Relevant Interview with Obama

Short, but some good stuff in here. I wish he hadn't focused so much on abortion, but for those of us who support Barack Obama even though he doesn't believe exactly what we do, this is excellent and reaffirms my belief that he is a genuine and honest person. Relevant will have a similar interview with McCain coming up and I am interested to read that because he always seems to be blowing smoke when he talks. We'll see. At any rate, this is a good read:
http://www.relevantmagazine.com/life_article.php?id=7591

HAIR!!! :)

Thanks everyone for the encouragement! I absolutely love my new haircut (and my awesome hairdresser). Here it is all funked out direct from the salon. I'll post more pictures of it straight tomorrow. Oh and I also discovered for the first time in two years that I do in fact have ears. ;)

Rain, rain go away

I'm beginning to think God doesn't want us to see concerts at Starlight Theater this summer. Last night we went to see Joe Cocker and Steve Miller and were rained on AGAIN! Same thing happened with the Doobie Brothers/Chicago, except this time we stuck it out under the awnings. So, we couldn't see anything and the music was great so I was upset that they had to keep stopping. I don't think Joe Cocker stopped, but Steve Miller did and when he finally came back on we were leaving. Stupid rain. I'm tired of it! We have five sunny days in a row and the ONE night we're at Starlight...downpour for more than three hours. I just don't get it. At any rate, all of our tickets have been free, so I can't complain too much. :)

Weird bumps in the night...

Two strange things happened yesterday:
On our way to the big dog park around 5:30 or so we had trouble getting out of our complex as a man on a motorcycle had evidently been hit by a car. He was face down on the ground with a few people around him helping. I have no idea what actually happened to him and as usual, I'll probably never know. But this sparked a conversation between Glenn and I where I said I sometimes think about being an EMT. I absolutely hated the feeling of helplessness seeing someone hurt. I wanted so badly to run over and say, what's going on? I know how to help! But I cannot. Glenn was surprised at my wanting to do this because he said he didn't see me as a person who could handle a job like that. The more we talked the more I talked myself out of the idea. Perhaps I should simply learn some basic first aid? I'm not so squeemish about blood, but I think if I saw a bone sticking out I might lose it. There's also that whole thing about seeing dead people and not always being able to save lives. That is inconceivable to me.

I have a lot of friends ironically who are becoming doctors or nurses or are in law enforcement and I will always understand why they do what they do. The ability to save a life and the inherent need in us to want to help people is fascinating. For these people to do what they do every day is astonishing and I'm sure it tears away at the soul some days. But I imagine the positives far outweigh the negatives. For today, I understand you and I thank you for doing what you do.

The other thing that happened last night was strange and I'll still not know the answer; around 1:30 a.m. I heard a loud bang (not like a gunshot, but like something slamming into something else) and then a woman screamed. That was it. It was a gut-wrenching scream. I looked out the window, but you can't see much and it's frustrating me not knowing what happened. I scoured the news this morning and nothing on either of these happenings. But there were to deadly car crashes last night. Very sad stuff.

Here's hoping tonight's Steve Miller/Joe Cocker isn't rained upon and no more car crashes occur.

Planes, trains and automobiles

Glenn and I are considering getting a new car and we've narrowed it down (for practicality, versatility and cheaper insurance sake) to this!

Isn't it the cutest thing you've ever seen? Honda Fit...check it out!

A running list of things I'm thankful for

High time I started recognizing this stuff. I am thankful that:

My husband took care of my three fish that died
He doesn't let me carry laundry up the stairs if he can help it
He kills creepy crawly things for me
He holds me when I cry

My dog still makes me smile
Days are sunny
Pizza is a part of my life
Chapala Mexican Restaurant exists
A&W makes such fabulous diet sodas

More to come...

The great hair debate of 2008

As usual after six months, I am bored with my hair. I have loved my current hair cut for around six months and have gotten SO many compliments on it. But alas, my love for it is fleeting. I've wanted to try really short hair for a while now and I need some good opinions. :)

I fell in love with Holly Kiser's hair on Make Me a Supermodel. It's daring, edgy, feminine...all the things I've always strived for in my hair.

So...I need votes. Anyone think this is a good idea? I'm probably going to do it anyway...or something similar.

My love affair with TIME magazine

Just when I think the magazine can't get any better...

A while back I wrote about my deep concerns about adolescent obesity. Coincidently, TIME magazine's newest issue focuses on this topic for their cover story! It is a fascinating read.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine

Branson trip

Thought I would update everyone on the rest of our trip.

After probably 30 hours in Bolivar, our car was fixed (and paid for!) and we headed to Branson Friday afternoon praying that our car would not have trouble again. We made it and we had no other car troubles after that.

Friday night we ate at the Fall Creek Steakhouse. Someone had told us it closed, but we drove by anyway because...holy cow they throw rolls at you. :) We arrived expecting it to be closed, but it was open, in a huge new building. Apparently the old one had burned. We were very excited and needed this relief after the previous day. We waited about 25 minutes or so only to be underwhelmed by the food. It was boring and seemed mass produced. Glenn had ribs and they were not good. I had soup and what was supposedly a wonderful salad bar. Yeah, I had some lettuce, cheese, sesame seeds and dressing. Boring. The only fruit on the salad bar was pineapple. Great. The only fruit I can't eat. Thanks. So we were disappointed, but still thankful just to be settling in.

After a much needed good night's sleep, the next day we experienced the fabulous breakfast at our hotel and set out early in our hiking clothes to hike some trails. The guy at the hotel told us to go to Dogwood Canyon because this place I had found on the Internet (Lakeside Wilderness Area at Lake Tanycomo) he hadn't heard of. So we headed to Dogwood. We had hiked this before with my mom and brother and it is gorgeous! However, after probably an hour of driving to get there, a sign stopped us dead in our tracks. No pets. :( Our whole purpose for hiking was to get the dog out of the hotel room and have some fun. We love hiking with Frankie. We were devastated. This trip just wasn't being realized the way we imagined. So we headed back toward Branson a different direction. We decided to try and find the lakeside trail, which by the way, was not known by the hotel attendant OR a gas station attendant. We didn't find it either. We did stop at Table Rock Park or whatever it was called and ate lunch and walked around a bit. The water was beautiful. But this is where we discovered that a majority of the trails were flooded over because the water was so high. that was disappointing.

We left and drove around downtown to see the new modern area. It is so different, according to Glenn. I don't remember it enough to know the difference.

We got cleaned up at the hotel and headed out to the World's Largest Toy Museum that afternoon. It was fantastic! I wanted to go more, but I think ultimately Glenn enjoyed it more. After that we headed to the Dinosaur Museum and although we had fun taking silly pictures, it was underwhelming. I was really looking forward to it as most people don't know I really wanted to be a paleontologist when I was a kid. Crazy. I know. Can you imagine me digging in the desert? Anyway, on the way to the museum we stopped and had a little piece of Heaven in Branson: funnel cake, topped with strawberries, topped with ice cream. It might be the most fantastic thing I have ever eaten. :) We ate the whole thing and we were so full!

That night we decided to try and find an authentic Mexican restaurant and we did! El Portal on 76 is a fantastic place with great peach daquiris. We got our fill of Mexican (on our already full stomachs!) and went home to sleep the night away. We also tried to see the new Noah the Musical this night, but it was sold out ALL weekend. :( Guess we should have gotten tickets earlier.

Sunday was our shopping day...OK, MY shopping day. We went to the infamous (that's when you're more than famous) Tanger Outlet Mall only to find most of the stores gone and the ones left were not for us. The Gap was gone, so that was disappointing. We headed to The Landing, Branson's new east side, to peruse the new shops there. I found a Charlotte Russe and Maurices! I was in Heaven and finally found a pair of dark jeans and a couple of shirts. I was really hoping Glenn could find some clothes, but alas, not very many grown up boy places to shop. It was sad.

After shopping, we took a nap (it wears you out you know...) and relaxed until our 5 p.m. show. We had free tickets from our hotel to see the Bart Rocket Show. He does comedy, magic and ventriliquism. We weren't that excited about going, but hey, it was free. And it was fantastic! I definitely recommend Bart Rocket to everyone. He is great. His ventriliquism was some of the best I've seen and he was so funny! His 2-year-old son also came out at the end and did a booty shake to some Justin Timberlake. It was adorable.

We stayed an extra day to make up for the one we lost on the way in. So, Monday we slept in and made the thankfully uneventful trip home. Frankie was an angel in the car. He slept a lot and just did so well. He was pampered at Boxcar Willie Hotel with fancy dog bowls and a home made treat every morning! We really enjoyed having him with us on this trip. Through all the stress he was comforting and mostly calm. We truly appreciate this and love our dog very much!

So all in all, it was a good trip. We always love the laid-back and friendly setting of Branson. Setbacks will always be there, but we have grown as a couple and continue to fall more in love through all situations. I saw a side of my husband that I haven't seen much: He took control of our bad situations when I was crumbling. I dearly love my husband. And just for him I say: Shoji Tabuchi. And from now on you can call us the Swarzeneggers. HA! (we're trying to come up with a new name to give at restaurants as Shipps doesn't work so well and Glenn sounds like too many other things)

From back in KC...peace and love...and good car fortune.

Vacation woes and God's traveling mercy

Today, Glenn and I (and Frankie) left for a short trip to Branson. We knew it would be a risk driving my 9-year-old car, but we couldn't justify, nor afford a rental. So we took the risk. Everything was going great. We stopped at the Osceola Cheese Factory, picked up some cherry white cheddar (some of the best cheese I've ever had, and I've had a lot of cheese!), and headed out for our last leg.

Just north of Springfield, about an hour and a half north of Branson, our car started sputtering. Thank GOD we were near an off ramp and we just made it off the highway on top of an overpass when the car died. We coasted to the side of the road.

Not long after a gentleman in a white truck and cowboy hat stopped to help us. He drove down the road to a repair shop and got their name and number. We called, but they were really busy and had no tow truck. Luckily I had renewed our AAA membership yesterday and was on the phone with them when the man offered to tow us a mile down the road to Bolivar, MO. The tow was an experience, for sure! We pulled into a repair shop and they said they could get us in in an hour or so.

We went back to the car to wait and I broke down. I cried and cried and Glenn prayed with me. I haven't been on vacation forever and this was not going to ruin it! Did I mention we have to entertain the dog this whole time? :)

About 20 minutes later they got our car in (much sooner than expected) and maybe 30 minutes later they told us the timing belt tensioner had broken. The part will not be here until tomorrow morning. The bill was going to be $275 and Glenn and I decided the best thing to do was get a hotel room for the night in Bolivar and head to Branson tomorrow. Not how I envisioned my vacation, but I'm trying to roll with it.

So we found a hotel (that took dogs for a reasonable price), unloaded our mounds of crap and called a taxi to take us there. After we got settled and ate some food, Glenn got a call on his cell phone. The man who gave us the tow was on the other end and told us he had paid our bill. HE PAID OUR CAR REPAIR BILL. We are needless to say in shock and in tears. This man was an angel for us today. All he said was that we should pay it forward. Believe you me we will. And after some detective work, we found his name and address and we will send him a thank you card with a picture from our vacation.

We felt today that things could have been a lot worse, but we were definitely not happy about it. Then God slaps us and says, "BE THANKFUL". I don't think we truly were.

So from our hole in Bolivar, we're doing good and are very thankful. Here's to happier times in Branson tomorrow!

Oh, and did I mention we saved $30 by staying here instead of Branson? :) So far this trip has made us money. HA!