tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-82546748094899706432024-03-05T05:48:25.550-05:00ladaisiladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.comBlogger742125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-72807371400949894232014-03-25T22:13:00.003-04:002014-03-25T22:13:53.048-04:00Moved || New Blog Home<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Hello stranger. My apologies for the long absence, but the good news is –
I’m back! Only just moved.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">You may now find me at: </span></span></span><b><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://www.laurenholgate.com/" target="_blank"><img alt="www.laurenholgate.com" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2FjzW6nGcFtZgjyyYn4C2uTYcpg1B0dy8qUjE8JR_hZyahdyGoJxx3fRV4PO76DVBAIAdeJnHp6C-Kn77WuhwOI_g5qHHQW0y1bDGzPAJqLWxah1uQTowEP92Ea6fQQfVDf58QsYcIbZB/s1600/Untitled.png" /></a></div>
<b><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /> </span></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Something to look forward to:</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In celebration of the new website, I will be posting
a giveaway later this week ...</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As well as several new items on the etsy. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The winner will receive an 8x10 archival print by yours truly: </span></span></span></div>
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<b></b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvPO2iuLsD138icy-QAbGjbwGhzG9W5Ys-YXsUpkevE6yI2ScemxbyLTnWU7NE92zy4TjQJe4sjbnRgRM_D5XEB9lqfIiamsMrcwtY8pPNhZ5Qq6UvXjSG026Q2ow3ybMxZX8VIdieZUok/s1600/Live%25288x10%2529-Words.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvPO2iuLsD138icy-QAbGjbwGhzG9W5Ys-YXsUpkevE6yI2ScemxbyLTnWU7NE92zy4TjQJe4sjbnRgRM_D5XEB9lqfIiamsMrcwtY8pPNhZ5Qq6UvXjSG026Q2ow3ybMxZX8VIdieZUok/s1600/Live%25288x10%2529-Words.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span class="footertext">© Lauren Holgate 2014</span></span></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></b></div>
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</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-85655591357835677372013-11-14T20:33:00.001-05:002013-11-14T20:37:13.419-05:00A Celebration<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><i>When
you become comfortable with uncertainty, infinite possibilities open up
in your life.</i> - Eckhart Tolle</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">Kind of love this quote. Seems fitting, especially since we have no idea where we'll be going after the holidays, or where we'll find a home. And once we do know, chances are we'll only be taking our clothing and books and one or two stuffed elephants, starting from scratch all over again. An unexpected adventure, like going to Denmark. We didn't know we'd be moving there until a couple months beforehand, and we went with basically nothing. More to the point, we had no idea where we'd live once we had arrived, and yet we were more than fine. God never fails to provide.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">Things will turn up, and it's going to be some kind of grand adventure. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><i>... When what you see in front of you is so far outside of what you dreamed,
but you have the belief, the boldness, the courage to call it beautiful
instead of calling it wrong, that’s celebration.</i> - Shauna Niequist </span></span></span><br />
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</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com79tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-6620950717556562722013-11-12T15:36:00.002-05:002013-11-12T15:38:39.246-05:00blankets, wintry-wishes, and your memory as a travel bag<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">Hello old friend.<br />I've neglected you since coming home.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">With the shift in season has come a shift in mood, a desire to
hibernate like a bear underneath a pile of familiar blankets from my
childhood.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">Incidentally, I've developed an uncommon attraction to <i>photos</i> of warm blankets, as well.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-jVk4Zm5tLO7qAoO-jPd5iStJD0pjhTr6etPKFN2d88laETplDkihsvpJiVuL9feY-B_-zTdjQmrlY4BhRLNtL02hNWeqDdHtaht7Jd2VPCpNN-DGocLJwNgHgRvpNr6g0ZyCFERnyp0/s1600/tumblr_mqmpp8U1pw1qif4c6o1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr-jVk4Zm5tLO7qAoO-jPd5iStJD0pjhTr6etPKFN2d88laETplDkihsvpJiVuL9feY-B_-zTdjQmrlY4BhRLNtL02hNWeqDdHtaht7Jd2VPCpNN-DGocLJwNgHgRvpNr6g0ZyCFERnyp0/s1600/tumblr_mqmpp8U1pw1qif4c6o1_500.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://awelltraveledwoman.tumblr.com/post/62776136632/would-snatch-if-i-had-the-means-perfect" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;">s o u r c e</span></span></span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">Pre-wintry-wants aside, things have been pleasantly busy: seeing friends and family, visiting old haunts, getting comfortable with driving again (after a two-year hiatus), replacing clothing and shoes that fell apart in Europe, selling out the etsy stock and creating new, teaching Isaac, mountain runs and blanket-making (yes, I am also <i>making </i>a blanket), and planning out and waiting on news for the new year (and where we'll go next).</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">I am excited about the idea of having a home again, after weeks (months!) of travel and hotels and b&b's and friendly basements. At the same time, I am drawn to this quote (as always):</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Own only what you can always carry with you: know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag.</i> </span></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn</span></span></span></i><br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">No matter where we end up, I will always be a nomad at heart. With many travel plans in the making, waiting.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">By the way ...<br />If you owned only what you could carry ...</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">What would you own?</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><div><hr class="grey"/></div>
</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-49768040288610637382013-11-04T21:25:00.000-05:002014-02-12T00:26:56.816-05:00They Say Familiar Mountains<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="echo hasMarkup fS">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Let my life smell of pines and resound with the hum of insects.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">R.W. Emerson (re-worded slightly)</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"> </span></span></span> </span></span></div>
<hr />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">They say familiar mountains will always call you back, and even though they are also changing, it is the change in yourself you will notice most.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">This time of year, the trees are red and gold; their leaves swirl in mid-air, a lazy, final leap.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">Some pines have fallen or been cut down, while young ones grow up in between. You will think of how much older you are, and of the things you have collected and brought with you: new habits and ideas, confidences and insecurities.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">But you won't forget how those branches were once a ship at sea, or that hillside an entire village laid out with small stones. How you hid in the cylinder beneath the dirt road, building dams in the creek water that trickled from one side to the other. Or where you found the bleating orphaned fawn, and where you set it free again, after you'd kept it for awhile.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">Your child plays in the woods like you once did, and you watch on, amazed.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></span>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihZwW71w5DtyCdM_Nrwun151Cs6ql7rehJymtwDl1kZT_4LNszK6HCltsNOBPbkYgPA53MJr1p_AiMh2Ot3NhKmfVFJgmRiHj-ADdTpv8ywHxCo_5RFCMeIpXJVhEEkpNhK2diJurfMBul/s1600/tumblr_m3ijr5tZzV1r4u4dro1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihZwW71w5DtyCdM_Nrwun151Cs6ql7rehJymtwDl1kZT_4LNszK6HCltsNOBPbkYgPA53MJr1p_AiMh2Ot3NhKmfVFJgmRiHj-ADdTpv8ywHxCo_5RFCMeIpXJVhEEkpNhK2diJurfMBul/s1600/tumblr_m3ijr5tZzV1r4u4dro1_500.jpg" /></a></span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">source?</span></span></span><br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><div><hr class="grey"/></div>
</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-86658611443434060642013-10-29T16:20:00.000-04:002013-10-29T16:20:34.783-04:00I want to know what you think of your first name<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />I want you to tell me about every person
you’ve ever been in love with. Tell me why you loved them, then tell me
why they loved you. Tell me about a day in your life you didn’t think
you’d live through. Tell me what the word 'home' means to you and tell
me in a way that I’ll know your mother’s name just by the way you
describe your bed room when you were eight. See, I wanna know the first time
you felt the weight of hate and if that day still trembles beneath your
bones. Do you prefer to play in puddles of rain or bounce in the
bellies of snow? And if you were to build a snowman, would you rip two
branches from a tree to build your snowman arms? Or would you leave the
snowman armless for the sake of being harmless to the tree? ... Do you think that anger is a
sincere emotion or just the timid motion of a fragile heart trying to
beat away its pain? See, I wanna know what you think of your first name.
And if you often lie awake at night and imagine your mother’s joy when
she spoke it for the very first time. I want you tell me all the ways
you’ve been unkind. Tell me all the ways you’ve been cruel. See, I wanna
know more than what you do for a living. I wanna know how much of your
life you spend just giving. And if you love yourself enough to also
receive sometimes. I wanna know if you bleed sometimes through other
people’s wounds.</span></span></span></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /> </span></span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">- <i>Andrea Gibson</i></span></span></span></span></h4>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><div><hr class="grey"/></div>
</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-45313795880806212132013-10-25T10:03:00.002-04:002013-10-25T10:03:43.516-04:00etsy sale<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://ladaisi.etsy.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCwvDZkYkaEM-pJN8WrUxvWw_fkRcadCTthrZe7dUvtynqoofOo5DyLqDfvknCOWqcM_gZTeKjWwSFyx0745LGkIP_3qoPSi60dRurBJkoUx4IbFY9lSNWZP86_EhAU-SL-UB-czzfJ4hT/s1600/1.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #444444;">Going to be filling the shop with new illustrations come the new year, which means ... I'm having a big sale! Originals from $10-$15, prints at $5. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #444444;">If you order two or more items that may be shipped together within the USA, send me a message and I will waive shipping on all but one item!</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<i><a href="http://ladaisi.etsy.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #444444;">shop >> ladaisi >> http://ladaisi.etsy.com</span></span></span></a></i><br />
<br />
</div>
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</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-31551257618025389502013-10-22T09:02:00.000-04:002013-10-22T12:42:04.165-04:00Home<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I am finally back in the States, after a harrowing (yes, harrowing) journey involving three
countries, three planes, an absurd number of long lines and security checks
(including a guard who demanded to know why I was ‘stationed’ in Denmark and
was their food better than ours?), a disheartening delay in D.C., and
twenty-six hours without sleep, followed by three transfers by car to finally
arrive at my parent’s house in the mountains … two days later. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I do not recommend my cheap travel habits. Especially when transporting half
your worldly possessions and an exhausted, crying child across the Atlantic
with you. This dawned on me (as it always does) when the pilot who was supposed
to be taking us on the last leg of our journey said, “Yeah, I just talked to my
buddy, who is flying the plane you need. It had to have maintenance before its
last trip, and now it’s on its way to Detroit.”</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And then, a few hours later, after hauling my carry-on (of bricks) up a
flight of stairs to board the tardy plane, I was told that I couldn’t take it
with me because “wheeled luggage isn’t allowed.” </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“But it’s all breakables!” I protested.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">“Sorry, lady.”</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I stood there for a moment beside my forlorn five-year-old, blocking the
point of entry for all other passengers, dumbfounded, exhausted, on the verge
of laughing hysterically or kicking someone in the shins. Instead I tripped,
fell on top of all my breakables, and started crying. The embarrassed attendant
awkwardly stammered, “I’ll take it back down for you,” and hightailed it out of
there, and I somehow managed to find my seat without terrifying anyone else
(minus the man whose foot I had previously run over with my ‘wheeled luggage’-
whoever you are, I am genuinely sorry. I would have apologized had any of this
registered before now).</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It was a fantastic day.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">A week later, and I am still recovering.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">-----</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Our first week home has been a festival of welcome-home meals, a birthday
party for my now six-year-old son, and a post-wedding cookout to make up for a
previously missed celebration … The opposite of my last week in Denmark, spent
having farewell dinners and hyggelig <span class="hps"><span lang="DA">eftermiddagskaffe</span></span><span lang="DA"> </span><span class="hps"><span lang="DA">&</span></span><span class="shorttext"><span lang="DA"> </span></span><span class="hps"><span lang="DA">kage</span></span><span lang="DA"> </span>with Danish friends. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I am so happy to be home again with my family.<br />
I dearly miss my friends across the Atlantic.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The many goodbyes brought to mind what a beautiful, nomadic, uprooted two
years it has been.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">We have lived out of hotels, hostels, B&B's, and apartments that have
been much too large and much too small. We have been hosted by friend, family,
and stranger, been immersed in a multicultural sea of people, food, and
temperature, and found ourselves hopelessly lost in foreign countries. We have
explored.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Even more, we have learned things about ourselves we never knew – like what
a beautiful, growing thing it is to adjust to a new culture, and what a
beautiful, freeing thing it is to live without things you once took for
granted. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">You stand outside your own comfort zone and you let yourself take it all in – this place, this culture,
that person, their language, this moment.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And you miss it, when you’re gone.</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><div><hr class="grey"/></div>
</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-36622390115997849792013-10-09T04:09:00.001-04:002013-10-09T04:09:30.321-04:00this is now, and now, and now<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="curve" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">Remember, remember, this is now, and now, and now. Live it, feel it.</span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;">
Syliva Plath</span></span></span></div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh36YtZiRYT3-r3P5ryWHaBxkuZQraMpWAU8G1oWdpJoNtOI1kTgB126E43iEnplS18Azvj_AqQg8JaWoJq-o2XVTFcYhQxg1bm1sH_jiC62gheG9XOIU4gjNNrTA64XJ7U4d9rykv5NgOx/s1600/tumblr_mcezb9ARKm1r8l83no1_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh36YtZiRYT3-r3P5ryWHaBxkuZQraMpWAU8G1oWdpJoNtOI1kTgB126E43iEnplS18Azvj_AqQg8JaWoJq-o2XVTFcYhQxg1bm1sH_jiC62gheG9XOIU4gjNNrTA64XJ7U4d9rykv5NgOx/s1600/tumblr_mcezb9ARKm1r8l83no1_1280.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/42925002669898447/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #999999;">s o u r c e </span></span></span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFerj-CqTCKRXAjgxJMHfDD_7TnGkPIJM5A7ayK_JBg2NnivWrr4ARqnER-KqHjbi420Ubsai1pJNbtNzXE6k-BobxxTOt7F7UPjkh9XJ4RpvTue5Ao2YRdCJIqN8A_0h0Mu6w52vAYK1h/s1600/twonewyork-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFerj-CqTCKRXAjgxJMHfDD_7TnGkPIJM5A7ayK_JBg2NnivWrr4ARqnER-KqHjbi420Ubsai1pJNbtNzXE6k-BobxxTOt7F7UPjkh9XJ4RpvTue5Ao2YRdCJIqN8A_0h0Mu6w52vAYK1h/s1600/twonewyork-7.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.remodelista.com/posts/kaftans-by-monica-paetl" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #999999;">s o u r c e </span></span></span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivja2eynqFT-0px8x_jnF0b7sooBmZDQr8sr-n0iAN4Egj-joEuXO6MqubgBF7C-z9nTpi1LrYc9x-iLyJ5nSqvsDLd6Cc8fDA-CUrao2Ppog_nANkrFAduoFQYA5BN8TyPtnh8vzSkfO_/s1600/tumblr_mrz11aPYNU1rvaq0no1_r3_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivja2eynqFT-0px8x_jnF0b7sooBmZDQr8sr-n0iAN4Egj-joEuXO6MqubgBF7C-z9nTpi1LrYc9x-iLyJ5nSqvsDLd6Cc8fDA-CUrao2Ppog_nANkrFAduoFQYA5BN8TyPtnh8vzSkfO_/s1600/tumblr_mrz11aPYNU1rvaq0no1_r3_1280.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
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</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ignitelight.tumblr.com/image/62992113433" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #999999;">s o u r c e </span></span></span></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivDSR7r7QEGA4YWh2bZ06VE9dHMmBMxtTqaDjt2OB3UdyaA0gJMEhsPl7uAROiSDVo7-uXi01SAtIjbYhK2RURGB6d0LExD2gSWj-58n7mCGP4ADW8YjIopvpoAP0KIktEw4hRXIdG2Lgs/s1600/tumblr_mqdljvoKkE1qdvn4ro1_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivDSR7r7QEGA4YWh2bZ06VE9dHMmBMxtTqaDjt2OB3UdyaA0gJMEhsPl7uAROiSDVo7-uXi01SAtIjbYhK2RURGB6d0LExD2gSWj-58n7mCGP4ADW8YjIopvpoAP0KIktEw4hRXIdG2Lgs/s1600/tumblr_mqdljvoKkE1qdvn4ro1_1280.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://thedesignfiles.net/2013/06/interview-emily-ferretti/"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #999999;">s o u r c e </span></span></span></a></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #999999;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">m i n e</span></span></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ9SWYu79tcARX8I87G3KoVQ6WaqzwELreYZhtuGVM-D8c6C162zqguFzg5H96o6QBNHVfVadgD_isYBzh38vLFDRlsTcla_sDPb6-VhEiDbujTlh6SErjC-2aWcnV1fViNkVCRmDDQAeZ/s1600/tumblr_msiiuzpFxn1qgrixfo1_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ9SWYu79tcARX8I87G3KoVQ6WaqzwELreYZhtuGVM-D8c6C162zqguFzg5H96o6QBNHVfVadgD_isYBzh38vLFDRlsTcla_sDPb6-VhEiDbujTlh6SErjC-2aWcnV1fViNkVCRmDDQAeZ/s1600/tumblr_msiiuzpFxn1qgrixfo1_1280.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://ignitelight.tumblr.com/image/61555053107" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #999999;">s o u r c e </span></span></span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">[ a few things i found inspiring this morning ] </span></span></span></div>
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</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-42133826246095125742013-10-08T09:27:00.000-04:002013-10-08T09:28:55.076-04:00Bornholm<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguloBsppSBeGIfwAW2zqelZFW7gXA6S4la40uOVLXLZVuNO_x6upm9AXxMF0ckSZbAcwUY3GExySuziyxP4_9VOCeyuZ-wAxxS1la9kFbuncWpaotKc4QLYvc9lHkOWOLIoI1bkovrqGS1/s1600/DSC_0105.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguloBsppSBeGIfwAW2zqelZFW7gXA6S4la40uOVLXLZVuNO_x6upm9AXxMF0ckSZbAcwUY3GExySuziyxP4_9VOCeyuZ-wAxxS1la9kFbuncWpaotKc4QLYvc9lHkOWOLIoI1bkovrqGS1/s1600/DSC_0105.JPG" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">This last weekend we visited some dear friends on the beautiful island of Bornholm.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">From Wikipedia: <i><b>Bornholm</b> (<span class="IPA" title="Representation in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA)">[bɒːnˈhʌlˀm]</span>; Old Norse: Burgundaholmr, meaning 'the island of the Burgundians') is a Danish island in the Baltic Sea ... The main industries on the island include fishing, arts and crafts such as glass making and pottery using locally worked clay, dairy farming, and summer tourism ... The topography of the island consists
of dramatic rock formations in the north, pine and deciduous forests, farmland, and sandy beaches in the south.</i></span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlA2R3o1gQ4nMW4qmMPsv5jwnyK9T8pIDihao6KattPqqW_CWlJ-DOWjj-0Meq5EJRVvvF53KLOSi5Bz982FY1zZtmpUXyRMFkO0q5O9YOhMjw52n2ASwYUHQpGu1TWZRZlanidmi67MlD/s1600/DSC_0127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlA2R3o1gQ4nMW4qmMPsv5jwnyK9T8pIDihao6KattPqqW_CWlJ-DOWjj-0Meq5EJRVvvF53KLOSi5Bz982FY1zZtmpUXyRMFkO0q5O9YOhMjw52n2ASwYUHQpGu1TWZRZlanidmi67MlD/s1600/DSC_0127.JPG" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">Such a peaceful place to be. </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd7Wwkc2Tfcto-bB5z53RU62drVXvS9pcPdgcozJss8W_JR16NFQi_3VkhoS_5a-ebWruOJAYiFSp_8gVwjw-mL8okZlGfrYThuxZCAj7GOJsoijT8SLzDV5qXa3QBEu-CXroXsJXcl8t8/s1600/DSC_0034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjd7Wwkc2Tfcto-bB5z53RU62drVXvS9pcPdgcozJss8W_JR16NFQi_3VkhoS_5a-ebWruOJAYiFSp_8gVwjw-mL8okZlGfrYThuxZCAj7GOJsoijT8SLzDV5qXa3QBEu-CXroXsJXcl8t8/s1600/DSC_0034.JPG" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">Sea-side walks and castle ruins, colorful towns and a salty fish buffet, ice cream cones and glass shops.</span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZYfMaKJUbRQ8QGu4Zl6ENpZGC0RqGWof52sU63JbBvH_G8RQQYn_jq5qd5MO_11CDObHb5XLQ-mmQvMzAuHLn8PvUNyHslUy5beu3n-zUZNMLkvHvPCRy8VsoJTB1tRdJD1KVjgAnMON_/s1600/DSC_0062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZYfMaKJUbRQ8QGu4Zl6ENpZGC0RqGWof52sU63JbBvH_G8RQQYn_jq5qd5MO_11CDObHb5XLQ-mmQvMzAuHLn8PvUNyHslUy5beu3n-zUZNMLkvHvPCRy8VsoJTB1tRdJD1KVjgAnMON_/s1600/DSC_0062.JPG" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">Hope to go back someday, maybe in summer. </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcLUMkzrG0Yh7Qr3BpSZtNPAmgw4YSTtX59DSGMPhRjoQtoBdsgFUhnzKQNcSC0i69RT8TGFxWOmeWISnke9WmS8z_dm9w_WzgOG2oPfivewUWsXRTyiy4sP_gT_aIIYF27VzJFss0GL6r/s1600/DSC_0031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcLUMkzrG0Yh7Qr3BpSZtNPAmgw4YSTtX59DSGMPhRjoQtoBdsgFUhnzKQNcSC0i69RT8TGFxWOmeWISnke9WmS8z_dm9w_WzgOG2oPfivewUWsXRTyiy4sP_gT_aIIYF27VzJFss0GL6r/s1600/DSC_0031.JPG" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">... And they may never get rid of me. </span></span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4mWGFIHw7acdMfaKhRDyLRtI3c2nDzqkLHbX0YihSlIa7bErSg0lom7sFSbsvkrGCV9affAEkrygbt8P-UEK6Ttl0A1MfW54iAgcD5JPNvz5fwIfnPDVLPAuHfC7aRoU49wiWL5gwWhTZ/s1600/DSC_0095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4mWGFIHw7acdMfaKhRDyLRtI3c2nDzqkLHbX0YihSlIa7bErSg0lom7sFSbsvkrGCV9affAEkrygbt8P-UEK6Ttl0A1MfW54iAgcD5JPNvz5fwIfnPDVLPAuHfC7aRoU49wiWL5gwWhTZ/s1600/DSC_0095.JPG" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">Many thanks to Hasse and Gitte, Natasja and Teresa and Johanna. We will miss you all! </span></span></span></div>
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</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-25756669789662150452013-10-04T05:37:00.000-04:002013-10-04T05:37:19.893-04:00I Forget The Rest<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim8mVcvw8dbzz33dqVjucKcwt08dZWI0uxwPzBzgAamki8J5dNRrWIPWwsEcD3da-NhrL5RwLqVH2kWlg18G5m_gVFj47-2pPhyphenhyphenKFVsG1T83y8_nuuqlNKoCFhd3CIqrU04cio_QT2oe0e/s1600/tumblr_mqwootXl461r3ty84o1_1280.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim8mVcvw8dbzz33dqVjucKcwt08dZWI0uxwPzBzgAamki8J5dNRrWIPWwsEcD3da-NhrL5RwLqVH2kWlg18G5m_gVFj47-2pPhyphenhyphenKFVsG1T83y8_nuuqlNKoCFhd3CIqrU04cio_QT2oe0e/s1600/tumblr_mqwootXl461r3ty84o1_1280.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://awelltraveledwoman.tumblr.com/image/61235636579"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #666666;">[ source ]</span></span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;">We were together. I forget the rest. - <b>Walt Whitman</b></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><b>And other quotes I loved and wanted to keep: </b></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I want to write a novel about silence…the things people don’t say. - <b>Virginia Woolf </b><br /><br />I have lived through much, and now I think I have found what is needed for happiness. A quiet secluded life in the country, with the possibility of being useful to people to whom it is easy to do good, and who are not accustomed to have it done to them; then work which one hopes may be of some use; then rest, nature, books, music, love for one’s neighbor—such is my idea of happiness. And then, on top of all that, you for a mate, and children perhaps—what can more the heart of man desire? - <b>Leo Tolstoy</b></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b> </b></span></span></span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I realized<br />why<br />you’re not<br />my cup of tea.<br />I drink coffee.</span></span></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">You can never get enough of nature. To be surrounded by it is to be stilled. It salves the heart. The mountains, the trees, the endless plains. The moon, the myriad of stars. Every man can be made quiet and complete. - <b>Arthur Burns</b><br /><br />When you’re traveling, you are what you are, right there and then. People don’t have your past to hold against you. No yesterdays on the road. - <b>William Least Heat-Moon</b><br /><br />If tomorrow, women woke up and decided they really liked their bodies, just think how many industries would go out of business. - <b>Dr. Gail Dines</b> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I’m doing badly, I’m doing well, whichever you prefer. - <b>Franz Kafka</b>, Letters to Milena <br /><br />If nothing else, one day you can look someone straight in the eyes and say, 'But I lived through it. And it made me who I am today'. - <b>Iain S. Thomas</b><br /><br />Stop waiting for the perfect moment. It will never arrive. There are no perfect moments sweetheart. We choose our moments and I want you to start choosing yours and start choosing now. Time will not wait for you and I don’t want you to miss out on your life because you’ve been patiently waiting on the sidelines thinking you have to stay there. You don’t have to sit this life out, your life out. You have a whole field in front of you for you to discover and run around in. It is there for you, let your feet press down on the earth and then start running, start discovering, and never stop. <br />- <b>Acoustic Imagery</b><br /><br />My shadow said to me:<br />what is the matter,<br />Isn’t the moon warm<br />enough for you<br />why do you need<br />the blanket of another body? <br /><br />- <b>Margaret Atwood</b>, from “The Shadow Voice"</span></span></span><br />
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</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-72768328375474295082013-10-03T10:17:00.001-04:002013-10-03T10:18:33.272-04:00A Monster in the Shower Named William ... And Other Stories<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Otherwise Titled: My Kid Since March </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9RyOfg_8S9ijdtD6STBToiBLH0e9zIHmBnKh9dyGSyVzAnA5t07WFulSJ4smTWkkte12DmKB_lVu_gG_RGHgXk6NHCuMnzrLSgT7wl0sCRzdtVAfs9lHS7EZqN1Bb6fgomsmIM3x-I2w-/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9RyOfg_8S9ijdtD6STBToiBLH0e9zIHmBnKh9dyGSyVzAnA5t07WFulSJ4smTWkkte12DmKB_lVu_gG_RGHgXk6NHCuMnzrLSgT7wl0sCRzdtVAfs9lHS7EZqN1Bb6fgomsmIM3x-I2w-/s1600/1.jpg" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">3/31/13 - <span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">After skyping with my family tonight: <br />Isaac: I want to go home. <br />Me: Me too. Isaac (to Tim): You say NO flying home to Grandpa and Grandma. Why? That's bad!</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">4/1/13 - </span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">This
morning when Isaac sneezed on his shirt, and I told him to go change it
because he'd gotten snot all over himself, he said, "That is not snot,
mama! That is bless-you!"</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">4/7/13 - </span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Isaac
has recently adopted this incredibly endearing habit, wherein he
answers any questions he dislikes by saying 'I can't hear that.' It
makes me the happiest mother alive.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">4/12/13 - W</span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">e
just told Isaac to go to bed and he said, "You're not my mom and dad. My
mom and dad are clouds." Whatever that means, little stinker.</span> </span> </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">4/17/13 - </span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Isaac
insisted I turn the couch into a train, and then sit in it for half an
hour so he could yell at me 'SIT STILL! I'M THE CAPTAIN OF THIS TRAIN!
NOW YOU WALK!' ... I never get to be the captain of the train, and I'm
the one who bought the stupid couch in the first place. Boo.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">4/18/13 - </span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Woke
up to the sound of Isaac screaming "IT'S MONDAY! I WANT TO SWING IN THE
BAG!" (He gets his days mixed-up, and thinks the huge Ikea bag is a
swing). And then, "DRAW ME A DRAGON ELBOW!" (No idea. I tried, Tim
tried, nothing would please the kid. There are a lot of discarded elbow
drawings lying around, but I'm pretty sure he knows what an elbow is
now.) And then, as the boys were getting ready to walk out the door, he
started singing: "WE MISSED THE BUS, WE MISSED THE BUS, WE MISSED THE
BUS!" And they did. ... It's been an eventful, elbowful second-Monday
morning.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">4/18/13 - </span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Isaac
brings home a new stick from school everyday. They increase in size as
the week progresses and then start all over again on Monday. Last
Friday, we ended up with a 6-ft-long stick that he insisted was a
Christmas tree. Today, it was an honest-to-goodness log. If he tries to
bring home Noah's ark tomorrow, I swear I won't bat an eye.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">4/19/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Whenever
Isaac gets asked what he wants to be when he grows up (why do adults
insist on asking this of toddlers?), he says "small" or "Isaac, a tiny
one." I'm so lucky; my kid is Peter Pan.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">4/22/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">We're
having a family movie night with pizza. Watching See Spot Run. I
thought Isaac would like this movie, however, I'm rethinking it now. <br /> Regarding the two postmen, he said: Mama, they're coooool.<br /> Me: No, they're stupid and immature; you can't be either of them.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">4/23/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Isaac said: Mama! I have a spirit! It's a blue ball and it bounces high! </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">4/23/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Asked
Isaac what he thought his dad did at work, and he said, "He drives the
train, and gets your mail and my mail on Tuesday, and finds the cookies
and the movies on the computer, but he is NOT the captain of the train. I
am the captain of the train." ... Good thing we have that cleared up.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">5/1/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Isaac
just brought me a stack of books to read to him, and said, "Okay I got
them. We have pirate, we have Jesus, we have monkey-talk." (How I Became
A Pirate, Read-Aloud Bible Stories Vol. 1, Curious George Storybook.) </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">5/4/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Isaac
just walked up to me, pulled down his pants, and said: In the morning
it's big and tall, it's magic! But now it's dead, it's broke. See?<br /> Me: Huh. Go talk to your dad.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">5/5/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">When
Isaac says 'magic' it comes out sounding like 'maggots'. I'm so happy to
have finally realized this, especially after all those times we were
eating and he'd yell (for no apparent reason): "MAMA! IT'S MAGGOTS!"</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">5/7/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">On
the bus today I saw a kid that looked exactly like Isaac, only 4 or 5
years older. Same hair, same blue eyes, even the same color clothing as
Isaac wore today. He turned around and grinned at me and for a split
second I felt like a time traveler. Then The Real Isaac dumped his
sandbox shoe out on the floor next to me, said "MOOOOM, MOOOOVE!" (he
thinks he should sit by himself on the bus now), and I snapped out of
it.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">5/7/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">The
Train Anecdote: On our way to Vineyard camp a couple weeks ago, Isaac
spotted a member of the train crew. His face immediately lit up with
excitement and awe - as if he'd seen Santa Claus or something, and he
literally shouted, "HI CAPTAIN OF THE TRAIN !!!"</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">5/23/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">This
morning my alarm clock was a five-year-old redhead, flexing his arms and
screaming at my sleeping face: LOOK! I HAVE MUSCLES !!!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">5/25/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Isaac
has moved into the Why Phase. He'll be telling me an incredibly long
story (that never does end; in fact, he's still telling it), and
somewhere in the middle he'll stop and ask 'what's that?' almost like he
forgot the word (only in this case, he just doesn't know it yet). So
I'll explain and then he'll just stare at me, and say, 'why?'. Only it's
an incredulous 'why', the kind that implies another question, such as:
what is WRONG with this planet? ... And I'm at a loss. Where to begin?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">6/5/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Isaac drew me a mermaid. It is the most terrifying picture anyone has ever given me.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">6/10/13 - <span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Isaac
just drew a bunch of spirals and then said, "LOOK AT MY PICTURE! An ear
hole, an ear hole, an ear hole, an ear hole, an ear hole ..." (?)</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">6/13/13 - </span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Isaac today: "I love pretty girls. I love Liv and Amelia and Marianna and ..." Just my luck, I'm raising a little player.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">6/16/13 - </span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">When
he got out of the shower today, Isaac looked in the mirror and said, "OH
NO. My hair is going brown. I have rainbow hair. I WANT PERFECT
ORANGE!" </span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">6/19/13 - </span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">When I gave Isaac his breakfast this morning, he said, "Good job, Lauren." Little stinker.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">6/20/13 - </span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">The
neighbors replaced their toilet this morning, so the old one was sitting
outside in the grass all day. Isaac found this alarming. The first
thing he did after coming home was run into the bathroom and yell, "OH
GOOD. At least WE still have a toilet."</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">6/26/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">This is my daily alarm clock:<br /> "MAMA! Is it MY BIRTHDAY?!"<br /> "Uhh, no."<br /> "Why?"<br /> "Because it's not October 17th."<br /> "Why?"<br /> "Because it's June."<br /> "Why?"<br /> "Because it is."<br /> "Why?"<span class="text_exposed_show"><br /> "I don't know."<br /> "Oh. Is it YOUR birthday?"<br /> "No."<br /> "Why?"<br /> ... And then we go through it ALL OVER AGAIN. At least twice more.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show">6/26/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Isaac
just walked in the door with a big old Magic Marker Mario mustache on
his face. Exactly what I was hoping would happen on Wednesday.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">6/28/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">I
will never understand why Isaac must transfer an entire sheet of
stickers onto a single piece of copy paper IN THE EXACT SAME ORDER as they were
sold. I'm not allowed to help anymore because I tried to put one on my
face.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">6/30/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">A little bedtime game:<br /> "Okay, mama. You a bird, I'm a crap."<br /> "What?" (Sorry kid, I have no idea how to play this game.)<br /> "You a bird, I'm a crap."<br /> "Huh?"<br /> "YOU A BIRD, I'M A CRAP! I GET YOU WITH MY CLAWS!"<br /> "Oh, a CRAB."<br /> "Yes, a crap."<br /> "CRAB. B."<span class="text_exposed_show"><br /> "I KNOW." (Finally, she gets it. Silly woman.) "I'M A CRAP."<br /> ... Well, there are worse things. I suppose.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show">7/1/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Isaac
and I have been playing a lot of hide-and-seek lately, only he calls it
'1-2-3 HIDE'. It's a definite challenge when you are a minimalist
living in a studio apartment. He is (somehow) endlessly surprised that
it isn't actually ME hiding under the covers - it's the big stuffed
elephant. He throws back the blanket, screams 'YOU DID THAT?!' and
cracks up laughing, as if it didn't just happen twenty times in the last
half hour. Someday he is going to look back on his childhood and wonder
if his mother was dim-witted, but for now he thinks I'm brilliant so
I'm happy.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">7/2/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Isaac
is moving the library future around and screaming "MAMA LOOK! I AM
STRONG!!!" I'm pretending I don't know him. The librarians are going to
blame that red headed mother over there for all the noise. MWAHAHA!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">7/6/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">As
we're leaving the building, Isaac stops in front of our neighbor's
apartment, stands directly in front of their wide-open double door, and
yells, "MAMA! I want to watch that!" and points (at the people inside).
Luckily it was just the (adult male) neighbor with the teddy bear,
otherwise we'd probably have to move now. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">7/6/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">I
have Disciple on while I work. Just noticed my kid standing out on the
deck wearing his Machu Picchu Llama shirt doing some kind of
interpretational Tai Chi in time with 'O God Save Us All'. I cannot stop
laughing.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="text_exposed_show"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">7/8/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;">Isaac
told us about school today. This was (apparently) the highlight: "A boy
peed outside on the flowers. It happened. He got in trouble. Tissermand
udenfor. Like this." [Funny dance] "NO PEEING ON FLOWERS! ONLY
BUSHES!" ... Good talk.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">7/14/13 - </span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Isaac's
been particularly theatrical this weekend, abruptly yelling out
"LIMBO!" (wherever we happen to be) and then trying to walk under things
... tables, chairs, his own arm, someone's legs.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">7/24/13 - I</span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">saac stayed home all day today. I said, 'Since you're here, you have to
help me clean up the apartment.' To which he replied, 'NO! That is NOT
deal!' </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">7/30/13 - </span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">I
just told Isaac he was not allowed to tape things (drawings, receipts,
trash, stuff he found on the ground) to our windows. So he left the
apartment and taped them to the communal elevator outside. Now, normally
I'd tell him to take them down, but seeing as our neighbors have used
up the entire courtyard space with two plastic pools, a purple couch, a
brown office chair, a black office chair, a vandalized picnic table, and
a rapidly growing collection of empty alcohol containers ... I don't
care.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">7/30/13 - </span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Isaac
has memorized the months of the year, all by himself, minus November
and December. His recited calendar ends like this: "... July, August,
'eptember, OCTOBER 17TH MY BIRTHDAY!" ... Because, really, what is the
point in continuing with the year once his birthday is over?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">8/4/13 - </span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">This
evening, Isaac matter-of-factly informed our dinner guest that 'Mama has
hair out of a box [dyed], Daddy has no hair [shaved], and everybody
loves my orange hair the most [humble, clearly].'</span><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg">8/8/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Today
I feel less adult and more kid. I had rice krispies for breakfast which
always makes me irrationally happy; Isaac made me wear his paper pirate
patch after school and reprimanded me for using the wrong colors in his
coloring book; I got hit on by a teenager at the bus stop (what kind of
a pick-up line is 'you are beautiful so I will have your number'
anyway? Do YOU think he should've been surprised when I laughed at
him?); and Isaac made us sit directly behind the bus driver, where my
feet don't reach the floor, and yelled, "HAHA MAMA YOU ARE TOO TINY!"
... And now I am watching Peter Pan (what else). THINK OF A WONDERFUL
THOUGHT! ANY MERRY LITTLE THOUGHT!</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">8/10/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Went
on a little tour of the Roskilde Cathedral this morning. Isaac played
tour guide, since he had been there before on a fieldtrip. He was
entertaining for all the tourists, because he kept saying "DON'T STEP ON
THAT!" whenever there was a grave in the floor (of which there were
many), and also "It's okay, mama! It's not spooky!" whenever there were
skulls (of which there were many) </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">8/13/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Me: Hi Isaac! Ready to go home?<br /> Isaac: I NEED MY ROCK!<br /> Me: Oh. Did you have a good day?<br /> Isaac: I don't play. Nobody hit me. We had apples. I washed my hands once. I'm going to eat your jacket.<br /> Me: Um. Why?<br /> Isaac: It looks like broccoli.<br /> Me: Well geez, thanks kid. What do you have in your pockets?<br />
[Empties pockets. Three rocks, two snail shells, a stick, someone's
hair tie, someone's ID, someone's bike light, a crumpled drawing of a
fat face, and All The Sand.]<br /> Me: Clepto.<br /> Isaac: Marianna gave it to me.<br /> Me: I highly doubt your teacher gave you that stuff. Can I have a kiss?<br /> Isaac: Tomorrow.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">8/15/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Sometimes
you are late, and all your clothes are wrong (because you are a woman),
and you change ten times and end up in the same outfit you started in,
and your five-year-old (who has been standing by the door, tapping his
foot), says, "That's the one, Lauren. Let's go." ... No? This only
happens to me?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">8/19/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Took
Isaac on a little trip to BauHaus, which felt remarkably like all those
endless hours we spent in Lowes when he was a baby (because I love
hardware stores), only this time, instead of chilling in his stroller,
he was walking beside me yelling "I NEED A DINGBELL! WHERE ARE THE
DINGBELLS?!" Which is apparently what he thinks a doorbell is called.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">8/20/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">The
Jehovah Witnesses came for a visit today (naturally, since I have a
fever). I couldn't hide because the door was wide open when they
arrived, and Isaac clearly thought they had come to discuss his
birthday. The best plan would've been to let them convert me in Danish
(smile and nod), but my charming son immediately informed them that
"Mama speaks English! I'm Isaac! I speak Danish! My birthday is October
17th! I have a bike! I'm going to see Grandma for three months! I live
here! It's almost my birthday! BIIIIRRRRTTTHHHHDDDAAAYYYY!" ... And of
course they fell in love with him and will probably come back and move
in.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">8/30/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Today
is Isaac's last day at børnehaven, so we are headed out the door with
3-dozen cupcakes for his classroom (the Sea Lions) to decorate, and the
thing he is most concerned about is that his socks be matching.
Sometimes when you live in a studio apartment, you put all the socks in
one drawer so it is essentially impossible to find a match (in fact, I
don't think they actually exist). I've long since adopted the theory
that hey, he's 5, it's adorable when his socks don't match (and hey, I'm
27, I don't care when my socks don't match) ... but Isaac is convinced
it will, in fact, kill him to wear the spaceship sock with the snowflake
sock. I'm beginning to wonder if he's actually my son.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">8/31/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Isaac
is over there, playing with legos. I am listening in, because I do that
sometimes. At first it was normal boy stuff. You know, 'I got you! I am
a pirate! Arrrgh!' and then it turned into something else entirely: 'I
am a bad boy with a mustache, I am a bad boy with a mustache, bad boy
mustache' ... ?</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">9/16/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Isaac
and I are on a rainy date in downtown Zurich today. His table manners
may leave something to be desired, but he did insist on carrying the
umbrella for me through the morning downpour. Of course, I'm too tall
for his umbrella, so ... things are going swimmingly.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">9/18/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Every
time we check into a new hotel (apartment, B&B, hostel, basement),
Isaac is SUPER excited and says "IS THIS MY ROOM?! I HAVE A BATHROOM?! I
HAVE A BED! IS THIS MY CHAIR?!" And then rearranges all of our stuff
fifty times over so I can't find it. Having a TV is also new to him. He
loves the commercials. He just told me he needs better laundry detergent
because there was a commercial about how most detergents don't get
bacteria out of clothing. (Shoot, I was hoping he wouldn't turn out so
much like me ...)</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">9/26/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Eating cold cereal from styrofoam makes me think of my dad, and camping
expeditions in Oregon. Only instead I am actually having breakfast with
Isaac in Denmark, on the floor of our empty studio apt. - almost like
camping except we still have a bed and a coffee maker (which is the
important thing anyway). I hope he appreciates this experience when he's
older, although he may only remember the part where he asked for coffee
and I gave him hot chocolate and he got mad. </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">9/26/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">My
kid is turning into a little smarty pants. Today when told he MUST eat
something he said 'Okay fine smart guy', and then he smacked my butt and
said 'You are adorable!'</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">9/27/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">His
favorite movie may be Wreck-It Ralph (and he may be a little parrot),
but when he walked up to me and said "Mama, you are one dynamite girl"
yesterday, my heart melted.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
<span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">9/30/13 - </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" style="font-size: x-small;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContentSecondary fcg"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Me: Go take a shower, kiddo.<br /> Him: I can't. It's too dangerous.<br /> Me: Well that's a new one.<br />
Him: It's scary. It's too hot. I could slip. Soap will get in my eye. I
don't like it. I'm not dirty. There is a spooky monster in the shower
named William who eats people.<br /> <br /> ... Shoot. This is going to be more complicated than I realized.</span> </span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-26974704307149968202013-10-02T04:22:00.000-04:002013-10-02T04:22:53.255-04:00full circle<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #666666;">we've come full circle, staying in the beautiful B&B where we began the year ...<span style="color: black;"> </span><br />with two weeks until home. </span></span></span></div>
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</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-16956580418254340272013-09-27T11:52:00.001-04:002013-10-22T12:45:57.183-04:00Finding The Perfect Jeans : A Rant<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I had the perfect blue jeans, once. They were used when I got them. They had just reached that beautiful stage of 'broken in' and <i>I </i>didn't even have to do the work to get them there. Unfortunately this also meant that their life expectancy was short, at best, and of course the original store no longer stocked them (since they were perfect). I wore them constantly, until they shredded into cutoffs and then less than cutoffs, and then one day I looked for them in my closet and all I found was a small pile of faded blue thread.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Actually I threw them out before they completely disintegrated. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And now I am on the hunt, once again, for the perfect pair of jeans. You know, the kind that make you feel slim and tall and sexy (even when you are not); the go-to jeans that never let you down when all of your other clothes are, suddenly and inexplicably, ugly. The kind you can dress up with heels for evenings out, and dress down with tank tops for Monday mornings. You could wear them on a roadtrip and never notice, they're so comfortable.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">(Do they<i> </i>even exist? you may very well ask. And while we're at it, what <i>is </i>the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything?)</span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Despite the fact that this kind of 'hunt' is best accomplished if you actually <i>go to</i> a store (or All The Stores), and try on a pair or two (or All The Pairs) - and is subsequently exhausting and disheartening and often futile - <i>I</i> am looking online. I'd prefer to order All The Wrong Jeans and then return All The Wrong Jeans than to live through another shopping spree like this. Ever. Again.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">With Anyone. (I'm just going to throw that in, for any of my girlfriends who may be reading this. Don't ask me to go jean shopping with you. I will refuse.)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">But (surprise, surprise) I'm not having much luck.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">At this point in my life, all I want is a normal looking pair of jeans. That's not asking too much, is it? Yes! It IS! They don't make normal jeans anymore. They make things that go with descriptions like this one: <b><i>These super-sexy-super-skinny-super-low-strategically-holey-acid-washed-primarily-elastine-bleached-cigarrete pants - with five pockets!</i> </b>(they say this like I should be impressed) <i><b>are perfect for a Nashville rock look when combined with your studded leather biker jacket and five-inch heels!</b></i></span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Well terrific. I will buy them just as soon as I join a biker gang or turn into Keith Urban.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And the models? Really? Is it also too much to ask that they stand in fairly normal positions when modeling the pants? Yes! It IS! Because clearly I will want to buy them even more if they are posing erotically with a shiny Ken-doll man (who, incidentally, is wearing <i>the same pants</i>)! To think, my new Perfect Jeans may someday be on the cover of a cheap romance novel. Of course, this would be the ultimate affirmation to me that I have, in fact, bought the correct item.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Other poses that will make me buy your jeans:</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Knees-in, Calves-out, Point-the-right-toe Pose</b>. I don't know how else to describe this, but no one in their right mind stands like that. If I get in a car accident and am permanently disfigured in this exact position, then I will consider buying your pants. Although how I will put them on in the first place is beyond me.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>The High-Knee Crossover Pose</b>. I mean, do you have to pee? If I put my left leg down, are these pants still going to look like pants?</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>The Scissor-Walk Pose</b>. No one else in The Whole World has legs as long as you, I get it. You win. So could you please just direct me to the jeans that will go
to my hips, not my chin? I'll buy a shirt for that, thanks.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>The Shirt Pose</b>. I'm sorry, I know this isn't about your shirt - but if you are going to stretch it way out to the left like that, then I probably won't even notice your jeans. I'm much too interested in what you're going to do after you let go, and half your shirt is hanging down to your ankles while the other half is still crop-top.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>The Booty Pose</b>. You are unbelievably sexy, yes - but I will actually need to see the front of your pants at some point. I know you think it's unnecessary, but I'd like to know they
actually <i>have</i> a front before I purchase them.</span></span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>The Tricky Pose</b>. I'm just saying, some of these look tricky enough to be painful. Here's a little tip from me to you: if you're standing in a position that makes you look like you have a hernia, I don't want your pants.</span></span></span><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">While I'm on the topic, I have two final requests. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>1)</b> I think I'd stand a better chance of finding the perfect jeans if, in your product descriptions, you <i>did not </i>find it necessary to use any of the following words: </span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Whiskered</b>. (Are we referring to the various lines primarily fanning out from the zipper? Good thinking. Because it's every girls dream to have whiskers like that, there.)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Rodeo</b>. (Are you going to throw in a free pair of stirrups? They don't have to be new; just give me the ones you used to do that whisker thing.)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Surprise Rhinestones</b>. (Imagine that. And, why?)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Brittney</b>. (...)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Curious</b>. (Yes. I've seen this.)</span></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>Foil</b>. (Whatever that means.)</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">And <b>2)</b></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Could you please refrain from writing '<b>Congratulations! Free Shipping For You</b>!!!!!' (like it's a lucky, undeserved bonus) next to the product that will (presumably) take half a lifetime to find and then cost $500 (as well as my arm and leg and firstborn child)? I want the free shipping, I do, but <i>really</i>. </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">It's the least you could do.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-74649967209977978722013-09-27T05:42:00.000-04:002013-09-27T05:42:02.062-04:00So Long Little Studio<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br />m o v i n g t o m o r r o w</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZdfShISKAzpFJKDT1CuyuYWFBXPIDOF4T3w9p5K346bkGkOofAV6MbbjvsuRVyfAik2GZQiRTe3C-7Eg64mS-q3C7zOu9_V5rXsfNp4bmyUpMggkLBuDF5XdfLxOUgY6iOpWr7leFlH1/s1600/9a1c8a76275511e38dba22000a1f97e5_7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzZdfShISKAzpFJKDT1CuyuYWFBXPIDOF4T3w9p5K346bkGkOofAV6MbbjvsuRVyfAik2GZQiRTe3C-7Eg64mS-q3C7zOu9_V5rXsfNp4bmyUpMggkLBuDF5XdfLxOUgY6iOpWr7leFlH1/s1600/9a1c8a76275511e38dba22000a1f97e5_7.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">The
studio apartment is empty again - everything gone but the bed, the
coffee maker, and the things we'll take with us; mostly packed. We move
into a B&B tomorrow. Feels a little like camping in your own living
room, eating cold cereal from styrofoam bowls, cups and pillows and tiny
plastic pirates scattered across the floor.</span></span></span> <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"></span></span></span> </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">Seems odd that our two and half years in Denmark are almost up.<br />Odder still, we have no idea where we're going next.<br />Actually, I like that about us.</span></span></span> </blockquote>
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</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-71965193062434526692013-09-25T10:33:00.003-04:002013-09-25T10:35:38.524-04:00Roadtrip, Days 17-21 // Germany<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">This bird lives in Zurich and has nothing to do with the post I am about to write. </span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">Photo-op the morning we left Switzerland, with Tim's colleague NingYu. <br />As you can see, none of us are morning people. </span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">Before Germany, we went to Liechtenstein (so we could say, 'Hey, we've been to Liechtenstein' - what else). At the risk of sounding moronic, I'll admit I didn't realize this was a country until we were there. You can drive from one end to the other in less than half an hour, and it looks exactly like Switzerland. We had coffee and sent a couple postcards (and yes, we thought about Sir Ulrich quite a bit on our way out). <br /><br />Incidentally, Liechtenstein is officially the 18th country Isaac has visited. Lucky little five year old.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">Afterwards, we drove to <span class="st">Neuschwanstein Castle and took the tour of the finished rooms. Whereas the Bavarian countryside was stunning ...</span></span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjff9pFW96BmQe9xa1ujMJwWspskXkizUMkWigDskBKM_OQW_im12HTtkasBJ_r7eqLNWbf93B3Kh9WETenV6Wb0tJhIb1NQzXujZfVOjPfpGwjsBiRvw4RznYf2qsQCj77tHrsO3Q01aaT/s1600/DSC_0030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjff9pFW96BmQe9xa1ujMJwWspskXkizUMkWigDskBKM_OQW_im12HTtkasBJ_r7eqLNWbf93B3Kh9WETenV6Wb0tJhIb1NQzXujZfVOjPfpGwjsBiRvw4RznYf2qsQCj77tHrsO3Q01aaT/s1600/DSC_0030.JPG" /></a></span></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"> ... The castle itself was a bit disappointing. The photos we'd seen on postcards were taken from the air and beautifully photoshopped, and did not at all resemble the castle we were able to see from ground-view on an overcast day. It did, however, come with a charming story:</span></span></span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">Once upon a time, Ludwig II built the castle as a homage to Richard Wagner, and, after spending an eternity and a fortune on the intricate designs and advanced technology (including a real telephone, which he could never use because no one else he knew actually had one), he was only able to live there for a short time before he was informed of his own insanity and removed to a facility where he drowned.<br /><br />It's a great story. If they make a movie, I will definitely not watch it.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBHbTHAVaMRJxPzEUCbF7agNpq92vww7Zc7iO3QUHntriYrkvcPp7MBX3PKZHNf_WqFtVu5VtW5rezz6MVaLuDrCO4rkJoe0MQ7b2b8MJe8Xm0quV0PcLh717uh4ZhbJQbbwfDYDm1YGFM/s1600/DSC_0046.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBHbTHAVaMRJxPzEUCbF7agNpq92vww7Zc7iO3QUHntriYrkvcPp7MBX3PKZHNf_WqFtVu5VtW5rezz6MVaLuDrCO4rkJoe0MQ7b2b8MJe8Xm0quV0PcLh717uh4ZhbJQbbwfDYDm1YGFM/s1600/DSC_0046.JPG" /></a></span></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">We spent the night at a hostel in <span class="st">Heidelberg, and explored the charming downtown area the following morning. Cobbled streets, colorful </span><span class="st"><span class="st">cafés</span> (pictured next to Liechtenstein)</span>,
public outdoor weddings. This was the fifth or sixth wedding party we'd
seen since leaving Denmark, and by far my favorite because the bride
wore a pillbox hat with a netted veil, the groom smoked a cigar on his way out the door, and the getaway car was vintage. <br /><br />After Heidelberg we continued on to <span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">Wolfshagen Im Harz, a quiet village just outside Berlin, and a last minute alteration to our roadtrip because we didn't feel like staying in Heidelberg another night - and the restaurant-hotel we'd found (run by a friendly couple from Montenegro) was practically the same price as the hostel. </span><br /><br />In the morning, after a little laundromat detour ... (the friendliest laundromat in the world - one man even stopped to wish me well on his way out the door. Actually what he said was, <span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">"Good luck with your wash. I hope it will be clean enough." And I think I said thank you but now I'm not sure; it was a confusing moment for me) ... <br /><br />... We continued on to Berlin.<br /> </span></span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXYIzxgJqwaXCMigTkuMgbyZ7cNKzb5B4Y_eHSWA6nMPLyiTdJex-jzYHkEBhwvSVrKLslKDC_GKTZ5yfK5VMubn_RJ7JIzpHuaU-u0nyBtmYAmObYdN3qoeAPT0-GgYf8V4kEU7hYw4DJ/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXYIzxgJqwaXCMigTkuMgbyZ7cNKzb5B4Y_eHSWA6nMPLyiTdJex-jzYHkEBhwvSVrKLslKDC_GKTZ5yfK5VMubn_RJ7JIzpHuaU-u0nyBtmYAmObYdN3qoeAPT0-GgYf8V4kEU7hYw4DJ/s1600/2.jpg" /></a></span></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">We stayed in Berlin two nights, canvased much of the downtown area by foot and visited several monuments as well as the Checkpoint Charlie museum. <br /><br />We could have stayed in the museum for hours, just taking in the stories, photographs, and art displayed on all the walls - the heartbreak and hardship interspersed with ingenious escape plans and moving paintings about how the wall affected the citizens of Berlin.<br /><br />In particular, I loved this quote by philosopher Ernst Bloch:</span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">'The testimony of artists
and poets has enabled us to understand the hopes in the past and so to
recognize the potentials of the future.'</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ZEtKuRVwg-5THaqDzC2C14-8R9itxQQ653oRRnNqZFUggCbcypEthQtKgmFWRaTvBYUYPYHejtUQNgSZAGVNpeNYVjtHW9ta_tg_J-bRufcJY_MKVH5efTLFSPB11S_fx92dU8YaISb_/s1600/DSC_0018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0ZEtKuRVwg-5THaqDzC2C14-8R9itxQQ653oRRnNqZFUggCbcypEthQtKgmFWRaTvBYUYPYHejtUQNgSZAGVNpeNYVjtHW9ta_tg_J-bRufcJY_MKVH5efTLFSPB11S_fx92dU8YaISb_/s1600/DSC_0018.JPG" /></a></span></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">Isaac, pre-haircut, standing in front of a BMW Isetta. The Isetta was considered too small to transport hidden passengers, and was subsequently exempt from inspection. Of course, someone figured out how to modify the 'trunk' space in order to fit a small person inside, and then used it to carry several people to freedom. They were only discovered after an untimely sneeze which shook the whole vehicle while the driver was standing outside ... and it was all up for the Isetta after that. </span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCkIalvp5WATaqYE6WyIe02-mol3SKoj-1Sbv2f8J1mT0vuLkz3GTVfN1j-gJJ9QqiZDNoYkgBHoQp4-zd5oQABFqmG1IzrxWf_BfcNOkZKZMiKGn6J7oMaJVuaThz2Cr5wDL7GxlQX-L4/s1600/DSC_0026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCkIalvp5WATaqYE6WyIe02-mol3SKoj-1Sbv2f8J1mT0vuLkz3GTVfN1j-gJJ9QqiZDNoYkgBHoQp4-zd5oQABFqmG1IzrxWf_BfcNOkZKZMiKGn6J7oMaJVuaThz2Cr5wDL7GxlQX-L4/s1600/DSC_0026.JPG" /></a></span></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">Tim and Isaac standing in front of a remaining piece of the Berlin Wall. <br /><br />There are several pieces like this one throughout the entire city, transformed into art and occasionally connected by a stone path that marks where the wall once stood.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi85eRp-qiNQqP1OMb0yoRvOev1hjjIfVrx-umTmATf33kLVGeDTe8mLaWL9HtgN8so_uJCeShdG3lRuMo34kRv07S9umzJL5Yl1PHjUGd8Wb1jW5XhCl8-Agdex8h-1JZa8R8BEzBuUA-j/s1600/4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi85eRp-qiNQqP1OMb0yoRvOev1hjjIfVrx-umTmATf33kLVGeDTe8mLaWL9HtgN8so_uJCeShdG3lRuMo34kRv07S9umzJL5Yl1PHjUGd8Wb1jW5XhCl8-Agdex8h-1JZa8R8BEzBuUA-j/s1600/4.jpg" /></a></span></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">Me and my babe (post haircut).<br /><br />We also visited the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe - pictured below. The memorial is composed of over 2700 concrete slabs of varying heights and arranged across a paved, sloping landscape of just under 5 acres. Although the memorial is said to have created much controversy, I found it beautiful. It isn't something you can overlook, and once you've seen it you have to ask what it means. <br /><br />And so art continues to tell a story.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nUBcmPH7b4a7sO479DSXYR9hEPBv7Zfl7-twdtaCFunKJH9PUfSCGcQ43M37PiovSXCn5jqp1u4rJCc2HGCPjQvfaoQoMYgvEbiA1Ro1XbxP7aox_03Gh1yxbxTObF4OktVD1z5lH-TC/s1600/DSC_0066.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nUBcmPH7b4a7sO479DSXYR9hEPBv7Zfl7-twdtaCFunKJH9PUfSCGcQ43M37PiovSXCn5jqp1u4rJCc2HGCPjQvfaoQoMYgvEbiA1Ro1XbxP7aox_03Gh1yxbxTObF4OktVD1z5lH-TC/s1600/DSC_0066.JPG" /></a></span></span></span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">... And the next day we went home.<br /><br />21
days, 2 trains, 2 planes, 5000+ km in the car, 10 countries, 11 beds,
hundreds of photos, an extraordinary amount of Asian cuisine (don't
ask), and a 'clean enough' load of laundry later ... And we were finally
back in Denmark!</span> </span></span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">It's odd to arrive in a country that is not your
own, and yet feel such an overwhelming sense of relief that everything
is, once again, familiar.</span></span></span></span></blockquote>
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</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-2617434871464249012013-09-19T18:09:00.000-04:002013-09-19T18:09:18.226-04:00Maison Blunt, Zurich<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br />Loved everything about this Moroccan restaurant in downtown Zurich. The floor tiles, natural lighting, mismatched chairs and soft-wood tabletops, notebook paper menus, blue glass and fresh cut flowers, and the food - oh, the food. So many ideas for my someday coffeehouse.<br /></span></span></span><br />
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</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-22671054949030035012013-09-18T10:20:00.000-04:002013-09-18T12:27:41.061-04:00Road Trip, Day 10-15 // Switzerland (so far)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">'Ohh! Beautiful! Gorgeous. Wish you were here.' </span></span></span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_vcF3LdPURnh8How0m6_2uLccVyMVjN33XAmrTduMqKsnHSQcFM-FSZc-l-y9JzqBWTwhzFuPVAhZO88L8NYZ5tU0E1KlYt5XtIe_faTEk7Lb72tmcNHKzGNxHAtydgpNdKFZjngAdVD4/s1600/DSC_0231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_vcF3LdPURnh8How0m6_2uLccVyMVjN33XAmrTduMqKsnHSQcFM-FSZc-l-y9JzqBWTwhzFuPVAhZO88L8NYZ5tU0E1KlYt5XtIe_faTEk7Lb72tmcNHKzGNxHAtydgpNdKFZjngAdVD4/s1600/DSC_0231.JPG" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">After leaving Lake Garda, we drove up Swiss Hwy. 6, through the mountain pass - from warm and sunny Italy to chilly snow-capped mountain tops - with so many breath-taking views. </span></span></span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">As much as I loved seeing this, I was very happy in Lake Garda, in the sun, in my little dresses. The farther we drove up the mountain the sadder I got ... and the happier Tim became (he loves the great outdoors, as long as they are freezing).<br /><br />But it was worth it, to see this:</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlpfo_Ata4NmmZwetGE8AJIohSVF5oZgE-_3vlyqUwchGCNHLEaQB-0xmD0KHPdW4ttihe5E3zgNdzbXgIrIc6doRDi-uir8rDUu6qfSrWQqyl6CwSWRWxGlbUrWuoEAWPHKTwRYxZEMq2/s1600/DSC_0263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlpfo_Ata4NmmZwetGE8AJIohSVF5oZgE-_3vlyqUwchGCNHLEaQB-0xmD0KHPdW4ttihe5E3zgNdzbXgIrIc6doRDi-uir8rDUu6qfSrWQqyl6CwSWRWxGlbUrWuoEAWPHKTwRYxZEMq2/s1600/DSC_0263.JPG" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">We were booked to stay in Bern two nights, but cancelled the second and decided to wing it. Bern is a beautiful (and very clean) city - but after one Saturday at the outdoor market, being pushed and prodded by crowds of people - we were more than ready to head back to the hills. </span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">Confession: Sometimes when I am surrounded by throngs of people, I get the overwhelming urge to reenact a scene from Undercover Blues - you know, the one in which Kathleen Turner's character pretends to have a seizure, falls on the ground, and starts kicking and thrashing at the crowd. <br /><br />I am more than a little concerned about this development in my personality. <br />I don't wish to discuss it any longer.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtyQAXrPOkxHzNaNX55CXT-W6jAf3ScnB7miBsbKt2Ajkc1RSLiAu5i3bOQZSZlYue8GRoao-9rYMM5fuAyniFTU-V5-_CkNPw-3UXozpPZomZFUb3_kgHVfJ_ZWjDLLW0cu4ttFy_JSEc/s1600/DSC_0286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtyQAXrPOkxHzNaNX55CXT-W6jAf3ScnB7miBsbKt2Ajkc1RSLiAu5i3bOQZSZlYue8GRoao-9rYMM5fuAyniFTU-V5-_CkNPw-3UXozpPZomZFUb3_kgHVfJ_ZWjDLLW0cu4ttFy_JSEc/s1600/DSC_0286.JPG" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">In a coffeehouse in Bern. Apparently it's become a 'thing' of mine to photograph elderly gentlemen in coffeehouses when travelling. I can't help it - look at how adorable he is. <br /><br />Me and my babe. He is definitely my kid - you can tell.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvE5CtxAgXUr1skciO4S-QxwuOsEJg3nOMFZUW50Q175tsL2vjXBvKlZkyQGZmZCgXX9mscgq2NkyYlXEZ60RJknX0ULLaDQ0cetv41PG6gCfCfwHn_3y6Hty1vcdg5uujNvedF8CO_2A3/s1600/DSC_0300.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvE5CtxAgXUr1skciO4S-QxwuOsEJg3nOMFZUW50Q175tsL2vjXBvKlZkyQGZmZCgXX9mscgq2NkyYlXEZ60RJknX0ULLaDQ0cetv41PG6gCfCfwHn_3y6Hty1vcdg5uujNvedF8CO_2A3/s1600/DSC_0300.JPG" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br />After leaving Bern we ended up in Eigenthal - a handkerchief-sized hamlet in the middle of the Alps - so small it didn't even make the map. </span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">... So naturally we decided to stay, because Tim loves the mountains best and I am (apparently) turning into one of <i>those </i>people ... you've met them - the ones who drive for days just to visit a tiny town in the Northeast Georgia mountains, to 'oooh' and 'awww' over the falling leaves. The ones I always thought were kooks as a kid. I have joined their ranks: "LOOK! A COW! ANOTHER COW! A TREE! A ROCK! LOOK AT ME! I AM ON A RUN! I AM RUNNING BETWEEN THE TREE AND THE ROCK! ISN'T THIS <i>LITERALLY</i> THE BEST THING IN THE WORLD?!"<br /><br />Yep. <br /><br />Just us, a handful of homes, and dozens of cows with brass bells around their necks.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">It was a perfect night. <br />And the next day we left for Zurich:</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvNSQdrU0cFRe4bV26Mves_VIkEl5JUeowUBPeOP8cTNSwSFvWL_fdQhbG9keSdqVctbxIjOuuABKkBbtVXzd0SfrvAZ6qPkLbO5zLP0CVzRmQCTzfj-l694HdGTfr1q03dVV3Vwh5y2Ua/s1600/DSC_0062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvNSQdrU0cFRe4bV26Mves_VIkEl5JUeowUBPeOP8cTNSwSFvWL_fdQhbG9keSdqVctbxIjOuuABKkBbtVXzd0SfrvAZ6qPkLbO5zLP0CVzRmQCTzfj-l694HdGTfr1q03dVV3Vwh5y2Ua/s1600/DSC_0062.JPG" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">Today is our fourth day in Zurich and we will leave Friday morning. Tim is attending a Thermoelectrics conference this week, and Isaac and I are doing a little sight-seeing and a little hibernating. There's been a lot of rain.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuO2qZPw3bRiPPp8jGirMtiMHTFJ0gXdQlL2MdU60Me8Ch7M1Fj-rLgdYcnqcUNnzrxMcPBIcHdw2ElaKgI31WLoar8oE0jZczkb_ro06Zicgwp1Jr1Z7kNusW2FVEcT9PfGej1tlAbfxZ/s1600/DSC_0108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuO2qZPw3bRiPPp8jGirMtiMHTFJ0gXdQlL2MdU60Me8Ch7M1Fj-rLgdYcnqcUNnzrxMcPBIcHdw2ElaKgI31WLoar8oE0jZczkb_ro06Zicgwp1Jr1Z7kNusW2FVEcT9PfGej1tlAbfxZ/s1600/DSC_0108.JPG" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">Zurich is classy - a city of fine dining and upscale shopping where I am entirely out of place (she says, while typing away on a laptop that is coming apart at the seams, and wearing a secondhand Free People sweater that may actually be more hobo than boho).</span></span></span></span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">They do have excellent parks (but they are mostly wet), and excellent cafes (but they are mostly expensive) ... And we are on a budget (which we've more or less been on for two years, and is how we've managed to take this trip in the first place. And by that, yes I do mean that we've been living in a kitchenless one-room apartment on a fairly bland diet in clothes that are unraveling). </span></span></span> <br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">I think this place considers me its equal, so I took a picture of it:</span></span></span></span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_-Q_oIzIAA5KgV_VvnEwJe2PoITdfN0xJXPpvFO8WQbAHzxb9-Tdl8nScHwbsYT6E06MpCVoL0-i9B9N8xz5G4dpIFAhfLI3Xb3mE99sDTbppcPYT5Kdg2RP-ky56DoJDEKAFsSNmrr63/s1600/DSC_0036.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_-Q_oIzIAA5KgV_VvnEwJe2PoITdfN0xJXPpvFO8WQbAHzxb9-Tdl8nScHwbsYT6E06MpCVoL0-i9B9N8xz5G4dpIFAhfLI3Xb3mE99sDTbppcPYT5Kdg2RP-ky56DoJDEKAFsSNmrr63/s1600/DSC_0036.JPG" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">Then again ... I didn't check its prices so there's a good chance I can't afford it, either.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">Luckily, the hotel has a complimentary breakfast and we were able to find a nearby grocery store to buy lunch food. Dinners we eat out with Tim's colleague(s) - Chinese food (authentic, home-cooked, compliments of friends we met stateside - !), Mexican food (last night), and tonight maybe Moroccan (we are hoping to go into multicultural shock - 10 countries in 3 weeks and food from Everywhere Else). <br /><br />Yes we are trying things from the countries we visit as well. In particular, I am trying to taste all their wines (does this count?).</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">It was in Zurich that we discovered Isaac's undying love for umbrellas. As you can see. Fortunately for us, he insists on carrying one wherever we go. Unfortunately for us, he also thinks they are light-sabers.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #444444;">Window shopping. We've done a lot of window shopping over the past few days. Incidentally, Zurich has an expensive antique teddy bear shop, an expensive flamboyant hat shop, two expensive secondhand shops, and, I'm sorry to say, what appears to be an entire shop dedicated to expensive wooden mushrooms. <br /><br />The good news is ... I've seen many men who resemble George Clooney (for whatever reason), and that has been delightful.</span></span></span></blockquote>
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</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-7699586202765422902013-09-16T06:34:00.000-04:002013-09-16T06:34:06.211-04:00Roadtrip, Day 9 // Lake Garda<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Lake Garda, Italy. Clear blue water surrounded by colorful villages, towering Alps, and green vineyards - one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. </span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We stayed two nights, explored the little towns, soaked up some sun, had some pizza, went swimming, took a long run beside the water ... And then headed off for the Alps. </span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As you can see by the size of my cup (beside Isaac), Italians don't believe in coffee-to-go. Or coffee in substantial cups. So I took the paper shot glass and fell asleep within the hour. <br /> </span></span></span></blockquote>
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</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-71980307742393472472013-09-14T15:31:00.003-04:002013-09-14T15:31:52.043-04:00Roadtrip, Day 7 // Venice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">Clearly I have failed my goal to blog-post daily about this roadtrip. In my defense, I had no idea we wouldn't have internet when traveling. Supposedly we will have access while staying in Zurich over the next few days (where Tim has a Thermoelectrics conference until Friday) - and also tonight! We are staying in a beautiful village in the middle of the Alps.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">So. I left off at Venice.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">A storybook city of canals. We stayed in an adorable B&B in Marghera, just a ten minute bus ride away from Venice, and visited the city by day. I liked it best in the early morning, before the throng of tourists arrived, when the shops were still closed and the cafe's just opening. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">A city of carnival masks, canals, window-box gardens, and colorful, narrow alleys. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">We had breakfast at Cafe Doge, which we'd read had The Best Coffee In Venice ... and I think it's actually true. Possibly The Best Coffee in Europe. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">At breakfast, sitting outside in the alley.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">I adored the waterfront homes, with their small boats tied up and waiting; the marketplace, with fresh fish and vegetables; and the colors of the city. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">And yes, I did the tourist thing and bought a mask. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">The following morning, we visited Verona - saw the Arena as well as Romeo and Juliet's balcony (and also the statue of Juliet, although we didn't quite make it close enough to rub her breast for luck - how did this become a tradition? I have no idea, but one breast is indeed far shinier than the other). </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">And then we drove into heaven. I mean, wine country. <span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"> Red
and yellow villas with apricot-colored rooftops, miles and miles of
perfect green vines, and hazy blue Alps in the distance. We took a private tour of Le
Bignele Vineyard (which I definitely recommend, if you're in the area) and tasted five wines - Roso Veronese, and four
Valpolicellas: Classico Superiore, Ripasso, Amarone , and Recioto
Classico. I loved all but the last (Tim's favorite). </span></span></span></span> <br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">And then we left for Lake Garda ... which is, quite possibly, one of the most beautiful places on earth. I will post about it once we get to Zurich.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444;">This is my kid road-tripping with his bright blue headphones. </span></span></span><span class="userContent" data-ft="{"tn":"K"}">♥</span><br />
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</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-4667570229294694592013-09-09T17:30:00.003-04:002013-09-14T14:58:26.356-04:00Roadtrip, Day 6 // Croatia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5GLn2EY-HYN5j-Fd_JzVwmhGb_qOdlBFIrMuqNFHgw3o5-FyMQ1dNHSJq34urO98ubht6ahUaKbL9o6Gmy1UH1nwTkzI54f2nVYOxC5aZR0xPtJnR_xXCFne2_Vgasr12pbn5Whdo6PWi/s1600/BIKE'.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5GLn2EY-HYN5j-Fd_JzVwmhGb_qOdlBFIrMuqNFHgw3o5-FyMQ1dNHSJq34urO98ubht6ahUaKbL9o6Gmy1UH1nwTkzI54f2nVYOxC5aZR0xPtJnR_xXCFne2_Vgasr12pbn5Whdo6PWi/s1600/BIKE'.JPG" /></a></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Where the sun is. Such a warm, colorful, salty place. </span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I could stay here forever, in a boat on the marina ... </span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Or in one of the painted houses with the wash hanging on the line to dry. </span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The Roadtrip So Far, on Instagram: </span></span></i></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i><span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">http://instagram.com/laurenholgate#</span></span></i></span></span></span></i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer"><div><hr class="grey"/></div>
</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-77075286419306107392013-09-08T18:48:00.001-04:002013-09-09T17:30:55.352-04:00Roadtrip, Day 5 // Budapest to Croatia <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<![endif]--><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #404040;">We left Budapest this morning, and are on our way to
Croatia. Every so often, Tim stops and squints at a sign, and says, “But WHAT
does it mean?!” And then we just keep going.</span></span></span>
<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #404040;">It took us a long time to get out of Budapest because
apparently Hungarians do not believe in left turns. Or breakfast food. Which is
unfortunate.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #404040;">That being said, they’ve got the coffee thing down
pat. </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #404040;">We had coffee this morning at Eco Café on Andrassy
Avenue, and I think I’m in love. It’s an organic coffeehouse with some of the
best coffee I’ve had in Europe, and the building is beautiful - high ceilings,
white walls, hardwood floors, and natural lighting. The front steps are lined
with potted herbs, and there are wooden crates filled with fresh oranges,
organic pastries in paper bags, and burlap-covered notebooks. It has the
perfect feel for a coffeehouse.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #404040;">Halfway through our drinks, the Nike half-marathon
runners filed past the window, and all the running-addicts in the café started
twitching. Or possibly it was just me. Life in Denmark has turned me into some
kind of weirdo who thinks she <i>has</i> to
run<i> </i>whenever she sees other people
running. I’m hoping I’ll be able to run in Croatia tonight.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #404040;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #404040;">I am a little sorry to leave Budapest. It is one of my
favorite European cities so far, and there is so much left to explore. Of
course, the upside in taking a roadtrip like this is that you get to see a
great deal in a small amount of time, and you spend less. (Our only option,
considering time and monetary restrictions, and not a bad one at that.) The
downside is that you don’t get to fully explore your surroundings, meet the
locals, know the good spots – although sometimes I think that in order to <i>really</i> see a city you must live there
for a bit. </span></span></span>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #404040;">... But you do what you can to see what you can, for
the love of travel, and you understand the world better for it. (Unless you are
five, in which case you are primarily pleased with the helium balloon your
father bought for you in the park, and you pose for a series of photographs
across Europe only to please your mother … who now has a flipbook of you
standing before stunning cities and historical monuments, your expression
disinterested and slightly hostile.)</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #404040;">Budapest is overflowing in monuments, museums, and cathedrals,
and although the architecture hasn’t been maintained as well as, say, Prague,
or modernized like parts of Vienna, it has a distinct cultural and historical
feel that makes it beautiful. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #404040;">We spent yesterday wandering the streets by foot
(doing the tourist thing, with the camera, as always), admiring St. Stephen’s
Basilica and Buda Castle, crossing the Szechenyi Chain Bridge over the Danube
and taking the footpath up Castle Hill (where I took five hundred photos of the
river flowing between Buda and Pest), and stopping in at little cafés for
drinks, ice cream, and people-watching. I only wish I knew which Hungarian wine
the waitress brought me when I asked for ‘dry, white, local’ (which is, sadly,
the extent of my wine preference and/or knowledge). </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #404040;">We also took a tour of the Hungarian State Opera House
and learned the history of the building, as well as other amusing facts
including how the King of Vienna was offended that the Budapest Opera House was
more beautiful than his own, although smaller, and left halfway through the
first performance. Due to the Hungarian customs, his royal box could not be
used by anyone unless he was present (aside from Madonna, who recently occupied
the box on a visit to Hungary), and his queen had to choose a new box for
herself. She chose the top left, where she could only see half the performance,
but could <i>be seen </i>by the entire
auditorium - which suited her, because she was exceedingly vain. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #404040;">After the tour they treated us to a mini-opera in the
royal bar room, which was beautiful and moving and the only live opera singing
I’ve ever heard (although probably I should stop admitting things like this,
what with my recent confessions regarding my cheap shoes, my wine ignorance,
and my preference for hostels over hotels). Someday I will go to the
opera and it won’t be in a bar.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #404040;">Unfortunately we missed the circus (it seemed only fitting that we
celebrate Tim’s 31<sup>st</sup> birthday at the circus since we went to the zoo
for my birthday), but apparently it doesn’t come to Budapest until mid-October.
Eh well, next time, right? Instead, and despite our tired feet, we took a
little detour through Hero’s Square and the surrounding neighborhoods, stopped
somewhere for dinner, and got ourselves a little preview of the city night life
(there’s only so much you can do with a five year old in tow). </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #404040;">We were almost back to our room when we saw the
beautiful lights flying above the Parliament building, floating and swirling in
the sky like hundreds of fireflies, if fireflies were the size of swallows. I
asked a local what they were, and she said she didn’t know, she had never seen
them before - but we should thank the city for the view.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #404040;">If you know, please tell me. I want to buy some and
set them free above my someday-coffeehouse - and then, when asked what they
are, I will say, “Oh, those are fireflies from Budapest.”</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: #404040;">… later that night …</span></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #404040;">P.S. Hi Mom. We made it to Northern Croatia after many
hours driving through the countryside of Slovenia (think West Virginia). We are
staying in a small coastal town by the marina, and tomorrow night we’ll be on
our way to Venice. Much love.</span></span></span></div>
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</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-39331970066410925652013-09-06T19:43:00.000-04:002013-09-14T15:32:41.993-04:00Roadtrip, Day 3 // Road-Trippin'. And Vienna.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Friday. Woke
up in Czech Republic, had lunch in Slovakia, accidentally detoured through
Austria, going to sleep in Hungary. Feeling lucky and exhausted.</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #666666;"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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beautiful, diverse. The grime and bustle
of daily city life is overshadowed by stunning architecture, and overrun by
several dozen nationalities.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Like other European
cities, the streets are lined in cafes with outdoor seating, where the crowds
comingle to the tune of wandering street musicians, or stand by with beer and
ice cream. This should happen more often in the States. If nothing else, there
should be more gelato.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">We did our
own private walking tour on Thursday, crossing the broad Charles Bridge and
making our way up to the beautiful castle gardens, then down to an outdoor
market with wine and cheese and handmade goods, live music, and oh, the food –
big woks with oysters, fat pretzels and sausages, and cartons of mixed fruit so
ripe you could smell it just walking by. We bought tomato and chorizo baguettes
for one euro fifty and carried them through the park, across another bridge, and
all the way to the Globe Bookstore, where they truly appreciate Hemingway, coffee,
and spiral staircases. Which, in my opinion, is always a good thing.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">We got lost.
I think this is a good way to explore a city. I could be wrong.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">At 8
o’clock, we joined the throng below the old clock tower, and watched the hourly
appearance of the twelve apostles (while the skeleton rang a bell). I’ll admit
I was a little disappointed when nothing popped out of the tiny door to
announce the top of the hour, but it was fun standing there with all those
people, waiting for something else to happen and then sheepishly disbanding
when it didn’t.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">… And then
we had Chinese food. Odd as it may sound, we make a point to eat one meal at an
Asian restaurant in all the European cities we visit. It’s kind of our ‘thing’.
It started two years ago, in Paris, when we stumbled across this amazing
Vietnamese restaurant where you share a table outdoors with the other diners.
We loved it so much we went back two or three times … and apparently it was even
more habit-forming than we realized.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Road-Tripping</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Left Prague
bright and early this morning.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The
playlist: Tunng, Head and the Heart, Paper Kites, Bob Dylan - interrupted whenever we felt it necessary to yell out the names of street signs as
if we actually knew what they said. Yes, with fake accents. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">So far,
Isaac’s proven himself to be a real trooper on the road. Makes me so proud, kid
after my own heart. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Bratislava</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">After
endless cornfields and dried sunflowers with bent, brown heads, we stopped off
for lunch in Slovakia. On first encounter, Bratislava seemed grimy and confusing,
but hidden behind all that was a surprisingly sweet city center. We had
risotto, </span><i><span style="font-style: normal;">Mediterranean
salad</span></i><span style="line-height: 115%;">, and
flatbread while watching a percussion street performance, and then headed on
our way.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">And now I
can say I’ve been to Slovakia for lunch. Never thought that would happen.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Vienna</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Took a wrong
turn when leaving Bratislava and accidentally ended up in Austria (which isn’t difficult,
considering the proximity). Austria has the most windmills I’ve seen yet (Tim says we probably saw a couple hundred). They
are breath-taking; simple, white, clean - planted one after the other in
expansive green and golden fields.</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Since we
were already in Austria, we thought … what the heck, let’s go to Vienna – it’s only
35ish miles away. So we went to Vienna. Briefly, for drinks, and just long
enough to see St. Stephen’s Cathedral (breath-taking). Incidentally, going to
Viennna mid-road-trip is somewhat akin to crashing a classy party where you are
regrettably (and unapologetically) under-dressed. Also, my shoes cost less than
$900 (or fifteen, for that matter), so I was clearly out of place. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Eh well.
Nothing says roadtrip like Impromptu Detour.<br />Thank God Tim has innate navigational skills.<br />And yes, I do have the Billy Joel song stuck in my head. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Budapest</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"><br />Tonight we
sleep in Budapest, and tomorrow is Tim’s 31<sup>st</sup> birthday and a busy,
busy schedule. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">I will post photos. At some point. Somewhere.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span></span><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Goodnight,
world.</span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></span><span style="color: #666666;"></span><br />
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</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-7302197451044641792013-09-04T17:22:00.004-04:002013-09-04T17:22:58.398-04:00Roadtrip, Day 1 // Prague<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF4S04w_nMTP33zlab5dso9MblKkePaqvtmzQhp1-24_EyscKpLdOk89LM5iJhxBg7Nie_oJjtD7pQ6hFqAbSW-oQ-qU0H4KtHYpqlstXHohGLn3DMD1W45ZgVR67_-akoFtWBBorndPte/s1600/DSC_0015.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF4S04w_nMTP33zlab5dso9MblKkePaqvtmzQhp1-24_EyscKpLdOk89LM5iJhxBg7Nie_oJjtD7pQ6hFqAbSW-oQ-qU0H4KtHYpqlstXHohGLn3DMD1W45ZgVR67_-akoFtWBBorndPte/s1600/DSC_0015.JPG" /></a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">In Prague! And I have to hurry, because my internet reception is awful and keeps disappearing on me.<br /><br />Today: Flew into Germany (which we will revisit at the tail-end of this trip), picked up the rental car, had lunch in a small town just outside Berlin, and drove straight through to Prague - with a little detour along the Elbe. Did some sight-seeing (to be continued tomorrow). </span></span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">Prague is a colorful, bustling city with stunning architecture, open-air cafes on every corner, and endless street performers (some more talented than others, and some just plain ... odd. Like the whip-cracking kilt-wearing man whose parents, I'm sorry to say, are thoroughly baffled. Or at least I am). <br /><br />A beautiful first day. More to come. </span></span></span></blockquote>
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</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-89203304365985157852013-09-03T07:11:00.000-04:002013-09-03T07:11:24.256-04:00So Many Reasons <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">Tomorrow morning, bright and early, we're off on our European Adventure. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">(Yes I do like to unnecessarily capitalizing things, as if they were titles of novels.) </span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://data.whicdn.com/images/59940506/large.jpg"><span style="color: #999999;">{ s o u r c e }</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">I will try to write oh-so-brief blog posts every evening, for two reasons in particular: my mom's peace of mind (hi mom), and for Isaac. Someday he will be old enough to appreciate the fact that he took a roadtrip through eight or nine European countries, only by then the details will be all fuzzy ... Except for my blog posts! So, wala.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">My other goal for this trip is to take a break from myself. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">Let me explain. You know how when something really awful happens, it puts everything else into harsh perspective? All those daily things you were previously worried about become so small and insignificant. You take a break from thinking about them, because they honestly don't matter. Even the things you secretly hassle yourself about, making mountains of molehills inside your own head, suddenly diminish. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">I've been thinking it's time for me to start doing this on purpose. Sidestep the catastrophe and jump straight into the break. More to the point - refuse to let daily things dictate my mood. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">Free up some space to explore the person I am without all that. </span></span></span> </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">And no, this isn't a new thought - it's something I've always known I should do, and have intermittently tried (and failed) in the past. The problem is, I forget that it has to be a <i>conscious</i> effort - day in, day out. It absolutely does not work if you go into the day thinking 'we'll just see how it goes', or (even worse): not thinking about it at all.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">It's a commitment.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">Today I will <i>not</i> ... </span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">Worry about this specific thing. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">Be upset when it isn't perfect. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">Say something negative.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">Take this for granted.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">Regret that decision.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">Think less of myself.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">Be unkind.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">So on. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">Sure, starting on the verge of an adventure seems a little like cheating (it should be easier, right?), but it'll help jump-start me into conscious positivity. There really are so many reasons to be happy. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;">So, here we go. </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #666666;"> </span></span></span></div>
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</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8254674809489970643.post-10103378185677983002013-09-01T05:09:00.000-04:002013-09-01T05:09:55.758-04:00simplify<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY89-UN64ucBKBasZdQ75VWvBjVIKu1fZF1xqDAPbW9mOdp0UwZ12_JmdtCGbCrHaaXSpojtZlTpHrXfFPwDA2Ek7W5SSX46y-dcX-JSUzwocZYp5J1M0-5mFz1_uMOkIFkFQYRuf-4Z9J/s1600/image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiY89-UN64ucBKBasZdQ75VWvBjVIKu1fZF1xqDAPbW9mOdp0UwZ12_JmdtCGbCrHaaXSpojtZlTpHrXfFPwDA2Ek7W5SSX46y-dcX-JSUzwocZYp5J1M0-5mFz1_uMOkIFkFQYRuf-4Z9J/s1600/image.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;">Serlin Associates — Sarah Maingot — Portfolio</span></span></span></i></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"> </span></span></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"> </span></span></span></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;"> </span></span></span> </td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #666666;">Simplifying isn’t meant to leave your life empty, it’s meant to leave space in your life for what you really want to do. <br />Know what those things are before you start.<br /><br /><i>- Leo Babaura</i></span></span></span></div>
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</div>ladaisihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05348955254558187266noreply@blogger.com3