Rock To Wind A String Around

So, here’s a link to an Associated Press article about Haile Gebrselassie, the world’s fastest marathon man.  Being the fastest male marathoner, you might think HG would rest on his laurels  but he just gets faster with each passing year.

He’s probably inspired by my sweet husband  (okay, not really,  but I am).  I think I’ve mentioned before that Albert wanted to run a marathon before 40 and realized at age 38.75 that he better get started if he wanted to make it happen.  With less than three weeks to go in his 18 week training, he’s on track for a mighty successful run.  While Haile Gebrselassie is lopping minutes off his world-record setting time, Albert is spending gobs of time prepping for the run of his life.  He’s also decided to raise money for our favorite worthy cause along the way.  The fundraising part of the marathon is probably his biggest challenge—-my dear one doesn’t usually ask for financial support, even as a fundraiser.

I’m so proud of my love.  He’s crossing all sorts of things off his big “to–do” list this year.   Break a leg, um run fast, Darling!

Sometimes, a week feels extra long.  This week was filled with approximately 647 items to be accomplished.  Visits to the dentist, the orthodontist, haircuts, an oil change, choir rehearsal–there was SO much to be done.  An ongoing struggle with a certain nine year old about room cleanliness and schoolwork may have made the week feel even longer.

Thank goodness for the arrival of the ice cream truck today.  As soon as I heard the sweet euphony, I knew a last fling with summer was exactly what we needed.  I yelled up the stairs (to the certain nine year old who was still cleaning his room) and the small girl and I dashed out the door lest we miss this final hurrah.   Elliott was clueless about why we called him outside, but quickly caught on and joined Astrid Meklit in her ice ceem dance.   As they ate, we sat on the stoop and talked and dripped and laughed and danced, and felt the tension of the too-long week melt away with Meklit’s bomb pop.

Thank you ice cream man–I think you saved the day…

It’s been so long since I’ve posted something substantive about my fab fam, I thought it was time. The killer bout of pneumonia is over after two different cycles of antibiotics, and now that Elliott is weller,  homeschooling has started again in earnest.    We started working again a week before extra curricular classes started, which proved wise–it takes us a while to get back into the swing of things.  When the boy isn’t focusing his laser beam on the parts of speech or manipulating decimals, he can be found at chorus or clay class or homeschool gym or lacrosse.  In a few weeks, we’ll add Amharic classes to the mix, and perhaps an African drum class, but this slower start suits us just fine.

The little queen is the very epitome of two, precocious thing that she is.   Her first response is almost always “no” even if she complies with the request.  She spends a great deal of her day building  and if she isn’t building, she’s cooking.  I’ve eaten my weight in eggs soup, and berries over the last few months.  If you sit for more than a minute in Meklit’s vicinity, she’s likely to thrust a plastic spoon in your mouth, extoling the virtues of her wonderful culinary technique.  “Eat, Eat.  i cook.  i cook    EGGS!  Yum mommy, eat eggs,  And juice with catsup.  Yum!”  Really, how could I resist?    It’s good though, all of this extra eating.  The additional calories sustain me through marathon reading sessions.  We read everything, but ‘Dumpty, Dumpty is inordinately popular lately.   Go, Go Doggies also sees a lot of play–Astrid Meklit reads it to herself if we’re unavailable to do her bidding. 

As she leaps toward two, my gal sounds more like she’s three and a half.  Sentence structure, vocabulary, use of pronouns and possessives–she sounds very grown up.  2 days ago she said, “Look mommy, the light is dim.”  (and she was right, it was twilight and her room was growing dark).  I’ve used dim with her before, but I was suprised she could apply it correctly.  In every other area, she looks very much like a not-quite two, but her language skills are quite impressive. 

My favorite husband continues to work in Chicago (although we thought this role would finish at the beginning of August, at the latest) and train for a marathon (come on October 19th).   When he isn’t committing energy to either of those things, he is gleefully buying new lawn-maintenance items so that we can keep up with the Joneseses (despite my refusal to allow Tr@ Green to spread it’s poisonous joy).   You’d never know our lawn was covered by a tree last weekend–every log, branch and leaf have been packed away–thank you new rake and leaf-blower!

That’s the latest on A, E & A.  Look for a post about Enkutatash soon–we all had a fabulous time–I don’t want to forget to blog about it! 

Eager to know just how much money Elliott made for EOR at Macy’s Shop for a Cause?  You can find out here.

Check it out–you know you want to!

Sorry I’ve been absent lately—-I’ve been hiding in the shoe department at Macy’s.  I’m not even shopping, for crying out loud (what a funny phrase, I’ve always wanted to include it) I’m just, well,    hiding.  

I guess I should explain.  Ethiopian Orphan Relief has been selling Macy’s Shop for a Causecoupons.  They are a fabulous deal–each 5.00 coupon entitles the shopper to a 20% discount on September 20th.  The entire 5.00 purchase price is given to the charity doing the selling–EOR in this case.  In addition to selling amongst friends and neighbors, our local Macy’s invited EOR to sell coupons in the store–Elliott and I worked a 2 hour shift last Saturday, 2 hours today, and we’ll sell again tomorrow, for at least two hours. 

Last week, we came in and set up shop–netala on the table, pictures of kids in Ethiopia (happy ones—no Save the Children type photos here) some information sheets, etc.  After the first few asks, Elliott begged me to let him do the talking–he’s a natural salesman and he adores making money, even if it doesn’t line his own pockets at the end of the day.  I agreed, and quickly became superfluous.  The older ladies in particular seemed unable to resist his charms.  After 25 minutes of being the main salesperson, Elliott begged me to leave the table so he could do it all alone.  Grudgingly, and with trepidation,  I wandered through accessories for 5 minutes and came zipping back, only to find that he had sold 2 coupons in my (very) brief absence.  If Elliott was unsure of his abilities before he started, he was plenty confident now.  I was (almost) ordered away from the table at that point, and so, I have spent many a quarter-hour staring at the Jessica $impson shoe display while my boy wheels and deals.  It’s the closest department to “our” station, and while Elliott is happiest when I am a floor away-I like to be within earshot of all of this high finance.  The older ladies really are more attentive when I appear to be negligent, and I like to appear negligent while I attend from afar.  It’s a win-win situation for every kid involved–Elliott feels like a financial wizard, the lovely Meklit gets some quality time with her daddy, and the  orphans benefit from Elliott’s mad skillZ. 

It’s a good thing all around, but tomorrow–I bring a book!

The crazy crazy aftermath of Ike left us without power, and it isn’t coming on any time soon.  Our yard was littered with limb after limb after branch from all of the neighborhood trees.  I called my mother to tell her that we were more or less unscathed and while we were on the phone our giant oak on the front lawn lost a huge limb–it blocked the entire front walk, and swallowed my serpentine hedge, although some speedy work by my neighbor, Rob, seemed to save it (the hedge, not the limb).  Honestly, by the time Albert got back with the axe, most of the limb was on the curb.

We are staying across town in one of the few hotels with a vacancy.  Sorry for the light postings of late, but a house without power is a house without wifi–who knew.  Oh wait, everybody knew.  Expect more scintillating posts later (much later–my posts are never scintillating).  Lots to tell about Enkutatash, etc.

Another week without a photo  (have no fear, I’ll take photos at the Enkutatash celebration and post over the weekend).  I don’t usually have the tv on at night–if I do, I’m usually watching HGTV or maybe something we’ve got on the DVR.  Tonight, I was feeling a little out of touch, so I thought I’d try to find some news and instead ran into David Letterman (kind of lost track of time–I thought it was a good deal earlier).  And who was his very special guest?  Why my very dear friend Barack Obama.  Even when he isn’t in the middle of a great speech, he’s awfully pleasant to listen to.  Funny and on message while diplomatic about the other  team–just how I like my future president!  

With all of the work for EOR  and for the New Year celebration, I haven’t put much effort into the election, but I’m adding commitments all the time.  We’ve been asked to house campaign workers (one or more) for the duration or for a short stint, and we are thrilled to do it.  The kids and I willcanvass at some point too, and we may host a gathering, but for now, until the New Year celebration ends, my relationship with Barack Obama’s campaign will not extend past David Letterman’s soundstage. 

 Don’t wait for me Barack–I’ll catch up (soon)!

You can find my (questionable) wit and wisdom over here today.  Come on, go read it.  You know you want to….

Birthday bonanza weekend has come to a close.  There was a cake, and presents, and three four days of feasting, but all for a good cause–sweet husbands have one birthday a year–and celebrating is such fun!

The big gift this weekend, was the return of NFL coupled with college games.  We went to a local college game on Saturday (no, not THAT game) and followed that with some classic Florida action on tv–(Miami vs UF, for those who are enthralled by all of this).   On Sunday, Elliott and Pops were given the task of junk food procurement for a day-long NFL fiesta.  In between, we managed to replace the insulation and drywall in the basement as well as prep for painting, and one of us, (not saying who) manged to run 20 miles on Sunday–so we weren’t total sloths, but still, it is safe to say that relaxation was given plenty of room in the schedule this weekend.

Pops leaves today, after provided much-appreciated babysitting grandchild enjoyment.  If only he was here for the rest of the week–I am up to my elbows in work for EOR and for the ETSS as they (we?) prepare a festival to celebrate Enkutatash.  We should probably start homeschool work in earnest too–the boy isn’t becoming any more learned through osmosis.  My children persist in thinking they are sick still, so a return visit to our family doctor seems likely.

Celebrities–they are JUST like us!  I’m sure Reese Witherspoon and I could exchange calendars at any moment!