pool party!

We had fun at our friend's pool today! Caleb and Julian loved splashing and crawling around. After I took them out and got them dressed, Julian sneakily crawled away and tried to get back in the pool! He got himself very wet ...

The wrong side of the bed

This picture is exactly how I felt when I got up this morning, when I got home from work today and how I continued to feel until Oliver finally went to sleep.


Now that Oliver is sleeping peacefully and Jordan helped me do the dishes and we're about to relax and watch a movie I can finally make fun of myself and my dumb day. Here's to tomorrow.

Sunday Walk

We went for a lovely August walk today. Breathed some good Scottish air in a moment of rare Scottish sunshine (of late). Jordan thinks the weather here is making us battle hardened and resilient just like the rest of the hearty Scots. Regardless of the recent poor weather a good time was had by all. (Isn't the last picture of Oliver just priceless!!)

Babies

Today i had fun playing with caleb and julian. We played the 'rattle sounds' game where there were differnt items in tupperwear containers and they shook each one and noticed the different sounds. Caleb took an especial liking to the sound that dry rice when he shook it. Julian really liked the muffin tin game, where we had all their little toys placed in the holes of a muffin tin, and they took them out and moved them around. my friends just came over and we made cupcakes with our muffin tins here! sure love you boys, auntie linds

Pride and Prejudice

I have compLETEly fallen in love with this movie. I just bought it, which actually says a lot for me. The last movie that I purchased was at least a couple years ago- Lord of the Rings- and only because we had a big coupon from Best Buy for signing up for their credit card. Anyways, not only did I buy the movie, but I also got the soundtrack AND the sheet music for piano. I know, I was feeling pretty ambitious. I actually really liked the way that the film was told- it's basically the barebones plot because they were trying to fit the entire book adaptation (not 'loose adaptataion) into a 2hr. movie (2hrs, 3min. to be exact) and so the themes really stick out a lot. Very well done!!

I just really liked this quote

“If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

Ray of Sunshine

A friend of mine just sent this to me and I thought it was sweet. Oliver is about three months old here - my, how time flies.

Rubber duckie you're the one...

The Power of Will

Way back in 1935 a teacher named Angus Bowmer, who lived in Ashland Oregon, used to get together with his friends and put on Shakespeare plays. One year he decided it would be fun to perform his plays at the town Fourth of July celebration. He talked to town council and they loaned him $500. Angus and his friend rehearsed two plays but a few days before the Fourth, town council said that they were a bit nervous and wanted to stage some wrestling matches before the plays to offset any potential loss of the loan. Angus agreed. The plays were performed (Merchant of Venice and one other) People LOVED the plays and according to our tour director, Angus was able to make enough to not only pay back the loan but also to cover the losses from the wrestling matches. Today thousands of people flock to Ashland to see Shakespeare. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival is the longest running rep festival in the nation. Dad and I loved it! Thanks Angus!
Here's a quote from a book Dad and I are reading for our annual combined book/film club - The Power of One. Doc is talking to Peekay, his seven year old student.
"Ja Peekay, always in life an idea starts small, it is only a sapling idea, but the vines will come and they will try to choke your idea so it cannot grow and it will die and you will never know you had a big idea, an idea so big it could have grown thirty meters through the dark canopy of leaves and touched the face of the sky.... When you are a young plant, [vines] are very dangerous. Always listen to yourself, Peekay. It is better to be wrong than simply to follow convention. If you are wrong, no matter, you have learned somthing and you will grow stronger. If you are right, you have taken another step toward a fulfilling life."
Love you guys - Mom/Nano

I heart LA too!!

So ya, maybe it's that there's so much talent here. My roomate just came home with amazing headshots she got for $10... or the aspiring rockstars who just want to make music at the Musician's Institute where I work, or that there's fashion everywhere you look. Maybe it's that there are so many people here my age - a couple of them performed at a local club last night, or all the tourists with their flowery shirts and cameras around their necks walking the sunset strip. Maybe it's the surfer dudes walking away from the beach in just bare feet, heading back home after a morning surf. Or maybe it's that I JUST MET BRAD PITT!! But, yea, I'm liking L.A too. Did I mention that? I just met BRAD!!! he's so hot! i was driving Ben, the guy I'm working with - to Brentwood. I looked over at the convertible beside us and I'm like, 'hey, that looks like Brad Pitt!' . We pulled up to the stop light and I'm like, 'it IS Brad Pitt!' He was so cute!! so i waved to him and he waved back !!!!!! I freaked out when I got home and told my roomates.

i heart LA

Something has shifted over the past few weeks, or was it the past year? maybe it was when we discovered 'dainties' the fantastic cupcake bakery two blocks from our house, inconspicuously wedged behind Winchell's and Chicken Zankou. Maybe it's that the weather is amazing- 70 degrees most days of the year- crowned with a sky perfected by ocean breezes and unblemished by drizzle. Maybe it's that we started going to the beach more often and Ian's tried his hand (er... legs) at surfing. Or that we live just down the street from the temple, or that I love the jackarannas that burst out in spring on the avenues, like Anne of Green Gable's white way of delight only gorgeous purple. Or maybe it's the sweeet park just a brisk jaunt from our front door with the lovely cool creek perfect for bare little tootsies, or the new H&M that opened last year at the Beverly Center. It's got to be one of those things, because Los Angeles feels like home the way no place has in a very long time.
i know LA's got a bit of a shady past- the city is watered by subterfuge, General Motor's robbed us of a good public transportation system, and housing prices skyrocketed since we got here. Yes, it's not perfect- Los Angeles has too many broke waiter-actors, too many insecure old dudes who feel the need to buy Hummers. People complain LA's got no culture, no architecture, no... soul. But if you should find yourself here, somewhere in the Los Angeles sprawl- somewhere not too far from the gorgeous Union Station, the hallowed old MGM studio lot where Ian works (now Sony Studios), or yummy Pinkberry's on a little leaguers night, let's just say that there is no doubt about this: there are far worse places to wind up.

Moving To Springfield

Thought you guys might get a kick out of this. You can simpsonize yourself at www.simpsonizeme.com.