{ a swoop and a dart }

For Reasons Related To Music

There are many, many reasons for which I love Matt; many of them are music-related. Here are just a few:

1. He introduced me to Ben Folds back in 1997. Albeit with a knowing, slightly annoying smirk because he knew how I would always have to give him credit for finding one of my favorite musicians of all time. But no matter.

2. I was looking back through some unpublished blog posts recently when I found an unfinished Ten on Tuesday from 2008; one of the items on the list was a story about how he had said he was going to go to Target to look for a game of horseshoes.* And how he totally got it when I immediately responded with "a game of HORSESHOOOOOOOOOOOOES!" (Do you get it?)

3. He was really, really sad when Don Cornelius died last month, because when he lived in Germany he watched Soul Train every day after school on the Armed Services Network (or whatever it was called).

4. Last week we made use of a rare 52 minute window of opportunity to go to dinner together on Wednesday night while all three girls were at gymnastics; whatever weird algorithm Chipotle was using that night for its music stream busted out some I Feel For You by Chaka Khan circa 1984, and we both sang along to the entire song including instrumental and vocal solos. Now that's a date.

5. I recently bought an Estelle album (Shine) and though Matt will never on-purpose choose it to listen to first from our vast collection of music, within five seconds of hearing the second song he identified it as sampling George Michael's Faith. And then proceeded to prove it.

6. Because he can sing a mean version of Kelis's Milkshake. But you only get to hear that story in person and if you're really, really lucky.

7. Concerts, concerts, concerts. Almost 23 years worth of concerts. (I need to make a second of these frames!)

8. For identifying the "Edgar Meyer Mafia," which will leave you much poorer but all-around a better person with a greater musical horizon.

9. Every CD we own is imported into iTunes (over 800) and it wasn't because of me. I really, really appreciate that obsessive valiant dedication to getting that job done in 2005.

10. I can say "hey, come over here and see this They Might Be Giants cover of Chumbawamba on A.V. Club" and suddenly it's two hours later and we've watched almost all the covers.

: )

*I do not know why Matt was interested in buying a game of horseshoes, and as far as I know we've never owned any. Alas, the unfinished blog post did not provide any clues to shed light on this strange story. But! I do have a file photo of a game of horseshoes.

Short Letters to Famous People (at the Oscars)

Dear Tim Gunn and Nina Garcia,

We were so glad to see you on the red carpet last night. Everything is more gracious, under control, and generally better when you're around, we think.

p.s. Did you get to pick who visited you on the red carpet for an interview? We think you did. Because there is no way either one of you could have disguised your distaste for a few of those get-ups we saw. (Meryl Streep, we're looking at YOU.)

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Dear Jonah Hill,

Up until about a week ago, my opinion of your live-acting wasn't really all that great (but nice job on the animated stuff!). But then I saw Moneyball last weekend and I was more than pleasantly surprised by how good you were—how 'bout a lot more of that, please? Oh, and I'm a Billy Crystal fan for the most part, but if I was there last night I would have looked the other way if you had decided to stick your foot out and trip him for his snide little remark about cupcakes. Just saying.

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Dear Actors and Actresses who Talked About Their Childhood Memories of Going To the Movies,

Thanks a lot for making me all weepy about how much I love movies, too. My children already think I'm crazy-crying-at-weird-times-lady, and you didn't really help me out on that count.

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Dear Octavia Spencer,

You too. See above.

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Dear Viola Davis,

I'm sorry you didn't win. I was rooting for you.

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Dear Brad Pitt,

I feel as if I've earned the right to comment on your general appearance, having assessed it closely over the course of the last 20+ years... unless you are preparing for the most amazing role in the universe, please get your hair cut. Thank you.

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Dear Gary Oldman,

I completely and totally missed that you were Sirius Black. Well played sir, well played.

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Dear Julia Roberts,

I didn't actually see you at the Oscars (were you there?) but I did see you on a trailer for Mirror, Mirror during one of the commercial breaks. And so did the three small girls I live with. And we are all VERY EXCITED.

 

Oh, how I love the movies.

Ten on Wednesday

1. It is ridiculously windy this week. I was afraid someone's dog might blow past the window yesterday, it was so bad. Last night Bridget and I got back from dropping off Maddie and Gracie at the gym and Hawthorn House was gone—I searched the yard and the 20th AF parking lot for it, but as it turns out Matt was home for a few minutes before he had to go back out and pushed it into the garage (because it had already blown away from its spot underneath the trees). Today Bridget suggested we just hang out in the car until it stopped, until I told her that would probably be tomorrow. If we're lucky.

2. We had a fine, fine, time for our second annual Presidents' Day Weekend in Colorado Springs trip for Georgie's eleventh birthday. We've celebrated her 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 10th, and now 11th birthday with her. That's pretty impressive for a bunch of Air Force transients. It's hard to believe that Maddie, Georgie, and Thea were 1, 2, and 3 when they met!

We did a lot of hanging out, and a lot of eating. And drinking milk. Oh, how we miss our Royal Crest milk.

3. There was also a brief opportunity for some playgroup mamas to meet up. I miss them way more than Royal Crest milk. We hit the movies and Mimi's, and it was just like old times. Nicole and I noted that we have known each other a very, very long time—since August 1996.

4. We didn't get to see everyone we know and love in Colorado Springs, but we did get to hang out with our old, dear neighbors for a bit—and briefly see some more playgroup friends, too. Gracie and Spencer are both 7! And I'm convinced that Bridget and Lauren are going to grow up believing that they were neighbors too, and be totally confused to discover someday that they weren't even born before we'd already moved away.

5. We got home five minutes ahead of my planned arrival time on Monday. And then I promptly chained Maddie to her science fair board so she could finish it up. We are both glad her first experience with science fair is behind her. : )

6. My camera battery was extra-extra charged upon our return, because I left it in the charger at home on accident. Awesome.

7. My trusty Cusinart blender officially gave up the ghost tonight. It was ten years old, which I think probably translates to 50 in blender years. I put the Ebay King on it—he already has a list of new trusty blender candidates for me.

8. It pays to be married to the Ebay King in so many ways.

9. Bridget made this amazing Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly today at preschool:

The only problem? [whispering: It is totally going to give me nightmares of Insane Clown Posse-esque proportions if I hang it up. I just can't do it. And this makes me a very bad mama.] But look at that lovely painting job she did on the dress and shoes!

10. I was searching for a picture of Hawthorn House to link to (I know it's in here somewhere) and found this funny thing I said about competitive gymnastics. Thanks, blog, for the healthy serving of crow. Ha.

photos by ImagingB Photography

Mystery Partially Solved

I was chatting with my mama today about Maddie's penchant for Helena Bonham Carter when she excitedly told me about an upcoming movie she can't wait to see called Dark Shadows, which will be released this year. Apparently it's a remake/spinoff of a vampire soap opera that aired between 1966-1971, at a time that was convenient for her to run home and watch after the teaching day was through. 

Vampire. Soap opera. It took a minute for that to sink in for me, too.

The new Dark Shadows has Tim Burton as its director. It is described as a gothic-horror tale centering on the life of vampire Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) and his run-ins with various monsters, witches, werewolves and ghosts, and is based on the cult TV series.

That would be Helena Bonham Carter seated on the left.

Thank you, Grandma, for that excellent piece of insight into my daughter's genetic makeup.

Documenting the Inevitable

Long ago, when your three year old's imaginary friend was this woman...

(everyone remembers when Viola Swamp lived with us, right?)

...you simply cannot be all that surprised when that same girl, seven years down the line, becomes a huge fan of this woman:

and especially when she's playing this woman:

Helena Bonham Carter, there is an almost ten year old American girl out there who adores you. This girl's parents aren't 100% sure they're on board with the crazy bit, but they have to give it to you—you are one talented crazy woman.

Matt, Maddie, and I watched all eight Harry Potter movies in the month after Christmas and while Maddie would never root against her heroine Hermione (or Harry or Ron or Neville or Professor McGonagall, etc.), she was completely enamored with Bellatrix Lestrange. And really, when you connect the dots beginning with Viola Swamp? Totally predictable. We cannot for the life of us figure out how this sweet, rule-following child of ours developed this affinity in the first place, but that's beside the point.

The interesting thing is this: Bellatrix Lestrange was not Maddie's first introduction to Helena Bonham Carter. In November, I bought an app called iF Poetry that was recommended by the anti-Helena Bonham Carter (Gwyneth Paltrow) in her newsletter Goop. It is a fantastic collection of poems for children and their grown-ups; the really fantastic part, however, is when Maddie discovered that a whole bunch of the poems are a little on the darkly humorous/mildly macabre side. These are poems that appeal to the part of her brain that once created what we refer to as "bited" stories. (Remember those?) You can listen to many of the poems in-app, read by none other than Helena Bonham Carter. True joy: the first time Maddie listened to Act 4 Scene 1 of Macbeth (Double, Double, Toil and Trouble), recited by HBC. That was worth the $1.99 I paid for that app right there. Bill Nighy is the other reader, and he does a fine job, too. Especially when he reads Lewis Carroll poems, which are usually just weird enough to pass the Madeline Test with flying colors.

So the point is, Maddie's eyes got wide and excited when she recognized that voice, come to life in the creepy, evil Bellatrix Lestrange. She is even considering her as a potential candidate for her next literary Halloween costume. It would not be the first time she's dressed as a literary witch. Heh.

One final Helena Bonham Carter story: we recently happened upon a gold mine find in the On-Demand section of our cable; while searching for something to watch a few Saturdays ago, I spotted the 2011 Academy Award Nominees for Short Animation collection. I had no idea that our beloved Gruffalo was made into a short film that got nominated last year for an Academy Award. I've never thought of The Gruffalo as a particularly dark or scary story—mostly silly, actually—but when Helena Bonham Carter narrates it? WATCH. OUT. Every single Dillow was entranced. You can buy it on iTunes for $5.99. Worth every penny. : )

 

2012 Take Twelve February Bonus 12: Sledding at Happy Jack

I brought my Canon but wisely left it in the car; sledding in a national forest is not the same as sledding in places where I grew up sledding—like Firestone Park, for example. No, this was slogging up a giant hill that felt more like a mountain (it was once a ski run!) through feet of snow and avoiding pine trees on the way down. But with my phone safely zipped up in my pocket most of the time, I still ended up with twelve photos I absolutely love. We had a really, really good time. It is days like this one that remind me how much I love the west.

2012 Take Twelve February

We had a far more eventful Sunday than I thought it would be... and now I have the pictures to prove it : )

From left to right:

1. Gracie and Bridget turned the new computer shipping box into "The Doll Cafe and Other Things" box and spent some quality time shoving couch pillows and some blankets and themselves in it.

2. Snowy mornings are my favorite and best (at least during winter, that is).

3. Maddie and Gracie played legos in Gracie's room for a while...

4. Gracie's Valentine cards; she illustrated them herself. I think I'll add them over to the project album soon.

5. A carnation from The Great Science Fair Project of 2012. Maddie's project involves testing synthetic and natural dyes on flowers. I don't think she has any great aspirations to go into the floral business when she grows up, but it's been a fun first-ever science fair project for her. The kitchen was trashed on Saturday after we spent three hours concocting all her dyes. Heh.

6. Bridget's Valentine cards—they turned out beautifully and she wrote "Love, Bridget" on every single one.

7. Our kitchen was like the mad scientist kitchen this weekend; Maddie wanted to make the scratch-off Valentine cards I saw in a BHG email, so we mixed up the paint base to do it. The paint mix was perfect—I was actually really surprised at how well it turned out!

8. We decided we were far enough along in the science fair/Valentine cards stuff to take a few hours to go sledding at Happy Jack Recreation area. It was a beautiful day—a ton of snow up there and no wind. I have a mini-twelve set of Instagram pictures forthcoming on that adventure...

9. More of the same

10. We had mac and cheese for dinner, which is the perfect thing to eat after trudging up a mountainside all afternoon. We usually have enough leftover for one lucky person to take it for lunch the next day, but not this time. Trudging up a mountainside all afternoon = everyone was starving.

11. Maddie tried out her scratch-off Valentine and it worked like a charm!

12. Many of you will question the wisdom of introducing Gracie Dillow to Pippi Longstocking, but...

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Don't forget to link up your collages/pages to my post over at The Daily Trumpet for a chance to win this month's sponsor prize from Stampin' Up! Still on the fence about participating in the Take Twelve photography challenge? You can start any month of the year—there are no rules : ) Check out the Take Twelve Guided Inspiration Kit over at Ella Publishing Co. for more information!

Size 6

Both a size 6. Sharing clothes. Happy as clams about it. And it's only an optical illusion—they're officially less than an inch difference in height.

That Ticking Clock

One of Bridget's favorite new conversations to have over and over with me is the one about how when she goes to kindergarten in the fall, I'll be ALL BY MYSELF and WHAT WILL I DO WITHOUT HER. And then she laughs gleefully, because she is so excited for kindergarten. She has this conversation when we hang out folding laundry, when we make lunch, when we eat lunch, and whatever other opportunities she can find to point out that before long, I will be all alone.

Thanks, Bee. Thanks for that.

It's true, though; this fall will be the first fall since 2002 that I won't have a child to hang out with all or most of the day. They'll get on the bus and I won't spend an hour three mornings a week driving to and from/to and from to pick anyone up from preschool. I'll make lunches the night before for everyone but myself, and likely do laundry without anyone chattering nearby. I won't have to strategize so carefully as to how I'll fit in a run or a trip to the grocery store. I won't be so easily able to put off the trip to the grocery store until I can just take either Gracie or Bridget with me (I stopped taking Maddie to the grocery store long ago, because while she might be fun on other errands, grocery shopping is not yet one of them).

I will be all alone.

It's more than hard to believe that ten years have passed since my career as a SAHMama began.

And even harder to believe that we're almost completely across a line that once seemed so very far away.

All of this is to explain why today, Bridget and I decided on the spur of the moment (as in, ten minutes from showtime) to eat popcorn for lunch and go see a movie at the Capitol Cinema. I picked her up from school at regular time, we ran over to the library to pick up a book that came in on hold, we ran over to the jewelry shop to get my engagement ring repaired, and we were on our way home when she reminded me that we hadn't seen Beauty and the Beast yet. We had talked about going, but as things often go around here we hadn't gotten around to it yet. I pulled over on a side street to check Fandango's schedule—was it playing tomorrow? And found that actually, today was our last chance. And if we wanted to make it, we had to get over there in ten minutes. No lunch, me in my running clothes, and various other things waiting at home. 

We decided to go.

It was one of those decisions that immediately earns you five gold stars and the peace of mind of knowing you've done something completely, positively perfect. Being a parent is often riddled with uncertainty when it comes to doing one thing or another, and sitting down in the theater with our 3D glasses—knowing not another person we knew in the world knew where we were right then—was as far from that icky feeling of uncertainty as one could get.

There were other people in the theater, but no one as happy as us. I don't have many opportunities like this left with Bridget. Of course there are thousands of adventures still to be had with Maddie and Gracie, but none will come at 12:35 on a regular Thursday with only popcorn for sustenance. It's really true what all the crazed women with the odd expressions tell you when you have a sweet four month old baby in a carseat at Target—it just goes by so fast.

What I Did While Computer-less

Of all the things you do NOT want to see pop up on your computer screen, any of these are high on the list:

Two weeks ago our trusty iMac wore out. We still think of it as the "new computer" so it was quite a shock—and I am not making this up—to us, that our "new computer" was 4.5 years old. Which is exactly the point we've replaced other computers in the past. But somehow when your life feels like it's constantly running at the speed of a bullet train, details like 4.5 years of hard use simply creep up on you.

In a last ditch effort to save our trusty iMac, I drove it to Longmont, CO, home of 9 billion strip malls, to a computer lady named Raven who operates a Mac repair shop that was highly reviewed online. Raven did her very best to give me better news, but narrowed down the problem to two things: a worn out graphics card or a worn out logic board, both of which would be foolish to toss money at when a 4.5 year old computer is at stake. So I drove back to Longmont, CO, home of 9 billion strip malls, to collect my poor and broken computer. A new one was ordered nearly immediately, because even though a new computer was most definitely not in the budget right now, not having one? Not an option.

In the meantime, here's a little sampling of what I did while computer-less:

1. Imagined a story about Steve Jobs secretly placing a piece of my soul in the old iMac prior to his death, kind of like a horcrux. (I have an active imagination, especially after watching all the Harry Potter movies in quick succession in January)(That and a catastrophic crash of the computer containing all music, photos, and documents I've ever created sure felt like a small piece of my soul was missing)

Aside: I had no idea you could actually buy horcrux replications online. Huh.

2. Cleaned up my craft room from that book I wrote. In 2007. Three houses ago.

3. Watched lots of Portlandia with Matt. Good distraction. Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, you are hilarious.

 

4. Was increasingly unpleasant to live with.

5. Played a lot of Words With Friends. It doesn't matter whether I'm playing Scrabble face-to-face or Words with Friends on iPhones/iPads, I cannot beat Matt to save my life. Actually, I haven't beaten anyone yet. But I hold out hope that someday I will.

6. Got momentarily super-excited for a snowstorm, finally, until said snowstorm coincided with Fed Ex delivery of new computer.

7. Cursed snow.

8. Obsessively followed tracking information. Cursed Fed Ex for playing a game called "we're going to let you think we're going to deliver that computer right up until the end of the day, when we will then CHANGE THE STATUS." Fed Ex played this game Friday, Saturday, and again on Monday. I can live with Friday because there really was a lot of snow in Colorado, but Saturday and Monday... hmph. Computer was delivered today via Budget Rental truck. Fed Ex will not be receiving chocolates from me this Valentine's Day.

I'm nearly up and running again machine-wise, though no one told me that my FireWire external hard drive cord would now be obsolete (it won't fit into the new and improved FireWire port). A while ago we bought a USB external hard drive for cheap to use as the Time Machine backup, and though it took six hours to transfer everything, everything appears to be here. WHEW.