a long weekend

Whew. I am so looking forward to the long weekend - this is one tired girl. It's been a super fun and event-filled week, but I am exhausted.

photo from here

What I'm looking forward to tonight:

Eating leftovers
Curling up under an electric blanket
Returning to Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
A glass of red wine
An insanely early bedtime

What I'm looking forward to tomorrow:

The wedding of a best friend's little sister and getting to see some hometown faces!
A brisk run out in the cold
Some time cozied up on the porch swing with blankets, if I can stand more of the cold

What I'm looking forward to on Sunday:

Being with my church in the afternoon
A Golden Globes viewing party afterwards (it's almost time to decide on my character and a costume for the 2012 Oscar party!)

Happy MLK Weekend, friends!

a poem for 2012

I don't really make new years resolutions, so I'm going to post a new year's poem. May 2012 be a year that "won't compute."

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front
by Wendell Berry

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.

And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.

When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.

Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.

Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.

Listen to carrion — put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.

Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.

As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go.

Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.

Safe & Sound

I have not read the books, but they are next on my list.

This song makes me want to hurry up...

Perfect duo.

Dot & Roscoe

I know one of the things that'll be occupying my time this Christmas...

My kindred Emily Martin has gifted the general public with free printable paper doll projects for the winter - meet Dot & Roscoe (my dad used to call my brother Roscoe all the time when we were little!)

"Dot and Roscoe love to go on walks in the winter, because they love to come home with cold noses and dash to the kitchen to make Dot some hot chocolate. Roscoe is content to burrow under a nest of blankets while Dot knits mittens for her sweetheart."

Dot, Roscoe, and their little winter wardrobe just might be adorning my tree as garland this Christmas.

Because, as the ADS alarm system guy exclaimed, "Girl, you ain't got enough ornaments on that tree!!"

Thank you, kind sir.

And thank you, Emily!

I tried stayin' on the porch...

This weekend we had Hardin Christmas in Starkville. 'Twas a good time - I don't have many pictures, because Hailstorm was home and therefore all the best ones were shot with her camera.

Aunt Nita, Daddy-D, and Dad

Kurt & Marty

The "kid table"

Granny, Nita, me & baby Campbell (whom I met this weekend for the first time!!!)

Nita's gingerbread house

Admiring her handiwork (it was so hilarious to watch her figure out that the frosting was edible)

And my sweet baby nephew Shepherd

And the 18 wheeler I stalked all the way from Gordo to Tuscaloosa so I could catch him at a stoplight for a picture (I think I made him nervous, actually). When the kids and I write narratives at school, we work on eradicating their "This is a story about..." habit in favor of interesting leads. I like to give them leads to begin stories a lot, and ideas find me in the oddest places. I'll be using this one next.

Inspiration is everywhere!

I'm home now, pulling on my Cuddle Duds and cranking the space heater. This little house and I, we're going to get along just fine (a few photos coming soon!).

Hope you all have a lovely week!

"Marley was dead to begin with..."

This might be risky, but I'm going to share something here because it's ridiculously hilarious. You won't think this is funny unless you've known me for awhile.

I sent these videos out in an email, but I don't think anyone could open them. The other day in class I started noticing that some of my kids had worms. I pretended I was taking candid photos, which I do often, but captured the mini-me's on video instead.

I'm so glad I did.

Also, I cannot cannot CANNOT WAIT to read Jacob T. Marley, a prequel to A Christmas Carol!!!!!!! It has the potential to be sorely disappointing, but I think it looks so good!! I'll be asking Pippi for this for Christmas this year.

Goodnight!

Two things I can't get enough of this season...

This Christmas album, produced by musicians at my church.

Each and every song is absolutely beautiful, and it's even sweeter because they are sung by some of my favorite people and dear friends.

You can listen and download it here for $5. Well worth it, I assure you.

Also, I bought a house and moved, as you probably already knew - I love every second of being in this house - it was built in 1928 and is so filled with character. There is much I'd like to do to it, and the fact that it will take me years is going to be an exercise in both patience and stewardship. The only downside so far (and I walked into this knowingly) is that it. is. frigid. in. here.

There's never a point in setting the thermostat above 60, because the house will likely never be above 57 or 58 degrees. And I'm cold natured. Thank goodness Alabama winters are only truly harsh for a couple of months of the year.

So, to combat the cold without draining my wallet trying to heat my house, I've invested in a few pairs of Cuddle Duds. My friend Melissa (whose song on Half Spent, "The Wexford Carol," is stunning!) opened my eyes and my world to these, and I'm forever grateful. Apparently I'm the last person alive to find out about these, but ya'll. They. are. amazing. I got them a couple of days ago and have yet to take them off. I like to sit around in them, like this...

They are so soft and so warm. If you're somewhere really cold or are trying to save money by keeping your heat really low, you need these. I'm wearing them under everything.

Hope everyone's having a warm and peace-filled advent season so far.