I've Been Meaning to Post This:

April 4, 2011, Spring Break
Day One: Happiness
Giuliana, hair flying, turns cartwheels in the April wind and sunshine. Her brothers toss a baseball back and forth in the street, and I am curled up in a red Tommy Bahama lawn chair, coloring and enjoying Spring.


April 5, 2011, Spring Break
Day Two: The Monster of Polliwog Park
Tuesday afternoon the sunlight was too beautiful to stay in doors. I packed up a bag filled with the unwanted heels from our past few loaves of bread, the stale remainder of an angel food cake, and two stacks of white cheddar cheese rice cakes which everyone in the house refuses to eat. Armed with our supplies, Vinny, Giuwels, and I set off for Polliwog Park. There are many things we love to do there. We like to see how close we can get to the dozens of turtles sunning themselves on the banks of the pond. We like to run full speed into a flock of pigeons or sea gulls for the sheer joy of watching them all fly away in a whirl of feathers and wings and indignant squawks. We like to feed the polite pairs of Mallard ducks that swim so calmly up for food. But most of all, we love to toss some crumbs out over the water and then stand quietly back as we wait for the Monster of Polliwog Park to surface. A catfish the size of a small dog, with whiskers as big as pencils, lives in the depths of Polliwog Pond, and to see him is almost as grand as seeing the White Whale. He's enormous, mysterious, hideously repulsive and yet strangely enticing. You want to see him, but when he rises to the surface with his huge vacuum-like mouth sucking up all the food in its path, you're completely horrorstruck that such a creature exists. We spent our afternoon tossing rice cakes onto the water and screaming, "It's a BEAST!" whenever the legendary animal appeared. In conclusion, I can only say that I hope the Monster of Polliwog Park likes cheddar!



April 6, 2011, Spring Break
Day Three: "Even at Our Swiftest Speed, We Couldn't Break from the Concrete"
Yesterday afternoon as the kids were wheeling their bikes out of the garage, I noticed a white beach cruiser parked in the back of the garage that looked to be just about my size. Vinny said it was Michael's, so I dashed upstairs and interrupted his tutoring session to ask if I could ride his bike for awhile. Having obtained permission, I ran back downstairs, cleared away all the junk piled around this beautiful but hardly-used bike, and hopped on. I think Vinny and Giuwels were just as delighted as I was because they immediately began clamoring to go for a real Bike Ride--which is different than their normal experience of riding up and down the street in front of their house. So we set off on our grand avdenture Around the Block. Manhattan Beach is full of hills, which makes for some challenging biking conditions--especially when riding with a 5 year old who's still got training wheels. Of course, the downhill part is everyone's favorite. The exhiliration and delight on Giuliana's face as she raced down the slope of 27th Street was worth the more arduous trek back up 25th Street. She was reduced to walking her bike up the hill, and I joined her in her plight. The uphill work builds character and determination. The downhill rides remind us that our souls can fly.

I'm Losing My Mind!

The Hunger Games are driving me mad!!!!!!

AHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Best Week of My Life Approaches:

Tomorrow, after work, I'm catching a flight up to San Francisco, and on Tuesday I'm getting my wisdom teeth removed as well as a bunch of other dental work done. I will probably be out for 6 hours. Now, before you start to feel sorry for me, please don't. I am actually looking forward to this for several reasons:

1. I get a week off of work
2. I get to take moderately powerful narcotics legally
3. I will be sleeping a lot
4. I will be reading a lot (The Hunger Games)
5. I will be taking lots of warm baths while reading People magazine
6. I will be spoiled by my in-laws
7. I could wake up from my surgery speaking another language, the way Dan did

I'm pretty much about to experience the peak experience of my life. I doubt that ever again will it be my duty to relax, recover, and do nothing for a week. So, I guess after this week, it's all downhill from here.

(Side note: I am aware that I could react poorly to the anesthesia or develop that dreaded condition called Dry Socket. However, I am choosing to focus on the positive!)

And with the utmost sincerity, I must say that I am so thankful to God for providing the opportunity and the resources for this much needed work to be done. God's provision and the fact that I live in a time and a place where this excellent care is available to me are my most important reasons to be grateful and cheerful!

Sick Day:

Let me start off by saying that I know she's not mine. And yet, in many ways she is mine, because she's been entrusted to my care and responsibility, and because I love her. Because of the time, energy, and love I've invested in her and her brothers, they'll always be mine--not the way my own children will one day be mine, of course, but I will always carry them within my heart, delight in who they are, and be actively concerned for their well-being (to the best of my ability).

Well yesterday, my sweet little charge, Giuliana, woke up sick: cough, sore throat, and fever running at about 101 degrees. This normally energetic, precocious, and talkative child had nothing to say, and felt much too poorly to go to school. She slept most of the morning while I did chores around the house, and then around 11 she woke up and said she felt better. So we colored with our newly minted homemade crayons--which we made yesterday by melting down all the broken pieces of crayons they had in cupcake tins and then letting them cool and harden in the refrigerator. She wanted to copy everything I drew, which was cute and flattering since I'm hardly talented in the area of artistic creation. When we got tired of coloring, I made lunch and she wandered away into the living room. When I went to get her for lunch, I found her laying peacefully on the carpet in a patch of sunlight falling through the skylight. She never did eat lunch, and the avocado, strawberries, and peanut butter sandwich that I'd prepared for her sat untouched at the kitchen table. Instead, she continued to lay on the carpet, long after the sunlight had traveled across the room. Eventually she fell asleep, leaving me to contemplate the wonder and beauty--the sweetness and innocence--of a little girl in pink pajamas, napping on the living room floor.

Harry Potter memories

In case you somehow missed it, Sean and I are completely obsessing over Harry Potter right now. After visiting the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, we couldn't help ourselves. I'm listening to the whole series on audio book and immersing myself in literary criticism of Harry, and Sean is rereading the series.

All this has got me thinking of some of my favorite Harry Potter related memories. Here are two of my favorites:

I read Harry Potter for the first time during the summer of 2008, which I spent in Florida. That summer Cathryn was also learning how to drive. Since I'm six years older than her, I was legally able to take her out driving. So one day, Cayla, Cathryn, and I were coming home from somewhere--with Cathryn driving--and we happened to be talking about J.K. Rowling. I was telling them how beautiful the author was, but the girls were in disbelief. They were both saying how they imagined her looking like the crazy cashier lady at our neighborhood Walgreens who is older, stout, with frizzy gray hair that always has an absurd hat (usually decorated with a big spider) perched on top of it. We were laughing so hard over this image as we pulled into our driveway that Cathryn lost track of what she was doing, and drove the van right into the house. Literally, she hit the house. I know I should've felt bad as the responsible adult who was supposed to be monitoring her, but it was one of the funniest moments of my life.

Another great Harry Potter memory is a lot simpler, but nonetheless meaningful. The day after our wedding, Sean and I were relaxing in our room at the Tiburon lodge, recovering from the craziness of the weekend. And we had one of the best evenings in the world: we rented Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire from the lobby's movie collection and ordered room service for a cheeseburger and a double serving of garlic fries. It was so simple and yet, was undoubtedly one of the best spent evenings of my life. And that's one of the reasons I love being married to Sean--I always have my best buddy around to enjoy all the little things of life with.

A Tiny Conversation

Me: Sean, do you remember when we weren't married?

Sean: Yes.

Me: Wasn't it terrible?

Greatness:

There's nothing quite like a great day. There are different things that make each day great, and today was great because:

I slept in until noon. (For those of you who think this is overwhelmingly slothful of me, let me add that I do wake up at 5:30 a.m. regularly for work.)

Sean and I went hiking up in the hills behind our neighborhood. We loved the views, the sunshine and green hills, and the little cottontail bunny who hopped across our path!

I babysat the Moothart boys this afternoon. I wished Thomas a Happy Birthday, received a spontaneous hug from Jonathan, and rescued Josiah when we all went inside and he remained outside calling, "Need help! Neeeeeed help!" (He couldn't get down from his perch.)

Chicken Parmesan for dinner. Organic, free range chicken from Whole Foods. Whole wheat pasta from Trader Joe's. Yummy AND healthy!

Now, yesterday was great for entirely different reasons. Vinny and I got to spend the afternoon together, just the two of us, since Giuliana was at a playdate and Michael was still at school. Vinny just discovered "fortune tellers" or "cootie catchers" or whatever you want to call them (the folded paper creations with four points that move back and forth...) and he was delighted beyond belief that I was able to make them. So, while he did his homework, I made fortune tellers for all the kids at his table in school (SIX). Vinny said, "I really like you now." I said, "EXCUSE ME?!?!?! You JUST NOW started liking me?" (I've worked there for 7 months.) "Well, I already liked you," he explains, "but I like you even more now!" Oh, the honesty.

Vinny also gave a brilliant and adorable explanation of where babies come from last night. Somehow it came out that I want to have at least 5 children.

Vinny: 5 kids??? But the more kids you have the more work you have!
Me: I don't think of it that way, I think the more kids you have the more fun you have!
Giuwels: I want three kids. 2 girls and a boy.
Vinny: I want three kids too. 2 boys and a girl.
Giuwels: Carolyn, do you have any kids?
Me: Not yet, Giuwelsy, I just want to have them some day.
Giuwels: Well, are you married yet?
Me: Yeah, I'm married, I just don't have any kids yet.
Giuwels: Well, if you're married, why don't you have some babies?
Vinny: (with authority) Giuliana, you don't get married and then a baby pops out. It takes a lot of time for love to fill you up, and then a baby comes out.