a.rose

There are always choices in life.  Say, when your children pull the shoes out of the closet every time you put them away, you have gads of options:  You could 1. Scream 2. Leave the shoes out 3. Put them away again 4. Laugh 5. Take pictures I've done all of those things, except the screaming, but I'm young and so are they, I figure there's plenty of time for that. My favorite is when I choose to laugh about it. ALSO, we're almost ready to close the ThanksGIVEaway and announce winners, have you put in your bid for one of Hallie's or Hanna's watercolors? They are a hot item this time around!

Maybe you've heard?  I've been writing a novel for National Novel Writing Month, and it ends tomorrow.  I asked my friends on facebook to challenge me with words to use in my last push to finish.  They really came through for me with a whole list of crazy words.  To thank them, I wrote this chapter.  I put all of their words in, except for a handful that I had already used in a different chapter.  So this is for you, friends. Thanks for supporting me when probably what you really wanted to do was type in all caps, "WE DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR NOVEL."  But if you do care, check out my web badge off to the side. That's my prize for winning.---------------------------------> And now, I present to you, a chapter in my novel.  Also, you may want to read this with a dictionary.  The words I was instructed to use are in bold.  ALSO, this is a REALLY rough draft, so it is fine if you criticize me (which I really don't mind) just don't hate, ok? 62 Years

Turns out I sort of thought maybe children's hair cuts didn't cost that much money.  And maybe I have a skewed sense of "what doesn't cost that much money".  I called all over town and was stunned by the prices they were charging. Also, I have never once in my life walked in to get a haircut without my mother with me.  True story. What that means is I had no idea what to do about a tip.  How does it work? I kept putting it off and putting it off because I just didn't want to deal with any of it, but the little snips on the side of her head were really starting to bother me, so I got them all bundled up this morning. Which, by the way, is the most frustrating part of late fall. I got them way overbundled because yesterday it was windy and snowing and literally freezing outside, and today it was balmy and almost nice.  Picture me, then, wearing way too many clothes, bulky and overheated and uncomfortable, sweating  because I don't know how to tip,

You know what? November really has a lot going on. Daylight Savings Time. Thanksgiving. Black Friday. Small Business Saturday. Cyber Monday. Movember. My brother's Birthday. and so on, you see. For me, the real big thing this November has been my participation in the insanity that is NaNoWriMo. (National Novel Writing Month). I mean, who writes 50,000 words in 30 days?  Crazy people do. Here's what I've learned. 1. A chapter can be any length I want, I'm the author! 2. I can set up the chapters however I want, I'm the author! 3. I have to make my characters say things.  Apparently, I'm the author. 4. I have to make my characters move around, otherwise they don't do anything. 5. It isn't actually all that easy. And now you know what I know about writing a novel.

ThanksGIVEaway here! Devin and I are fairly confident in our Thanksgiving meal, we know our dishes, we each have our roles, and it is a really low key, low stress, delicious day for us.  In fact, last night Devin was lamenting that he always felt leading up to Thanksgiving like it was going to be this wild hustle and bustle in the kitchen, and then he was always let down because there was never enough to actually do.  (Please keep in mind, we make every single dish from scratch.  So basically, he's crazy when he thinks there isn't enough to do.  I think there's plenty!) Long time readers of my blog (all three of you, hi!) might remember a post I did about the "Innovative Chef" .  Well, this morning he rose again in triumph and glory. It was like this, see.  We got out the roasting pan (one of his students gave him a few years ago, they are always giving us presents...)  and I put the vegetables in the bottom while Devin fought with the large bird in the sin

Don't forget to check out this year's ThanksGIVEaway ! It is practically criminal to have a sunny day in the middle of November, warm enough to go outside in just a t-shirt, and then NOT go outside. Am I right?  First we had to get everyone dressed. this included all of the real living human beings, and the baby dolls as well, of course.  Hallie was too hot in what she was wearing (one long sleeve t-shirt, and three short sleeve t-shirts - she got herself dressed this morning), and I had to take my top layer off as we walked as well. Next we had to get all of the strollers ready.  Snacks, purses, sunglasses, and Hallie had to draw a map. That's her newest thing, drawing maps for us so we don't get lost when we go on walks or bike rides around the block.  Every so often she'll pull it out and slowly unfold it and look at it for a moment.  Then she'll boldly declare, "The map says when we see a turn, we should turn."  "The map says do

Hanna was sitting on my lap in front of the computer.  I think she was begging for "Phigeas and Ferv" (Phineas and Ferb) and I was telling her that we were not going to watch any shows.  I think I was trying to organize our finances, or trying to write in my novel for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month).  Suddenly I paused in whatever I was doing, my attention diverted by the sound of scissors snipping behind me.  I trust my girls with scissors, they will spend hours cutting shapes out of paper, and I have never had any trouble with them aside from the time Hanna cut a bunch of tiny holes in my favorite of her dresses.  But I had a very stern discussion with her about that, and after she was grounded from scissors for a while I let them have their scissors back. Am I naive? Am I too trusting? Or is this just one of those inevitable childhood things, like falling off your bike and scraping your knee, or dropping your ice cream cone and picking it up and eating it a

We are all struggling with something.  Each of us has battled something, at some time, in life.  Do not give up. I started crying when he said, "You feel like giving up and then all of a sudden you have someone standing there saying, "Come on. Let's go..." Which part made you cry?

I've been working on my novel for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and I'll tell you what, man, that whole thing is intense.  It's like three minute fiction on serious steroids.  I have a little over 40,000 words still to write, but I just needed a break ladies, a break! So, I'm writing over here.  Yeah, that's how I take a break.  But see, you guys don't demand 50,000 words from me.  You don't even WANT that many words from me on here, am I right? I have this feeling floating around somewhere inside my guts that you are feeling like you haven't had a good solid glimpse into the lives of the H's lately, and you're craving some of that craziness. I will indulge you. Heather has been given a new nickname, Bugeater.  Picture this: Hallie and Hanna streaming through the house, screaming "Bugeater! The Bugeater is coming! Hurry, get away! Here comes the Bugeater!"  and hot on their heels comes Heather, crawling furiously aft

I am looking forward to tomorrow.  I know a lot of people are tired of this election, and I thought I would be as well.  Yet all I feel is excitement as I think about going to my polling place tomorrow, picking up my ballot and pencil, filling in my little bubbles, and then proudly wearing my sticker throughout the day. I love this country.  I love the voices we are allowed to have, and I love that we don't have to agree, but we can still choose to get along.  I don't know how you are going to vote, but tomorrow I am filling in a few circles on both sides of the party lines. (In the above picture, Fischer is a Republican and Kerrey is a Democrat.)

So they posted the official winner of the Three Minute Fiction contest for NPR's All Things Considered yesterday. If you'd like to read that, you can find it here .  If you want to read my personal favorites from the "favorites" posted throughout the competition, you can find them here and here and here . And, here was my contribution.  If you've read the entries that I linked to above you'll see that mine was quite, quite different.  I was pleased with it nonetheless.  I'd love to hear your feedback, if you loved it, hated it, whatever you thought about it, let me know! "I scurry out of my dark sanctuary as quickly as I can. My leg is finally starting to heal enough that I am confident I can get what I need and return to the darkness before anyone finds me. I have to hurry to get the crumbs before the vacuums come. My leg still makes it hard for me to move as quickly as I once did. It feels strange to be out in the open

First of all, I have been having a lot of fun writing on Alison's new blog, have you checked it out?  Here is a post about a delicious pumpkin treat we love to eat around this house, and here is the post I wrote today. And, quick side note about a previous blog post: I went to the Eid al-Adha festival that I mentioned, and I wore the long blue skirt and a white long sleeved sweater.  I am glad that is what I wore, so thanks for your input and suggestions!  There was quite a mix of people there, my friend said there were people there from so many countries around the world.  It was interesting to see, even the very traditional Muslims all had different styles and manners of dressing.  There were a few things in common of course - namely, the covering of their heads (for the women).  It is an interesting experience being completely in the minority, and one that I haven't experienced in a while.  Perhaps not even since living in Brasil have I been so completely in the minori

This was an extra special Halloween for me, as it was the 15 year anniversary of my friendship with my girl Al.  That may not sound like something very exciting to some of you, I don't know. But outside of my family, that is the absolute longest time I have ever known someone, and stayed close to.  And this year marked the year that we have been friends for more than half the time I've been alive. She came to visit to celebrate, and we went wild and crazy.  We had an entire list of things we thought we should do to commemorate this special time. I don't know how many of the things on our list got crossed off, but we did go to a pumpkin patch, buy apples from the orchard, go to the trunk or treat, go to a Muslim celebration, go to a Halloween party, go to church, talk about the good old days, talk about what is new and current, soaked our feet, made bows, carved pumpkins, and then we baked an apple pie.  how much do you love homemade pie crust?  I'm going to