Awwww. Man. I am happy. A bit tired, but really happy.
Peter Case was even more wonderful than I expected----and just lovely to boot. Charming, smart people who play great music.....no wonder we invite them to our house. He sounded amazing, he did one of my favorite songs when I asked, he read from his book....it couldn't really have been better.....
Thank you SO much to everybody.
The donations really helped---we appreciate it so much, and were able to give Peter a little more than we'd planned. Yay!
Greg and Vicky for putting up Peter---you are so gracious as always.
And the inimitable Jon Pines (Private Studios)---completely generous making sure we had all the equipment we needed. Thank you for making this possible.
Peter, well, Peter was fantastic. This morning I had to shake my head when I woke up to make sure that he really was in my house last night---and sounding so incredible. None of the clips on youtube etc do his live performance justice. And the direction of this new album is wonderful----as he said, it's kind of a combination of what he'd been doing with some of the energy/sound of his earlier stuff in the Plimsouls.
And of course anyone who is so kind and patient with my boys always gets my heart. Any professional musician who plays a show and then is lovely enough to sit on the couch while an 8 year old shows him how to play Michael Jackson's Billie Jean and chats to him....well, that's an awfully nice man....
Owen is over the moon today, to use my friend Heather's phrase. Well.....and I guess I am too... Oh, and Ernie? He's still floating up there somewhere.....
(oh, and the good pics are from Richard Hill---thanks Richard!)
I made a mountain of ratatouille yesterday.....put the pork in the oven about 11:30 last night and are hoping we have the right balance of low and slow. Today is going o.k. so far....although Bob protested the move of his litterbox by peeing inappropriately....a microphone clip popped apart and things are going MUCH more slowly than they did in my mind when I imagined today. Oh well! I imagine by 5:00 all will be set. Although honestly....it's more likely that by about 3:30 I will say the hell with it and pour myself a glass of wine and sit down.
See some of you tonight and I'll report to the rest of you tomorrow!
Well, because it's the first meeting of Library Council to which my sweet Leo has been elected.
He is VERY excited and it just about makes my heart crack right open.
As he has pointed out numerous times: ONLY fifth graders can be elected.
They meet during lunch/recess and today is the first meeting.
So everybody drink a toast to Library Council tonight, o.k?
Reseeded Heavenly Blue morning glories finally blooming....
Ernie laughed when he saw these cosmos hanging over the basil----he said they looked as though they were begging to have their picture taken. So I had to oblige....
1. I have been so busy I feel like I haven’t been here much. And that’s not good because when I’m writing regularly I feel more like myself (in a good way!). In case you couldn’t guess, I have been WAY busy. Work’s been crazy, not bad crazy, just busy crazy. I had to give a talk at lunchtime today which isn’t my favorite thing to do (although the people were delightful and it’s been a long time since I said the pledge of allegiance and sang songs like In the Good Old Summertime) and when I got back to the office I had a million things calling to me. So suffice to say…I am beat….and I am getting ready to shout to the skies how wonderful my husband is for taking Owen to the school open house without me and Leo. Oh bless you Ernest....
2. O.k….now tell me if this is crazy. Ernie and I went to Prairie Gardens the other day to buy a gift certificate for a friend’s birthday. Of course I quickly piled a bunch of fall plants in the cart because….well, just because. We went to one of the many blondes they seem to have working there (honestly, have you ever noticed?) to check out. She rang everything up, wrote out the gift certificate and then proceeded to outline the gift certificate entry on the receipt in red ink. Then she folded it up and told me she was going to enclose it with the gift certificate in the envelope. I told her I didn't want a receipt for a shitload of kale and mums to go to the person to whom I'm giving the gift certificate. She said it was the only way they would know that she didn't just write it out and that we really paid for it. I said no, I'm not giving someone a receipt for everything. Then she suggested just putting in the credit card receipt which just has a total. Now how this would prove a damn thing I don't know but again I said, NO you're not putting a receipt for $65 worth of plants and doormats and everything else in a lousy $20 gift certificate. Finally I said that this was just silly---void the whole sale and ring them up separately if you need to. If you must have a receipt for the gift certificate then make it just for the gift certificate. Then she looked really pissed and finally said she guessed it would be o.k. without the receipt. Believe me I just gave you the short version---this went on MUCH longer. I have bought gift certificates there before and never gone through this. I let Ernie take the gift certificate from her and I busied myself with pushing my cart of plants out while I muttered about MENSA. We get to the parking lot and I look at the stupid gift certificate and she has put her name in the spot where normally I would have written OUR names. I was so irritated with the whole thing that I could have spit. Ernie kept asking me if I wanted to go complain but I just didn't have it in me. So off we went with our plants and our gift certificate muttering all the way. At least it did make for a good anecdote when I gave it to our friend. Geesh.
3. Ernie found this Split Enz video and youtube and I've been playing it over and over. MAN I love Split Enz. I had the red and green cover on that album that came in all different colors.... Anyway....when you first watch it the Wiggles will come to mind if you have a child of a certain age and for a minute you will get distracted thinking, "now wait, are the Wiggles from Australia or New Zealand?" and wonder if there is some strange connection between Split Enz and them but then the music takes over and you forget about that. And then suddenly you will realize that Neil Finn reminds you INCREDIBLY of LEO! Beautiful face, big eyes looking up at you from beneath their lashes in that Princess Diana kind of way and of course the song's general sense of paranoia and frustration fits him as well. Oh......good LORD my beautiful baby.....and Neil Finn as well.....it almost made me cry!!! Man I love that boy....
4. O.k....tomorrow I'm buying two pork shoulder to slow roast with lemon, rosemary and garlic for the Peter Case house concert. Anything other seasoning? Whaddya think? And then on Saturday we'll go to the farmers' market and buy a TON of tomatoes and eggplant and peppers and zucchini and squash and onions and garlic and anything else that sounds good for ratatouille. I saw a recipe the other day for ratatouille that called for carrots. Huh. I've never had carrots in ratatouille before....anybody else?
5. I suppose I should end this. I imagine the blondes will be home soon and I need to get dinner going. I'm tired so I'm going with my favorite comfort food meal of curried oven fried chicken and whatever vegetables I can dig out of the refrigerator.
6. Peter Case, Peter Case, Peter Case. WOO-HOOOO! Don't forget to email me if you're interested in coming on Sunday!
1. Last night as I was trying to convince Owen it was time to go to sleep, and as I got sleepier and sleepier....I vaguely remember having a hilarious discussion with Owen and thinking I HAVE GOT TO REMEMBER THIS. It was something to do with the Peter Case show and Owen wondering if Peter would like him. Alas I just can't dredge it up. If only I could remember all the amusing things that come out of his mouth.
2. I LOVE John Waters’ comment re: gay marriage, "I think we should just try to make heterosexual divorce illegal."
3. Ernie was helping Owen with some homework about measurements. One of the questions was “what is the average length of a craftstick?” Ernie said, “Craftstick? What’s a craftstick?” Owen shrugged his shoulders and said he didn’t know. They moved on to the next question. Just picture the two of them staring at each other saying, “CRAFTSTICK?” I don’t know why but that just cracked me up. I had to google it myself and found that it is craftspeak for a popsicle stick. Geesh.
4. Owen had to write about a memory at school yesterday so he wrote about making sticker cookies with his grandma. Ernie told me that and of course, predictably, I cried. My mother wasn’t really up to baking from scratch so she and my father would buy these cookies you just sliced and baked and then when they were done you put these little holiday themed stickers made out of sugar and god knows what else. My father would be in charge of baking them and then the boys and my mom would put the stickers on. They LOVED doing this. After Schnuck’s stopped carrying them Ernie would even make the trip out to Walmart to get them. Ernie and the boys did a hunt online yesterday and evidently they do not make them anymore. I’m glad the boys remember it though.
5. We went to an extraordinary party this weekend. Some friends of ours (thanks Val and Bob) co-hosted it with another family and it was wonderful----family and friends playing music. Sometimes in an interview someone will say, ‘oh, we always were playing music in our family’ and I always think “really?” I can’t imagine. I don’t think anyone in my family was particularly talented musically although my sisters and I all played in band and enjoyed it. None of us could sing although my Dad could belt out a Navy song or two when he went on walks. It was a lovely evening and it made me pleasantly envious of their ease and pleasure in performing for one another as well as the comfort and structure, and history, that an extended family provides.
6. Countdown to Peter Case. Five days. My daily list of prayers: I hope it goes well....I hope we get a good crowd....I hope we get enough donations to pay him a little more than we agreed to....I hope he has a good time....I hope the food I'm making turns out well....I hope we get the house clean.....I hope....I hope....I hope.....
7. Oftentimes, when I talk to the boys about something they need to work on, I'll broach it with something like "well, I think we all need to work a little harder to.....blah, blah, blah." The other day, in a fit of uhhhh, pique...yes, we'll go with pique....Owen told me that EVERYthing I say is WRONG! I, of course, acted like the mature adult I am and got really pissed. Later when Ernie pointed out to him that he damn well better be apologizing to me, Owen sat down calmly next to me, laced his fingers together before flexing them, and said calmly, "wellllll Mom, I think we both need to work a little harder to not fight." Then he looked up at me expectantly and all I could think was how much I wanted to kill him and how much I adored him.
8. Leo is entering tweenhood with a vengeance. The other day Ernie did something foolish (he LOVES to annoy Leo) and Leo just stared at him and said, "Don't EVER do that again Dad" and sighed. And as Ernie pointed out he has a way of saying, "that's disgusting" with so much revulsion dripping from his words that it's really quite impressive.
9. And last but not least a picture of one of my favorite signs in town. I love Champaign dearly but there really is dearth of nice old neon. What other old neon is around??? Am I forgetting something?
Owen got them....the same hunch-while-you're-giggling genes that Ernie has. Want proof? Watch the clip of the two of them at Lonely Trailer and watch Ernie laugh:
Now watch Owen at the Japan House Summer Arts Camp....
Oh, I forgot to put this in my post. Anyone have any leads on an apartment that could be leased for six months or so? It's for someone who may be moving to town who has serious health issues and would be getting treatment here. So obviously something nice and somewhat quiet. I know that's kind of vague but just thought I would put the question out there....
1. Can I just say that there may be nothing better in life than lying on your bed trying to watch Top Chef with two boys and their various plushes (Lobby, Sir Crabalot, Mario, Luigi, etc.)? NOTHING. Owen usually likes to be in the middle but he graciously told me that I could be since I don't get a chance to snuggle with Leo as much. Leo even smilingly agreed. Yes, they were up too late and no, I didn't follow the show very well....but pretty damn great nonetheless.
2. I made pizza last night with dough I'd picked up. Just sauce and cheese for Owen but with Italian sausage and fresh basil on ours. Two results: I wondered why the hell I don't do this more often and as always when I make pizza myself I'm horrified by how much cheese most places must use. I put too much sausage on but the fresh basil just killed!
3. Lovely video of a lovely song by the lovely David Olney. Do watch.
4. I hate buying all the cheap plastic forks etc. when we have parties. We'll try to save some and wash them but most end up thrown out and they're not cheap apart from the waste. So I thought maybe I'd just buy a bunch of the cheapest flatware from Ikea or someplace like that. After poking around online though I realized that it's still not that cheap and it's damn ugly! So I hit eBay instead and found this set far cheaper than anything I could get at Ikea. I'm quite tickled.
5. I had planned for us all to go to the opening night at Krannert. I was looking forward to it but turns out Leo has his heart set on having a friend over for a sleepover. He hasn't had a friend over in eons and it's a REALLY big deal to him so I caved (and then there's the whole big brown eyes begging silently factor). A good time for Leo is far more important than one for us. And Owen even joined in saying, "please let him come over, I like being pelted with Nerf bullets by them." Can't really fight that, now can I? Oh well.
6. Cool nights and warm days....this is how September should be!
7. Fall is coming.... The way the trees rustle in the wind already sounds different....
Ernie had his infusion yesterday. We got there, did the pre-stuff, and trotted to the infusion area, picked a chair, hit the magazine rack, got some tea and settled in. It felt so remarkably routine and familiar. I was too bleary to comment on it but yesterday evening Ernie mentioned it as well. Not that it's surprising....it's been a year and a half that we've doing this but the sheer familiarity of it struck us both.
A year and a half. Amazing. Judi's been dead a year and seven months yesterday. Dead. I was going to write gone but that seemed too polite. She's dead. There's a stack of boxes and things we brought from my mother's house in the living room. I noticed that Ernie had included a framed picture my mother had of Judi and me. We were raking leaves at her house in Clemson and Ernie said, "oh, let's take one of the sisters." It's been sitting there upside down and I haven't wanted to turn it over. But the other evening I thought to myself that it's been a year and a half....I should be able to look at a picture of my sister without crying. So I turned it over and....well....you guess it. I teared up. I thought it would get easier but it really doesn't seem to. So I found a spot we could hang the picture and asked Ernie to put it up. I need to be able to look at the picture without crying and I think Owen will like having it up as well.
I remember the day she called me at work to tell me that her cancer was back and not expected to go into remission again. I was walking down the hallway at work looking for a spot of privacy and I kind of yelled "WHAT" in a panicked voice and she said it again...and then she kept saying "I'm so sorry Cynthia, I'm so sorry." Because she knew....she knew how much I would miss her. I think of that sometimes....of her crying as she told me she was sorry.
So I'm going to look at this picture every day....at the bottom of the stairway in the living room. And maybe I'll stop crying when I see it. Maybe I'll smile.
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