Smudges

Visitors are coming
So I'm cleaning . . .
Just about finished . . .
Floors mopped,
Dishes done,
Bathrooms spotless, beds made . . .
Certain signs of life swept away.

And then
I came
to the glass

Our sliding glass doors
that look out to the driveway,
Covered in smudges

They screamed,
"Three little children live here!"
In perfectly preserved prints,
small lines that identify each child,
inside the shapes of small fingers and palms,
each print a little higher than the other
and a little bigger.

"We like to stand here and watch
as Daddy comes home from work!
As Mommy gets in from the grocery shopping!"
Each little lined hand-shape said.

Even nose shapes
And silly little lip-shapes
Where silly little mouths
Had made silly faces through the glass
Before tumbling into giggles.

I found it hard to wipe away the smudges,
The happy reminders that three little ones live here
And that they love
And that they watch for homecomings
Or kitties out in the yard
Or snails on the grass.

Three little children live here
And they leave their smudges
And I'm their mommy
And I'm happy about all that.

An Empress By Any Other Name . . .

We recently bought the movie The Neverending Story for Chicken Nugget. I really liked it when I was a kid, and I thought she would too (she does); also, it was really cheap to buy!

I watched it with her and it got to the end, you know, where Bastian yells a new name for the empress. He yells out the window and there's lots of wind and rain and you cannot understand the beautiful name that he gives the empress, though it was a beautiful name (his mother's).

After watching the movie, it reminded me of this blog post which posed the question as to what the name actually was. It sparked quite a conversation (note the comments).

I have to say that after watching it carefully and moving very close to the screen to try get a very close look at Bastian's mouth as he screamed the name, I do believe that it is Moonchild, and not Lisa as I had originally ascertained.

Noodle's Birthday Party

The birthday girl!

This is her "3" candle, after she ate the bottom of it. She blew it out, took it out of the cake, and just took a big bite of it. I guess it looks edible! She found out, it wasn't.

Her special cake!

Brother of the birthday girl, enjoying some hot dogs and chips.

The Tasty Names kids!

Some of the guests!

Happy Birthday to you!

She just blew out the candle in this pic.

We decorated cupcakes. Molly took the orange sprinkles that we were passing around and dumped them on her cake. She also dumped them straight into her mouth, but we unfortunately didn't get a shot of that one.

Two of the cupcakes that guests decorated.

Opening some great gifts!

Nice shot of the back of my head there . . . and some half-eaten bbq chicken on someone's plate.

One Saturday . . .

The kids and I went outside to play and noticed that there was a safety fair right across the street! They were having bike safety tips.

Banana kicked back and enjoyed some free chips!

Noodle enjoyed a train ride.

And she rode a two-wheeler (sort of - it had training wheels) for the first time.

A great smiley picture of Chicken Nugget!

Brave Noodle, on the big slide!

Chicken Nugget - cute girl, pretty flowers.

Security

Poor Chicken Nugget. It seems she has the gift of frequent pottying, just like her mommy. Last night as I was going to bed, Chicken Nugget, who had been sleeping for a few hours, got up to use the bathroom. It is annoying not to be able to sleep through the night for having to get up to go potty. But, it gave Chicken Nugget and I an opportunity for a little hug and sugar before she headed back to bed.

However, like an episode of the Simpsons, the first five minutes of this story have little or nothing to do with the rest of it.

I thought Chicken Nugget was headed back to bed. But thirth seconds later, she emerged into the doorway of our bedroom. Very groggily, she kind of walked around in a circle, blinked, and headed to our bed, halting every few steps.

"What are you doing, sweetie?" I asked her.

"I'm getting up here," she mumbled, and it was scarcely audible.

Buffalo Wings was already mostly asleep, but when she got into our bed, he looked up, put on a silly face, and looked into her sleepy face.
"What are you doing?" he asked, in his silly daddy voice.

"I'm sleeping in your bed," she answered, settling in and pulling covers around herself.

We shrugged and settled in ourselves.

It's been awhile since Chicken Nugget has gotten into bed with us in the night. But as I snuggled next to her, I was happy about it. Our eight-year-old feels safe enough to get into bed with mom and dad for no good reason. There's not going to be any trouble for her to snuggle next to us. She just wants to get into our bed, so she does it.

As I drifted off to sleep, I thought about children who live worlds apart from the world my kids live in. No, I'm not a perfect mom. At times, I'm not even a good mom. Sometimes a really terrible mom! But at least . . . I'm a safe mom, and my kids think that being with mom (and dad) is a safe place to be. I know that many children out there don't have that sense of safety, that crawling into mom and dad's bed would be the last thing on their mind, that fear might be a way of life. I'm thankful that BW and I can offer a safe place for the kids God has given us.

As we are considering becoming foster parents, as I drifted off to sleep, I also thought that maybe God will let us help someone else feel safe someday. Maybe there's a little girl out there who really wants to crawl into bed with mom and dad . . . maybe one day she'll stumble into our bedroom some night and find safety and comfort there. I hope so.

Happy Birthday, Noodle!

Noodle's birthday was on Thursday! She turned three. We had her birthday party today, and it was so much fun! Pictures to come soon.

I love Noodle so much and am so glad that God sent her into our lives three years ago. We have been blessed beyond belief. She is wonderful, lively, fun, full of laughter and energy, and though she is a bit stingy with her hugs and sugars, the ones that she gives are outstanding!

We all love you Noodle! Happy birthday!

Kindness

Community is a wonderful thing.

We had not lived in Texas long when one day, Chicken Nugget and I were driving down the road. We saw out in a field that there were some Texas Longhorns and some white cranes all congregating together.

"Now that," said Chicken Nugget, in her usual dramatic way, "That is a community."

She had just learned in school about different species of animals who, though they may be very different in many ways, occupy the same space and help each other out in some way.

I really like that illustration of community.

I have several communities in my own life, as does most everyone. I have my family community, my immediate neighborhood, my Sunday school and the larger church as a whole; I have a work community, and my work community is inside a larger community, which many might know as a mall.

In the mall are several independent shopowners. One in particular, Mr. Sam, owns a formal dress shop. He comes into our store on occasion to buy nice work shirts. The first time I saw him, he had his back to me as he was speaking with another associate. I noticed that he had some lint on his suit jacket, so I got the lint brush and brushed it off for him. He left the store and returned with a pocket calendar and pen set with the name of his store on it, and told me if I needed anything for a special occasion, to come see him.

Mr. Sam is a dear grandpa of a man, with a thick accent; he is from Iran. He is full of gentleness and kindness and I am so glad he is part of my community. Since we met, I have made it a point to go into his store to look around if I can when I am on a break, and he particularly likes it if I am out shopping with the kids, that I bring the kids into the store so that he can see them. I don't see him often, but when I do, he always has warmth and kind words and a hug for me and the kids if they are with me. He is the same way to my coworkers and I would probably not be wrong in assuming, with everyone he knows.

Yesterday, I had some errands to run and decided to go by the mall to look at some sales. Mr. Sam was standing outside his store when the kids and I came by, and he was right there to greet us and make us feel special. Noodle started talking about her upcoming birthday party, and Mr. Sam said, "Come, you must come into my store."

We walked in and started looking around and he said, "You must choose a dress!"

I said, "Oh, Mr. Sam, I wish I could; they're all so beautiful."

He said, "No, no, it is my gift to Noodle for her birthday!"

I was stunned to the point of tears. Mr. Sam gave Noodle a dress right off the rack! He got her out of the stroller, asked her which dress she would like, and helped her find just the right size. She felt like a princess and didn't want to take the dress off. I tried to protest, but Sam said, "No, no, it is my gift. You choose which dress."

He quietly wrapped up the dress and handed me the bag, ducking his head and avoiding every one of my attempts to praise him.

This after telling me that business had been very slow for him just recently.

It may seem small to anyone else, this story. Not that incredible, not that exciting. But I am still emotional just thinking about it. It may have even small to Mr. Sam, but it was wonderful for Noodle and me. Thank you, Mr. Sam for your kindness.

Just a little update from the Tasty Names Family

Things are going well in the Tasty Names household. In fact, life is good! I included the above picture because I love the Life is Good series of clothing, but also because it reminds me of my life in Marin County. It was during my time there that I started running. Since I left CA, I haven't been running that much. It was a little hard to run on the snow in Iowa, and it's been a challenge to learn the right times of day to get out and run here in Texas so as not to suffer from a heat stroke. In fact, the first time I went for a run down here was about a week or so after we moved in, and I almost did have a heat stroke! I got home and collapsed on the lawn. Chicken Nugget was outside playing and as things started to get fuzzy and far away for me, I told her she needed to go get Dad right away, and make sure he came out with a glass of water. Thankfully, everything was fine.

We've been here long enough to learn the climate, and the relatively cool times of day (relatively). For the past couple of days, I have been going to a lovely, shady park here in town. It has a great walking track and I have been utilizing it! Since it's been such a long while since I've done any kind of good running, I decided just to test the waters. I really surprised myself! After several times around the track, doing some brisk walking and pumping my hand weights, I decided to use my last few times around to see how I'd do running, and I did great! I'm not up to a mile again yet, but I don't think it will take that long. Hopefully soon, I'll be back up to running four miles at a time like I did in CA.

I have to thank Leslie Sansone again for getting me back in some kind of shape so that I had the endurance to try the running thing again.


Just last week, I turned in my application for Region 4! It has taken me several months to take the plunge, because we had some decisions to make about where our family would be in the coming year. As it stands, everything will be the same for now, so we decided it would be best for me to proceed with become a teacher liscensed to teach in the state of Texas. I am nervous, excited, and apprehensive about the whole thing, but am also ready to dive right in and become a teacher!

This summer we'll be taking quite a trip! Buffalo Wings is teaching summer school, so after his session (end of July-early August), we'll have a two to two-and-a-half week vacation! We can NOT wait! Our first stop will be in Texarkana to see Charley and Marianne, and I cannot find enough joyful words to express how I feel about seeing them again! We were at GGBTS together, and they (like so many others) took Chicken Nugget and me in and loved us and what's more - Charley is from Arkansas AND has the same birthday as me! Marianne seems like she is from AR because she does a great AR accent and she is CRAZY!!!! I just cannot wait to see them and their sweet boy Joshua!

The above picture is from Bella Vista, AR. We will see beautiful scenery like this as we travel into the Ozarks to visit my Aunt Nancy. I cannot wait to see that dear lady! She's never seen Banana, and the last time we all saw her, Noodle was about eight or nine weeks old. We are definitely due a visit! And Aunt Nancy is a sweet and gracious host, always happy to have company and treating any visitor like royalty. She's got a great house with a fabulous deck that looks out into her wooded yard. I'm looking forward to some relaxing evenings of good coversation and a glass of good wine out on her deck, as we watch dusk turn to dark over the beautiful mountain trees.

Ah, Iowa!!! Drink in that skyline, folks. Just drink it in. We'll be there before you know it. Oh, you didn't recognize it? Yeah, I almost didn't, either. It's Des Moines! Stops in Iowa will likely include Winterset to see some dear old friends and some covered bridges, Knoxville to see Grandma and Grandpa and more friends, Pella for a walk down memory lane (that's where we got married, on the campus of Central College) and some Dutch letters and some tiptoeing through some tulips, and possibly LeMars and Britt or someplace in the middle to see some more friends.

And then - and then - on to Chicago!!!! We'll have some pizza, hot dogs, see a Cubs game, go to the aquarium, the Sears tower, and who knows what all! It was my suggestion to go on up to Chicago, since we'll be so close, and BW thought that was a great idea. He adores the city, and he is a die-hard Cubs fan. I'd never known anyone who truly lives and dies with a team, but BW really does just that with the Cubs. So we're all very excited about what our summer adventure has to offer us!

In the meantime, we'll be wrapping up school, BW will start summer school, BW and I will celebrate our fourth wedding anniversary on June 14, I'll continue with CWJC and begin with a new ministry team at church, the New Vision Ministry Team. We look forward to seeing some other great friends, Jonathan and Tamara, and going to AnitaMarita's wedding shower! The Woodard family will be coming to Houston to visit us, and we look forward to a fun week of Vacation Bible School during the last week of June - I get to teach the missions class again! I can't wait to give more and more updates as the summer unfolds!

Much love to all of you, and I cannot WAIT to hear about all your summer plans!

Sleeping Little Angel

Too cute not to take a picture! By the way, that quilt is the baby quilt my mom made me when I was a baby! It's just as comfy and cozy after all the years. As you can see.

Cute Kids and Scrapbooking Weekend

The girls in their Easter dresses.

Um . . . Banana wasn't into picture time. But he sure had on a cute outfit.

This is me arriving at Memoranza last weekend. I could not contain my excitement!

These are the dedicated scrappers that attended Memoranza. Look how intense they are in their efforts!!!!

This was my scrapbooking partner - her name is also Tarimisu! Crazy, huh? We had fun sharing a table for the weekend.

Kelly and me. Not only a fabulous friend, but a fabulous Creative Memories consultant!!!!

Kelly took me out for some yummy treats at the Cheescake Factory after the Memoranza VIP party on Friday night. This is a view just outside the Cheesecake Factory at the Mall of the Woodlands in The Woodlands, Texas.

Tony Soberon

After looking at my friend, Carrie's, blog this morning, I saw this. Yes, I'm way behind - both on checking her blog and being up on pop culture, so if you've already seen this, I apologize. If not, ENJOY!!!!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7008748856381833702&q=singing

I also found this site that mentioned him, just in case you want to know what Tony is up to these days. He's pretty famous by now. I found about 47,000 sites for him when I Googled his name.

I'm adding him to my list of people that I want to meet.

More Specifically . . .

Rather, more correctly, we'll be going to Litomerice in the Czech Republic in the summer of 2008. The above picture is of the Czech Republic, which is in the center of Europe. The below map shows the red dot indicating the city of Litomerice.

Destination: Slovakia, 2008!

Buffalo Wings and I have commited to a mission trip for the summer of 2008, to Slovakia! Please look at my new blog for more information and updates. Much love to all of you!

Scrapbooking and Go, Leslie Sansone!

My husband sent me an e-mail a few minutes ago begging me to blog again. He said that the picture of Rosie was beginning to distress him. So I'll begin today with a picture of Leslie Sansone. But I'm going to talk about scrapbooking right off the bat.

Over the weekend, I got to go to Kelly's for Memoranza, a scrapbooking weekend put on by Creative Memories. Kelly has been a consultant for a few years now, and she taught me to scrapbook as soon as we moved to the Houston area. I can't believe I had never delved into it before! I LOVE IT!!!! This weekend, I chose to work on my wedding album (I got married almost four years ago now - yeah, I'm a bit behind). I got thirty pages completed in only one day! Yay for me! I'll have to take some pics and add them later. We had such a great time at Memoranza, with lots of tips, games, prizes, yummy food, talking and laughing. I love going every year.

As for Leslie Sansone - she's my newest person that I want to meet! I adore her! I have really fallen in love with Walk Away the Pounds. It's so easy - no weird aerobic moves or anything that I can't do; just lots (and LOTS) of simple movements that give you a great workout. I highly reccomend anything she's put out. I'm hoping to move up to the three-mile walk very soon.

I love all of you very much!

It Could Be Me!!!!!

No, I don't want to be Rosie O'Donnell. But I want to take her place on The View! Now that she's leaving, I totally see my chance.

I truly don't watch The View that much (truly). But yesterday, after I turned of my Pilates tape (no, I'm not lying!), I caught Rosie saying to Elisabeth, "Now that I'm leaving . . . !" I e-mailed BW to tell him the news of the day, and included the fact that I'd just found out that Rosie was leaving The View. He e-mailed me back saying that I should take her place!

I can be outspoken at times, but feel that I may a bit too much like Elisabeth for them to want to hire me. I should give it a go, anyway. So I'll put it to a vote, of all both of you that read this blog, how many of you would like to see yours truly on The View? (BW, your vote doesn't count.)

One Little Cookie, One Big Fuss

Tonight at work, my boss Big Boss got some cookies from the Great American Cookie Company. She was asking everyone if they wanted one. She asked me, and I said no. I was obviously the only employee who refused a cookie.

"Why not??!!" asked Big Boss in an incredulous tone.

The assistant manager, Big Boss But a Little Bit Littler Than Big Boss, said, "She's dieting."

"One little cookie won't hurt!" Big Boss said.

I told her thank you anyway, but I heard Big Boss and another employee continue to talk about it.

"I don't know how one little cookie is going to matter," Big Boss said to Employee X, and Employee X said something that I couldn't make out.

I went on with my tasks, trying to get them finished in a timely manner so as to get out of there and rest my weary head at home. By and By, Big Boss slid up to me, put her arm around me, and said in a hushed tone, right into my ear, "Ooooo, Tari, that cookie was so good. It tasted so good and it was warm and chewy. And it was chocolate chip, too. Oooo, that cookie was so good."

I said, "Well, my size 10 jeans are going to be really good, too."

Everyone laughed.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law, Melanie!!!!!!!!!!
I hope it is wonderful and happy, Mel!!!! Wish we could celebrate with you!
Everyone wish Mel a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How well do you know me?

Work and Play

Imagine walking into your favorite department store - JC Penny, Dillards, Sears, whatever. Imagine all those racks full of clothes. Now imagine moving all of them about three times each. Well, that is why my boss, my co-worker Judy, and myself did last night. We had the carpets cleaned and it was up to the three of us to do all that work. So, to break the monotony in-between moving racks, we had a little fun, as you can see below. My sweet boss let me go a little early - she let me out of the store at 10pm (the store closed at 6pm). Joe (not his real name - at least, we didn't think it was) still wasn't finished shampooing the carpet.



Dorothy Zbornack



Why, yes, I was Kate Winslet's body double in Titanic - why do you ask???



My girls.



Some of our hard work.

She's Eight!

5:57PM, April 20th, 1999 - the first time I heard Chicken Nugget cry. I was so happy to hear that cry. And she's been one of my best friends ever since the nurse at the hospital first handed her to me. I remember holding her in the hospital room, all alone, just she and I. Tears were streaming down my face as I was kissing her over and over again, telling her how much I loved her, thinking, "She's mine . . ."

And then I've had to learn the hard lesson over and over again - she's not really mine. She's a gift, and I try so hard to be very careful with her, to raise her in a way that would honor the One who gave her to me.

And I've had to swallow hard as I've watched the years passed. Another one passed just Friday. She turned eight years old.

I love that little Chicken Nugget. All her ways and how she really cares for people - her brother and sister, her friends, always trying to make BW and me happy. She's not perfect. She's perfectly normal! But still . . . she's mine (not really) and I'm so proud of her.

Happy Birthday, Chicken Nugget!