ohmywordohmywordohmyword!

Guess what?!?!?!? we have a coffee roaster!!! I took a few grainy pictures, but still haven't woken up my computer from its 3-week sleep, so won't be loading them today. Here is a link to it, though: http://www.sweetmarias.com/sweetmarias/coffee-roasters/drum-roasters/gene-cafe-roaster-black.html
The best part, other than the amazing roaster :), is the accompanying 8-pound coffee sampler! 8 ziplocs full of sweet green coffee beans, with labels detailing the flavor/aroma notes we should look for. Assuming we don't burn the heck out of 'em :) So excited! Today, we are going to our storage space to retrieve my book on home coffee roasting by Kenneth Davids--better review so we have some idea of what to do!

In other news, we are going to print shops today to find out what they can do as far as printing wedding invitations, because April sent us her designs and we love them! After printing, it will be time to work on handwriting legibility and addressing!

Well, Daniel is here now for our morning cup o' coffee, so it is away from the computer I go. Fare thee well!

Wedding Weekend Recap!

had a wonderful weekend back in Tulsa for not one, but Two, weddings! which meant seeing lots of friends, yay!, and eating lots of good food...especially CAKE! and...incidentally, for you readers in the Tulsa area, you should totally choose The Coffee House on Cherry Street for all your custom-cake needs! They provided a beautiful 4-layer art-deco-themed cake for the first wedding, and every layer was A DIFFERENT DELICIOUS FLAVOR! orange cream (eaten by me), mocha, and...either hazelnut or amaretto, i forget. absolutely perfect! (i have a picture, but will have to include it later, once i'm back on my computer, which is taking a hiatus)

another fun part of the weekend was seeing Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows, which was great! not perfect, if you want to get all snobberish, but i was completely satisfied :) did have to close my eyes at one scene that involved a nasty type of torture, but...it all ended up okay. *whew* see it!

and, amazingness-of-amazingness, Christmas presents! i got from Christi a yummy breakfast keychain!! which turned out to be a smiling egg, so cute! and a "Soft Kitty" shirt from Big Bang Theory. i will always think of Christi and, of course, miss izzy and the trubs when i wear it. and from Bobby, a Wii!! complete with Just Dance 3! i thought my wii-dancing days were OVER, but lo-and-behold! i Will beat daniel someday, that is a promise ;)

finally, WE ORDERED A COFFEE ROASTER! not a commercial one, but a nice drum roaster that can do 1/2 a pound at a time. it comes with 8 pounds of free green coffee too! :) so excited!! a huge step up from a stovetop popcorn maker....we are going to try to start selling coffee to friends and family members, and eventually hopefully turn this into a real business! but if that doesn't pan out, at least i'll be roasting coffee!!! <3

so, back home now and hearing an obnoxious beep...like the batteries in the smoke detector are going out. really?!?! must investigate. ciao!

More Sea Songs!

Good dreary afternoon!
yesterday, i wrote two more sea tunes...and then may or may not have forgotten the actual tunes, whoops...anyway, here are the lyrics! if you have any ideas of how to turn these sea songs into a musical, let me know :) since they all have to do with different animals, i think that's already a bit much, but...who knows! Alright, nap time!

Drop in the Water (lullabye feel)

Ch:
In the Sea you'd like to be
More than just one
Drop of water
Lost in it all
In the sea you'd like to be
A force, a personality
That swims against the tide
To change it all

I. When did it dissolve?
Your drive and your resolve?
When did the storm start brewing?
The waves grew dark and tall,
You fled before the squll
You might live but you'll still be losing. (Ch.)

II. When a ray of light
Breaks through the stone-faced sky
I will call you, darling.
But you will answer nothing,
Just one sparkling drop on the water.



Blue-Whale Blues

I. I could never frolic like a fish in the sea,
Turnin' tricks, blowin' bubbles, I'm just not carefree,
'Cause I measure a mountain from my mouth to my tail,
And I weigh sev'ral tons, Oh I'm a big blue whale.

Ch. And I want
Happy...Dainty...Winsome...Weighty? NO!
I just want to frolic in the sea and be in love.

II. I'm the hind-end of al the clown-fish's jokes,
And it appears I've got blubber quite amusing to poke,
Tried to friend all the fishies but you know that I failed,
So I weep and I wail, I'm such a blue blue whale! (Ch.)

III. Why am I here? I never knew till today
When another blue whale asked me over to play,
She was lovely and sweet, and my heart set sail,
I feel light as a seagull though I am a blue whale!

Ch. Now I am
Happy...dainty...winsome...weighty, Yes!
But I still frolic in the sea 'cause I'm in love.

Two in a Row!

Good morning--my second-to-last morning as a Tulsa resident! (this time around, at least :)--started it off with eggnog french toast, which is an excellent invention and...too much sugar! ugh. coffee later, thank goodness!

here is a random magician/friendship-themed poem. i'm out of practice, but...without further ado:

Sleight of hand and disappearing acts
Are fun-and-games until you’re limbo-lost,
Unseen, unfriended, waking to the cost
Of shallow showmanship: you can’t come back

Because you don’t know how: you disappeared
To prove you could—but should? You never asked.
Of course you could! (complete the smaller half
Of tricks that hang suspended, need you here)

Which doesn’t seem too likely—after years,
Your memory and mine are fading fast,
And magic but the ghost of friendship past,
Forsaken when you failed to appear

That’s when I felt my bones go draughty-cold,
‘Cause magic is for children. I’ve grown old.

Long Time No Write

Greetings!
Sorry it has been...sooo....looooong......
Here are my excuses:
1. Moving in TWO DAYS!!! EEKS!!! lots of time spent packing/cleaning.
2. (The Biggie) Getting sucked into a new series--literary, not movietary--devouring one page-turning book after the other ohmyword--i'm talking about Laruie R. King's Mary Russell/Sherlock Holmes series. it's been like a week and a half and i'm on book...five? yep, five. In-credible.
Like the Maisie Dobbs series, they are also set in post-WWI England. The focus is not so much on the 'psychology' of the period, though...but it is amazing how much research King must have done for the writing of these books! The fourth book, The Moor, takes place in the same setting as "The Hound of the Baskervilles"--but Russell and Holmes' host is a very historical figure, Sabine Baring-Gould--who lived, loved, and wrote (copiously) about the area (and Were-Wolves, and other things)--and, interestingly, wrote "Onward Christian Soldiers." Here's the crazy thing: Sabine Baring-Gould wrote at least 1240 publications (read his wiki article here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabine_Baring-Gould) and it's obvious that King must have read several of the important ones, in order to bring his character to life, and indeed, as it turns out, to create the case that must be solved. he's a man i'd never even heard of--but now i have, and greatfully so. anyway, read these books. and a special thanks again to christi flagg who has introduced me to so much enjoyable and incredible literature these past two years!

so, the two pictures:
1. Daniel and one of our favorite dogs, Max, at Pottery!
2. FUN SODAS! from Ida Red in tulsa, left-to-right: Manhattan Special's Espresso Coffee Soda (verdict: so much better than the coffee beer we tried, blech!); Always Ask for Avery's Pumpkin Pie Soda (verdict: woo-hoo!); Cooper's Cave's ButterBeer (get to drink delicious soda AND feel like your in Harry Potter land?? YES YES YES!); Bawls...something-or-other...classic super-caffeinated soda for nerds :) didn't try it, just let Daniel take it home :( i'm sure it was lovely...; oh, and, not pictured: Birch Beer by Sioux City! gift from my sister Jenny, so good! thank you!

that is all for now...no time to write, must read! must read!