WanderingAmylessly 2.0

In December, Henry's preschool Winter Wonderland pageant got postponed because of, ironically enough, snowy weather. Last night, the snow fell again, but we all ignored it and trekked back to school for the make-up session. We almost forgot about it -- but, thanks to the miracle of Facebook, our friend Nicole's "status" line about her daughter's program served as the wake-up call. And then we forgot the canned goods. This program was a food fund-raiser for the Johnson County Crisis Center. (I did pack up a few items this morning in hopes we weren't too late to help.) The program was worth the wait -- kidlets in costumes of snowflakes and top hats, gingerbread people and reindeer, polar bears and penguins took the stage to sing such silly songs as the Reindeer Pokey and some sort of penguin song to the tune(ish) of "I'm a little teapot." My little penguin belted out his parts and did the little hand gestures and booty shaking with great gusto. He

As you can see, I have added a countdown clock to my blog. I replaced the now defunct (thank the stars) Bush's-last-day countdown with one ticking off the time to our vacation. We are going to Monterey, Calif., in March to celebrate our ninth wedding anniversary. (Thank you Mom and Dad for the babysitting services!!!) Tim just noticed a new article in the NY Times featuring info about Carmel-by-the-Sea, Monterey's next door neighbor and former home of Ansel Adams, among others. Clint Eastwood used to be mayor of the town and still owns a restaurant there. I was already excited to go but this article has me drooling and wishing the clock would move faster, already! Jealous?! We haven't been to the coast in something like a dozen years. We haven't been much of anywhere in the last five or six. We've earned it.

I watched today's inauguration in a conference room at the office. My coworkers and I cheered and applauded, stood in honor at times, wept, laughed, high-fived, and witnessed history. Where were you when America got a second chance? For a complete transcript of the inspiring yet sharply serious first speech of our 44th president, click here . At first I was going to pull quotes from it and copy them here. Then I read a story in the Los Angeles Times , offering feedback on the speech from contemporary writers, that prompted the tears to gather again. I encourage you to read it. Here's a sampling: "He is our first (in the best sense of the word) aristocratic president," said author and journalist Malcolm Gladwell. "Bush was a buddy. Clinton was the kindly uncle. Obama is a prince." And yet, Obama is also a writer, and writers were not at a loss for words. Author Ron Carlson was watching the president's syntax. "What courage," he said, "to u

Tomorrow will be one of the most significant days I have ever experienced or ever will, during my lifetime. I have searched my heart and my brain and have nothing profound to say that hasn't already been said by many others, much more eloquently than I ever could. This morning, as I was watching CNN's airing of Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech from 1963, I think it truly hit me. It really started to sink in, what a phenomenal moment we're living. At the time of that speech, places in our country bore signs that read "Whites Only." It's unbelievable to me that only a few decades ago, people weren't allowed to eat in the same restaurants or drink from the same drinking fountains. This same country that spouts claims of liberty and justice for all and all men created equal treated people as property, stripped them of rights and dignity, yanked them from their homeland and sold them like cattle, branding them and beating them and carrying on ab

Sometimes I wonder why I look so forward to weekends. Because at the end of them, I'm grouchy and tired and depressed and anxious to get back to work. And there's a 5-year-old reason why. Everything's a freaking negotiation with him. If we don't let him watch TV or eat what he wants or play computer games or scream and run and throw sharp objects in the house, he cries and wails and rants. And then he gets a time out (he's wearing a dent in the chair seat, I swear). If we do let him do these things, when we tell him it's quitting time, he starts all over with the crying and wailing and ranting. He expects us to sit on the floor, play with him all day, and hang on his every word. Some people might give that knowing look and mutter "only-child syndrome." But if I had one more of these, I seriously would be rocking back and forth in my footie pajamas on the psych floor at University Hospitals. All this neediness...I know I signed up for this when I became

"There is nothing better than the encouragement of a good friend." -- Jean Jacques Rousseau I just wanted to take an indulgent moment to say thank you, a thousand times over, to Chris, Sondra, Madelaine, and Gail. You took the time out of your busy midweek schedules, braved temps in the double digits below zero, to get in your cars and drive frozen roads miles and miles and miles from home to attend Tim's gallery show opening last night. Your support means more than you know, and you made an exciting night pretty much perfect by your thoughtful presence. And to Tim... Take love, multiply it by infinity and take it to the depths of forever...and you still have only a glimpse of how I feel for you. -- From Meet Joe Black To read the Des Moines Register article about the show, click here .

Ok, so it may be Obama's first mistake of his presidency. He announced this morning on This Week with George Stephanopolous (Is that how you spell it? I'm too lazy to look it up.) that his family has narrowed the dog choice down to two. Unfortunately, Westie did not make the cut. The good news, though, is that he said they are searching shelters around the country to find a pup. It will be one of two choices, he said. A Labradoodle. Or a Portuguese Water Dog. Either of which would be a nice choice, I guess. Not my cup o' tea, but if they're saving a dog from death, I'm all for it. LABRADOODLE is the dog on the left. PORTUGUESE WATER DOG is the pooch on the right.

As I am writing this, the countdown clock on the left of this page is 40 glorious minutes away from taking us to SINGLE DIGITS in the number of days remaining until "Hope" and "Change" can truly be realized and celebrated. Only 9 days left of a dismal eight years. Don't let the door hit you in your sorry butt on the way out (there are people with shoes who can do that ). What a wonderful thought to wake up to on a Saturday morning in January. And we're not the only ones who think so. French President Nicolas Sarkozy to Barack Obama: "By choosing you, the American people have chosen change, openness and optimism. At a time when all of us must face huge challenges together, your election raises great hope in France, in Europe and elsewhere in the world."

You've read his pithy quotes on my blog. You've seen his awesome work at his own site (and in the pages of daily newspapers, numerous promotional publications, and the annual family calendar). Now, coming to an art center that may or may not be near you, Tim Schoon, picture-taker guy, presents his fantastic works all matted and framed and fancy-like. It's official. He's an artist. (And a suffering, struggling, tortured one at that, based on what he's been like to live with the past few weeks as he has been preparing...) I'm beyond excited for him. This is such a big deal! He might try to shrug it off or minimize the importance. Don't let him. His pictures are so beautiful. I cannot wait to see them hanging in a gallery!! If you get the opportunity, I'd encourage you to attend the opening reception, 5-7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 15, at the Ankeny Art Center, 1520 SW Ordnance Road, Ankeny, IA 50023. Here's a map locator link . "Seen in Iowa," a g

She's one of those women singers with only one name. And now this woman with one name has ONE song playing over and over again in my head. YouTube won't let me embed the video. But click here to watch the video and join me in the madness. I'm so sucked in. She got it right. "You got me beggin' you for mercy."

I would be the first person to admit that math is not a strength of mine. If I were to be totally honest, I occasionally use my fingers for basic addition and subtraction. And I have to write out tougher problems in the air so I can see to carry the 1 and so on. But does anyone else see the issue I'm taking with UPS over their questionable mathematical figuring regarding some books I'm having shipped from Barnes & Noble? Tracking Detail Your package is on time with a scheduled delivery date of 01/07/2009. Tracking Number: 1Z 181 269 1X XXXX XXX X Type: Package Status: In Transit - On Time Scheduled Delivery: 01/07/2009 Shipped To: IOWA CITY, IA, US Shipped/Billed On: 12/31/2008 Service: 3 DAY SELECT Weight: 2.80 Lbs Do you follow? Ordered it on 12/31. THREE DAY SELECT. On Time, it says. To be delivered 1/7. Three day select. Well, we could choose to get it to you on Jan. 3. Or Jan. 4. But how about seven days after you ordered it. Even acco