mon petite chou

We've been on a roasted veggie kick lately.  The more done, the better.  Here are some brussel sprouts and fresh green beans that are all tossed in olive oil and sprinkled with salt just before they were popped into a 425 degree oven for 20 or so minutes.

book review

One Amazing Thing by Chitra Divakarini - beautifully written!

Plus, just look at that beautiful book cover.

Who wouldn't want to have that sitting on their side table?



y'all ready for this?

No. 1 is going steady.

"Mr. WonderfulVeryFirstBoyfriend" actually asked my permission if he could ask her out (which means the same thing that going steady did in our day).  I was surprised, as I didn't think Chivalry was still alive.  Mais oui!  After I totally melted, I regained my composure and went over my expectations of him (this is her first time being more than just friends, homework comes first, they must go out with a group at this point, he must remember he is a gentleman and she must remember she is a young lady) to which he replied, "Yes ma'am.  I know what you mean and I understand." 

He asked her the next day after school.  She turned her Claddaugh ring around, and her feet have absolutely not touched the ground since then.

Homegirl is fun to be around.  She is happy.  She sings.  All the time.  She teases with her sibs.  She hugs King and I a lot more.  And she has been walking around wearing silly glasses like these:

....ever since they went to see Star Wars in 3D!

She rocks the glasses.

Mr. WonderfulVeryFirstBoyfriend has helped to bring back that fun little girl who ran away to an unknown safehaven in the 6th grade when mean girls were loose and on the prowl.  I forgot how much I missed that girl.

So ever since then it has come to my attention that the Velcro-esque noise I keep hearing is the sound of me letting go. 

 little.  by.  little.

5 + 2 = 7

On Monday my lungs didn't know what had happened to them.
But I knew what it was: oven cleaner.
As if that wasn't bad enough, they also got a big dose of 409.
Upside: the oven looks pretty decent.

On Tuesday I let my lungs rest. 

On Wednesday my heart was sad, because we don't have a camera to take any pictures for Wordless Wednesday... and it was also sad because people think that our "stuff" is worth their soul.

Thursday I headed to the dentist. 
Three cheers for the sentence, "Everything looks good." 
Because once, in fact the day I found out I am old, the sentence was "Broken teeth are common at this age."  Boo.

*cue Rebecca Black's Friday song

Today I should be running barefoot alongside King and the kids through a field of daffodils waving streamers and rejoicing and being glad that it is the end of the week.  Instead, I am tripping over crap on the floor and waving a dusting cloth as I clean the house for the two fundraisers we are hosting, one on Saturday, one on Sunday afternoon.

Wanna help?  Read more about Family Honor's mission here.

I Can't is a coward.

I'll Try is a soldier.

I Will is a king. 

Anonymous

***************

mr. can always tries

mr. can't always cries.

mommy

a continuing sah-gahhh

So I get a phone call from a Lead Investigator at the Sheriff's office about our case.  Good news is that they have been able to make an arrest in our case.  They found my son's suitcase at the house.  He asks if I can come down to identify it. 

Y'absolutely!

So off I go, this morning....

Brave Little Toaster goes to the Law Enforcement Center.

I was wishing I had eaten a little something, as it is now 10 a.m. and my blood sugar has taken a little dive.  Or it could be a case of the nerves, dunno.  Either way my legs felt a bit like overcooked noodles.

Park.  Walk in.  Go through metal detector.  Go upstairs to the maze of doors and halls and people. 

Going to see a man about a suitcase.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure here's a joke in there somewhere.

After he shows me the mug shot of the man they have in custody, and the woman they are suspecting to be involved, I rack my brain to think if I had seen them before.  Perhaps the man has asked me if he and his brother could do some yardwork for us.  Interesting tidbit, the Investigator tells me that these people had a wounded pigeon living in the bathroom tub.  "Um.  What?  You mean to tell me that they are putting effort and energy into a sick bird, but aren't interested in the state of their own souls?"  I shake my head at the irony.

Then he pulls the suitcase out from underneath his desk.

I gasped.

How in the Name.Of.Creation. can someone do that much damage to a suitcase?  What.In.This.World?  Did they tie it to the back of a Jeep and go 4-wheelin'?  I opened it up.  There was an envelope with notes from a conversation I had with a friend back in September about the High School Auction. 

My brain was spiraling.

Where did that come from?!?

Was in in something they took?

Did they dig through my trash 4 months ago?

There was also a lens cover to my Really Great Camera.  And the "Handy Pocket Guide" as well.  Guess they didn't need that.

I opened up the first of two front pockets.  The bigger of the two was filled with soil.  Yes, soil.  The smaller of the two pockets was filled with ashes and cigarette butts.

He reassured me in that I was right not to want the suitcase and that there was a dumpster just outside in the parking lot.  I thanked him and me and my messed up suitcase along with my chow mein legs left the building.

But the long walk to that bin was a tough one.  It's only a suitcase.  It's only a suitcase.  Memories of Christmas morning a year ago flooding back.  It's only a suitcase.  It's only a suitcase.  Our dreams of wanting to go on a big trip one day.  Breathe.  Focus.

When I finally got there, tears started streaming down my face as I gently lifted it up and over into the dumpster.

It is only a suitcase.  I am not burying a child.  I must stay focused.  Come on, Toaster, hold it together.