Haha

Oh, this made me laugh.

But if I was his mom and knew about half those things, I'd about die of fright.

How am I ever going to stand having kids?

I myself have survived many a ride around the block in the back of a pickup truck. But unlike my sisters, I was a bit scared all the time. I'm such a wimp.

Wowee

Going out to mow the lawn a little while ago, I stopped with my toes at the screen door as a four-foot-long snake slithered past. Eep!

Wildlife doesn't scare me generally, but snakes that big do make my heart pound a bit, especially if I'm not expecting them.

It looked like a black rat snake (that is, black), but I'm really not sure what it was. In any case, it's not poisonous and probably something that will keep the mouse population down a bit, which is fine by me as long as it stays out of the house and preferably out of sight.

In other news, Joe and I have had fun mail and visitors lately, most of them of the non-reptile variety. And most of Joe's big family is coming over for dinner Sunday to celebrate various birthdays. Whee!

Overflown

It looks like we have a hummingbird living next door, with its nest is at the top of a sweet gum tree. It likes to sit on  the top of a tall, bare branch, surveying the neighborhood and making the occasional loop-de-loop. 

Like kids not home for dinner

Apparently, if you miss daily Mass about... oh... four days in a row, some of the people who know you are regulars will not only start to wonder where you are, but they will talk it over at length with the others and, upon your return, ask where have you been!

Joe had early meetings every day this week but today, so we didn't go -- not so strange for me, more unusual for him. Our absence was noted.

It's nice to be thought of, though. Next time we'll try to let someone know if we'll be out a few days, so they don't have to wonder.

Back in time

This week I discovered Viena Diena, the online home of a project in which hundreds of photographers took pictures of one day in Latvia. Actually, they took pictures of two days -- August 31, 1987 and the anniversary 20 years later.

The pictures taken not even 22 years ago seem like a different world. I mean, I was alive then, playing with my My Little Ponies on my parents' carpet, but these are pictures of some other place, where men still drive homemade tractors and women share with their horses. Real horses. Or maybe moose.

So many of the pictures are great, but those that struck me most are here, here, here, here and here. And why are these mothers wearing masks?

Parenting I

Joe and I were at my parents' house on Saturday, taking care of the dog and my grandmother while everyone else was gone. Joe played his guitar while my grandmother listened and I played my kokle, and Vecmamma even played a little herself, just picking at the strings.

In the evening, we went to  Mass near there, like we used to. A tiny little baby was being baptized, and after it received the holy water and the holy oil and the priest was talking about how wonderful it all was, the baby broke out into the most radiant little grin! Those nearby let out little squeals of laughter.

But I think I paid more attention to the  young couple in front of us. Both their toddlers were pretty squirmy, and they kept handing them board books and snacks to try to keep them calm and quiet. The little girl piped up when everyone else was singing, but her "la la la!"s were not nearly on tune as the liturgy, and she kept going even after everyone else was quiet. The father's attempts to shush her were in vain. The mother told their boy to be "quiet as a mouse!" but he didn't really listen, either. Then the boy threw up in the pew and the parents made a hasty cleanup and exit. 

(Note to self: when we go to church with kids, we should bring along something to absorb bodily fluids so we don't have to catch them with our hands.)

I don't really remember the sermon. But I really had a lot to ponder about parenthood, and the baby was kicking besides.

Joe made me stand up with the other mothers to receive a special blessing for Mother's Day coming up. On the way out we got little flowers -- marigolds! Mine is so pretty. I already planted it in a pot outside.

Aw

Our neighbor mowed our front lawn and even swept the grass from the walk! What a great feeling.

I am capable of mowing the lawn, but not at the same time I'm working in the garden (with many breaks). So that was actually really helpful.

Threshholds

This article fascinated me on a couple levels:

Gilbert wrote about a study that showed people’s happiness with their lives and correlated that information with their salary.

What did he find? $40,000 is a truly magic number. Below that number, people were much less happy with their lives - people with a household income of $20K or $30K were generally less happy with their state of living than people earning $40K.

As Trent (who wrote the article) pointed out, that number won't hold true for everyone. Cost of living varies with your location, your dependents, the amount of debt you have. But he writes about the idea of having enough.

When Joe and I moved to La Plata, he left the decision of whether to take a job right away up to me (which was weird!) (and cool!) (but wow, what a big decision). We realized I didn't need to work for pay, and though of course we could use the money, I think things are working out better for us this way, at least for now.

Springtime asparagus

This may be my favorite article on cooking ever, because it is about life as much as it is about cooking.

Today I am smiling because not only do I suspect my capon will be defrosted in time to roast it for dinner, but because there was asparagus to go with it at the farmer's market. Mmm mmm mm.

Happenstance

Hah! I thought the guy coming to install our new thermostat might be quiet, but it turns out he's a HUGE fan of The Cure, and he figured out that someone else in our house was, too. (What, the multiple Cure albums in the tape holder by the thermostat and the hand-drawn picture of Robert Smith on our coffee table gave it away?) I actually learned things about The Cure I didn't know. I didn't know there were things about The Cure I didn't know. Maybe Joe will come home and tell me that I knew them once but forgot.

About the thermostat: it is fancy, programmable and tells the electric company how much power we use in real time, so they don't need as much guesswork when they buy it to sell it to us. It also lets them raise our home's temperature several degrees during the day in the summer. We get credits on our electric bill for participating -- and a free light bulb.