Finished!

I finally finished reading Sense and Sensibility late last night. I'll try and get a review up sometime this weekend. I will say that I did enjoy it and I wish I had paid more attention to PBS's Jane Austen series a while back.

Today is actually the anniversary of Jane Austen's death. She died on July 18, 1817 when she was 41 years old. Rudyard Kipling has a poem called Jane's Marriage from his work The Janeites. For you true "Janeites" out there who can name all her heroines in alphabetical order, you might need a box of Kleenex for this one. On this day in particular, it's a a very touching poem.

Jane went to Paradise:
That was only fair.
Good Sir Walter followed her,
And armed her up the stair.
Henry and Tobias,
And Miguel of Spain,
Stood with Shakespeare at the top
To welcome Jane –

Then the Three Archangels
Offered out of hand
Anything in Heaven’s gift
That she might command.
Azrael’s eyes upon her,
Raphael’s wings above,
Michael’s sword against her heart,
Jane said: “Love.”

Instantly the under-
standing Seraphim
Laid their fingers on their lips
And went to look for him.
Stole across the Zodiac,
Harnessed Charles’s Wain,
And whispered round the Nebulae
“Who loved Jane?”

In a private limbo
Where none had thought to look,
Sat a Hampshire gentleman
Reading of a book.
It was called Persuasion,
And it told the plain
Story of the love between
Him and Jane.

He heard the question
Circle Heaven through –
Closed the book and answered:
“I did – and do!”

Quietly but speedily
(As Captain Wentworth moved)
Entered into Paradise
The man Jane loved!

One Of Those Days

A few weeks ago, Big pup was sitting on the couch and I brought him some chocolate milk. A 6 year old, a couch, and a full cup of chocolate milk. Does that raise any red flags for you moms out there? Yeah, I don't know what I was thinking. Within 5 seconds he was covered in chocolate milk. I told him to take off all his clothes and go jump in the pool.

So while I cleaned the couch, WD supervised the pool activity and noticed that Big pup had gotten in the pool with his watch still on. When WD pointed out this fact, Big pup sighed and said, "Looks like I'm having a bad day, huh?"

Dear Big pup,
My sweet, smart, stubborn first-born son. May all your bad days be only as bad as spilled milk and broken watches.
Love,
Mommy

A Tale Of 6 Haircuts

Yikes! I hope I didn't scare anyone with that first picture! Imagine WD waking up to that every morning. Poor WD. But enough about him. Let's talk about me. Or more specifically, my various hairstyles. Settle in folks, we're heading back to 1993 for this one. 1. 15 years ago. I had just seen Halle Berry in The Last Boy Scout and loved her hair. She only had a small part in the movie but I knew she was going places. I like to think I discovered her and was shocked that I she didn't mention me during her Oscar speech in 2002. Super short hair grows way to fast. The upkeep was a pain.

2. 11 years ago. Still a short cut. My mom had always kept mine and my sister's hair short growing up because we didn't like our hair fussed with. I still don't.

3. 9 years ago. I think this is the longest my hair has ever been. And when it's long, this is the only way I can wear it. I hate having my hair fall in my face.

4. 6 years ago. I actually liked this short bob but I tend to be an 'ear-tucker' and this style doesn't look so good when the sides are tucked behind my ears.

5. 1 year ago. I branched out with this one. It was totally cut to style and I had to wear it straight. Natural curls did not look good with this style.

6. Today. Love it! A simple, medium length cut with layers. Very versatile. I can wear it curly or straight and still pull it back in a ponytail.

This concludes A Tale of Six Haircuts, aka the most boring blog post ever. If you've made it this far, congratulations, I'm sorry, and thank you.

Some Things Meme

A couple of weeks ago tollesons4him tagged me for a meme and I promise I didn't forget about it! I printed out the questions and it quickly got lost on the desk amid 100 usb cords, junk mail, and a very large toy truck that I'm thisclose to making disappear if Little pup doesn't stop whining about the mud flaps getting caught in the trailer. Ugh. This truck. It frustrates him so much yet he continues to play with it. But I digress. Onto the meme!


What was I doing 10 years ago:

• We were living at Little Air Force Base, enjoying our new Siberian puppy (Howard), and about to celebrate our 1st anniversary

Five things on my to do list today:

• Daily morning chores (clean the kitchen, pick clothes up off the floor, make the beds, wipe down the bathrooms)
• Laundry (I was supposed to do this yesterday)
• Take the boys to the state park so they can watch the fish being fed (assuming Big pup feels up to it--he ran a fever all day yesterday)
• Fix dinner (Swiss and mushroom burgers and pasta salad)
• Read 10 pages of Sense and Sensibility so I can finish by Friday

Snacks I enjoy:

• I am so not a snack snob, I like anything, especially chocolate

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:

• Tithe
• Pay off house and credit card
• Buy my sister a house
• Buy my mom a new car
• Invest, invest, invest

Places I have lived:

• Little Rock, AR
• Jacksonville, AR
• Benton, AR
• My hometown, AR

This was fun! Thanks tollesons4him!

Chicago

Angie's talking about her favorite summertime shoes over at my pretty purse today. Check it out!

A few good things happened this past Saturday: I got a much needed haircut, my sister came to visit for the day, and there was a night race in Chicago. I just love it when they finish under the lights. Maybe that's why I like going to the November race in Texas so much. It ends at night, too. There's just something about the sun setting on a race track.

Have you ever watched the National Anthem being performed on tv and had to change the channels because it was so embarrassingly bad? That's what I did for this race. Sorry Gavin DeGraw (can I get a collective "who?")

I don't know, I just didn't find this race very exciting. Yeah, Busch and Johnson fought for the win on the last lap, but, whatevs. Elliott Sadler did a good job though. He started 26th and finished 12th. That moves him up 2 spots to number 23 in the standings. I'm happy with that. Know what else I'm happy with? My new haircut! Look for pics on Wednesday.

Kyle Busch gets the win, Michael McDowell gets the red lantern, and Nascar is taking this coming weekend off. Gearing up for Indy.

Who?

Quick! What's the name of the current poet laureate?

Anyone?

Yeah, me neither. But I can tell you the names of Angelina Jolie's children. And the name of Jamie Lynn Spears' new baby. Oh, and Nicole Kidman's too. But not the name of the poet laureate of the United States. Nope. His name just doesn't seem to come up on my People.com gadget. Go figure.


So, for Poetry Friday, please "enjoy" Clouds Gathering by the current poet laureate...Charles Simic.


It seemed the kind of life we wanted.
Wild strawberries and cream in the morning.
Sunlight in every room.
The two of us walking by the sea naked.


Some evenings, however, we found ourselves
Unsure of what comes next.
Like tragic actors in a theater on fire,
With birds circling over our heads,
The dark pines strangely still,
Each rock we stepped on bloodied by the sunset.


We were back on our terrace sipping wine.
Why always this hint of an unhappy ending?
Clouds of almost human appearance
Gathering on the horizon, but the rest lovely
With the air so mild and the sea untroubled.


The night suddenly upon us, a starless night.
You lighting a candle, carrying it naked
Into our bedroom and blowing it out quickly.
The dark pines and grasses strangely still.

Crockpot Chili

My last 4 food posts have been desserts so how 'bout a little protein, okay? How 'bout a big bowl of chili? I know, I know, chili recipes are like blogs--everybody's got one. But this one's my favorite. It's chunky with just the right amount of spices. And there's no standing around a hot stove since it's fixed in a slow-cooker. A definite plus this summer. Enjoy!


Crockpot Chili


1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
1 TBS chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed & drained
1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, rinsed & drained
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 can water


Brown ground beef. While beef is browning add rest of ingredients to crock pot. Add cooked beef and stir. Cook on low for 6 hours.