Happy Saturday
I don't have too many today. I have been so busy lately that my wish thinking time has been cut down a little. This isn't really a bad thing, I have been using the time to actually DO things instead of just thinking about them. That is a wish come true for me :) Anyway, here's the wishes I do have for the week.
1. I wish for John's Dr.'s appointment to go well. It isn't a MAJOR thing, he's had a thorn stuck in his heel for like 6 days. It is really hurting him and I can't get it out, so off to the doctors we go. I am hoping/wishing that they can numb it a little and get it out easily.
2. I wish for my mom's rental houses to sell so she can stop stressing out. I also wish I could kick stupid people who back out of deals right in the kneecaps.
I read it a looong time ago, and I think it is worth another look. Plus, I know a few ladies already have this at home and have expressed interest.
2. I have a list of discussion questions that I will email out once I have a list of who is participating. I will send them ahead of time so we can think about them as we are reading.
3. I think that for the first book, we should shoot to have it finished by August 31st. I know that seems like a long time but I know everyone has lots of things going on besides reading an assigned book.
4. Here is where it gets tricky...I don't know how to create a forum to actually "discuss" the book. We could do it via email through reply to all emails. I think that might be the easiest way. I am not computer savvy enough to create a message board or something of that nature.
5. If it doesn't work out or if it is stressful or annoying, then we can either call it off or restructure it. The bottom line is that I just like the idea of sharing good books and different points of view.
Questions? Interested? Is this worth it or too complicated?
Let me know :)
I have until the end of November 2012! I need to get it in gear and get going
John got his first pair of "sceesers" or scissors for those of you who don't speak toddler. He is very proud and is having fun cutting up any paper we will give him or he can steal.
I found a strand of white lights in our shop (an old barn out back) and brought them inside. John fell in love and played until nighttime. I ended up hanging them in our apartment and he calls them the "magic lights."
I know this picture is blurry but to me it just captures his joy at something so simple.
Right after eating the Oreo, but before he started chasing me around the living room with dirty hands. *note - I don't want people to think I am a hypocrite. I don't own a tv, I don't think we ever will. This is the tv in my dad's house, which stays off whenever we are in there during the day.*
The Oreo aftermath!
I found this pool on clearance for $3.99, It has been too hot to play with it outside, since we don't really have shade, so I blew it up and John came out to find it full of blankets and pillows. His dad climbed in too, which annoyed John to no end.
Homemade blueberry and mango popsicles. Yum!
He turned his rocking horse like that and started calling it his skid steer tractor. He worked on the tractor for at least a half hour and spent forever telling me where the bales of hay went in and out.
He is finally in to Legos, which are his dad's favorite toy ever. Our old neighbor gave us that huge box of Duplos and they have been sitting at my moms. I brought them home and they have even replaced his love for tractors this week.
On Thursday it finally got cloudy enough that we were able to play outside for a few hours. You can't really see, but I gave him so old PVC pipe and he was able to reroute the flow of water from the hose. He loved it!
I finished his tractor toy/stuffed thing. I am really happy with how it turned out, but I think next time I will use a more contrasting felt so the embroidery shows up better. John really likes it though, so that is the most important thing. 
I know, I know... It's actually Thursday! Joshua was on the computer last night so I didn't get to post my wishes. Better late than never though right?
Rain...The monsoons have been teasing us with rain for at least two weeks. We get a few drops and then nothing. Some people need sunshine to refuel their soul, I need rain. Kind of a problem when you live in AZ.
A Weeping Willow tree. I just think they are so gorgeous and soulful.
A grove of banyan trees. How much fun would it be to explore in there?
Tulips seem so exotic to me. It was beyond amazing to me that they just grew on the side of the road in Portland.
Kids playing. It seems so quaint, the idea of kids playing red rover or simon says or just plain running around. We live in a great quiet neighborhood, but there aren't really any kids. Of course, in today's world I am not sure I would let John run around out front anyway, certainly not at this age. 
This is what they looked like after marinating.
When they were finished we had portobello burgers! We added a few toppings and had some delicious corn as a side. Wonderful!
A few years ago Josh and I bought one of the most awesome books ever, When I Knew. It is basically just a buch of short essays/paragraphs about how all of these people knew they were gay. I just found the book and figured I would share one of the stories. Maybe I will share more from time to time.
1969
My father was watching the evening news. The announcer said that Judy Garland had died. I fainted. I was nine. - Andrew Freedman
I LOVE this book :)
Happy Monday!
On Thursday Joshua and I went to a private meditation training session with a woman named Sarah Maclean. My mom won the session at a silent auction and she was supposed to go with me, but something came up and Joshua took her place. I am so so glad that he did. This was such a wonderful, life-enriching experience. The teacher, Sarah, was one of the founding educators for the Deepak Chopra institute, she also left everything behind to stay in India for 6 months, and was a resident at a zen buddhist training center for two years. She was so wonderful. Anyway, enough gushing about her, she taught Joshua and I some lessons on meditation and on how to practice daily. She spent almost an hour and a half talking about the benefits of meditation, of which there are many, and giving us background on meditation.
I am very hopeful that with daily practice I can reduce my stress level and by doing so help with my insomnia. I know that some people feel meditation is hokey, but I really believe in it's power and I am looking forward to sharing some of positive experiences.
I know I complain about AZ a lot, but some of it is really beautiful. Sedona, where the training was held, is about an hour and a half outside of Phoenix.
We had a picnic after our training session. We just set up our blanket at some baseball field in town.
This is the view from our picnic spot.
After leaving Sedona, we drove up to Jerome. It is a little art community on the side of a mountain. This is the view from the lot where we parked.
This is what I look like when I am annoyed at having my picture taken :)
One of the artist/shop owner's backyards. This man was 87 and he rides his bike from Jerome to Sedona every day. That's like 60 miles!!! He was telling us all about the stuff he has collected and turned into art in his yard.
I wish I had a shirt that said this, and the guts to actually wear it.
I wish I didn't worry so much. I think I am getting better, but I can always think of ten negatives for every positive.
I wish I had some killer dreads
Duh, a camper :)
I wish that I will continue to have the courage to make changes in my life.
We bakes homemade bread for Cooking on Monday! John used the measuring cups with his own bowl and thought that was pretty special. Huge mess, but it was worth it and it motivated me to mop the floor.
Serious thought
Today was our craft project day, so John made glitter art. I returned something to Michael's and got an $8.00 credit. I used it to buy a great pack of about 14 glitter shakers for $3.99 and some wooden beads for John to practice stringing. The glitter was a huge hit!
His finished product! It is going to go up in his room :)
