears in public.

tears in public
aren’t uncommon,
it’s new york.

people are everywhere +
emotions come with people.
so comfortable or not so,
it goes with the urban-territory.

and yesterday,
i found myself in
a similar position,
tears-wise.

i was waiting on the platform
for the no.1 train
and was reading
paul david tripp’s
gem-of-a-book
that kathy gave me
for christmas

and the tears started rolling,
ladiesandgentlemen.

(the word ‘rescue’
undid me)

here’s what he wrote
based on psalm 51:2
[wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
and
cleanse me from my sin.]

‘i am a mass of contradictions; i don’t want to be but i am.
i preach a gospel of grace, but my life isn’t always driven by peace.
i talk about a Jesus who alone can fully satisfy the soul,
     but i am not often satisfied.
i celebrate a theology of amazing grace, but i often react in ungrace.
     and if i rest in God’s control, why do i seek it for myself?
even in moments when i think i am prepared,
      i end up doing what i didn’t want to.

irritation
impatience
envy
discontent
wrong talk
anger
self-focus
are not the fruit of new life, are not the way of grace.

so there is this law operating inside me.
when i step out with a desire to do good,
      evil follows me wherever i go.
there is this war that rages inside of me,
      between a desire for good
      and the sin that is anything but.

there are times that i feel like a prisoner, held against my will.

i didn’t plan to be mad in the grocery store, but that guy made me mad.
i didn’t plan to be discontent, but it just enveloped me in the quietness of the car.
that discussion wasn’t supposed to degenerate into an argument, but it did.

i am thankful for God’s grace, but there is daily evidence that i’m
      still in need of help.
that battle inside me cannot be solved by
theology
strategies
principles
techniques
plans
preparation
helpful hints
outlines.

i have been humbled by the war i cannot win.
i have been grieved by the desires i cannot conquer.
i have been confronted by actions i cannot excuse.

and i have come to confess that
what i really need is
rescue.

so have mercy on me, o God,
according to your unfailing love,
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
wash away all my iniquity.
and cleanse me from my sin.

for i know my transgressions
and my sin is always before me.

i embrace the rescue that could only be found in You.
thanks be to God–through Jesus Christ our Lord.’

let the tears
roll,
baby.

i told you so

do not read this post.

especially if songs
tend to get stuck
in your head
and they make you
crazy.

this weekend,
we watched ‘indiana jones’
and at some point,
emily told us that her uncle
was teasing her cousin
and convinced the cousin
that the indiana jones theme song
actually had words to it.

and then she sang
the fateful words
to us.

indiana,
dr. jones,
indiana,
doctor, mister jones,
indiana
dr. jones
indiana-indiana-indi-aaannna-aaaa.

there you go.
my girls are singing
their version of it
as
i
type.

my apologies to you.

master seamstress-es

okay, maybe not after
our first day of class,

but ava and i
are one step closer
to that end goal.

we had part 1
of our
‘intro to machine sewing’
class today.

loved it.

city quilter = perfect.
in chelsea,
on 25th btwn 6th+7th

can’t wait until next wednesday’s class.

no, really, i took the
photo myself.

in the subway station.
nice.

maoz = ‘buteful’

my angelhenry wrote
a story about me
that he presented at
his class’ publishing party
this morning.

aaawwwwww.

‘the very important story
of kari jo cates’

and i can verify that more than
50%
of it is factual.

(several percentage points higher
than the one nathan did of me
when he was in 1st grade;
i was apparently born in california*.)

my very favorite page:

‘when kari jo was 16
she met someone named cory
and they started dateing
and fell in love.
when kari jo was 20
they got marryed and
they went to
buteful
restaurants.’

i was 17
and
we were 22,
but i love that
he totally
included the truly
Important Part
of my life.

thanks for loving me
and
taking me to
‘buteful’ restaurants,
cjc.

photocredit: henry’s gentle classmate, gavriela

*do you know
where i was born?

shhhhh, mom, don’t tell.

sasha o, budding fashonista

did you see that
pink coat +
orange scarf?

and that ear-to-ear grin?

cutest girl ever.

thanks to paula+lucy
for having us all up
to her sunnysunny apt
for an inaguration day soiree.

p + lu,
mel + emily,
the girls + i
and
magnolia  bakery cupcakes
with obama’s picture on them.
score.

i cried thru a good bit of it.

aretha’s hat?!
killer.

michelle’s dress.
loved it.

(it looked more lemongrass-yellow
in photos online
than the stark-yellow of
the television cameras, no?)

repentance

my heart was utterly
melted by the privilige of
sharing a bulletin
with my 9 yr old son
on sunday night,

and hearing his eager voice
with mine
and
with the full congregation,

reading,

scott c – leader:
most merciful father,
we have sinned against
and are guilty before you.

forgive us the sins of our tongues–

all:
for deception and  untruthfulness
in our dealings with others;
for resentment,
coldness, impatience,
and tempers out of control.

leader:
forgive us for the sins of our eyes  –

all:
for impurity in our glances and imagination;
for pining after more
beauty,
comfort,
status,
and wealth
than you have given us.

leader:
forgive us the sins of our  hearts–

all:
for hard-heartedness toward you and our neighbors;
for pride, self-absorbption, self-pity;
and  above all for
rebelling against  your lordship
and
doubting  your love.

holy father,
kill  our envy,
remove our pride,
melt our hearts.

give us  grace to be holy,
kind, gentle, pure,
to  live for you
and not for ourselves,
to be transformed into your likeness,
to live wholly for your glory.

in Jesus’ name we pray,
amen

blurb-y

i’m looking to
hire someone
to blurb my blog.

if you know what that entails
and are willing,
kindly email me.

yay.

how to spend a snowy holiday afternoon

we’re so sad
greenwich letterpress
is closed for the holiday

but very happy
to snuggle up
for the split pea soup
in the corrado bakery
next door.

back @ the ranch,
cory has been working
unbelievably hard
this long wknd
to rebuild the downstairs bannister +
finish the rest of the
stairway
(that for 4 yrs has
had kind of a
‘temporary finish’ to it)

we’re his cheering section.

photocredits: betsycates

betsy took her job seriously;
i think i had to delete,
oh,
40-odd photos
of caroline + i
that b took
’smile,mommy!smile!’

b did her part
by helping to sand off
a good bit of red-marker-art
she unfortunately applied
last summer.

she surely knows better now,
right, grown-up-girl?

(see part of cory’s woodworking masterpiece?
it’s gorgeous)

bring it

there’s a time for
hanging up snowclothes
and laying out every
wet mitten to dry
and
then
there’s a time
to simply leave them
in a big wet happy heap
until you
jump right back into them.

happy mlk day, indeed.

em, c, and i
hit 3 fabric stores
[chic, daytona, + b and j]
and capped it off
with a sprint to
h+m
before grabbing the train
home.

loved it.

powdertime

the early bird
gets the
powder,
baby.

7:40am
riverside drive @ 69th st
cory . nathan . henry

(emily, caroline, betsy + i
were far too smart to
venture out in the cold
that early in the day)

apparently,
the early birds also get the
lumberjack breakfast
at the diner afterwards,
because later in the day
when henry was remembering
the delicious sausage
he had for breakfast,

the wheels started
turning in caroline’s head
and she quizzically turned to me,
hey, i didn’t get
sausage for breakfast…

ps – are you thinking
what i’m thinking?

they probably should put
that one lone hay bale
in front of the
west side hwy pillar, no?

snowy smackdown

‘the kramers will
commence firing
in 30 seconds!’
. click .

it was mtk’s voice
on the line
so you know
she said it with
that fantastic laugh
of hers.

still,
them’s fightin’ words, girl.

these have your names on them, kramer fam.

currently, we have five
team members out there
lending support to the
assault.

(listen, i’m still thawing out
my toes from  an early-morning outing)

at one point,
nathan said,
i love the ladder.

(meaning:
i love it when adam/eli are up
on the ladder because they’re
sitting ducks
for my snowball lobs)

smiley eli,
our happy target.

the rightness of home

last night we
hopped the train
to prince + broadway
for dinner with friends,
such a cozyhappy evening.

. hooray for kefe .

you know that feeling
when you finally hop back
on your local train,
that feeling of ‘home’ ?

this unfortunate
‘fontal-discord’ only
inflates my sense of
‘away’ and ‘home’ -

here’s how the door signs
on the n/r look.
[note the lazy 'o'-s]
gasp.

so imagine how we
feel when we hop on the
red train
and the signs
look like this.
whew, we’re in the
land of correct font-ing;
we must be almost home.

blushing bride

a happy bride
is a priceless thing.

we’re so excited for
our friends, jen + david,
to get married
and it is superfun
helping them with
wedding invitation-y-things.

putting the three of  our  heads together
today was way-productive
design-wise.

(well, 3 heads + my pen)

a happy bride, indeed.

(and one with a fantastic
eye for details)

14 august 2009
. hooray .

i’m listening

2009
has been designated
. the listening year .
in my book.

the listening year
+
the year of the garden.

by ‘garden’
i don’t necessarily mean
vegetables,
but more
attention to photosynthesizing beauty
in the backyard.

listening to scripture,
listening to cory,
(esp to what he might
not have said yet)
listening to the wise community around me,
to my neighbors,
to my children,
to the city.

listening when i’d rather speak.

(what does blogging look
like during a ‘listening year?’
hmmm.)

my motto will be
something similar to
the children’s jingle
they drilled into my pledge class
in college:

i have two ears  and
one mouth
so i can listen
twice as much as i speak.

oh,  and tidying up
the garden,

while i listen.

caroline + i are baking
the perfect
we-hope-it-will-snow-tomorrow
cake
for an eagerly-anticipated
dinner party tonight.

props to molly for the photo + recipe.

yes, it’s that cold outside.
(16 degrees)
snowpants required
for the 350-step walk
down 70th street
from our doorway to starbucks.

they went out in joy:

and returned in tears
(baby, it’s coooold outside):

the girls + i were
sewing black apple dolls
and got sideswiped
by the boys
make-superhero-capes-for-stuffed-animals
project.

super-iceskate,
super-santabear,
and
super-drago
are very grateful
as they feel much more
macho
in their new gear
(grey felt + silver ribbon ties).

i’m drawing forty of these little tags
for a client who is
tying them to
real pink umbrellas
as baby shower party favors.
loveit.

homemade spiders
still scare sisters.

photography staff strike

my photography staff
went on strike.

the staff of one, that is.

my trusty finepix had
taken onetoomany hits,
raised her white flag,
rolled over and
went into eternal
camera sleep
about 3 wks ago.

and yesterday, daddy sent us
his good ol trusty
silver nikon.

voila!
we’re back in business.
thanks, dad.

(note to self:
ix-nay the datestamp)

caroline is yelling _________!

and don’t you think once
a boy’s jeans have
holes in both knees
it’s time for the
circular file?

there are five snuggly
humans in my  bed
right now;
i’m about to make it
six.

i’m just saying

you can tell
he had
children.

(two boys, no?)

zoinks

emily (yay! she’s here.) + nathan
are sprinting down to riverside
to catch a glimpse of the
plane before it sinks.

thankfully, they’re saying
the crew + passengers
are safe,
all 155 of them.

amazing.

it’s 17 degrees outside right now;
i can’t imagine what the
water temp is.

week later update:
the best
headline
i saw from this
amazing incident
was this.

tastesgreat/lessfilling

the issue: how, exactly, betsy’s gum
‘lasts longer’

side 1: eli + henry
‘the taste lasts longer!
the taste!’

side 2: caroline + betsy
‘the gum lasts longer!
the ggggguuuuummmm!’

ladies and gentlemen,
it’s getting heated.

magic indeed

this morning @ the children’s museum,
henry and his classmates
learned about arches +
keystones +
the strength of varying structures
(in order of ascending strength,
triangular prism,
rectangular prism, and the
cylinder.)

they then made arches
with magic noodles.
and i am
drooling
over these magic noodles.

made from cornstarch,
no glue necessary,
just get the end wet
and it sticks with
surprising strength.

are you guys already
using these
i just had never heard
of them before?

and i’ve heard the
crazy rumor
that they’re putting in a
michael’s
in at 97/amst.

noodles galore.

ps – so they built arches out
of these noodles,
put the all-important keystone
in place
and then were free to build
their own creative creations.

so, henry turned his first arch
into
‘arch man’
by adding a torso,
a head,
arms, and a hat.

which then brought him
great delight
in realizing that his former
‘keystone’
had gained some
real significance
in his new creation.

‘get it, mom?
see that?
get it?’

yes, sweetly-typical-six-year-old-boy, i get it.

timely grace, a true story

one of the radical
concepts of christianity
is the reality
of God’s grace.

the grace that doesn’t
leave us where we are
(captive to sin
and a shoe-in for death)
but
powerfully compels us,
by repentance and confession,
into the
throes
of God’s lavish love.

let me just tell you
about this peculiar grace
in an 8.5 hr window.

9:30pm – i embarrass myself,
make a fool of myself.

(my words betray my greedy heart,
my self-centeredness on full display
in front of close friends-
that’s the only brilliant part about it,
these are godly, godly friends)

10:30pm-5:15am – i toss and turn,
guilt and regret whisper loudly
in my ear while my family
snoozes quietly,

wishing i could go back a few hours
and Shut My Big Yapper.

i try to pray.
i’m sure i do actually pray.
and i even ask c to pray
for me, outloud, in the dark.
that i will grow from
immaturity to maturity.

(i mentally snap my fingers
and then look around and ask,
‘did it happen? am i more mature?’
since wisdom is obviously
an instantaneous event)

5:15am – i groggily
(that guilty heart-heavy sleep
can’t really be called ’sleep,’ can it?)
rise and shower and
curl up on the bathroom floor
with scripture

(so i can turn on the light
and not wake my household;
nothing says ‘cozy bible reading’
like a slate floor early on a cold morning)

and
that
gentlest of balms
seeps out on my heart.

the reminder that my God
is a god of
grace,

that he rescues me from the pit,

the pit of my own sin,
rescues me from my own greedy heart
and
reclaims me for himself.

can you see the relief
on my face?

now, maybe next time
i’ll curl up on the slate floor
at 10:30pm
and still be able
to get some sleep.

grateful for godly friends,
i head out into this tuesday
humbled and surprisingly (to me)
very excited
about the power of
a gracious God.

the song on my lips?

singwithmenow,

‘god of grace
amazing wonder
irrresistible and free,
o, the miracle of mercy,
jesus reaches down to me…’

bobble jesus

the best white elephant gift
tonight was carter’s
bobble-headed jesus.

except it looked like
all he could bobble was,
‘no-no-no’

amy winehouse style.

and larry’s wine-bottle lamp?
i’ve got to dig up the
back-story on that one.

thanks to bruce + missy
for hosting such a
terrific pastors/elders par-tay.

on painting

1. i think that if you’re painting a wall
and you think to yourself,
‘i should switch the laundry,’

you should check to see if you have
paint on your hands
before handling every single
piece of clean laundry.

2. if you’ve gone to the trouble
of using a drop cloth,
i think you should try to
keep it under where you’re
actually painting.

3. on blue tape,
why not be crazy
and actually let the paint dry
before ripping that
stuff down?
(so it doesn’t get all over you,
your shirt, and a smidge
on the wall. nice.)

my painting skills are legendary.

legendarily poor,
that is.

but it’s starting to looking good in here.

a true legend
and my mentor,
apparently.

the bus to nowhere

9:14pm,
friday night,
an interview with a
happy-but-frozen
9.5 yr old boy
with chocolate on his breath.

’so, we got on a bus.
and as soon as we got off the bus,
dad said, oh shoot;
we were on the wrong bus.

’so, we walked around for a couple of blocks
and, man, we were freezing,
until dad realized that we
were on the right bus.

‘and then i asked a question
that lead to an answer,
oh, brother.

‘he didn’t know exactly where we were going.

’so, we walked around for like 20 blocks
and then we went into dylan’s [candy bar] and
when we came out,
we could see home depot from there!

‘we contemplated buying the colossal jawbreaker
for betsy;
she wouldn’t talk for a Full Day
sucking on that thing.
it was about the size of lucy’s head!’

(sorry, lulu, to use your cutest smartest head
as a size-reference to a sugar-coated confection)

reading buddies

‘wire widows’

(paula’s perfect term for our
status on many nights;
surely there can’t be that
many discs left?)

the boys see that netflix-red envelope
in the mailbox and say,

‘is it daddy’s wire or
is it something fun?’

sorry, kiddos;
it’s always the wire, no?

so this clip is for cjc:

‘many of us have found our lives
slightly less complete
since hbo’s the wire ended.
this video may help (a little):
all five seasons summed up,
to music, by an unnamed rapper.’
-the daily beast

ps – thanks to ethan
for showing us the lego club magazine;
sign-up here for your own
free subscription.

thumbs-up thursday

betsy, hyper-aware of the first
initial in her name,
sees ‘B’s everywhere;
‘b for betsy!’ is
a common proclamation
as we saunter down
the city streets.

tonight @ dinner,
she cheerfully pointed
to the children’s Bible
(catherine vos rules)
and shouted
‘b for God!’

ps – playing with my
newly-babbling little friends,
lucy + jane,
reminded me of the little ditty
that cory + i wrote
for a newly-one-year-old nathan
that included all of the
words he knew at that point.

it went a little like this,
(cue lights + jazz piano)

nathan, nathan,
ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba dada,
mama,
uh-ho,
bye bye.

fromthetop…

one of our musically-inclined friends
transcribed it for us
(you know, on the treble cleff lines?
what’s that called,
writing music?)
and we glued it into
his baby book.
(we’re dorks)

we’ll have to pen some
new tunes with these
angelgirls’ first words.

it rocks having a song
you know All The Words To
at less than one yr old.
(put it on the preschool application)

pigtails in inkwells

most weekday afternoons,
caroline and i
have ’school’ at the
kitchen table.

it’s sweet+simple and
now that betsy is
napless,
she joins us, as well.

‘4-year-old school’ in apt 1:

1. open with prayer
2. sing three songs
(abc song,
days of the week song,
months of the year song)
3. write her name
4. check the weather +
draw it on the chart
5. activity / craft
(today = our charley harper
memory game)
6. read aloud on the couch
7. close with prayer

i sure do love schooltime.

ps – one of nathan’s
extra-credit activities
(+5 min of computer time)
is to write out bible verses
in cursive.

scripture + my nathan’s handwriting = a balm to my soul

(these sheets are tucked into
his notebook so he can choose
the verse he’d like to write.)

we’re big charley harper fans.

pps – thanks to the rad moms
who schlepped over in the
pouring rain
for fun playtime this morning.

and we have chili stewing on
the stovetop for fellowship group
dinner tonight;
a day bookended with friends
is the perfect day.

ppps – mark bittman’s
new year’s ideas for the kitchen.
fab + timely.

and i must say it was
fantastic to see
carole + morgen + rankin yesterday;
so glad to finally meet r.
happy trails back to sunny ca.

revelation

nathan made a sensatonal revelation
at the breakfast table this morning.

after cory read  from galatians 5,
we sang morven’s catchy
fruit-o’-the-spirit song

and then nathan made the
offhanded remark
that caused an uproar,

it’s the Same Tune
as the rainbow song.

the kids were (overly) flabbergasted.
scandalized.

sing with us now,

theeeeee
fruit of the spirit
is love, joy, peace

patience, kindness, goodness

faithfulness, gentleness, self control;
against  such
there is
nooooo law.

(and then sample it with
a counterbeat:

red, orange, yellow,
green, and blue;
shiny pink and purple, too;
all the colors  that we know
live  upon the rainbow)

my favorite part
was cory’s prayer.

that we might identify
the spirits of envy,
of fighting,
of discord within us

and that we might kill them,
(yes, he said that)

and that we might live
in gentleness and
in self -control.

dude.

say that four times fast

today, a potential-client requested

’80’s graffiti-inspired calligraphy’

for her uber-funky
wedding invitations.

i’m so intrigued.

the invitation itself is killer
and it was designed+letterpressed
in england.

curious.
intriguing.
so hot.
but i’m not sure
i’m the girl for this one.

we’ll see.

d’artagnan

whoa,
the hype was spot-on.

slumdog millionaire
is remarkable.

and i was in (unnecessary)
suspense to the bitter end
because i actually thought
d’artagnan was the
third musketeer.

the actress who played latika,
breathtakingly beautiful.

and the young jamal,
wanted to kiss those dirty cheeks.

i certainly covered my eyes with
my hands no fewer than five times.
literally.
covered.
my.
eyes.
and squirmed in my seat.

ps – hands down,
lincoln plaza cinema
is our favorite favorite
movie spot.
(62-63/bway)

i don’t mind being
30 yrs younger than
everyone else in the audience
(you can almost feel
the collective wisdom
in the air;
i always hope it rubs off on me)

and

i love being able to
grab a cup of coffee
at the concession stand
on the way in.

(14 kinds of tea +
panna cotta layer cake?
not your usual movie-theatre fare.
brilliant.)

ps – do your google-homework;
do you know who the third musketeer is?

across the pond

clevermelissa spotted this gem-of-a-sign
in the treacle store window
in london,
her new ‘hood.

missyou,missyou.
kisses to eloise + the good mr. newman.

ps -
this is one of my citywrites tasks for today;
and i’m glad to do it
as it’s so compelling.

a wedding prayer.

‘may the home you create be an oasis to strangers,
a sanctuary to friends,
a comfort to your families,
and a paradise to each other.

may the Lord adjoin your faith with
wisdom,
purity,
and piety;
so that you may unite in both body and soul.

may the Lord bless you and keep you,
may He lift His face to shine upon you,
and may He give you peace.’

inspiring words, jds.

eleven smackers

$5 for the taxi to schlep our bags
to the goodwill

$6 for the a.m.a.z.i.n.g cash register
(with working batteries
and the original play money?!)
we came home with

simple days,
happy days.

ps – props to the attentive parent
that kept this in such lovely shape.

pps – our family now accepts credit cards.
esp if they’re of the cardboard variety.

beadage

we’re going to be finding
these sparkly little buggers
for a nice long time.

right at the end of
making our necklaces
this morning,
betsy’s little finger
accidently toppled
the Whole Bowl.

watchyourstep.

(or seize the opportunity
and bring your own
piece of yarn so you
can collect+wear
what you find.)

ps – how much do i love
the prayer of confession
from last night’s service:

almighty and most merciful Father,

we have erred and strayed from
your ways like lost sheep.
we have followed too much the
devices + desires of our own hearts.

we have left undone those things
which we ought to have done;
and we have done those things which
we ought not to have done;
and there is no health in us.

but you, o Lord, have mercy upon us.

and grant, o most merciful Father,
for Jesus’ sake,
that we may hereafter live
a godly,
righteous,
and joyful life,
to the glory of your holy name.

amen.

ps – caroline was being henry’s ‘nurse’
this morning before school
and said,
‘i’ll take good care of you, sweetie;
i’ll check to see how much
blood you have
and then i’ll read you a book.’

hospital clothes

as i popped in the last load
of the day’s laundry,
i unexpectedly teared up
as i loaded betsy’s
polkadotty shirt,
her comfiest black leggings,
her stripey socks…

the clothes i bundled her
screaming/writhing little self into at 4am
this morning for a coldcold
yellowcab sprint to the e.r. with
her loving+concerned daddy.

and when they came home
later in the morning
with a diagnosis
(painfulpainful but super treatable)
and an rx (or three),

oh, the Lord is generous, friends.

and i am so glad
to launder these sweet clothes
as she (and her daddy)
are deep in dreamland,

gently recovering from a
long day.

(she happily snuggled into her stroller
and slept a good sleep
while we walked the zoo,
waking only at the very end
for the exuberant seal feeding time.
perfect + cheery.)

ps – as i was unpacking the
hospital bag tonight
i realized i’ve quite mastered
the urgently-necessary skill
of packing a wickedly-efficient
e.r. bag.

. book/stuffed animal for child in pain
. extra socks for said child
. chapstick
. gum/snack for cory
. cell phone power cord
. cory’s reading material
(today: outliers
usually: recent new yorkers)
. and quarters for the vending machine.

though it looks like
today’s trip was strictly of the
pain-management sort
with literally no waiting-room time
(love that st luke’s
dedicated pediatric e.r.).

except c’s book
which he stole a few
peeks at while tired b
dropped off into
a heavilymedicated nap
on his shoulder.

last week, a flashback

post-church lunch w/ friends

photocredit: zoe w.

zoe + caroline
background: toby, elena + nathan

ps -
random covenant college mention
by the always-interesting,
ever-opinionated h. hertzberg
in this week’s new yorker.

pps -
peering into my
crystal ball
i see dollmaking
in our snowyjanuary future.

y tu?

via the very talented emily martin.

superfoods

my clever friend, kara,
is exuberant about
superfoods
these days.

her enthusiasm is
(always) contagious
and i’m thinking about
how to incorporate
more of them
into our daily lives.

the list:
. beans
. blueberries
. broccoli
. oats
. oranges
. pumpkin
. salmon
. soy
. spinach
. tea (green or black)
. tomatoes
. turkey
. walnuts
. yogurt

tips on soy-for-families?

ps – our own personal superfoods list
would include:
cereal (nathan)
figs (cory)
sour patch kids (henry)
gum (betsy)
hummus (caroline)

see the relatives

we’re off to the central park zoo
if anyone’s in town
and want’s to join us.

we like to visit
henry’s kinfolk
as often as possible.

bring bananas.