A-P I-T-D-Y to You!

I dated a great guy while in graduate school - funny, smart, driven, a great two-stepper, and... with a love for shoes. My sixteen year old son loves shoes too, so while I might have thought it unusual at one point, I now realize there is a male shoe gene. My husband didn't get it.

Ray, though. Ray with the purple boots. He, for sure, got the shoe gene.

The details of this stroll down memory lane are fuzzy, but the end product - the purpose for today's post - is quite clear.

I seem to remember that David and I were taking a Saturday study break and shopping at an outlet in Commerce, Georgia. He must have spotted a pair of shoes he liked, but understood that on his graduate student budget, buying those shoes would mean eating rice for the rest of the month. It was February, albeit a short month, but practicality still won out and David didn't get the shoes.

I went back the next day and got them. Valentine's Day was coming up and, though not very romantic, I knew the gift would be a... SHOE IN (couldn't resist).

Then it occurred to me. David's birthday was August 17 (today), making February 17 his half-birthday.

Pair of shoes. Valentine's Day. Half birthday... Got it.

On February 14, I filled one of the shoes with chocolate kisses, tied a mylar balloon to the laces and left it outside his apartment with a Valentine's Day card attached. Then three days later, on David's half birthday, I wrapped up the shoe box and presented him with the other HALF of his present!

Get it? Half birthday, half a present?

So today's creative idea provides us one more way to live Highlowaha's Spirit of 218 - Using everyday reasons to celebrate life's simple pleasures.

Half birthday's.

Half a cake, half a card, half a hat, half a present... with the promise of the other half to follow.

Here's the other fun thing about this. Sometimes we suck and we forget or just blatantly miss the birthday of someone important. Celebrating half birthdays is amnesty. Send a birthday present or card six months later and suddenly you've made their (half birth) day!

I missed my niece's February birthday earlier this year, so yesterday I bought her a small treat and today I will mail it... in two parts. She'll get half the present by end of this week and the other half will arrive early the following week. Same with the card I cut in half.

How about you? Is there a half birthday you can celebrate? What suggestions do you have for creating half a celebration? Decorate half a room, sing half, "Happy Birthday To You," use half the number of candles?

And, what are some other fun gift ideas that could be divided up as easily as a pair of shoes?

Signing off until tomorrow...

Totally TWObular

Good Morning Highlowaha, Happy Monday! It's Heather here to celebrate an important day with my friends here in HLA Land. You see, today is my daughter Lily's 2nd Birthday! We'll celebrate today by wearing a "Happy Birthday" hat to daycare, taking her to dinner out (a real treat!), going to swim lessons, and capping it off with some frozen yogurt at Dragon Berries. I debated long and hard over the tone of today's post. For awhile I was going to share with you all the details of her "Splish, Splash, Birthday Bash!" but I think I'll hold off until after the party to share all the pictures and fun that was had by our party-goers. No, instead I want to soak up the wisdom of the Highlowaha family.You see, today is a little bittersweet for me. I can't say that I haven't shed a few tears over the fact that my baby is growing up. It feels like yesterday that I was holding this in my arms:

And now, two minutes later I have a rambunctious, spunky toddler who tells me to "hush" every other minute.

Where has time gone? Better yet, what have I done to make the last two years matter? It doesn't escape me that time flies. With work, keeping the house in some semblance of order, and meeting the bare necessities of bath, meals on the table, and bed there isn't much time left to "savor the moment" but isn't that what highlowaha is all about? Originally highlowaha was a tool used by Claudia to make the most out of the dinnertime experience with her boys and now it has come to stand for a group of like-minded people getting together online to share how we make the most out of every day in life, how we personally embrace the spirit of 218. As one of the writers I feel like I should have this task down to a science but I can't lie and say that is the case. I feel like the past two years have gone by and I haven't soaked up every minute with my baby and now she has grown into a toddler and I can't recapture those moments.

So today will be about giving one another tips on how to capture those everyday moments, how to savor them before they slip away and as is always the way I'll start.

Our good friend Nan is a master at savoring the moment in time when your children are young and awe-inspired. Nan lets her kids be kids in the most beautiful way. You see, her youngest son Paul has a pair of rain boots that he adores and Nan, in her own way of letting him be the 3 year old he is lets him wear those rain boots, rain or shine, whenever his little heart compels him that they are what he wants to wear. It won't be long before Paul starts school and wouldn't be caught dead wearing a pair of red car galoshes and so Nan is savoring the moment where he will and she even lets him jump in any puddles along the way.

Alright, now it is your turn. What are your tricks and tips for embracing the moment where you are now instead of wishing it away for something better? This could be you as a college student, as a single person with no kids, or married with a brood.

Signing off until tomorrow...

And the Cheese Hens Run Away With It!

Welcome back to HLA and another round of March Madness! This is our final round of a creative version of March Madness which pits teams from across the country against one another to determine the best creative idea/website/item from the past year.

Today's team the Wisconsin Cheese Hens run away with the win because the team they were pitted against heard that they had such a grand idea that they forfeited the competition.So it is on to Round 2 which starts next week for the Cheese Hens but not without sharing their great idea with all of you:

The Cheese Hens are a group of lifelong friends that have all been friends for over 3/4 of their lives and then some! They started out as 8 women and today when their group gathers, they are 14 adults and 16 kids!
They chose their number one idea because they all turned 40 last year, and this was by far the MOST FUN and their hands down favorite of 2008:

Deb's Running Over the Hill Party
Deb has loved running since she was in middle school, so she and her husband Ronn decided the theme of her 40th would revolve around running- a natural choice. We were all invited to participate in a 40 hectometer (about 2 1/2miles) prediction run/walk and there was also a 40 meter dash for the kids. When we arrived we are all given race numbers as our name tags and it also described how we knew Deb. The winner of the race had the time closest to his prediction and he won a running jacket. Prizes were given to the top five predictors as well as door prizes. Over 100 people came to help Deb celebrate in this totally fun way. In lieu of gifts we were asked to make a donation to Special Olympics which tied into Deb's love of running and children (she's a teacher and an incredible MOM!). Over $400 was raised. This was held in June at a nearby park and a picnic followed. This was truly a blast!

You see...not only is this idea a fantastically creative way to celebrate your birthday but clearly the Cheese Hens embrace the Spirit of 218! Way to go Cheese Hens and we look forward to seeing you in the Semi-final round of competition.

Announcements:

Take the Cake: Thanks for all your nominations...we'll post the finalists tomorrow for your voting as we attempt to determine what woman truly takes the cake.

Getting to Know You: One of the things that makes highlowaha so special is the community we have created across the country. Part of community is getting to know one another. So...if you have the chance to get together with another HLA community member snap a picture and send it our way highlowaha218@gmail.com ...we'd love to post pictures of you (or your children) as you meet in person (even if you already know one another). I'll start by sharing these fun picture of Claudia's Jack and Matthew and my Lily from the park last night...it was so beautiful here in Dallas that we spent the evening after work letting the kids eat at the park and then play.