Below are the most recent 7 friends' journal entries.

Friday, July 10th, 2009
helloheather	8:07a	Hmmm...my mom's guitar, that she's had since teenagerdom, and which I've had for about 7 or 8 years, might be worth something. Antiques Roadshow, here we come! I guess my mom met a guitar guy, and he was like "a Gibson, eh?...." Interesting. Gearing up for our last day of Bible School. In desperation, I called my stepmom to come babysit Nathan today, but she's not available. Everyone else is working. All the teenagers I know are volunteering at VBS. Crappity. Okay, gotta go get dressed, etc. Supposed to be leaving the house in 17 minutes. (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, July 9th, 2009
helloheather	2:29p	Seriously, this VBS gig is stressing me out. Thank GOD tomorrow is the last day. Having to juggle Nathan and this class of kids* is putting me in the absolute worst mood. I am so glad that Nathan goes down for nap right after we get home, because I NEED to just be by myself for a while. In other, TOTALLY RELATED, news, Nathan (three years old) has now fully figured out how to flail around and twist and kick, when picked up. Oh, jeez. It's like...it's like he just lets everything from his ribcage, down, go limp. Except with kicking. It's all very awkward, and certainly attracts a lot of attention. Especially when he yells NO MOMMY NO PUT ME DOWN DON'T PCIKING ME UP! and then kicks over a chair. (For example: in the middle of a very nice lady's very sincere presentation on her calling from God to found a local homeless shelter.) He thinks it's funny to ignore me. And funny to disobey me. And funny to make a big scene. ARGH! He shows absolutely no remorse. He's like a tiny sociopath. I know this is normal. Normal, developmentally average boundary-testing, etc. But...GAH! It SUCKS. And I try, I really do try to remain calm, and keep the boundaries firm, and to just guide my child into appropriate activities. But sometimes, he is causing such a gigantic distraction that he needs to be physically removed from the situation. That's when he goes all flailing-spaghetti-body on me. And I am not superwoman, people. I am only just me. I do the best I can, but flailing-spaghetti-body is just about doing me in. This is just not working. I will muddle through tomorrow, but I'm not doing this VBS thing again, probably EVER. PHOOEY. (I remember stories from my childhood of me causing such a gigantic disturbance in grocery stores that my mother had to abandon whole shopping carts of food, hoist me up under her arm, and just carry me out and leave. The farther along I go in this parenting thing, the more fully I think I understand my mother.) *Background: Nathan = three years old. Supposed to be in preschool class for VBS, but really not developmentally ready, so got bounced back to me and my class of first-graders. So I'm trying to manage a class and also have a tag-along three-year-old. It's not working. (8 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, July 6th, 2009
cetan_feed	2:48a	78 rules of photography http://www.bernhard.us/rob/blog/2009/07/05/78-rules-of-photography/ http://www.bernhard.us/rob/blog/?p=664 Ivars Gravlejs wrote up, and gave examples of, 78 right and wrong ways to shoot a photo. http://gawno.com/2009/05/78-photography-rules/ For example: When you take a picture of a sausage, try to use a diagonal composition. It is important to show the cut which is made in 45 degree angle. (Comment on this)
Friday, July 3rd, 2009
mama_bec	11:01a	seeking state quarters! i'm hoping to finish our state quarter collection. anyone have any of these? and are you willing to part with them? denver mint: 2008 hawaii philadelphia mint: 2002 ohio 2003 missouri 2007 wyoming & utah 2008 oklahoma, new mexico, arizona, arkansas, hawaii let me know if you've got any - i'd be happy to do an even trade via paypal or something! (i also happily accept any nebraska quarters, since that's my home state. haley might like some indiana quarters as it's her home state. bill's from ohio but i don't know that he cares about collecting those.) Current Mood: hopeful (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, June 29th, 2009
helloheather	3:30p	Dead plants. Is there some secret to keeping plants alive in containers? I have never, ever been able to keep one from shriveling up and dying, or looking all yellow, or whithered, or leggy, or whatever. They never stay lush and pretty. I seem to water them too much, or not enough. It makes no sense to me. It's weird. You would think that after, like, 8 years of home ownership, and feeling like I want to have a container of petunias or whatever by my door, that SOMETHING would have clicked by now. But, nope. Am I supposed to be watering things every day? Seriously. I need to take a class or something. (19 Comments |Comment on this)
cetan_feed	7:00p	lunch today http://www.bernhard.us/rob/blog/2009/06/29/lunch-today-3/ http://www.bernhard.us/rob/blog/?p=659 1. Sweet potato pie 2. Vegetable tempura 3. Sesame beef on a stick 4. Cumin-dusted fries with mango sauce 5. Fruiti de Basco sorbet 6. Water Taste of Chicago 2009 (Comment on this)
helloheather	9:37a	Whoops! I let too much time slip away this morning. Now it's 9:37, and I have to shower, dress, dress Nathan, and get to a meeting at church by 10:30. (Training for VBS. I don't know what my role is going to be. I guess I'll just do whatever they tell me. I THINK I'm going to be shuttling three-year-olds from place to place and drinking kool aid, but we'll see.) I also need to hit the library, to pick up a book for my step-dad. He is temporarily home-bound, and I am glad he called me to ask if I could go get this book. I love being useful. :) Uh-oh. 9:39. Better split. (1 Comment |Comment on this)