it was an ex-caboose

Once upon a time {this weekend} we went to Oklahoma/Kansas for my brother in law's wedding. We made reservations at a place in Yukon, Oklahoma called the Red Rooster Guest Cabooses. It was a bed and breakfast where you get to stay in a renovated and remodeled train caboose that's been turned into a little hotel room. 

picture link

Cute, right?

We drove from Salt Lake City to Yukon, arrived on Friday afternoon, and couldn't find it. After driving up and down the road for a little bit, we finally noticed it. It had been completely destroyed. Three days before we arrived, a tornado made a direct hit to the cabooses and the inn. The red caboose you see in the picture was turned on its side, but stopped by the tree directly in front of it. The yellow caboose was on its side about forty feet away from its original spot. There was debris everywhere. It was insane. And me, being the genius that I am, forgot to bring my camera on the trip so there aren't any pictures of it. I remembered that I forgot the camera when we were about halfway there. Luckily there was a hotel a little ways down the road that we were able to get a room in.

you scream, we scream . . .

I just might have a new favorite:

 picture via here

"red velvet cake batter ice cream with red velvet cake pieces 

and a cream cheese frosting swirl"

yum.

I am from the south. I love barbecue. That is all.

do you hear the people sing?

We saw Les Miserables in Salt Lake, and it was, in a (few) word(s), amazing, fantastic, beautiful, heartbreaking, and enchanting. Fantine's "I Dreamed a Dream" in the first act brought me to tears. And the resounding cries of "Red Black" made me want to run to the stage and join in the barricade. And, of course, the raw emotion of "Do You Hear the People Sing?" reduced me to a blubbering mess again. "Bring Him Home" was so emotion-charged and gorgeous, as it always is. Then there was the finale, where I found myself on the edge of my chair, heart racing, barely able to breathe. The way it begins so softly and then crescendos into that powerful anthem is something to behold. There is nothing quite like seeing a show live. The energy, emotion and power that comes from a live performance is unmatched by anything else. It got my standing ovation, which I don't readily give to just any performance. It has to blow me away and move my soul to warrant my standing up. It did. On both accounts. So I stood up.

my favorite.

I have a friend named Toni. I've never met her, but I know her. I know her through her writing. And I'm on a first-name basis with her. {As I am with Sylvia, Aldous, Zora, Edgar, William . . .} Well, she was on Oprah last week, and I almost fell off the couch when Oprah introduced her, I was so excited. And I may or may not have squealed like a twelve-year-old fan girl at a Justin Bieber concert, thrown my hands in the air, and almost cried. She's a good friend. Toni has meant the world to me since the first time I read Beloved waaaay back in the twelfth grade. She is the epitome of all things I consider wise. She always says the most thought-provoking things, and they always make perfect sense. I guess that's what comes with being eighty years old and a Nobel Prize winner. The more you think about what she says, the more you realize how wise, and how right she is. Also, she has that fantastic story-teller voice. I could listen to her talk all day long. The latest and greatest words of wisdom from her that I've acquired and implemented into my own personal beliefs is something she said while telling a story about her son.

"Do you light up when a child enters the room?"

Think about that for a minute. She genius, right? Tell me I'm not the only one who thinks this woman is brilliant. She continued to talk about the importance of showing people (especially children) how we feel about them, instead of simply telling them. This.is.so.important. You can tell someone something, but until you show them, there might be doubts about what you say.

Toni continued to talk about the importance of finding something to do that is purely for yourself and for your own enjoyment. Find that space that is sacred, she said, and only for you, where you can escape and completely be yourself. For her, she said, it's writing. But it could by anything you enjoy doing. Anything at all. I dare you to find that space if you haven't already. I believe it is essential to our survival as women. And please read Toni's books if you haven't. They are incredible.