WINNER!

there were 9 people who left a comment
so herb counted the number of steps
between the couch
and the newspaper

15 steps

and took the last number

5

to determine the winner

the 5th commentor was aly!

hey aly, why don't you let us know if you find any fun new tunes, okay???


have a happy happy friday!

cara

some things that are making me smile

things i have been working on . . .
things i have around me that bring a little sunshine . . .

one of my favorite flowers was in fully bloom last week!
i love peonies!
they are like the ecentric, edgy cousin of the rose!


a canvas i am working on for kelly's studio


a little motivator . . . good words



a little thought that rolled out of my head when i should have been sleeping


this sweet little "curly girl" card . . . if you don't know curly girl you must immediately open another tab and check her out!!!
(but come back and finish reading my blog, okay?)


and finally, some pics from my beautiful red book
where i keep little tidbits and snippets that
inspire me!
you could call it an inspiration book if you like.
or george
or stella
whatever.
she's not picky
but she IS pretty!

modge podge: not just for pre-school anymore

collage workshop over the weekend!

looking back

a fun little question posed on this blog today
led me to dig into my pictures to see what i was doing a year ago today
i didn't take anything on june 7th last year
but these were taken saturday june 10, 2006
at the estes park beer festival

man, our life sure is fun!

A Story in Pictures

sHow are you doing today?

Today at the Harjes Haus . . .

listening to a little bonnie raitt today . . . she always makes me smile and dance a sexy little dance!
go bonnie go!
it is a rainy day . . .
just perfect for testing out all of my . . . well, i don't even know what they are called.
gels and varnishes . . .

basically, i spent an hour or so just messing around, mixing different mediums into my paint to see what would happen.
i think the super cool, "i have funky colored hair and you don't" girl behind the counter at the art store must have thought i was nuts when i showed up at the counter with all of these mediums.
she was probably thinking, "amateur! you are buying four things that basically do the same thing" . . .
and i thought about making a cute comment so she would know that i am indeed NOT an amateur.
then i thought, "but i AM an amateur. that's okay."
i left her alone.

then i went to the pool last night after work and felt like an amateur again when the girl i was sharing a lane informed me that she needed to get into another lane because the older gentleman and i were going a bit too slow and she was getting ready to start her workout.
what?
seriously?
she had already been kicking our butts!
and she was just beginning her workout?
that was her warm-up?
after noticing that she was faster than her new lane partner . . .
who happened to be on the Master's Team . . .
i consoled myself by telling myself that she must be training for the Olympic trials.

well . . . she might be.

anyway, i realized that when i just DO something . . .
sometimes, ANYTHING . . .
i have fun . . . more fun . . . than if i just sat on the sidelines wishing i could paint or swim fast.

this week i have been having fun swimming slow and playing around with my paints.
so there you go.

herb and I went to counseling this morning.
things are really moving fast for us . . . finally in a good direction.
we are so thankful.
on the way home, I suggested we run by Target for a quick little peak at the fun new pretty stuff . . .
well, an hour later . . .
I found some books for my pal Noble Sing Nanda . . . a four year old who reads at a second grade level.
Noble recently went to the doctor's office for a check-up.
he had so many questions that the doctor just handed him her copy of Grey's Anatomy and told him to take it home to read with his mom and grandma!
I hope these will serve as some lighter reading for him on the side!

In other news:
We are picking out new cars, as the lease on my car ends in a few weeks. Hmmmmmm.


There is lots and lots of work for me to do at this week at "the office" (basically, wherever i choose to set up shop at any given moment becomes, "the office").


And, just in case you are curious . . . here is our new living room set up. We hosted a little party on Easter and moved some furniture around to different rooms in the house. This is what we came up with. We like it.


Bye!

ps - i am very proud of herb . . . and this project he did earlier this month!

Highlights

A few highlights from our trip . . .

* the last taco stand on the strip of restaurants on the ferry dock. we sat with the owner and his friend while we waited for our boat to arrive. the owner was right when he said he was about to serve me "the best margarita" i would have while in mexico.
* the twighlight ferry boat ride AWAY from the lights and noise of cancun . . . the warm, humid air felt so good on my skin after our long long long cold cold cold ridiculous winter!
* as we rounded a corner, we heard the shouting and laughing of hundreds of children. herb thought i was about to navigate us away from the noise and he near-panickly declared, "We have to go see what that noise is!!!!" As we crested the hill, we saw what appeared to be half of the community out cheering on the middle-school girls basketball team.
* Nightly sunset cocktails on the third story rooftop patio.
* Walking through the neighborhood where we stayed and people watching. With the tourists being mostly contained to two thouroughfares, we really enjoyed tooling around the community.
*Watching the way other cultures do such a neat job of letting family, work, and play all sort of bleed together . . . life is life. None of this compartmentalizing stuff.
* The color of the water - unbelievable! i have never seen anything like it before!
* Making an unexpected connection with another guest at the hotel we stayed at.
* Taking pictures of the early morning fishermen cleaning their catches - one of the men moved the mouth of his fish, making it "sing" to me.
* Riding bikes with herb down the coast; stopping for a fun photo shoot on a hidden strip of beach that was covered in conch shells and then drinks at a peaceful hotel with an amazing oceanside swing bar.
* Being the only non-locals at an ocean-side restaurant.
* Took a $5 cab ride to the end of the island where we snorkeled and rested in a secluded park strewn with hammocks and little niches to sit. It was so quiet we could hear a half-dozen different kinds of birds.
* The guests in our hotel got along so well that one guest initiated a dinner party on friday night. Everyone work together to make the party happen.
* Amazing mexican breakfasts every morning made by jose.
* Waking up in time to watch the sunrise from the rooftop; then taking an early morning walk with my camera down the coast.
* Buying a coconut from a man with a machette.
* Great talks with herbie.

Well, the guest room is complete. And later, I will post some pictures.

For now, let me share the joys of painting with a four year old . . . .

A few days ago, Herb asked if it was cool if he had a few friends over to join him in his man cave (IE: the basement on a sunny, beautiful Colorado afternoon) to watch the Wolverines play some football.

I said, "Sure".

We had a few "stop-by'ers", and one tried and true . . . our friend Russ came over with his two boys.
And stayed for five hours.

Nathan, or "Na-Na" as they call him, is two.
The NA in "Na-Na" is pronounced, nae.
Between the fact that he is two, and my theory that the entire second year of human development is just one big drunken acid trip, he is a very rambunctious boy.
Made of rubber.
Doesn't cry or whine.
Just throws himself across the room until he hits a hard surface.
His brother actually rolled over his head and he just laughed.
And is always ready to fight.
I think it is because he is twerked that they call him Na-Na.

Christopher is four.
The differences between two and four amaze me.
It is the difference between,
"I need a bobby (bottle)!!!!" and a consistent need to have your butt wiped by another human being

and

"Miss Cara, excuse me, but there is a bad guy behind you. I am just going to shoot him real quick."

After a few hours of watching the boys catapult themselves off of the couch and onto a pile of pillows and cushions, I decided to start working on the guest room.

Christopher could not have been more fascinated by this.

I pretty much felt like a celebrity.

"You're going to PAINT?!?!? NIIIIIICCCCEEE!"

Okay, first of all, I LOVE that these two little people say "dude", "nice", and "sweet". SO funny!

Second, you need to understand that Christopher has bright red hair, glasses, and yesterday - an eye patch!
I do not have words for the cuteness here.
And unfortunately, I am still learning to take decent pictures . . . plus, he kept posing with his gun, so I don't have any great photos to show you.

Christopher was convinced that helping me paint was the best way to spend the rest of the afternoon. I figured that the 20 minutes it would take me to set things up would be long enough to disinterest him and cause him to move on.

Not so.

He waited with baited breath, perched on the edge of the bed.
And sometimes standing over the unopened paint can, lunging, with the roller in hand.

Being that I might have some sort of inner-Montossori school teacher dwelling inside, I decided to let him help me. It is the same place inside that, several years ago, felt it was good idea to let the baby I nannied for feed himself . . . his mother finally asked me to stop, because, while it was "sweet to let him help", the squash and mashed pea stains were a little excessive.

Apparently convenience and cleanliness outweigh exploration and discovery.

But what do I know, I am not a mom.

Turns out, Christopher was actually quite good at painting.

And fun to paint with.

You can always count on a four year old to keep things real.
At one point, after switching places, Christopher said, "Thanks for trading, Miss Cara."
Well, you are so welcome Christopher.
Really, what a lovely thing to say.
Us grown-ups should try being sweet like that.

At one point, we heard the grown-up boys yelling at the game on TV. Christopher looked at me and said, "Miss Cara, don't you think my dad and Herb are CRAAAZZZY?!?!!?!?"

An hour later, they yelled again.

Chrisptopher, "Really, Cara, don't you think they are crazy?"

Maybe.

At one point, Christopher decided that it was a good idea to paint with the enormous rubber glove that he found in the painting box.

ME: "We are not going to paint with gloves on."
Christopher: "Yes. I can do it."
ME: "No, we are not going to paint with gloves on."
Christopher: "But I want to."

And then I had the gratification that parents who use "Parenting with Love and Logic" must feel all of the time! I can't believe this stuff works!
You give two choices.
Both of which you will be equally satisfied with if the child chooses.
Then they get to decide which one they will do.
In the end, they are happy because they think it is THEIR choice.

Suckers.

Too bad this doesn't work with bosses.
"You can either give me a year off, at double pay OR let me have an early retirement while continuing to pay me 75% of my salary."

So, I said, "You can wear the glove. That is fine. But you won't be painting. You can either wear the glove OR paint. It is your choice."

Christopher: "I am wearning the glove."

This lasted about three seconds, until he realized how boring glove-wearing alone can be.

Christopher: "No, I want to paint."

Glove off.
Reinstatement of free and effective child labor.

Score!

Eventually, after the first wall was painted, I realized that I no longer had the patience to have a four year old help. Not because he was not useful - we really should re-examine those child labor laws - but because with a four-year old comes a two-year old brother on an acid trip. Na-Na periodically decided to "help". This mostly comprised walking in the room, picking up something random and trying to dip it into paint.

SO, the guest room had to become a no-kids zone.

But later, when I was cleaning up in the laundry room, Christopher ran in, took one look at our space-age looking, front-load dryer as it spun a load of darks, and said, "NIIIICCCCEEE!!!! That's so cooool! I can SEE what the clothes are doing!"
And then, pointing to the washing machine (which was not running at the moment), "I wonder what THAT one does?"
"I wish I could be clothes, so I could spin around and around in there too!"

Christopher, I wish you could live at my house so I would have a constant flow of entertainment by a little person that actually says, "I wish I could be clothes . . . "

Seriously.

It makes you want to rent a four year old.

Paper Hugs

Last week I spent some time in a groovy home-grown book shop. Love those. With their carefully thought out window displays. And their creaky wooden floors. So unpretentious. So NOT trying to be both a big-time chain while maintaining small town charm. The woman at the register . . . writing down purchases in a little spiral notebook. Sigh.

While I was there, I wrote down some titles for a new project Herbie and I are going to try out. We are each going to pick out a book (hopefully from different vantage points) about the same president. Then we are going to discuss it . . . and then pick out things that happened during his presidency and read books about those things.

I also spent a long time in the cozy back of the store. Pulling out my favorite old books . . . the ones my mom read to me. The ones my kindergarten teacher read to me. Some of them so old that my mom and kindergarten teacher were read these books as little ones. With two friends pregnant, and my slowly growing desire to start a family of our own (someday) . . . I wrote down the titles of my favorites.

Enjoy!



The Runaway Bunny *** Guess How Much I Love You *** Jam Berry *** Where the Wild Things Are *** Alexander and the No Good, Terrible, Horrible, Very Bad Day *** Sylvester and the Magic Pebble *** Amelia Bedillia *** Ramona Quimby *** The Very Hungry Cattepiller *** Flicka, Ricka, and Dicka *** Caps for Sale *** Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel *** blueberries for Sal *** Ricki Ticki Timbo *** corduroy *** Popcorn *** Paddington Bear *** Angelina Ballerina *** Each Peach Pear Plum *** The Mitten *** The Velveteen Rabbit *** What Do You Do With a Kangaroo *** There is a Monster at the end of the Book *** Are You My Mother *** Make Way for Ducks *** Another Mother *** Bread and Jam for Francis *** Brown Bear Brown Bear *** Goodnight Moon *** Eloise *** Stone Soup *** Madeline *** Make Way for Ducks ***


What were YOUR favorite children's books?

What are you reading right NOW?

Simple Pleasures

I am realizing how I MUST MUST live in the "right now" of it all.
I must take joy and peace and pride in what is actually happening . . . actually right now.

Today . . .
Went to the library; saw lots of kids walking and riding bikes to get there . . . some came in with their helmets on.
Ate a crepe with wonderful blue cheese inside.
Helped an old man put a watermelon in his trunk . . . and then he pointed to his groin area and explained that he just had surgery.
Bought and arranged two beautiful bouquets of flowers.
Smiled as a I pulled out a beautiful yellow bowl from my cabinet to defrost chicken in.

Simple pleasures people . . . I have forgotten how much they soothe and feed and nourish and grow and heal . . . keep your eyes open . . . they are all around . . . and my attentiveness is just begining.

I love "three day reads" . . . it is so indulgent and satisfying.
This book stirred a place inside that I have grown out of touch with in the past few years. Perhaps it is because my one big pleasure has distracted me from small, simple pleasures. Or perhaps my heart has forgotten what brings me joy. But this book caused me to revisit the question, "what are the small pleasures that I find joy in? that i am reminded of God's love and of the joy available in this life."

some things that give me pleasure:
slow gut-filled music, cooking, watching people, laying in the grass, grazing used cd stores . . .

if you had a year of pleasures, what would you partake in?

Things I am Grateful For Today

1. The man at the park who rides on old school roller skates with a boom box carried in front of him and sometimes raised over his head.

2. The fact that:
a) my favorite public garden in denver was being planted this morning
b) the men doing the work were listening to "Can't Touch This"

3. My roller blades still work. And I didn't fall once on my half hour ride. Four miles!

4. A man at the park yesterday was laying out wearing:
a) a turqiose speedo
b) a moustache . . . no beard

5. An arguement this morning was quickly transformed into a laugh-fest about herb trying to move my gas tank from the passenger side to the driver side of my car.

6. The sun is shining

Cheap Cigarettes and Holiness

Something about these sweet simple words by rosie thomas stir a deep place inside of me:

so much for love
guess i've been wrong
but it's all right
cuz i'm moving on
i've got my car all packed with cassette tapes
and sweaters and loose change and cheap cigarettes
i'm gonna drive through the hills
with my hand out the window
and sing 'til i run out of words
i'm gonna stop at every truck stop
make small talk with waiters and truck driving men
i'm gonna fall asleep in the back seat
with no one around but me and my friends

it's gonna be so grand
it's gonna be just like my wedding day

i've had enough of love
it feels good to give up
so good to be good to myself
i'm gonna get on the highway with no destination
and plenty of vision in mind
and i'm gonna drive to the ocean
go skinny dipping
blow kisses to venus and mars
i'm gonna stop at every bar
and flirt with the cowboys in front their girlfriends

it's gonna be so grand
it's gonna be just like my wedding day

so much for love
i guess i've been wrong
but it's all right cuz i'm moving on
i'm gonna drive over hills
over mountains and canyons
and boys that keep bringin me down
i'm gonna drive under skyline and sunshine
drink good wine in vineyards
and get asked to dance
i'm gonna be carefree and let nothing pass me by
never ever again

it's gonna be so grand
it's gonna be so grand
just like my wedding day

These words stir a place inside . . .
A place that knows more about life and God and love than I do.
A place that is longing for real things and recognizes them when they are found.
What is so spiritual or real about drinking good wine and packing up loose change & cozy sweaters?
Surly there is nothing holy about a sweater. Unless you don't keep moth balls in your closet.
But this idea of packing up your favorite sweaters to keep you warm and mend your heart . . . there is something very spiritual about this.
I like this image.
I get it.
It has to do with healing and growth and hope.
And I do think God is in that sweater. Somehow. Not in a "everything is God and God is everything" sort of a way . . . there is a word for that which I learned in Seminary, but my mind does not hold non-intuitive, non-experiential information. So, you'll just have to figure it out yourself. But I think God is in that interaction between me and my sweater. When we seek comfort, whether we are seeking him as the source of comfort or not . . . we are seeking comfort . . . and when we seek comfort, I think he shows up too . . . just in case we choose to call on him. Because he so wants to comfort us.

He wants us to find joy in the simple things. In dancing with strangers. And when we blow kisses to the heavens, i think he catches them and puts them in the pocket of his beautiful patch work robe. Right next to the grizzley bear.

If God is an ocean, there is nothing more he wants than for us to skinny dip in him. Naked. Free.

He wants us to get in our cars, on our bikes, on our pogo sticks and drive, ride, or hop away from anger and sin and drive and drive until we see new life on the horizon. heartache and pain can come along for the ride. he will take care of us.
And somehow, maybe somehow, these sweet pleasures bring us joy not just like our worldly wedding days . . . but also like our wedding banquet we will share with the lamb.

The Stuff

Little glimpses of God . . .
The sweet simple stuff . . .