how do i compete with this?

mike and i oftentimes get into a long distance love-off when he’s away. ya know, that absence makes the heart grow fonder kinda thing. but he sends the best love letters and emails. yes, letters. he still finds time to send me postcards and letters from around the globe. i’ve saved every one. but how am i supposed to compete with something like this:

i love you a whole hugabunch bunch, wife o’ mine. i wish i were there to chat you up and love you down, but this phase of our extraordinary life together has temporarily taken us on opposite sides of the earth. joke all you want, but i was dead serious about waking up with that en vogue song in my head, and if nothing else is true, this is: it was because you were singing it. we might be separated by hemispheres and oceans and miles, but we’re very much together. i love you more than anything

your husband

just as good as a shakespearean sonnet to me.  it makes me feel bad that what he gets in response goes mostly like this:

i luuuuv you. i miiiiisss you. mwah mwah mwah. i’m so tired. love. miss. bye.

weekending 3.0

we had a really good weekend here despite someone throwing up in her carseat and having a bit of a bug. not too many pictures because i was too busy running a house and cuddling a girl.

1. lots of fun things in the saturday post

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2. you wanna take your umbrella in the shower? sure thang. let’s do this.

lots of other good goings-on this weekend. girlfriend dinner dates, mommy + daughter movie morning to see The Secret World of Arietty, vidyo skype from salty sailor man, kids-eat-free night with family – although this one resulted in a pretty nice shiner for darla when she ran into a table cause she wasn’t looking where she was going – ladyfriend scoring a pair of tix for us to go see the Black Keys in a coupla weekends, darla requesting to watch The Triplets of Belleville umpteen times.

yes, there is a lot in life to be happy about.

best appreciate

just a short list of some good things going on in life:

-friends who live in sunny places

-feeling like we have roots

-well written emails from hubster

-downton abbey

-sunny days

-lunch dates with my littlest ladyfriend. our outings to restaurants are evolving into what every woman and mother hopes to achieve out of the “lunch date.” it’s a sacred time where we can share secrets, talk deeply about our feelings. darla shares “my booty scares dirt away” with me and i impart the wisdom of not dangling her feet through the railing because her boot may fall off and clunk someone in the head. you know. the foundational conversations of life.

-crossing things off the to do list

-making travel plans

-giving myself a break. realizing i don’t have to be it all.

-concerts!!!! lots of them on the horizon.

-the many kisses frequently bestowed on me. even if they happen to usually be on a weird place like my knee, thigh, elbow, or most frequently: my butt. it’s at eye level for her.

-bossypants

weekending

how was your weekend? here’s a little bit of ours:

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1. bundling  2. imma readem  3. chalkboard walls  4. ready for california  5, 6, 7, 8 & 9. valentine’s sticker fun  10 & 11. peanut butter + nutella bagel  12. drawings of “the straight and narrow path”  13. girls night in  14, 15, 16, & 17.  painting pottery with cousin clare and aunt colleen at clay cafe  18. valentine’s and tokyo post card  19. pink lips  20. laundry day  21. try this on for size  22. she says she’s an ice princess.

have i mentioned

how much i love our new neighborhood? it makes such a difference to feel safe and happy in your home while your other half is sailing around the world. ok, he’s not sailing around the world. just around one part of the world.

IMG_1804i feel like there is so much to explore. see this lovely gift basket of local business goodies from our friend and now neighbor diana? isn’t it lovely? isn’t she lovely for gifting us? don’t the rest of you feel bad for not giving us baskets? don’t worry, there’s still time to send them.

jk. just come hang with me in our new hood and we’ll call it even.

last week i…

did some things that were NOT birthday related.

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we finally got the girl out of the house more. we ended up at firefly one day and it turns out firefly now has sing-a-longs. it was great fun watching the kiddos jump in front of the microphone. here’s darla’s turn, where she stood in front of the mic and looked proud but did not sing one syllable of the song. maybe she’ll get it the next time….

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did some puzzles, mostly by myself. darla does not like puzzles for some reason. she likes dumping them, turning them over and sorting but not putting them back together. more for me i guess.

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i found the perfect set of sheets for the tent bed at salvation army. i tried to encourage a tea party in said tent but, alas, that required too much sitting still in one spot for my girl.

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i got darla a shake on her last day of being 2. just because.

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triple reused brown bags to celebrate aunt colleen’s birthday. these bags were from our take out lunch, turned art project for daddy + darla, turned last minute wrapping paper idea for auntie’s 30th birthday gifts. after that we were satisfied with tossing in the recycling bin.

and that’s a wrap on last week. bye!

ain’t no partay like a toddlers’ yogurt partay

some pics of the kiddies enjoying darla’s birthday partays – yes plural. technically the second one was a combination birthday + housewarming + bon voyage mr. mike. check out these pics. you might be in ’em.

these are from the kidcentric party at groovy spoon. i highly recommend it. there’s no flashing lights, loud music, beeping games, overly sugarfied treats. i’d say all the kids had a good time without getting out of control. plus, FRO YO. who doesn’t love fro yo. or saying fro yo.

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and back to our house. not many pictures taken at the homestead because i was running around like a mad woman. one thing i did learn at our house party was to specify to darla next year that she needs to use her fork to eat her cake next year.

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makeupz

darla snuck away one morning during mike’s surprise birthday visit and got into susanna’s make up. because she’s awesome, susanna took pictures instead of getting upset.

darla then decided to paint our bedsheets with make up. it didn’t come out in the wash. womp womp. oh well. it was worth it. i mean, just look at that face…

pics by susanna simpson

shootz

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all these here photos are way back from our friendliest visit in december for mike’s birthday. doesn’t everyone look so happy in their holiday flannel and sweaters? thanks to our friends, adam and susanna, for bringing their sweet camera.

my two personal favorites:

for obvious reasons.

some others from that weekend may be making their way on here.

happy weekending to you all.