Author: Bethany

20Jul

Eclipse LIVE!

Disclaimer #1: As much as it hurts the English major in me to do so, I have to admit that I like the Twilight books. True, they are the literary opposite of Hemingway, but sometimes a girl just wants to curl up and devour 500 delicious pages of sap. That said, the first two films convinced me that the entire cast had missed the bus to the World Poker Tour and was taking its collective lack of expression out on teenage girls everywhere.

Disclaimer #2: Nothing else terribly appealing was showing in the theater yesterday. Not that “Eclipse” was a strong contender, but I wasn’t in the mood for big explosions or family dramas. Process of elimination + expiring movie coupons + the girls at a babysitter’s + a too-filling lunch that precluded the possibility of a dinner date = me with red cheeks whispering into the ticket window that I would like two for the 8:00 showing please.

Disclaimer #3: Dan and I brought a bag of M&Ms into the theater with us to turn the cinematic torture into a kind of drinking game: one M&M each time an actor said a line without any emotion whatsoever, two each time a girl in the audience squealed, three each time a glaring plot hole presented itself, and four each instance of gratuitous shirtlessness.

Disclaimer #4: I would like to apologize to my longsuffering husband, my remaining scraps of dignity, and teenage girls everywhere.

Disclaimer #5: This live blog is 100% organic and spoiler-free.

8:19p – The lights dim. The music starts. We ready our bag of candy.

8:23p – We realize our plan is shot. The lively inflection in the Italian dubbing raises the quality of acting so much that the movie is actually watchable.

10:15p – The movie ends. Dan is disappointed that a certain lead female character wasn’t killed off, and I am disappointed that the hilarious awfulness in which I planned to revel failed to materialize.

10:16p – We go out to dinner after all.

19Jul

Sultry Sprinkles

I wanted my head to be in the game today, I really did. After all, one’s birthday is a rare creature, and I fully intended to grab mine by the horns and ride it for all it’s worth. However, this blanket of summer heat with its cicada underbuzz has lulled me into a daze that not even a fresh supply of Illy can penetrate.

I wanted to recap my birthday list from last year, to share the happinesses that have come from living with intention—the surprising taste of bruschetta topped with chocolate shavings and olive oil, Natalie’s rapt smile as I read through Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, a vertical strawberry patch flourishing on our balcony, pen-pal correspondence with a long-lost friend. I have loved challenging myself with each little adventure, but I can’t find the focus to lay out a whole year for display right now.

Ergo, all I have for you now is Birthday List version 3.0. Soon, I’ll have some camping stories spruced up and ready to share. Sooner than that (I hope), I’ll reclaim my brain power from the sultry weight of July. For now, though, I simply have a new year sprinkled liberally with hopes:

~ Host an all-tapas dinner party
~ Get lost in a field of sunflowers
~ Read a novel in Italian
~ Get over my nervousness of playing piano in public
~ Complete an unfinished project
~ Cook an entire meal of Indian food
~ Face a fear
~ Organize a night out with girlfriends
~ Keep my beloved two-year-old mint alive all winter
~ Write a poem
~ Make friends with my midriff again
~ Help the girls start their own Daily Dose of Beauty lists
~ Learn how to make tiger bread
~ Conquer the subjunctive tense once and for all
~ Reach for something that feels impossible
~ Call up another mom from the girls’ school to arrange a playdate
~ Make pickles from scratch
~ Instigate a knock-down, drag-out, rocking-awesome living room dance party
~ Publish something
~ Invite guests over at least once a week
~ Teach Natalie to read
~ Surprise someone with kindness
~ Laugh so hard I cry

5Jul

Seven

For our first, we dined on calamari in Venice.

For our second, we chased rainbows at Niagara Falls.

For our third, we sunk our feet into wet grass at a huge outdoor concert in… (wait for it)… Scranton.

For our fourth, we played Battleship and sampled tapas in Philadelphia.

For our fifth, we napped on the beach on Marco Island.

For our sixth, we snuck away to a spa not ten minutes from our own front door.

And for our seventh, I’ve been carting the girls around Edinburgh to shops and farms and playgrounds while he’s spent the day at a conference. The romantic nature of our schedule may not be blowing your minds right now, but I love that he brought the girls and I along with him on what could have been a simple business trip. I love that we haven’t spent a single anniversary in the same city. I love that takeout features largely in our celebration plans tonight, and I love him.

2Jul

Carried Away

After a few hours of hiking with the girls along a “whisky-coloured” river after a peaceful night of sleep on the West Highland grass after a day of escaping tempests and exploring castles after an awestruck and shivery experience in the wilderness of the Isle of Skye after wanderings through William Wallace’s lands after fierce opposition at Hadrian’s Wall after Cambridge’s universities and a ferry to Dover and Luxembourgish playgrounds and Swiss tunnels and many, many hours in the car… (deep breath)… I’m taking a few moments to reacquaint myself with my computer at a pint-sized café. The first thing I did was look up the date.

It is beyond wonderful to be here, so thoroughly swept up by the current of adventure that time and responsibilities blur into the distant past. (Considering the sun is up until midnight, our schedule is completely muddled, but I rather like it that way.)  I’ll regale you with the stories after returning home and washing 40,000 loads of muddy, midge-infested laundry, but right now—at least as I see it—my job is to get as carried away as I possibly can.

30Jun

A Daily Dose of Beauty ~ June 2010

June 1st – Despite the month opening with some sad news, feeling immensely grateful for my sweet girls, my thoughtful husband, and this little adventure of a life we’re building together.

June 2nd – Salvaging a rained-out holiday with board games, friends, and—best of all—cake!

June 3rd – Slipping away from motherhood for a glorious evening of aperitivi and grown-up conversation with girlfriends.

June 4th – Wishing we had some fresh fruit in the house only to run into the downstairs neighbor who was holding a big platter of cherries, freshly picked from the backyard, all for us.

Cherries from the backyard

June 5th – Nibbling strawberries from our little balcony garden and daydreaming about next year’s crop.

June 6th – Ending a long, busy day with the first watermelon of the season—sweet, sticky, and even more delicious for being shared with a crowd of friends.

June 7th – Eating the first peaches of the season with whipped cream and reaching something close to Nirvana. (Can you tell we love fruit around here?)

June 8th – Brainstorming gift ideas, a challenge that always makes me happy.

June 9th – Daydreaming about campgrounds in far-away lands and the Loch Ness monster we plan to meet this summer.

June 10th – Starting to feel that thrilling pre-trip giddiness that makes writing packing lists the most enjoyable activity in the world.

June 11th – Melting from the cuteness overload of Natalie (wearing a pink teapot) and her friends in their end-of-the-year preschool musical.

Emma and Natalie

June 12th – Seeing the girls shimmy to the sagra music blaring over our friends’ barbecue.

June 13th – Watching Sophie run full-speed to the front of our church during the Sunday School program so she could sing next to her sister.

June 14th – Cheering with a roomful of fans when Italy scored its first goal in the 2010 World Cup.

June 15th – Playing Hullaballoo with the girls and getting my silly groove on.

June 16th – Singing “You Are My Sunshine” in four-part harmony (well, in four parts, at any rate) with the rest of my sweet and goofy family before bed.

June 17th – Glimpsing the most glorious orange and purple sunrise with a soundtrack of a thousand blissful birds—the only real upside to being awakened by a crying child at 5:10 a.m.

Late spring sunrise

June 18th – Putting together fun Father’s Day surprises for guy who makes our world go ‘round.

June 19th – Picking out a new big-girl car seat for Sophie as a family and marveling at how well these girls of ours are growing.

June 20th – Getting a giant so-glad-to-know-you hug from an hours’ old friend.

June 21st – Teaching our girls the fine art of steamrolling.

June 22nd – Finishing the world’s longest Teux Deux list in happy anticipation of our upcoming trip.

June 23rd – Conquering my fears, taking a risk, and meeting a deadline that holds a large chunk of my current hopes at stake.

June 24th – Driving through the wooded hills nearby glittering emerald and gold in the morning light.

June 25th – Packing up the tent, locking the door behind us, and setting off for our next big adventure!

June 26th – Tumbling out of the car after a looooong day of driving and introducing the girls to the hilarity that is the trampoline.

June 27th – Taking an evening stroll around Cambridge and imagining myself at one of their impressive universities.

King's Parade

June 28th – Running from an unfriendly delegation of cows along Hadrian’s Wall until our whole family was out of breath from laughing.

June 29th – Wandering through the Scottish wilderness in the evening light and having my legs swept out from under me by the incredible beauty.

June 30th – Winding up through the Highlands blasting the Fratellis—Scottish bliss.

22Jun

T – 3 Days: A Photo Essay

Teux Deux

Dusty floors, unmade beds

Camping supplies

Laundry

Deadline

Mop!

Ballerinas in hiding

Thirsty plants

Story time

P.S. – We leave on Friday and are a kind of busy and tired and excited that only two weeks soaking up* the great outdoors can cure. Thanks for sticking around, and I’ll see you in Scotland!


*Hopefully not literally. Of course, it did rain every single day the last time we did this… but at least now we have a waterproof tent to our names and won’t need to wear beach towels as sleep masks.

10Jun

My Squalor Comes With Binder Tabs

Dust bunnies are procreating under the night stand. Ants march unhindered into the kitchen to nosh on leftovers. The stack of bills on my desk keeps casting reproachful glances in my direction. The wastebasket overfloweth, and my legs are starting to resemble cacti. Welcome to trip planning mode at our house!

Our Scotland-bound campingstravaganza (affectionately nicknamed Highland Fling) is set to start in just two short weeks, and my brain suddenly can’t be bothered with technicalities like bills and housework, not when there are tent pitches to reserve at Loch Ness. I love this kind of organized daydreaming—researching locations, reviewing accommodations, planning meals, compiling packing lists. However, it’s not fast work, and I’m already up to my ears in neglected everyday demands. (Some of them look perilously close to throwing tantrums.)

I just wanted to explain why the blogosphere will need to carry on without me for a bit. Also how the quantity of dust came to be greater than that of all life forms in the house. I’ll remedy the abject squalor situation, I promise, but it may have to wait until we’re back. The castles of Inverness await my search engine command!

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