our collective digital self
Posted by Michelle on Apr 25, 2009 in Humor
Bea Arthur died today and I wanted to post some videos to remember the fabulous broad that she was. Sad to see you go Maude, Dorothy, Vera Charles and all the other other feisty gals she had inside her.
Sex and the City parody
Arguing with Archie Bunker
With Rock Hudson, Sniff Swig Puff
Star Wars Holiday Special
Posted by Michelle on Apr 21, 2009 in Hayley
Hayley was finally cleared to play soccer again! With the tons of rain going on, she ended up missing five weeks of soccer but only ONE game so she still has most of the season to play. For her first game back – not even a practice (rained out), she did great. They lost 4-0 but she had her team’s first shot of the day and almost a lovely assist but her teammate’s shot rolled off some. No pain and she was clearly happy to be running again – she even got off one of her favorite pull back moves which is in the pix.
I’ll add more pix to this as the season goes on.
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Posted by Michelle on Apr 20, 2009 in Hayley, Michelle
I’ve written in this very space of my love for Leslie Hall and her world of Gem Sweaters. Leslie is simply hysterical – the combination of great song topics and a midwestern white girl rapping in gold pants rocks. Hayley loves the Leslie & the Lys CDs and asks me play it in the car all the time. I love her website and her music because she’s original, funny and infectious.
(If you don’t know about her, take a minute and read this story from Wired for a brief overview, YouTube Gem Leslie Hall Bedazzles the Masses.)
I hadn’t checked the band’s website for their tour schedule but I found out one day last week on facebook & twitter that not only were they back on tour but over in Chapel Hill that very night! Leslie, her gold pants, gem sweaters and the Lys had arrived all the way from Iowa and we would not miss that chance. The Midwest Diva had knowledge for the Junior Gems!
She was playing at a legendary club, the Cats Cradle, that I grew up going to as well. I called them and they said it was cool to have kids there and Leslie, while appealing to adults more than kids normally, is pretty G/PG stuff (booty is the worst word I heard) and after all, they did invite her to dance on Yo’ Gabba Gabba twice last year. I informed Hayley about what I’d found out and she proceeded to jump around and scream like a crazy person, so I knew she wanted to go too.
The show was fantastic – not too packed or rowdy. We sang and danced, it was GLAMOROUS – shazzam! Hayley was the only kid there so she was feeling very cool. And then, things got even cooler when Leslie brought her up on stage! Hayley was thrilled – wasn’t even worried about going on stage at a concert. We even stayed after the show to meet Leslie and the Lys.
Needless to say, we haven’t stopped listening to the CD since the show. I’m so excited my kiddo gets this stuff – she can have her Hannah Montana, etc but I’m content to fill the rest of her noggin with offbeat original stuff.
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A few videos from the show:
Willow: the song that Hayley is on stage during
The classic song Gold Pants!
Posted by Michelle on Apr 18, 2009 in Hayley
Hayley wanted her own english cutback saddle for riding so her birthday seemed the perfect opportunity to get one. I’d asked her if that was what she really wanted since it was so expensive she wasn’t going to get a ton of other stuff and she completely agreed… but I wanted it to be special still so we decided to surprise her with the saddle on Easter weekend when Jeff’s family was here.
I meticulously crafted clues and designed them, planning out how to hide them through the house. Some clues she had to actually figure out the puzzle on it to get to the next step. One was backwards so you had to hold it up to a mirror. I was afraid see wouldn’t get them all and ran them by Jeff. In the end, Hayley did better than he did!
Mason and her family came over too and everyone watched them run from clue to clue trying to figure out how to solve the mystery. Eventually we ended up in the garage in my Jeep and there under a blanket was her new saddle. It was total surprise and she was over the top happy, thanking and hugging everyone. When I told her I had Coldstone ice cream cupcakes for everyone after, she even started tearing up she was just so excited by it all. I fretted so much about making this perfect and it turned out just as I hoped!
As soon as she was cleared by the doctor to get back on the horse, she was ready to try it out and already loves riding with it.
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Posted by Michelle on Apr 18, 2009 in Hayley, Michelle
We went to visit one of my old friends from college Temple and hang out with her sons. It was so good to talk to her and catch up with her husband Adam and sons Max and Jackson. Temple and I cracked up so much that her oldest son Max and Hayley became fast friends and happily played together for nearly six hours.
A lot of really hysterical memories came back. Dang we had a good time in college.
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Posted by Hayley on Apr 17, 2009 in Hayley
Old Salem
First of all I should tell you what chaperone group I am in. The chaperone that I was with was Justin’s mom. So when we were on the unguided tour we went to the Brothers tavern first and we saw how girls would get colorful ribbons to show if they were married, engaged, looking for someone right, or even still to young to marry.
The next place we went to was the printers and it had a printer that they mint have used in the old days. Then we went to the bakery and bought some stuff. I bought a Dr. Pepper and then when I left the bakery I opened my drink but when we decided to go to the doctors house we didn’t know that we couldn’t bring in drinks so I drank the whole can of Dr. Pepper when I had just started to drink it.
But anyway inside the doctor’s house we saw all the metical stuff the doctor would use to operate on his patients. See when the doctor came to your house to operate on the sick one your kitchen table would become his operation table so you would lay on the table and be operate on and then when it was all over you could gently get off.
After that we had lunch and since it was pretty cold that day, the people that worked at Old Salem tried to give everyone in the 4th grade a nice warm sunny place to sit and eat lunch. So then after lunch some of the chaperones were taking some kids to the gift shop and I bought some things like a pen for my mom and a little journal for me then once we all were done with the gift shop we got back on the bus and went back home.
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Posted by Michelle on Apr 6, 2009 in Hayley, Michelle
We are downtown watching the game!!! This is awesome!
What a night!!! Hayley and I on Franklin Street celebrating the 2009 NCAA National Champions!!!
Posted by Michelle on Apr 5, 2009 in Humor
Posted by Michelle on Apr 5, 2009 in Michelle
Nicole and Mason came up to visit us for a few days and I fear I was a terribly boring host this time – the night they arrived I slipped in a wet parking lot and bashed up my knee. Thank goodness she is an old friend and always happy to just sit around, talk and let the kids play. We did the neighborhood Easter Egg hunt which was lots of fun for the munchins!
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