Remembered: Goodbye Womb, Hello World!

Three, dearest Three, you have a nice smile [^ see above]

And a comfortable, casual, J.Crew chic style.

Your passion is boundless, your thoughts very deep

(And not all the commandments do you necessarily keep).

Your chapel's the kitchen, and you most every day

Whip up some nice praise, and worship sauté.

Your design sensibilities are truly acute;

I'll skip real rhyming to restate that you're cute.

You really love -- the genuine thing,

And your pronouncements have a perspicacious ring.

We love you too, in that there's no doubt

So the following with saying can go without:

We hope your day is better than best --

Have a super-great-wicked-fun-tastic 24th birthday fest!

A sign

So, I saw this:

while walking around New Haven the other day. It's in the alley behind Kitchen Zinc. I'm pretty sure that it has something to do with aliens. I wanted to give FIVE readership an exclusive heads-up:

PREPARE YOURSELF.

THEY DO NOT NECESSARILY COME IN PEACE.

You can thank me later.

Never ask me for directions. If I give them to you, don't listen.

Last weekend, after finishing dozens of hand drawings (mostly Five) and hundreds of pages of reading (mostly me) we decided to reward ourselves with a little field trip into New Haven. When venturing off campus, one has to be careful. New Haven is, after all, a real--relatively--gritty city. Needless to say I don't think Five was too keen handing over navigation responsibilities to me. Our conversation on the subject went something like this:

Four: "Last year Two and I discovered a really cool vintage shop here in New Haven."
Five: "Uh huh"
Four: "I think you'd really like it. I don't really know where it is, but I think I might remember if we wander around a little bit..."
Five: "I'd rather stay inside these hallowed walls."
Four: "But I'm pretty sure I kind of know where it is. I'm pretty sure I know the vicinity which Two and I were in when we found it, so we should be alright."
Five: "Hmm..."

 Here's the thing, I have a terrible habit of giving very authoritative, absolutely bogus directions. I wish people didn't trust me to get them where they needed to go, but they do (usually because I really think I know!). But, I'm almost always wrong. Despite my appalling history, Five decided to allow our little adventure. After winding my way in and out of streets for the better part of an hour, Five suggested we return to the comfort of our dorms. I asked if we could try just one more street. I was positive that this street would lead us to our intended destination. Rather hesitantly, Five agreed. We rounded the corner and, for once in my life I was right! We had arrived at the darling little shop. Five refused to try anything on, but given the stupendous selection of fairytale ballgowns, 1920s flapper dresses, Jackie-O inspired frocks and pill box hats, I couldn't resist.

*Five would also like to note that she has an extremely steady hand. Due to the lighting and her abhorrence of flashes, a longer exposure was necessary for the above pictures. This is how the one that I tried to take turned out:

Epic fail.

What you doin?

I have been doing quite a bit recently, and I haven't really posted about my activities, because I'm worried I'm not going to do them justice.  But now, I have so much to say and more just keeps on coming, so I have decided to do a little purge, and then expound later if the mood hits me...

So, here's what I've been up to!

Reading a lot of this...

so I can help design this...

Practicing my back swing...

 with him.

Making silly faces...

with her.

While saying CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

to this girl...

 and these two (it was the most fantastic, thoughtful wedding ever btw ♥)

Combing the beach...

and finding some of these...

but thinking of these!

And falling more in love everyday...

with you know who.

Say a little prayer for ... well... me.

There was a time when I felt sheepish asking for the prayers and help of others.  I was one of the people who did the praying and did the helping.  I was one of those rare souls who had an uncanny ability to buoy people up and never drag people down.

Or so I thought.

In one of the Universe's "teaching moments," my situation changed. My medical prognosis changed from totally healthy to freakishly ill and I needed people.  A lot.  This all climaxed just about two years ago when I received a bilateral lung transplant.

It's been an incredible two years with tremendous highs and lows that defied my very active imagination.  And now, just as some major events in my life are imminent -- from marriage to big debuts and world travel -- it seems like my body and my lungs are just having a hard time getting along or something.

Thankfully, I have an amazing family and amazing friends who are helping me with everything from moving to meals. So I am asking for the only thing that's left:  For your prayers.  It is easy to forget how fragile our lives are so I ask you one more thing: let the people you love know that you love them.  Because no matter how many prayers are said, at the end of it all, it is the love we share that will carry us forward.

On silver linings

It was a looooooong weekend.  And not in a good way.  More like a sick-as-a-dog-with-stomach-flu kind of way.  Not pretty.  The good news is I managed to pass whatever vile bug I had to Mr. One (but NOT the babies!).  So -- joy of joys! -- there was no way he could possibly get on his flight out to Denver last night.  The Princess, Tiny and I enjoyed his pallid, sweaty, listless company all day!  And, by late afternoon, he was actually conscious enough to tag along on a glorious sunlit picnic in the shadow of the temple where my parents got hitched (even if we had to keep the sandwiches downwind so he couldn't smell them).  Lovely.

Also, this burning question has been haunting me lately:  When it comes to cleaning supplies, do we really need anything other than diaper wipes?  I mean, they're engineered to clean the world's nastiest substance off of the sweetest, most delicate surface imaginable.  Shouldn't that mean they can clean anything off of everything?  Am I missing something here...?

School Projects

I thought that you may enjoy these. I know that some all of them are foul, but it's what lends them their charm.

via www.happyplace.com