Diggin' a well.

Hi!
We are digging a well, want to help?
This Christmas our community group is trying to pull money together to fund the digging of a well for a village in Kenya through World Concern.
We have a couple of friends who are offering a "corporate" matching gift and will match everyone dollar for dollar up to $1,500 -- with a group goal of raising $3,000 to dig an entire machine-drilled well for a Kenyan community.
I am so excited about this. I have been thinking a lot lately about how I can be helping other women, specifically women and their families.
Becoming a mom has revolutionized how I see basic needs. I didn't used to think twice about the quality of the water I was drinking until The Barley came into the picture.
Then when pregnancy hit all of a sudden I was online researching the last 5 years of inspection reports for our city water.
Thankfully, our water rocks and I have regular access to clean (and tasty) water for Greta everyday.
It's heartbreaking though to think that just around the world moms like me don't have that luxury and are forced to feed their sweet babies unsafe/contaminated water, knowing fully that it will make their babies sick, but are still without a choice.
Not cool.
All this to say, if you want to join us, it's going to be a lot of fun!
Well, we won't do any of the actual digging, or meeting people, or telling funny stories around their newly installed water cooler, but we will be writing checks!

A Corporate Christmas

Yesterday Kent and I went to our very first office Christmas Party.
It's probably silly that I got so excited about our First Corporate Christmas experience but I get excited about things most people don't: airplane food (it's always such a tiny surprise!), eating when people are sleeping (night cheese), toast....hmm I'm seeing a pattern here. Upon further thought I think the food was cause for most of my excitement....and if I stretch my memory a little further I do remember saying "There will be FOOD there!" as my initial response when Kent told me about the Windows Christmas Party.
Why am I not 500 lbs?
Anyway, it was a fun chance to get all gussied up and wear something I wouldn't wear in front of my friends.
We even bought Kent a whole Handsome Man outfit *including tiny tie for the occasion...raor. And there WAS food! Since the party was for the whole Windows division they rented out the Seattle Convention Center. There were 9 different rooms with various themes and live bands. My favorite was the 20's inspired speakeasy...love that music! (also that room had beef).
There was a room with a mean 80's cover band, but the award for best theme in my opinion was the International room. They had large tents set up with couches, and settees where you could sit and play board games and eat Pho which was a welcome sight to me as my fabulous heels didn't feel so fabulous by the end of the night. It ended up that we didn't meet anyone that Kent remotely recognised (except for one!), but we spent a lovely evening anyways drinking free drinks and scavenging for food.
No awkward introductions, no laughing at the bosses jokes, or any of the things I came to expect from watching sitcoms.
Not a bad First Corporate Christmas!

Home again.

We are back from our Goodwill Virginia Tour! After much flying, driving, and general seeing everyone we have ever known, we are home and oh so done with the whole traveling thing for a while.
Don't get me wrong, it was totally worth it!
We had a great 2 weeks and got to meet up with so many good friends: Juice & co, Zack and Greta & co, Chris, Aaron, Mike, Paul...it was refreshing to spend time with them.
We spent the rest of our time with Kent's wonderful family as we crowded all the kids (9 cousins under 6!) together to mingle and mix at his parent's house in Virginia Beach. It was adults and children up to your ears and so much fun!
I don't have many pictures of us and the fam (boo.) But I do have quite a few from our Williamsburg Day! Ahhhh! History! I love it:)
I had hemmed and hawed about going for weeks before our trip out there, but Kent apparently he had enough of it as a kid, it being forced and educational at the time. So I had pretty much given up on the idea until we were driving down the highway on our way back from meeting a friend for bbq and what do you know? Greta had a dirty diaper! Where on earth were we going to stop and change her? Oh I don't know, how about that sweet looking town? What Williamsburg? How did that get there? Well, we should probably just find a restroom and... before you know it we were strolling the streets and geeking out over very old things (my favorite!)
Like Father Christmas. Greta was mezmorized by him and he was very sweet to give Greta some cheerios since candy is not yet on the menu.



*Reader Meg: There is a picture of a colonial person coming up after this picture. As they scare you and make you want to itch and wiggle. Get ready to close your eyes!....

.......

*OK! You can take your hands off of your eyes now, that was the only colonial person I am going to post. He was very friendly though and very interested in the harvest of his cabbages.

Greta stole that apple and that's how we landed here...in the stocks.

Except not really, and it was really a very perfect day. We even coined the term "Why can't everyday be like Williamsburg?"
Well, it is so so good to be back home. I always am reminded of how much I love it here when I come back after being away. I was the happiest Skirst in town today and found myself skipping a little quite unashamed of myself.

Coming to an airport near you...

All's well here at the Walters, we are back to good health and packing our bags! Greta is very excited to see her Nana and Papa along with all her aunts, uncles, and cousins. Excitement this great deserves excited arms! In just a few hours it's going to be 3 Walters, 3 airports, 2 planes, and 2 days...it's going to be an adventure!

Special Christmas Items coming your way!

Hello!
So about a week ago I had a great idea for a new item to add to the shop this season. I usually frown upon the idea of jump starting to Christmas the day after Halloween but considering that etsy is a kind of retail and all retail institutions like to spend half the year celebrating Christmas I figured I would conform in my own small way:)
And then Bam! Pow! Oink! Our house got sick with the flu and we have all been out of comission. Except for our faithful Partriarc Kent-the-he-man-Walter who has been playing Florence Nightingale and practices a mind over matter approach for himself.
All this to say...sit tight! I have new illustrations and a very special Christmas addition in the works and on it's way.
Just as soon as I get out of bed... maybe Thursday?

Everybody clear off my lawn!

I think I know why some old people can be so stereotypically outspoken and cranky...they must not feel well!
And neither do I so listen up youngsters I have some complaining to do!
This Tylenol is keeping my fever down for now, but I don't know for how long so let me speak my peace while I've got the gumption.
In my day when a girl got sick she got sick with 24 hour influenza, you threw up a little, bit a wooden spoon, ran around the block a couple of times and you were fit as a fiddle.
Now these newfangled flus are downright indecent if you ask me. Your throat (hah! throat, if you can call it that, I call it the devil's closet! Where the sins of the wicked sit and fester.) What's left of your throat is so sore you have to chew your water and forget about pills! Wont fit down your pipe, no room.
Get your rest you say? fiddle sticks! How can you when you aren't allowed to breathe the night air without waking up with a fit.
Fever! Chills! Balder all!
I'm tired, I'm going to bed, but you can tell that nice Mr President (from me) that he has a problem to fix and he better up and fix it! I don't want to catch him drinking tea with foreign dignitaries or fiddlin' with the taxes when this poor she devil can't get bodily peace enough to swallow her oats!
You tell him that. And then thank him for his time, I won't have any one saying that I have forgotten my manners.

*I have a Dr's appointment today at 2:00 and as I am not leaving there until they give me medicine (and it better be something fierce) I look forward to regaining my composure, my senses, and your friendship in time.)

I feel Grrrrrreaaaat! (or want to)

We be sick.
Either I caught what Greta had last week, or it's an amazing coincidence, but we be sick at the Walter house.
I won't go on a limb and say it's a case of the oinkers (h1n1) but I do bare a remarkable resemblance to the list of symptoms. Fever, sore throat, body aches, chills. I kind of wish it is so I can go ahead and get it over with ya know...stare down that swine and be done with it.
Since Kent's remedy for sick people is to listen to funny songs and watch funny cat videos.
I have for your amusement (and mine) a commercial I have been laughing at for a solid week! Maybe I need to get my hands on a Nutri Grain Bar?