FIMBY

Just bought the new Plumb album Blink yesterday. I spent the evening listening to it and blubbering about how much my babies have grown up. I have never heard an album like this, melancholy mama pop tunes.

When is the last time you heard songs about the sleepless nights and the bone weary tiredness of caring for little ones? And the love you feel for your baby even though you're so tired you can't think straight. Those days are over for me now and though I really miss nursing I can't say I miss the years of sleep deprivation.

Simply said, I love my growing-up babies and I love this album. These are the lullabies and soul songs I would write and sing if I could write music.

If you are a mama buy it (iTunes sale price of $7.99). Today. Keep the tissues handy.

Favorite song of the day:

Me

I haven't had
A chance to sleep
And when I wake
I wake with your dreams
I guess my pillow
Holds some kind of key
To your peace
Your peace

Me
I wouldn't trade your love for all the candy
In this great big world
Me
I feel so crazy blessed and oh so lucky
To be the place you go
When you need to feel safe
When you need a kiss
It's me

I haven't showered
And I tried to eat
But all your tears
Oh they needed me
I need some time, some time to think
But then I hear you
And what you need is...

Me
I wouldn't trade your love for all the candy
In this great big world
Me
I feel so crazy blessed and oh so lucky
To be the place you go

I wash your face
To make room for
All the kisses
Of tomorrow
And every day
That I get to
Be here with you
Is sweet

Me
I wouldn't trade your love for all the candy
In this great big world
Me
I feel so crazy blessed and oh so lucky
To be the place you go
When you need to feel safe
When you need a kiss
Oh don't be afraid
Cause you'll have is....
Me

Watched a great movie this weekend that I wholeheartedly recommend seeing. The Real Dirt on Farmer John is a documentary about a family farm turned CSA farm, but it is so much more than that. It's a story about a man and his love for his land. His family's past, his own struggles and triumphs as he tries to make a go of small scale farming in modern America. His mother's love and the alternate cruelty and mistrust of a rural community. And then ultimately finding community where you least expect it.

Chicken at Willow Pond Farm

The really unique thing about this movie was all the 8 mm home movie footage taken by Farmer John's mother when he was a child. This was a significant part of the story and watching it gives the viewer a nostalgic picture of what "the good old days" were like. Obviously, it wasn't all as rosy as the footage, as you find out in the movie, but watching it left me longing to grow up on the family farm in the 50's. Funny, just the kind of upbringing my mom had. And which I never gave much thought to growing up a town girl (and happy to be one).

Good movie. Made my heart ache a little to watch the decline of a community and its farms but gave me warm fuzzies about the increasing popularity of CSA farms.

Listening to...

hum....feeling safe.

My blog break was useful for:

Starting a good book, Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry. First Wendell Berry book I've read, should of read his stuff sooner.

Watching a great documentary, King Corn with my best friend. I can more appreciate the corn allergy in our family because it's given us better health. If you want to know why our health is better because we don't eat any processed corn watch the movie.

Discovering Flight of the Conchords, more good influences from my best friend, and splitting a gut laughing at their take on life. Particularly long term relationship "business time".

I guess a break from blogging wasn't so bad afterall...

No time for a long review but we recently watched and enjoyed this movie. I recommend it.

On Thursday afternoons I pay bills, balance the checkbook and attend to financial matters. It is the one time during the week that the kids can watch TV (not including family movie nights). I've been renting educational DVDs from Netflix for this weekly TV time.

Right now we're studying Vikings & Medieval Norse culture so the kids are watching a Viking related DVD, minus all the violence (I hope). Brienne just ran downstairs very excited to tell me the vikings played chess - which Celine is learning to play and that the narrator just talked about "Eric the Leaf".

So some of the details are lost on her. She is only 5.

Since I'm on a blogging roll tonight I thought I'd recommend Stardust, a movie we saw recently. Excellent movie (not for young kids) with all the elements of a great story - adventure, dreams, romance & love, comedy, danger, villains, etc... Not to mention great actors, cinematography, directing and all that.

Damien & I just finished watching Micheal Moore's new movie Sicko. To be honest, it leaves me wondering "why exactly ARE we living in the States??"

Being from Canada I realize it is not the utopia he paints it to be. Ironically my only experience with anything "medical" in Canada I had to pay for - Celine's homebirth. Our only US experiences with anything even close to major medical issues were when our family was covered under Maine's state health program, which was better than any coverage we'd received in Canada. By the way, all Canadians I know, myself included, believe in universal health care, doesn't matter how far to the right you are.

Either way, our lives are in God's hands and we came to Maine, stay in Maine and make Maine home because this is where we believe God has put us. But truth be told, if we ran into serious medical difficulties that our insurance wouldn't pay for I'd be packin' up and heading north - how's that for faith??

Ok, watch out - here comes a rant....
What really disturbs me, more in more, in things I read and hear on the news is how the rich keep getting richer and are not taking care of the poor. And what really riles me is that the political party that passes these get richer tax policies & slashes holes in the (supposed) social safety net is supported whole heartedly and without reservation by many Christians, who are supposed to be caring for the "least of these". Instead many of these believers think that churches should care for the poor. But I don't know many churches that can fork over $50,000 every time someone in their community needs surgery/procedure x, y or z.

Arghh...ok I'm done. There is no easy answer. And to be honest, in the past I've supported (in theory - remember I can't vote) aforementioned political party. I'm coming clean. But I haven't, in good conscience, been able to align myself with any political party for some time now. Just makes me yearn even more for the Kingdom of God and His ecomony - the first shall be last and the last shall be first (oh yikes for all us living high off the hog in the Western world). And for the community of believers to come together and be all that Christ modeled for us to be - unselfish, non-materialistic, radically loving.

St. Martin's Cross, Ionawe are also listening a lot lately to The Waterboy's Universal Hall album, one of Damien's recent purchases (he is the more prolific music buyer in our home). Some of the songs are lame but others really catch you, such as "Peace of Iona". This song sparked a family interest in Iona - what is it, where is it, what is Scott singing about in this song? The Celtic Christian wanna-be side of me rejoiced in finding out Iona is a Scottish island. I'm 1/4 Scottish! Which means Iona is part of Celtic history that I can rightfully lay claim to.

I bought an album this week, Raising Sand with Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. I buy an album on itunes about twice a year or so. I'm enjoying this latest pick thoroughly. I like that you can't totally define the music or put it in a country/blue grass/rock/pop box. You can listen to the whole album on the Raising Sand website and decide for yourself if you like it. My current favs are: Rich Woman, Killing The Blues, Gone Gone Gone, Please Read the Letter, Let Your Loss Be Your Lesson and Your Long Journey