Tact

I've been staying at my sister's house the past few days so we could all spend Christmas together. Yesterday (Friday), the cold I've been fighting off all week finally caught up with me and I spent the better part of the day sleeping in the guest bed upstairs. (I'm feeling much better today, thank you.)

At some point during the day, I went downstairs to get some toast in the kitchen, where my 3.5-year-old nephew, Elijah, was talking to his dad and my mom. He asked me why I had stayed upstairs all day, or something to that effect. I explained that I was sick and just wanted to sleep so I could get better, and that I couldn't play right now. After a brief pause, he responded, very ernestly, "Well Marni, sometime... you have to leave."

Thanks, bud.

Luckily, his parents later reassured me that I could stay as long as I needed, until I felt well enough to go home. Phew!

Plus One

There are many reasons why I would like to be married. Two nights ago, as I was attempting to put up my artificial Christmas tree, I came up with one more: a second pair of hands and eyes to help put up the Christmas tree.

One of the three screws in the tree stand wouldn't turn and catch, causing the tree to stand lopsided. It wasn't a big deal when just the central pole was in, but the more branches I inserted and fluffed out, the more the tree began to look like some furry green version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Here's a somewhat blurry photo that doesn't do the leaning justice, but you get the idea:

When I discovered just how severe the tilting was, I crawled under the tree to try to remedy the situation. That began about an hour of attempting to prop the tree up, tie it down, or generally coax it to stop tipping--all of which involved me strking all kinds of contortionist poses on the floor, with duct tape, scissors, and twine. And let's not forget the Christmas music spreading holiday cheer in the background.

At 9pm, I put on my shoes, grabbed my wallet, and trekked to Home Depot, where I found a replacement screw--two, actually, for the bargain price of $1.03 (with tax). Once home, however--and with pliers in hand to ensure the new screw complied with my wishes--all was still not well. Do you have any idea how hard it is to know whether your Christmas tree is standing up straight when you're lying on your stomach on the floor under the tree, trying to hold it steady with one hand in what looks like a straight-up, perpendicular-to-the-floor position, while using the other hand to adjust three different screws to get the exact tension to keep it in that position, all with no one else standing back, eyeballing your efforts and saying, "A little to the left!" or "It's tipping too close to the wall!"? You probably don't know what that's like, so let me tell you: It's very hard!

In the end, after adjusting the tree a couple of times (post-replacement screw), I got it to stand up in a stance that will pass for straight-enough and went to bed, cursing the tree under my breath. I believe the words "Good Will" and "January 1st" may have among the muttered epithets.

Here is a picture of the mostly-straight, albeit undecorated, tree.

As I said, there are many reasons why I hope that marriage is in my future. But two nights ago, what I wanted most was someone to help me put up the Christmas tree.

I Am Grateful

I should be working on the final paper for my class right now but I feel the need to write a long-overdue Thanksgiving-inspired post and offer gratitude for some of my many blessings. So here we go, in no particular order.

I Am Grateful (For):
1. A very supportive, close family, including much of my extended family on both sides. I know they would do (and have done) anything in their power to ensure I was cared-for, not destitute, and happy in every way.

2. A sister who lives just 30 minutes away. What a comfort it is to have my awesome sister so close, not to mention her three cuter-than-a-baby-bunny kids, whom I get to see frequently. DC feels more like home because she is here.

3. A handy brother-in-law who also lives just 30 minutes away (imagine that!) and is always willing to help out with my home improvement needs. Coming as I do from a family of unhandy types, and living in a historic (read, old) building, in a flat that "needed a little work" when I bought it, this is particularly valuable to me. On top of which, he's a great guy and a nice member of the family.

4. To be in school again. I never thought I'd want to get an advanced degree, but since starting my master's program last year I have felt so alive and invigorated by being a student again. (Though apparently not invigorated enough to study right now hehehe.)

5. WARMTH. I hate being cold. I'm so grateful for warm clothes, lots of warm blankets, a car heater that works, a home heater that works, a water heater that works--and the knowledge that I have good friends in Orlando who let me visit when I need to warm up in the middle of the winter.

6. A body that works. I am grateful every day for good health. But more than that, I am grateful that I have all my limbs, all my senses, and that my body does everything it was designed to do.

7. A core group of loyal, terrific friends. I won't name them because I'm too afraid of inadvertently leaving someone's name off the list, but you know who you are. Most of you I've known for a very long time, a few I've only met in the last 1.5 years. Regardless, it's good friends like you that really make life worth living.

8. Employment. My job isn't so hot right now, but I must recognize that at least I do have a job, which is not a small thing, particularly in these uncertain economic times.

9. FAITH and the many manifestations of the hand of God I've seen in my life. I'm sure I'd see them in massive numbers every day if I took the time to notice. I am infinitely grateful for my faith in the Savior and my knowledge that Heavenly Father and Jesus are always aware of my needs and are constant in their character and their love for me.

10. To live in DC. Have I mentioned how much I love this city? This area? I love the arts and culture, the intelligent people I meet, the opportunity and energy and history, the free museums, diversity of thought, language, and ethnic backgrounds, not to mention some seriously amazing restaurants. Truly, as Dorothy said, "There's no place like home," and DC is that for me.

11. Indoor plumbing.

12. The Internet.

13. Gourmet frozen pizzas from Trader Joe's.

14. Really nice dark chocolate.

15. A great boss and good co-workers (they make the crummy work situation more bearable).

16. Writing, singing, and linguistic talents.

17. Stories from the Old Testament about people with seriously hard lives, who help me put my own experiences into perspective.

18. Forgiveness.

19. That Deborah Tannen agreed to be my master's thesis advisor.

20. To be thin. I know this seems shallow, but for most of my life, I have not been thin. Now, somehow, I am thin. (Ok, so I worked hard to go from not thin to thin, and have to work at it now as well, but still). I'm still amazed every time I try on an item of clothing in that smaller size and it actually fits. It is an incredulous occurence to me every day.

21. Music. Right now I'm digging the jazz tunes of the "Charlie Brown Christmas" soundtrack and the awe-inspiring score from Handel's "Messiah."

22. Safety of self and loved ones, and the guardian angels who guarantee it.

Things I Like #4: This Kid

This is my nephew, Elijah. He's three years old, and very smart and extremely precocious. I love all of my neices and nephews and truly don't have favorites, but this guy, perhaps because of his age, says some of the funniest things I've ever heard.

Tonight, for instance, I was at his house for my sister's birthday. In honor of the day she came into the world, she was showing her husband and me photos from her childhood. She passed over a page of photos from the trip she and our mom took to New York City to visit me at the end of my freshman year of college. There was a photo of me, about 30 pounds heavier (or more), looking rather dumpy and, well, fat. I showed it to Elijah, who had been running around on his own for quite awhile (he loves running) and had just asked me to play "chase" with him (basically you just chase each other around at top speed). He couldn't believe I was so fat in the photo.

Elijah: Why were you so fat?
Me: Because I didn't exercise.
Elijah: Ohhhh. Why don't you come get some exercise right now? (meaning, I want you to come play chase with me)

Hee hee hee.

Here he is, all sweaty from the moonbounce, at my company picnic earlier this year.

Another great thing about Elijah is that whenever he gets his hands on a camera, he likes to take pictures of his own feet. In a few years, when we've amassed enough for a collection, I'm going to put them all in an album, which I think will be quite popular and perhaps end up with the same commercial success as all those photos of Faye the dog dressed up in people clothes. This feet picture is also from my company picnic. You have to admit, they're pretty darn cute little feet.

In short, I just love this kid!

Things I Like #1

So I thought I'd start a new series of posts entitled "Things I Like." They will be posted in no particular hierarchical order, simply as they come to me or as it's convenient to post about them.

Things I Like #1: Listening to the old-fashioned radio show "A Prairie Home Companion" on NPR on Saturday nights. Frequently I only catch part of this delightfully quirky, campy, clever program as I'm en route to whatever activity we hot, busy single folk do on Saturday nights. This past Saturday, I was able to listen to the entire thing while I was making a potato and saffron fritata to take to my friend Jenny R's Fall Festivus of Flavor dinner party. Ah, the raptures of listening to Garrison Keillor's smooth, salty voice relaying the news from Lake Wobegone; the sad hilarity of perpetually down-on-his-luck Guy Noir, Private Eye; and the endearing ads for ketchup and powder-milk biscuits, not to mention the incredible, folksy musical acts on every show.

This past Saturday, in honor of Halloween, Mr. Keillor offered a spine-tingling reading of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven," and later in the program, to pay tribute to all our dead for All Saints' Day, he, the cast, and even the audience, sang part of the LDS hymn "Come, Come Ye Saints."

Garrison, you have my heart forever.

Urban Wilderness

This morning my friend Sue and I went for a long nature walk in the Winkler Nature Preserve, a fantastic bit of "urban wilderness" just a few minutes outside the city. There were all kinds of well-kept trails, a placid pond, babbling brooks, a mini-orchard, and multiple rustic bridges. Truly a gem of a park. The weather is absolutely perfect today as well--cloudless blue sky, sun abounding, some Fall briskness but not too cold. Ahh what a beautiful day!

The Bridges of Fairfax County




Falling for this amazing fall foliage

Sue hugs a tree (sort of) and tries her hand at a little archery target practice

Reminders that this is an urban wilderness: a parking garage and Look! A natural pipe!

The mini-orchard and a specatular vista of trees from the porch of the lodge

See you next time!

Jack-o-Lantern Party (or, Fun With Knives)

Last night I had some friends over to carve pumpkins for Halloween. Warm cider was drunk, pumpkin parts were removed (and, somehow, flung onto the walls), seeds were roasted to perfection, Halloween treats were consumed, much laughter was heard, and some exceptionally creative carvers were revealed.

Here are a few pics of the fun. (Try not to be too jealous.)

The refreshment table--notice the Black Cat Cookies!
(The bread sticks & sauce on the left are meant to be "bones & blood")

Almost the whole gang (Sue was in the kitchen roasting seeds)

From L to R: Nicole, Jake, Jenny, Rachel, Dave, Mary Frances

Rachel wields a knife in support of Jenny, who had no problem scooping the innards out of her pumpkin but hesitated when it came time to actually carve it. Luckily, Jake and Rachel were on-hand to help her create a masterpiece of stars and stripes.

The ghoulish jack-o-lanterns
(mine is the second from the left)

Thanks to my fantastic friends for a terrific evening!

Utah/Kids/Pumpkins

Since I just started this blogging thing, I feel the need to catch up a bit--to make up for lost time. Hence, some photos and anecdotes from my recent trip to Utah for my cousin Tyler's wedding.

The Happy Couple

Me with my newest neice

Mom and Nancy

Uncle Bob

Three Generations

(should be four, but my dad wasn't there to be in the picture)

Visit to my brothers, Jeremy and Marshall

Maintaining Favorite Aunt status through pumpkin carving with my sister's kids and my brother's kids (aka "The Utah cousins")

(I know, I look ghastly in that top photo, but I didn't want Megan to feel left out by me only including a photo of the boys)

The boy cousins really bonded playing video games on my mom's computer. Possibly the sweetest moment of the entire visit was when James (age 8) and Elijah (age 3) were playing a game together (actually, James was playing and Elijah was watching) and James spontaneously said, "I just love you Elijah." Elijah replied right on cue, "I love you too, James." Makes you a little veclempt, doesn't it?

Birth of a Blog

Dear World,

The moment you've all been waiting for has finally arrived: I have created a blog. Yes, yes, I know you're all thrilled and delighted and wondering what took me so long. Your accolades humble me. (I'm still not on Facebook though, and don't plan to be, so don't get too excited.)

In all seriousness, I decided I'd give this blogging thing a shot for awhile and see how it goes. Many of my random thoughts of late have come in blog-type prose--probably a sad indication that I've been reading too many other people's blogs instead of doing homework, reading another chapter of War and Peace, or working on new solutions for actual peace--so I thought I'd give them a chance to come out and be seen. In addition, since the, erm, hiatus of my magazine 31 last year, many people have mentioned that they miss the link to me that the magazine provided. I admit, I miss the link to the world that it provided too, not to mention the creative outlet. Hence, I will blog to fill the void--and waste more time by not studying.

So here you go World, a brand new blog. You can expect some brilliant thoughts to appear here in the next few days. They've been accumulating in my head for awhile now. Enjoy. And comment often.

Your Humble Inhabitant,

Moi

PS Snazzier background design and probably some photos to come soon so stay tuned....