Tales of Me and the Husband

Bridget’s favorite things.

Oprah does it, so why can’t I?
I expect record-breaking sales of these items too.  Just like the big O.
(Get your head out of the gutter.  If you got that, good.)
Just after I click “Publish Post,” you are going to run out to the stores
to pick up these most-wanteds before they sell out.
Anyway, December has officially arrived.  It’s the 1st.
So, with that in mind, every day I’m going to reveal one of my favorite things.
At which point you will swoon, exclaim, “YES!  She’s a genius!”
and add it to your little repertoire.
First one’s easy:
Fully expecting a silly chick flick (which I do love, but they can be silly),
the husband and I went to see this.
We loved it!
It’s slightly Christmasy,
has unbelievable homes/interior designing
(Cameron Diaz’s home will be mine one day),
and has some great jackets (those worn by Ms. Diaz to be exact).
So by the end, Steve had shed a tear or two
(he resonates with Jude Law in the movie, ya know)
and we were happy we saw it.
Also, the soundtrack by Hans Zimmer is great too.
Now, be off!  Available at your nearest Target, Walmart, or Amazon.com!
I’m also sharing a wonderful Christmas song.  First one’s funny, second one’s great.
And fear not.  If you’ve come desperately seeking my Make it Right blog postings, they’re still there, just down below now as I am continuing posting.  You just couldn’t find it, which is the only reason you haven’t joined my team yet.  That makes sense.

a little “make it right” addition.

If you’re not interested in actually being a team member (You loser!  Who said that?  J/K!  LOL!  LYLAS!), you can simply donate to my team online at the Make It Right website using a credit card.  Cha-ching!  Easy as that.

I know funds are low for everyone and their mother these days though, which is why fundraising may be oh-so attractive.  My first fundraising efforts?  I’m in charge of a craft fair lunch stand this weekend and will be putting out a jar with the Make it Right logo (so they don’t think this is for my personal manicure/pedicure funds) on it and wearing my hat if it gets here in time.  Questions?  Find the girl with the Make it Right hat.

a lovely poem by bertrand russell

Three passions have governed my life:
The longings for love, the search for knowledge,
And unbearable pity for the suffering of [humankind].
Love brings ecstasy and relieves loneliness.
In the union of love I have seen
In a mystic miniature the prefiguring vision
Of the heavens that saints and poets have imagined.
With equal passion I have sought knowledge.
I have wished to understand the hearts of [people].
I have wished to know why the stars shine.
Love and knowledge led upwards to the heavens,
But always pity brought me back to earth;
Cries of pain reverberated in my heart
Of children in famine, of victims tortured
And of old people left helpless.
I long to alleviate the evil, but I cannot,
And I too suffer.
This has been my life; I found it worth living.

(and here are my thoughts: when we raise $150,000 (obviously), those who can can fly to new orleans with me and actually build the home that we helped make possible!  yahoo!  and meet brad pitt!  all in one whirling weekend!)

please help me make it right.

I have been thinking about how to go about this idea of mine perfectly right so as to entice you, my friends & readers, to join me in my newest goal.  So, with an open mind and willing heart, keep reading.

When I was in New Orleans, I took a tour of the city with a lovely guide who is a New Orleans native.  She took us everywhere–including all the areas greatly affected by Hurricane Katrina (which, truth be told, is the majority of the city).  I saw the devastation the floodwaters caused, both when they came rushing into the city carrying with it barges, homes, furniture, and cars, and then the devastation they continued making as the water sat, and sat, and sat–black mold, mildew, you name it.  (*photo from wikipedia)

1,600 people died there.  That doesn’t include the 705 still missing, presumably dead.  As I drove through the Lower Ninth Ward, it looked as though the hurricane couldn’t possibly have been 4 whole years ago.  One body was just found last month in an attic.  The Lower Ninth is virtually deserted.  Much more commonplace than a livable home is a boarded up one with broken windows or an entire block with weeds up to your waist where home after home used to stand.  These were people’s homes and lives.  Among my chief things I’m thankful for is a home to call my own, a refuge where I recharge my batteries, take a hot shower, and cook dinner.  Without that, I’m not sure I’d be able to cope well with anything.  I can only imagine you feel similarly.
Have we forgotten about New Orleans?  Have we forgotten the toll Katrina took?  The media certainly doesn’t mention it much anymore.  But, as someone who was there, trust me.  There is so much work to be done.  I love my country, I love that a million plus people have already come through the city volunteering their time and money with Habitat for Humanity to help these people rebuild their lives.  But it’s not over yet though and I am afraid as time goes by, so do the memories of Hurricane Katrina.  So, I will serve as that grim reminder that they still need a hand and here’s where you come in.  I would be ever so grateful.  Please consider it.  Please, I’m begging!
Make it Right is Brad Pitt’s (if there was ever an organization to sign up under, why not make it this guy’s?) organization.  This is the one I’d like to form a team under with your help.
Why Make it Right?
I was so impressed with the homes they’re building.  Seriously, this program is well thought-out.  First of all, the homes are entirely eco-friendly.  They have water-collecting capacity and solar panels (keeping electric bills way down for people who already don’t have tons of money).  Second, they are safe.  They will, at least the intent is, weather the next storm.  I even saw a “floating house” that will float in up to 12 feet of water.  Third, the people who will be living in the house must contribute to the cost of the house.  They can do this through savings, financing, or insurance money.  The housing costs are then limited to no more than a 1/3 of their income.  Fourth, the homeowners must take homeowner courses to see that they are prepared to maintain the health of their home.
How Can You Help?
I have already begun a team, though at the moment, it’s just me and Steve.  I’d like for you to join, to tell your friends and family to join, etc.  Click here to sign up on my team.  The name of the team, so creative, is Bridget Hunt.  I have set my own fundraising goals at $5,000, but I’d like to raise more.  The cost of one of these homes is around $150,000–the thought that this team could raise all that is crazy exciting.  Not least of which because maybe Brad Pitt will hear about it and then be desperate to meet us?  So, I cannot do it alone.  Please, please, please consider this.
How Can I Fundraise?
There are lots of ways.  I am hoping that in June I will reevaluate how much money we’ve earned so far, and then determine when our “end goal” is.  So, there is time.  Garage sales, lemonade stands (I will definitely park my cute kids out on the street come spring to raise money for this–who would pass without donating?!  Do you have a cute kid to borrow??  Do it!  All for a worthy cause!), bake sales, asking local businesses, family members, in lieu of Christmas presents (what?!?), etc.  There are tons of ways and tons I’m not even thinking of.  In fact, give me some ideas if you’ve got them.  I’ve already started by ordering myself that cool hat at the top of this post.  The proceeds go to the Make it Right Foundation, but you get a cool hat to boot!
Can Anyone Join?
Yes.  How cool would it be to have a team across the U.S.–I know I have a few California readers, at least one Colorado reader… we could already be three states deep.  Am I guilt-tripping you?  Yes.
Any more questions?  Please e-mail me: bridget.c.hunt@gmail.com
Want to know more about Katrina?
Pictures to tug at your heartstrings?
A song I love so aptly named “Just Say Yes.”

I will love you forever if you sign up, so if that’s not enough enticement, I don’t know what is.

thanksgiving thanks, issue 2

i’ve already given thanks for the “proper” things.  so i’m not entirely materialistic.  this is coming a whole day later.  that’s a whole level of less thankfulness than i was for yesterday’s items (or peeps, as they aren’t really items).  so i’m just 50% materialistic.  50%?  can i get a 50?  thank you.
but really, i’m pretty thankful for this black glass-and-plastic beauty.  in my everlasting quest to become a real-life photographer, i’m one step, one small step, but nonetheless one step closer… till i upgrade.  what?!  what is that i said?  am i not satisfied?  and so soon?!??  ugh!  typical american.  disgusting.
now, here is a story of irreverent me.
this game is called bananagrams.  and here’s one scenario of it being played.  fact or fiction?  you decide.
characters

lindsey, age 7

we’ll call her dorothy, age 7
we’ll call her goldilocks, age 15
dorothy: i don’t know what to spell with this c and k.
goldilocks: shock?  speck?
dorothy: i don’t have an s.
me: hmm… heck?
[pause]
[pause]
lindsey: heck is a bad word.
dorothy: is it?
[pause.  and i am silenced, mind you.  a 7-year-old has just called me out on an apparent swear.]
goldilocks: yeah… it is.
[everyone diverting their eyes from me.]
and there i sat, looking at the blasphemous “h-e-c-k” there on my kitchen table and the angelic children whose halos were looking a little more tarnished than they were before the “heck” incident.
and i went into the bathroom to wash my mouth out with soap.

thanksgiving thanks, issue 1

There is a LOT to be thankful for.

true dat.

At the top of my list are the following:
and in random order so as not to hurt those desperately vying for #1 in the heart of 
little 
ol’ 
me.

This guy.  I call him husband.

These lovelies.  I call them sisters and mother.

This little lady.  I call her estrogen in a mostly testosterone household.
THANKS BE TO GOD for her.

The testosterone I was speaking of.  Despite their smelliness, I still love them.

This one… she’s called naughtiness covered in fur.  Serious naughtiness.

This guy.  He goes by many names, but for times’ sake, we’ll call him father.

They all make my world go round.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

new orleans has my heart.

I just returned from New Orleans where Steve went for a conference 
and I for fun.  And fun was had indeed!

my new orleans faves:
walking around the french quarter
eating po’ boys for lunch
sitting in jackson square watching the street performers
beignets at cafe du monde
steve spotting biblical scholars as though they were brangelina
a post-katrina tour
going to nola on a date with my husband 
(did i mention the most delicious garlic-parmesan bisque 
and scrumptious cosmo of all time?)
listening to bob french & the original tuxedo band’s jazz on bourbon st.
the way new orleans made me feel…
that one is hard to explain
but i just loved it.
and stay tuned for something that’s going to need your help.  
i’m quite excited.
steve and i galavanting around the french quarter

i’ll take these.

size 8.5, thank you.
(*modcloth)

and that fabulous hair… color & style
that’s all you should count on me for today.
i’m running on empty.
went to bed with a snoring husband,
woke up with a snoring husband.
he’s congested.
poor man???  poor woman!!!
told him this morning, if he keeps this up, i’m gonna have to
let him go…  cut him loose.
but really, that’s not gonna happen.

let me introduce you…

to the VITAMIX 5200!!
this, dear friends, is a little piece of kitchen-machinery heaven given to me by my lovely husband.  it’s really for him too though.  you know, one of those presents.  we’ve all gotten them.  nonetheless, i was pleased.
with this delightful monstrosity (it’s sort of on the big side as blenders go), you can make this deliciously refreshing smoothie…
what’s that?  you wanna know how?
antioxidant-pow-pow! smoothie 
   (i came up with that myself… you like?)
some orange juice (or any other juice)
1 banana–the riper the better, oh yes
a handful of goji berries (the frozen ones at whole foods, know what i’m talkin’ bout?)
strawberries
pineapple (i think this ingredient made it)
*optional (don’t we love options?): our faves… wheatgrass &/or bee pollen
    EnJoY!
and fellas… if your lady-love loves smoothies,
let me make a suggestion…
adopt a vitamix.
you won’t regret it.

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