Mill Street Mamas

Last week, Janie and I took a little road trip to my favorite place in the world - the central California coast - to visit some of my favorite people in the world - my college roommates!



You know what I love? Even though its been forever since we've seen each other, we when do get together its like no time has passed at all.

On Wednesday night we all met at Happy's house for a BBQ. All the kiddos and a couple of husbands were there for the fun.









We spent Thursday at Avila beach. It was sunny and sandy and wonderful. But you'll just have to take my word for it - we were having so much fun that I forgot to pull out my camera!

Thursday night we headed to downtown SLO for some girl time. We enjoyed watching all the people at Farmer's Market and some yummy food.



I love these gals!

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Put me in the zoo

One morning last week, Janie and I were feeling spontaneous and decided to visit the zoo. It was lots of fun!

The zoo we normally like to visit has had a little problem lately with tigers escaping and killing people, so we opted to try some place new.

Highlights:

- Elephants! They were graceful and gorgeous and not nearly as ginormous as I expected them to be.

- Bears! There was one little bear who spent all day walking around and around in a circle. I actually felt a little bad for the bear, but Janie thought this was the most hilarious thing and laughed loudly and then louder still.

- Carnival rides! Directly adjacent to the zoo is a small carnival & ride area with a carousel, roller coaster and several of those little rides with cars and trucks that go around and around and around. It was at the zoo that Janie discovered a deep and profound love for the around and around car rides. She did her loud happy laugh, followed by lots of exclamations.... "Woohoo! I'm driving! Look at me!"

Lowlights:

- Getting lost. Twice. Sigh.

- Hills. I almost wore my new summer shoes for our zoo adventure and I was so glad that I decided against it.

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Churchy stuff

For all you closet Psalty lovers out there, please check out this funny, funny video here.

Saddleback Church was holding a conference for worship leaders and played this video right before Psalty came out to lead everyone in a song!! How fun!

And if you've been going to church for forever, then you'll love reading Stuff Christians Like.

Some of my favorites.... Prayer scoring guide, bulletin art, greeting people around you, and (for all of you who went to church back in the hymnal days) singing the 1st & 3rd verses of hymns.

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New faves

Here are some new (to me) products that I am loving right now...

Mentha Lip Tint
Silky, shiny gloss with a hint of color and a double dose of peppermint flavor.

(I think they might also have wintergreen flavor - but whatever. That's for weirdos.)

I can't help but smile when I put it on - it's so tingly & refreshing. Plus, it also makes me feel fresh-breathy.

Skin Milk
Purchasing a lotion-type product is a challenge for me. A much bigger challenge than it should be, really.

Regular old lotion just doesn't cut it. After a couple of hours, my skin feels parched and like I'd never applied lotion at all. So I've discovered that using a body cream or butter is the way to go. It's heavier, it lasts longer, my skin feels softer and I just generally love it.

However, I'm a bit of a Scrooge McDuck and it was killing me (and my budget) to fork over serious $$$ for the good stuff. I stumbled upon my new fave while checking out my new fave place to shop.

At $5, it's a skin care bargain! Plus it has a yummy, yet totally mild scent - which is perfect. My hunky husband has a very sensitive sniffer and strong smelling lotions make him feel gaggy - which is not the desired response when snuggling up next to him on the sofa.

So, gentle reader, what about you? Have you discovered any can't-live-without-it products recently? I'd love to hear about them.

Especially if it gives me an excuse, I mean... a reason to head back here.

Which, not coincidentally, is right next door to here. Which is where I found the most adorable summer shoes. Which I would totally post a picture of, if only I could find a picture of them anywhere on the entire world wide web.

(I'm realizing now that I probably could have just taken a picture of the shoes myself rather than spending 30 minutes looking on a bazillion websites trying to find this elusive photo.)

Oh well. Imagine your favorite shoes here:

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Sheesh!

Ever have a day when you drop a lot of stuff? Not in a metaphorical or spiritual sense - but in an actual, physical, butter-fingery sense.

It's not so surprising, really. I mean, I do have quite a klutzy history. But today seems messier than most.

So far this morning I have...

- spilled water all over the kitchen trying to fill up Janie's water bottle.

- run over my own toe with a shopping cart. Ouch. Plus it ruined the at-home pedicure I gave myself last night. (Janie offered to kiss it and make it better - but I thought it would look weird for my child to be kissing my foot in the middle of the grocery store.)

- dropped a container of alfredo sauce while putting away groceries. It broke. And it was a big mess.

- pulled a pan out of the cupboard to make mac & cheese for lunch. The lid fell off the pan. It dropped into the bowl of cat food in the corner. Cat food and bowl pieces flew around the kitchen. It was another big mess.

That's it for now. But it is, after all, only 1:00 in the afternoon. There's still plenty of time for me to break something else! To protect my carpet, I'll be using my grown-up sippy-cup for the rest of the day!

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Four things

Four jobs I have had in my life:
1. For most of my teenage years I was a professional babysitter
2. I eventually moved up to jewelery salesperson at a local department store
3. My perfect summer job during college was Quality Control clerk at a local cannery
4. And my most favorite job of all - full-time mama

Four movies I would watch over and over:
1. Pride & Prejudice - the way long A&E version
2. Sliding Doors
3. Anne of Green Gables
4. Elizabeth

Four places I have lived:
1. Valparaiso, Indiana
2. Glenview, Illinois
3. San Luis Obispo, California - my most favorite place to be in the whole wide world
4. Modesto, California - home of several national scandals

Four TV shows that I watch:
1. Mad Men - my new, most favorite show
2. Friday Night Lights - if you're not watching this show, you really should
3. Assorted reality shows - The Amazing Race, Project Runway, Top Chef, etc.
4. The Closer

Four places I have been:
1. Maui, Hawaii
2. Tijuana, Mexico
3. Pismo Beach, California
4. Catalina Island, California

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Carbs - all types
2. Sparkling apple cider
3. Milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate
4. Zucchini squash- I'm suddenly very into this delicious vegetable

Four things I am looking forward to this summer:
1. Vacation with hubs & kiddo
2. Hanging with my college roomies at the beach
3. Getting a flip flop tan
4. After dinner walks around the lake

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The good stuff

Recently, during a play group, one of the other moms started singing a song that took me right back to 1982 (give or take a few years).

If you were part of a children's program in any church in the 80's - then you'll recognize these lyrics...

Have patience, have patience
Don't be in such a hurry
When you get impatient
You only start to worry
Remember, remember
That God is patient, too
And think of all the
Times when others
Have to wait for you

You may even have memories of some poor volunteer dressed up like a big blue hymnal named Psalty.

Well, after hearing my friend singing this childhood favorite, I couldn't get the song out of my head! I had to find it! It was no where to be found on iTunes, but I did track down a copy of the CD on sale for $3.



It arrived today and we listened to it during dinner. It was every bit as fabulous as I remember. I admit that some parts and a little goofy - and I'm not a fan of listening to the dialogue from the acting part of the musical between the songs.

But each song brought back memories. It's really amazing, that 25 (or so) years later, I can still remember the words to almost every song.

Which makes me think, of course, about what Janie is busy memorizing and I'm wondering if knowing the words to the Little Einsteins theme song is going to help her make good spiritual choices as a young adult.

I don't know if Janie will ever be in a musical with a giant blue hymnal, but I do know that I want to be more intentional about filling up her mind with the good stuff.

It's hard, because so much of Christian children's entertainment is either ridiculously lame or really annoying or sometimes both. So if anyone (all three of you who read this blog) have any good ideas about CDs and DVDs of the non-lame, non-annoying variety, please let me know!

In the meantime, I'm off to search the web for more childhood churchy memories (that have been transfered from audio cassette to CD) to share with my kiddo!

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