Memorial Day Weekend

Christie and Matt went to a wedding in the Outer Banks this weekend - poor things. Was I jealous? No way! I had three full days to hang with Lauren and Kyla!

Goofing around on Saturday morning

Lauren reached into the drawer and said she needed her "piggy nose..."

See? You never knew that a safety plug for an electrical socket could serve as a piggy nose, did you?

Kyla didnt' find another nose in the drawer, but was content to laugh at Lauren's.

Aunt Crazy took the girls to Harris Teeter for "a coffee" (i.e. vanilla frappuccino)

There weren't any benches in the shopping center so we made do with what was handy.

Then off to a neighbor's birthday party!

(Party started at 10:30 AM ... can you believe it's only 10:30? I couldn't!)

Landree (birthday girl) and Lauren

Janet (Mom) and Landree

Kyla and Landree with their cake

Landree

Lauren with cake mouth

Kyla had just turned 2 the week before, and I swear she thought it was her birthday all over again. She had the routine down ... sing as loud as you can, smear cake all over your face, even unwrap the gifts! (We stopped her in time.)

Playing with the water table on Sunday morning; I forgot how much fun squirt guns are!

Kyla dipping her elbows in the water

I was able to head off an "I miss Mommy" meltdown with fudgecicles.

Yep, that worked.

Time to walk off the popsicles with a walk around the lake.

Kyla with dandelion

Lauren and dandelion

Kyla looking cute

Lauren looking adorable

OK, after the rain ended our walk around the lake, it was time for fingerpainting.

Fingerpainting without a shirt for Kyla (I learned my lesson after the popsicle!)

Over to Mom's house for dinner on Sunday night ... the girls loved the puddle.

Lauren on her tricycle

Kyla and Lauren

Back in Crazy's car to head home!

On Monday morning, Lauren wanted me to take a picture of her in her dress with a flower from her ballet recital. It was a good opportunity to play with my camera settings. I'm trying to practice portraits because I am photographing our friends' wedding in July! So bear with me - some of these aren't that good, but the moments are cute!

Lauren

Lauren laughing

Kyla and Lauren

Kyla, Mema, and Lauren

I like this one ... I tend to like the ones with a lot of action.

Smell Mema!

Back outside for more sprinkler time!

Kyla let the sprinkles hit her a bit, but she was more interested in running around than getting wet!

The same could not be said for Lauren! :)

What a blast! I can't wait until everyone comes to Richmond in a couple weeks to see Uncle Bill, who is returning to town!

Two Churches in Two Towns

This post is so late, but better late than never! On Sunday, May 17th, my nieces were baptized in Cary, NC. No better reason for Aunt Crazy to make a daytrip down from Richmond!

My brother-in-law's family all flew up from Florida for the occasion (and Kyla's 2nd birthday the day before), so it was a really a family reunion!

The Swartz grandchildren - Dylan, Lauren, Amelia and Kyla

The Swartz grandchildren when AUNT CRAZY tells them to pose!!

Dylan and Kyla hanging out before church ... Dylan is really the greatest cousin of all time. You'll see why in a few photos!

My beautiful, hilarious TWO YEAR OLD niece, Kyla!

The family preparing for the service.

Kyla chose to prepare for the service by coloring on the floor. On a paper on the floor, that is!!

The Swartz girls get baptized! Lauren, Matt, Christie and Kyla

(nevermind that boat behind them ... that was for a Jonah and the Whale skit that came later in the service!)


This cracked me up! Matt's sister Jen stands and dances when this unusual Methodist "sermon" called for it, but her two catholic children were NOT used to this activity at church! They just sat still in amazement as the crazy Protestants all but Hokey Pokey'd during the service. It was pretty funny.

Clapping hands during one of the songs. (Notice Dylan and Amelia are still frozen!)

The newly baptized girls greeted the congregation in a receiving line after the service.

Amelia, Mom Mom and Lauren on the way to Maggiano's for lunch. Mom Mom was a trooper to slide into the 3rd row seat - that's no easy task!

Why are the Swartzs smiling so big?

Because Dylan - best cousin EVER - agreed to put on this costume of Mike Wazowski (from Monsters, Inc., Kyla's favorite movie of the moment.)

Then Mema gave her a stuffed Sulley. That was it - Kyla was in heaven!

Dylan (err, Mike!), Kyla, Sulley, Amelia and Lauren

Kyla just kept pointing at Dylan in the costume and saying "MIKE WAZOWSKI!! MIKE WAZOWSKI!! MONSTER! DYLAN! MIKE WAZOWSKI!" Dylan also attracted more than a little attention from a toddler passerby in the hall, who walked right in our room.

Uncle Mike, Pop Pop and Mom Mom

Kyla, Ashley (Lauren's good friend), Lauren, Amelia and Dylan eating their pasta.

The kids hung out, played with toys and watched movies. It thought it was cute how Dylan put his hand on Kyla's back.

Mom Mom and Amelia chose stickers.

The Swartz family - Working diagonally from the upper left, Lauren, Matt, Pop Pop (Steve), Mom Mom (JoAnn), Dylan, Amelia, Mike, Jen, Christie and Kyla.

The Swartz grandchildren

We got back home and Dylan put the costume on again. Kyla was just as curious the second time around. So cute!

The day before ...

On Saturday, May 16th, I joined the Lual family at a reunion of Sudanese Refugees. It was a lot of fun, and very interesting to see everyone reunite.

Nyabol (another Nyabol, who is friends with the Middle School girls) and Achan

Deng and Duk

Mama Awut

I'm still not 100% sure why there was a stuffed lion above the cabinet in this church, but it seemed appropriate for this gathering of native Africans, actually. The kids thought it was cool, too.

Nyaring and her daughter Adeng

Flossie with Duk and Adeng (and a random baby she acquired at some point in the day!)

Cute picture of Duk and his niece, Adeng (I'm not kidding!)

Yay and Muloh

Muloh and Awut

Deng playing soccer

Hmmm... what do I spy inside this slide?

Ah! It's Nyabol!

Deng and Anger helping Muloh and another little boy with their cozy coupes

Aunt Crazy (with Deng's cap in my pocket!) and Nyabol

Duk, Aunt Crazy, and Anger

Achan working the information booth.

The adults watching a documentary in the sanctuary. As I listened to them laugh in unison at times and maintain solemn expressions at other times, I really wished I spoke Arabic or Denka so that I could understand why. Still, I looked around at these faces in wonder. How many have seen family and friends killed? How many were almost killed themselves? How many were trying to be grateful for the security and the opportunities offered by the United States, but secretly knew they would certainly trade it all for the opportunity to go home?

I am so fantastically lucky that I AM home, living with comfort and ease among my own people, culture, and policies. I have never experienced an existence WITHOUT the security and opportunities of the United States. Incredible, really.

The documentary on a favorite Sudanese leader prior to al-Bashir.

Ayak and Nyaring watching the documentary.

Did you know about this?

Now I know I'm behind in my blogging, but I felt I had to post this!

So here I am, googling "where to buy jasmine flowers in Richmond, VA" for this martini recipe I found for tomorrow night, when one of the links directed me to a woman who borrowed money to start a jasmine flower business.

Wha??

So now I'm curious, and I decide to go to the homepage, Kiva.org. It's a web site where you can participate in granting small business loans to individual entrepreneurs around the globe!

Did I do it? OF COURSE I DID! I am the big bad American loan shark who is financing the repair of a taxicab in Togo, the building of a personal shed in Tajikistan, the neighborhood bank in Cambodia, and a clothing retailer in Paraguay. It would make a great novel, don't you think?

Please meet my Loanees:


Gameli Dovi, 37, is married and the father of 2 children. He is a taxi driver in Kpalimé, a town situated about 120 km from Lomé, the Togolese capital. The outlay of money to repair his car doesn't allow him to save anything nor support his family appropriately. With this loan, Gameli wishes to upgrade his car's motor so that he can go about his work and better cater for the needs of his family.



Holdor Tursunov is a 53 year old man. He is married and has 4 children. Holdor received a consumer loan in order to build a shed. Holdor has been a client of our Fund since 2008. He likes our terms. Holdor is a driver by profession. He works at a collective farm as a driver. In addition, on the weekends Holdor uses his car to provide rides. His wife takes care of the livestock which also brings income to the family.



Twelve people living in Romon village in Takeo province comprise this village bank loan, and they will use the loan for various purposes.

Mrs. Kheim Sout is the 37-year-old village bank president. She is a farmer who owns a 1-hectare field of land to cultivate rice. She also breeds chickens in the house. Her husband, Mr. Duong Vanna, is a motor taxi driver. Although they try to work hard they still earn insufficient income to support their family living. Thus, Mrs. Kheim Sout decided to ask for a loan to buy more chickens and she would use the rest of the loan to buy piglets for breeding. She has two children, one of whom is employed in a garment factory while the other is attending the local school.

Five members in this group are applying for end-of-term (EoT) loans and the rest have monthly payment loans. Those receiving EoT loans are not required to pay any principal on the loan until the very end of the loan term. End-of-term loans are AMK’s main product because it is the most beneficial to Cambodia’s poor. It allows them to repay portions of the principal whenever they are financially able to. Most clients start to make payments many months before the end of the loan term. Almost all of AMK’s clients make their payments on time. AMK has a delinquency rate of only 0.09% and AMK has a default rate of 0% on Kiva.

Mr. Jorge is 28 years old, single, and lives in a well-known area in the city of Ita. He is in the business of the purchase and sale of garments such as jeans, t-shirts, sportswear, etc., on cash or credit. He started this business on the recommendation of a relative who is in the same business. At the same time he owns a brick workshop, located in his home, that he inherited from his father who was in that industry. The two businesses generate very good income owing to the fact that he purchased a truck of great capacity in which he transports his bricks to different construction sites in the area.

He needs a loan in order to purchase more garments as he wants to increase his stock of garments and thereby be able to offer more variety to his clientele. At the same time he needs to purchase adobe (the main material utilized in the production of bricks) in order to be able to satisfy the great demand that he currently has.

How easy! Thanks Kiva!

*** PS - Any of you lovely readers who want to tease me about this being one of my "do-gooder" things, please keep in mind that I WAS GOOGLING WHERE TO BUY JASMINE FLOWERS FOR A MARTINI RECIPE!!! ***

A Visit by Three Little Things and an Aussie

You know what this means ...

Trundle open ... clean sheets...

Pack 'N' Play in the guest room...

Picnic table out ... Dining room table pushed aside... chairs strategically pushed toward Great-Grandmother's china cabinet as a barrier...

Sippy cups and plasticware: all hands on deck!

The KIDS ARE COMING! In this case, Things 1, 2, and 3! (You didn't know Dr. Seuss had a Thing 3, did ya?)

Meredith looking all chipper .... I think she was just happy to get off of 95 South!

Fair is fair. If you're going to steal a Mom of three kids away for an Oscars Weekend, then you'd better be prepared to pay the piper. In this case, the Suburban Daddy.

First stop: Maymont! (Where actually I'd been less than 13 hours earlier for a fundraiser - oh well, I can't get enough!)

Aunt Crazy with a struggling Thing 3, Thing 2 and Thing 1

Watching the River Otters

Finn, you cannot swim with the turtles.

You can, however, get from one level to the other by climbing under the bench.

But you probably shouldn't splash so vigorously in the fish exhibit. Maybe we should go outside...

Running into Emily Menard in the parking lot!

Geeding the baby goat

Checking out the black bear ...

Shane and Keegan resting

Shane

Onward and upward!

Finn feeding the baby goat a stick

Come on ... you would have taken the picture too. Oh yeah, and in case you were thinking of ... hmmm... "entering," remember to heed the warning of the big No Entrance sign in the corner.

After lunch and naps, we didn't make it in time to the Strawberry Street Festival, but we went over to Fox Elementary anyway to play on the jungle gym. (Do kids still call it a jungle gym, or do I sound as old as I feel?)

Shane spinning around (this was much better than the bucket he got stuck spinning around in earlier - poor thing looked like a human top!)

Finn executing his signature "Hi-YAH!" move with the playground dirt. Thank you Backyardigans! Apparently it isn't unique to Finn, though!

Shane, Keegan and Meredith

Keegan was a terrific spinner!

Shane and Keegan played really well - I don't think my sister and I were ever that nice to each other!

The antics of these three boys in a bathtub have already been well documented, but here's some shots of them in Aunt Crazy's tub anyway!

Finn

Keegan treating my shower cord like a horse harness!

Shane... No, it's not what you think, but it sure looks funny anyway!!

We didn't COMPLETELY abandon our diet from the Oscar weekend just because the kids were in town ... we can cook dinner and drink wine too! Meredith found this wine ... I found it both hilarious and delicious.

The boys ate dinner SO NICELY! It was crazy! They also watched the entire movie The Lion King. Even Finn! I couldn't believe it.

Good night Shane!

Good night Keegan! (Yes, he read that book ALL BY HIMSELF ... he is 5 & 1/2!!!)

Sunday Morning

My newly decorated family room. :-) I actually like it this way ... it's nice to see the ENTIRE SUNDAY PAPER withough having to flip.

Chocolate Chip Pancakes

A morning trip to the Capital of Virginia (designed by Thomas Jefferson!) to work off the chocolate chip pancakes before getting in the car.

Shane and Keegan running to the George Washington statue

Finn looking on from the bench

Keegan, Shane, Finn, Aunt Crazy, and about 1,000,000,000 ants.

Playing hide and go seek

Finn found a fun tree ...

... which turned into a great photo op!

Thing 1, Thing 2, and Thing Aunt Crazy

Shane looking up from clenching his Mom's leg

Good-bye Shane! (Meredith actually told me later that before they got back on the highway, Shane already wanted to know when they were coming back. Anytime!!!)

Adios Keegan!

Finn, Meredith, Shane and Keegan walking back to the car

Farewell SuburbanFamily!!

And Hello Crocodile Dundee! OK, OK... I won't perpetuate the stereotype, but after everyone left Sunday morning, I showered and met Padma and her boyfriend Daniel (from Adelaide, Australia) at Mo and Geoff's house.

Mr. Tabby

Mo's Menagerie in the backyard

Hahahaha - This reminded me of the Smurfs.

Padma and Daniel outside Pizza Fusion

After an optional vegetarian lunch at Pizza Fusion (which might be my new favorite restaurant - it was AWESOME!!), we hit the new Dave & Busters in Short Pump.

Padma trying to make the coins fall...

I think Daniel played every game in the place!

Including a requisite game of Pac Man.

This was our favorite: Deal or No Deal. As you can see, Mo is doing well, with the 3 remaining suitcases containing either 16, 150 or 300 tickets!

So naturally she picks the one with 16 tickets. :) Oh well! It's not Vegas!

Time to cash in the tickets for some loot.

After saying good-bye to Mo, Geoff, Daniel and Padma, I went home to do what every self-respecting carnivore does after a day of hanging out with kids and vegetarians: I threw a steak on the grill.

OK, OK ... two. But I had them marinating to make for Meredith the night before and we made pizza instead, so I had to cook them! I'll be eating cow for a week.

That's fine with me.

Hey! It's a grass-fed, free-range, antibiotic and hormone-free cow, anyway! :)

With a $5 bottle of wine imported from Italy by Trader Joes.

A girl can't be green ALL of the time! Sometimes thriftiness wins ... c'mon! A $5 bottle of Montepulciano? It was delicious too!!

Outlet Shopping and Major Life Events

Last weekend Mo and I drove up to Hagerstown, MD to meet Jenna. Hagerstown, I have discovered, is the perfect halfway point to catch up with friends from Pittsburgh. Since Jenna would be driving from Pittsburgh, this made sense! So we put May 2nd on the calendar for some outlet shopping and gossip ... and not necessarily in that order.

Jenna at the Lucky outlet

Mission I: Get Mo into a reasonable, gorgeous pair of Lucky Brand jeans. I am a huge Lucky Brand jeans evangelist. The best thing that could possibly happen to me is if they start making Lucky Brand jeans in organic cotton. Then I will know I have died and gone to heaven.

After Jenna wore a pair of mine in Charleston last year, she too saw the light and started buying them for herself and her husband. Still, she swears the pair of mine that she tried on were the best.

After trying on no less than 30 pairs of jeans, Mo bought a pair ... which we promptly returned the next morning. What happened was that she ALSO tried on my jeans and decided that out of all the jeans in the store, the ones I had worn (same pair that Jenna tried in Charleston) were the best! Therefore she would not settle for the pair she had purchased; she decided to keep trying Lucky stores throughout the land until she found THE PAIR OF JEANS that fit her like these. *Any self-respecting woman from a first world country reading this is nodding her head in agreement right now. This IS a noble quest.*

I always thought the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants was fiction ... until now. Mo went home with my jeans. When something remarkable happens to her in them or when someone else needs them, she has vowed to put them in the mail and send them to us.

Mo picking the onions off of her quesadilla at Barefoot Bernies

The server offered to take it back, but she promised him she'd let him know if she could still taste them when she was done. Jenna got to eat her guacamole and sour cream, so it wasn't a total loss.

A few days later in Cary, NC, in the middle of tornado warnings, my gorgeous little niece decided to crash into some molding between the laundry room and the kitchen, producing a gash in her forehead.

Things are done slightly differently than they were done when I was a kid. For example, there is now such a thing as a Pediatric Urgent Care. What happened to those incompetent doc-in-a-boxes that we had when we were children? Also you don't HAVE to get a shot of novacaine to prepare you for stitches nowadays. Apparently they can just apply a little numbing gel to your forehead while you play in the kid-friendly waiting room for 30 minutes!

Lauren, pre-stitches... post-anaesthesia.

When she was fully numb, they took her back to the room where she received one stitch on the inside and 5 on the outside. In order to do that, the doctor used "stitch scissors" to sew her up. As Lauren was leaving the room (and entering the waiting room with children who had yet to have their treatments!), she turned to the doctor and said "It didn't even hurt when you cut my head open with the scissors." WHAT???

Lauren post-stitches

It just goes to show you: kids are RESILIENT. Parents and Aunts Crazy, not so much.

That same night - oblivious to the happenings in North Carolina - Nicole and I went to our friend Bill's web site launch. He's put together a handy-dandy little site for things to do in and around Richmond. I put a link to this on the right. Personally, I really love the format! Very simple.

Bill and his web designer at Easy Street

More happy news! The Hendersons have officially adopted Baby Anna!! This is the best development of the week by far. I am so happy for Jen, Dave, Anna ... even Nomini the dog! They are a wonderful family. Here's a picture of the OFFICIAL Henderson family with the judge - YEAH!!!!

And since we're on the topic of outlet shopping and Anna, here is another picture of the little sweetie in the sunflower outfit I sent her after outlet shopping with my Mom in Florida in April. Could this be a disease??

SUMMER IS HERE! Well, almost.

Here are some highlights from last weekend - really productive and REALLY fun!

On Friday I used my Volunteer Day at work (Dominion gives on day of volunteer time a year) to participate in Rebuilding Together, formerly known as "Christmas in April." It was fantastic! It was extremely well organized, and Ms. Edwards (homeowner) was both gracious and grateful. Very rewarding work.

The Dominion Team arrives.

My team was charged with stripping, caulking, priming and painting the window trim.

This is Ginger with Ms. Edwards helping her sort through what to keep and what to toss... Yes! That all came out of her shed!


Being the Greenie-wanna-be that I am, I volunteered to recycle the two televisions. The nice side benefit of doing this is that Goodwill gives you a receipt, so she can deduct them on her taxes. Every little bit helps!

Being the electric company, we had the guys with the skills to work the circuit breaker!

Kitchen midday.

Boxed lunches ... yum.

Midday painting in the Family Room.

Hanging a new side door and frame.

Oil tanks were all rusted out ... now they're painted and pretty!

Side railings and fence were painted to cover age and rust.

Grand finale - fresh new Family Room!

Brand new countertop, sink and faucet!

New Shed door, clean shed, and newly painted trim!

The final result: Dry, Safe, and Warm.

I told Ms. Edwards at the end of the day that she handled our intrusion pretty well. I'd have been a nervous wreck with 30 people tearing through my house and belongings. She said "Good intrusion! Wonderful intrusion! I'll take that intrusion any time. Doesn't it smell nice in here?"

So after a day of Rebuilding Richmond, I met Padma at my house and we went to Yoga Wabi Sabi. It wasn't my most impressive practice ever - I was sore and I was using a towel for a yoga mat! - but it was fun, nonetheless. The art was wonderful, and we had chocolate and wine afterwards. Just like the ancient Hindu yogis did in 3,000 BC ... I'm sure of it.

The class - that's Nicole's head in front.

I was teasing Padma about her cell phones ... one for domestic calls and one for texting Daniel in Australia.

After a hard morning of yardwork, Padma and I went to the Maymont's Herbs Galore to check out the goods. It was pretty warm but it was a beautiful day overall!

Saturday night we met up with Nicole again (she can't get enough of me!) to go to a friend's 40th birthday party in the Fan. It was really good to have a reason to shower after 2 days of sweat and dirt!

I said goodbye to Padma on Sunday morning and met Susan at the new Bowtie Theatre for Movies & Mimosas. What a deal! $5.50 to watch Vertigo and $2 for a mimosa... worth every penny. It was so much fun!

Ah, Monday. Monday Monday Monday. After preparing the yard for the last couple of weekends, it was time to put sod down. So I was up early and off to Lowes to buy compost and rent a truck, then it was 95 North to the sod farm!

I'd ordered 30 yards of sod from Brookemeade, and I actually watched them cut it for me. This is the machine that measures and chops the sod. The guys hanging off the back roll and stack it onto a pallet.

Unloading the compost and sod into my garage ... don't tear the grass!!!!

Seriously, what was I thinking? My yard isn't even that big but this is hard work!

Almost there... have now edged the entire garden and thinned out / replanted my existing shrubs and flowers...

Water barrel didn't last long ... we haven't had enough rain yet but ...

With all the herbs I planted, it will DEFINITELY be of good use to me soon!

More organic herbs from Maymont...

Tada! The grand finale. I can't wait until my brother comes to visit in June and Christie brings the munchkins up for a mini-Kennedy reunion. If I can remember to water it now and it actually lasts until June, the grass will be tested then!

My weekend ended with Monday night at the Food Bank. Did you know that the Central Virginia Food Bank distributes 70,000 pounds of food EVERY DAY? It was huge! Also last year they merged with Meals on Wheels, bringing the per-meal cost delivered to MoW customers from almost $5 to almost $1!!

I enjoyed the work. We folded boxes that will be used to pack frozen meals for the Meals on Wheels consumers. We also - here was my FAVORITE part - got to sort out the donations! Sorting things is one of my favorite activities, and when I saw the massive containers full of grocery bags with donated food, I was in heaven. We broke them out into categories that are easily "shopable" for the food recipients, such as dried goods, green beans, pumpkin and yams, peanut butter, tomatoes, etc. Then we recycled both the paper AND plastic donation bags, which was just the icing on the cake for me.

Both volunteer events last weekend were great experiences. I look forward to doing them again soon!

Sorting donations

Peanut butter good. :)