http://admire.robertlafrieda.com

Shelby French

 

Son of the Magical Xmas Grumpus

Hello Woo Land,

Seasons greetings to you sporadic visitors of the land of Woo. Apologies for the absence, but I've been a wreck since the return from Ethiopia (which was an awesome wonderful trip by the way). Basic recap of symptoms: a serious bout of jet laggardness, potential viral poisoning by Dutch flight attendants, and an unabated rejection by an infuriated Mr. M for my 10 day absence in his life. Or that's how it felt to this guilt ridden mother figure. To compensate, I paid him off in crisp $20 dollar bills (left over Canadian from the Toronto trip), along with Martha Graham inspired guilt-dances accompanied by passive aggressive monologues about my so-called "importance" in his life. With colored scarves, no less.

He should be fine now.

This weekend was Mr. M's second Santa visit. And oh my goodness, the joy in his eyes. He seemed so enthralled with the magic of Xmas. Here's the evidence.








I swear, this is a happy child, all giggles and smiles before and after these shots. But seriously, he knows this "natural beard" Santa is a fraud. I applaud Mr. M for his well poised intuition and rejection of convention.

Here's what really made his boat float one hour later...







The train display at the Hitchcock building. That's what the holidays are all about. Public transportation.

Last Day for NoPloMowhatever...

30th day!  And wouldn't you know, I can't get directly into blogger.  Will keep trying.  Trying the email route to see if it works.  If not, what a friggin bummer.  Anyway, Addis update - Katherine and i were on Ethiopian TV today!  The local news covered the conference, and us with chins in hand looking interested.  Got to find the footage.

Misho, Mommy is an Addis superstar.

Shelby

Rear Window Redux

Mama is on the new flower. Dada and Misho are recreating classic movies. Next week, Daisy as Harvey.

Honey Wine and Oromo Beats

Full day one in ET has gone splendidly. Took a road south and wandered around some crater lakes. No vultures, but encountered big ass pelicans, fish, skinny cats, and a gaggle of Ethiopian air force dudes. We had a wonderful dinner with Ethiopian dance show. Lot's of seemingly painful shoulder poppin. I joined in this venture at an embarrassing tableside dance post honey wine.

Video to come.

I'm in!

Ethiopia has let me in! Blogger is available and I can do some updating. It's just a bit before midnight here so I've made the deadline. Two more days to go!

We are here in Addis. KLM was groovy and Dutch. I sat next to the cast of Trainspotting. I think they made a 6am Amsterdam club decision to hop on a flight to "somewhere in Africa!" At least that's what I heard. And smelled.

More tomorrow. I've been traveling for over 20 hours and just accidently bit my finger. That's a sign to go to bed.

Love you Mr. M and Big D!

Shelby

Off to New Flower

30 days is coming to a close but I have to leave the grid for a quick trip to Addis. Will try and update as I go. Big D has committed to helping me reach the 30 day 30 blog entry mark, but I can completely understand if it doesn't happen. Expect some photos - probably embarrassing ones of me.

I've set up the email blog entry function, but you never know what will make it through the big net.

My friend Katherine (from the best baby shower ever) and I have some exciting work and meetings next week. Should be a hoot. First things first, we taking a day trip on Sunday to the Oromo region to vulture watch. Yes. We chose this trip.

Anywho, happy thanksgiving again to all! I'm in denial about leaving Misho but I have plenty of photos to share with the people who first took care of him.

Here's a blast from last Thanksgiving.