Mama who bore me

This weekend has been jam-packed, holy cow...

Friday, I left work early and got home around 4. Tony had already dropped Ari off with my parents, so we had the house to ourselves. We had a few gift certificates for a few different restaurants, and decided to try a new-to-us place downtown, just a couple blocks from the theater. Tony called to make a reservation, and we were set to go.

The restaurant was great... cozy atmosphere, great food, even valet parking. It's right across the street from a huge park, so it would be even lovelier in the summer, I'm sure.

The service was so fast that we found ourselves with lots of time to kill before the show. So we both ordered dessert... he got boring vanilla ice cream, while I got this decadent chocolate truffle that I couldn't even finish.



Then it was time for the show, "Spring Awakening." I didn't know much about it, but a co-worker of mine saw it in NYC (starring Lea Michele, the girl who now plays Rachel on "Glee") and she raved about it. I knew the show dealt with the topic of teenagers experiencing their "sexual awakening," but I had no idea that was the entire focus of the show. It was a powerful show, with a huge range of emotions--sweet and funny in parts, totally raunchy in others, and heartbreaking in others. I don't know that I'd rank it as a fave, but I enjoyed it.

I managed to sneak a pic of the stage before it started (shh, don't tell)...



On our way out of the theater, I managed to pull a stupidly clumsy move. We walked into the wrong parking lot, and there was a drop, marked by a short wall, between that one and the one our car was in. Rather than walk back out to the sidewalk and all the way around, we decided we could handle the short jump down from the wall into the next lot. Tony jumped first, then took my hand to help me. I jumped, and landed on both feet, but somehow my leg gave out and I went down, hard, on my right knee. Tony held on tight to my hand, and if not for that, I might have injured myself even more. So now I have a lovely bruise on my knee.

We got up on Saturday, picked up Ari from my parents (they said she was perfect for them--yay!) and headed off to see "Nickelodeon Presents Storytime Live!" Moose and Z hosted it, just like they do on Nick Jr, and there were stories with Ni Hao Kai-Lan, the Backyardigans, Wonder Pets, and Dora. Ari had various reactions, ranging from total involvement and complete excitement to boredom to being scared of the most random stuff. Silly kid. But when we asked her in the car how she liked it, she said, "I laughed and I laughed and I was scared and I was scared and it was really funny and I liked it."

We came home and put her down for a nap, and I decided to take one too, since I was suddenly not feeling well. Later in the evening, Matt and Kristin came over, with all their kids in tow. We had a nice visit with them....ordered Italian food from a nearby pizza place and played Mario Party after all the kids were asleep.

Then today was church, which always makes for a crazy day. We had to be there earlier than usual, since Tony's teaching a class before the service for the next few weeks, and then we had a ministry leader's meeting after the service--at our house.

So now the guys are over, watching TV, and Ari is in bed, which means I finally have a few moments to breathe and relax. Tomorrow starts another week... and we're going to dinner with my parents and brother and his family to celebrate my Mom's birthday. And so begins March, the Crazy Birthday Month in my family... And then before we know it, it will be spring! Can't wait.

I'm so adjective, I verb nouns

Just some randomness for you...

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So last Friday night, like the wild and crazy couple that we are, we stayed in and watched the opening ceremonies of the Olympics. Yep, the whole thing. I know that is the first time I've ever sat through the whole thing, and maybe the only time I've ever watched a significant portion of the ceremonies at all. I have to say, though, parts of it were really cool. But maybe that's just because I have a soft spot in my heart for Canada, being that I'm a pseudo-Canadian myself.

And I was all giddy to see Iran marching in the parade of nations. Go Iran!

I haven't watched much of the Olympics since then, though. Sometimes I'll catch bits and pieces when Tony's watching it, but I haven't gone out of my way. Though I must confess, I was up way too late a few nights ago watching curling. It's just so strange... I couldn't tear myself away.

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I kind of hate being on Royal Caribbean's e-mail list. Because every time I get an e-mail from them, it makes me want to go on another cruise even worse than I already do.

On a related note, I am so DONE with winter and SO ready for springtime and sunshine and flowers and skirts and bare legs and sandals.

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I was on my way to work on Wednesday morning, when, just before my exit, a police car pulled up behind me with his lights flashing.

I pulled over, of course, but I was honestly baffled. Fine, I was going 68 or 69 instead of 65, but was he really pulling me over for that? When he came to my window, he told me he was pulling me over for the crack in my windshield. Oh yeh. That. That crack that started as a chip and has been growing slowly for months now, to the point where it's now a long horizontal line that extends almost the entire way across the windshield. That crack that Tony keeps reminding me I need to get fixed. That crack that I keep saying I'll take care of, but that I keep forgetting about.

Luckily, he only gave me a warning, both a written one and a stern, almost-fatherly, verbal one. Of course, I thanked him and promised to take care of it.

And like the good little girl I am, I called my insurance company that afternoon, got it all set up, and yesterday afternoon, the windshield repair guy replaced it while I was at work. When I got in my car at the end of the day, this is what I saw on my dashboard...



Yes, it's mine--a teeny bottle of VS Dream Angels Heavenly. I'd forgotten it was even in my car. But I guess the windshield guy must have found out, figured it was important, and put it somewhere where I would see it. I was amused.

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Every time we go through the automatic car wash, when we get to the end, where the huge dryers turn on, I'm always tempted to roll down my window. Just to see how strong that wind really is. But I'm guessing that's probably a bad idea.

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Ari has been so thrilled to see me when I get home from work lately... it's the sweetest thing. She'll scream my name, her entire face lighting up, and run to give me a hug. And then she'll gab my ear off for several minutes, telling me all about her day. When she gets excited, she stammers a little, which means it takes her even longer to get her words out. The other night, she was babbling away at me, stuttering and stammering adorably... and for some reason, was turning in circles, too. I felt bad for cracking up in the middle of the story she was telling me, but I just couldn't help it.

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While watching an episode of Dora about them helping a lion find the circus...

Ari: (excitedly) Mommy, sometime can we go to a circus and see a lion?!

Me: Sure, sometime.

Ari: (burying her head in my shoulder) But... I'm shy of lions.

Me: Um... OK... so... we won't go?

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Ooh, I NEED this shirt... (from noisebot.com)



Possibly this one too...

I'll never finish loving you

I passed him a note in church today, being silly.

"Will you be my Valentine?" it read.

Underneath were two checkboxes, one marked "Yes" and one marked "No."

He took it from me and grinned. I saw his hand start moving--way too much movement for making a simple checkmark or an X.

"You're not allowed to write in your own answers," I hissed playfully into his ear, assuming he was writing something like "Maybe."

He handed it back to me, and I saw that he had indeed written in his own option.

It said, "Forever." With a big X in the box beside it.

It went along nicely with the card he gave me later in the afternoon.



Silly boy. I am the one who is lucky, not him.

Hope you all have had a lovely Valentine's Day.

XO

On love letters

There is an article in the February issue of Reader's Digest on love letters, mostly an interview with Bill Shapiro, editor of a book of love letters. The article also features excerpts from various love letters. These 2 were my favorites....

I look at you now and feel my breath catch just as it did on that drizzly April day when your poor father walked you down the stairs and into marriage. And I think now, just as I did then, that I already have more than my share of blessings without ever counting past the first. You are my one, but that isn't the first blessing. The first is knowing I am yours.

~ Jay Heinrichs wrote this to his wife, Dorothy, 28 years after that April day. It appeared on the first page of a book of photos of their life together, his anniversary gift to her.

darling I can't replace you

~ From Jenny Weaver to Mark Bjerke, college students in Santa Rosa, CA, written on the flap of the envelope

But it was this question/answer in the interview portion that really spoke to me, made me pause, and has infected my mind ever since...

Q: We know that love can be fleeting. What possesses us to write all this stuff down?

A: We want love to last, and we think it will. Writing it down is a hopeful act: It guarantees that in some way, it will last. It's like taking a picture of a baby--you are capturing something you know is going to change.

I never would have thought to compare writing a love letter to taking a picture of a baby, but it makes sense, and it really is a great analogy if you follow through with it. From the moment your child is born, you know she's going to change and grow. So you take pictures--millions of them. Why? Because she's the most beautiful thing you've ever seen, sure. But also because you know she's going to change faster than you think, and you want to capture those first smiles, those first teeth, that funny way she wrinkles her nose when she laughs.

But just because she changes, doesn't mean the love fades. If anything, it grows stronger and deeper. At least, that's how it should be. And the same applies to romantic love, as well. Yes, it changes. But that's not necessarily always a negative thing. Love is supposed to change, in size, in depth, in a hundred little ways you may not even see until you look back, like looking back at a picture of an infant, and smiling as you think, "Oh, remember when...?"

On a shelf in my closet, I have a basket stuffed full of cards, notes, and letters from Tony, from our college years, when we were dating. Not every single note he's ever written me, but still a decent amount. I couldn't help looking through them the other night, as this entry rolled around in my head... as I did, I found the first birthday card he ever sent me, a series of letters he wrote for me to open on an airplane trip home (4 of them, all numbered and with instructions), and the first note he wrote to me after we were engaged. But I also found piles and piles of "just because" notes--the kind he would write for no special occasion, other than to tell me he was thinking of me. I am so glad I have kept these cards and notes. I love knowing that, at any given moment, I can sift through them and remember those days when we were first discovering love, all giddy and silly and foolish and bursting with butterflies.

And even though we've been married for ever and ever, and we see each other every day, and we can say "I love you" and other such phrases right to each other's faces, there are still moments when he writes me little love letters. Even if it's nothing more than a sticky note with a short message, or a few words on an index card. Somehow, those tiny little notes mean more to me than the frilly, flowery cards he sometimes gets me for a birthday or anniversary, even though he always adds his own personal words to those. There's just something about an unexpected note... maybe it's because I know that there's no obligation behind it, that no occasion or national holiday prompted him to write it... that he chose to write it simply because he wanted to.



So here's a question for you... when the last time you wrote a love letter to someone?

Me, it's been a while. So I am adding that to the top of my To-Do List for today.