Yearly Archives: 2007

Screen time

Thank you, Pixar

I think “Cars” is my new favorite movie. Not because it was cute, sweet or genuinely funny (it was), but because we watched it on our first Family Movie Night.

We didn’t plan to start Family Movie Night last night. I didn’t think Poppy would sit through an entire movie. She rarely sits through an entire episode of “Sesame Street.” But she was getting cranky last night, and Rockford and I were just bites away from finishing our dinner. “Cars” had arrived from Netflix that morning, so we put it in to try to distract her for a few minutes. It worked. For two hours.

After we finished dinner, I picked Pi up and sat in the recliner. She leaned forward, watching the movie for about 20 minutes. Then she conked out, cartoon style. I rearranged her so we’d both be more comfortable, and Rockford put a blanket over us. She slept in my arms for about half an hour. Then her eyes popped open again, and she said “You’re welpome!” She sat in my lap and let me cuddle her and smell her hair and smooch her cheeks for the rest of the movie.

It was beautiful. I haven’t held her for that long since before she could crawl. She’s becoming more and more independent by the day, and it was so good for my heart to have that time. I hope our next Family Movie Night is just as lovely. I might even let Rockford hold her next time. Maybe.

Flotsam / Jetsam

Seven things

Sandi challenged me to write “Seven Random Things” about myself. I tried to think of seven things that everyone who knows me might not know.

  1. My friend Amy was so stunned and dismayed to learn that my ears weren’t pierced that she took me to the mall and had it done. That was last summer, and it’s one of the many reasons I love Amy. She’s a problem solver.
  2. I couldn’t begin to describe how much time I’ve spent in libraries. I used to spend hours upon hours there. I still love going to the library, even though these days I just dash in, pick up whatever I’ve put on reserve, stop by the aquarium for a quick look at the “fishies” and dash back out again. The library in Columbia is my very favorite. It’s a beautiful design. But I think it’s ruined me for other libraries. The one here just doesn’t measure up.
  3. I had our first child’s name picked out for years before we decided to have kids. I had the girl name chosen even before we were married. But we had a miscarriage with my first pregnancy, and now I can’t fathom using either of those names. (Sorry to throw the downer in there.)
  4. The Sizzling Rice Soup at Forbidden City is the most perfect soup in the world. I’ve tried to re-create it at home, but I can’t get the rice to sizzle sufficiently.
  5. The first time I saw Rockford, I was certain that I would marry him. I didn’t actually meet him until the following year. Fortunately, he was as nice and funny as he was cute. 🙂
  6. I was once a Mary Kay lady. I don’t know what possessed me to do such a thing. I wore makeup less frequently then (never) than I do now (sometimes). It lasted about a year. I did break even, though, so that was nice.
  7. I named my first cat “Rainbow” in homage to Rainbow Brite. I also had a pair of Punky Brewster sneakers. I was a very hip 5-year-old.

I’m tagging Chloe, Cynthia, Becky, Taylor, Rachel and anyone else who’d like to play!

blessings

Love Thursday: I love my family

I was sad to read that this will be the last week that the Love Thursday site will be functioning. It’s been such a nice place to find happy and uplifting stories. I’m going to try to keep up with my lists, though, because I think it’s helped me to be more positive.

April 25

  • Poppy’s beautiful smile.
  • Pretending to be elephants, complete with the requisite “ba-roomph, ba-roomph” sounds when crawling around the house.
  • Dancing to the happy beach song on “Sesame Street.”
  • Putting a sock on Marsha’s head.
  • Bean nachoes!

    • April 26

  • Poppy’s wonderful hugs.
  • Rockford revealing that Garth Algar is his “dance inspiration.” It shows, honey.
  • Poppy clapping and saying “Yay Cubbies!”

    • April 27

  • The lady with the scary monkey and sunglasses-wearing dog at the antiques show.
  • Ben & Jerry’s Cinnamon Bun Ice Cream.
  • Taking an afternoon nap with Marsha curled up on my lap.
  • Watching “Extras” with Rockford.
  • Rockford trying to toss a Tums into my mouth, the Tums hitting my tooth with a big “clunk” and Rockford laughing so hard he tooted.

    • May 7

  • Poppy saying “peachy keen!” when I gave her a cup of peach yogurt.
  • Rockford seeing that I’d searched for “I can has a cheeseburger.” And then being entirely unamused by the site.
  • Thinking about the duck that flew down Dad’s chimney and got stuck behind the fireplace screen. (That happened years ago, but it still makes me laugh.)

    • May 8

  • Cheerwine float.
  • Poppy looking at Marsha and saying, “My precious! I see precious!”
  • A good storm.

    May 11

  • Rockford bringing home cupcakes.
  • Steak night!
  • Rockford putting on fresh black socks for bed.

    • May 12

  • Poppy putting on her most serious face to dance to “Old MacDonald.”
  • Meeting Don and Carrie for dinner. And the waiter bringing me a kids meal and then, after Rockford very carefully considered his bread choice, saying, “It’s like you’re choosing a wine.”
  • Poppy laying back on my arms to “relax” and saying “ahhhh” in the bathtub.

    • May 15

  • The “Gilmore Girls” series finale. I’m still so sad that it’s over, but the last episode was lovely.
  • Me: “What does a mommy say?”
    Poppy: “I love you!”
  • My little brother being so excited after his band concert.

    • May 22

  • Going to the park with Poppy.
  • Playing hats with Poppy.
  • Poppy resting in my lap before bed while we go over our whole day together.
  • The season finale of “Lost.” I can’t wait to see where they’re going with this!