I L O V E Wrex and he is a beautiful young man!

February 7th, 2010

But he was for the Colts. So, come on ~ I HAD to do this to him.

And apparently Wrex had been saying how he thought he looked a lot like Peyton Manning all evening when I, totally unaware of this little tidbit, made the remark that Drew Brees was so much cuter than Peyton Manning. I DIDN’T KNOW!! Naturally, we ALL think Wrex is amazingly handsome and wonderful. I am sorry, Wrexster. Really really sorry. Pleeeeeeease forgive me??? (Not so sorry I didn’t make him pose for this picture, though…hehehehe…)

Who Dat? And all that~

I must admit I called my brother Joe when it looked like the Colts could do no wrong and had been leading for too long and I rambled on about him dragging me into this stressful, crazy, game and making me cheer for a team who was going to lose. Minutes later, things turned around and he called me telling me to stop the whining.

The kids played games and kept the noise at fever pitch. Gemma danced for halftime, which was way better than The Who. Seriously.

Stormie, it turns out, is deeply competitive and was really mean to people NOT rooting for the Saints. This was her {haughty} victory face.

The Dodge commercial was hilarious. All the females oohed and aawed over the Google commercial. It was interesting to note how many men in only their underwear we saw. Is this really what men like to watch during football? Doritos had some pretty fun ones (part of a contest they sponsored) and the Right-to-life/Focus-on-the-Family one was really well done, I thought: not preachy or offensive, but pretty cool, actually.

But hey, did you hear? THE SAINTS WON the Super Bowl!

Which I told you would happen! HERE.

Posted in Mi familia, Photos of the Fam, Stuff I actually think, TV, Movies, Books, and Entertainment | 5 Comments »

WHO, the question seems to be, DAT?

February 4th, 2010

I recently announced my apparent connection to both 2010 Super Bowl teams.

You can read about that here. Not that I am taking credit for either team making it to the top, but I did live less than an hour away from both Indianapolis and from New Orleans at various times in my life. I am just saying, I seem to be a common thread for football greatness. Not the only one, but a common one.

So, the question is posed, “For whom will Jeanie root during the Super Bowl?” I know this has caused much concern for many people, especially since everyone knows that not only do I not get football, I don’t ever even watch it except long enough to pass by and say “Those are some stinking tight pants,“…AND in light of the fact that I once had life-threatening food poisoning following a Super Bowl party. Yes, there has been great speculation about my loyalties. Which is really a moot point since I don’t do football, for crying out loud.

Really, the question should be: who will win ~ And whether I have the ability to influence that outcome, and it is obvious I do and I shall. So, my choice is?…

Well, people, come on. I wrote that previous Super Bowl post, which was the first time in over 800 blog posts football has e-v-e-r been a topic, right after the Saints beat the Vikings in that fairly spectacular overtime win (the field goal ring a bell?). And I added gold letters to the black font to leave a little trail, a clue as it were, for the future.

THEN this week, an old family friend* from like ~ 30-gazillion years ago (who once played Jesus for my dad’s Palm Sunday and Easter productions, first by riding up to the church wrapped in a white sheet on a donkey and later, hanging on the cross in possibly the same white sheet, before going on to utilize that divine-wig plus a red bandana at a church dinner-on-the-ground to emulate a Willie-Nelson-type character) sent me a Saints shirt {annonymously} in an effort to sway me. Additionally, my brother Joe-the-pastor has been telling me the Saints are God’s team and very persuasively backing it up with scripture:

1 Sam 2:9 He will guard the feet of his SAINTS, but the wicked (Colts?) will be silenced in darkness!

Psalm 16:3 As for the SAINTS who are in the land, they are the glorious ones in whom is all my delight.

Psalm 149:4,5 For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. Let the SAINTS rejoice in this honor and sing for joy…

Daniel 7:18 But the SAINTS of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it forever- yes, forever and ever.

Rom 8:27 …the Spirit intercedes for the SAINTS in accordance with God’s will.

1 Cor 6:2 Do you not know that the SAINTS will judge the world…?

So who is it going to be?

Well…The Saints have that cutie-patootie, Drew Brees. But the Colts have Peyton Manning. I don’t know a darn thing about him myself, but several sportscasters seem to adore him. I liked a lot of people from Indy when I lived there, though Louisiana boasts the most interesting of characters. Hoosiers are good, middle American people. The mosquito rules in the Bayou. All these things must be weighed in the balance.

But the deciding factor for me? The food! Seafood Gumbo, Red Beans and Rice, Roast Beef Po’ Boys, Jambalaya, Crawfish {pie…which I have never actually had}~Omygosh (or me-oh-my-oh, like the song says). Hands down, the SAINTS are winning the Super Bowl and I give them my full support! Yes. Because of the scrumptious food. I have spoken. I may not watch the game. But the common thread has decreed it so.

The crowd goes wild with approval (or whatever).

PLUS – no one from Indiana sent me a t-shirt. That hurts.…Jeanie…WHO DAT?, indeed…

*”A Saints fan” from Robert, La-you know who you are…Thanks for the EXTRA-LARGE t-shirt.

Pictured: Guini modeled the shirt in matching shoes. There is a full roster on the back. I have never heard of these people.

Posted in God's Word, Memories/Melancholy, Songs I am singing, Stuff I actually think, TV, Movies, Books, and Entertainment | 6 Comments »

Colorado Winter

February 4th, 2010

Winter beauty.

I grew up mostly in the midwest. First as an Iowa girl, then a brief stint way down on the Tangipahoa in Louisiana, ending up in the Windy-City area, the Chicago territory just below the Great Lake Michigan. The midwest winters over. Once the snow comes, it is often there until the bitter end, just piling up, mounding against vertical surfaces and drifting the winter months away.

But then spring arrives finally and fully and the great spring thaw comes and the snow pile next to the north side of the garage, the one that may have arrived in October and has been trying hard to melt away for 6 months, does. The annual thaw makes everything wet and it smells sweet as a summer rain for 2 weeks. Spring has a glorious scent in the midwest. It smells like baby-green leaves and wet, black soil and thick sunshine with a generous dollop of blue-and-puffy-white-clouded sky.

Colorado, a known “winter state” because of mountains and skiing, is not so predicatble. In the Denver area we can get 3 1/2 feet of snow one week and be back in shorts, tank tops and high 60’s the next. Many Christmases we are coatless and snowless and many Mays we are getting freak snow storms. Winter can meander aimlessly throughout quite a few months here, but rarely do we endure the harsh and relentless winters of the midwest. No one who doesn’t live here seems to know this however. For Denver makes the big weather news splash when we get the extreme white dumps that shut down DIA. To the casual observer, this is a scary, snowy place. But to us? It is a brief interruption to daily life, one in 10 days I can’t wear my flip flops.

I love Colorado, not least of all, for its winters.

But I miss the lovely smell of rain. Colorado rarely has that luscious essence of a cleansing rain. I crave that. I wouldn’t trade this weather to get it, but I miss it nonetheless. We are semi-arrid, so desertous the thirsty ground consumes even a full downpour quickly, denying us mere mortals the chance to fully inhale and devour the rich, earthy scent of summer showers or a spring thaw.

Today…

This morning started out gray and dark. It was cold with a dusting of snow. Bleak.

But soon the sun came out. The white flakes melted into black, wet streets. I took a walk and guess what? It smelled like rain. Yes! It was the glorious, soaked and spicy smell of precipitation. Saturated houses and landscape timbers, fully soaked yards and sidewalks glistened and sparkled, fanning fragrant redolence my way. And I? Absorbed all I could because it may be a long time before it happens again.

But I will be searching for it, the sweet scent of a good rain…Jeanie

Winter tip: Yellow tulips from Target make spring seem so near. You may quote me on that.

Posted in Garden/Food/Seasons, Health, Stuff I actually think | 2 Comments »

Averi-Baby is TWO!

February 3rd, 2010

HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Averi Jadyn~

Happy Birthday, sweet girl and totally terrific two-year-old toddler. Oh what a hilarious joy you are! Such a typical firstborn, ready to order your world, so prepared to be in charge of your new little sibling so soon. You have that head full of big, beautiful hair and are head strong and know how things should be. You have mastered the choleric-sanguine personality in your cheeky 34″ frame (with your 50 centimeter head circumference – though we suspect the doctor did not account for all the hair, or the unusually active, large and amazing brain-which runs in the family, ahem…).

Our current favorite activity, mine and Averi’s, is to watch babies laughing on Youtube together. Averi calls the shots. We have no more than laughed our heads off on one video when she has chosen her next choice from the suggested videos on the right column.

Averi: Nonna! I want that one! Do that one!

Me (seizing the opportunity for affection): Ok. You want that one? Gimme a kiss!

Averi: Ok. {smooch}

Then we watch the one she wanted. And we repeat the process. Over and over. Good times. She is my girl until Poppa walks in the door. Then I cease to exist, but it is good while it lasts!

Girl, you are princess-pink-and-polka-dots, rough-and-tumble-funny-girl and everything in between. I love you bunches!

Happy Birthday, sweet baby girl….Nonna

Posted in Birthdays/Anniversaries, Grandkids, Mi familia, My most unforgettable people, Photos of the Fam, Stuff I actually think | 6 Comments »

Yo-Yo

February 3rd, 2010

I wasn’t allowed to listen to this kind of music when I was a kid. This was “hard rock” to me in the early 70’s and I was, you know, the preacher’s daughter. So, I am not going to try to explain how I still know every word and the entire arrangement of this little Osmond treasure. Huh-uh. Never-you-mind about that. Just watch. Check out those great [Mormon] moves and listen for the whoop, now!

NOTE: Yes, there was some Puppy Love over Donny and he had to sing Go Away Little Girl to me in a way that I would understand his agony in our relationship (and naturally They Tried to Tell Us We were Too Young), but my true love and total allegience remained with David {I Think I Love You} Cassidy at all times. This is a true statement.

SHhhh…please don’t tell my parents. ; )

Posted in Memories/Melancholy, Songs I am singing, Stuff I actually think, TV, Movies, Books, and Entertainment | No Comments »

Keeping Watch

February 1st, 2010

Watch your thoughts; they become words.
Watch your words; they become actions.
Watch your actions; they become habits.
Watch your habits; they become character.
Watch your character; it becomes your destiny.

But I will defend my house [realm of responsibility, family, home, God-given appointment]

against marauding [evil, destroying] forces.

Never again will an oppressor overrun my people,

for now I am [keenly aware, eyes wide open, warily prepared] keeping watch.

Zechariah 9.8

watchful synonyms: alert, all ears, attentive, careful, cautious, circumspect, guarded, observant, on guard, open-eyed, prepared, ready, vigilant, wakeful, wary, wide-awake

Posted in God's Word, Home, Marriage, Mi familia, Stuff I actually think | 3 Comments »

Chia Dave

January 30th, 2010

I wrote about Dave going bald for his role in Annie as Daddy Warbucks here.

Got these cute pictures of Poppa, aka Daddy Warbucks, with our very own little Annie (more commonly known as Gemma) and Sandy-the-Family-Dog. And of Poppa-now-bald with grandbebes Hunter, Gemma May and Guinivere (who may or may not be tormenting the dog).

Meanwhile, Bryan-the-Blogger couldn’t resist messing with a photo of Dave because of what I wrote here. This is Chia Dave.

Tsk.

Posted in Grandkids, Mi familia, Stuff I actually think, TV, Movies, Books, and Entertainment | 4 Comments »

The Farmer Inside

January 30th, 2010

Way down, deep inside me, there resides a farmer. Remember the TV show Green Acres? While I found Eva Gabor fascinatingly glamorous and interesting, I had to agree with her husband:

Green Acres is the place to be!

Farm living is the life for me.

Land spreadin’ out so far and wide

Keep Manhattan just give me that countryside!

Were it not for having to be up by 4:30 to milk the cows and feed the horses at 5 and then getting back to the house to fix a big hearty breakfast for all the field hands, if I didn’t have to plow and spread, and sow and till and irrigate and seed and pray for rain and then pray for the rain to stop, if the weather couldn’t wipe out my entire crop in one fell swoop, if I could be guaranteed the livestock would never get disease or freeze to death or escape the fence I needed to have repaired, I’d be a farmer. I really would.

Below is one of those email forwards going around. Made me wish I had my own tractor.

OLD FARMERS ADVICE:

Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.

Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

Words that soak into your ears are whispered…not yelled.

Meanness don’t jes’ happen overnight.

Forgive your enemies; it messes up their heads.

Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

It don’t take a very big person to carry a grudge.

You cannot unsay a cruel word.

Every path has a few puddles.

When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

The best sermons are lived, not preached.

Most of the stuff people worry about ain’t never gonna happen anyway.

Don’t judge folks by their relatives.

Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll enjoy it a second time.

Don’t interfere with somethin’ that ain’t bothering you none.

Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin’.

Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

The biggest troublemaker you’ll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin’.

Always drink upstream from the herd.

Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

Lettin’ the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin’ it back in.

If you get to thinkin’ you’re a person of some influence, try orderin’ somebody else’s dog around.

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

Posted in Garden/Food/Seasons, Songs I am singing, Stuff I actually think, TV, Movies, Books, and Entertainment | 1 Comment »

Bald by Choice…no, really!

January 27th, 2010

Dave did it.

He chose baldness for his role in the upcoming Prairie Playhouse production of Annie as Lt. General Oliver “Daddy” Warbucks. I have long dreaded the day. He got a shorter haircut a couple of weeks ago and shaved all the facial hair to try to “warm me up” to the idea.

Then we gathered the family for the dastardly deed so the grandbebes wouldn’t be freaked out by him, but they kind of are.

Dave is bald.

A buzz and a Bic and voila. A huge pile of his thick, healthy, black with ever-so-few white hairs was vacuumed up and disposed of as if there is no concern for its future return. And perhaps there is not. For when I had the courage to touch it the following day, it was so thickly populated with little hair buds that it was like Velcro – not at all smooth the way a truly bald man’s head might be.

“It will grow back,” Dave promises me each time he sees me eyeing him warily.

So he is bald to be Daddy Warbucks.

But I keep wondering if I could get some seed and turn him into a gardening experiment like this?

Dave and his Bic are going to have to be very close friends for the next TWO MONTHS! Yikes!….Jeanie

NOTE TO SELF: Draw up Nazarite vow pledge papers for when this thing is over at the end of March. Make Dave sign. Tomorrow, tomorrow Dave’s hair will grow back…

Posted in Marriage, Mi familia, Photos of the Fam, Stuff I actually think, TV, Movies, Books, and Entertainment | 11 Comments »

Happy Birthday to My Dad

January 27th, 2010

Happy Birthday, Dad~

Seventy-one years ago today Ressie Belle, widowed just weeks earlier by a tragic automobile accident, cradled you in her arms: a son who would carry on his father’s name, A. Ross Moslander. A tough start during hard times. But you have done that name proud. You’ve lived vigorously, for both yourself and the father you never knew.

No one in the world could ever doubt you were born for God’s purposes, papasan. Since you found Jesus and He found you under that starry sky on Missouri farmland when you were 15, you’ve been on an adventureous journey of faith with all the Type-A, driven energy of an Olympic runner, his eyes set on the prize.

And you have spurred the rest of us along ~ thousands of friends and relatives and acquaintances and church members along the way, but especially your family, us kids. And your zeal burns hot into the next generation, your impact is just getting revved up. I am spending my life trying to keep up with my amazing dad.

You are the Psalms 127 and 128 man, dad. You are the man in Psalms 112: you are blessed and your children are mighty in the land. Your heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. Your family is fruitful and growing and you have received so much heritage from the Lord (talk about a full quiver!). Your sons and grandsons are like arrows in your hands – the enemy does not want to contend with you when he sees this army you have unleashed in the land! Look at your children and their children and now their children’s children: we all love you, honor you, respect you and celebrate you!

Happy birthday, holy man. Happy Birthday, my dad and my hero. I love you….Jeanie

NOTE TO SELF: Call dad. Wish him a happy birthday.

Youtube: Got together the other night for dinner and sang to you. Stephanie and Gavin weren’t there, but the rest of us Rhoades-Kelleys-Powers were. Note at the end Rocky saying “I wish you could see me,” because apparently I was obscuring him-which he could have mentioned before we did this! That booger! {And I think Tristan had to ask when we were finished singing if it was for Grandpa Moslander! Haha.}

Posted in Birthdays/Anniversaries, God's Word, Grandkids, Mi familia, My most unforgettable people, Photos of the Fam, Prayers for a God-full life, Songs I am singing, Stuff I actually think | 4 Comments »