Right now I’m watching the first round of American Idol Hollywood Week (LOVE Casey Abrams), and I’m just going to jump in and start a post because I’ve been a little slack in the blogging department this week. Life and work have been pretty jam-packed the last few days, but they’ve also been really fun in the most unexpected ways. The little man has been fighting off a chest cold, so we’ve spent big chunks of our afternoons nestled up next to the balmy tropical mist of the vaporizer. We’ve read and read and read some more, and it has been DELIGHTFUL.

The reading, not the chest cold.

(By the way, I can’t really tell, but is Ford Focus an American Idol sponsor?)

(MERCY.)

(They’ve sort of taken product placement up to a whole new level, haven’t they?)

Anyway, since I’ve been a little out-o-pocket, I have some items that I’d like to share, oh thank you.

Please forgive the absence of narrative structure. Unless you’re willing to count, you know, numbering.

1. Ann Voskamp’s most recent post about marriage? Oh. My. Goodness.

2. Yesterday I read an article about Broadcast News, which just so happens to be one of my all-time favorite movies. And the article reminded me how much I love this scene.

link via Throwing Things

3. Sweet Kelli at Living in Grace finally – FINALLY – has a living donor for her kidney transplant. This is a HUGE answer to prayer for her and her family – something they’ve been waiting on for years. If you’ve followed Kelli’s story, you know what kind of a rollercoaster they’ve been riding in terms of her health, so the prospect of a transplant and a healthy life and growing old with her sweet hubby and seeing her kids get married – well, it’s just incredible. Such a blessing.

Because Kelli and her family have moved a lot over the last few years, each time going to the place where they felt that she could get the best treatment, the blogging world has been Kelli’s most constant source of community. About four years ago the bloggy people rallied and raised money to pay for Kelli’s COBRA expenses (if she’d lost her insurance, her treatment and transplant options would have diminished significantly). Several of us told Kelli that if she ever, Lord willing, found a living donor, we’d try our best to help her offset some of the transplant costs that won’t be covered by her insurance.

Next week we’re hoping to do just that. It’s an incredible privilege, especially considering that this time last year I really wondered if Kelli, who has spent the better part of the last 18 months in a wheelchair, would live long enough to find a donor and go through a transplant. But she did. And she will.

So all that to say: stay tuned.

4. I don’t really have a four. Which is sort of pitiful, isn’t it? I barely blogged all week, and I can’t even make it to four.

I have no choice but to hang my head in shame and then console myself with back-to-back episodes of “House Hunters International.”

Now do have a lovely weekend.

Love,
Me

So we’re really not big on the NFL in our house. I think we love college football so much that it’s hard to make room in our hearts for professional football. Plus, my daddy was never much of a pro sports fan, so when I was growing up our family’s Sunday afternoons were reserved for stuff like reading and napping. The closest pro team to my hometown was in New Orleans, and none of us really enjoyed sitting in front of the TV and watching the Saints lose.

All that to say: the Super Bowl is usually the only pro game I watch all year. Most of the time I don’t even know who’s playing until the week before the game, and I typically decide who I’m going to cheer for based on whether any former Mississippi State players happen to be playing for one of the teams. Tonight, for instance, former MSU tight end Donald Lee was playing for Green Bay, so, you know, GO PACKERS.

See? It’s all very logical and scientific.

In addition to the Super Bowl goings-on, we’ve had a perfectly lovely Sunday (church, fun lunch with friends, book time with the little man, plenty-o-laughter), and I’ve tried to soak up the day because there’s a crazy-ish week ahead. I’ve got deadlines-a-plenty breathing down my neck, and in the interest of not making life miserable for the people who have to live with me, I’m going to try to tackle as much as I can at the beginning of this week so that I won’t be a walking basket of stress by week’s end.

This is the exact opposite of any productivity “strategy” I employed in college, by the way.

Anyway, I just wanted to share a few links with y’all, and then I’m going to get as much rest as I can before I have to wake up at dark-thirty tomorrow. THE FUN NEVER STOPS!

– Lora Lynn’s post about Uganda is encouraging and heartbreaking and beautiful. LL and her husband flew to Uganda last week so that they could finalize the adoption of the newest member of their family. They have had some complications with the paperwork, and LL’s outlook in the midst of her (hopefully very short-term) disappointment makes her post all the more touching. You should read it.

– Kelli at Living in Grace finally has a living kidney donor – big, BIG news! After following her journey (I always feel like someone on “The Bachelor” when I use that word) for the last four years, I just couldn’t be happier for her and her family.

– I know I’ve mentioned this before, but Ree’s beef stew with mushrooms is so very, very tasty. I actually make it with beef stock instead of red wine (I believe my fundamental inability to appreciate red wine has been well-documented), and it’s just delicious. I also add lots of baby carrots. Because I’m CRAZY like that.

– Loved this post from Mary at Owlhaven about finding your own way as a mama. So good.

– I thought Chrysler’s Super Bowl commercial was really great. Unexpectedly poetic and beautifully shot.

– Finally, I am slightly obsessed with Drew & Ellie Holcombe’s new music video.

And when I say “slightly,” I mean I have watched it about 42 times in the last 2 days.

Hope y’all have a great Monday!

Thursday afternoon the little man and I went to the Walmarts to pick up a few things, and while we were there I decided that I’d take a leap of hair care faith and buy a bottle of the Volume Enhancer. Granted, there was a chance that the Volume Enhancer would be a dud, but I was prepared to risk my six or maybe even six and a half dollars for the sake of some exciting height-at-the-crown possibilities. I figured the worst thing that could happen was that the Volume Enhancer wouldn’t work and I’d chronicle all my hair-related disappointment and heartache in a blog post. Which is really no different than the eighty-four other times that I’ve bored you to tears with my hair woes.

So I rounded up all the groceries that we needed, and on the way to the check-out I stopped in the hair care section. I looked up and down and around – I walked from one aisle to the next to the next and turned around and retraced my steps – and I finally came to the SHOCKING conclusion that my Walmart no longer carries certain John Frieda products. Seriously. There was no Frizz Ease, no Luxurious Volume, no Root Awakening. And if you combine the absence of those John Frieda products with the fact that my Walmart has also stopped carrying Mentholatum, you can understand why MY WORLD NO LONGER MAKES ANY SENSE AT ALL.

I had every intention of going to Walgreens Friday – for I knew that they were more than capable of taking care of my hair volume needs – but unfortunately the trip to Walgreens was postponed due to my overwhelming desire to take a very long nap. The antibiotics I’ve been taking have thrown me for a bit of a loop (keep in mind that I am a person whose yearly pharmaceutical intake consists of approximately four to six Advil and the occasional Tylenol PM), and I’ve spent a significant portion of the weekend sleeping or thinking about sleeping or wondering if my brain will feel less fuzzy and foggy if I just get a little bit more sleep.

I’ve also watched a significant amount of programming on The Cooking Channel. Have y’all watched? Because IT IS DELIGHTFUL. Rachael Ray has a new show that takes you through the process of making a week’s worth of meals in one day, and the dishes look so hearty and tasty that they make me want to get in my kitchen and chop things. Not that I have any recipes in mind, of course. I just want to chop things to my heart’s content and then place them in colorful bowls. WHICH IS TOTALLY NORMAL.

Today I think I finally hit on the magic formula in terms of when to take my medicine with minimal foggy drowsy fuzziness, so it’s been a much more productive, active day. After church we went to Chuy’s, and then we went to Costco because apparently we enjoy receiving instruction from the Word, putting the hurt on some tortilla chips and then wheeling a shopping cart through a crowded warehouse so that we can sufficiently stock up on Goldfish and toilet paper and dishwasher detergent.

Oh, America. You are so kicky and quirky and fun.

Late this afternoon I met a friend for coffee, and I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw this sign taped to the counter next to the cash register.

In other words:

Welcome to Starbucks Coffee. Unfortunately we cannot serve you any coffee at this time. Thank you for your patience.

All in all it was a mighty restful weekend. Except for the part that involved Costco. But at least the Costco trip resulted in the purchase of a sah-weet new bag of Veggie Straws, so, you know, SCORE.

What’s going on with y’all?

First of all, I’d forgotten how ornery antibiotics make me. But sure enough, I’m three doses into my prescription and ready to SHARE SOME OPINIONS ON SOME THINGS. This afternoon I went to the grocery store, saw the packed parking lot, circled a couple of times to look for a space, felt completely annoyed, turned out of the parking lot, drove home and ordered pizza for supper. I GUESS I TAUGHT PUBLIX A LESSON, NOW DIDN’T I?

See? I’m practically overflowing with grace and charm. What a delight and a joy I will no doubt be to my friends and family for the next nine days.

However, I’m going to try to push my ish-ahs aside for a few minutes because I’m dying to tell y’all about something I saw for the very first time yesterday. I can’t quit thinking about it, so I’m curious to know if any of you have any personal experience with it.

Perhaps I should explain.

When I went to the drugstore yesterday to get my (bad mood-inducing) prescription filled, I decided to just hang out in the store while I waited on my medicine. I do adore a drugstore, and we frequent the one closest to our house two or three times a week, probably. It’s where I go when I run out of stuff like my beloved Icebreakers or make-up or hair products or cleaning supplies. Sometimes I just like to look at the office supplies or see if there’s anything good on the seasonal aisle. Because I think it’s pretty clear that I like to LIVE ON THE EDGE.

While I was waiting on my prescription I made a quick stop at the grocery aisle to grab a 12-pack of Diet Coke, and then I strolled over to the make-up aisle so I could check out the latest Sally Hansen nail polish offerings. I haven’t had a pedicure since October, so my toes are in dire need of some TLC. Hopefully my new “Commander in Chic” polish will be the cure for their wintertime blues.

I continued with my wild and crazy afternoon by checking out the hair care aisle. I know I’ve mentioned a time or twelve that I enjoy a good drugstore hair care product (and I’m a devoted user of L’Oreal EverPure shampoo and conditioner, John Frieda Luxurious Volume Root Booster and John Frieda Frizz-Ease Moisture Barrier hair spray). But even though I have my go-to favorites, I’m always on the look-out for something new and interesting. I’d hate to be stiff-necked and prideful about my hair care products, you understand. I might miss a blessing.

Anyway, I was looking at the John Frieda Luxurious Volume stuff when a skinny little bottle that I’d never seen before caught my eye. And when I picked it up and saw what it was, I was curious and delighted and puzzled and intrigued all at the same time.

It’s called Volume Refresher. And apparently it’s a dry shampoo that will give your hair a little extra lift and “instantly revitalize flat, limp hair.”

Oh, I could totally get on board with that. I could get on board and blow the whistle and drive that train all the way to Happytown.

But more than anything, I want to carry that little can in my purse and strike up a conversation with somebody and then, after we’ve been talking for a few minutes, ask them if I may please be excused for just a second because I need to refresh my volume.

OH YES MA’AM.

I ultimately didn’t buy any Volume Refresher because I was a little afeared that it could become a stronghold with me. The pursuit of optimal volume (particularly in the crown area) has been a lifelong pursuit for me, and just knowing that there’s a product that will help me “instantly revitalize” my volume is almost too much for my heart to take. I really think this stuff could become my hair Mentholatum. And I know those are strong words, my friends, but I feel them way down deep in my soul.

So have y’all seen this stuff? Have you tried it? Would you recommend it? Or are you, like me, simply trying to take in and process all the Volume Refresher possibilites? Imagining what it would be like to volumize your hair at a red light? Or right before you walk into to church? Or in the middle of dinner at your favorite restaurant?

It’s just too much, isn’t it? IT’S TOO MUCH.

All righty. Now that I’ve shared this REVOLUTIONARY NEW FIND I’m going to take my pesky mood and turn on the TV and watch some “American Idol.” I may even talk back a little bit. Because I’m feeling pretty sassy.

And if I had a bottle of that Volume Refresher and could volumize as I watched, I’d just be beside myself.

Maybe next week. It never hurts to pace oneself when there are new volumizing options, after all.