A Wham-Bam Synopsis of the Past Two Months with Some Amateur Poetry

Okay, so through one or another alternate means of communication, we all probably already know the major points of what we've been up to this summer. But I'm putting it here for posterity's sake anyway. And I'm rhyming it to entertain myself. Sooooo:

DC weekend:

The old school triangle reunited in June,

Maria, Pantas and Ferret thought it none too soon.

Some BBQ, beer, and watermelon not bad,

Were eaten and drunken and good times were had.

We walked to the mighty Potomac, twas nigh,

We forded a river and pissed off an old guy.

The boys both passed muster and were both really funny,

The young one had many compliments for our Connie.

The other one knew a whole lot about Porsches,

And to boot he is smart and was in the Armed Forces.

Boston weekend:

It was a roommate reunion for this later trip,

Belsa flew in and the Nejes took a land ship.

We saw lots of sights and felt one with the history,

How Pantas got her sweet place is a mystery.

We lay in the park and I longed for the ducks,

We rode the train with one of the typical Bahstan fucks.

We walked and we quacked and we walked even more,

We had drinks in the sun for an hour...or four.

We looked at Cheers's outside, but didn't go in,

And sadly we parted, when our trip was fin.

Further musings:

A-Mae should post and announce baby's sex,

And in a few weeks she should post about Mex-

(ico.)

 Katie owes updates on the land of the Port,

What are you up to holed up in your fort?

Belsa must tell us of school and of life,

And if she doesn't soon I'll cut her with a knife.

Nej has news too, and exciting new plans,

I may post a picture that shows off her cans.

And I'm off to travel, my first time abroad,

To France and to Italy, I hope to be awed.

I'll post some pictures upon my return,

Til then my lurvlies, dammit it's your turn! 

Hello (echo)

I just knew I was going to have hours of catching up to do. Where is everyone?

Well I am back to work. Yes, 4 months pregnant at a new job. Thank goodness I already know how to do what I do.

Dana is getting big. He is in daycare full time and loving it. Me too!! He says "Hey Dada" and blows raspberries at me.

Thursday I have my 3rd Ob appointment so maybe we will get an ultrasound and find out what we are having. I still haven't gotten of the fence on whether I want a boy or girl. I will be happy either way.

Well this is short because I am tired, so somebody else blog please.

A-mae

She lives underground...

Hello, all.

I do, contrary to popular opinion, exist. I just wanted to give a great big blog shout-out to you all. Thanks for letting me peer, ever so slightly, into your lives.

Now here's a little smidgen about me.

Today: not raining. Sweet! Rode my 74 Schwinn Le Tour to the Mt. Tabor Park, hopin to catch a glimpse of Mt. Hood from the top. Sat in a big field of dandelions, but the gnats were running their bodies into my face. Left. Went down the hill to sit with the Oregon Grape shrub, trying to get to know her better. Climbed up another hill, laid against a tree. Got up...DANG, I was all sticky with sap on my caboose! Rode home (stuck to the seat).

So, that is today, anyway. Why all the plant talk, you ask? Well, I just began a school of herbalism out here in the Great Northwest, and it is super cool. I was telling my mom that I foresee myself, one fine day, as having way too many cats to go along with my innumerable jars of "concoctions." She said, "My little Wiccan...do you have any eye of newt?" Then we both laughed. Mwa-ha-ha!

Oh, and that's me inside a tunnel out at the coast. I like this picture. It's like my stereotypical near-death-experience portrait, or my shamanic entry into the underworld. All around cool.

Katie

Good News

November 28, 2008 is the expected arrival of the second child to the Sapp Family. Yep!!! We're pregnant. I pray that we are blessed with another angel.

Here's our blob!!

Adventures in Subwaying

Well, I finally have a story to share...

So, I went to get on the train yesterday after work and it took awhile for a Queens-bound train to show up. The one that finally did come was packed with people, but I managed to squeeze in as the last person smushed up against the doors on one of the cars. This was a super-crowded car where every single person is pushed up against at least three other people and there’s not any wiggle room and with every lurch of the train car, everybody leans one way, and then back the other.

Well, there’s this older guy standing kind of in front of me on my left and as the train was rocking, I was thinking, hmm, what has this guy got in his pocket that keeps hitting my leg? It felt like something was poking my thigh. What could it be? A belt buckle? A cell phone? You never know. People are always hitting you with their bags and stuff on the train.

As we neared the station, it was poking me more and more to the point where it was like, it feels like he is almost intentionally rubbing whatever it is on me. Like, I know the train is crowded, but you are pressing on me a little too rhythmically. And, as it turns out, gyratingly. Anyway, we pull into the station, the doors open, I step back, and yup: He has a giant boner and has been poking me with it, as I can only assume, on purpose. EW!

I didn’t know what to do, and am not good with public confrontations, especially since I am always naively giving people the benefit of the doubt. So I just shifted position so he couldn’t touch me anymore. By the time I had convinced myself that it was probably not an accident, an unfortunately-shaped colostomy bag or an innocent "so crowded I had to hump your leg" king of thing, he had gotten off. The train, that is. Then again, he may have gotten off in the other way also.

In retrospect I definitely wish I had just gone with my instinct and said, “To hell with the crowded train, stop touching me!” Really loud. And then punched him in the wiener. But alas, I didn’t. I feel icky.

Moral of the story: Wait for the next train.

Guessing Game

Where was I last week?

Wanting It All

Good news for me, ladies! Wanting it all in the search for a mate doesn't mean you're shallow, spoiled and ultimately unrealistic.

It just means you're really attractive...

Previous researchers argued that what women value depended on the type of relationship they were looking for. Women looking for long-term partners want someone who will be a good provider for them and their children, but women seeking short-term flings care more about masculinity and physical attractiveness, features that may be passed down to children.

Buss and Todd Shackelford, psychology professor at Florida Atlantic University, found women ideally want partners who have all the characteristics they desire, but they will calibrate their standards based on their own desirability.

“When reviewing the qualities they desire in romantic partners, women gauge what they can get based on what they got,” Buss said. “And women who are considered physically attractive maintain high standards for prospective partners across a variety of characteristics.”

So, if any of us ends up 45 and single, it's just because we're so damn hawt. Keep it in mind. It's science! Hee.

I dont wanna go!!!!

So I am in fear of the thought of possibly having to go back to work. I am exploring options of working from home businesses. Just thinking of putting my son in daycare frightens me. I know we need the extra money coming in and savings is all but depleted. I have been praying, but I am still worried. Leon doesn't want me to go back to work, but we cant afford for me to not have an income any longer. These last 7 months have been a blessing and I thank God for allowing me to stay home with DanaMax. As you can all see he is a precious little boy with a lot of energy and love. I dont want to miss-out on giving him kisses all day and playing silly games.

If anyone has heard of some work from home businesses that people have been successful with please let me know. I dont need 6 figures just enough to make ends meet for now.

I do feel better now that I have vented to more than just family. E-Mae great idea on the blog. Also, you can come by anytime. I know its the end of the week now, but we are pretty flexible.

Today we went to story time at Barnes and Noble. It was cute and a little loud with all the kids. I was accompanied by the Stay at Home Moms of Alpharetta with the 2 carat diamond rings and real Louis V bags. I sported my new Nike's (that work with the iPod Nano that I dont have) and my Coach diaper bag. SAHM's of Roswell aren't as snooty. The story teller read 3 books (I can only remember one) "If you give a mouse a cookie" and then we sang 3 songs. Dana loved it. He laughed and danced and squeaked. We will definitely go back again.

So Sapp Photography has landed a few gigs for the end of the school year. We have a prom, 8th Dance and 8th grade graduation all in May. I hope we yield highly off these 3 events.

Well duty calls.

Can I get a brief on who all is on this blog? IDK everyone and cant tell by the alias' and blogs who is who.

Survivor VI

My lovelies, I am alive! And I'm currently wearing my "I Survived My Sixth Quarter at PC!" tshirt. Oh, it feels amazing to be done and finally on a break for a few weeks. It's kind of shocking to wake up at 11am and know that the day is totally mine, I almost don't know what to do with myself. (Though I'm sure you employees of the real world and Momma-Land are making mean faces because I get this luxury!) Be glad you can't see our apartment, or that you no longer live with and/or above me, because about 9,000 paper bombs have exploded, and there's Xacto blades and glue all over the place. The only thing we can manage to keep remotely clear of the art crap is the kitchen, but even that is overflowing with past-due recycling. (But hey, we are at least recycling--or hording, whatever suits your fancy--nod nod wink wink to Nej there...though no worms are growing yet, thankfully.)

My critique was last night and I was working up to the last minute as usual. A stressful final day, crying involved (also typical), because half my projects were not "complete," and I was nervous about presenting them in progress and my panel telling me I am a terrible human being for not being as up to speed as other students. But I managed to wow them nonetheless, albeit my presentation skills didn't quite fall into place last night. I forgot the lipgloss trick, and fumbled over my wording for the most part, but my work was able to do all the talking itself, and my panel had only good things to say. One of my panelists is the creative director of Armchair Media, where Hadi interned two quarters ago. His name is Stefan, and he was really wowed by my work, it was a great compliment and a surprise to me, because he's a tough cookie to wow. He's been trying to get me to intern with his firm for six months now. I've been worried about my ability to juggle two days a week at an internship plus classes, but Stefan talked to The Cowboy (my school president), who then finagled my schedule to accommodate for an internship, and they roped me into it. So, in two weeks, or actually maybe even next week, I will be working part-time at Armchair Media, which is mostly interactive web-based. You can check their work out at armchairmedia.com

So, to A-Mae your child is absolutely adorable and a perfect blend of you and Leon. I want to drive up to visit you next week now that I have the time to do it...and squeeze that little bugger! Let me know what works for you. To Nej I am so thrilled about your awards and that the speech went over well. I will definitely check out this sustainable widget of yours. And do keep updating us on the worms, most exciting. In fact I caught the beginning of Dumb and Dumber the other night (oh yes, my brain about felt that retarded at that point) and they had a worm-farm in their apartment. A nod to sustainability? Perhaps, perhaps. Panters, are you giving a speech in L.A. as we speak? Bojangles, are you on the telly as we speak? Janice, I never pick up the phone, either, so no guilt trips need to be placed on thyself. However, Mr. Kitchen's comment about the compost was oh so perfect. Nej, no pooping in the heap. Oh, and we have to get KT and Anneliese on this blog kick, too. So everyone bombard them with harassment calls. Hadi and I are heading out their way over our break, so we'll threaten them personally if that's what it takes.

WHOO-HOO I SURVIVED!

Sweeeeeeeeet!

Hello ninas.  Wanted to share this with you all.  If the widget works, and you're into what it has to offer, it's a pretty cool tool.  

Updates from my hippie self: Background checks on the worms are almost complete.  While awaiting reports back from the credit bureau on these red-wigglers, they've managed to eat....A LOT!  Ratio of food waste to worms is 2:1.  Wow!  All seedlings have sprouted, and the tomatoes have been thinned.  This means snipping off some of their darling green heads, so that the other sprouts can survive.  How do you choose?  I found this step particularly hard to do. But ultimately, I must understand that I do not have enough room to grow 9 tomato plants, nor do I need 9 tomato plants.  Also, Greg'o and I have signed up for a CSA.  We've bought a share in a farm on Long Island, and will be receiving their produce and fruit from June through November.  Sweeeeeeeeeet! (and savory.) Watch out guys, when you next come to visit, we may be living in a yurt with a composting toilet.  Kidding.  

Non-hippie fronts: Some friends and I are starting an adult activity zine called, "Sweeeeee_ _ _ t".  (Title makes more sense when the 'e's are in cursive.)  We're printing it on single-side used copy paper  — making the final size 5.5" x 8.5".  We're printing a flip book over the used/found image side of the paper.  Elsa, binding guidance?  The best trick I can come up with 3 staples on the spine, about .375" in.  I don't think this is the best idea, so I'd love some advice.  

Back to hippie fronts: Awards reception went well — mascara and lipgloss shields proved highly protective from stagefright, nerves, yakking.  And, Nick Mag won a 2nd environmental award at the end of last week.  Sweeeet!   

Toot Toot

So I am here today to toot my babys horn :) Check out his website www.sapp-house.com.

Pantas Inaugural Post

Now that I have secured the procrastination crown and stowed it next to my avoidance sash, I'm more than happy to contribute to our little bloggy-blog. Bojangles, you put up a good fight. You almost had me. I nearly blogged a few times prior to now, but shortly realized that I had nothing to blog.

Boston is fun. I would post pictures, but I've been waiting for a day that doesn't resemble a grey Pantone swatch and that hasn't happened yet.

I, too, am having to enter the world of public speaking. The week after next I'm speaking at a conference in Pasadena. I haven't started preparing for it yet (my dry run is on Monday) and am planning on a good dose of apathy, and possibly a stiff drink, to get me through. I was blinded by the fact that I could spend the weekend in LA with my friend Michelle when I agreed to attend this conference. Shortly thereafter I realized the trip entailed me speaking before 60 people or so for 40 mintues. This might require me lipglossing my full face.

Other than that, nothing terribly exciting is going on with me. I went to Denver earlier this week. I agreed to attend a meeting, not realizing it was in Denver until the day before (oops).

On the social front I've been attempting to establish a social life through meetup.com. Last weekend I went to a raw food group meeting. It was incredible. There was a moment of awkwardness when the randos I was sitting with asked me how long I had been a vegetarian and I had to respond with "um... never. But I have some vegan friends... and I recycle!". Aside from being a known outsider, and the food making me sick, it was awesome!!

Good Morning, Sunshines!

Well, as you might have guessed, Pantalones (pictured above) and I have been competing to see who could procrastinate longest before posting. And, it looks like I lose. Sad day, but you ladies will learn that as you get older, you lose some of your game. In college, I could have procrastinated for at least another week.

Nej, if you've ever watched my appearances, you'll notice that I wear a space-aged, pearlescent shield of heavy lipgloss to protect me from nerves. So, that's what I suggest.

Congrats on your award! How long do you have to speak? I'd write a few notes and practice a few times to make it feel natural. Just be yourself. (That's the end of my list of cliches, in case anyone's wondering.)

I'm doing well, working a lot, traveling a lot. My house is finally all decoratey, and I'm thinking of having a party in April for my birthday. I'll keep y'all posted. Now, Pantalones, you have the floor.

Ahhhhh!!!

¡Hola chicas! So, I'm a little wary of this blog idea.  Not that I don't enjoy reading the posts, just my own participation in it.  But, after checking the site multiple times a day for new material, I decided that I should probably pitch in to add to its growth.  Not to mention that I have some exciting news.

To toot my own horn, Nick Magazine has won a SustainPrint award for being an environmental leader in the area of sustainable publishing.  Our post-consumer waste content paper and biodegradable polybags are being recognized, woo-hoo!  This means that yours truly gets to accept an award and make a little speech at a publishing conference in front of a lot of industry types next Monday.  While Maria Bojangles makes frequent appearances on the telly, my knees start knocking at the idea of addressing more than 15 people in a room.  Advice, Senorita Bojangles?  Anyway, it's all very exciting.

On other fronts, the apartment container garden has been started.  I started my super sweet 100 cherry tomatoes, ca pepper, chervil, dill and chive seeds last weekend.  No green heads yet, but in a couple of weeks we'll see.  Most plants will eventually live on the fire escape, so hopefully the NYFD won't be scaling any ladders soon.  And, the vermicompost bin is complete. Greg built the bin this past weekend and is stocking it with mushy newspaper this week, so the 2,000 worms arriving on Saturday will have a happy home in our kitchen.  More on that to come too. 

Thanks for the tooting!

Somebody was birthed many moons ago today . . .

And it was Elsabelle! (Cameo by Senorita Pantas.)

Happy birthday, lady! Here's to another year older, wiser, and better-lurved by friends. (Please note that even though this was posted approximately 16 minutes prior to the end of your actual birthday, I still lurve you.)  Hope you had a great b-day!

Ah, memories

For your viewing pleasure:



A fairyland ferret wedding.


Ex-Hippies


Before the brownies kicked in...


YESSSSSS!!!! Can we please do this again next Halloween?


Not so sober in a sombrero, but hey, I was finally 21.


Panters and Fat-Ass, I mean, Lou


Talegoni Olympics (isn't that Angela's sweater?)





Probably my favorite picture of these two.


Before Pantalones mastered the art of pad thai and spring rolls. No one makes rice quite like you, my dear.


Proof that Nej was born in 1970.

Mod Queen

I have changed the blog template. Since I am Blog Moderator Queen I can do this whenever I please. And drive all of you crazy.

I started writing what is a "graphic designer's" version of a Master's thesis today (if there ever were such a thing...it will quickly be made pretty, of course). One page took me 6 hours. And I'm through a quarter of my outline. Maria Bojangles, can you lend me a small vial of your Super-Last-Minute-Paper-Writing skills? Damn I was always jealous how you could read a book in one night, write a kick-ass paper on it between 2 and 4am, and wake up at 8am feeling like a million bucks. Your teachers never had a clue, did they? No wonder you became famous.




P.S. Mod Queen says: Post. And if you've already commented, oh ho ho! Post.

Stealing a moment

I have secured the infant in his high chair watching Little Einsteins, so I can spend a few moments with you. My escape to adult life. The little one slept through the night (Praise the Lord), then woke up at 8:45am to eat 3 jars of baby food. He had his 6 month checkup on Monday and is doing great. Weighing in at 16lbs 3oz (25%) with his height at 26 inches (75%). The doctor says he is tall and lean just like his daddy.

There is so much to be done today. I photographed a schools JROTC department back in January and now we are going to have the parents proof and purchase the photos. This is after I have made them available online for proofing, sent home proofs with order forms and 5 ways to pay. This has been an extreme headache, waste of gas and stressful. We proposed that we would give them a large framed print with all the students (much like the ones from Band or Orchestra in high school). If we dont make the $$$$ that we need to cover the cost they may just get the print and have to frame it themselves. We are a small company not looking to be taken advantage of by some high school JROTC leader. Oh!!! AND when we put in our bid for this back in November we also bid on their Military Ball which is to take place on March 14. So why, after I have gone to the school, taken photographs and delivered some that ordered online, am I told that we need to submit our for the Military Ball. WTF!!! So today when we go there Mr. LT. Col. Butler better have some good news. Oh so what I have to do today is pack up both of our Macs, pick up photos to deliver, get order forms, get Dana packed (bottles, diapers, clothes, etc), prepare dinner, and I am sure I am forgetting something. We have to be at the school by 2:30 to begin setting up.

Next, I have this lady who had her baby Feb 9. We took her pregnancy photos and her newborn photos. She is so picky. I have never had anyone critique every little detail. We put a book together of her pregnancy shots. She went through and told us to move photos from one page to another, change the color of the page, make this one bigger, blah blah blah. So now I have designed her announcements. Believe it or not she loved it, but she wanted the words changed, the font color changed and "what size are the photos on the announcement?", and "this morning it looked good and now it looks lime green, we didnt want you to change the color." Are you kidding me!!!!!!!! So I politely told her the color wasnt changed your computer has not been calibrated. She asked my opinion I wouldnt give it because if she doesnt like it then it comes back to me and she is so FRICKIN' picky that I cant deal with it.

Thanks for the vent :)

Off to tend to DanaMax.

Land o' Elsa

And to update you on my life, since I am currently utilizing Angela's perfected "Avoidance Therapy" technique and baring my toushie to the one we like to call School:

In Elsabelle Land I have two weeks until my finals for the quarter. But "finals" is the incorrect term, it's really one critique and lots of blood, sweat, and precious lost hours of sleep (and tears, yes). The gist: Bare your soul to 3 or 4 panelists who could probably give a shit. But, 'tis the real world of design that awaits me...on the very near horizon. I have one more "real" quarter where I will take a full load of classes, then I have my "graduate" quarter (in the summer) where I focus on building out my portfolio. My final quarter I'll have an advisor or two, perhaps take one class, and spend the remainder of the time fleshing out old projects. Or throwing them in the trash and completely starting from scratch. But alas, I get ahead of myself.

Though my quarter appears at the surface to be wrapping up, in real time I am barely keeping my head above water. I have an incredibly intense workload, and at this point I've been pushed far enough that I've reached Apathetic Stage. And want to shoot my teachers with bazookas. You know those people who spin plates on their noses, ears, and eyelids? I'm doing all of that, with the plates full of Thanksgiving dinner. Eventually the cranberry sauce is going to fly off and smack a table guest in the face.

But enough about school. In life-land my mom has sold her house and closes on it this Friday. Ohh, too bad it can't be with good ol' Hippe & Assoc. It's been very strange watching our house empty out over the past three weeks. This past weekend the biggest furniture was packed up and put into storage. She's headed to New Orleans for a while, then on to Oregon once she finds a house out there. I am very sad to see her go, also because I want to be near to help support her...but I know this change is so good for her. Scary, but good. When isn't change scary anyway?

Now my bed is luring me with its down comforter coattails....

*If you do not publish a post the blogger monster will hide out in your closet...or under your bed...or in your cereal bowl.

buenos!

Welcome chicas! Here is where we shall post all of our deepest secrets and such thrilling everyday happenings as how much lint we had to pull out of the dryer. I look forward to the fantastic fun.