griffins are assholes

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this is going to be my new catchphrase for when i need to remind myself to stop buying things. running the words “don’t be like the griffin” through my head will probably have a better effect than just saying “you don’t need that.” at least for me it will. anything involving mythological creatures will probably work for me.

this was taken at the children’s fountain in batelle riverfront park. we explored the park a little on friday morning and i’m already envisioning picnics and pictures in warmish spring days. the park is filled with statues of beings that tell the local lore of pickaweekee: a myth of discovery. we shall return again to learn more another day.

dear salty internet friends,

oh yeah. i know you’re salty, too. mike’s back but the weekly updates won’t stop. smiles!

somethings that need to be said about life now that mike is back:

i spend my more self righteous moments making claims that i hold my family together by taking darla on single-handedly while mike is away. the reality that i love and abhor to admit is that i’m barely half the equation. the things mike does for this family are amazing. AND he does it without a thought of recognition. i, on the other hand, always want to hear my praises sung from the castle tops. reminder: i’m self centered. he’s gone for 3 months, works 12+ hour days when he is on tour and then comes back home to us and ALWAYS jumps back in without missing a step, like he’s never been gone.

if we switched places i would probably get a divan from rent-a-center for my first week home and place it right in the center of our most used room. i’d then commence with a big theatrical performance of how hard a transition it is. i’d repose on that divan all week sighing and squinting a lot. and my hand would probably be draped across my forehead 93% of the time. i’d also be wearing a hoop skirt just because… anyways, that’s the difference between us and that’s why we’re best suited for our current roles.

with that being said, i have to do the public acknowledgement thing again and say thank you to my husband for his help around the house. you have no idea how much it means to me to have a partner running this house.

i recently used the analogy of the wizard of oz to describe how mike being home revolutionizes my world. it can not even be described as a 180. he picks me up and sets me down in a completely different land when he returns. his twister blows in and stirs things up, carries us away, and then we eventually settle into a life routine that is really beautiful, vivid and full of adventures. yes, he is a storm. i mean, having a third body and mind in the house is a lot to recalibrate. more ideas and thoughts to be listened to. another body to be danced around. and oh the syncopation of the bathroom schedules. ladies, you understand? sharing a bathroom with a boy….ewwwww! but i’ll take it!!!!!

i’ll leave you with a few pics and then one last thought. more pics from our week will be added later. running a busy life means less time to blog about busy life.

some of my favorite pics of the week

i feel like sharing this thought:

there’s a big focus and push to continuously make life easier in our culture. i’ve learned that it’s the times when life is hard, so difficult that you don’t know if you can go on any longer, when your life has spun so far out of control that all you can do is dance in the eye of the storm – those times are the most important. those are the times you can’t afford to miss. those times are the living, breathing, oozing, pulsating elements. because even if you fuck it all up today the sun will still rise tomorrow. live for the hard times.

complete rundown on my staycation

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here’s a minute by minute recount of my time alone.

3:53 – checked in to my room

3:55 – opened my beer

3:58 – ran around the room opening cabinets, minifridge, jumped on bed, took pics of said room.

4:05 – blogged about said room.

4:20 – stalked all of you on facebook

4:32 – got lonely

4:38 – started having anxiety about what husband will feed daughter for dinner. resisted urge to call and micromanage

4:40 – stared at the wall

4:42 – read

5:20 – started beauty rituals. really turned the luxury dial up to 11 with such beauty routines as: clipping my fingernails, using moisturizer, tweezing brows.

6:00 – got dressed

6:18 – called cab to take me to mouton

6:36 – arrived at mouton. 30 minutes early for lady date with my new fav gal pal

6:40 – played on iphone while internally chastising myself for being so out of touch with “going out” that i thought i would need a full half hour to cab 2 miles

6:46 – struck up awkward conversations with barkeep

6:50 – thank gawd a friend called me

7:10 – friendly friend shows up. we get drunk. i completely loose track of time.

12 midnight – back at hotel. in bed.

8:45 am – i am awakened.

8:47 – chug water. chug water. chug water.

8:50 – back asleep

10:00 – back up. getting packed. feeling satisfied.

10:50 – downstairs waiting for my family. missing my family. early again. twice in 24 hrs is really rare for me since i’m perpetually 15 minutes late.

11:10 – family arrives. husband had factored in my perpetual 15 min lag. reunited. off for a family fun day.

all my expectations for the evening were met and accomplished with a triumphant momma zest.

friday reads

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my internet informations and inspirations of the week:

really wish we could get some of these for taking darla to see the new muppet movie.

bakerella_3419from bakerella as seen on cmybacon

the color melon must have me in its tractor beam this week. i noticed i was pushing this certain crayola on darla during our coloring matches and melon has reached out to me through the internet in the form of the perfect camper and a dream bathroom in the city of nimes, southern france. that is where i’ll be retiring, thank you. all b/c of this.

i mean, look at this camper

it is the exact camper that i want to drive around the us. this little vintage blog is my favorite bloglovin’ addition based on pics of that creamsicle camper alone. sigh.

my other new additions to bloglovin’ – a lost feather and all the love in the universe, plus the corresponding site pacing the panic room.

that’s all for now. i hope you enjoy reading on these other sites but not as much as reading mine!

staycation all i ever wanted

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staycation had to get away

staycation meant be spent alone

look at the wonderful room my hubster got me for a one night stay getaway. alone! by myself! yippee!!!!!

i’ve got a bottle of holiday cheer – literally, by Shiner and it’s goooood – and check out that stack of reading material. apparently i think i’m going to be able to finish two 700 page books in my 18 hr stay. maybe. you doubting me? do you have any idea of what i can accomplish with 18 hours of alone time….? probs not much.

we shall see….

thank you thank you thank you dear husband. enjoy our girl. your daddy daughter alone time is long overdue.

i yam what i yam

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so i’m here to tell you why i didn’t change my last name. my husband would explain it as sheer laziness. in truth, that is somewhere in the ball park of the explanation.

don’t worry. i’m not going to spray some feminist manifesto into your ears about the subordination of women through the practice of the name change. even though i do feel strongly compelled by some of those arguments and the history of the practice.

on the contrary, i feel that women wanting to hold the same last name as their husbands and children carry as much water as a ten gallon hat. ten gallons of water is really heavy!!! if women want to change their names then go forth and prosper, young matrons.

but therein lies my motivation. or my unmotivation, rather. i didn’t want to. i haven’t really tried to wrestle around with reasons or justifications too much. i’m elaine marie tucker and i just didn’t want to go through the process. so i didn’t. that’s all. and that should be what it’s all about. what each individual woman wants for herself. i am so eternally thankful to live in a time period where i can make these choices for myself.

besides, if i were going to change my last name i’d change it to something like merriweather, pumperknickel, or saint-exupiary. you know, something colorful, sounds slightly literary and fun to say.*

*disclaimer: i love my husband’s last name. i love the memory of him becoming extremely sheepish telling me he was mr. wright. “you know like mr. right?” to which i replied “you are awfully sure of yourself.”  it has nothing to do with me not being proud of carrying his name. maybe someday in the future i will want to change over but i will make the change when that day comes.

a little silliness

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from our coffee house breakfast this morning

cinnamon french toast for $2 why has it taken us 2 years to come here!!!??? I DON’T KNOW! but at fifteen bucks for the whole family to make a fast break, i predict we’ll be returning. tomorrow. we dug these paper placemats. good for child and adult distraction.

stuff i like to talk about, A LOT: Addendum.

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i’m going to have to be an addendummy and add the thing that i talk about the most of the most:

the universe.

new list below. you’ll notice i left both butter and the universe in the number one spot. that’s just how it goes in my brain. i really can’t rank the universe and butter against each other. they go hand in hand. they are symbiotic. one without the other is a world i want no part of.

hi, i’m elaine. these are things i like to talk about. frequently. and a little too loudly.

1. the universe

1. butter

2. kris kristofferson

3. babies

4. jim henson

5. lactose intolerance. to be honest, i don’t like to talk about this but it seems like everywhere i go i end up in a conversation with someone who is, so, i’ve just adapted. DARWIN!!!!

6. birth

7. shaking it

8. myself

9. myself and my love of butter

10. butttahhhhhh

11. my hair

12. crying

ugh i’m tired. that’s all!

actually that was kinda fun. i like to quote myself.

lookey lookey

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look at what happens when i have some time alone. see the decadence i provide for myself when my lovely husband takes the child out for some daddy + daughter time? peanut butter and nutella toast! and yes, i did make a heart out of the nutella on my own toast b/c…

women, they get weary. young girls, they get weary toooooooo…..

and then i listened to all five versions of “try a little tenderness” that hubster has on his itunes while i danced and folded kitchen towels which somehow turned into ribbon-twirling-like props. then i got sad thinking about all the hundreds of thousands of amazing vocalists that have passed on throughout time that i’ll never get to witness live. i miss you, otis! BUT THEN a more upbeat version of “tenderness” came on and i just twirled and sang again.

see what happens when i’m left alone with my thoughts????

it’s a family affair

Posted in kiddie-do, love and happiness by

our first day back together. i gotta say it felt pretty damn good. i cried. a lot…only in the morning, though.

first, lunching at the big happy greek

then onto visiting our creature friends at the ohio wildlife center open house

one is fantastic and one is my spirit animal. can you guess which is which?

guess what? i get to be in pictures again. yippee!!!! i’m happy that these photos highlight my highlights. i got my hair did hours before mike returned. thanks again to jenna and cole for making this magical hair day a possibility. oh yeah back to my family…

the wildlife center was a pretty rad place. now i’m happy that the middle aged volunteer we ran into at mozart’s bakery talked our ear off about the place a few months back. my personal favorite was meeting wendell, the narcoleptic woodchuck. oh and seeing darla and mike together in the woods. that made me feel shades of laura ingalls wilder. we’ll be returning again in futures near and distant.