Oh, for the love of sod!

Big things happened at the Speakeasy this weekend. I'm talking "alert the presses" big.

Are you ready for the news? Here goes:

We laid sod!

Hallelujah! Our back yard has miraculously been transformed from a huge (butt-ugly) pile of dirt to an inviting, green retreat.

To add to the awesomeness of this development, that means I will no longer have to scrub my floors every other day to rid them of the ridiculous amount of dirt tracked in by the mutts and the Shupe (ok, ok, and me sometimes...) This fact makes me so happy I cannot express my joy in words. I mean, not that I don't like getting down on my hands and knees to make my floors sparkle, only to have the beautiful result of my labor trampled within 24 hours of the cleaning by mutts REALLY excited to run in the dirt and then through the house. But really, I'm stoked. To steal from a friend of mine (with a little poetic license):

Having a beautifully sodded lawn is like a high five from Jesus himself.

Here's to a spring and summer of lazy afternoons, cold cocktails and great times with friends in our new oasis. Cheers.

Oh, but before I finish... One HUGE thank you to Amy, the Shupettes and Phil. Having the kiddos "help" with the project made it totally fun. And, as is a requirement for being called a "Shupe" Amy definitely knows how to work with her hands. To Phil, the best bro ever, thanks for only running and hour late and still getting there in time to put in some awesome work. You all are the best.


Don't ask me how the hell we saw this and thought, "I see something wonderful."


The Before... Ugg...


After <3

The Woman Who Changed Your Life

I recently finished reading (alright, listening to) a book that was so powerful I want to jump up on my soapbox and proselytize for the world to hear. So here's my pared back version...

The Book: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Author: Rebecca Skloot

Here's the basic gist of the book:

Henrietta Lacks was a poor black woman who, in early 1951, was diagnosed and treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital for cervical cancer. Unbeknownst to Henrietta, during her treatment one of her physicians took cells from both her tumor and the healthy portions of her cervix, in an effort to attempt to grow cultures from those cells.

Henrietta died later that year. Those cells are still alive today.

Henrietta's cells, known as HeLa cells, have been used in finding a cure for polio, learning more about cancer, studying viruses, the beginnings of in vitro fertilization and cloning. They were the first cells sent up in space. They have been "bought and sold by the billions" and "if you could pile all HeLa cells ever grown onto a scale, they’d weigh more than 50 million metric tons — as much as a hundred Empire State Buildings."

Her cells have impacted the way you and I live our lives. Imagine not having a cure for polio. Or if we had to continue to test vaccines and antibiotics on people, rather than cell cultures in a lab. Henrietta's cells were the first to survive - and thrive - in the lab environment and have surprised scientists for decades with their strength and vitality.

Her family has never received a dime for the sales of her cells, and they didn't even know about the cells and their amazing contribution to science until decades after she died. Until the day she died, Henrietta's daughter Deborah struggled to pay her own medical bills and had to use public clinics when she needed treatments - the treatments her mother's cells probably helped discover.

Rebecca Skloot took nearly a decade doing research on Henrietta, her family, her cells and their contribution to science. She saw a woman and a family who deserved more than anyone to be recognized for their contribution to society, yet never received it, and decided to do something about it.

This book is powerful, thought-provoking, educational and emotional. My heart ached for her family as they struggled with doctors testing them without informed consent, scammers trying to con them into taking ownership of the HeLa cells, slimy media leeches sensationalizing Henrietta and her story, and the bold-faced lies from doctors that they received throughout their lives.

If you are looking for a book that will open your eyes, make you take notice and keep you wanting to read more, I highly suggest this one. This story deserves to be heard.

A note on kindness

Today was one of those days.

You know, the days when everything that can go wrong, will go wrong? Starting with waking up feeling that on-the-brink-of-getting-sick feeling. Ugg. The worst feeling you can have, especially on the first big week back at work after a lovely winter holiday break.

Then, the car breaks down. The car that isn't mine, but was borrowed with the hopes of taking the 4 wheel drive-r to the snow to catch some epic powder on the slopes (which didn't happen, due to the "significant other's" unpredictable work schedule). Thank you, ma, for letting me borrow the car. But the break down within a week? Epic fail.

Then, to the sub-zero bike ride to work. (Ok, sub-zero in my world is more like 35 degrees, but still!) Even bundled up in my five layers, with gloves, pea coat and all, I still almost lost a finger, my left foot and maybe a nose. It... Was... Cold. How those people who bike to work everyday in the winter do it, I have NO idea. Even Old Blue Eyes couldn't perk me up with his lovely crooner tunes. Brrrr....

The work day went by with relatively little fan fare. Thankfully I have a job where workdays are fun and bring exciting challenges and new ideas. Thank goodness for that.

Then I get home, ready to face the pile of laundry I have been thinking about tackling all day, only to realize that in my haste to get our marketing trip done yesterday I had picked out "fabric softener" instead of the intended "detergent." Who even uses fabric softener?! Isn't that what dryer sheets are for? Shupasaurus, time for a trip to the co-op! (Brrrrrrrr, again.)

Now, I've been trying all day not to fall in the grump haze. Sure, the day didn't go as planned. Sure, I have to figure out how to get to work tomorrow without a repeat of freeze-fest 2011. Ok, I wasted $6 on fabric softener that I in no way need.

What made the day shine was this: After waiting at the end of my street, almost in oncoming traffic, with a stalled out Jeep, for nearly half an hour, hoping Shupasaurus would answer his stupid phone (!), a lovely woman stopped. She pulled over, got out and asked if I needed a hand. White gloves and all, she pushed the Jeep while I steered it out of the street and into the parking lane. Then she even asked if I needed a ride to wherever I was headed. THAT is what gives me hope. Someone stopped and took three minutes out of their busy day to care about a complete stranger. She took (seriously) five minutes to stop and help someone else, rather than rushing here or there, like everyone else (including my neighbors!)

So thanks, stranger lady. You really made my day. I hope your day was awesome and you win the lottery or something, because you deserve it.

(I won't mention that I got a parking ticket for leaving my car there.)

:)