Giant cupcake pirates

Two pirates and their giant cupcake. NB: clinging lemurs around the ankles

Do pillbugs go toward different colors of light or do they choose the dark?

KidM in full "Ta-da!" mode with her science fair project just after finishing it the night before it was due. KidV is searching for signs of her involvement in running the experiments. She had been co-light-operator.

On the wall when we walked into the gym on science fair night

One of KidM's friends giving her a sweet congratulations hug

KidV positively overcome with excitement about one of the other projects

KidM got a crazy-nice gift! She loves it and is already making ample use of it.

Lost in translation: Thrift store

On KidV: Rock star glam wig by Party Central and Linen flower dress by Bonnie Jean via Thrift Store

M and V using Nana's collection to get beautiful. On KidM: Violent Red lipstick and glitter-velour top. On KidV: the remains of Violent Red lipstick and vintage SSI-emblem top supplied by Patty C.

Our friend Jenn S after submitting to "The Salon." On Jenn: hairpiece by Gap via LJ Miller, hand-crafted origami pinwheels, wooden-bead bracelet supplied by Beth A, and hair accessories by Goody

A friend at KidM's birthday party in impromptu "Captain Bucket-Head" attire. On Jo-Jo: bucket supplied by Cousin Trisha

KidV and our awesome Liverpool/Johannesburg ex-neighbor. On KidV: Tie-dye from cousin Rachel and Madras shorts from Gymboree via Thrift Store. On Janice: Own Collection

The above is to demonstrate that we are All About Dressing Up. Any observation that The Gunns may possess or may be able to obtain a certain type of outfit is most likely correct.

What follows is a really old post from two years ago. Janice and Jenny have left our neighborhood, and we miss them immensely.

Yesterday, one of my neighbors knocked on the door we never use. Peeking through the slits of the blind, I spied a female figure but couldn't place her, so I asked Vivi: "Who's that?" "Mama, that's Janice and Jennifer's mom!" Janice and Jennifer's family moved into these apartments two months ago from Liverpool, UK. Before that, they had lived in South Africa. The father is Anglo, the mother originally from China. Janice and Jennifer are beautiful little girls who look half-Asian but speak in little Liverpool accents (or are they South African? My American ear doesn't know the difference). I swear, we live in the most culturally diverse American locale south of Brooklyn. But I digress.

I undid the chain and deadbolt and pried the sticky door open, then greeted J&J's mom, Jane. Three kids crowded around her - one was Janice. Jane began in heavily-accented English, not a Liverpool accent, but an Asian accent: "Do you have a...Sheep Suit?" I'm calculating. Did she really say Sheep Suit? If I start talking about a sheep suit, will this create more confusion? So I reflect the question:
"Do we have a SHEEP SUIT?"
"Yes. A SHEEP SUIT."
Okaaaayyyy. I jump to cultural inaccuracies, like, maybe they have a lot of sheep suits in Liverpool...or South Africa. Not likely. Maybe we are so materially extravagant in America that maybe it makes sense to a newcomer that we could have...lots of...suits? I DO actually have a lion suit, a leopard suit, a boys' suit even though I have no boy, a flower suit, a weed suit, and numerous movie star suits. Okay, the assumption that we could potentially have a sheep suit is a reasonable assumption.

"I'm sorry, we don't have a sheep suit." Just then it occurred to me that this may not be a Halloween endeavor but a school musical endeavor. Every year at our kids' school, each grade performs a musical. So I suggested: "Oh! Does Janice need to be a sheep for the school musical?" Janice instantly replied, with feeling, "November eighth!!!" Okay. So this poor mom who has just moved here is trying to muddle through the packet of instructions on how to build your kid's outfit with rest of us confused native moms. So I asked, "Are other kids in your class sheep, too?" I was banking on using their ideas. Janice told me that there were foxes, and frogs, and owls...etc. Usually it's a group effort that some creative and generous parent in the class organizes and batch-orders because usually everyone's the same thing. But apparently Janice is to be the only sheep.

So then Jane said, "Is there a store where I can buy a sheep suit?" Hmmm. Not so much. So I begin somewhere:
"You could try Party Central, but I'd look up the phone number on the internet and call before going there because it's a long shot. But we usually have lots of luck with the Thrift Store on North Decatur - Last Chance Thrift Store. Do you know which one I'm talking about?"
"Thrift Store?"
"Yes..." How to explain thrift stores. My Australian friend once drunkenly demanded I bring her a "serviette," and I had no idea what she was talking about. What's the Liverpool / South Africa equivalent of a thrift store?  All this cultural equivalence talk does not even begin to approach the fact that Last Chance Thrift Store is an extremely busy establishment that one must brace oneself to enter, and use all one's creativity to achieve a goal within. In fact, the best way to go to the thrift store is with nothing at all in mind, open to the possibilities of the universe. I give up and offer directions and encouragement instead:

"It's a great big thrift store about two miles that way [gesture East]. You can look for big white things there, even for furry things." To explain my reasoning on this point, I had recently heard an exuberant teenage Last Chance rummager roar, "YETI!" while clutching a faux fur to his torso. That incident had occurred the week prior, while I had been rummaging through the racks at Last Chance and using all my stamina and creativity to produce a "Weed" costume for KidM. Perhaps the Yeti-like item was still there? And sufficiently sheep-like?

For consolation, I added: "AND, there's a fabric store right next door if Last Chance doesn't have what you need." This is completely true, but one will pay quadruple at Hancock fabric store, even during their perpetual half-off sale.

Jane looked bewildered, but with fresh direction. Unfortunately, there is an amount of bewilderment we all must face in our own way when it comes to creating school musical costumes. The results can range from spectacular to what-is-that-kid-supposed-to-be. I privately hoped Jane had a knack for improvisation in the sheep suit department. Jane thanked me politely and departed with the three kids.

Addendum: We saw Janice in the school musical. She was unmistakeably sheep-like (not to be confused with sheepish), though the Yeti item had apparently not been available. Janice looked great, though. Wish we had a picture of THAT.

scroll down for hidden cat pic

KidM getting weighed before surgery

KidM in pre-op: happy

You can't see Cindy. She's not there. Also, you are a bird.

Creek crossing

Every once in a while, we have a DATE!

Public Service Announcement: The Radiologist Can Basically Tell How Old You Are.

Today I was downstairs at Our Hospital, peering over the shoulder of an attending radiologist. I'm currently on radiology. I chose this rotation because I am going into emergency medicine, and the culture is to at least try to interpret the studies you order, though you await the radiologist's read before making big decisions. This is probably my last opportunity to get extended 1:1 time with a radiologist and drink deeply of radiology, so cheers!

As a student on radiology, the day's experience varies according to how much the people you're with have time to teach and feel like teaching. It's a lot like taking a long car - no - AIRPLANE trip and looking out the window with a tour guide who's extremely familiar with the terrain and tells you something cool about it now and then. And occasionally asks you to point out geographical points of interest. The mountains and valleys are already looking more familiar, and I really enjoy this time.

Radiology, like much of medicine, is a puzzle. It is not made easier by the common practice of willy-nilly choosing the first indication-for-study on the drop-down list when ordering the study from the emergency department. So the radiologists try to infer a lot from the studies they read, lacking much history from the ordering doc.

Here are some snippets of today's radiologist remarks - note the inferences they are able to make:

"Oh, man, that's not good...She's got way too much lucency along those vertebrae to be just 42. She's gonna have terrible osteoporosis."
"34! Oh, my God! He's already had a foot amputated. He's going to lose that whole leg by 40."
"Yeah, I really don't know if shoulder degeneration is inevitable. All I know is that all Our Hospital's patients have it after 60 or so."
"Oh, man that knee hurts."
"THIS guy uses his hands every day. Look at those articular surfaces."
"For a 55 year old? In This City?  Those lungs are what I'd expect. Yeah, they're not 'normal.' But they're normal for here and for that patient."
"He's only 20. Brain should be filling up that entire space." (Brain atrophies with age. Sad.)

All of this lumping and aging jarred me. I have known this vaguely all along, but, as with many experiences, seeing these junky shoulders, crusty knees, scabby lungs, and small brains makes a huge difference in my perception. Surgery held similar revelations, but more related to the evils of excess body fat. Again, I digress. Today's stint in the reading room revealed to me the extent to which I have regarded aging as optional. Unfortunately, wear, oxidative stress, senescence, dehydration of cartilaginous structures, take a somewhat inevitable toll.

These elements of aging are somewhat modifiable, it turns out. If you eat an excellent diet, exercise, and don't drink or smoke, the darnedest things can still beset your body, but you can stave off a lot of this wear-and-tear, often brought about by cumulative oxidative stress.

I think about what I eat a lot; I really do. I am sitting here eating peanut M&M's as I type this, but I do *think* about the fact that I'm choosing to do that. Today put a new spin on how I think about it. I'm young, but not too young. I've had a few minor health issues, some brushes with moderate health issues, and I have osteoarthritis in my left thumb. Stop rolling your eyes, you over-50 set people.  I know you think I'm a wuss and that you are about to stop reading this. Hold on, though! Don't let your boogered-up cartilage and small brains stop you from sticking with me :). (You can come visit and kick my butt. As long as you visit.)

All this reminds me to eat well, even when I don't feel like it. It reminds me to sit up straight, to exercise moderately every single day. You see, good foods that look like where they came from oxidize a lot less. Veggies can actually protect cells from oxidation. As for exercising, good stress sends the body signals to strengthen bone, ligament, tendon, and muscle - though this last tissue is the only one that's discussed because it's the one that gets all big. It all makes a difference.

SO: Those of you who wrestle with feeling like you're consistently doing the right things but the outside of you isn't changing - take heart! The inside of you loves it! So what if you're recently on the bandwagon. all those cheesy fries and donuts are a sunk cost - forget about them and move on. Choosing whole foods, good fats, and fresh vegetables is a supreme and unfortunately globally uneven privilege. Choose them! I just put down my peanut M&M's...for now at least. Junk is culturally embedded in me, and for many of us. I have a few peeps who just sail above the temptation to duck into McD's now and then, but Yours Truly? My husband will tell you: I salivate for french fries weekly...and eat them biannually.

So I don't have any easy answers for affording whole foods (the foods, not the supermarket) or for getting through temptation to put junk in the body...but I'm trying to work it out and will gladly take suggestions. Many of you love to grow stuff. So do I, but I'm mainly obsessed with seeds and habitually let about 75% of my crop fail because my heart was really in finding which seeds were still viable. Getting past the easy part and getting to the staking, weeding, and harvesting in a timely fashion will be this year's challenge. We all have strengths and weaknesses in the healthy living department. (Not the Health Department.) Today my revelation is only this: Your X-ray is telling on you. You can't cheat the effect your choices make on your tissues. But being humble and knowing this can maybe encourage you, like me, to think about your cartilage, your lungs, your bones, your articular surfaces...and to throw those thoughts over top of your thoughts about french fries. 

My best to all - especially the Over-50's who let me rib them and still read on...get it? Rib? Like an X-ray?

PS: If you know me well, you'll know that Match Day is March 15, 2013. I have been cool about it until the past week or so. Now I officially have inner turmoil...which is why I'm avoiding the subject entirely!