Rock Me Amadeus

Rock On.
Rock You Like A Hurricane.
Rock of Ages.
I Love Rock and Roll.
Rockin' In The Free World.
I Am A Rock. I Am An Island.
Rocky Top Tennessee.

I'm guessing you've noticed the theme?  Except I kinda lost it with that last one. :o)

Anyways, this blog post is not related to rock and roll songs at all! I just wanted to lure you in. Intrigue you. Pique your interest, per se.

A couple of weeks ago, I finally bit the proverbial bullet, and ventured out in search of a rocker-recliner to put in Mookie's room.  I had test-driven a couple at people's houses, and liked how much more comfortable (and quiet) they were compared to the antique rocking chair that was in her room.

While I love the notion of the antique rocker (5 generations of mamas have fed their babies in this rocker), I do not love the characteristic "creeeeeek" sound that it makes when you rock. And when you sit down. And when you get up. Not so good when you've finally gotten a baby to sleep and now need to rise and put her in her crib.

So, back to the bullet-biting. I had done some online research, but recliners need to be sat in, and rocked in and stood up from and I haven't figured out how to do that over the web. :o)  One Thursday, I put Mookie in the car and went to a few furniture stores. When we got to the store, I put her in a front carrier, and prepared to sit, rock, and stand.  During the furniture calisthenics, I learned something that day that I didn't expect to learn.

Rocking recliners speak.

There was the rocker that said "Don't lean your head back when you are tired because the back of the chair doesn't go high enough. And your neck will hurt. And you won't like that very much."

And I sat in the rocker that had less-than cushy arm rests, seeming to say, "What? Why would you want to put your arm here when you've got your baby's head in the crook of it? That makes no sense to me. Put your drink here, not your arm"

Then there was the rocker that looked nice, and had a nice price tag, but when I sat down, it didn't fit. I swear it was pushing me back out as it seemed to say, "Get up, go do the laundry. Don't relax here. Don't rest your head. You've got WORK to do!!"

And, finally, the rocker that was the right height, and width, and depth for me. When I sat down, I think it let out a comfortable sigh. It said, "Please sit back. Relax your shoulders. Put your baby's sweet little head on my armrest. Between you and me, we'll get her to sleep. And when she is asleep, if you really want to stand up, I'll keep quiet. But if you want to sleep here with you, I'll let you."

It should come as no surprise, then, which one now lives in my baby's bedroom.

What does your recliner say?

WAY Mod

Well, it's that time again. Time for my annual shearing. I didn't think it would be as dramaaaaatic as it was last year. At least that's not what was going on inside my head. The outside of my head? Umm...

I've mulled on this for months (as is my habit), and decided now was a good time.

So I went to a professional, name-we-all-recognize, rhymes-with-"blevayda" salon. (Because I'm learning that you get what you pay for).

I wanted to keep the color, but as for the length, I wanted to go short...

ER.

ShortER.

I'm thinking the stylist didn't hear that last part.

(taken a week ago at Hermosa Beach)

I like the idea of the new style. I like how it looks on other people's heads. I think it looks cute on my head (from the front). It's just the rest of my head that I'm worried about.

I think there are some parts of my head where Dave's hair is longer than mine. And if you know Dave (and the rules about his hair length) that's sayin' something, folks!

But I'm not gonna give you a picture of it, yet. :o) You'll have to wait while I taunt you with your own imaginations.

(By the way, today is EDD: 100! We call it "Hundred's Night." I can't believe in one hundred pennies I'll be a mama to a human!)

Taking it back.

Just in case you read my last post "Putting it out there" -- I've decided to take it all back. :o)

I tossed and turned in bed thinking about that post. I honestly hope it's been a long time since I've written or said anything so snotty! That's the beauty of The Blog -- I can take it back out of cyberspace, and few are any wiser.

If you didn't read it, basically it was saying that I was entering a scrapbook website contest with a few of the pages from the scrapbook I am building for the kids we sponsor in Ecuador. Which was all well and good, except I crawled right up on my high horse and started to prance. I really hope I didn't offend anyone. If I offended you, I'm really sorry. And not like "this is my blog, so nanny-nanny-boo-boo" sorry. Like "this blog kept me awake at night" sorry.

Most of the blog was probably okay...but it was the other parts that kept howling at me from the dark, closed computer. So, for the curious among you, I have copied (below) the (hopefully) not-so-bad parts, and left out the rest. (It was only one paragraph, but it was a doozie!)

And for the record, I think now that I probably couldn't win anyways, because I'm technically not a resident of one of the 50 states or the territories. Bummer!

Here 'tis:

Welcome back from the break.
And now, get ready for another episode of "Never In All My Born Days!" starring Melissa!

Hi folks. Here we are, the beginning of another crazy week! It's hectic here, but it's all good.

About a month ago, I saw an ad for a contest in a scrapbook magazine that I thought I might should enter. It's Simple Scrapbooks, and the contest theme is "Inspiration". The editor, Stacy Julian, is going to pick five entries on their on-line reader gallery that inspire her, and I decided to set out and see if I'm one of them!

I think the question "what inspires me" is a life-long question pondered by philosophers and coffee drinkers world-wide.

Inspiration.

What inspires me? What inspires other people? What do I do in my daily life that might inspire someone else to do something? Well, now that you ask...

You may remember that I have been slowly creating a scrapbook for each of the two children we sponsor in Ecuador (through Compassion International. It rocks.) I posted a couple of my pages for you to see, sometime way back in March. I used to just send photos and letters, but then I thought that I could make it just a little more special for them. Compassion, though, has pretty specific rules about what we can send to the kids -- basically it has to be paper or photos, and it has to be flat. Period. Or it goes in the trash before it ever leaves Colorado. Which forces a scrapper to be a little more creative (or a little more simple, I guess). I send them 2 pages a month (or so), in a plastic wallet that they can then put into a binder (because I can't send them one). I am trying to send pages that tell a little story about our lives, and I write about each photograph in English and Spanish (thanks to the help of our friend Enrique, or course!)

[edited]

So, with all that said, today I am putting it out there. I'm posting 3 or 4 of my pages to their reader gallery to find out if what I am doing can inspire Stacy!

And you know what, even if it doesn't inspire Stacy, I don't care. I know I'm doing the right thing for Bryan and Julissa, and that's really all that matters. [edited]

By the way, you'll have to go to the reader gallery to find the pages I've done recently -- Castles, and Cathedrals.

That's it. Goodnight. Maybe I can get some sleep now. (local time: 3:05 am)

All Photos UP!

Now that we've been home a day or so, I've gone back through the Italy blogs and either fixed or added photos.
You should now be able to click on each photo, and a larger version of it will open in a separate window.
I would like to encourage you to do that...the pictures are so so so much better when you don't have to squint to see the detail!! :o)
Enjoy! Thanks for reading!
Also...stay tuned because I'm trying to work out a way to put all the pictures I took on the web for one and all to see. It may take a few days, so don't forget about me! :o)

Dramaaaaatic Change!!

Reese, Cameron, Uma, Renee, Melissa. I now count myself among those that have done it. Those that have made a decision. Made a commitment. Thought about something and did it. For the betterment of all humankind.

This Saturday I did something I've been thinking of doing since August. Never one to jump lightly into a decision of this magnitude, I had to weigh the options, consult the experts, take a "test drive", muster up the courage, and tiptoe into the salon and whisper to the hairstylist these famous last words: "Make me a brunette."



See, I've always been a blonde. Since birth. Toe-headed, even. In recent years, it's gotten slightly darker, but never so much so to be called brown. I've never done anything this dramatic to my hair (perms, yes. color, no.) My entire wardrobe is based upon "what goes with blonde?" (lots of stuff). I'm used to not finding long brown hairs in the shower drain, or on the floor. So why do it now? Maybe to cover the little-bitty gray hairs cropping up around my ears? Maybe just for a change of pace since there have been so darn many other changes in my life of late and this, this I can control? Maybe it was seeing my twin, Uma, as a brunette (again) in "My Super Ex-Girlfriend"? Who knows why girls change their hair!

In hairstylist logic, though, they had to add extra red to cover the blonde to make it brunette. I don't get that. Therefore, my hair is redder than I would like. Angela says that the first week doesn't really count, and that I'll love it by the second week. Ang is very smart. I trust her on this one.

It's definitely a shocker, but so far I like it...and, I admit, the comment about "for the betterment of humankind" may have been a little over the top...

Wanna Comment?

If you want to leave a comment, here are (I hope!) some simple instructions because I think what I see when I try to leave a comment (on my own blog?) is confusing!

1. Click Comment. This will open a separate window with a 2x2 inch
box on the right. You can enter your comments there. (You can make words bold or italicized, too!)
2. Type in the goofy word/letters that you see (this is to verify that you
are a person and not a spammer -- cuz spammers aren't people!)
3. Where it says Choose an Identity, the default is Google Account,
but you can either click Other, and then you can just enter your name, or you
can click Anonymous and I can try to guess who you are! (L.K. Who else loves
turtles as much as you? :) )
4. Then click Publish Your Comment, and it will go to a holding area
for me to moderate and approve....not that I think anyone that knows me is going
to leave a surly comment, but in order for me to make it so that anyone can post
a comment (i.e., not have a Google account), I thought it would be safer (for
now) for me to moderate them. I hope to moderate at least daily.

So, comment away! :)

Why "Galloping Cows"...

Everyone is super creative when they come up with their blog's name, and I had no clue, so I thought about my "heart song" (like in "Happy Feet") and I couldn't hear anything. So I thought about the scripture that speaks most to me, and while Jer 29:13 is a good one ("You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.") I think that's more for me to do every day, and not so much about a blog. So I thought about books that I like, and wondered if there was any line or title that says Melissa loud and clear, but, again, nope. And I thought about what defines me, and right now I feel like a cartoon and the artist has put the pencil away and has his eraser out! So, where does that leave me? I thought about what always makes me laugh - and, without fail, the sight of cows galloping across a field makes me laugh every single time.

I'm not a cow person...you know how some people are cat people, or pig people, or car people. I'm not a cow person, I don't collect them, they don't define me, I don't feel like one...I just laugh when I see cows gallop. They aren't that graceful when they gallop. They don't seem made for galloping. They seem more made for plodding, or just plain grazing!

So, that's why I named the blog "Galloping Cows".

I don't know how often I'll blog, but I'm hoping for a couple of times a week...depending on how boring my life seems to be that week! :o) Feel free to comment and let me know you've visited!

Take care, and God bless!
~M.