Homegirl Quel (kel) in Austin

Sooo, yeah. I'm playing 18 holes of golf on Sunday.

Mhm. And I have never played golf before in my life. So. This should be interesting.

On Sunday, May 2, I will be playing in the Austin Mocha Moms' inaugural annual charity golf tournament, "Teeing Off Against Childhood Illiteracy" as part of a foursome. Why am I putting myself out there like this? I'm not sure. Actually, it's for the kids. And for their sake and mine, I really, REALLY hope golf is as easy to pick up as I think it is. I have a pretty good record of doing well in sports situations that are new to me. In college, I played basketball on a team of guys once and handled myself pretty well. I can't remember if I made any shots, but I do recall some good blocks, and they kept me on the team the whole game and didn't cuss me out...and our team won, so I think I did ok. And then there was the time I went bowling for the first time since I was like, 12, and bowled a 219, which is an insanely good score period, no matter how much bowling experience you have. I don't suck at tennis and I usually win when I play pool with anybody. So I should pick up golf pretty easily, right?

Who knows, how my golf game will be. One thing is for sure: This will be tons of fun and there will be no shortage of laughter (hopefully more with me than at me). The good thing is I have a week before the tournament to practice on my swing and 18 holes during the tournament to try to get it right. 

All Austinites or people who may be in town this weekend, of all levels of golfing experience and ability are welcome to come out to support our cause.

See the News 8 interview with our Austin Chapter President about the tournament and our work in combating childhood illiteracy here:
 
For more information on the tournament including location, time and how to sign up to play, please visit the tournament website at: http://www.golfdigestplanner.com/15147-MM2010CharityGolf/.

I dig where music takes me sometimes

I ran across this song on my playlist today. It's from the soundtrack to Closer. I remember when the film and the song came out. Both are amazing. But every time I hear this song, I am compelled to close my eyes. If you know me, you know that's not strange. I love songs with lyrics and real musical instruments in them. All I need is a guitar and piano and a storyteller and I'm good. I'd go into my thing for James Taylor, but I will spare you guys (but I LOVE him!). Anyway, this song, The Blowers Daughter, really does it for me. It's a combination of the strings in the music and the lyrics and the voices on these guys! The chorus is so intense: "I can't take my eyes off you" repeated like a million times. Then later, "I can't take my mind off you." I never listen to it once...always on repeat like 10 times or more (not exaggerating--I'm listening to it right now...for the past 20-25 minutes). I own the Closer DVD and the official music video for this song is a bonus on there. The first time I watched it, I played that video over and over again for like an hour. Is that strange? I can be sometimes, I think. It's just a really beautiful and really sad song. What musicians--real musicians--do, is such a gift. If you haven't heard this song before, listen to it and (hopefully you will) see what I mean.

No Words...

Well, actually, like, a thousand words.

  

Children and Jazz

I ran across a link today on Facebook and thought I'd share it with you guys...

In honor of Jazz (and Poetry) Appreciation Month, author, Regina Walker, offers some awesome ways to introduce Jazz to the little people in your life through children's books and music in her blog posts this month. Follow her posts in her "Jazz-oetry" series HERE.

One of the books she mentions, This Jazz Man by Karen Ehrhardt, is a book that was given to my 2-year old son before he even got here. We started reading it to him right away and we've never read the book to him straight. Instead, we sing the book to him to the tune of "This Old Man" and after two years he STILL absolutely loves it! He picks it from his bookshelf and we have to sing it to him at least once every single night.

Nine Years Of Marriage, My Butt and Cupcakes

Y'all know I do an anniversary post every year, so of course I cannot let today pass without a nuptialversary shout-out. After almost fourteen years of being together, my husband and I celebrate nine years of marriage today. If you've been married for nine years you already know it hasn't been all cupcakes and jellybeans. It has been more like your favorite pair of jeans. You know how you buy them because they fit perfectly and they make your butt look cute and then you settle into them and they get kinda stretched out and might even sag a little bit over time and then get too tight if you put on a few pounds or are bloated,and sometimes they don't fit, but you keep them in the closet and try them on all the time until they do fit again and they might even get a hole in the knee because of all the wear, but you wear them all the time anyway because even though they don't fit the same way, you feel just as cute in them and, most importantly, they still make your butt look cute? That's what nine years of marriage is like. My marriage is comfortable and familiar and although it's not as perfect as it seemed to be when it was new, my butt still looks cute in it.

My Toddler Is Making A Vegan Out Of Me

This week at least.

Inspired by SLY's post over at Sociology of Sheena, I was inspired to strike through my meal plans for this week, which included lots of egg whites, chicken, fish, oats, brown rice and veggies (working out my Serena Williams thigh envy in the spirit of summer), in exchange for a meal plan towards a greater end: Getting my toddler to eat like a toddler.

He turned two in February. Partly because of an insanely long list of food allergies, but mostly because of a food texture aversion, my toddler is currently a vegan. He will be starting school (Montessori, of course) in June and I am on a mission to get him chewing and swallowing food before then. I swear, if I have to send my son to school with Gerber oats and pureed fruit for lunch...

I know I can't rush him, but in an effort to help him along, this week I am going to only eat what he can also (potentially) eat for breakfast, snacks and lunch. I'll leave dinner open to indulge in my beloved cooked animal flesh, but only if my flesh is weak. If I am strong enough to forgo the flesh, I shall. So I will be gluten/wheat/egg/meat/dairy/nut-free for the next 7 days. The only exception will be on my weight lifting days, on which I drink a dairy-based protein shake after my workout. 

I am halfway through the first day. I had oats and a banana for breakfast and brown rice macaroni and peas for lunch. We will snack on raisins and pickles and dinner will likely be a repeat of lunch. If I can keep this up longer than a week, awesome.

The best part about eating what my kid eats is that we get to sit and have our meals...the same meals...together, which we haven't done on a regular basis. He really gets a kick out of seeing me chew and do the happy dance for the food party in my tummy. My goal is to get him eating like a big kid. Discovering a new way to be the source of his louder-than-any-toddler-should-be, crazy-catchy laughter is just icing on the cake...er...hummus on the carrot? *shrugs shoulders*

I'm Back! Unofficially...

I'm making some design changes right now, so please excuse the dust as I renovate my spot. OMG, I miss y'all! Will be back in full effect very soon. Promise. If you want to chat before I get back, holla at me on Twitter. Until then!