Is This Thing Still On?

Sheesh - I think my blog might have expired. I haven't been near it in so long!

As you can see I haven't been able to post about my "secret project" yet due to circumstances beyond my control - but I am told it will be ready on the 9th, so I am keeping my fingers crossed!

In the mean time I hope to placate my readers - if there are any still out there - with this sweet photo of Indy.



We weren't sure that we were going to be able to keep her at first but of course the longer we dithered over that decision the more we became attached to her. She is a real sweetie pie. I think she is the most likely to learn to talk of the three of our parrots. We finally bought her a proper cage of her own a few weeks ago. She was so happy she immediately jumped into her water dish and took a bath! Plus she seems to have finally discovered her pellets and makes a ruckus crunching them with gusto.

I hope I don't jinx it but we have been very lucky with our birds. They are all quiet and well mannered for the most part. They rarely have screaming fits - even when we play Rock Band at high volume late into the night. In fact the only time they ever make a fuss is when Hubby gets up late on the weekends and their food isn't delivered as early as they are used to. But even then they kindly give him a good three hours before they start to protest.

Other than playing Rock Band and keeping this family fed, clothed and bathed I have been working on some needlepoint and reading.

Recently I read Patrick Mcgrath's Asylum which I thought was very good. Not super brilliant but good enough that I stayed up late reading when I should have gone to bed! I tend to like stories about crazy people though. Especially crazy psychiatrists. :) I liked this book in the same way that I like Ian McEwan if that makes any sense.

Also read John MacLachlan Gray's White Stone Day. It is a sequel to his other novel The Fiend in Human which I enjoyed. White Stone Day is a Victorian crime story which uses Lewis Carroll as a main character and a journalist in place of a detective - a good start but unfortunately I thought the plot was a but scattered and rather struggled to come together. If you haven't read the first novel I think you would be quite lost trying to get through this one. But his characters are very interesting so overall I enjoyed it and will probably read something else of his. I will definitely read another Macgrath.

Adios, you jackass!

Pack your bags and be sure to take all of your bad mojo with you. America has a real President now.

So close!

So I'm this close to being able to spill the beans about my secret project! Squee!

In the meantime we have been doing much Rock Band rockin'. In fact, I'm considering running away to join a rock band. Anyone know any geriatric rock stars that need a bass player? :)

Seriously though I do think Rock Band is a great game. Kids spend so much time being told to be quiet and sit still and behave - I love having an activity with them where I can shout "Sing louder, I don't think the neighbors can hear you!" Especially for girls who learn at such an early age to be "ladylike" (whatever the hell that is supposed to mean). I think when you learn at a young age that it's awesome to sing at the top of your lungs and who cares what you sound like - well, I think you will end up a much happier person. I know I feel happier when I sing at the top of my lungs.

And also, it's very very funny when Hubby sings "Mississippi Queen" at the top of his lungs. :)

And I got a new picture of Maica -



And some great news as well - her family income has doubled since I funded her Income Generating Project. I was so so happy to hear that. She now has far and away the most income of any of my Filipino kids. Most of them are in the $50 a month range and Maica is up to $200. Yay!! It's so great to feel like I can really make a difference like that in some one's life.

Our Happy New (And Old) Year

I hope everyone had a very happy new year!

We stayed up to ring in the new year and then the whole family spent New Year's Day playing Rock Band on the Wii until the kids begged us to let them go to bed. When Mom and Dad start a rockin' it's hard to stop 'em! :)

We tried to keep Christmas reasonable this year and not go overboard buying presents. I think we were mainly quite successful. I got some Kiva credits for the first time so I was able to make 6 loans. There were so many people making loans after Christmas that Kiva actually ran out which I thought was wonderful! I funded a cattle rancher, two food markets, a clothing store, a crafts group and a tattoo artist in Lebanon. Awesome!

I was also able to fund my sponsor kid Jhonny's Income Generating Project right after Christmas. I'm so excited for his family! I can't wait to see the report when Children International disburses the money. Of course I will share the photos with you all as soon as I receive them.

2008 was a strange year in many ways and ended on sort of a sucky note with the whole economy collapse thing. Plus I spent the 23rd in the hospital in severe pain so my best Christmas present this year was actually being home for Christmas rather than in a hospital bed. So for that I am VERY grateful!

In 2008 I read 50+ books, lost 22 pounds (yay!) and fulfilled a long held wish to learn to quilt. We also added Yumi and Indy to our animal family. Both of them have turned out to be awesome pets - and thank goodness because we are now at full capacity! Everyone in the family is healthy and happy so despite the crappy economy I think we have a great 2009 to look forward to. :)

And... I have some really really great news that I will be able to share with you all in about a week! :)