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Tuesday, March 13, 2012

kid emails

okay. I have been given permission to share these emails with you. I think they are pure gold.

If you like them, tell me. If you think this is dumb, tell me. I'll spare you, and continue to enjoy them on my own.

a little context:
kid 1 is 7 years old. She used to live near her very best friend, kid 2. They don't live near each other anymore. sad. when I was a kid and your best friend moved away, you never heard of them again until you were 25 and they found you on Facebook. In 2012, it's no big deal, because they email, Skype, etc.. kid 2 received an iPod touch for Christmas, and her parents let her set up an email account (which they monitor). kid 1's parents aren't quite ready to let kid 1 have an iPod or an email account, but they do let kid 2 email kid 1 at her mom's email address. kid 1's mom lets her read and respond to emails on mom's iPhone.

On Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 4:49 PM, kid 1 wrote:
What's your favorite animal?
Mine is a flamingo!

On Tue, Jan 31, 2012 at 6:18 PM, kid 2 wrote:
mine is a cat. my 2nd is a flamingo! at leaset now. please say your 2nd is a cat!

On Jan 31, 2012, at 5:22 PM, kid 2 wrote:
by please I mean really REALLY RREEAALLLLYY please say so.

On Wed, Feb 1, 2012 at 4:42 PM, kid 1 wrote:
I already told you.
Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 1, 2012, at 5:01 PM, kid 2 wrote:
from just then?!

On Wed, Feb 1, 2012 at 7:09 PM, kid 1 wrote:
My 2nd is a cat.
Sent from my iPhone

On Wed, Feb 1, 2012 at 8:41 PM, kid 2wrote:
oh good! Phew!

On Feb 1, 2012, at 7:44 PM, kid 2wrote:
by the way we have to have a the most here: fav color, B-day, food, and much more. what is your fav food?

On Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 4:36 PM, kid 1 wrote:
My fav color is orange.
My b-day is ________.And my fav food is ribs.
Sent from my iPhone

On Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 6:23 PM, kid 2 wrote:
my 2nd is orange. and your 2nd fav favorite food is pizza. by the way I don't like ribs though a lot of peple in my family like ribs.

On Feb 2, 2012, at 6:00 PM, kid 2 wrote:
at least we both have long hair. did you get my last one?

On Thu, Feb 2, 2012 at 7:33 PM, kid 1 wrote:
Yes.
Sent from my iPhone

Date: Fri, Feb 3, 2012 at 8:18 AM
Subject: Re: Animal kid 2 wrote:
good.

permission

new favorite blog (i mean website)

it sort of reminds me of my other blog idea. I'd like to add a tab dedicated to kid emails. If SOMEONE would just give me permission to publish her daughter's emails here. I promise to keep it all anonymous.

please??????

Monday, March 12, 2012

rock chalk

I love college basketball.

it’s up there with whales.

I love so many things about it. I love the pace of the games. I love the ever-changing nature of the score, the lead, even the rankings, and the always evolving teams. I love the fans. I love the commitment / devotion / passion / absolute madness of the fans, coaches, players, etc…

I am lucky to have been raised in a family by a man who loves sports, one of them being basketball. I am especially lucky to have been raised by a KU fan who was raised by KU fans. I believe KU has the greatest college basketball program ever ever ever ever ever. I could bore you with the history of the program to explain why, but if you're reading this you already know or don't care... I can remember college basketball being on T.V. throughout my entire childhood. Long before I paid any attention, I remember playing on the floor while my dad or dad and grandfather watched - and listening to the fans, the commentators, and the shoes squeak on the floor. Those sounds are still comforting to me. I still love watching basketball - any basketball - with my dad.

I spent portions of every summer of my childhood visiting my grandparents in Lawrence, Kansas where basketball was like religion. It was rarely ever basketball season while I was there, but I still knew how important it was. There is something magical in the air in Lawrence. Some would argue that it’s the crazy-thick humidity mixed with my own fairy-tale memories of summers with Pup & Gram and my siblings… Okay, so that’s partially true. But I would argue that there is some kind of mysterious basketball energy mixed in there somewhere. Perhaps it radiates from the pretty little cemetery where Dr. Naismith and my grandparents rest.

back to college basketball - I even love the heartbreak. When it comes to tournament season, it is likely that your heart will be broken. Winning the national championship is an incredibly momentous achievement that many times could have gone to a dozen different teams if any number of games had ended one second earlier, or one second later. I love it because there is always next year. I also love love… and loving a team like the Jayhawks through every heartbreak is about as unconditional a love as any.

k so… I told this story because March Madness begins this week. There is nothing in the world like this tournament. These athletes all over the country who work their whole lives to play even one minute on this stage have to be admired. The window of time that any of them have a shot at this victory is so small.

I simply cannot wait.

here’s to this year (fingers crossed)… and to next year too.

i am so geeked out on this stuff:

Saturday, March 10, 2012

crazy dog lady

sorry that this is now a dog blog.

it's impossible to not take pictures of her.

when I got home from work yesterday, we celebrated beautiful Friday afternoon weather by playing fetch in the sunshine and rolling around in the grass.

and this is what her face looks like when we have to go back inside:

baby dori

Dori was adopted from the Idaho Falls Humane Society, but she was being fostered by a family that took her pregnant mommy in and raised the 11 puppies along with their own 4 dogs. (=16 dogs!)

They were great people who loved all of the puppies, and wanted to keep in touch with us. Yesterday they sent some pictures of Dori when she was a baby.