NOT Tonto

Rudolph + CoCo = Pals for life

The High Life

Worth the climb!

Bows, Flowers, Clips or Funky Rubber Bands?

Not quite sure what hair accessory to choose, but is sure is fun!

"Greensleeves" on the Ukulele

The guitar is a little.too.big.

The ukulele is more fitting.

I Have Big Eyes Too!

This morning, CoCo tried to trick MLO by hiding in a Moses basket filled with about 40 big-eyed creatures. MLO could not have been more taken with this act!

MLO also noted that CoCo must've used her magic to pick up the almost-40 big-eyed creatures and put them in the basket since they were scattered all over her bedroom floor! CoCo is also endearing her self to Mommy because she picked up some of MLO's laundry and put them in the laundry hamper. I told MLO that I'm going to have to call Santa and negotiate CoCo moving to Texas!

Merry Christmas, y'all!

Barbie's Shoes Don't Fit

Last night, MLO said a prayer, joined by myself and Boa, that CoCo would actually come to life. She's was quite worried that, this morning, CoCo would still be in the box in which she arrived yesterday.

Looks like CoCo made herself rrrrriiiiiiight at home in the Barbie Mansion - shoes scattered about, lounging in the bed. Seems she favored MLO's shoe over Barbie's.

Merry Christmas!

Meet CoCo Glitterfluff

The Elf named herself CoCo Silverfluff

We are now a bigger family. Welcome to CoCo Silverfluff, the Elf on the Shelf we adopted.

I caved.

I have a very persistent and persuasive eight-year-old. 

My Little One asked me, "Why aren't we allowed to have an Elf on the Shelf again, Mommy?".

I explain to her my theory.  

She rebuts with a list of friends whom are nice, sweet friends, that have an Elf. So I told her, "Because after three years, you are still asking for one, and you have made a strong case for taking care of one, I'll do some reading and re-consider my stance. I'm not saying 'yes', but I'm not saying 'no' either."

About once a week since, she would check in and ask if I had made a decision yet. I hadn't, but I was doing some research. I found blogs and Pinterest pages of "nice" elves, or "kindness" ideas. I don't like the elves that make messes or cause mischief, because I think that re-enforces bad behavior (I know, it's crazy extreme. I KNOW!). Anyway, I decided to green light the elf adoption.

Fast forward to the week of Thanksgiving, and MLO asked me if I had made a decision. I told her I had indeed decided to move forward with an adoption. She was DELIGHTED! Then it became a daily discussion of arrival status. 

This morning, a package was on the dining room table with MLO's name on it. MLO opened it and I was surprised to see her so patient about it. She carefully untaped the paper from all the sides, peeled back the tape from the box opening. She smiled and said, "A box! I got a box! I hope there's a smaller box inside!" 

I replied, "You want smaller and smaller boxes like those Russian nesting dolls???".

"Yeah!" she exclaimed.

She opened the flaps of the cardboard box, saw a letter, pulled out the letter ONLY, closed the flaps and started reading the letter - TO HERSELF, QUIETLY. I'm in suspense! What does it say?! What's inside the box?! TELL ME!!!

"What are you reading?"

"It's a letter."

"Well read it to me!"

"I'm going to read it myself, quietly, first."

This chick is PAY-SHINT!

So she read the letter, and slowly opened the box. She pulled a piece of tissue paper that revealed *Angels in Heaven Chorale song* THE Elf!

MLO was careful not to touch the elf, lest the elf loses her magic. The accompanying book is under the elf, so she carefully pulled it out and I reached for the letter.

There are a short moments of shy smiles and sweet faces. I can see MLO's eyes are happy. She was pretty low-key considering the three year build-up to this moment. 

I left the table and started to wash dishes while MLO ate breakfast. She was quiet, contemplative. Then she turned around to face me and said, "mommy, I know it doesn't show, but I have lots of excited screaming going on in my mind right now".  Adorable. :)

The letter tasked MLO with naming the elf, which turned out to be quite a topic of discussion. MLO decided she wanted the elf to name herself and made a sign for her to fill in her name while MLO was at school. We got home from school, and the line for the name was still blank.  While we were waiting for Boa to be dismissed from school, we found an elf name generator app; "CoCo Silverfluff" was a result returned when MLO typed in her own name. And thus, CoCo was named, and shall be forever so. 

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Merry Christmas, everyone!

Simon, Pam & Keanu

Raise your hand if you thought you'd see Simon LeBon, Pamela Anderson and Keanu Reeves all in the same picture  -- at a car event -- in Texas.

Yeah. No raised hands. That's what I thought.

*laughing*

Post by Duran Duran.

~Whoosh!

Thomas Eric Duncan's Legacy

Thomas Eric Duncan did not die in vain.

Thomas Eric Duncan made a choice that reaches far and wide, on emotional, physical, geographical levels.

Thomas Eric Duncan seems to be this country's number one bad guy.

Thomas Eric Duncan is the person who contracted Ebola in Liberia and brought it to the States, and  I'm here to say that he left a wonderful legacy.

In a time where America is in a full-blown panic of pandemic proportions, I would like to take a moment to thank Mr. Duncan for his contribution to society, to humanity. 

I doubt that Mr. Duncan intentionally contracted Ebola and travelled internationally so that the world would become a little smaller, closing the gap between us Americans and "those people, over there". But that's exactly what's happened. And it's good.

The truth is, this is a learning exercise for all of us, most specifically the scientific community. Liken this to when Hurricane Katrina landed in New Orleans. We, through death & strife, learned about the failures of our weather warning systems & emergency response techniques. We're a stronger country for it now. Is it perfect? No. Will it be tested by Mother Nature again? Absolutely (and a time of HER choosing)!  It's also like 9/11. We now know, through an act of intentional violence, more about terrorism, as well as the peaceful peoples of middle eastern descent. We also know that terrorism is not ONLY borne from middle easterners. It can be your white neighbor next door to you in Suburbia, America. 

We take them for granted -- our medical systems. This "we" isn't just the middle and upper class, either. Even the poor & impoverished of the U.S. never think about the possibility of getting Ebola, but I would guess they are now! Let's keep in mind that we have hard working individuals who give their lives daily so that we may enhance ours. These people, medical professionals, are practicing medicine. It's called "practicing" for a reason: it's not an exact, universal science! We are too complex of an organism to have treatment be 100% universal. Your body chemistry is different from mine. Medical professionals look for patterns & try to treat according to what results have proved most immediately effective. 

His legacy is this, but not limited to this:

• Awareness to a part of the world, Africa, that needs immediate medical attention,
• Awareness about a virus, Ebola, that needs immediate medical attention,
• A test of and improvement to medical protocols in Dallas, Texas, which will ripple world-wide,
• An expansion of training and eduction to employees,
• Construction of medical facilities to accommodate those who need isolation while receiving treatment,
• Improvement of protective gear as well as a re-education to those in medicine on how to handle it,
• Communication improvement, to include distribution of information via the media

Too much irrationality exhibited.

Too much fear mongering.

Too much misinformation being distributed.

Too much panic and mayhem based on lack of knowledge.

Not enough patience.

Not enough respect for process.

Not enough learning.

Not enough compassion.

I suspect we have common desires, you and me. We wish it had never come to the States. We wish it didn't exist at all, this Ebola stuff. We desire it to stop - NOW. We want to know everything is going to be okay, and that *I* won't get it because some Suit at the Bigimportantknowseverything Organization forgot to tell me I could get it by touching doorknobs, drinking the water, planting flowers. We have fear, intense fear. We have anxiety. But let's not be irresponsible, please.  If I got got Ebola, I would want need compassion. I would want need to get better and not compromise others. I would want need someone to look at me with love, not fear, in his/her eyes. Would you give me love? Would you try to be understanding? Or would you fear me? Would you hide from me? I wonder how I'd get to see my kids? I wonder if my kids would even want to see me? If they did, what would their faces tell me? Would they have worry? Fear? Love? All of those? And my friends -- what would you do? How would you react if it were me in that sealed-off room? What would I do if the tables were turned? I'd like to think, at the core of your hearts, you would try to find a way to communicate with me, to show me love, to let me love you. I pray for the grace to feel that love bestowed. 

Mr. Duncan deserves dignity, not harsh judgment. His end-of-life and his death warrant gratitude, for now we as a human race are gaining an understanding of the human body and the world. We're evaluating our medical capabilities and enhancing them. We're reaching across borders to learn and teach. Our classes, races and other separations are minimized or eliminated because we all know that explosive diarrhea is The Great Equalizer. (That last note was a hat-tip to The Ticket listeners. :P #justthetip)

Mr. Duncan deserves our gratitude. I for one, am thankful for his life and legacy.

Rest in Peace, Thomas. Blessings be upon your family.

Dallas Stars + Dude Perfect

I admit I didn't want to like it, but I do. Here's Dude Perfect - Dallas Stars edition with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin (for you Texan non-hockey fans, Tyler's last name is pronounced SAY-GHIN, not SUH-GHEEN like our native town).

These two guys are hot on the ice and off.

You like doughnuts? Pandas? Tattoos? Hockey? Basketball? Basketball with hockey sticks? Bowling? Dishes? Backwards-turned baseball caps? Laughter? This video is for you? If you don't like those things, well, okay, just watch because I asked nicely. :)

Enjoy the Bennguins!

GO STARS!