i should get an award....for my awesome-ness or something

so the airborne has spent the last few days chasing the germs pulsing through my body. it is hard to catch up. i believe the key to airborne, is to take it the moment before you begin to think that maybe you might, by chance be coming down with the gunk. there is where i made my mistake.

by friday, i was dying. and dramatic. i'm not a good sick person. my poor poor family. saturday was a little better, but by sunday my lack of sleep coupled with constant coughing? a little annoying some might say.

let me share with you our sunday.

so sunday we all get up and get ready to drive 30 minutes to r's baseball scrimmage at the sport's complex--the giant-long-halled sport's complex--so awesome that the scrimmage was cancelled for a regular practice at the old high school, that is but one minute away, where the rest of the team was tossing the ball around. awesome. i didn't even complain, but told r that i was sorry that both of his parents checked the wrong e-mail.
(r with his *oscar* in chicago's museum of art)

r had free mcdonald's coupons so i allowed the boys to use them without complaining about the lack of nutritional value in mcdonald's *food*.

big red and i went on an afternoon date that also included a trip to homegoods and the grocery store. he didn't even hold my germy hand. he mostly followed me around like a really good kid.

then big red and i watched the oscars. because we only saw one movie up for any award. and that was toy story 3. awesome.
(big red and woody at chicago's lego store)

i like movies, red likes movies--we like, don't go to the movies. we go to homegoods and the grocery store. and the baseball practice and places we don't need to be. awesome. i'd like my award now, i feel a speech bubbling up inside me. the king's speech. who should i thank for my awesome-ness?



awesome love and light
deborah larson king

for body and soul

i feel it coming.

in my bones,
in my throat,
in my head.

it's coming. and it's coming on hard and fast.

but it might not be expecting the airborne.

i love airborne.

i know there was a big kerfuffle a few years back regarding their claims.

i don't care.

i believe in airborne. it works for me. it works for my family. that is all the study i need.

do your thing--you magic potion. make me better. and let me sleep.


love and light and a little sleep
deborah

p.s. i was not compensated in any way for this product-love. however, if airborne would like to show some love back? i'm all ears. :) and i love chicken soup too.

the story of basketball, carry-out and snow

once upon a time there was a lot of basketball.

basketball is over here.

the season's done.

we had lots of basketball this weekend.

our boy did really well. his team of 9 was down to 7 for the play-offs and then 2 boys were hurt in the first game. his coach had to be out of town for the games.

so he asked big red to coach.

uh, what?

yep, red and another mom coached these 10 and 11 year old boys.

they won but two of their regular season games and did their best this weekend.

we brought our tired little sweatball home and hung out with family.

we played board games, b helped his grandpa load up his ipod, and we ate yummy carry-out ribs and pasta and salad and breadsticks.

then we awaited the snow. it came. and kept my boys home from school for two days. then the sun came out. then i was happy again. the end.


love and light
deborah

crabby mc crabberson

i slept for an hour maybe two last night.

my mind was racing.

why? why does that happen?

i came downstairs this morning to find a half-full glass of orange juice sitting on a shelf in the panty.

somebody's running a little low on vitamin C this morning, i think.

where do you suppose i should look for the milk?

i'm really not up for these games today. and i have no picture for today either.

a little apple love

here's a little valentine for you from me....well, not exactly.

it is past valentine's day. and this isn't my photo. i didn't take it. wouldn't even know how to get the letters onto the picture. yes, i know it's some digital help.

i stumbled upon it a few days ago. it called out to me. how could it not? :)

i knew i wanted to use it in someway.

found it on flickr.com. i asked permission to use the photo here, on my blog.

it was super easy.

asking is easy. being alright with the outcome is easy.

you know what isn't so easy. having your words, photos, art, music....the list goes on.....taken.

i'm sure that it doesn't feel criminal to take a little photo here or there, but it is stealing. so just ask.

you know what? i've never been turned down. on top of that, i have found some wonderful new bloggers and photographers. everybody wins. everyone should be recognized for their work. period.

so here's a little valentine from apples in wonderland and jodi from living life photographically. hop on over there and tell her, i sent you.



hugs and kisses, love and light
deborah

love might be where you find it

do you celebrate valentine's day? or do you eye-roll the holiday?

we'll celebrate.

i'll celebrate anything, really.

life is too short to give up the small celebrations in life--valentine's day, a lost tooth, a good grade, a clean bill of health, finding a twenty in your coat pocket.

so, is love a giant-red-foiled-heart-shaped-box-of-chocolates? or is it a dozen red long-stemmed roses? perhaps it's a diamond necklace?

i don't know.

around here, it's getting up at 6:00 am to finish painting a spongebob squarepants valentine's box for a certain 10 year old.

and it's also, cleaning the kitty litter box before leaving for school.

it can be leaving enough milk in the carton for the next breakfast-eater.

and turning on just enough light to see, but not so much that it wakes the whole house at five in the morning.

love is many things. celebrated in little moments, and when the day comes around that celebrates love with you....then a little chocolate won't kill you.right?

and sushi wouldn't hurt, either. :)


hugs and kisses, love and light
deborah

community

i received two messages today.

the first one--a very exciting message that a friend's brother is returning to his wife and children here in the states after being deported wrongfully years ago.

the second one--a very sad message that a friend's friend and mentor is in the last days of her life after a courageous battle with cancer.

what is the same about these two messages? not a lot, though i would like to be able to reach out to both of them and squeeze them and sit with them in the waiting. so much of life is in the waiting. waiting for? something.

the big things? the big things come and go. it's the moments in between where so much of life happens--and when we need each other the most.

i'd bet someone you know needs a squeeze or a little hand-holding. we don't do life alone, but in community. and we can find our community anywhere, sometimes when we least expect it.

when my parents were hit head-on in a car crash in 2006, i found myself in a very strange community. a community of strangers in a ICU waiting room. ron was a man i first noticed one early morning--day two of my dad's ordeal. he was yelling at another man at about 3:00 in the morning. i was dozing on two chairs that i had smushed together. he pretended to call someone on his cell. he was a terrible actor. but he was scared and alone. later that morning he sort of tried to apologize to me--for the ruckus. no apology necessary. we were all in situations that we wished we weren't in. we all had lost control, control we all believe we have when life is flowing smoothly. ron's wife was in ICU with my dad for complications after a hysterectomy. he had four daughters. but, most days and every night he was alone. i asked him to sit with us. another group had lots of drama--fighting, yelling, screaming--pretty much daily and sometimes, nightly. it was a big family. they had decisions to make. they all thought they should be the decision maker. then one day, there was lots of commotion. a decision was made. by their person. the dad, husband, step-dad, grandpa, brother, uncle they had all been waiting for was dying. judy ran around the waiting room trying to get any cell reception. i gave her my phone and then physically caught her when she collapsed after telling her son that her father-in-law was dying....right now. the father-in-law she had told me days before, was more of a dad to her than her own father. later that night she found me in my dad's room--poking her head in she asked to talk to me. she hugged me for a really long time. you never know when you might be someone else's community. you never know that the little things you do may be what helps carry someone while they wait. you don't have to have the perfect words--or any words at all. sometimes, you just have to show-up for someone. however you can.


best
deborah

burst of sunshine

looking for the sunny this winter in citrus. clementines. little oranges. cuties. whatever you might call them. they are delicious. winter and i cannot get enough of them. nor can my family. we are going through about 3 boxes a week. citrus is in season.
oh my, do i love me some clementines.

buying seasonally saves money and is always the best. if you can get it local? even better. i wish i could eat local clementines.....maybe off a tree in our yard? however, citrus doesn't grow so well in below 0 temps. maybe i should pack up our stuff and move to a warmer and sunnier locale? sounds lovely to me right about now. a girl can dream.

back to reality, a couple clementines peeled carefully is a perfect snack--tasting like a burst of sunshine.


best
deborah

carry on

i'm packing.

i'm going nowhere.

big red leaves for a few days. i ususally pack for him. i like to know he has everything he needs when he's away. it's what i do. and he fills my van with gas and wiper fluid. it's what he does. it's the give and take.

i like to pack. i'm an over-packer. totally. red likes a carry-on only. checked bags? nope. he won't do it. he is so much the george clooney character in
"up in the air" when he's at the airport. he has the routine down. slip shoes off, toiletries precisely packaged, pockets emptied. by the way, did you see that movie? i loved that movie.

i want to learn to pack light. or lighter. that the option of picking up and taking off could be mine too.

where would i go? i asked r that question this morning. he had a three-way tie. italy, japan and australia. could i do that with just a carry-on? hmmm.....where would you go?


best
deborah

super traditions

big day around here yesterday. football. the superbowl.

b says it's his 4th or 5th favorite day of the year. and if the superbowl was held during the summer--it would be his 3rd favorite, no problem.

big red and i? we are not big football fans. but, we are big fans of our boys. if they're happy? we're pretty happy too.

many years, red was traveling for business on superbowl sunday. many times he was in fact, on an airplane.

so the boys and i began our own traditions. they choose the dinner menu (this year--pizza, take-out) and they can eat in front of the television (eek). three of us thought the packers would win. three of us were right. we were a house divided--split between cheering for both teams.

r constructed lego logos, or lego nameplates.


the special snack around here, isn't guacamole or chicken wings. it's ice cream--superbowl ice cream, right out of the carton--haagen dazs, strawberry. this is how i serve it up.
it's the only day of the year we do this. and now it's tradition.


best
deborah

wrestling and tackling

the boys have another snow day. it is not snowing. it is sunny and blue skies are filling my windows. it's really pretty. and really cold.

so, i can hear the boys wrestling in the family room. that will end badly. so, i'm off to encourage them to figure out something else to do. i may encourage chores;)

then, i'm tackling my studio--which is really our extra bedroom that has no bed. it does have nine lifetimes of art and craft supplies.


that room also catches everything that hasn't found a permanent home. alas, that's the problem. so, i'm going in to pick up, throw out, pack away and file neatly. i may need reinforcements. good thing it's a snow day. :)


best
deborah

snow day

it is still snowing. what do i care? i'm not shoveling. this kind of weather brings out the sexist in me. that is man's work.

big red is shoveling. we have a snowblower--he almost never uses it. he's old school. and he likes the peace and quiet without it.

i'm sending the boys out to help. so much for his peace and quiet.

he might as well fire-up that blower, now.;)

i'm waiting to hear the biggest boy say he cannot find his boots. he says it every snowfall. it's his thing. to not find his snowboots until the drive is mostly or completely cleared. it's a good move.

yet his snowboots are neatly tucked at the base of the basement steps, again. like always.

r was itching to get outside.



he wants to....wait for it....wait for it.

dig a hole.

alrighty.

i've chicken in a big pot. chicken soup for dinner. and salad and scones. i'm hooked on those scones. hooked.

the boys made forts for the kitties and have watched super bowl media hype a good part of the day.
how are you spending this snowy day? or is it balmy and sunny where you are? geez, please don't rub it in.


best
deborah

baking up a storm

i've been baking. up. a. storm.

one's coming. a snowstorm, i mean. or haven't you heard? it's all the talk at the grocery store.

anywho, i'm baking.

these scones.

three batches, so far. might even bake another batch today.

i'm pretty impressed with myself. i mean i'm no butcher, baker and candlestick maker, but i'm working on it.

feels kind of nice to treat my family to homemade goodies.


best
deborah