Friday, April 12, 2013
#94 He Adheres to the Wisdom of Ralph Kramden
When I was first married I don't think I quite understood the concept of in laws.
Correction.
I know I didn't get it.
I was the first of my siblings to be married. Mine was the first marriage I'd ever really been part of. My family was the only family I ever knew. They were the only family I knew to be devoted to.
This clip from the Honeymooners episode, "Hello, Mom" led to the inspiration for this post:
To My Mother-In-Law,
It has been almost six years since I've married your son and I just thought I'd write you this. A lot has happened in six years, and I think I have just begun to grasp a hold of what it means to be a mother-in-law. Mother-in-laws are often given a bad reputation, one given to them too soon by women who speak without empathy or understanding. While the typical woman can fill a room with her thoughts and opinions without hesitation, a mother-in-law must commit hers to within or find herself considered not supportive. She must allow the child she created, loved, and cared for to be taken from her, and though her heart may ache terribly she is expected not to voice her upset for fear of being seen as selfish. She is greatly misjudged. She must walk steady on a tightrope held on one end by the child she bore and on the other by the child hers has chosen to love. If others could see life through a mother-in-law's eyes, if they could impartially observe, considering her role with true fairness and justice, they would hoist her on their shoulders and cheer her for the phenomenal job she has done. And they would never let her down.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
#93 He Likes to Take Me Shopping
One day, I will get into the habit of writing things I do right after they happen, or as they are happening.
But since I am still a bit of a procrastinator, and because it is only a week after Easter, I thought I'd give you the two-minute version of the last two weeks of my life.
My family's church holds a massive passion play every year for Easter. Last year, my little-big brother Joel was asked to play Peter, this year he was asked to play Jesus.
Whoa!
Right?
So I had to endure the sisterly torment of watching this happen to him:
But then the overwhelming pride of seeing this:
The production lasted three weeks. While Joel was up there floating in the clouds, my mother helped sell souvenirs, Jonathan was a permanent member of the audience, and my father parked cars.
I think dad is really rocking that hat, don't you?
Because I am naturally a loving and helpful daughter, I helped him with parking the productions.
Alright, I have to rat myself out. I helped park most productions.
I'm a fair weather parker. I do not park when it rains or snows.
Whew, confession is such a reliving thing.
My last day of parking I decided to spice things up and add a few dance steps to my ushering the cars into their spots. This lead to my receiving a reward from the parking captain, Charlie, for being the most graceful parker, ever.
I'm so proud, I just don't know what to do with myself.
Parking with the guys led me to do a lot of baking. They are so appreciative of yummy treats that it is hard not to want to make something for them every single time I see them. This led to my recent Orange Strainer post: Cadbury Cookie Bars
The morning after Easter, hubby and I woke up at 5:30 am to go on a three day trip, and I cried.
5:30 is an ungodly time of day. No one should ever have to endure it.
Especially me.
Along the way we stopped for some coffee from McDonalds. We wondered about this reserved parking sign until we were sent over to that very spot to wait as our coffees were made.
I was tempted at this point in our 7 hour trip to turn right to go to Buffalo for some delicious sponge candy and dessert from The Chocolate Martini Bar. Despite my temptations, we turned left for our destination of Jamestown, NY.
And found our way to The Lucy Desi Center for Comedy.
As an avid fan of I Love Lucy, this was a must do trip. Since we were headed five hours into NY for a totally unrelated reason, we added this detour.
The museum was filled with awesome memorabilia of Lucy and Desi Arnaz.
But my favorite part was the Desilu Studios which held everything I Love Lucy related, like this recreated set of the Ricardo's kitchen. I waited, half expecting Ethel or Fred Mertz to poke their head in from the back porch door.
This fan was from the episode "Redecorating the Mertzes' Apartment". A minuscule piece to many, it is the fan that blew feathers from furniture Lucy was trying to upholster into the recently painted, wet walls.
There were five murals in Jamestown devoted to Lucille Ball.
This one was my favorite. It is on an abandoned building which I'm trying to convince hubby to purchase for me.
I'm feeling lucky.
Despite the fact that I was fully prepared to bunk up in the abandoned building for the night, we continued our trip.
It was roughly ten degrees cooler and we were followed by snowflakes the entire time. We woke up to this little dusting outside of our hotel.
We spent our second day of the trip touring Pathfinder Village, a community for individuals with Down syndrome. One of my long term goals in life is to create a place similar to this (boy was I disappointed when I realized my idea wasn't completely original) but with a slightly different mission and purpose.
Pathfinder Village was incredible, and I packed my brain with tons of ideas and inspiration.
The village was surrounded by farms, farms, and farms. We were a solid half hour from any kind of civilization (translation: there were no shopping malls near by), the closest thing being a local pizza parlor and a Chobani factory.
It was a peaceful drive, despite the fact that we were nearing empty on our gas tank and hoping to find a real highway with a rest area to fill up at.
Our last day of this mini vacation was spent shopping at the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets. Everyday when I wake up in the morning, I thank God that I married a man who likes to shop.
It makes my life so much easier.
And that was the last few weeks of my life.
Alright, that may have been the five-minute version instead of the two-minute, but I did my best. And just think, this was only my Easter break...can you imagine all the wonderful things I'll have to write about when summer comes?
But since I am still a bit of a procrastinator, and because it is only a week after Easter, I thought I'd give you the two-minute version of the last two weeks of my life.
My family's church holds a massive passion play every year for Easter. Last year, my little-big brother Joel was asked to play Peter, this year he was asked to play Jesus.
Whoa!
Right?
So I had to endure the sisterly torment of watching this happen to him:
But then the overwhelming pride of seeing this:
The production lasted three weeks. While Joel was up there floating in the clouds, my mother helped sell souvenirs, Jonathan was a permanent member of the audience, and my father parked cars.
I think dad is really rocking that hat, don't you?
Because I am naturally a loving and helpful daughter, I helped him with parking the productions.
Alright, I have to rat myself out. I helped park most productions.
I'm a fair weather parker. I do not park when it rains or snows.
Whew, confession is such a reliving thing.
My last day of parking I decided to spice things up and add a few dance steps to my ushering the cars into their spots. This lead to my receiving a reward from the parking captain, Charlie, for being the most graceful parker, ever.
I'm so proud, I just don't know what to do with myself.
The morning after Easter, hubby and I woke up at 5:30 am to go on a three day trip, and I cried.
5:30 is an ungodly time of day. No one should ever have to endure it.
Especially me.
Along the way we stopped for some coffee from McDonalds. We wondered about this reserved parking sign until we were sent over to that very spot to wait as our coffees were made.
I was tempted at this point in our 7 hour trip to turn right to go to Buffalo for some delicious sponge candy and dessert from The Chocolate Martini Bar. Despite my temptations, we turned left for our destination of Jamestown, NY.
And found our way to The Lucy Desi Center for Comedy.
As an avid fan of I Love Lucy, this was a must do trip. Since we were headed five hours into NY for a totally unrelated reason, we added this detour.
The museum was filled with awesome memorabilia of Lucy and Desi Arnaz.
But my favorite part was the Desilu Studios which held everything I Love Lucy related, like this recreated set of the Ricardo's kitchen. I waited, half expecting Ethel or Fred Mertz to poke their head in from the back porch door.
This fan was from the episode "Redecorating the Mertzes' Apartment". A minuscule piece to many, it is the fan that blew feathers from furniture Lucy was trying to upholster into the recently painted, wet walls.
There were five murals in Jamestown devoted to Lucille Ball.
This one was my favorite. It is on an abandoned building which I'm trying to convince hubby to purchase for me.
I'm feeling lucky.
Despite the fact that I was fully prepared to bunk up in the abandoned building for the night, we continued our trip.
It was roughly ten degrees cooler and we were followed by snowflakes the entire time. We woke up to this little dusting outside of our hotel.
We spent our second day of the trip touring Pathfinder Village, a community for individuals with Down syndrome. One of my long term goals in life is to create a place similar to this (boy was I disappointed when I realized my idea wasn't completely original) but with a slightly different mission and purpose.
Pathfinder Village was incredible, and I packed my brain with tons of ideas and inspiration.
The village was surrounded by farms, farms, and farms. We were a solid half hour from any kind of civilization (translation: there were no shopping malls near by), the closest thing being a local pizza parlor and a Chobani factory.
It was a peaceful drive, despite the fact that we were nearing empty on our gas tank and hoping to find a real highway with a rest area to fill up at.
Our last day of this mini vacation was spent shopping at the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets. Everyday when I wake up in the morning, I thank God that I married a man who likes to shop.
It makes my life so much easier.
And that was the last few weeks of my life.
Alright, that may have been the five-minute version instead of the two-minute, but I did my best. And just think, this was only my Easter break...can you imagine all the wonderful things I'll have to write about when summer comes?
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