Photo break: At the airport, being nonchalant:
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Hi!
Not dead, just resting! (Heh)
I took the girls and myself to visit Grandma Texas, and we’ve been busy. I’m still catching up on my blog reading, so forgive the lack of commenting. I’ll get there, I promise.
Jim is out and about in New England this weekend. One of his best friends since high school is up from Florida, and another of his besties drove west from near-Boston-ish to join them.
They arrived the day after we got back from Texas.
Before we left for Texas, I had whispered to Jim, in the filthiest tone I could muster, that my ultimate fantasy was that he would clean the house while we were gone. I guess he doesn’t support my kink or something, because he and the cats had been joined by a number of dust bunnies. Also, 2 (count ‘em: TWO) houseguests, and there was one egg, 3 slices of bacon, and a tray of prosciutto ravioli in the fridge. And some condiments. Oh, and there was a jug of rancid milk.
They had toast and coffee the first morning, which is fine if that is what you want, but THAT IS ALL WE HAD. I was fundamentally horrified as a human being.
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Photo break: Here is a charming 7-year-old feeding some parrot-y type birds at the San Antonio Zoo. They ended up pecking the little container out of her hands and bless her heart, my kid thinks it’s funny. Do you have any idea how traumatized I would have been as a kid by such uncouth animal behavior? She is so much braver about these things than I was at her age.
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Blog housekeeping question:
When my mom clicks over to read my posts from the main page, the pictures show up all stretchy. The little thumbnails are fine, and when you click onto the picture to see only the picture, it looks fine. Just when they’re embedded in the post. This started when I redid my blog. Is this happening to anyone else?
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Yesterday, while the menfolk and children puttered about in the morning, I went to karate and then to try out a hiphop dance class at the Y. I was fairly quick on the uptake with the choreography-learning aspect of the class but I got really hung up on the part where the teacher wanted us to do a series of kicks. That is just really, really vague. Kicks? What kind of kicks? Toe-tip? knife-edge? Round-house? What’s my target, am I aiming for the knees or the groin? Oh hey, here’s a thought: maybe I’m over-thinking this!
This is also a big problem for me in zumba when we have to punch. Everybody does these little arm wiggles and their thumbs are tucked into their fists for maximum finger-breaking potential and their elbows are flapping like chicken wings and HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO NEUTRALIZE AN OPPONENT THAT WAY?! Oh right, because we’re just trying to look like badasses in yoga pants while we dance to Daddy Yankee.
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Photo break: here is a toddler eating a German pastry at the bakery near my mom’s house. My mom is training for Boston Marathon number 5, so the morning she had to do a long run, we countered by eating massive amounts of carbs.
Then, we went to the playground and spent a lot of time moving pebbles from one place to another. I find this activity boring as hell, but what will never be boring is the way my little kid gets caught up in what she’s doing.
I feel my heart break a little in the best way when I see her delight, whether it’s for horsies or fishies or rocks on a playground, because it is so simple, pure, and true.
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While in Texas, I got a chance to head to the movies and saw Side Effects, which is allegedly Steven Soderbergh’s last movie. I really hope that is like when Joaquin Phoenix quit acting to become a rapper and it turned out to just be an ill-advised performance project/practical joke, because: NO.
I can’t even tell you about Side Effects except that it’s one of those movies you watch going, “Oh, I know where this story is go — WHAT?!?!” Like. every 10 minutes.
I want to squish it to my bosom like the awesome, nasty little viper that it is.
I would derail this whole post with an ode to Soderbergh and how there is only one movie he’s done that I didn’t like but it would go for days and make your eyeballs dry out.
Just: I love George Clooney in large part because of his performance in Out of Sight, and I can never completely disown J. Lo, because of same.
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Photo break: Here is Lucy at the beach, which was a mixed affair. She loved the water and the toys and making/destroying sand castles, but it took some doing to convince her to walk on the dry sand. She was clearly weirded out by the uneven, shifting texture — and I realized that though she’s been to the beach a number of times, this was her first time walking, and it is definitely something to get used to. Funny.
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Has anyone seen Beasts of the Southern Wild? I rented it while I was in Texas and I thought the little girl who played the lead was spectacular, and in fact, all of the actors, a mix of pros and talented amateurs, were compelling. The movie is beautiful and the score gorgeous and I am a sucker for magical realism. However, I felt it skirted awfully close, at times, to the “Poor black people have the secret to life and happiness” trope, which is kinda patronizing. It wasn’t sledgehammer-y, and there was much to like, but I am eager for a reality check, so I would like to hear from others who’ve seen it.
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Eliza is on the Girl Scout Cookie quest again. She went to my work and sold a truly impressive amount of cookies, pretty much by dint of being a big-eyed moppet in crazy clothes.
Even as they acknowledge that they are falling prey to the big-eyed, etc. thing, people are buying 3 and 4 boxes from her.
She should teach classes.
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Also on Friday, to promote something we are doing, some folks planned to film a Harlem Shake video. I stuck around to help, and by association, so did Eliza. You see where this is going, right? 5 minutes later, guess who’s wearing a giant orange helmet and a feather boa and flailing at the camera while a bunch of crazy people in onesie pajamas and masks wiggle around behind her?
I can’t post it here as it would destroy what little work/blog divide I have managed to preserve this far in, but if you’d like to see it once it’s edited (probably tomorrow) let me know and I’ll share the link.
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Photo break: In the airport on the way home this time. We found these chairs with a center hole, and how could we resist?
The pictures are perfect now! And I love them. Both girls are so very much, well, themselves. The best ones are Lucy pondering the issue of sticky fingers and Eliza’s obvious happiness while feeding the birds. These girls are awesome, just like my own were/are.
Pictures look good to me!
Your descriptions of kicking and punching made me laugh. Even just from doing kickboxing DVDs, I know how to punch better than that!
We are in the thick of Girl Scout cookie sales too, but I would buy some from Eliza even though our garage is full of them!
Good grief! So much to comment on:
First of all, I thought Mama was finished with the marathons. (How many times have we heard that?)
I can’t get over how fast the girls are growing up.
And Eliza has always been so brave. I agree with you, I would have been terrified of that bird. I totally get that sand thing with Lucy. I have such a hard time walking around bare-footed. I don’t like the feeling of “things” under my feet or beneath my toes.
Beasts of the Southern Wild… yes, I saw it and I loved it. My husband hated it (though he promises he’ll watch it one more time to make sure). Believe me when I tell you that us poor black folk do not have the secret to life and happiness – though Hollywood would like you to think so. (Maybe it’s their way of making amends for all of the movies where the black person is always the first to die, go missing, eaten by the alien, sucked up in a vortex of the unknown, shot in the head, etc.)
LOL about the Zumba and the Harlem Shake!