I'm an optimist. I'm a romantic. I'm a dreamer. I hope.
Wills and Kate were married Friday morning and I watched the entire ceremony. She was beautiful, her dress was perfect, he was smitten and sweet. It was a a fairytale come to life. Of course, it's real life for the two of them actually taking the vows...
Dr. Richard Chartres, Lord Bishop of London spoke at the wedding. (I considered copying and pasting his entire wedding sermon because I thought it was so lovely, but that would make for a rather long post and perhaps cause a minor revolt...so I will provide a link for those who are interested. (It's only one and a half pages in a word document if you're worried about the length.))
He opened with this: "Be who God meant you to be, and you will set the world on fire. So said Saint Catherine of Siena whose festival day it is today. Marriage is intended to be a way in which man and woman help each other to become what God meant each one to be. Their deepest and their truest selves."
Marriage is hard in real life. Even when the commitment is true, the love is real and the ups and downs are rolling hills rather than cliffs and canyons. What must it be like having to navigate all of that with the addition of the scrutiny, pressure, expectations of millions of people and hundreds of years of history? Daunting.
It's easy to get caught up in the royalty of their union, the elegance, the stately history...the money spent on one day of celebration... But still, in the end it's two people in love pledging to join their lives, just like every other wedding and every other couple in love. A long thread of vows, some kept and some broken, but all full of shared hope and love through the ages.
Somehow, in the midst of the day to day humdrum of life that marriage gets wrapped up in I got lucky enough to find a better me. My vows didn't sentence me to a life with a ball and chain or claustrophobic box; marriage has provided me space to figure out who I really am. Like Dr. Chartres said, marriage has created a space for me to explore and grow, regress and cocoon, and be free to experience the growing pains along with the elation of discovery. I've earned respect and been given acceptance. Hopefully I've created the same for him. Together, we're chipping away at ourselves and each other to find our "truest and deepest selves".
So, congratulations and good luck to Wills and Kate. May your wedding be the start of a wonderfully transforming marriage. It was fun to celebrate for you!
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Bones
The Princess LOVES bones. The Princess' ONE Christmas request was for a Christmas Skeleton... (I went back to look for its inclusion in a blog post but it's missing. How did I not write about that?)
This was not her first indication of this specific interest. She once spent 15 minutes looking over a giraffe skull at the zoo while the real life animal grazed and pranced behind her.
In the last couple of weeks she's been requesting time to sit in front of the mirror after bath time so that we can talk about and point out all of the different bones in her body.
Imagine the excitement when Mamo showed up with an actual skeleton to put together!
This was not her first indication of this specific interest. She once spent 15 minutes looking over a giraffe skull at the zoo while the real life animal grazed and pranced behind her.
In the last couple of weeks she's been requesting time to sit in front of the mirror after bath time so that we can talk about and point out all of the different bones in her body.
Imagine the excitement when Mamo showed up with an actual skeleton to put together!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Easter Aftermath
One of the Easter traditions I grew up with was a family Easter basket. I've always liked this idea rather than Easter baskets for each person stuffed with presents, candy and distractions from what the day is truly about. We had the fun of the candy "surprise" in the morning and plenty of sugar and chocolate to gorge on for the next few days and there was less junk hanging around afterwards.
(sidenote: after the community egg hunt at the park I saw an Easter basket in the trash... So they bought a basket just for the hunt and then promptly threw it away afterwards??!!!)
The Princess was all over Easter this year and with two Easter egg hunts and a small basket from Mamo and Papa (that's Grandma and Grandpa for those of you not up on Princess lingo!) I decided that the family basket was a great tradition to carry into our family.
The basket was greeted with lots of enthusiasm. Sweetpea thought it was mildly interesting.
With strict instructions not to eat anything I left her alone to peruse the candy while I went to get dressed for church. A few minutes later we came downstairs to this.
No, she hadn't eaten even one single piece!
(sidenote: after the community egg hunt at the park I saw an Easter basket in the trash... So they bought a basket just for the hunt and then promptly threw it away afterwards??!!!)
The Princess was all over Easter this year and with two Easter egg hunts and a small basket from Mamo and Papa (that's Grandma and Grandpa for those of you not up on Princess lingo!) I decided that the family basket was a great tradition to carry into our family.
The basket was greeted with lots of enthusiasm. Sweetpea thought it was mildly interesting.
With strict instructions not to eat anything I left her alone to peruse the candy while I went to get dressed for church. A few minutes later we came downstairs to this.
No, she hadn't eaten even one single piece!
Monday, April 18, 2011
My Monday
A typical Monday morning involves me sneaking out of the house at 6am before anyone else is up so that I can get as many hours in at the office as possible for the week. It's a routine that works well, as long as it stays routine. However, if I veer from the routine watch out!
Today I veered from the routine which cascaded into a myriad of new decisions and consequences...
I got up late (6:20am) because Steve had to go in early. I got ready quickly and still had time to do some things before getting The Princess and Sweetpea out of bed. I picked a cute outfit to wear, I threw in a load of laundry, I ate breakfast, I packed my lunch.
The consequences of my excursions from routine?
Eating breakfast at home:
Changing from the backpack to purse:
Today I veered from the routine which cascaded into a myriad of new decisions and consequences...
I got up late (6:20am) because Steve had to go in early. I got ready quickly and still had time to do some things before getting The Princess and Sweetpea out of bed. I picked a cute outfit to wear, I threw in a load of laundry, I ate breakfast, I packed my lunch.
The consequences of my excursions from routine?
Eating breakfast at home:
- I decided to bring my purse to work instead of my backpack since I didn't have to schlep my breakfast to work. Less to carry but I did have to repack a bag!
- I had to fight my way through traffic and construction to the waterfront parking lot just as the shuttle pulled away. (Although, the sun was shining so I did walk to the tram.)
Changing from the backpack to purse:
- No badge... thought I was going to have to pay for my ride up the hill to the hospital. No, but they did have to look me up in the computer, enter my name into their "database for forgetful employees" and have an email sent to my boss (why he would care I'm not sure.) I did get a compliment on my cute outfit!
- No keys... (badge and keys are a package deal) Not normally an issue except that I'm the only one here today! Had to call security and promise my firstborn if it turned out I was a crazy person pretending to be an employee in order to get into my office and steal that ancient computer...
- I'm wearing a dress. I'm a nursing mother. I have to use a pump. My cute outfit isn't "easy access"... I will leave it at that.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Dreams of a farm with room to run...
So, I noticed that I've started saying something that's perhaps not entirely appropriate...
It's always an operation getting Sweetpea ready for sleep. It's not just a matter of noticing that she's tired, that the clock is announcing the time or that my brain is screaming for a break and then putting her in the crib and walking away. There's a process involved.
1. find all of the "equipment"
2. lay out the swaddle blankets (yes, there are two. She's 7 months old and would bust out of one in 2 seconds flat.)
3. put on the hat. We keep our house cold. She ALWAYS sleeps with a hat, plus I hear that it helps calm babies and prevents overstimulation...I'll try anything to make sure my babies sleep!
4. get that pacifier into her mouth!!
5. swaddle those arms down by her sides as tightly as I can possibly manage without actually tearing the blanket
6. rock her a for a few minutes before laying her down.
There's not normally a struggle involved, she's usually very ready to sleep and as soon as that blanket is wrapped you can feel her whole body relax.
BUT
Since there are all these steps to get her to dreamland I keep finding myself saying "Let's put you to sleep!"
I know, I know...she's not a pet! I could probably say "Let's get you ready for bed!" or "Time for night-night!" but with all of the steps involved 'putting her to sleep' has stuck...
But I cringe a little every time I say it, just so you know.
It's always an operation getting Sweetpea ready for sleep. It's not just a matter of noticing that she's tired, that the clock is announcing the time or that my brain is screaming for a break and then putting her in the crib and walking away. There's a process involved.
1. find all of the "equipment"
2. lay out the swaddle blankets (yes, there are two. She's 7 months old and would bust out of one in 2 seconds flat.)
3. put on the hat. We keep our house cold. She ALWAYS sleeps with a hat, plus I hear that it helps calm babies and prevents overstimulation...I'll try anything to make sure my babies sleep!
4. get that pacifier into her mouth!!
5. swaddle those arms down by her sides as tightly as I can possibly manage without actually tearing the blanket
6. rock her a for a few minutes before laying her down.
There's not normally a struggle involved, she's usually very ready to sleep and as soon as that blanket is wrapped you can feel her whole body relax.
BUT
Since there are all these steps to get her to dreamland I keep finding myself saying "Let's put you to sleep!"
I know, I know...she's not a pet! I could probably say "Let's get you ready for bed!" or "Time for night-night!" but with all of the steps involved 'putting her to sleep' has stuck...
But I cringe a little every time I say it, just so you know.
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