Enumerated Update

Happy Friday, friends... it's been a good week, yes? Our highlights include William George's t-ball evaluations, and Lauren and Grace have a field trip scheduled today to see a production of Annie. I'm going with! Also, earlier in the week, I took a little Photos workshop at the Apple store, and that promises to make my life a little easier as I try to (finally) make the move from iPhoto to Photos. Apparently if I had done a better job or organizing my 40,000+ images, the transition might have been easier.

Bygones.  

Any rate... here is where we are: 

1) Downton Abbey: Are you watching the final season? We are, and we were waiting on the edges of our seats last week for Mary to blurt out Edith's secret. We knew it was coming, but it was still so nasty when it finally happened. I've been saying since Season Five that Edith should move to London. I like London Edith... she's less churlish and bitter there. I'm super excited about the finale next week. 

2) Informational: Everyone loves TED talks. Here are 2015's most popular.

3) The Hum: Shonda Rhimes TED talk didn't make the most popular list, but I really like her description of the "hum".

4) Just say it: Seven times when we should just say thank you. 

5) Left or right: Creative people's brains really do work differently. I've never thought it was as simple as left versus right.

6) Birthdays: Most importantly, today is my brother James' and Skip's cousin Lori's birthdays. Happy birthday to both!

Have a wonderful weekend.

HRH Prince George of Cambridge

William George's 4K class had "fairy tale day" today, and George really wanted to dress up as a knight or a soldier. However, his sisters wanted him to dress up as Prince George of Cambridge. Still, he was able to let go of his knight dream (there were no knight costumes to be located), but only if he could be Prince William. I tried to explain about Finally, his sisters prevailed in persuading him, and he donned what we think Prince George would wear on a more formal day of preschool, and we made him a royal crest.  He drew the line at a bow tie, since he has worn them already twice in the last week (for family/school photos).

Accomplishments

In December, Lauren found herself as a spelling bee finalist, and she came home with a sheet to study for the final showdown. She studied over the course of a few weeks, and then the day came for the spelling bee. I attended the spelling bee to cheer her on, and she did really well, making it to about the ninth or tenth round. When a word finally tripped her up ("migraine" - ugh!), she looked as if she had been shot! She found herself in a three-way tie for third place, and the group had the final showdown the next day at school. Lauren studied all afternoon and evening, and the next day she beat out two fifth graders for third place. We were crazy proud of her for working so hard.

Also that week, Grace overcame her shyness by making the morning announcement at school. She practiced proper diction/articulation and delivered her message about respect, bullying and teasing with real feeling and empathy. She was awesome and earned "high fives" all around the office.

And George wanted to be photographed wearing his Mardi Gras mask because, of course. But really, he has been hitting his Bible verse memorization out of the park lately. He has memorized the Lord's prayer, a new verse each week and is currently working on the 23rd Psalms. Also, he cannot even remember now why he used to be nervous about school.

I don't recall what we did to celebrate, but it was likely ice cream related.

Weekend Update

Sing-A-Long from Cathi Lindsey on Vimeo.

Above: "Quiet time" on a typical "fun Friday". 
(Music: Dreams by Beck.)

Last weekend started out with absolutely glorious weather. William George and I had our usual fun Friday and after picking up the girls from school, we went to the library and for ice cream. When we arrived home, Skip, having checked the weather forecast (rain was imminent for the next five days), had gotten the bikes out, and we went for a ride through the neighborhood. We stumbled upon one of the girls' classmates who had a friend sleeping over, and another classmate had dropped by as well. Basically, we had an impromptu block party, complete with Pixie, who had ridden with William George in the bike carrier.

We played until it was dark, and then we had to pry the children away. Only the promise of finally getting to put our bicycle lights to use at night was encouragement enough to get them to peddle home. We had a nice dinner, courtesy of some braised pork chops that were simmering in the crock pot. Friday was one of those happy accidents/perfectly planned days.

The next morning was busy by comparison. We had a longstanding appointment for family portraits, not having had them since the girls were one, which, of course, pre-dates George. George is almost five, and we have not had family photos. We were long overdue, and I meant for everyone to be dressed appropriately with hair in place, etc. In fact, my waking thought Saturday morning was that I couldn't believe I had allowed bicycle riding and was even more incredulous that no one sustained any facial scraping/bruising to have on display for the portraits. We got ready... the girls were dressed/styled... George was wrangled into some clothes, and we went through the process of getting everyone out the door. I had estimated that our sitting time would take thirty minutes at most, but the entire experience took about an hour and a half. The children were not amused, but the results are good.

Afterward, we came back home for a quick change and then had lunch out as a treat. By now it was 2:00pm, and Lauren's meager breakfast had worn off. We ate at Jim 'N Nick's, a trio favorite, and Lauren isn't big on the cheese biscuits the edge had not been taken off her hunger. In a cruel twist, everyone's food was delivered with the exception of mine and Lauren's, and when I looked over at her, I realized she had burst into tears. Real, hunger-induced tears were streaming down her face, and her mouth was agape at the injustice of having to watch her siblings eat their entrees after having watched them enjoy hot biscuits. Gracie quickly shared her fries, and her food appeared moments later (and quickly disappeared). Her hunger level (along with George's and Grace's) confirmed my suspicion that, for whatever reason, the photo session had been exhausting. Skip and I were certainly drained. Why was it so difficult to be dressed up and on best behavior?

Hunger abated, we went shopping. The trio had collected some of their gift money/gift cards they have been saving. Lauren splurged on a much wanted backpack purse, while Gracie generously purchased two stuffed Bichon puppies for Pixie. George nabbed a Dodge Daytona to serve as a companion to his Superbird collection. These are things I never knew existed until George joined our family.

After church Sunday, the trio visited with Skip's parents, while we grabbed lunch and made some stops at the Apple store, Trader Joe's and a few others. By now our city was resembling Seattle with the rain, and I took the opportunity to bust out my Valentine's present (except I nabbed them on eBay for about half the price). Still, it's a splurge but makes rainy days a little more bearable.

This week is shaping up to be busy and exciting in the most normal of ways, and I hope yours is as well.

Enumerated Update

Hello friends... Just getting to last Friday's update, but since it was an eventful week, pop-culture wise, here goes.

1) Restful Peace: First and foremost, deepest sympathy on the loss of American treasure Harper Lee. I hope that Truman Capote has thrown her the best "Welcome Home" party ever.

2) Divided: We are following the Apple privacy issue very closely, and the arguments in favor/against shattering its own security were quite heated around our house last week, with one family member firing off a heated letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, while the other family member suggested, "Just keep hitting refresh repeatedly because I'm sure a reply is coming any minute now..."

These are complex issues, and here is Apple's position if you're interested.

For the record, I am opposed to any iPhone backdoor/master key situation. While I am eager to catch criminals and terrorists, I fervently believe there is some middle ground for compromise. As an aside, it would also be much easier to catch criminals were law enforcement professionals not burdened by those pesky ideas of due process. Yes, I would love to bend the rules sometimes, but they are in place for excellent reasons, for the greater good.

3) Infinite Jest: I realize I have been hitting the David Foster Wallace button a lot lately, and in doing so have almost cured my fascination. However, I would be remiss if I did not point out that this year marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Infinite Jest.  NYT explores how well the novel is holding up, and here is Jay McInerny's original review, which I had never read.

Unless his estate publishes another posthumous release, I won't mention him again for a while.

4) Sentences: I have a lengthy list of favorite words and always mean to compile a list of "100 favorite words" or something. The perfect sentence is more elusive, but here is a collection of great ones.

5) Cubicles: While I have to be brutally honest and admit that I do not miss working in an office, I do miss my friends, and especially miss those hallway chats or, if you will, water cooler moments. Although this is a little silly, it nails the idea of missing the inane chitchat. Sure, Skip and various friends take the brunt of my vapid observations now, but there's something about the lowered expectations of what passes for funny at work and the silly observations that I sometimes make. It's a good combo, or else people have been especially kind.

Probably the latter.  :)

Weekend Update

Wednesday Thursday is a little late for a weekend update, but since ours was a four-day weekend (at least for four of us; Skip would argue that his was limited to two days) we are just now getting back into the swing of things.

We had plans Friday (an appointment + lunch), and then we took it easy Friday afternoon. Saturday was Team Starzz last game, but the girls had been registered to run in the Mercedes Marathon instead. Skip went to the game, while the girls and I went downtown for the marathon. Because it was quite cold, we bundled up, and we missed having Skip as our driver because this event is increasingly more crowded each year, making parking more of a chore. Finally, I drove onto a sidewalk and parked in a grassy area of a largely empty block next to a housing development. Approximately a hundred or so other cars had done the same so we were hoping for a strength-in-numbers approach. When the girls asked what would happen if we got a ticket, I just shrugged and mumbled something about how the officer would need to be prepared to write 100 of them for all of the cars in the illegal places. Since parking rules are relaxed on weekends, we did not get one.

The girls met up with a few classmates, and they put up good numbers for the run. After the marathon, the trio went to Gran and Poppa's while Skip and I had a Valentine's lunch. We ran a couple of errands and then picked the girls up.

One of the girls' friends was getting baptized Sunday at our church so the girls celebrated with her in spirit. Later that night, Skip grilled steak, and we had a family Valentine's dinner, with treats for our three little Valentine's.

We spent Monday in the best possible way... doing a little work, and then the trio spent all day playing together. There were no arguments, and their little laughs were trickling downstairs from the playroom for most of the day. There must have been perfect universal alignment that day because they were joyously playing all morning long. Lauren had a Sophia dollhouse; Gracie had their original dollhouse - the castle; George had his fire/police station. They had an entire community set up the in the play room, and they were spent an entire afternoon playing.

We had a moment of nirvana, and it was delightful.

Enumerated Update

The trio have today and Monday off, creating a nice and very welcomed four-day weekend. So far, we had an early appointment this morning, and then we met friends for lunch. Quickly, while they watch a movie, here's what is happening with us.

1) Larry David: Friends, the only person I adore more than Jerry Seinfeld is Larry David, who rocked the SNL house last weekend. Before the show, Mashable reminded us of a few reasons to love him. Language caution with this one, but did I really need to say that? Don't we know to expect that with LD?

2) Untranslatable: As a confessed logophile, I love this list of untranslatable words. Although they are all beautiful, numbers 10 and 14 are among my favorites.

3) Politics: During most election years, I tend to go off the radar, avoiding tirades on social media and the angry updates during debates. Sometimes it's funny, but often not. My tactic is avoidance, but Elizabeth Lesser's is more proactive and civilized.

4) Made me laugh:  The problem with having great taste.  

5) Youth: Our 44 presidents - long before they were elected. 

Happy Friday, friends!

See you back here Monday!

Valentine's Party, 4K, 2016

Today I joined William George at school for his 4K Valentine's party. The class had made crafts (a heart bracelet and ring), had exchanged Valentine cards, and they shared a couple of songs with us. Currently, George isn't very keen on performing, as evidenced by the facial expression below, but he warmed up a little during the songs.  

After singing a couple of songs, George feasted on bottomless (or so he thought) nuggets from Chik-Fil-A and many other party goodies.  We also had fun talking with his friends, who reported to me that "George's dad" tickles them whenever he drops George off at school. 

I couldn't tell if they were reporting Skip's behavior, or challenging me to pick up the tickle baton and run with it.  Either way, they were giggly, and we had fun.  

Valentine's Songs 2016 from Cathi Lindsey on Vimeo.

Happy Valentine's Day!

PS: Remember Valentine's Past?

2015
2014
2011
2010

William George-isms

William George is always up to various forms of hijinks, but recently he shared the following during one of our afternoons.

1) While cleaning up the kitchen after lunch, he asked if I would come play with him. When I had finished and was ready to join him, he gestured to some cars he had lined up for me and said, "I'll deal you in."

2) Later he was dj-ing from his iPad. When he selected KC & The Sunshine Band's Keep It Comin' Love, he said, "This song says you have to always love me."

3) During lunch and talking about his day, he said his favorite part of the day was being picked up from school. He elaborated by saying, "I miss you when you leave. I think about you."

Oh, my heart.

4) Finally, George recently inherited a newer model iPad, meaning he has been upgraded to having a camera and can now FaceTime. The first time I surprised him by FaceTime-ing him on his iPad, his face was completely lit up, and he said, "HEY THERE, MOMMY!!!!!!"

But then Skip ruined it with a single question:

"Do you think he'll still be excited for you to call him when he is in college?"

Well, no, probably not, but I'll have my memories.

Enumerated Update

My week has been completely "off" due to child illness, but so here we are at Friday. Happy Friday, friends!

We are continuing to battle illness with Gracie getting a little better and William George looking as if he could succumb to germs any second now. Otherwise, here is what is happening in our little worlds:

1) Banished Words List: So I have a really bad habit of beginning sentences with "so".  And it's a longstanding habit that began many, many years ago*, and I'm pretty sure I picked it up from reading David Foster Wallace. He also popularized "it is what it is," which Skip and I used so much during work email exchanges that we simply started typing IIWII.  Although no one is clamoring to eliminate the use of IIWII (which is currently having "a moment"), the overuse of "so" made the Lake Superior State University's banished words list. I am working on phasing it out simply because of my own overuse - surely you're tired of it, yes? - and not because of some list. Here is the list in full.

So there you have it.

And so I probably won't be successful in eliminating it.

*This habit likely dates back to around 2000, but how is it possible that I have a habit that is as old as a generation that has already been trendily named (i.e., millennials)???

2) Aging: The above annotated observation calls to mind another tidbit. When I started working, admittedly, I looked very young. Also, I wore braces, although I was officially an adult, and that sort of sealed the youthful look. I remember being at a business lunch with a large group of people when this 40-ish woman - a legend in our little industry - snarled at me from down the table, "I have nail polish older than you."

Friends, this wasn't said especially nicely. The comment wasn't a teasing gesture spoken by someone looking for a protege, if you know what I'm saying. It might have been intimidating but for the naked bitterness with which the statement was spoken.

Any rate... so fast forward a couple of decades, and we were at the beach after Christmas, decked out in our rain gear, as mentioned in a previous post. I have this old stand-by, a favorite rain coat that I have had for a while. It's a black trench, but kind of a peacoat length which runs just a little bit longer on me. It's really kind of perfect, in terms of fit, use case, etc. Skip commented on how nice the coat is, which made me recall when/where I got it. Y'all... that coat is 20 years old. My coat could vote and is almost legal to drink.

But I will not bitterly compare the age of my coat to young professionals. I'm pretty sure that is oppositional to aging gracefully.

3)  Mary Louis Parker: Many times have I written about celebrities/writers that I adore (Nora Ephron and Sophia Coppola top the list), and I have always especially liked Mary Louis Parker. I loved her on the West Wing, and I cannot imagine anyone else playing Nancy Botwin.

Given my affinity for Parker, Dear Mr. You has been added to my reading list.

4) More on books: I meant to share these previously, but quickly, here you have the top books of 2015; if you have more time, the 100 notable books of 2015, and just for fun, the best book covers of 2015. And how would you possibly get through 100 books in a single year? Here are some tips.

5) The Phone: I have gotten much better with the phone now that my children are older. But perhaps some of you still struggle?

And that is what is happening with us. I hope you are planning a wonderful weekend, and I'll see you here on Monday.

Grace & Lauren's Baptism

On August 9, 2014, after reading their nightly devotional, Grace asked to say the sinner's prayer and asked Jesus to come into her heart as her personal savior. Lauren said the prayer next, and then they shared the news with their children's minister at church the next day. Because of their young ages (7), we wanted to be sure that they had a thorough understanding of their actions and the magnificent results of those actions. Our pastor gave them a book, I'm a Christian, Now What?, to complete. Due to their developing reading skills at the time, we made our way slowly through the book. They were diligent, however, and after completing the book, we regrouped with our pastor and scheduled baptism. Grace and Lauren were baptized on January 10, 2016. We belong to a Methodist church, and although Methodist are known for sprinkling, our new pastor believes in offering the choice of sprinkling or submersion.  The girls requested the latter.

"I wanna get dunked!"

We have never been more proud of anything they have ever done, and we are so grateful for the many individuals who have helped foster their faith. Our church has some really special leaders in children's ministry.

Their grandparents were on hand to help them celebrate this important milestone. After church, we had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory (their choice), and they were gifted with new Bibles, cases and lovely cross necklaces.

William George has expressed concern that he will be baptized alone (once he makes his decision of faith in a few years), but his fears were allayed when he realized we would all stand with him when he is baptized. We look forward to watching the girls continue to expand their faith, and we are most eager for George to come to know Jesus as well.  

PS: Remember George's infant baptism? 

Update: Weekend (belated) and Otherwise

How is it Wednesday already?

To recap the weekend, we had our usual Friday night, and then on Saturday the girls had a basketball game. While Skip took them to the game, William George and I went to a baby shower for Baby Caleb, my nephew's first child, who is slated for an April arrival. George has never been to a shower, but because Skip coaches the girls' team and because he (George) would have been running up and down the bleachers had he had minimal supervision, he attended. He was confused about 1) where the baby was and 2) who was getting a shower. I dangled Grammie over his head ("Grammmmiiiieee will be there..."), and he was up for it. After making his way through the brunch line and after having many doughnut holes, sausage balls, M&M's and crackers, he was very pleased. He got to see Lexie, Auntie Melinda and the lovely Katie. We left early to get back to the girls' game and as we were driving away, he wistfully said, "I like that party."

We got to the game a little late, but were there to see an impressive finish. Although the Starzz lost, they played valiantly and had a wonderful time. Due to magnificent spring-like weather, we had lunch on the deck, the trio played on the playground, and then we went for a bike ride. George has had a tepid relationship with his bicycle (read: it doesn't do what he wants it to do). Our little neighbor came out with her bicycle, and George immediately upped his game. He did so well that we told him he probably needed to add "new bicycle" on his birthday wish list.  After visiting with all of the neighbors in the cul-de-sac, we called it a day and had pizza night.

Sunday morning, Grace woke up with a fever, and she and I stayed home from church. Skip texted me from church inquiring about the girls' acolyte status. I had an am/pm fail on my phone and had not gotten an alert that it was the girls' day to acolyte. They stayed at church for an additional service (Skip said he could stand to hear it twice. HA!) so that Lauren could serve, and George had some extra play time.  Gracie had recovered after taking some medicine so they talked Skip into more bicycle time later in the afternoon.

By Monday, her fever had returned with a vengeance, and she remained home from school through Tuesday. In fact, today she was going to remain home again until we noticed she was unusually chatty after breakfast and got her to admit that she could probably attend. How quickly they learn that it is more fun to stay home and watch a "Jessie" marathon than have someone pepper you about fractions. Actually, the beauty of having a twin means that your teacher can easily send home all of your notebooks/books/assignments, and we have had e-days. But there was still time for "Jessie," and they like having compressed days. We have even discussed that we may need to have a less hospitable environment for any future sick days to make the divide between class and the sick bed less sharp -- less Club Med and more quarantine. (I kid. Not really.)

Any rate... that's how I am coming out of the illness-induced haze to find that it is already Wednesday. There is a permanent fog of Lysol in our home, and my eyes are a little red from chemical irritation. Also, the girls have their regularly scheduled well visit today so hopefully we can nip the illness(es) in the bud once and for all.