Mystery Gift! Darth Toast!

Yesterday, the Fed Ex guy delivered a package, beautifully wrapped, which contained a toaster which looks quite a bit like a Darth Vader helmet, and makes the toast shown above. We are THRILLED with the gift, but there was no card attached. I've called all of the usual suspects, and no one will fess up! So if you sent us the toaster, thank you so much! I'm thinking that it must be someone who knows us pretty well, since they realized that we would love such a gift.

Hate groups on the rise

Here's a link to an interesting article on the Southern Poverty Law Center's website on the increase in hate groups in 2008.

The Year in Hate

Sadly, I can't say I'm surprised.

Tidbits from Indy

We visited Indianapolis this past weekend and had a great time. I'll blog more later, but here is a tidbit from the weekend. I also received a blog award from my friends at Peep-eye so I'll be posting that as well (later).

In the bathroom of the washroom of the Indianapolis Children's Museum, Doodle in the stall, me holding the door closed:

Doodle: "I need privacy."
Me: "Ok."
A few seconds pass.

Doodle: "He's talking to me."
Me: " Who's talking to you?"

Doodle: " My poop. He says he is stuck but he is trying to get out. Oh, and he's a little sticky."
Me: "Well, there are worse things he could say."

Mom in the washroom: "Who's talking to her?"
Me: "Her poop."
Mom: "ohhhh." followed by hysterical laughter from this mom and all the moms in line.

Priceless.

Overheard

Doodle: "It's time for dancing class."

Moo: "What dance are we dancing?"

Doodle: "The sexy cha cha!"

Moo: "Yea! You be the boy."

Doodle: "I don't want to be the boy."

Moo: "Ok, I'll be the boy. They fall down more, anyway."

One of the girls favorite things to do is to play class: swimming class, dancing class, kung fu class. Mostly it involves lots of jumping on my bed. I've since told them that two girls can dance together, or two boys. Now they dance together both as girls.

A Wonderful Find

I was traveling last week and as I often do, I ran out of reading material. I never get to read uninterrupted these days so I never know how many books to bring to tide me over for a three hour flight. I often abandon finished paperbacks, mind candy, if you will, in airport bathrooms, behind seat pockets and in hotel rooms. Rather than drag the books back home, I like the idea of a traveler finding these books and enjoying them. I think that all airports should install receptacles for used books like the receptacles we have for recycling your newspaper at the train stations.

In the Phoenix airport, I found myself in need of a book. To my surprise, I found a mini version of one of my favorite big name bookstores (rhymes with hoarders). I walked in and one of the clerks asked if I needed any recommendations. I declined and browsed around but nothing caught my eye. So I searched him out and we had ourselves a little book chat. Krakauer, love him, Kate Jacobs, like her. A shared disappointment in the latest hardcover Patricia Cornwall and the first two books by Sara Gruen (the horse ones, not the circus one), love for The Omnivore's Dilemma. He made a recommendation. Actually, three. One book was not in stock but I wrote it down on a scrap of paper probably never to be seen again. I bought the other two recommendations.

I finished The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible by A.J. Jacobs on the plane. It was great; at times poignant, at times laugh-out-loud funny, at all times it was thoughtful and honest. I loved it. I'm about a third of the way through the other recommendation, Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Quest to Promote Peace....One School at a Time. I'm also enjoying this one. With this recommendation, the clerk begged me to pass along the book after I was done. He said that some books deserve to move on from person to person touching their lives and thoughts. I couldn't agree more. I am tempted to track him down even though I don't know his name because it is rare to find someone else with the rare talent to choose books for others, especially when those tastes in books align.

When I paid for the books, I recommended, There is No Me Without You by Melissa Faye Green. It has changed my life, and is one of the ways in which we were drawn to Ethiopia. I hope the airport bookstore clerk enjoys it and passes it on.

Mommy time, nutty family style

One of my favorite bloggers, DaMomma, writes this in her twitter posting:

"Reading to the girls. Two little heads rest on my belly. "Do you like it, Eden?" Kisses and rubs. They sing to her. My cup runeth over. "

Now, she's pregnant and I'm not, but here's how a similar event happens in our house:

The girls and I are reading in the big bed (our bed) and there are two little heads resting on my non-pregnant belly. I am reading from one of these fairy books. They are VERY FORMULAIC, but my girls love them. Plot, no, fairy magic yes. They are enthralled.

Moo: "I love you Mama. Your belly is a nice pillow."

Doodle: "I can hear your stomach making gurgle-y noises."

Moo: "I want to hear. Move over, Doodle." She lifts up my t-shirt to hear better. Then sits up. "I can hear it!"

Doodle takes this opportunity to give me a big 'ole raspberry kiss on my belly. It is so loud it echoes in my bedroom. She is great at this, one of her not-so-hidden talents.

Moo, "Me too, me too." More raspberries ensue.

"Okay, that's enough. Can we get back to the story?" I wipe drool off of my belly. I'm used to it by now.

Doodle: "You have a fun belly, Mommy!"

Different style, same love.

Incidentally, while Doodle always calls me Mommy, Moo always calls me Mama. Wonder what the newbie's going to call me?