round 2

On this day in the history of the universe in the wee hours of a rainy summer morning, I slid and screamed my way into this big wide world. I was delivered by my dad and nursed by my mom and brought home to a house full of love and noise and twelve eager hands ready to hold and cuddle and bounce and rock. 

Birthdays always make me think of my family. Three sisters, three brothers and two more added after me. Grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, in-laws, nieces and nephews, my husband, my child, and countless friends who are so dear to me they might as well be family. I am so thankful to be sharing my life with these people. And so thrilled to be adding another one to the bunch.

Bubbles

More loveliness from Nathan the Schmoe. Wouldn't you love to have a video like this of your own kids? Yourself? Your boyfriend? Your grandpa? Anyone and everyone?


He's got a rare opening in his schedule from 5/28 - 6/8 and a brain full of amazing ideas for more of these beauties. Email him at nbschmoe@gmail.com if this sounds like something you'd be interested in. He would love to work with you. For reals.

If I suddenly disappear.....

...you can find me building a tree house deep in the mountains somewhere near a lake that has an unencumbered view of the sunset. 


I've been reading Walden and it has left in me this residual puddle of angst-y emotions. I suddenly want to sell everything we have and go live off the land in a little shack in Hawaii. I am wanting more juice out of life, you know? More study, more learning, more growth, a more clear perspective of why we're really here. More awareness in the present moment. And less getting caught in the quicksand of consumerism, popular culture, and of using what other people are doing as a gauge of my own success.


A little voice says simplify, simplify, simplify! And I say, yes, that sounds nice. And then I get distracted by a million things that wouldn't exist if I had heeded the voice in the first place. And not only distracted, but scared. I'm realizing that I'm taking safety and refuge in my possessions. In having a tastefully decorated home, a nice big TV and a cute couch to watch it on. I waste so much brain power thinking about what car I want to buy and will it be big enough to fit the stroller and groceries? 


And what would happen if it all just went away? Would I be able to find just as much satisfaction and joy in life if it were stripped of all of the fluff? I want to get to that point. I want my existence to be grounded in something much more solid and meaningful.


From the man himself:


Let us settle ourselves, and work and wedge our feet downward through the mud and slush of opinion, and prejudice, and tradition, and delusion, and appearance...till we come to a hard bottom and rocks in place, which we can call reality, and say, This Is, and no mistake.


So we took a little walk today. The skies were overcast and the air was wet and a symphony of crickets were chirping in full force. We chased a butterfly and snuck up on a woodpecker and guessed which birds were responsible for which happy songs. We ate apples, barefoot, overlooking a soggy marsh. And when we were done we laid on our backs, the three of us side by side, and we closed our eyes and smelled the pine trees and fresh mud. 


And I felt myself grounded in real life. Just for a minute. 

Nathan Schmoe and his grumpy girls

Grammie, zonked. She is the queen of car sleeping. She puts on her shades, so as to remain inconspicuous, folds her arms and bows her head. One is hard-pressed to tell if she's actually sleeping or deep in prayer. 

Sometimes after being away Nathan comes home on a late night flight, and on such nights it is up to yours truly (with Stella in tow) to pick up said husband from the airport long after the sun and all sane creatures have gone to sleep. And if there's one thing I have learned about my child, it is that she requires the same exorbitant amount of sleep that I do in order to function in any normal way. Needless to say, these late night pick-ups have been pushing our limits and testing our sanity.


So this morning we thought we were scot-free when we BOTH woke up happy after a measly 5 hours of sleep. Tired, sure. But so glad to have Nathan home that sleeping in just wasn't an option. Stella followed him around like a faithful little pup. She watched his face while he talked and after every sentence she'd throw her head back with a boisterous laugh and say, "THAT'S HIL-AR-EEOUS."


That girl.


We decided to take her to see the new sea turtle exhibit at Sea World, and it was on the way there when things started getting testy. Approaching a toll booth we realized we had no cash except a few nickels and an ash tray full of pennies. The cars were lining up behind us and I started barking demands as Nathan tried to quickly sort through the change. "HURRY UP!! COUNT THEM OUT!! PEOPLE ARE WAITING! WE NEED 75!!!" The lady rolled her eyes and in an annoyed, nasal-y voice shouted, "JUST GO ON THROUGH", mumbling under her breath. Stella wanted to watch Jack!...no Elmo!...no Abbie's Flying Fairy School! and kept chucking the phone at the front seat in frustration. We let her eat an entire bag of yogurt pretzels and when they were gone and the whining continued I was about ready to lose it. Luckily Nathan keeps his cool in such moments and kicked it into high gear distraction mode. "Stella, look at that Spiderman billboard! OOh, look! There's an airplane! And a red semi-truck! Your favorite!" etc, etc.


The Turtle Trek was a series of rather anticlimactic aquariums which involved a lot of waiting in cramped quarters with our fellow smelly Sea Worldians. Stella took to balancing on a skinny cement ledge and then throwing herself off of it onto a row of wheelchair bound child haters. They shot her whiskery scowls every time she squealed or laughed or bumped their tire. Stella thought that the highlight of the experience was the 3D movie. Well not so much the movie, but the 3D glasses. When we had to give them back at the end of the trek all hell broke loose.


We drug her all the way back to the car while she wailed, "MYYYYY YELLLOOOWWWW GLASSESSSSSSSS!!!" I heaved myself into the front seat, slipped off my shoes and put my feet up on the dash. Stella stopped flailing as soon as Nathan strapped her in her car seat. We were both asleep before we left the parking lot.


He's REALLY happy to be home.