Dalai Lama knows all

I really like quotes. My girl, Vic, bought me this little gold journal for my 30th and I like to carry it around and keep it full of quotations that inspire me. We're the same like that. We could sit in a restaurant (and we have) and discuss quotations and literature all night long. It's like looking in a mirror with that girl - a mirror where I'm tanner and more beautiful - but a mirror all the same. I texted her this morning because I was feeling sort of down and she quickly wrote back, "Getting in the shower, call you on my way to work!" Ah, good friends.

The advice she gave? Find a quote! Ah, yes. Sometimes you just need a kindred spirit to lead you back to who you are. She's right - I just needed some words. Carefully chosen words, arranged in the right order. Simple. Powerful. True.

Here's what I came up with (spoken or written by, not sure which one, the famous Dalai Lama):

“This is my simple religion. There is no need for temples; no need for complicated philosophy. Our own brain, our own heart is our temple; the philosophy is kindness.”

And guess what, Vic? I feel better!

I then got a text from another bestie that read, "I love you and the way your heart works -- so open and free" which made me cry a little and feel grateful for - well, everything!

Sometimes when I look at Charlie - those almond-shaped ocean blue eyes, that little button nose, those uneven, oversized teeth - I  close my eyes and try to put that little face in a spot in my head that I can go back to when he's older. I want to always be able to see him like this.

And the problem is - when I see him the next day, he's already different. And I can't go back. The face I tried to preserve has already morphed into the face that is today. And he's gone.

I cry a lot about this. Silly, I know.

It gets better as they get older, they say. And it's true.

But I already miss newborn Charlie. One month. Two months. Ten months. A year.

Motherhood is wonderful, they say. And it's true. It's so very true.

Chalkboard Cupboards

Dan and I love our home but we REALLY dislike our kitchen. Since a remodel is out of the question at the moment (along with Starbucks and anything out of the "budget") I figured a chalkboard in the kitchen would make it look cute and also help remind Dan of what we have on the agenda for the week (and hopefully avoid the daily, "Wait, do we have plans this weekend?" question).

 Took a trip to the good old Home Depot and got magnetic primer (our fridge isn't magnetic so we need SOMETHING to stick a million pictures to!) and chalkboard paint.

 A before pic

Taping around the edges

Magnetic primer goes on first

Tada!

The instructions say not to write anything on it for three days so I'm being patient (although I did stick a magnent on there to test it out). Best part: Chalkboard markers!! They are brighly colored - I know you have seen them on bistro signs outside of restaurants - and easily erasable. I already bought them in every color. Fun, cheap little improvement. 

Hi there

Charlie is 1!

This post is definitely late (Sorry, Bear) but better late than never, right? I will post about his first birthday party but I'm in the middle of a little project so I gotta make this quick.

At his one year appointmnet Charlie was 20% for weight and 75% for height. Tall and skinny. Shocker.

As of right now he can say LOTS of words. Let's see.... Off the top of my head he knows how to say:

1.Mom
2. Dad
3. Book
4. Bird
5. Hot
6. Clock (I know, weird)
7. Bath
8. Cat
9. Meow (hehe)
10. Please
11. Cheese
12. Up
13. Balloon

He said "Granpop" yesterday for the first time and he basically can repeat anything but those are the words that he can attach meaning to. Also, he can meow when you say cat, bark when you say dog, and quack when you say duck.

He can follow directions and he can walk.

Yup, yup, a bona fide genius ;)

Love that little Bear.

Atwood

 

I love Margaret Atwood. 

I finished "Oryx and Crake" and - as I mentioned in a former blog - was overjoyed to find out that it was the first book in a trilogy. A trilogy! I don't usually read books that come in threes (or twos for that matter) because then I feel locked-in to that story for too long and if I feel like reading something else, I have a sort of guilt for abandoning that story (I mean, the those characters NEED me, right??). BUT- this worked out perfectly because I had no idea this was a trilogy and when "Oryx and Crake" abruptly ended (and I felt pretty jippped - side note: did you know "jipped" is a dig at gypsies? I feel sort of bad about that but I hate the word "bamboozled" - sounds like a circus) anyway, I was feeling pretty hoodwinked? and then I reopened the book and realized that they have included the first chapter of the next book! Woohoo. And to top it off, I own that book already. SCORE.

Tonight I finally got to read for a few hours (Charlie was down at 6 and Dan is sick so is in bed snoozing) and boy am I hooked. The shit Atwood writes about is scary. And I don't mean Stephen King scary or Friday the 13th scary, I mean this-shit-could-really-happen scary.

A rapidly warming earth. Resources depleted. A society based on technology. Very few readers (sad!). The future world that Atwood creates is where we are heading. Fuuuuuuuuuuck.

And since I know I'll finish this book either tonight or tomorrow, I took a break to order the last book from Amazon right now so I can have it safely waiting for me to devour. And guess what?

IT HASN'T BEEN WRITTEN YET!!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

I've been jipped (yeah, I said it). Bamboozled. Deceived. Hoodwinked. Mislead. 

Seriously, I don't know what to do. I've checked all the bibliophile (vocab word for my juniors) blogs and no one knows when it's going to be done. Shit! I did, however, find a cool youtube video with Margaret Atwood talking about the last book in the MaddAddam trilogy and several new blogs I'm going to follow (I knew there was a blogger world for me! Mommy blogs and Fashion blogs= BLAH) so I guess that's the silver lining in this dark, dark cloud. 

All I gotta say, is this bitch amazingly talented female novelist, poet, literary critic, essayist, and environmentalist better be writing her ass off right now. 

Summers off

The first week of summer is always the best. Months stretched ahead. No buried feelings of anxiety and anticipation that the school year is looming. The stress of lesson planning months away. Pleasure, guiltless reading. Mid Late-afternoon shower. Blow-dryer shoved to the back of the shelf, behind sunscreen and tanning lotion. Time. All the time in the world.

Here is what we did:

Played in the sandbox with bubbles (Thanks Auntie Lindsay!)

Crawled in the only spot in the sandbox he's not supposed to sit in :)

Took a break to eat some fruit and Cheerios

...which was pretty funny.

And back out to the sandbox

While Charlie slept, I finished up book #11:

which is -apparently- the first in a trilogy! What an awesome surprise. Just when I thought I had to leave this horrifying world behind, I realize I have two more to go. Yippee! So, naturally, I'm starting Book #12 (Thanks Debbie!):

Does it look kind scary and scifi-ish? It sure is. Review to come because I hear Charlie upstairs and he's probably looking forward to me smothering him in kisses!