Best Shot(s) Monday--Spring!

The trees don't lie, folks. It's really spring in Chicago, and it's about time. We had our first weekend of abundant sunshine and above 60 degree weather. And today? We're back down to the 40's. So goes life in the Windy City.

It's been a crazy busy weekend for me. For someone who says she wants to practice voluntary simplicity, I sure do make life complicated for myself. On Saturday, we had a wedding at our church for our friend Karen and Mark. We only went to the wedding ceremony and then hurried home because we were having a small chili party with a few of Ted's friends to try out his Quinoa lager from his new (used) keg. That meant we needed to clean and make corn bread. Ted had the sense to make the chili the night before, so at least we didn't have to worry about that.

I could've cleaned during Friday night and during the day Saturday while Ted was at work, but I had other things to do. It was Tim Lowly's 50th Birthday Party on Sunday, and I had my heart set on making a mix cd. Make that TWO mix CDs. 50 songs for 50 years. And then I decided to put all that felt I bought to good use by making a double CD jacket to go along w/ the CDs. I take my mix CDs very seriously, and since Tim is a musician himself, I wanted to choose the songs carefully--some which I knew he'd like (the usual suspects like Roise Thomas, Sufjan, Iron & Wine) but others that he may not like too much but which I still think he should listen to because I like pushing my favorite music on other people (Arcade Fire, Blonde Redhead, The Mountain Goats, Kings of Convenience, etc). I'm actually surprised that I was able to choose all 50 songs, put them in proper order (very important, you know, if you've read/watched High Fidelity), burn the CDs, print the labels and track lists, AND sew the CD jacket, and all this by Sunday morning.

And the reason I had to be done w/ the CD project by Sunday morning was because I was shooting photos at Lincoln Park Presbyterian Church's Sunday Service so that they could have updated photos for their website, which Ted's brother is designing. After that gig, I had over 300 photos to go through and select and edit.

We made it to Tim's birthday party, and we were there pretty much all evening. And contrary to what you might think about a party being thrown at a pastor's house (Tim is our Pastor Sherrie's husband), this was a KEG party. That's right. Ted brought his quinoa lager on tap, PLUS there was a keg of Virgil's Root Beer.

Cadence and I took advantage of the weather and visited the brand new playground across the street from the Lowlys in Winnemac Park. It was the first time I'd been to a park with Cadence this spring. It was kind of crowded, which is understandable, as this whole city's got cabin fever. It was nice, though, to soak in that late afternoon golden sun and to remember what spring is supposed to feel like.

Back at Tim's party, which was also a book-making party, many of the guests created collaged pages which were all taped together at the end to make one very long accordian book. It was very impressive, and I'm curious as to what Tim decides to do with that book.

I was so exhausted by the time Monday morning rolled around that I took the day off. And now after this blog post, I'm REALLY REALLY exhausted.

Oh, and I almost forgot! Another reason I was so crazy busy was that I posted on Shutter Sisters on Sunday (which I wrote an posted after our chili party guests left late on Saturday night). You can check out my post here.

All the Small Things

Jen Lemen has a beautiful story and photo to share on Shutter Sisters, and so I thought I'd share a photo and story too.

I took the photo above at church on Easter Sunday. The woman you see sitting is Jan. She is the person who sits in the back of the sanctuary at her little table and hands out Sunday programs to latecomers (a category we fall into 90% of the time). She is there every Sunday, faithfully serving with a warm smile and kind, gentle eyes.

It may seem that what she does in the church is insignificant, but I know that is not true. Folks like her who serve their churches and communities and families in all the small things--quietly, humbly, faithfully--these are the true saints. They are not there for glory or to feed their egos or to score points with God. They see what needs to be done and do it, whether others are watching or not.

This is something I need to remember moment by moment. I live in an environment of seemingly endless self-promotion and a hunger for attention and recognition and grandiosity. I don't want to get sucked into that mentality, always calculating if doing this good deed or that will get me...get me what??? What is it that I want anyways? Fame? Respect? Envy? A pat on the back? Marketability? I sure hope those are not the things I want in my heart of hearts. This is why I so very much love the Small is Beautiful Manifesto.

I know that if Jesus were to come and throw a banquet at our church, he would personally take Jan by the arm and escort her to the seat next to him at the table. And that is the way it should be.

Best Shot(s) Monday--Dreaming of a White Easter

I don't know who was dreaming of a white Easter, but they sure got it whoever they are. I think it was colder this Easter weekend than most Christmases in recent memory (except maybe this past one--it's been a brutal winter here, y'all).

I didn't buy Cadence an Easter dress this year. Part of the reason is that Easter fell so early I just forgot. Another reason is that I don't like Easter dresses. Cadence already runs to the mirror and admires her own reflection every time I put any dress on her, so I don't want her acquiring a taste for foofy frilly stuff. Unless it's vintage, like the dress she's wearing in the photo above, or hand-made. Then it's okay.

I don't think Cadence minded at all that I put her in an old dress over blue jeans for Easter festivities at Grandma and Grandpa's house. She had a blast searching for the Easter eggs Grandpa had hidden all over the house.

We also had fun making real Easter eggs with natural dyes. Thanks to Amy Geekgrl of Crunchy Domestic Goddess for the tips! We found that turmeric and curry powder make a lovely yellow, paprika makes a nice brownish orange, and blueberries make an awesome lavender/purple. Next year, I think I want to use spinach for green and find a good source for making a really bright red.

I hope you all had a Happy Easter/First-Weekend-of-Spring!

Go see more folk's Best Shot's on Tracey' Mother May I.

Seven Weird Things About Moi

The lovely Tracey Clark has tagged me for the "7 weird things about me" meme. I have to admit I really had to think about this one because I'm quite boring. I mean, yeah, I'm plenty WEIRD, but it's really BORING weird, not INTERESTING weird. Here's what I've come up with, at any rate. Oh, and I'm including seven weird photos as a bonus.

1. I grew up in a fundamentalist evangelical-wannabe cult called University Bible Fellowship. You can read more about that shenanigan here and here. That's probably the most profoundly and absolutely weirdest thing about me.

2. I have no tolerance for violence in movies or TV. It's not a MORAL thing. It's more like I-hit-the-floor-and-cover-my-head-lest-the bullets/demons/knives-fly-off-the- screen-right-at-me kind of thing. When we were kids, one of our favorite shows was Barnaby Jones. I used to run out of the room regularly during that show to avoid even the possibility of witnessing someone getting punched in the nose.

3. Growing up, my family subscribed religiously to Time Magazine. I read just about every issue almost cover to cover, BUT, and here's the weird part, I always started with the last page. To this day, if I happen to come across a copy of Time, I turn to the last page first. I think it must be my total lack of tolerance for any type of suspense.

4. I can't eat yellow bananas. They have to be at least slightly green, or I can't stand the taste. For this reason, numerous bananas are left to turn black in our home. Which is okay because then Ted makes banana bread which I really like.

5. I've been with the same company for 12 years. Apparently, this is considered weird by some of my peers. Fortunately, I really like the folks I work with, I LOVE my boss, and I'm treated really well there.

6. I can't read non-fiction without falling asleep unless it's about parenting, a memoir, biography or historical in nature. This posed a problem to my educational success, as most of the required reading (except for history and Englist Lit) would fall into the category of non-fiction that I just couldn't get through. I have no idea how I got through college, let alone grad school.

7. I have this thing about taking photos of people's shoes, especially when I'm at a rock show. It's not a fetish or anything, just one of my quirks.

Now it's time to tag some folks, so I tag the following and whoever else wants to join in:

Leigh (Mere Mortal)
Christina (Momology)
Maya (Laurent Files)
Amy Geekgrl (Crunch Domestic Goddess)
Paige (Look Away)

This happens to be a "Links Around the World" meme, so if you participate, add your blog link to the end of the list on your own post (I copied and pasted the code from the View Source to get all the links).

Link Addiction ~ Ardour of the Heart ~ When Life Becomes a Book ~ The Malaysian Life ~ Yogatta.com ~ What goes under the sun ~ Roshidan’s Cyber Station ~ Sasha says ~ Arts of Physics ~ And the legend lives ~ My View, My Life ~ A Simple Life ~ Juliana RW ~ Mom Knows Everything ~ Beth & Cory’s Mom ~ A Mind Forever Voyaging~ enjoying the ride ~ Jennifer’s thoughts ~ Mom of 3 Girls ~ Amanda ~ Don’t Make Me Get The Flying Monkeys ~ ExPat Mom ~ Just Jessie ~ Wilson Six ~Krisitn ~ Nuttier Than You ~ Shonnte ~ Summer’s Nook ~ Laura Williams Musings ~ Sher ~ Shanda ~ Seven QTPies ~ Mel ~ Skittles ~ Lady Banana ~ Momhood Moments ~ Business Mars ~ A Simple life ~ moms….. check nyo ~ Mommy’s Little Corner ~ Pampered ~ HappyHeart ~ Make Every Day Your Lucky Day ~ Thumbelina Creations ~ Ivonnardona's Creations ~ Jewellery Craft ~ A Bead a Day~ Useless Ramblings ~Candid Yammering ~ Green Eyed Mama ~ Mother May I ~ Shutterbug Mama

Spring Snizzles in Chi-town

It's the 2nd day of spring, and Chicago celebrated in usual fashion with totally inappropriate weather. It's been dubbed "snizzle" (snow+drizzle), and it's pretty nasty.

It wasn't so bad this morning when we made a rare family trip to Metropolis, our favorite coffeehouse. By the afternoon, however, things started piling up. Luckily, the weather didn't stop the UPS truck from delivering my eagerly and long-awaited Singer Genie 353 sewing machine.

Here she is in all her lovely vintage glory. I have to admit it was the flower power pattern that totally sold me. It also got really good reviews on some sewing sites.

Ain't she a beauty? Now if I can only figure out how to raise the bobbin thread. I think I might have to take the Genie to Easter dinner for a lesson from Ted's mom...

Hope y'all are having more seasonably springy weather in your part of the world.