Rollin' Dope

Desmond and I have stumbled into a new morning routine. We go upstairs to wake up Peter, then the three of us lay on the bed and sing songs together. We try to mix it up, doing stuff like The Itsy Bitsy Spider, These Are a Few of My Favorite Things, Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing, etc.

By far Desmond's favorite is Row, Row, Row Your Boat. It's the only one he tries to sing. According to Desmond, it goes something like this:

Roll, roll, roll dope.....

Romeo

Apparently we have a real Romeo on our hands. I'm not sure where he gets it from; Peter and I aren't really what anyone would call romantic. Maybe it's from his grandfather.

Isn't this the face of a little Romeo?

Yesterday we went to a Valentine pancake breakfast for families with young kids. It was the first time Desmond and I had left the neighborhood in over a week because of the snow. We were both super-excited. Peter even got up early so we could all go together. As Peter and I ate our pancakes, a cute little girl about Desmond's age wandered up to our table and stared at us for a bit. Des insisted on getting off my lap to see her. He got down, waved to her, then leaned forward and said, "Kiss! Kiss!" He leaned in and kissed her! He proceeded to follow her around for a minute or two, trying to smooch her every time she stopped. He's never been that excited to kiss Peter or me.

I guess romance is in the air. Happy Valentine's Day!

How to Eat an Elephant

Q: How do you eat an elephant?

A: One bite at a time.

It's an understatement to say we've had a lot of snow this winter. It has been the snowiest winter ever on record for DC. I'm a total snow-glutton, so it was heaven for me, especially since Peter got four days off. We shoveled night and day to dig out. I decided we should calculate how many pounds of snow we have moved in the past week. I suspect these are conservative estimates since we helped other people shovel. Here it goes:

Square Footage

Stoop and Sidewalk: 4ft wide x 60 ft length = 240 sq. ft

Two Parking Spots: 9ft wide x 20ft long x 2 (cars) = 360 sq. ft

Total square footage: 600 sq. ft

Weighing a bin of snow determined that the snow weighed 10.65 lbs/cubic foot

There were 24 inches of snow from the first storm and 8 inches from the second; 2 2/3 ft of total snow accumulation.

(600 sq. ft)*(2 2/3 ft)*(10.65 lbs/cubic foot) = 17,040 lbs of snow moved!

Pre-shoveling - cars, mailboxes, the road - none of them are very distinguishable.

Notice the height of the piles in comparison to the car and to the house windows.

An average adult elephant weighs around 12,000 lbs. I guess it's an understatement to say we know how to eat an elephant.

Truth Lurking

I really like the Indigo Girls. As a teenager, Molly A. and I would lay on her roof listening to them as we watched the stars and talked late into the night. My appreciation of their music has not only lasted into adulthood, but changed as I have. In fact, I bought a new Indigo Girls CD after I had Desmond and found great solace and inspiration listening to it as he would cry and cry during those rough, early months.

What is it about them that affects me so deeply? I think it's because as I listen I often find myself worshiping Jesus. A little surprising, neh?

Their songs express the struggles of life with such beauty and honesty. The struggles of discovering yourself, of wrestling with being different, of demanding why the world isn't as it should be, of rejoicing in the beauty of the world when it IS as it should be.

22 Words posted this:

"Deal with Christianity's ideas and you'll either leave the faith or understand those who do. Being merely appalled at apostasy doesn’t come from strong faith. We need to also empathize, because we’re suffering through the same questions."

Christian or not, can't you feel the truth in the statement, "we're suffering through the same questions." Deep down aren't we all looking for significance? Trying to make sense of our world? Grasping to understand the truths of the universe. When we get a taste of Truth, doesn't it make you hunger for more?

I'm grateful for the unusual places Truth lurks.

How It Came Off

Our friends Sarah and Graham Marsden came over to commemorate the event. They snapped photos and gave me moral support while Peter manned the buzzer.

Desmond still recognizes this as a photo of "mama."

Need more ponytails. Can't waste any hair that will be donated.

Snip, snip, they're falling!

Surreal. I never wanted to turn back, but that didn't dull the shock and
nervousness flowing through my whole body.

Bring on the sas (not that kind of SAS). I've never had really short hair before.
Maybe this photo is a foretaste of what is to come.

Should I go European?

Nah, take it all off!

Our feet share an intimate moment.

It's done! I felt liberated and exhilarated.

The people with the least hair in our home.
Now to practice with the make-up so people know I do actually have eyebrows.

P.S. Check out Graham and Sarah's fantastic work as Marsden Media!