To Sea, To Sea

We came and went. We're home now. We're much wiser. We enjoyed the beach--but not too much. We enjoyed walking--but not too much. We enjoyed going out to eat--but not too much.

I emphasize the "not too much" of it all as I think there is a tendency to squeeze too much into a vacation. As a Phoenician, I found myself thinking that I should take advantage of the nice weather and walk. Of course this is enjoyable. It's not enjoyable when it cuts into one's reading time which is equally enjoyable. I had to keep that spendthrift inside of me quiet but reminding myself that my time (and our money) would not be wasted if we spent an entire afternoon indoors reading and playing.

And so we did. And so I read The Hunchback of Notre Dame. And it was good: thrilling and unexpected and full of reasons not to give one's self entirely over to what we desire. I'm still trying to figure out who decided it would make a good Disney film. I'm assuming they kept mostly the characters and did away with the heavy plot and themes.

We also took full advantage of our digital cable and DVR thingamabob. We watched what we wanted when we wanted. And we skipped commercials! This is one technological advancement I can get behind.

I spent an inordinate amount of time mourning the loss of Tim Russert. He was, by all accounts, an incredibly brilliant, loyal, normal man who did his job well and with much passion. That's an advancement I can get behind as well.

Upon our return home we have all settled into the summer routine here. That means we're figuring out how to escape the heat.

Stella's becoming cognizant of her behaviors and their impact. This is very difficult and enjoyable at the same time as it means I experience the following conversations with her:

"Stella, why are you getting a swat?"
"I pushed."

and the flip side:

"Stella, thank you for sharing with Gianna."
"I kind."

And Gianna? She's almost one! And she's getting curly hair. And she loves to follow her sister around--crawling and doing her emergent Frankenstein walk.

I'm Cool

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Originally uploaded by alishialinn

I was having a conversation with my sister last night in which we joked that I should post pictures from my family vacation so that everyone would think I was so cool.

We Depart!

I leave you with this video which your reaction to which will be largely dependent upon your relation to the child.



Edited to add: I cannot understand what she is saying either. That's the charm.

"If There Was a LOST Convention, I'd Go"

These words were spoken by my sister upon completion of the third season, so far my only LOST convert.

The only problem with her allusion is the thought, "Does that mean that one the LOST cast will be the next spokesmen for Priceline.com?"

There are two camps surrounding this show: Those who watch, and those who don't. (Cliche, I know.) Those who don't watch I will affectionately refer to as "The Others." Jamie and I started watching this show via Netflix. We soon became enthralled. I think this might be hard for many to imagine: Jamie enthralled with a contemporary, pop culture phenomenon. Don't be fooled, folks. The guy watched every episode of Lost. He once watched twelve hours when I was gone. He has theories and ideas.

Anyway, Lost is a great show because it's all about telling stories. It's not about "reality." For the most part I hate reality television. If that's all television was I wouldn't be tempted to watch.

I'm going to pretend this is a five paragraph essay from high school as I am boring myself. In conclusion, you, too, should watch Lost. And for kicks watch Alias. Another entertaining JJ Abrams series.

And now I will conclude this essay like some of my high school students used to conclude their essays: LOL. i think this topic sux.

When We Were Honeymooners

Four and a half years ago Jamie and I got married. We went to California for the last part of our Christmas break honeymoon. We brought some traveling games along for fun: Mancala and Tangoes. We, unlike many married couples, can only handle the pressure of one another's undivided attention for a short while. So we bought these games to facilitate the large amount of time we had to spend together. (Consider this honeymooning true confessions: we bought games. What did you do?)

Next week we will be leaving for San Diego for two weeks!! We are taking our children so this will be a vacation of the family kind. Thankfully, we won't have to figure out what to do with ourselves. They'll help determine that.

For good measure I am bringing those games. I am going to do my best to get him to play some games with me. I don't think we've really played since our honeymoon. Because he hates to lose.