Get a Carbon Monoxide Detector...Today!

Let this motivate you to get (or check!) your carbon monoxide detector in your home today.

(Click on the word "this" to get to the article.)

Lost in Translation

Finally, FINALLY after over two weeks, we have heard from Inessa! I would like to say that I have been waiting patiently, but if we're being honest I have been on edge hoping to hear something. Anything. I just want to know she is well, she is settled in OK back in Latvia, and that she knows we still love her dearly.

Unfortunately, after translating her message, I don't have many answers!

While I have been able to translate most of the message, there are still some big holes that aren't translating, and those untranslated parts are accompanied by very confusing emoticons. One is a sad face immediately followed by one that is jumping up and down and smiling. I realize that different cultures express emotions differently, but for the life of me, I can't get this to make sense in any language or culture!

I don't know everything about how Inessa is doing from this one message, but at least I know she knows we are thinking of her and want to be in contact with her.

For now, that will have to be enough!

SNOW!

Having been raised in Pennsylvania, snow is not a new experience for the grown ups in our house. But for the two boys who have been raised mostly in the south, the prospect of playing in the snow was a very exciting adventure. We were hit by a "snow storm" and ended up with 5", so we headed out and played with our neighbors in the snow.

We had fun...well, most of us had fun.

A Shout Out to Julie Andrews

I've been feeling a little blue since Inessa headed back to Latvia. I really am trying to get back my mojo, but it has been elusive the last few days. I am an optimist to the very core of my being - I can find a small ray of sunshine in most any cloudy sky, but I am struggling a bit right now. I know I will come out of this funk soon (See? Optimist!), but in the meanwhile my dear husband has no idea what to do with me.

I have no idea what to do with myself right now.

Tonight I came up with a little exercise that I think will help me get a spark of my former Susie-Sunbeam self going. If not, at least it will pass some time.

One of my all time favorite movies is The Sound of Music. It doesn't matter how many times I see it, it still reels me in and I find my heart woven together with the Von Trapp family as they learn, love, sing, grow, and flee. My Bucket List contains several goals directly related to The Sound of Music - I want to find the huge meadow where Maria is singing in the opening of the movie and belt out a show tune there myself, and I want to play Liesel in a live production. Of course, I realize that at nearly 37 my hope of singing a believable "I'm Am 16 Going on 17" is waning down to never-gonna-happen status, but I am willing to settle for a role as Maria. I'm nothing if not a flexible optimist.

During a particularly loud thunderstorm in the movie, Maria finds herself surrounded by the Von Trapp children, and she decides to sing to them about a few of her favorite things. You know how it goes - raindrops on roses, whiskers on kitten. (I can go on...I know it by heart.) As I came to my blog to write tonight, I found myself still feeling blue and I almost gave up posting. But I have decided that I am going to spend the next five minutes coming up with my own "Favorite Things" list and hope that "then I won't feel so bad". (You die hard Sound of Music fans are singing that last part, aren't you?)

Setting the timer, and here we go...

My dog, his crazy fur, and his smell

Cal's freckles

Jude's laugh

painted toenails on tanned feet

delicious tea in an inspiring mug you can wrap two hands around

sound of waves at the beach

pictures of my family laughing

scented candles

reading in front of the fireplace

Miss Terri days*

a new lipstick

preparing a healthy meal that tastes amazing

N'Sync music**

sitting in the sunshine

really good chocolate

a hand massage

fruity smelling shampoo

my red shag carpet

dew on a spider web

smell of baby wipes

OK. Time's up. So that's what I came up with (the list would be longer, but I was momentarily distracted by a crash in freestyle snowmobiling in the X Games on ESPN in the background...). I have to admit, I do feel a little bit perkier.

A shout out to you, Julie Andrews.

*Miss Terri is my dear friend who cleans my house. Yes, I have someone clean my house. Let there be no judgment. A post coming about this soon.

**There is NO shame in this either. But I can hear you laughing at me.

(And in case you're wondering, the picture is of my crazy furred, sweet smelling dog resting on my red shag carpet.)

The Silence is Deafening

It's been almost two weeks since we hugged and kissed Inessa good-bye at the airport and watched her walk through security on her way back to Latvia. While life on the surface appears to be back to normal in our house, there is a silence that is deafening.

We sent a package to Inessa that should be delivered some time this week or early next week. One of my biggest fears is that she is back home in Latvia wondering why she hasn't heard anything from this family that she became a part of for a month. I worry that she thinks we may have forgotten about her, or that our life has gone back to normal without her. I'll be honest - I am literally aching to hear from her. I want to know how she is and how she's feeling. But I am more than willing to sacrifice hear from her, if her hearing from us could give her reassurance that she is loved no matter where she is physically. I want her to still be able to hear the messages that we shared with her while she lived here - that she is valued, amazing, beautiful, and cherished.

I don't know for sure what the future holds for Inessa and for our family. I know what my heart's desire is, but in the silence there is little reassurance right now. We are hoping to hear something about how Inessa is doing sometime this week. I'm waiting.

But the silence is deafening. And the ache is real.

I Did It.

And I love it!

Gotta Make that Change

So I'm thinking of doing something a little crazy.

I'm thinking of cutting all

my hair off.

Well, not ALL exactly (although I have moments...). I am actually a short hair person, but I am getting to "an age" where I feel like I am running out of time to do long hair and not look ridiculous. I am a believer that older women with long hair often look...odd. Not all. I've seen some real post-menopausal hotties, but the law of averages combined with the early signs of gravity on my face have me fairly certain I will not be one of them. So to appease my husband and out of respect for the inevitable process of aging, I have been growing my hair out.

It is wearing me out.

About two years ago my hair was just past my shoulders, which for me is borderline Crystal Gayle. I just have never really maintained long hair for any real length of time. It gets in my face, it sticks to my neck or in my collar, and I usually end up sticking it in a ponytail. While Mark likes the "sporty ponytail" look, I end up feeling like I have no actual hair style. It's such a catch 22. Which is not be confused with a V05.

And then sometime last year I noticed my hair began falling out. Not just a little. I'm talking falling out like a roomful of Pentacostals at a weekend revival. You know you are losing a lot of hair when your cleaning lady (Yes, I have a cleaning lady. I've got a post to write about that. Stop with the judgment already.) pulls you aside and says, "I noticed you are losing a lot of hair. I hope I'm not overstepping, but is everything OK?" (As a side note, I thought it was cute that she worried about overstepping. This is the woman who has seen our master bathroom and lived to hopefully never tell about it...) I have been to the doctor to get it checked, and while I have a nice chunk of "new growth" next to my temple where the "old growth" decided to bail on me, I am healthy. Just slightly balding and thinning.

So right now I have a little longer than chin length hair with long layers and lots of grays. (We'll be coloring tomorrow too.) And I think it may have to go.

Here are some pictures of me with different length hair styles. What so you think? Should I do it?

Because it's this or a new tattoo.