Parents anniversary

So today I could really and honestly see things start to come together for my parents anniversary party. And let me tell you, it felt AH-MAZING.

Some of these things they don't know about so SSSHHHH. Yes they know about the party but the other stuff is a secret. But it's k cause they never look at my blog.

Basically here's what it boils down to -

Hymn from their wedding at church the day before + party with their friends and likely catered by Ricardos, which I'm getting a quote for that tomorrow + sending out invites + having my sister and soon to be brother in law come in town + a nice gift + sending them to a nice B&B in St. Genevieve = quite possibly the best 30th anniversary ever. We're rockin this, and I'm super excited.

And I know this is bad to do cause of the whole idol thing (citylifers you know what I'm talking bout but the rest of you don't) it's awesome to know it all came together cause of me. I know that's bad. And that's my issue. But still. It's nice.

Everything and the kitchen sink

You know that expression "everything and the kitchen sink"? Well that's what was thrown at me literally last night. No I don't mean our kitchen sink was actually thrown at me. But here's the story.

So Tuesday night I had been up till 4:30 AM working on a paper. I was exhausted. So I went home after work, sat on the couch, and watched Glee and Parenthood. It was great. Then I decided to get ready for CityLife. But first I check my facebook. That's when I see the message from my roommate's new bf (she had been trying to contact me but my phone's dead so I didn't know) saying they wanted to know if it's ok for him to stay over last night. I of course was fine with it. But it meant I had to clean. So I put off doing makeup for a few mins and pick up the apt a little.

Still good on time, I'm about to start doing makeup when I hear this drip drip drip. I look, can't find the source. Then I notice the rug in our kitchen is SOAKED and getting worse by the second. Look underneath... sure enough our kitchen sink is leaking. I try to pick it up (the water and the rug, not the sink). By the time I"m done, there's no time left for makeup. So I put some towels down, tell my roommate (who's coming in as I head out), and go to CityLife.

CityLife was nice and relaxing.

Then afterwards it's time for me to take care of the neighbors cat. The cat is diabetic so I have to give him his shot as well as feed him and their other cat, change the litter boxes, etc. I was a few hours late - 1.5 to be exact - but nothing bad. I'd been taking care of him for 3 weeks, the neighbors are coming home today. I open the door... THAT DAMN CAT RUNS OUTSIDE. And he won't come back when I'm calling him! I start freaking out of course. Run over, get my parents, we're all scouring the neighborhood, they even call the night patrol (which it turned out Phil was on the shift at the time) to try and help us find him. Finally my mom spots him... in the backyard... Dad had searched that place, I'd been yelling for him back there, she calls him a lil bit and out he comes! Damn cat! Bout gave me a heart attack for an hour!!

And of course by the time that's done, I've taken care of his shot, gave him a "Don't do that again!" talk, etc. there's all of 1 minute left of the PBS Great Performances showing of the RSC's Hamlet, with David Tennant (the 10th Doctor on Doctor Who) as Hamlet and Patrick Stewart (Captain Picaurd on STar Trek, which I never watched but know him from, also of SNL's "If it's not Scottish, it's crap!") as Claudius and Hamlet's father's ghost. So I missed all of that, when I coudl have caught the last hour and a half had I not been going all over Lafayette Square yelling "WALES! HERE KITTY KITTY!" and shaking treats for that damn cat.

Yeah that was my everything and the kitchen sink night. Tonight - I'm going to watch TV. Specifically Hamlet (which I started watching this morning - it's really good, but I am glad I wikipedia'd Hamlet and saw Luke in the ASC production 1st, cause I wouldn't know what was going on otherwise), Community, Bones, The Office, and 30 Rock.

PS. Anyone else find it interesting that 2 Scottish guys - Tennant and Stewart - were in Hamlet?? Why not just do the Scottish play at that point? JK!

Boo-OOOOOOK! (spoken like Bette Midler in Hocus Pocus)

For some reason, that moment of Bette Midler's Winifred opening the shutters and crying "Boo-OOOOK!" from Hocus Pocus always stuck with me.

So as most, if not all, of you know, my exit project is creating a childrens book for Campbell House Museum that tells the story of the Campbell family in a way that kindergarten-3rd graders can understand. It'll be accompanied by a story time education program I'm designing. I've done the story, but I am definitely not an artist, so an art student at UMSL agreed to illustrate the book for me. I got some of the illustrations today! Check em out!

1. Gus the narrator (an actual person who was a servant here for 40 years) showing the kids the dining room
2. The kitchen, including the bell system
3. Gus the narrator's room
4. Grandma Lucy's room
5. The library. This is my favorite of the illustrations she's sent me. Although Gus' hand in his pocket doesn't look quite right...
6. Mr. Hugh's room






















Aren't these great!! I put them into the book and it looks wonderful. I can't even tell you how awesome it feels to see your vision start coming together after a almost full year of work!

Books will be on sale at the Campbell House Museum gift shop, and also Looking Glass Designs of Lafayette Square. Plus we're just printing them at Kinko's, so if you want one, come talk to me and I can prob print one for you (but we'd prefer you support the museum or Mom's shop :-) ).

Anyway had to brag on myself cause these are awesome!

Reminders

You know, this semester has not been an easy one. Classes have been tough. Projects have been tough. Oh and then there's been that amazing little experience called the job search - total piece of cake, just sunshine and puppies as Katherine D. would say... :-). There have definitely been times where I've gotten down. I've wondered sometimes if my chance is ever gonna come. I've even wondered occasionally if I'm even in the right field or if I really have what it takes to make it (wow I totally sound like a contestant on Project Runway or America's Next Top Model right now). Anyway the point is that it's been tough. But then you get those reminders that actually you are doing the right thing. And I got a big one today.

I'm gonna try not to go into all the details on this cause that would be boring and kinda tacky. But basically I've been working really hard on my exit project, and someone that I respect a lot, who really knows his stuff, and who has really been behind me on this project - and who is not easy to please from what I've heard - told me that, just from my program outline and story, without even seeing the final product of the book, it's an amazing product. I am kinda walking on air a little. The only thing that would make this day better would be a job offer... (hint hint, nudge nudge God :-) ). Seriously though, I'd already had a good day because I'd started putting the book together and realized that this baby I'd been envisioning really was a good idea. And to hear the same from the mouth of someone that knows museums is just incredible. And that's before showing the finished product!

Hearing that just renewed my faith that I am in the right field. I do know my stuff. And my time will come. Sure, as of today, April 22, I don't have a full time job lined up. But I've got an internship. I've got 3 good connections and possibilities. I've got a lot of passion and potential. And damnit, I know my stuff and I'm ready. So I've just gotta wait it out and trust that I am right and ready for a job, and that one's gonna come. It's just nice to get that reminder from someone else.

Now on to some crazy crazy weeks ahead!

My schedule for the next few weeks

This is my schedule for the next few weeks/months. Read it and tell me it's not crazy.

Friday April 23 - dinner, CHARIS concert

Saturday April 24 - Art Underground

Sunday April 25 - help clean up from AU

This weekend - get party invitations out

Monday April 26 - eye doctor appointment, getting glasses (A. I need them, B. they make me look older and smarter)

Tuesday April 27 - historiography paper due

Tuesday April 27 - deadline for illustrator to get her stuff to me

Next week - put book together, put together education program

Tuesday May 4 - present historiography paper

That week (don't remember date off top of my head - 2nd historiography paper due

Friday May 7 - exit project, signed off by committee, due to Jay

Sunday May 9 - Mother's Day (right?) Still no idea what I'm doing for that.

Friday May 15 - graduation

Monday May 17 - parents 30th anniversary party

Weekend after that - Wash U graduation (lots of the basketball players that I've gotten to know are graduating). Parents of one of mom's students are prob taking us out to dinner

Around there - must have UMC descriptions finished

Sometime between the 20th and June 4th - move down to Natchez for the internship.

June 7 - Start Natchez internship

The last few may change if I get a job.

Oh and somewhere in there I have church and CityLife and a life in general.

IS THIS NOT CRAZY?

Does it ever slow down

You know it's funny. Sometimes I get days where I can actually relax and enjoy myself. And then as soon as those are over, I pay for them cause I realize everything I should've done. Or forgot to do.

Life is just nuts right now. I have a book I have to put together within the next few weeks. Gotta get the illustrations to do that. I have to finalize the education program that goes with it. Put it all together and turn it in as my exit project.

I have to finish these descriptions for the Urban Museum Collaborative grant, which means i have to research these people and summarize all the research into 400-600 words. Sounds easy, right? Not really. It's not easy to put together descriptive detail, a biography, and national connections in 600 words or less. It's also not easy to write a blurb about an object in 400 words (though that's easier than the descriptions).

Planning Mom and Dad's party. Which seems to have been moved from Hodak's to the house. That's fine. But dad's out of town and I need to finalize a location and a guest list so we can get invites out.

Still hoping for jobs. I've gotta call both to check on how things are going.

Calling on housing for Natchez for the summer.

I have 2 huge historiography papers due. One's due next week. One's due a week after that. LOTS of work left to do there.

I graduate may 15. That's a whole other stressor.

Oh and I've got a ton of laundry to do. And I'm taking care of my neighbor's diabetic cat.

SERIOUSLY?

Deep thoughts

So I'm gonna write on something that I've been thinking about and am divided on and I'm wanting to see what readers (however few of them there are) think about it. I bet everyone has heard about the woman in Tennessee who sent her adopted son back to Russia. Here are the details that I've gathered - granted, these details are all from news reports, I have no personal knowledge of this family.

A woman adopted a 7 year old Russian boy. The boy had been in an orphanage, which are notorious for being bad - kids get little affection, often are not well taken care of, etc. Many children who come from orphanages in Russia as well as other places and even here in the US have emotional problems. This boy, who she named Justin, was no exception. He had very very severe problems, which the woman says she was not told about from the orphanage. Justin would throw tantrums (and not normal kid tantrums) when he didn't get his way, threatening violence, drawing pictures of the house burning down and saying he was going to burn the house down with the family in it, etc. The family went to a psychologist for help, but only the PARENTS went, they did not take the boy (which seems super odd to me). The last straw was apparently attacking his adopted aunt with a statue when she asked him to correct some math problems. Finally, the adopted mom said she could not take care of Justin anymore, so she put him on a plane back to Russia with a small backpack, had someone pick him up at the airport and drop him off at the education ministry in Moscow, and left him with a note that essentially said, I can't handle this kid anymore so I no longer want to be his parent (I can't find the exact quote). The woman is now trying to adopt a kid from Georgia, she says she was already in the process before she got rid of Justin. Because of this case, the Russian ministry has apparently suspended all US-Russian adoptions - here's a link to a news story on that. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100415/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_us_adoptions

I really don't know where I stand on this issue. On the one hand, I don't want to just outright condemn the adoptive mother. I mean, in her shoes, could I really handle a 7 year old child from a foreign country that was threatening to murder me and my family because I asked him to clean his room (that may not have been the cause, just hypothetical) or was attacking my sister with a statue because she said he had done a math problem wrong? Those are some pretty big issues and, in her shoes, I don't know that I'd be able to handle it.

You know, some may say that the woman is making up some of her claims to justify sending him back. I have seen lots of adoption cases where the child is adopted, either here or overseas, and is PERFECTLY normal and wonderful (or as normal and wonderful as any kid ever can be) and things are just great. But I've also seen cases where families adopted older children, though sometimes not even as old as Justin was, and they had problems. A couple I know adopted a boy and a girl from the foster care system, and while they don't have the psychological problems that Justin seemed to, the boy is behind a little bit developmentally than where he should be because of treatment as a baby and in the womb. That's a mild case, I've seen cases with some severe problems. A family friend adopted a little boy (he was about 2 I think) from Russia several years ago; this couple was AMAZING. The little boy had some very severe problems, obviously had not been given much affection in the orphanage, and there were cases where, like Justin, he would threaten his parents - if I remember correctly, he even threatened the mom with a knife at one point, he was like 3 or 4 years old. The couples marriage ended because of the stress of this adoption. There was also a family that adopted a little girl through the foster care system when she was 5. I know this family and the little girl really well. There were some problems there, ones that I didn't realize till later, and some drastic steps were taken to get her help. But that ended up as a success story, as the girl is now in HS and doing FABULOUSLY - like, even better than I did in school in some ways. So I know that adoption cases, while many can be incredibly wonderful, can also put strain on couples.

Here's where I get on the fence on this issue. In all of the cases I've mentioned above, the adoptive parents did not give up on the child, even when it would have made a lot of sense to do just that (i.e. when the child's problems ended up causing you and your husband to divorce). Now like I said, in the woman who adopted Justin's shoes, I don't know what I would do, maybe something similar. But at the same time, what a thing to do. The whole point of adoption is to bring a child into your family and love them as if they were your own. It can be a real struggle proving to a kid that, no matter what they do, you're not going to give up on them or treat them any differently than your biological children just because you didn't give birth to them. What a thing for this little boy to go through - he was essentially (and almost literally due to the note) told "You're not good enough, so we don't want you anymore, go back to where you came from". Would she have said that to a child she gave birth to? So why do it to your adopted son just because he came from Russia?

Furthermore, my friend Sarah made a really good point that the woman never took Justin to a psychologist, just the adults to learn how to treat him. Would she have done that with her own kids? Now the other side of that coin is that, if Justin was her BIOLOGICAL son, he probably wouldn't have these problems because they were born of neglect and the treatment at the orphanage. But still... something to think about...

The other thing that upsets me is that this woman has now caused an international incident, and because of her, Russia has suspended all US adoptions, which hurts so many other families who just want to bring their children home. That does upset me.

So I'm really divided on this issue. On the one hand, in her shoes, I don't know that I could handle the problems that this boy had either. I do believe he had severe problems, because I've seen cases before where children had these problems. But I still firmly believe in adoption and think that adoptive parents need to make it their daily mission to show the child that, no matter what, they will always be their mom and dad and nothing will ever change that, even though they are not biologically related. I feel for the woman but I also REALLY feel for Justin, who was told he wasn't good enough to be loved and accepted by a woman he called Mommy. And I feel for all the families that are affected by this now.

What do you think??

Glorious spring day

Today was wonderful. It's beautiful outside. So I went out and enjoyed it. Well, as much as I could. I went to church. Heard a really great sermon. Caught up with friends. Went to Rue Lafayette for a delicious BLT sandwich, tea latte (not as good as I thought but OK) and cup of strawberries. Yum. Then I went to Park Ave. Coffee and had a smoothie. Double yum.

Then I went to the grocery store. While there I bought a box of Penne pasta that had this recipe on it. I tried it and it is DELICIOUS and relatively easy too. So I'm posting it here:

Penne Pasta with Spinach and Tomatoes

Ingredients -
8 oz (I used 1/2-3/4 of a 16 oz box) of penne pasta
7 slices chopped Pancetta or bacon (it calls for 3 oz, I used 4 slices and then added 3 more cause I like bacon)
2 Tbsp olive oil, more to pour on top
2 cups fresh spinach (I just bought some at the store and tossed it in)
Garlic - the recipe calls for 1 large or 2 small gloves, I just used garlic salt and garlic pepper
1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar - be sure not to put too much in, I think I might have, but it's still good
1 1/3 cup (or 1 can) of Grape or Cherry Tomatoes - I used diced tomatoes
Parmesan
What I added - 1 can mushrooms, 1 1/2 scallions, 3 celery stalks

1. Boil the penne - I did it in some chicken stock and water, you can do it in just water. Once it's cooked, drain it and set it aside
2. While the pasta boils, saute the pancetta/bacon in the olive oil till it's crisp. Remove the bacon and set it aside but leave all the juice.
3. Saute the spinach and garlic in the juice (this is when I added the mushrooms, scallions, and celery) till the spinach wilts
4. Add vinegar, cook about 2 mins (I combined this step with the next one and it still turned out good)
5. Add tomatoes, cook until tomatoes are softened and hot (bout 2-3 minutes)
6. Add tomatoes and pancetta/bacon. Toss it/stir it. Add parmesan on top.

Serves at least 3 people, probably about 4-5 servings. It's delish!

From thoughtful to funny

Yesterday I posted a really thoughtful (or what I hope was really thoughtful) post. So today I figure we need some time to laugh. Watch these and tell me that at least one, if not all of them, don't make you laugh. Now I don't know how to actually turn these into links, so you'll just need to copy the URL and paste it in. Sorry.

1. My cousin Brandon and Susie have twin boys Luke and Hudson. This is Brandon making Luke laugh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWfbQuP_XuE&feature=player_embedded

2. My friends Katie and Russ's little boy Eliot playing basketball. This link is to her blog where you can see 2 videos of him playing - watch the 2nd one in particular. "Mommy I'm playing basketball, I can't make you your mac and cheese!"
http://katiemohr.blogspot.com/2010/03/progression-of-balla.html

3. The local news was doing a story on the World Bird Sanctuary. Apparently the pelican was not so happy with his trainer. As they say, right in the "unmentionables"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhFFyLl_s64&feature=youtube_gdata

Too many connections for it all to be random

So I really try to keep this blog away from the religious side of stuff. I'm fine talking about my faith. I just feel a little uncomfortable writing about it on a blog with the possibility of offending people sometimes. But I started thinking about something last night and recently and I just had to write it.

As most of you, if not all, know, I am a Christian. Last night in my church's small group, we were talking about different things and I started thinking back about how I've gotten the place that I am, and hope to be at, in my life.

Campbell house:
- My parents house was built by Horace Bixby, who taught Mark Twain to be a steamboat pilot. I love this house.
- Freshman year of college, I went to the Nelson Atkins Art Museum for extra credit, and then went to dinner with a professor afterward. In talking about my house, she asked if I had thought about historic preservation. Lightbulb.
- I start talking about my interest in historic preservation to my parent's friend, a former history teacher who, with his wife, owned our house for 30 years till we bought it. He says he docents at Campbell House Museum and I should come over.
- I go into Campbell House and fall in love. He gets me a summer internship here. T hat leads to 3 summers here, my interest in museum studies, and a 2 year long internship through UMSL's museum studies program that has showed me a love for museum education.

Connections -
1. I discovered right after I had gotten into UMSL that the Nelson Atkins Art Museum in Kansas City, where I went on the field trip that led to the dinner that started me on this path, is about a block away from both Campbell St. and Charlotte St. Those two streets are named for Charlotte Campbell. Charlotte Campbell is Robert's niece, the wife of John Campbell, who Robert worked with.

Campbell House and Natchez:
- I did an internship last summer at Natchez National Historical park. I loved it. I plan to go back there.
- There is a job open at Rosalie mansion in Natchez as manager, where you actually live behind the antebellum mansion in an original dependency/studio apartment above the kitchen. I've applied for it and have good connections down there.

Connections -
1. Horace Bixby, who built my parents house, taught Mark Twain to be a steamboat pilot. Once Twain got his license, he was hired by Robert Campbell's steamboat business.
- Both Bixby and Twain would have piloted ships past Natchez and probably stopped there. Twain talks about Natchez-under-the-hill in Life on the Mississippi, same book he talks about Bixby in.
- Rosalie overlooks the Mississippi River, the same river Twain and Bixby would have been piloting their boats on
- There's a church in Natchez that shows a collection of pictures of Natchez. It includes a ton of pictures of the Anchor Line, the line that Bixby was co-owner of for a while. They include interior pictures of Bixby's boats. Pictures we never would've known existed had I not gone to Natchez.

IF I get the job at Rosalie:
1. President Grant was a friend of Robert Campbell's. He actually came to visit Campbell 2x, once when Virginia Campbell hosted him by herself. Once when they had a huge party for him which included James Eads, Henry Shaw, and General Sherman.
- When Grant took Vicksburg, he set up his HQ in Natchez. He picked Rosalie as his HQ, because it overlooks the river.

There are connections with church and my house but I don't think that's so much someone guiding me as St. Louis and Lafayette Square funniness. The other connection is to Galveston, where there's a job open, but it's more that I loved playing there as a kid, my cousin moved there a few years ago, and now there's a job open - that could easily be coincidence, cause there are LOTS of people who love living in Galveston.

Anyway, my point is, look at all these connections. I know there are people who would say, well it's all just coincidence. But to me, I just feel like when you look at it all, you can't say life is completely random. I feel like all these things prove that there is someone or something up there guiding me and us. Now I'm not trying to prove who or what that is cause that's a whole can of worms that I won't get into. I think it's God, you may not, whatever. Point is there are just way too many connections for this and life to be completely random. Agree? Disagree? Your thoughts?

Easter Weekend

I don't have too much to say. Just wanted to say hope everyone had a great Easter weekend! I know I did.

Friday night I went out with my old church youth group. It was fun.

Saturday was a CRAZY freaking day. I had to work at Campbell House. I knew that since it was the day before Easter, it'd either be completely dead or pretty busy, but I thought pretty busy would still give me time to eat and read at least a few pages. Silly me. Silly silly silly me. From the time I opened the front gate at the stroke of 10 and found people waiting for me until I was finally able to close the museum at 4:30, 1/2 an hour after it was supposed to close, I did not stop. Literally. I had about 2 minutes difference between tour shifts, where I said "Hi" to the woman in the gift shop and put my lunch in the microwave. I had JUST gotten it out and was grabbing a fork when the door rings again. We had 20 people come through the museum. 20 PEOPLE. Now this may not sound like much. But they didn't all come in at once. It was one or two or three trickling in all day. And I was the only docent. So what it boils down to is that I was only my feet, walking around the museum, giving tours, and TALKING for 6 HOURS STRAIGHT. I was EXHAUSTED. I finally got to eat something with my dad afterwards. Then I watched the Butler game and read.

Sunday I went to church - LPUMC. It was nice. Then I had lunch with my fam. Then I read. All day. And wrote questions.

Today I slept in till 12:30. It was absolutely GLORIOUS.

There is something going on in my life. But I don't want to post it on here. Basically there's a job that I would really really love to have. And due to my connections I think I have a good shot at it. I've talked to someone about it and sent in my resume and am getting the official application and stuff. But nothing is even CLOSE to being set in stone. It's just a possible good shot right now that I would really love to have but nothing is for sure by any means. So just be praying and keep your fingers crossed for that and any situation I apply to.

Finally, HAPPY EASTER!

I get by with a little help from my friends

Found out this week that at least a couple people actually read this blog. Cool. Hi peeps!

I've been thinking about this blog post all evening. Ok not all evening. But a little while at least. What to say, what not to say, etc. Don't worry nothing bad I promise! It's just that there's something that is going on that I want to talk about and it could be really good but I don't want to get my hopes up and writing it out I could get mine and whoever reads this blogs hopes up, and I don't want to jinx my chances by getting my hopes up or writing it on here. So for now I'll just say keep your fingers crossed for me. And if you really want to know what I'm talking about, just ask me. I'll be happy to tell you in person. I just don't want to write it here.

I've been on a roller coaster of emotions this week. I won't go into what all caused it. Instead I'll just say that I could not have gotten through the highs and the lows of the week without my friends. The old "I get by with a little help from my friends" really does apply here. So I'm just gonna use this time to say thanks.

To friends who go out for a girls night after getting dumped and still celelbrate my possibly good news and my other friend's good love life. Friends who let me be one of the first to meet their boyfriend. Friends who help me with looking for something that I don't know if I want to do but might be one of my only options. Friends who go to Soupman with me and talk about slaves (it's in relation to Campbell House Museum - that was one of the lows, I put together a 14 page file of Campbell letters on slaves... it's emotionally draining to read about...). Friends who go out of their way to offer a helping hand when they don't really have to, thus reassuring me that I am on the right track. Friends that can take me from talking about crucifixion and injustice to laughing about wisdom teeth stories. Friends who push me to be the best I can and reassure me that I can handle stuff and rejoice in the even slim possibility of a potential joy with me. Friends that fill in for me at the last minute when I space on serving communion on Sunday. Friends that always know what I need and how to make me feel better (this is both humans and pets like Bixby). Friends who I haven't seen in a while and set up going out on Good Friday. And most of all - friends who aren't afraid to lay it on the line and hit me upside the head (not literally) even though I didn't ask but because they knew I desperately needed it.

So to all those friends and more... thank you.