Some Journey

Daddies' Girls

We're babysitting for some friends in Atlanta who also have five children and haven't had a weekend away for quite some time. So we've got 10 kids this weekend. . .and so far it's not nearly as bad as it sounds. Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't want to do this all the time. . .but I think we'll make it through the weekend just fine. We rented a movie, Kangaroo Jack (which, incidentally, I do not recommend. . .I made the mistake of renting without consulting Plugged In Online), and Stephen suddenly had a lap full of girls. He's enjoying having girls in the house, and Syd has been a wonderful hostess.
Sam and Elijah most definitely feed off each other. . .we may end up having to separate them before the weekend is over just to get some quiet. :)

Anyway, the kids are fine, so enjoy your weekend, Sylvia and Felton.

PS Lynn, your boys are fine too. Hurley spent quite some time laying on my back porch giggling at. . .air. And when it came time to leave Gid said, "I going Ninny's house."

Corn rows

When I was in Mexico last year I got my hair corn rowed on the beach. It cost me $25, and was done in about 20 min. When I got home, Sydney loved it and wanted hers done, so I inquired a couple of hair places and discovered that it is very expensive and time consuming here in the States. Up to $10/braid and several hours!! Sydney has a good friend up the street who is African American and her mom offered to do it for Syd, which made Syd happy and looked so adorable. Unfortunately her hair is so fine it didn't last long. Anyway, I loved the low maintenance aspect of the style, so as soon as we arrived at the hotel in Acapulco Friday afternoon, I made a bee line for the beach with $20 (determined to bargain a better deal this year). It was only a matter of minutes before I was approached by a local who agreed to do it for $20. She actually agreed to do it for 200 pesos, which would have been a slightly better deal, but I didn't have any pesos yet. Anyway, I was pleased. She did a much better job than the girls who did it last year, and it seems to be lasting better. I got red, green and white beads to match the Mexican flag.

The most rewarding part was when Joseph walked in after we returned and immediately said, "Oh, Mommy! You're braids and your beads look so beautiful!"

Linguistic Profile

Just got back from Mexico at 2:15 this morning. Stephen and I spent the weekend there for a Project Orientation Trip in preparation for our Mission Trip to Acapulco in July. I'll do a lot more blogging on that later. But for now I decided to catch up on a few blogs and discovered the linguistic profile quiz linked on my brother-in-law's blog. Those of you who know me know that I am obsessed with language. I am often told that I don't really sound like I was born and raised in the south, which is the way I prefer it. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the 30%, but I guess it's not too bad for living here all my life.

Zoo

We joined Sam's class for a field trip to the zoo today. It was great. We got to join them for a reptile and insect demo, and those of you who know Joseph know that those are his two favorite things in the world. The kids each got to pet a python and a tortoise.

Joseph was disappointed that he didn't get to hold the hissing cockroach, but I was secretly relieved. They are apparently pretty "fragile". . .hard for me to think of a cockroach as "fragile".

The big event for the day, though, was that Joseph actually went in to the petting zoo and petted the goats. As most people who have ever met Joseph know, his love of reptiles and insects is only equalled by his fear of mammals. Alligators, yes. Cats and dogs, no. So he usually waits outside the gate while the other kids go into the petting zoo. I don't know what made the differenct today, but he was good to go.

Sorry, another Alias entry.

Guess I'm making up for lost time, but I am totally stoked (since Scott used it, I will) after seeing last night's Alias preview. We have waited four seasons to hear Vaughn and Syd say "I love you." Now, on most shows, it would make sense to hold off. But their lives are in danger every week. You think it might have crossed their minds! Last week as Syd lay in the coffin supposedly breathing her last, I appreciated the sweetness of Vaughn's "We'll be dancing before you know it" comment. But all I could think was "She's DYING! You may never see her again! Don't you think that might be a good time to let her know how you feel?!?" I know. It's just a show. *deep breath*
All this to say that here's last night's preview:

Vaughn: I love you.
Syd: Yeah?
They kiss.
Vaughn punches Syd in the face.

What the heck??? Well, it worked for me. I can't wait to see it!

Drunken Toasters Celebrate

WARNING: ALIAS SPOILERS
Don't read this entry if you don't want to be spoiled (Mako!).

I haven't done an Alias blog entry in a while, and this week's episode was so great, I thought it seemed like as good a time as any. I am getting excited about the remainder of the Alias season. I haven't followed spoilers this season, partly because the season's slow start didn't really create much interest for me. But the eps with Sark were fantastic, and this week's Marshall-centric episode was the best!! "I have a spork!!"
So last week I was checking TVGuide.com to see if Lost was a repeat or not (which it was) to see whether or not to have my VCR set up before or after choir, and lo and behold, up pops a photo of Lena Olin! The article that followed said that she was negotiating a deal with JJAbrams to appear on Alias again. Well, that was plenty of motive for me to sniff out my old spoiler sources, and it turns out that she will appear in the season finale! Spymommy is back! In addition, there will be two other guest stars that I am pretty pumped about, particularly having their characters in the same ep with Irina. I can hardly wait!
Also, one of the upcoming episodes will be directed by Jennifer Garner and will be very Rimbaldi-centric, and will include a guest star that really has me going "hmm. . . ."
So, you're probably wondering. . .Drunken Toasters??? Goes back to a scene from season 2 in which Irina and Jack discuss an incident in which they basically got drunk and burned the house down via a toaster malfunction. "Drunken Toasters" became a title used online by those who were "Irina-Jack-shippers". . .those hoping for a relationship btwn Jack and Irina.

In the meantime, some of my favorite moments from this week's episode:

"Syd, this guy buried you alive."
"Yeah, but he cheated and hit me with a car first."

"I have a spork."
"What is a spork?"

"Approach the second eye gently. . . like a soft boiled egg."

"Do you have any idea how difficult it is to maintain cover in four inch heels?"
"Actually, I do, but let's keep that between us."

"C'mon, Vaughn, this isn't that hard!"
"Give me a break, I've never done this before."
"I do this stuff for you people all the time!"

"No, Marshall, your other north!"

"Hush, little Mitchell, don't you cry. . .Daddy's gonna teach you the lanthanides. . ."