In a Flash

Stella has flourished in her father's absence. I am not saying these two things are connected or dependant upon each other, merely that she has learned to pull herself up to standing.















Later...

All Julia All the Time

Well, my trusty iBook is on a trip to Memphis. Perhaps Lil' Betty will get to see Graceland and do an impersonation that rivals that of Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. If not, I'll just be happy to have her home so I can post pictures so I don't lose my two readers--my mom and my sister. I might've lost around 500 photos. This made Kathy gasp. She doesn't know that 500 photos represents only about two to three days in the life of the Hanson family. I am nothing if not a prolific photographer.

Anyway, in my laptop's absence I've been sallying forth in my knowledge of Julia Child. She was a fascinating character--and very tall. She had a dream kitchen made to fit her height. This is my eventual goal. You can visit her kitchen at the Smithsonian Institute.

Anyway, I've been reading the biography of her life in France. I've also been reading Julie Powell's book about her great Project. Such fun.

I've also been watching Julia on some DVDs from the library. And I have another Julia Child biography that I'm going to start and then it's on to the Mastering the ARt of French Cooking. I think I'll try me a recipe--but I won't be cooking all 524 of them like Mrs. Powell.

I highly suggest Julie and Julia and My Life in France. I think the thing I like most about Julia is not just the cooking as much as her zest for life. She didn't start cooking until her thirties after she had a great lunch of sole mariner in France. She maintained that the lunch changed her life. She lived with gusto and found her passion and I can't get enough of her.

Perhaps someday we'll make some crepes together in the Big Kitchen in the sky!

"I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate." Julia Child

Dag Bloggit!

I had an exquisite post and not only did my computer freeze but it broke. We have to visit the Mac store today. And lest you ever have to wait in line at their store, know that they don't like to make lists with paper--no! Internet only!

Here's our JW Marriott vacation in five short pictures:

They give you a Pack-N-Play! For free! Stella hammed it up.



The rest are photos of our nighttime carousing. More later. Ahhh][[p]
{"P Nothing's sacred...here comes Stella and her pounding hands!

-0p'

Qwerty

Let's get a few things straight. Stella has no time for dillydallying. A quick cup o' joe in the AM and she's out the door to the office.



The dress code is business casual. This allows for full range of motion. Let's check on her typing posture:



Well, there's room for improvement--a girl's gotta have something to work on.

Moving on. It's time for a stop by the water cooler; catch up on some gossip, crack a few jokes, share some smiles, build goodwill with her employees, natch.



In the middle of a long day, she takes time for a power lunch, no time for jarred food--she wants carrots and 'tates straight up with butter.



Stella indulges her European soul. She's an "afternoon beer and siesta" kind of gal. But as soon as the REM is over, she wants to jet.



This is who she is. This is how she got that way.

Please, no autographs. We'll let you know when she goes public--as in NYSE, as in bright lights, big city. We'll sign you up for text message updates, we'll instant message you, we'll put you on myspace, we'll give you a subscription. Right now, she' got to go network. Because if there's one thing she's learned, it's not what you know--it's who you know.

Suddenly Our Zoos Seem Boring

"Although accurate numbers are hard to come by, lore has it that hippos kill more people each year than lions, elephants, leopards, buffaloes and rhinos combined."

However, at the Amsterdam Zoo, you can feed the hippo. While holding a small child in your arms.

A Blast From the Past (Literally!)

This is a fecal family favorite. Turn up your volume:

Two Years Ago

Two years ago this was the baby of the family. We've come very far, folks.

The Squinch

How the Squinch Stole Much Laughter:

This is the story of my young little Stell. Right now she snoozes at my side while her father rubs elbows with the sons of Supreme Court justices. Or just one son.

Anyway, let's talk about Stella's most recent acquired skill. Heretofore referred to as The Squinch. I swear to you she uses this to win friends and influence people. She already knows how to be funny. Because when people laugh at her squinching, she does it some more. This is what shall be called from here on out Very Funny Stuff, people. She knows where her bread is buttered.

High on the Hog

Right now I am doing what is called piggybacking. It involves a laptop, wireless capabilities and a neighbor's unguarded wireless internet connection. It makes me wonder how many others have used our wireless network. It makes me wonder if my Neighbors Whose Dogs Bark have piggybacked. I wonder what they'll think when they receive a summons from the county prosecutor's office about their barking dogs. Wouldn't it be funny if they were reading this?

Get in Line!

People far and wide have been writing to me. Here are some quotes from their concerned and eager emails:

"Hey, I want to see the baby!"

"More pictures of Stella, please."

"When will you give us what we want?"

I relent.

Here are some glimpses into Stella's new summer "schedule."

Memorial Day weekend we made a trip to Nate and Stasia's house (aka Uncle and Aunt). Stella "swam" and enjoyed the splashing of one very zealous young swimmer named Michael. He was trained at the world renowned Encanto Park Pool home of the $6 for two weeks swim lessons. Crazy!

OK, who am I kidding? I cannot keep up with Jamie's chronicling, so let's take a walk down memory lane. As Stella recently turned six months (she's almost seven months, once again, who am I kidding?) and weighs 16.2 pounds and is 27.5 inches long (around the size of Jared Barrett at four months!) let's remind ourselves how far she's come.

Ha ha ha. Pass the cream and sugar, get a cookie and have a little sit down.

Remember how beautiful she was when she was born? Of course not. Let me remind you:

Ahh, how placid and restful were the salad days of late 2005.

Here's Grandma Keek staring at me in disbelief. What did I just reveal?Me: "Kathy, I hope Stella does not inherit your lack-of-butt, your concave butt, your butt deficit."
Kathy: " "

I harken back to April 2006. We were wrapping up Auntie CJ's Longest Visit to Arizona Since High School. I decided to celebrate by not zipping my fly. Stella decided to Technicolor Yawn.



Really, this is just a blogging chug to try and get me back in action.

neat

Ergo Ipso Facto Ad Nauseum

Jamie, or rather, Iacobus, has a friend, Lucas, who calls with some frequence to partake of some friendly Latin conversation. When this occurs I am reminded my husband's unique character. These conversations usually take up the better part of an hour and involve Latin and deep laughter, at least on this end of the phone. If you were in my house you might be privy to this:

Phone vibrating!

"Hello. Salve, salve."

"Noli turbare circulos meos!"

"Celerius quam asparagi cocuntur."

"Oh, Lucas, da mi basia mille, deinde centum, deinde mille altera, deinde centum."

"Ha ha ha. Ho ho ho."

"Quid? HA! Cogito ergo sum"

"Ha, ha ha! Veni, vini, vici! In vino veritas!"

"Germania in Europa est!"

And then, as quick as it started it's over--like Renee Zellweger's marriage! Of course, I am no Latin scholar, so the conversational example is strictly from memory and a few notes I jotted down last night.

Not to mention a little help from another website.

First Veritas Graduation Ex Utero

First, can you tell who's getting used to posing for the camera?

Despite a series of increasingly unpleasant evening appearances, we decided to take Stella out on the town. She experienced her first graduation ceremony. What I believe will be her first of many. Here she is celebrating the beginning of Jamie's summer season at home. This time is also known as The Season of Frequent Domestic Squabbles. (Absence, my friends, does make that heart grow fonder. That heart being the one I keep locked inside a cold little cage all summer long while Jamie embarks upon lackadaisical undertakings.) We here at the Hanson house now know our limits, however, since the great Boca Sausage incident of June 2004.

This summer we will have more absence than presence here at Locus Hansonius. Jamie departs his beloved, Stella, and Stella's keeper for the Emerald Isle where he will frolic and cavort with other intellectuals and try to scam at the Guinness factory. The Mrs. already did this in her youth ten years ago, so she will stay and keep the home fries fires burning.

Anyway, what was I saying? Jamie goes to the land of ire without his spouse of ire while she stays home with all the cookie dough to herself.

And we all say, "Toll House."

q1: The Keys That Stella Pushed

Today is recovery mode from yesterday. Jamie has more information at his site. Suffice it to say that I had not visions of sugarplums dancing in my head. Yesterday was one of those days you don't want to explain to childless people lest they decide to never procreate. Once the day was over, Stella was asleep and our iTunes-purchased Monk episode was concluded we were laying in bed looking at a picture of Stella on Jamie's computer desktop. The conversation was as follows:

Silence.

Both enjoying the silence.

"Look at how cute she is."

"Yes. She is cute."

"It's funny to look at her cute little face and think about how she was today."

Silence.

The clocked said 8:08 pm. That meant we had T-minus 8 hours and 52 minutes until Stella awoke from her beauty rest. That meant it was time for me to go to bed.

And like clockwork, Stella awoke at 5 am. She had a little snakcy snack and fell asleep again--until 7:30! This is the stuff that dreams and fairytales are made of!

I've Hit a Slump

It's hard to get out of a blogging slump. I must admit, part of my problem is that Jamie keeps stealing all my pictures. And he's become a prolific blogger and it's stolen some of my blogging joie de vivre.

Anyhoodle, onward and upward. I usually have a running list of things to write about. I've been like this for years. I get most of my good ideas in the car. That's a bit annoying. It's hard to even jot down notes when you're driving. Lately, I've come up with some ideas:

Our NASCAR Fry's
A Tiny Log
A Buddy Log

Then--my slump. And two of those topics are basically the same. Not to mention not very content driven. Besides, I'm reading a good book right now. So it's hard not to read. But to satisfy people who come for pictures of Stella, here's one of my recent favorites--even though Jamie's already posted it on his site! I love the look on her face:

Here's a list of things she's doing lately:

• dragging her skinny little bod
  
• eating Trader Joe's Ohs by picking them up with her own fingers
  
• eating large amounts of bananas and pears
  
• sitting up a little
  
• rolling all over the place
  
• grabbing things
  
• smiling and giggling all the time
  
• going to the doctor for her six month appointment where we were told that she's long and skinny which was "expected" according to the doc
  
• stealing my heart
  

Gotta go, Jamie's prying eyes are looking at my screen!

Blogs: Conquering the Communication Divide Between Husband and Wife

Want to know how to find out what your spouse really thinks about? Read their blog:

Hansoniana

Where Tomatoes Come From

When Jamie and I moved into our house we had a pitiful but generous backyard. It reminded me of a moonscape. It lacked anything but space and splotchy piece of concrete. The story of its development in one of blood, sweat (mostly Jamie's) and tears (mostly mine).First of all, it blew my mind that a house that had existed almost thirty years had nothing, absolutely nothing in the backyard. It was obvious that at one point there had been some attempts at making something happen. Someone had installed a pretty intense sprinkler system--obviously to no avail since there was no grass. There were not even weeds.

Our first backyard accessory was our dog Buddy. This was a passionate decision made one Sunday afternoon following minutes of thought and discussion on a trip to the Humane Society. Buddy had captured our hearts with his post-surgical cone and the way he barked at us from behind the hurricane fence inside his concrete pen. We decided to bring him home. We didn't have a fence that properly enclosed the backyard, so Buddy got around those first few weeks. All our neighbors soon knew his name.Our next project was building a fence. Jamie and my dad constructed one in an afternoon. Did I mention this fence was installed because we acquired our second dog, Tiny? We didn't want him loose as he was only 1.5 pounds. Logically, as a homeowner, we made decisions on how to progress based upon the pets we owned.

(Here's where you can insert story of an annoying cat we owned for twelve hours. I think we called him Simba. He wanted to cuddle all night long and lick our hair as well. We thought he'd make a good outside cat.)Our first summer in this house my dearly beloved built me two little gardens. He did this when it was piping hot outside. He did this so I could garden. Isn't love grand? Isn't Jamie? We also had a patio cover built. That was nice as we live in the desert where it's hot and shade is a commodity to be bought and sold (especially at bus stops!).

The biggest thing that Jamie did was in March of 2005. (Well, the biggest thing he did was probably in February of 2005, but that's another story!) Jamie hauled twelve tons of dirt from our frontyard to our backyard with a wheelbarrow. Then he laid sod. Later that year he fixed our sprinkler system. Along with the trees my dad planted for us in April of 2004, that grass made for one nice backyard. It's a great place to sit in the early morning and evening. It'sdefinitely increased our enjoyment of our once soul-less moonscape.

Our backyard is now a thriving metropolis of fauna and a few select flora. Our most majestic showpiece is currently the one edible thing that has bloomed:In addition to that, here is Tiny showing the sprinklers who's boss:


And here's Stella enjoying her backyard. She could sit out there for hours watching. She's an observer. She takes it all in. She likes her toys for a while, but when she gets really antsy, nothing takes the edge off Stella like a little Bumbo time out back.

Stella as Maddox Jolie-Pitt

I've Read Me Some Things

From an eBay auction:
"You will fall in love with this great set of numbers and letters as you play with your child."

You will buy my blocks. You will continue to outbid yourself in pursuit of my blocks. You will give me your PayPal account info.

Regarding failure:
"I felt very horrible when I failed math that year. I felt like a failure."

When I achieve I feel like an achiever.

The college aspirations start early:
"I had been accepted into the Arizona State University which is something I have dreamed about the moment my mom gave me breath."

How can you tell someone is Irish without hearing their accent? Read their writing:
"I have always had an amazing connection with me mother."

When things get tough remember:
"The best comes out when something is on the line."

Does this include sobriety tests?

All the Same All the Time

We are now to the point where the weather forecast in Phoenix, according to Google weather, looks something like this until October:

Therefore, we will head to Seattle on June 6th for a little of this:




And we will go here: