Happy Birthday, Kelley!

Celebration of Solstice and Us :-)

Three years ago today Goodman and I met on a somewhat "blind date" after only talking online and by phone for about a week. We met up at Cafe Mundi for some cool beverages, spent about an hour together and then were inseparable.

Here's to many more years laughing, loving, and talking together.



I love you Goodman!

Graduation Fun

What a big day and busy month! Hannah's graduation was GREAT. The ceremony was in the Austin Community College auditorium next door to the elementary school and had all the real deal rituals of most graduation ceremonies, including the group tossing of the mortar boards. Hannah earned her diploma, as well as a certificate for being on honor roll all year and a certificate for being a PAL (Peer Assistance Leadership).

The graduating class was only 34 children, many of whom have been together for the last 7 years or longer as Hannah actually went to preschool with two of them. There was a bit long, but sweet, slide show of the kids through the years. Lots of memories :-) A teary poem from one of their teachers and many thank yous.

And then it was time for the first ever dance.......Boogie Down! We spent weeks looking for the right dress and special ordered the monochrome black chucks. Worked on curling the hair for 30 minutes only to have it fall in 10. Ah, beauty. I flat iron my curls and she curls her straight hair. Why do we always want what we don't have?



Hannah received her first corsage from Ismael who has been crushing on her for awhile now. They are both smart, sensitive, well behaved kids. Ismael is president of the student council and gave a speech. Goodman even said he would start going to bible study classes if it meant Hannah would snatch a good boy like Ismael (who happens to come from a very religious family). Me? Church? Bible Study? Not a chance. Hannah is on her own there.

As for the overture of friendship flowers, Hannah was polite, and then immediately went running around and danced with the girls. Smart one. Time enough for all that boy stuff (or girl stuff) later :-)

It was a nice celebration and a bit of closure. They will never be this attached to a school, teachers, or a group of children again. It's off to O.Henry middle school for 2 years and then high school and beyond.

Kelley's Got a New Look

Yaaay! Bangs!

Round and Round the May Pole

Hannah has been waiting seven years for her turn. The MayPole has been a Pease tradition for 101 years and only the graduating 6th graders have the honor. It is one of the traditions that endeared us to Pease when we heard about it. Wow, a public school doing a pagan ritual. How cool is that? And then I married a man born on Beltane, we should SO have a May Pole in our backyard. At the event called May Fete there are alumni and this year we had people who attended Pease in the 1940s. Many of the leaders of Texas attended this elementary and now Hannah has her name etched in stone there too :-) I'm so glad we went back. (Hannah's the wee one back on the left in a dark vest.)

Birthday Thanks

Goodman writes:

I celebrated my birthday two days early this year, for logistical reasons. I was kind of freaking out beforehand about growing so incredibly old, but I ended up having a great time, thanks to family and friends. And I got one of those Flip camcorders! Cue video:

Stephen Colbert's Anti-Gay Marriage Campaign

Happy Easter!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Dad's visiting us in Austin! He was supposed to arrive on his
birthday. The airline was not cooperative.

Cool Kid - How did I get so lucky?

Celebrate

I celebrate slick rain drops against my skin, warm Saturday mornings when I wake to wind chimes cheery clatter, my musty home full of crisp linen, soft blankets, and creaky chairs.

I celebrate loud music in my mind, happiness in people’s eyes, peace and well being in my home, togetherness of joyous friends, sun beaming on my cool face, pools on days when Austin’s hot breath steams down. Ice cream in December, strawberry smoothies and warm holiday lights streaming from cracked porch roofs. Light bulbs glowing warmly, candle flames flickering, family smiling at my improvement. The sound of crunching my feet on gravel, things that make fall seem like Autumn, and my best friend’s favorite shade of purple.

Hannah, 08-09, 6^th grade

Hannah at Rodeo Austin

No, no, Hannah. You're supposed to rope them, not make friends with
them!

A Post By Kelley and Goodman

[Goodman writes]

You know, I've really gotten spoiled by Twitter, where posts can only be 140 characters long. But Kelley and I have decided to do a full size blog post today, and post some pictures.

To begin with, I suppose we should say a few words about Valentine's Day. It was pretty sweet. I bought Kelley a six-pack of light beer, and she gave me some Hershey bars she shoplifted from the pharmacy. We spent most of the day drinking and watching video tapes of our favorite football games. Kelley got on her "speak truth to power" kick, and started yelling at the mailman on account of the post office bein' complicit in blowing up the Twin Towers on 9/11. I shot up the tires of the neighbor's car- don't remember why now. Pretty much a typical Valentine's Day.

[Kelley writes]

lol, I can think of a few reasons to shoot up the neighbor's tires....but that is another story. I, on the other hand, became overwhelmed by Twitter and soon deleted it. Facebook and Blogger are enough. Too much to keep track of already.

As for Valentines Day, ah, my Goodman is such a sentimentalist :-) He actually created a very slutty red light district for us,


followed quickly by promises to clean the toilet sometime in 2009. True love XO He also gave me the requisite roses and singing balloon of "I've got you babe" along with a special handmade card and glass heart wind chimes.


Hannah and I created a treasure hunt for him where he had to follow clues to his present which was accompanied by a bag of candy. His present was a pair of black Converse All -Stars which signifies that he is now officially truly one of us, and we are a family as we have matching shoes. We love chucks.

Conversation heart candies we chosen, I might add, which in an OCD moment I had to organize into actual conversations while Hannah and Goodman tried to eat them :-/




Fortunately I saved the best and captured their intent before they were whisked away to dissolve in the mouths of those I love.

[Goodman writes]

Don't forget about the Valentine's Day doormat! And the whole family went and saw a musical called Wanda's World, at the Zach Scott Theatre! Then we grabbed some dinner at EZ's (popular hangout of the championship Dillon Panthers), and headed home where we... well, I don't remember exactly what we did when we got home, but it was probably something romantic like watching TV or something.

What else have we been up to? Well, let's see, Hannah's choir class performed Thursday at Pease for a African-American Heritage Month celebration singing "Lift Every Voice and Sing"

and then her orchestra class performed "Lord of the Rings" and "Pirates of the Caribbean" at an O. Henry Middle School ice cream social (She started playing the violin).

Oh, and that reminds me, Hannah's been accepted into O. Henry Middle School next year! I'm so pleased that Hannah is going to a school named for an Austin writer and convicted embezzler.

What else it up? Well, tonight Kelley and I are going to dinner at Malaga with her friends Robin and Mark, and then we're catching a production of Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband at the Long Center. It sounds great, but they ought to start handing out 3D glasses to the audiences at live theatre, because Hollywood has shown that ticket sales always go up when the show is in 3D.

Anyway, so that's what's up for now. See ya!