I love my house. It's almost 70 years old, has creaky floors, drafty windows, and is ridiculously fabulous. I waited so long to finally have four walls to call my own. (And a yard! Did I mention the yard?!?!) For a This Old House junky (it's on my DVR list - seriously - Norm, Tommy, Richard, and Roger forever!) who has carefully maintained a box full of sundry architectural and decorating "ideas" since 1990 for if and when I finally owned a home, the wait was excruciating. And worth it. My house is perfect (even before the planned renovations) and I never want to move!
Ellie has decided to add Kung Fu master to her list of things she wants to be when she grows up - along with astronaut, princess, and occasionally ballet fairy. (Incidentally, she needs to "drive" the space shuttle. She doesn't trust anyone else to do it for her.) Did I mention Ellie went to see Kung Fu Panda this week with Dave and LOVED it?
Ginny possesses the verbosity of an Aaron Sorkin character and/or a Gilmore girl. Who knew? Our quiet little angel face suddenly decided to start speaking after nearly two years of relative quiet. (Relative to her sister that is!) And in full sentences. (For a caveman anyway.) While she fearlessly whips out polysyllabic words with remarkable alacrity (my observations are completely unbiased) my favorite remains "whoopsidaisy." I've got to get video on that one!
Boys will be boys....even when they "grow up", have family "responsibilities", and "mature." I realize I am reifying men here and I officially apologize to any and all gender theorists I have encountered over the years. The work of said theorists notwithstanding, there are some things that never change. (Not only have I offended an entire scholarly community, I am doing so with an exaggerated cliche. Nice.) In the interest of full disclosure, I must confess that Dave and Dave alone is my focus group for this study. He took a trip to China Lake to witness the test fire of one of the rockets on which he works, and has yet to come down from the general exhilaration of the experience. Yes, no matter how educated and refined man [read: Dave] becomes, he forever will harbor the desire to see things go boom.
Boys are also fun. We had the incomparable Ben, Mason, and Aidan over for dinner and the annual car show last weekend and the girls loved them! (For further reference, see The Three Bachelors link.) They ran around, but not too fast. They laughed and yelled, but not too loud. They played in the sandbox, but not too rough. It was like Goldilocks had been set up with her ideal playdate on Match.com. The Shaw girls are enamored with the Frank boys and they are welcome back anytime!
Resistance is futile. No matter how long one avoids the uniform of summer otherwise known as shorts, submission is inevitable. After nearly a decade of said avoidance, I recently purchased a couple of pairs. If I am going to spend the requisite hours in our yard with the girls this summer, shorts are necessary. I still have the lovely pasty white skin so prevalent in the Allen clan. At least now that I'm over 30 and the veteran of two pregnancies, I have spider veins to temper the glare.
The Lollipop League (otherwise known as Ellie and Ginny) has notified me that our family needs three puppies. And we are going to name them Underdog, Polly Purebred, and Clarence. Why Clarence? I asked the same question. And the following conversation ensued:
Me: "Why Clarence?"
Ellie: "Because if we named him Shoeshine, Underdog might get confused."
Why didn't I think of that?
And finally, a random confession. My thesis frightens me. This wretched project terrifies me in a very real way. After years of research, note taking, outlining and re-outlining, imagining and re-imagining, and reconfiguring the entire thing about twenty times, I am finally ready to write. A 300-page book. In the next year and a half. Oh to have the writing prowess of David McCullough. I think I need to find my talent....and fast!
3 comments:
i'm sure a history thesis is a completely different writing endeavor than a science one, but they both just start with a word. if you think about the 300 pages, you'll kill yourself! :)
i know it's not practical for everyone, but the Adams Family pinball machine was my little break from writing - i became grand champion! i should have included THAT on my dedication page!
Wow, you guys have been up to a lot lately. I love that Ginny possesses the verbosity of a Gilmore Girl, which of course is my whole goal in life along with the endless supply of literary and pop culture references. Dave and his explosions! What Forrest wouldn't give to be there with him!
congrats on the creaky floors! we almost bought a historic house, but decided we were overloaded already with the rest of our lives and didn't need remodeling projects hanging over our heads. but i still subscribe to this old house. maybe someday...
and you'll do great with the thesis! you've done the really hard part: finding a topic and researching it. you're in the home stretch!
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