Crawfish Woman & Some Chaotic Family Christmas Photos.

MENU OF THE DAY:

Video: thanks to my husband, we have the soon to be famous Crawfish Woman song on YouTube now. That is my brother Scott on vocals (who made up the words as he was singing) my nephew Brian, (who cracks me up because he is so serious throughout the song while we're all busting up) and my mom is dancing showing her signature sultry moves (with a full glass of wine that i can't believe she didn't spill) and Ashley stars in it too on the sidelines. I shot this video, believe it or not, with my Nikon D90 camera (on Christmas Eve).

In my glass: nothing, because there is no glass.

What I'm wearing: my new Nike sweatpants.

Reading: Dangerously Funny, the new book about the Smothers Brothers show. I LOVE this book. And i want to marry Tom Smothers he really stood up for what he believed. I had no idea how ahead of their time Tom Smothers was. We lived in Japan for most of their three seasons so I missed much of the show as a kid. I also finished the fourth Louise Penny mystery today.

Presents: I received great presents, one of them is a new Netbook computer from my husband, which i am going to love. I don't have to return anything!

iTunes: i just got another iTunes card in time since i only have five cents left which i was just reminded about when i tried to buy Donovan's Atlantis song. (Do any of y'all remember that song?) i got the idea of wanting it from the Smothers Brothers book i'm reading. My last iTunes purchase was Behind Blue Eyes by The Who, another great old song. (I guess i'm on a retro kick right now. )

Quote: "Reading good books ruin you for enjoying bad books". Isola to Juliet in The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society.






Photos: Until I can come up with another idea for a blog post here are a few photos from Christmas Eve. The real blurry one is my dad which i thought was kind of artsy. Also Ashley (Modern Hippie's sister) appears wearing her Dad's Ugly Christmas sweater that she and Kylee/Hippie made for him.





Also appearing, are my mom, and in these following shots, Scott and Troy (my brothers) and Troy's son, Brian. They are laughing because they were microwaving beer, insisting it tasted pretty good. Yep, some families serve eggnog or mulled wine, but not us.

This photo cracks me up because they stopped posing but i took one more shot as they both looked away from each other.

Christmas Eve Eve Eve musings. And Mandolin Cafe photos

MENU OF THE DAY:

on the iPod: John Butler Trio (but i can't think of the song title and i am too lazy to walk the 32 steps into the other room to look.)

Book: At Barnes and Noble today i picked up the paperback Up in the Air which is a recent movie starring George Clooney. The book is pretty good so far!

Photos: I took these at The Mandolin Cafe, which is a hip, urban bohemian coffee/wine bar. Ms. hippie/kylee, Brian and i went there Sunday night for open mic, which is so fun. Included is a photo of Kylee/ms hippie wearing my glasses (I love this photo of her).

Christmas Moment: See the photo of the dad in the Santa hat and the little girl playing violin? that's the Christmas moment. They played an instrumental Christmas song (Kylee, maybe you remember which one because i don't) and the father was so proud beaming at his daugher, who was only 9 years old. they got the most applause of the night and i went over to tell her what a good job she did.

Mandolin Cafe Music: the best band is actually professional and they do this for exposure. They are a funky band out of California called Champagne Sunday. They travel from gig to gig in an RV (and i think they live in it too). They are amazing! The lead blonde woman (see photo playing guitar) has the most amazing jazz voice. They play all kinds of music and have their own cds and this is really their job. Their version of Ray LaMontagne's Jolene nearly brought me to tears. their lead guitarist just played the piano and she sang. It was amazing. The guy in the yellow shirt is an exchange student from Ecuador named Juan. In Spanish he sang a beautiful song in a beautiful voice. when i showed him the photos (I had a couple) his host dad asked me to email them because he was upset that he hadn't thought to bring his own camera. So i did. He was so thankful. He is only 19. and was so nervous. He also got lots of applause.

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1. I wish i had musical talent. But i already know that i don't want to take the time to learn. (I would love to know how to play guitar.)

2. I can't help but feel some musical talent has to be in your DNA at birth. i already know that the Louvraks (my maiden name) don't have that DNA.

3. I don't mind trying to learn everything i can about flyfishing, because i think flyfishing CAN be learned, you don't have to be born to it. It's not like they give out Grammys for flyfishing.

4. Though i wouldn't have minded one bit if Norman Maclean was my father.

5. You know what i really hate about Christmas commercials right now? (I believe i might have ranted about this on Gumbo years ago.) I HATE HATE HATE those BMW and Lexus commercials as if most people can afford to buy one of those for someone for Christmas. I do not want to know people who buy these kinds of gifts for Christmas. Even if they want to buy ME one!

6. So Ms hippie's older sister, Ashley, is stressed out about buying her new boyfriend a Christmas present and i can understand that. They both agreed earlier to not do that since it's a new relationship. But now he is getting ready to break the rules because he has been checking in with Kylee for what to get Ashley and hippie/Kylee told her. So she asks me for an idea what to get him. I jokingly write back, make him a CD mix. And here is Ashley's reply which totally cracked me up (written in caps just as she did: )

AM NOT MAKING A CD MIX.........OR ANYTHING ELSE ALL MUSHY AND LOVEY OMG IM NOT TALKING ABOUT ALL THIS I WANT TO PUKE IM SOO STRESSED

7. LOL.... I think Christmas can be pretty stressful on new relationships!

8. I just thought of something. Since he broke the rules, it might be pretty funny to get him back my making a joke cd mix but not letting him know right away that she meant it as a joke. She could include the Wind Beneath my Wings (my new funeral song) . Maybe we could even get louielouie to record it for us!

9. The problem would be she would have to pay 99 cents for them (unless we can commission louielouie). Maybe she could just buy one crappy song and repeat it over and over.

10. If y'all have ideas about a joke cd mix for Ashley for her boyfriend, let us know! I'll pass them on to her.

11. It's really a pretty ironic to love your friends but to approach your mailbox with dread during the holiday season that you are going to actually receive a Christmas card from them. Because then it means you are going to feel guilty for not returning the gesture. I am terrible about cards. Because for one thing, they take me too long because i have to write in them. Every season i buy a box of 8 cards and i usually have about 2 left over. And i hope the following year a couple of those folks don't notice that they got the same card twice in a row! consider yourself super honored if you got one from me. (But if you didn't, don't think that means i don't care about you.)

Merry Christmas everyone! Thanks for making this blog fun. And to the rest of y'all who just read, please join in. (Make it your New Year's Resolution!)

• Come visit and let me know of your ideas for a cheesy song for Ashley's new boyfriend's cd mix.
• Tell us all what your latest Christmas Moment was.
• And also i would like to know what your favorite Christmas carol is. (I already mentioned mine is o come o come emmanuel.
• and anything else you want to talk about. Grammar? punctuation? show-offy new words that nobody else knows about?

Please come tell your best Christmas story. . . Here's mine.

Menu of the Day:

What' i've been doing: Making Italian Wedding Soup with about 80 homemade meatballs.

Song playing: Diamonds and Rust by Baez. This song slays me.

What else I've done today: took a nap. went for a run with Mrs. Modern Hippie, you know?...i think that's it.

Public Service Announcement: If you still get the newspaper delivered to your home, (and i hope you do) please remember to write a check for your carrier. the way i figure it, you tip a waitress more than $10 or more sometimes for an hour of service to deliver your food. A poor paper carrier is braving the weather, dark, cold, (depending on where you live) dogs, and maybe even muggers (also depending on where you live).

Re: Photos: the saddest photo to ever put in my tree is the one of my nephew Joshua, added this year. (My tradition is to put photos of lost loved ones in the tree. The good years are the ones when you never have to add a new one.) The other photos are my tree this year, (which looks like every year). The rest are just random photos of my house taken today.

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Here is one of my favorite Christmas stories. (I have told this on Gumbo before, so it will be a repeat for some of you. )

I do love the little condo community where i live. We have made some very good friends, like Dorothy (who was like family to Brian and me and when she died two years ago we grieved like family and who also sadly adorns our tree with a photo) and other folks like Bob and Lois and Cas, who hang out with us at the pool, many who are older, as more older folks live here than not. I have some good friends. But there are some people who live here i don't like very well at all because of their attitudes towards others.

One of the NON-older folks who lived here named Kathy had rented a condo for about 20 years. And she had teenage kids who sometimes got in trouble for stupid stuff, like trying to swim in the pool during non-adult hours, that sort of thing. Plus Kathy dated African American guys occasionally. This bothered some of the more conservative folks who lived here. Plus the fact that she rented didn't help her status. I liked her just fine. She wasn't a friend. But i liked her. I didn't like her teen daughter so much, but i did like her son.

Anyway, one of the older women Betty, who lived in my building was very crafty and went around decorating our lampposts which are outside everyone's condo. She wrapped them with greenery and red ribbon. It was beautiful. And in addition to our building she always did the condo adjacent to ours too because she was friends with our friend Dorothy and some other neighbors.

Kathy's condo unit happened to be on the very end. And so Betty would decorate every single lamp post in our building and every single lamp post in the condo next to us, EXCEPT for Kathy's condo.

So when you drove in you would see these uniformly happy lampposts, except for the lone one on the end.

This bugged me. But it REALLY bugged my husband, so much he went to the store. He bought (as close as he could get it) the exact same greenery and ribbon. And he said he wanted to go out and decorate that lamppost for them. So one night, very close to Christmas, (it was nearly 1 o' clock in the morning, and very cold too!) he and i bundled up and went out and decorated Kathy's lamppost so that when they woke up the next morning it looked like the others.

We never told anyone. Not even Kathy. And not to Betty either. And since then Betty and Kathy have both moved away and no one has done any lamppost decorating for a few years. But i still think about that Christmas feeling i had decorating that lamppost.

OK, come tell us your feel good Christmas story. It doesn't have to be the BEST memory, just a good memory.

Are you thinking what I'm thinking?

Photo: I took this photo on our T-Day Island trip but forgot to include it in my last post which is weird because it was one of my favorites. I think my favorite photos are ones that are simple and unencumbered. Feng shui.

OK, here's what i'm thinking:

1. Tiger Woods should send a thank you card to Amanda Knox.

2. Tiger should also be glad that he isn't a pro-bowler.

3. I am not sure if Amanda Knox is guilty or not because i've not kept up with the story in a big way (as i did in the OJ days), but if a book comes out i would likely read it and then make up my mind.

4. When did it happen that we were made to feel that we are WAY behind on Christmas the day after Thanksgiving. I remember a time when it was weird to hear Christmas carols on Dec. 1st or to put up a Christmas tree before Dec. 10th.

5. I want to be green. I really do, but have you seen those LED lights? They remind me of the terrible unflattering fluorescent lighting in grocery stores.

6. I have a thing against folks in our Evergreen State getting fake Christmas trees. We have the best Christmas trees in the world! Getting a fake tree, to me, is the same as having fake flowers in your house. I get shots and have terrible allergies to trees but i just take antihistamine because it's always been my thing....the Christmas tree.

7. My favorite Christmas Carol is o come o come emmanuel. My least favorite is either Jingle Bells or I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus. (My favorite Christmas cd lately is Sarah McLachan's Wintersong. (I love how she does Joni's River.

8. Ok. let's talk about the four police officers who were killed in our state. These officers come from the town where we live. I didn't know them, but i do remember the woman officer driving around. and she was in some of our schools. This is a tragic shocking story. We were coming back from the island (where you never lock your doors) and on the ferry back Mrs. Modern Hippie (Kylee's mom) told me what happened. Lakewood isn't that big, about 65,000 people. It only became a city about 11 years ago. But we get so much bad press that I believe Brian's mom (who lives on the other side of the state) must think we risk our lives every time we venture out to the grocery store. (We even used to be featured on the TV show "Cops".)

We knew this would be national news when we heard it, but i was not thinking that someone as huge as Anderson Cooper would actually be doing the story. But he did. I feel bad for the Lakewood Police who lost their comrades. I feel bad for the families. I do. And every business in our town has some sort of message on their signs or windows. The support is absolutely amazing. The police station is piled with flowers and letters and cards and candles. People are putting blue lights in their windows.

But i wondered about this ....because we also live close to Fort Lewis where many of the soldiers are dying in Iraq and Afghanistan. They get a story in our News Tribune. Usually front page too. But the story is over in a day. There is nothing that comes close to the outpouring of support for our own soldiers as there is for these police officers. No listing of names on signs. No flags at half mast. So i'm thinking....if i were the mother of a soldier who died. How would i feel ?

9. And I can't help it, i was not sorry when i found out that a Seattle police officer killed the guy who did it.

10. Back to Amanda Knox for a minute... Why is this story so bigtime anyway? 'cause she's cute? 'cause sex is involved? Here is what is funny to me: Do you think that if Susan Boyle looked like Amanda Knox and sang just like Susan Boyle on that show, would she have been the YouTube sensation? AND if Amanda Knox looked like Susan Boyle, would the media care about the story of one American on trial for murder in Italy this much?

Ok, that's all i got. You don't have to post only about what i'm thinking. What are you thinking too that others might be thinking?

Giving happy thanks...without family...and without power!

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With things going on i knew that i was going to need some kind of break from family this holiday so that i could make it all the way through to New Year's and remain sane. So we chose to skip Thanksgiving this year and made reservations at our favorite place on the water .

When we told people what we were doing for the Thanksgiving I expected them to look at us like we were weird, but many people were envious.

We brought more wine than we need, more books than i can read, and more food than we can eat and the four days off from work will REALLY feel like four days for the first time.

And yesterday afternoon at 1:30 as we were getting ready to roast our 6 lb turkey breast with carrots and celery the power went off. And Brian and i looked at each other and went uh oh. Our punishment for blowing off family?

We actually didn't mind at all. We had lots of candles, a wood stove, and we weren't entertaining 12 family members like the poor woman two cabins down. So Brian fired up the BBQ and we cooked the turkey and potatoes and beans that way. I wasn't able to make everything i had planned, but that was okay. We had plenty. The worst thing about the power is we didn't have a way to listen to music. (Here are pictures from the day.)

Five hours later almost to the minute of finishing our dinner, the power came back on and we just laughed and were a little bit sorry too.We were fully prepared to go the whole weekend improvising.

We did call our families and wish them a Happy Thanksgiving and I am thankful for all of them and also for their understanding and love.

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Menu of the Day: (I decided to put it at the bottom instead.)

in my cup: really strong coffee

what's going on: Brian's cooking bacon

last book read: Newsweek reporter Wolffe's "Renegade" book about Obama's campaign. VERY good. (I read it in one day.)

next book: Another Louise Penny mystery. (this is my third one. I love these books. These are not cheesy mysteries, they actually have lots of wisdom and remarkable characters that you wish were your neighbors.

music: Sinatra's "Can't take that away from you"

last iTunes purchase: Jason Isbell (forget the title)

looking forward to: putting up our Christmas tree this week and listening to Christmas music.

what i'm not looking forward to: I have NO ideas, nor have i started on, Christmas shopping.

quote: "We don't always have a choice how we get to know one another. Sometimes, people fall into our lives cleanly - as if out of the sky, or as if there were a direct flight from Heaven to Earth - the same sudden way we lose people, who once seemed they would always be a part of our lives." --John Irving "Last Night in Twisted River"

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I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. Come tell us about it.

Even when i've got nothing to say, i've got something. But it's kind of nothing. So i added photos.

Menu of the Day

On iTunes: Stephen Kellogg "Big Easy" (I cannot get enough of this guy!)

In my glass: Fresca with a little bit of cranberry juice.

On my bedstand: "The Cruelest Month" mystery by Louise Penny.

What's good: It was a good family day. (Happy phone calls with my brother and nephew - one day at a time.) I had a good run this evening. And Brian's band played at The Swiss last Sunday and our friends came. It was fun and the best they've sounded. Here are photos of the night. (The top one is my self-portrait in the bathroom.)

What's not good: I feel bored at work. No challenge lately. I also have no ideas about Christmas presents. And i feel like i should be doing something but i don't feel like it.

Last iTunes purchase: Steven Carlson's version of "She's Not There".

OK, on with the random thoughts. (I really don't know what i have to say.)

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1. These photos are the lights outside The Swiss. The photo below with the foosball players i liked because it has an Edward Hopper-y feel to it.

2. I was a terrible foosball player back in the days of 1970's high school when foosball was so popular.

3. I actually never did like soccer, still don't.

4. In fact i think it's one of the reasons i didn't have kids. I could never see myself as being a soccer mom and i would hate to give up my Saturdays to watch my kid (who i'm sure would have been a lousy soccer player) play soccer in the rain and cold.

5. Someone needs to tell me what's going on the news. I've not been watching or reading. And all Comcast tells me is that Oprah made Kate Hudson squirm and Nicole Ritchie is in the hospital. (Neither headline riveted me enough to open it. )

6. Formatting this blog is freaking frustrating because i never know how it's going to space - you put a double space in but it won't show up. And you never know where the photos will end up. So you have to keep going back to edit. Do any of y'all who blog have this same problem? It's not consistent.

7. I am a huge fan of consistency. For example, if you are a bitchy type of person, then please always just be a bitch. Don't mess me up by being nice all of a sudden. I can totally accept that far better than someone who is hot and cold or passive aggressive.

8. I also realize people can't always be in a good mood (Lord knows I am not) but i have a difficult time being around someone is very often moody or sullen as a personality trait.

9. I was telling equeyaya on her blog that Brian and i just watched "The Wizard of Oz" too the other night. Then we got into this discussion about being scared as a child of the flying monkeys. Brian has a much better imagination than i do and gets more startled in scary movies than i do so of course he admitted he was scared of the monkeys. I was not. I don't remember ever being scared. But that night I was the one who had a scary dream about those damn monkeys.

10. Baby Boomers, remember when you used to wait all year long to watch "The Wizard of Oz"? And then if you were like us, you had to watch it on the damn black and white TV for years until the parents finally bought a color TV.

11. I also had a dream about John Mellencamp. And last week I had one about being Brad Pitt's girlfriend. (Angelina's name never even came up, he was so over her.)

12. People shouldn't talk about their dreams, huh? Cause when you do, there is really no good response for it is there? "Oh, that's cool you dreamt you saved a little boy's life from the clutches of a mountain lion and got on the cover of "Outside"magazine. Oh too bad it was a dream . But good for you being so brave in your dream!"

13. I tell you it's hard to be inspired while drinking Fresca. I'm much more clever writing after wine. (At least I think so.) But in real life i am so much LESS clever after drinking wine.

14. Actually i can say some real stupid things without thinking after three glasses of wine. It's like I channel Elodie, my mother.

15. Back to Kate Hudson for a second. I can't believe she dumped Chris Robinson (from The Black Crowes) for that Alex Rodriguez. He's cute, but he's a chump. I never did like him when he played for the Mariners. (So i hoped Oprah jumped her ass for something to do with Alex.)

OK, so that's all i got. Come and add your own random thoughts. I'll end it with a photo of my nephew Brian from last Sunday. He's cute.

Half Full or Half Empty? Come Here & Take a Test!

Menu of the Day:

on iTunes: Chris Robinson (from the Black Crowes) doing "If You See California". I just bought it, so this answers the second part.

Last iTunes purchase: See above.

What I'm reading: Recommended by Sarah/Cowboy a mystery by Louise Penny called "Still Life". I like it!


Looking forward to: This Wednesday because I get Veteran's Day off!

New iTunes Discovery: Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers. they are awesome! I bought songs from Glassjaw Boxer.

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My brother and his oldest son are still having some struggles that i worry very much about. But i'm learning to not keep the worry to myself or to act as if i am the only one who can help. And in doing so, some good things have come about and i am having some real hope for them both and for us all. My brother sent me an email this weekend that i saved and printed out because it made me realize how much I can learn from him.

I don't know of a single soul right now who has more reason to feel that his glass is totally empty than he does. But he doesn't. First, he lost his marriage. Before that, he found out he lost his good credit through no fault of his own. (Part of the reason for #1) Then he lost much of his belongings because he didn't change the locks soon enough. Last spring he got notice that his house that he loves and bought 15 years ago will likely foreclose. Last summer his dog died. And a few weeks later he had to sell his horse because he could no longer afford him. And just when it seemed like he could lose nothing else, he lost his son. And all of this happened only since last January.

But he wrote me after a particularly difficult day last week about how he feels lucky in spite of all that has happened to him. And he really does see the glass as half full, in spite of all that has happened. He is working hard at putting that one foot in front of the other every day and helping his son do the same. I don't often think this way, but i can't help but feel that God is walking with him. (Remember that old one set of footsteps parable?)

Anyway, it got me thinking of how often i see the negative before the positive. And i want to work on that more. I have so many ways in which I am blessed and very little bad has happened to me personally and i need to be reminded of that.

Anyway, in thinking about all of this and needing to change my blog i found this online test from about.com and the link is below. I thought it would be interesting for us to take it. You don't have to tell us the results if you don't want to, but maybe you can share any examples of how you look at life as the glass half full.

http://healing.about.com/library/quiz/happy/blhappyquiz.htm


My results (and i was really trying to be very honest): You are a pretty happy person. Your glass is half full. Great!