Sunday, July 31, 2011

Stroke The Furry Walls

Omg, it's after 11, and I just realized I almost forgot to blog. But then I remembered.

Phew! That was a close one.

So! What do people want to read about today?

Tonight's viewing of The Bachelorette: The Men Tell All? It was slightly sleazy. I'm not sure that Ashley finds love. But then I read a bunch of spoilers in the internet that said she DID find love. So, who knows?

Dan's superior water skiing instruction? He mentored two kids under eight to a total of nine laps around the lake on skis. Holla atcha, Dan!

The comprehensive history of the first 100 years of my new school? I've reached the 1950s and 60s. There's a fascinating relationship between college entrance exams and independent school curriculum in Minnesota all the way back to the 1900s. Also, did you know the SAT achieved status when the College Board postponed and never rescheduled exams after the bombing of Pearl Harbor? Also, did you know that the SAT encouraged a bunch of tracking in independent schools? Girls who were thought unlikely to succeed on that particular exam were shuttled into less rigorous tracks at prestigious Midwestern independent schools in the 1950s. I think it's so weird how the same debates and problems are playing out today and have been for the last 100+ years in education.

That's it! Three great topics! Pics and vids tomorrow.

Saturday, July 30, 2011

Nine Butts

We're on our second night at the cabin with our friends, Liz and Tom and their three kids. It's super fun.

The only parts that aren't fun are the dishes and bedtime. It's actually bedtime right now. It has been for an hour. Still, right now, three of the five children are still awake. As everyone knows, we're not that skilled at bedtime in general; and we're even worse on the road.

Dan fell asleep with Mac, even though I'm pretty sure he'd rather be up to watch a hit movie with the rest of us. I'll wake him in a bit after I'm sure I can do it without accidentally disturbing his majesty the three year-old.

Friday, July 29, 2011

She Zero Degrees

We're at the cabin with our pals, Liz and Tom and their amazeball kids. After dinner, Shef and Maggie said they planned to jump in the water fully clothed. I was skeptical, but then they really did!

And then Dan and I helped with the swimming.



And then Shef and Maggie helped me with the swimming. Liz took some unfortunate pictures of the pushing in. One of them features my love handles. The other one features me spitting out water upon surfacing. I've chosen not to share either of these photos.

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Pull on Your Shades

Our little Shef came home from two weeks at Camp Foley on Tuesday. He was awfully proud of himself and quite grown up. Except for all the fart talk and how he now calls all of us DUDE.



We thought Mac would miss his broheim while he was off being a camper, but actually he didn't so much. It seemed like he was plenty happy to have the spotlight all to himself.

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Meta

I've been having an issue with my blog and my Twitter feed lately. The issue is, for some reason, I just don't DO it. And then, when I haven't done it, what happens is that I feel a massive gaping hole in my life that eats at my soul.

I LOVE my blog! It's important for me to COMMIT to my BLOG! I don't know why I haven't been writing it lately, but I do know this avoidance behavior has to stop .

What's going to happen now is I'm posing my own challenge to myself: I'm going to blog every day between now and the first day of my new job, which is August 18th. This is my solemn vow.

I'm also going to try to include images because people like to see images and other media on the blog. As we know, the BLOG is not just about me, it's about anyone who wants to read it. That's the whole deal with the blogs. They're interactive.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Rachel's Baby Arrived Today. So Happy!



While I waited for baby news from my dear pal, I cashed in my Mother's Day gift at the spa.

First up: Facial!

Verdict: Divine!

Next up: mani/pedi!

Sadly I wrecked it while painting Shef's room. That index finger is the one I use to secure the blue painters' tape. The splatters on my blue toe are just par for the course.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Shut the Beat Down

Last night, Dan and I were watching The Bachelorette as usual. As I might have mentioned before, he's completely addicted to it. He even reads Bachelorette Ashley's blog on People.com the morning after each show. What I mean to say is: he's invested.

So, last night during the home visits when Constantine's dad asked him if he thought he'd be ready to propose, Dan was super confused.

"What?" he asked. "HE proposes? Doesn't SHE get to pick?"

"Yes," I explained, "she chooses the person whom she'd like to propose to her."

Dan was flabbergasted. "But that's sexist!" he exclaimed.

I laughed for about five minutes about his indignation. It's like he thought he was watching Masterpiece Theater or something, instead of THE BACHELORETTE.

"I'm beginning to think this show is totally scripted," he said, shaking his head. "Scripted AND sexist."

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Raise A Glass If You're All Wrong


Dan and I went to a fabulous wedding last weekend in Chicago. The wedding was pretty fancy and started late - ceremony at 7pm; entrees at 11! It was also the first Jewish wedding we'd attended, and immediately we wished that we too could have had a Jewish wedding. The symbolism alone was enough to make this English teacher swoon.

I went so far as to say I wanted to BE Jewish, but Dan told me to stop being ridiculous. He also refused to don the yarmulke. There was a big pile by the door and I elbowed him over there to get one.

"I don't think that's appropriate!" he insisted.

"I think it's respectful!" I retorted.

Later he pretended not to know me while I did our choreographed routine to "Dynamite" on the dance floor and then belted out "The Edge" by Lady Gaga right along with the band. To be fair, a lot of the older ladies were also singing along and dancing crazily.

They were also mostly wearing floor-length black gowns. Even the mothers of the bride and groom were wearing floor-length black gowns. I was wearing coral to the knee. Oops! I thought maybe this was another Jewish tradition I didn't know about? Wearing black to the wedding? But my friend Ann told me that really it was probably just black-tie optional. She's so smart.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

We Went to See Fireworks. At Actual Night Time!

This is a first since Shef was born. I don't know why we didn't do this before since bedtime has never meant much in our family anyway.