Saturday, March 27, 2010


Thank you, Easter Bunny!

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Tea Party


This week is Spring Break. Liv has been at the beach with a friend so it has just been Lauryn-Elizabeth and me at home alone while Kevin is at work. I thought this would be great, just the two of us, no problem. Except that Lauryn-Elizabeth and I had two VERY different ideas on what Spring Break should be like.




My idea was that we would rest, relax, just be together and chill. Her idea was that we would be active and DO stuff. See the problem? Well, it has been one, because whenever I wanted to rest and chill, she was disappointed and felt like I was letting her down.




So, today, she wanted a tea party, like the one we went to at the CEPA building on Saturday. I was not particularly interested in putting forth the effort to get one together, but decided that I would since she REALLY wanted one.




So, off to the store we went to buy supplies. And, I'll admit, I was not all that excited. I really wanted to be napping. But, the more she shopped and the more animated Lauryn-Elizabeth got, the more excited I got too. By the time we left, we had told the man who checked us out all about our plans, and I was actually looking forward to this.


We arrive home, and the preparations began full throttle. I made the sandwiches, and Lauryn-Elizabeth washed the fruit (and ate some too) Then I cut the fruit up for our salad. She arranged things on the platters and placed them decoratively on the table. We do not have a tablecloth for our round kitchen table, so we improvised with a bed sheet. (Though, we had a slight roadblock when I realised she had put on the fitted sheet.......).


In the end the menu was as follows:



  • finger sandwiches -- cream cheese and peach jelly (surprisingly good), and chicken salad

  • fruit salad compete with blackberries, blueberries, and raspberries

  • mini muffins in 3 flavors-- banana nut, lemon, and blueberry

  • strawberry shortcake

  • raspberry hot tea with sugar and cream

  • Milano cookies

And, I am glad I did not take a nap ;)


Sunday, March 21, 2010

The Civil Wars in Concert

So, Friday night Joe, Kevin and I all got tickets to see The Civil Wars, and they were awesome! The music was amazing and we had great seats. Front and center. Before they sang, I got so excited that they were finally coming on, that I started clapping all excitedly, and the male lead singer began to laugh at me. He said something….but it was loud in there and I could not understand what he said.

However, the music was perfect, and the crowd loved it (so did I).

After the show, I was able to meet them, get some pics with them, and get their autographs on the CD cover. While I was waiting to talk to them, John Paul, the male singer in the group, dropped a pocket knife (open) and it grazed Joy, the female singer’s leg. So she closed it, and put it up on a stand behind her. Moments later, I decided to grab a magazine that was also on the stand having forgotten about the knife. It fell, and once again, grazed Joy’s leg, only this time it was my fault. I began to laugh hysterically, intensely embarrassed. Joy grabbed the knife and told John Paul the knife was dangerous and to put it up! O dear…..

Anyway, here are some pics of the concert.













Me talking to Joy Williams "I am such a BIG fan!!!"



Kevin, me and Joe with The Civil Wars



Me with Joy and John Paul

What's Your Distraction?

On Friday night, I had the opportunity to go to see a band I had been wanting to see, The Civil Wars. The opening singer, was a guy I had never heard before, Duquette Johnson. First note he sang, and I was hooked. He has a pure voice, which made me think of Damien Rice almost immediately.



His songs were so well written. I am a sucker for a well turned phrase, and his music was full of amazing word combinations. I loved the fact that nothing in his music sounded the same as any of his other songs, nor did he mimic anyone else's songs. Each word seemed to be specifically picked and I was entranced. I cannot wait to hear him again, and to buy his CD.



There was one phrase that stuck out to me, however. In his song, "Rubies are Pure," he sang about people who were "begging distraction."



Begging distraction.....



What an amazing commentary on the human spirit. What person isn't begging for a distraction?



We go to work, and we comment to our coworkers, that we cannot wait till we get to go home. We want to take our minds off of work. We go home and we search for something to take our minds off of whatever we are doing there. We hang out on Facebook, we watch TV, we play the Wii, or whatever game system we own, we go to concerts, we make vacation plans, we *insert what you do here*



Begging distraction. We are always searching for that thing to take our minds off of things.



I think Duquette hit the nail on the head there.