Monday, July 28, 2014

I have a blog?

Well, time has made a fool of me again (10 points if you can identify my paraphrased quote) and now it is almost the end of July. How is the summer closer to the end than to the beginning? Since our kids are still little and we work full-time, summer has less of a significance than it otherwise might, but we have still been trying to enjoy it as much as possible. Visits to the neighborhood pool are frequent and our never-ending quest to discover new parks in the Boston area has yielded some winners (the kids really like the Frog Pond in Boston Common and we love Alden Park at the intersection of Oxford and Sacramento in Cambridge - terrifyingly amazing climbing structure) and some losers (is it me, or is Beaver Brook spray park a concussion waiting to happen? Local peeps, back me up here). We are looking forward to August and hoping that the weather continues to be good, though a glance out my window is currently revealing torrential rains.

Some things that are currently making me happy:

1. My new red Sauconys. I love these shoes and every time I wear them I remember the incredibly politically incorrect conversation between Grandpa Howard and an unseen police officer regarding the disappearance of Long Duk Dong in Sixteen Candles. And then I laugh. Because I am un-PC like that.

2. Sewing. I actually managed to bust out a couple of completed projects for Kids Clothes Week which I will post eventually. I also have three more projects completely cut out, interfaced and marked that I am hoping to finish this week. A friend and I had a sewing day last weekend and it was GLORIOUS to spend 5 hours with no kid interruptions, drinking wine, eating bread and getting shit done. GLORIOUS. We plan to make it a regular thing.

3. My kids. They are both super funny right now and the incidence of fights, illnesses and night wakings is at an ebb. We are officially done with pacifiers and bottles and are beginning to learn about action figures. Currently on our reading list is Rosie Revere, Engineer and Dragons Love Tacos, both of which I enthusiastically recommend. There have also been a number of un-prompted incidences of politeness - please, thank you and excuse me are starting to enter the daily lexicon of both kids which makes me believe that we may just succeed at this whole parenting thing. I am choosing not to remember the times that "excuse me" was mostly hidden in giggling after a bodily noise. Selective memories make me a happier person.

4. Cherries. I eat my weight in cherries about every other day. Well, not really, but I do eat a lot of cherries. The firm, dark red ones are the. best. thing. And due to the sheer amount I consume, I am both getting better at discreetly spitting out the pits and despairing that there isn't a more polite way to consume them without spending ages pitting them first. Because then I eat them all while I pit them and the cherries that were intended for lunch have now become a midnight snack so I have to take un-pitted cherries for lunch after all. It's a vicious cycle.

5. Idle Fancy. Mary Danielson is smart, funny and has opinions that seem to almost perfectly align with my own. Plus she is a prolific seamstress and produces lovely clothing that I find myself wanting to re-create. Her Project Sewn creations were beautiful and as a bonus, her first week's entry was inspired by Doris Day, whose movies I grew up watching and upon on whom I have always entertained a girl crush. Her blog frequently displays not only amazing clothing but also some great insights on being a woman (this post comes to mind) that make me want to stand and clap. If you don't read her blog, you should. Right now. I'll wrap up so you can click over.

Be well,

Me.

(The quote is from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, spoken by Albus Dumbledore to Harry. Did you get it? I am a giant HP nerd - books, not movies - and sometimes I just can't suppress it.)