On Parenthood

(Real Life.)

On the brink of (eventual/impending) family expansion and in the midst of facebook baby diarrhea (can I say that here?), I'm savoring every moment of independence, free time, and alcohol consumption (a glass of wine here and there) before it disappears for the foreseeable end of my "youth."  As friends rush to get started - counting and prodding and crying and celebrating - my awareness of what's at stake (as well as to be gained, of course) is as acute as ever. Enjoy!

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.] 

On Those Who Can't Do...

Teach.

“This is precisely why I loathed being a teacher! Young people are so infernally convinced that they are absolutely right about everything. Has it not occurred to you, my poor puffed-up poppinjay, that there might be an excellent reason why the Headmaster of Hogwarts is not confiding every tiny detail of his plans to you? Have you never paused, while feeling hard-done-by, to note that following Dumbledore's orders has never yet led you into harm? No. No, like all young people, you are quite sure that you alone feel and think, you alone recognise danger, you alone are the only one clever enough to realise what the Dark Lord may be planning.”  -J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 

  [Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]

On Rainy Sun-Days

Cooking Up a Storm.

For a second there I forgot what I did before I started planning a wedding in my spare time and then my first post-wedding Sunday rolled around and I went straight to my second home: the supermarket.  With the unusual (Denver) rainy day excuse to stay inside (*Denver is known for its 300 days of sunshine), I set out to choose from five recipes - 1) homemade hummus (with olive brine!), 2) zucchini fritters, 3) veggie burgers, 4) pickled curry cauliflower, and, my personal favorite, 5) bruschetta - and collected ingredients for all.  Once back, I intended to only select one or two in total, for an afternoon snack, perhaps an eventual dinner, and (if we were lucky) leftovers for Monday lunch.  And yet three hours later, all but the bruschetta crowded our dining room table, as I insisted to my new (stuffed) husband (AR) that he try each and every option.  And then I remembered what life was like last fall...and I'm wondering what to cook up for next weekend!  Enjoy!

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]  

On Summer Lovin'

 
(Had Me A Blast?)

As fleeting summer romance becomes less relevant to the 30-something settled life, both its detail and significance recede slowly but not surely into the emotionally-jarring past.  The heartbreak and excitement, once all-encompassing and unreasonably dramatic, have been swapped for stability and calm.  Yet old photo albums, chaotic journal entries, and occasional scraps of hand-written letters remind us of the necessary path that provided strength and wisdom too painful to appreciate then.  As we tormented, indulged, and moved on, we eventually found(/find) the real deal, that will see us through decades of summers to come, and make the sordid seasons past seem moderately irrelevant.  Enjoy! 

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.] 

On the Things We Dread

The Hard Lessons.

With wedding planning behind me and once-abundantly free time back on my hands, I can return to my usual list of usual life-anxieties that motivate me to eat healthy (cancer!), exercise (heart disease!), take naps (flu season!), watch the news (natural disasters!), call home (see aforementioned parenthesis!), and take vitamins (diminished immune system!).  Calming my brain to align appropriately with the reality of the risks at hand can feel next to impossible - [did you know the a woman is more likely to get hit by a car than have a miscarriage?] - but a necessary goal so as not to let the rest of our humbled lives flash before us through the lens of the Woody Allen syndrome without taking a breath of calm and enjoyment.  (Enjoy?)

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.] 

On Being Authentic

Different Places & Spaces.

Our authentic selves find voice and shape depending on the people, places, and things surrounding that particular space in time of our lengthy and complicated existences. We are everything and nothing simultaneously: a friend, sibling, child, leader, mother, father, mentor, teacher, student, deceiver, receiver, giver, lover, enemy, neighbor, stranger, joker, and achiever.  We search for the best parts of who we hope to be against the backdrop of who we really are, always observing, changing, and striving to be the truest self buried somewhere deep down inside. Enjoy!

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.] 

On My New Name

Mrs. Einstein

We came, we saw, we kissed! (see photo to the right), and we conquered, and two short weeks later, we're married and I can finally (ahem) tell you all about it.

It was as splendid as everyone said it would be, surrounded by family and friends who flew to Colorado from all the way across the country - running errands at a moment's notice, staying calm when we needed them to, mingling with the newer west (coast) participants, and applauding on cue.   And the husband-and-wife-to-be remained present and relaxed (with the exception of the moment two minutes prior to walking down the aisle, of course, which came and went with semi-unexpected ease), drinking their usual cup o' coffee together the morning of, driving to the venue together as if it were a normal road trip to the local Park, joking that passerby will likely confuse the Woman in White as being accompanied by her sibling, and giggling effortlessly through the last moment of the matrimonial ceremony.  Friends warned me it would go by in a flash but, in some ways, getting married on August 31st went by at the perfect pace - not too quick and not too slow but just (as) right ... in the same ways we're meant to be together.  (Enjoy!)

[Blog Reminder: Click on Subtitle Above for Article.]