my hippy husband

yesterday i found some photos from may 2008, back when joel had long hair. they made me laugh, and i couldn't resist posting them. i do miss the fro!

keeping cool...

yep, yep, we are. :)

her name is pamina, btw. a rather lofty name for a cat, but it seemed to fit.

what we got

we got something very special last night.
it was in corbett.
we drove there, and it walked out of the grass and stopped at joel's feet.
so, really, it got us.

this something special likes riding in cars, which was a good thing because we put it in our car right away.

it also likes riding in pockets, which was a very good thing because we had to take it into the supermarket.

it especially likes typing - see?
p;;;;;;;;;;;8888888888888 ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;yy81```````

here it is!
that dried rose petal never had a chance.

other things it likes include pouncing on toes, anything electronic, and exploring.oh, and i wasn't kidding about riding in pockets.
she - it's a she, by the way - really doesn't like recordings of high schoolers imitating native american war cries. (don't ask...)

we need help, though. she doesn't have a name.
ideas so far are phantom, pocahontas, terminator, and borg.
need i say more?

i've been birkenstocked.

i like birkenstocks, i really do. i think they're kind of cute, in a ... homely ... fashion.
(i just used the word "fashion" to describe birkenstocks. you know this blog is gonna be good.)

since my foot injury, footwear options have been severely limited - mostly to supportive tennis shoes, bulky mary janes, and the occasional briefly worn ballet flat. this summer, i broke the mold and bravely stepped out in my rainbow flipflops. that didn't work so well.

the search for a supportive sandal led me to the birkenstock.
hippy mama of sandals.
now we're talking.

my search for a birkenstock led me to a custom arch support store in gresham that shall remain nameless (and is on the corner of powell and burnside across the parking lot from starbucks right next to the quizno's and the snowboard shop).

yesterday evening, i walked into the nameless store. i was immediately accosted by a well dressed, tall man who looked like will smith, babbling something incomprehensible that (judging from his awkward laugh-smile) was a joke. i smiled, and explained politely that i wanted to buy birkenstocks.

i believe what he heard was: "i want avacado green go-go boots, 6 inch platform, please."
the man contorted his face clownishly, and asked why i thought i wanted birkenstocks.

somewhat taken aback, i explained that my foot was crushed in an accident and i need supportive sandals.

my mistake.

this, apparently, was his cue to launch into a 30 minute lecture on orthotics, which he was shocked, shocked, that none of my doctors had recommended. the lecture included powerpoint demonstrations, a mispronounced survey of the tendons of the foot, and multiple repetitions of the same questions (to which i obligingly gave the same answer every time).

after the lecture, mr. will-smith-guy was sure he had the right sandal for me. he reverently placed before me an orthotic sandal - the answer to all my foot problems!
the thing was hideous.
more than that, it chafed against my sensitive, scarred skin.
fed up at this point, i explained that i really just wanted to buy birkenstocks.

poor man. he was crestfallen. after a few parting shots on the terrible consequences i was bringing upon my orthotic-less feet, he allowed me to try on birkenstocks ...
and sent out the manager.

so close to freedom ... and yet so far.
the manager began his desperate spiel by asking if we really understood what his underling was explaining about orthotics. next, he advised us to check out their website, and (because apparently we look like we can't tell a url from an insole), spent 10 minutes walking us through their website in the store.

finally we extracted ourselves from their clutches - hungry, exhausted, with a manic glint in our eyes. their parting words: "send us some customers, ok?!?"

... right

two down, hundreds to go...

i think ...
i love ...
being a piano teacher!

had my second lesson last night, and can't wait for more! the thrill and the challenge of sharing my love for music in such a tangible way - ooh, it's fun! :)

excuse me while i freak out in a blog post.

i am teaching my first piano lesson in ... 1 hour and 11 minutes.

... and i'm blogging instead of preparing.

but seriously -no - that's ok - cause i've been preparing for this one lesson nonstop for a week. except when i took breaks to go to a conference on piano pedagogy
-which was awesome, by the way-
but, honestly, it wasn't really a break from lesson preparation. i've prepared for this til my brain turned blue...

and i am so not ready.

my studio isn't set up (that's happening this weekend); my piano isn't tuned (11am next tuesday); i don't have flash cards yet (but i drove all across gresham in the heat and construction traffic this afternoon looking for the music store); i am so not ready for this!!!

that's what i've been telling myself for 5+ years now. and i'm probably right.
but i've got to start somewhere.

[deep breath]

ok, bring it on.

baby basils, baby pictures, salmonella, and soap operas

this is a random update blog.

it is also my response to everyone who has asked me how i like "not working".

thirdly, it is my (hopefully) controlled response to the next person gives me a knowing smile, winks, and asks me how late i sleep in these days.

my husband has not contracted e. coli - yet
joel is working hard. very, very hard. these days in addition to working full time, he's also taking 2 online classes through portland community college and an intensive 4 week microbiology class at psu. he spends his nights conducting questionable (i think they're questionable) experiments with such untouchables as e. coli, salmonella, and staphylococcus, gets home at 9:30pm, eats dinner, then stays up til who knows when studying human development.

my life of leisure
let's just say i haven't caught any soap operas.
since wednesday, july 1, my work week has been 7 days/week, 14-16hrs/day ... doing stuff i love! planning piano lessons, setting up my studio, designing business cards, accompanying weddings, working on the show i'm music directing this fall, communicating with photography clients ... the to do list is endless, and honestly, not particularly blogworthy. i'll get my feet under me soon and have a little more to say about what i'm doing, but right now i'm just trying to keep hyperventilation at bay.

the garden pictures!
yes, the garden pictures are here! in a random update blog! these pictures were taken in may. so maybe tomorrow i'll go out and take some pictures to post in october!

this is the front of our house, back in may. it looks different now.

this is a tiny part of the herb garden. the basil is much, much bigger now, along with everything else. the cilantro that you can't see very well in this picture died, but that's ok because i don't think it was really cilantro.
thank goodness sun roses don't change ... much.
more baby pictures!
if you're tired of baby pictures you can go somewhere else now. i'm not tired of baby pictures. :)

it's ok that i haven't blogged in a long time cause i have baby pictures.

so ... yeah.
and yes, i know, these aren't the promised garden pictures. those are (probably) coming, along with excuses for why i haven't blogged or commented in half an eternity an update on our life (or lack thereof) for the last month.

baby pictures are of 11 month old kairis and her parents.