Inspired by Nie

A couple of weeks ago, Christi, of Poczatek Post fame sent me a link that I think will forever change my perspective. Perhaps you may have heard of her. She goes by Nie Nie, but her name is Stephanie Nielsen. Her blog is The Nie Nie Dialogues and it has moved me to tears each and every time I have clicked on it.

Stephanie is a mom of 4 like me. She loves her life as a wife and mother like I do. She likes photography like I do. She loves crafts - me, too. Several months ago, she and her husband were in a catastrophic plane crash. They both survived but suffered burns to much of their bodies. You can read her story on her blog. It is a tale of faith, determination, fidelity, of trying to move on in the face of tragedy. It is a tale of hope and not taking your every day for granted. Nie Nie makes me want to take my precious children in my arms and whisper my thankfulness and gratitude to them for their very existence. It makes me want to lift my arms to the Lord and give praise and thanksgiving for His very creation. See, now I am crying again. It is that powerful.

So, if indeed you do peruse her blog, you will find that she is very partial to silhouettes. (I don't know if I spelled that right, and I am too lazy right now to check. Forgive me if that is a misspell. I detest misspelled words.) Inspired by her and her love of crafts, I decided to make silhouettes of my own family. Husband is missing right now - I need to grab his when he gets home from work - but aren't these FABULOUS?? Thank you Nie Nie.

My BFF...

The World's Most Wonderful Kids...

 
 
 

My Life on a Diet - Week 1

I have just successfully completed the first whole week of my life on a full-fledged diet. Not just the give-up-coke-and-call-it-a-diet diet, but the real deal, all the way, make no mistake about it diet. My dear husband (he prefers that I not use his name in my musings - weirdo) dropped about 25 lbs last year on Weight Watchers Core so in my pursuit of a sure fire weight management program I just followed his lead.

At the beginning of the week I went to the store and stocked up on veggies and whole grains. I consulted the Weight Watcher cookbook and planned healthy recipes and snacks to last us the week. And I have to say, we did sooooo good! Our plates have looked like something out of an advertisment for healthy living. Leafy greens cascading softly to the edges of our plates with a fist-sized portion of lean protein artfully diplayed on the side. I chopped, and tossed, and seasoned all week long in the pursuit of girlish thinness. There were a handful of weak moments where I longed to wrap my lean pork up in a tortilla filled with whole-fat sour cream, some sharp cheddar cheese, rice and refried beans and indulge in a good old fashioned burrito - but I held strong. I am resolute.

So, you would think that all of this effort would pay off, right? You would think that I would see the fruits of the first real diet I have stuck to for more than a few hours in my whole life, right? Well, not so much. This morning we had the weekly weigh in: Husband lost 6 pounds - me - NOTHING. Yes. You read that right. NOTHING. Am I going to give up? I don't know. If I can be 10 pounds up and eat the stinking burrito - and 10 pounds up if I don't - then I ask you, why not just eat the burrito? I am going to have to think about this. Over a bowl of 0-points vegetable soup.

There Once was a Little Boy Named Stevie...

So, I told you that if I kept writing that I would be compelled to include the occasional piece about my family. They will just make for such great material. I could tell you about the time that we all came home to find that my dad had spray painted the words "Reptilian Brain" on the wall of the garage in cherry red. Or I could do a sentimental piece about how my mother befriended a lonely old man and was truly his only happiness in the 5 or so years before his death. I could.... but today I have another story to tell. Today, I will tell you about my brother.

My brother is often left out in the details of my family because he appears to be so normal. I mean really. This is a guy who would get embarrassed if we raised our voices to anything above a whisper in front of our house. He just doesn't like to draw attention to himself. Never has. But the mask of normalcy belies a depth of wit and humor that I have not seen in anyone else. He is without a doubt the funniest person I have ever met - and I daresay that I will ever meet again.

Family gatherings with Stevie (and oh, how he will hate that I am referring to him in the diminutive - once again - it calls attention.) were probably the best. I would always choose a seat next to him and just listen to the observational humor that he uttered under his breath. Rumblings about how the food everyone raved about was actually not edible, about who was drunk and thought they were playing it off, about how certain members of the family always spit when they talk... It was all stuff that I just took for granted, but he was able to put it in a different lens. And so, I would listen and start to giggle. The giggles would increase to audible laughter, and the laughter would turn to hysterics. I spent many a Thanksgiving trying to figure out how to not let anyone see that I had literally peed my pants. But he was so quiet. Everyone thought he was just this sweet little boy - and that I was the nut. My grandmother would always look across the table at us - me purple-faced and half out of my wits, and him dead-pan and cherubic - and say "I've never heard him say a funny thing in my life! If you're so funny, then say something funny Stevie!" To which I'd laugh harder - and he'd shrug making me look like an idiot.

Flash forward many, many years. (I can say that now that we are both getting so OLD!) He will call me and tell me stories that are fantastic. He sends me pictures and odds and ends that he finds on the internet that are genius in their ability to evoke laughter. I have encouraged him to put some of his best stuff down in writing (like how I take credit for it?) and he has started to do so on There Must Be Nothing on TV and I have great hopes that it will gain a large and thankful readership. You might stumble on the occasional F-Bomb... proceed with caution if you aren't up for R-rated material. But if that is ok, then visit and enjoy. It is my sincere hope that others will fall in love with him the way I am.

The Movie of My Life....

I had a funny thing happen to me this weekend. It has happened before - but for some reason this time it was more profound. I introduced myself and my children to a couple who we had never met before. After exchanging names and handshakes, amid the usual stream of pleasantries, the male half of the couple reached out and sweetly petted my daughter's pretty little head and said, "Where did she get all that blonde hair?" I caught myself before I could reply "Well, from me, of course!"

It was then that it hit me, not only am I not blonde, people see me as a (*gasp*) brunette anymore. Not that I have anything against brunettes - in fact, some of my favorite people are brunette (you know who you are, AMY KIEFFER!) - but me?! Apparently yes. In my transition to adulthood, nature in it's wisdom decided to make me look older, more serious, less... blonde.

So, on the heels of this realization this weekend, I found it downright fabulous that some Anonymous commenter on http://http//bettyduffy.blogspot.com/2009/01/golden-globes-2009.html cast me as Reese Witherspoon in the movie of her life. Apparently, she sees through this mask of adulthood to the me of yesteryear. I take this opportunity as SKS played by Reese Witherspoon to cast as my husband Andy Garcia. (Perhaps with a little dash of Martin Scorcese thrown in there!) Do you see it?

And to think, I don't even like animals!