A Leave of Absence...

I'll be taking a break from blogging for a little while.  Tomorrow, my dear hubby is having a very serious back surgery.  I'll be busy helping him during his recovery for the next week or so.  I cherish your prayers!

A Romantic Thought From Dr. Suess

I like Dr. Suess as much as anyone else, but I never would have associated him with romance.  I ran across this quote from him recently, though, that I thought was utterly charming.  Here it is:

"You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams."

--Dr. Suess

Awww!  I often feel that way!  Sometimes when I'm talking to my hubby, other times when I'm savoring a truffle.  L'amour...

Word of the Week

As many of you know, I've been rereading the Anne of Green Gables series of books, which by the way, are far superior to the movies.  I like the first two, they're close to the first two books, but the third movie totally veers off the deep end!  No, Anne doesn't really become a war-time drama queen, she marries Gilbert and becomes the happy mother of six children.  That's one of the reasons I like it!

Lame, lame, bad, lame....

Phew...now that I've gotten my personal rant out, we'll proceed with the Anne-inspired word of the week...

hubbub: n. a loud, confused noise, as of many voices.


Aahh!  I totally get this one...


When she walked in the front door, Hannah faced the usual hubbub and pandemonium without the blink of an eye.  (Welcome home, Mom!)


The birthday party was in full swing; the giggly hubbub of five silly girls playing permeated the entirety of the house. 


Selena sighed, for it was August, and soon the hubbub of college football would be a constant companion every Saturday night.  (Then she would learn how to blog, and the season would fly by in a rush...apparently Selena needed to also find a hobby!)


What are your sentences this week?  Or dare I ask your opinion on the Anne movies? 

Sonnets for February

The older I get, the more I realize that getting older is really not for wimps.  There is so much hardship and loss and pain, but there is still love...deeper love.  A love that lasts through the good times and bad is such a solace.  Nourishing and developing your love is always worth it.

I hope you all had as lovely a Valentine's Day as my sweetheart and I did.  Even with morning sickness and a broken back, it's so sweet to be together!

XXX


When to the sessions of sweet silent thought
I summon up remembrance of things past,
I sigh the lack of many a thing I sought,
And with old woes new wail my dear times' waste:
Then can I drown an eye, unus'd to flow,
For precious friends hid in death's dateless night.
And weep afresh love's long-since cancell'd woe,
And moan the expense of many a vanish'd sight.
Then can I grieve at grievances foregone,
And heavily from woe to woe tell o'er
The sad account of fore-bemoaned moan,
Which I new pay as if not paid before.
  But if the while I think on thee, dear friend,
  All losses are restor'd, and sorrows end.


Have a great weekend, everyone!

...and she strikes again...

Hurricane Allison is back, after a short time being naughty-free.  Apparently the beginning of my morning sickness was the opportunity she was looking for!  In fact, just a few days ago, this is what happened...

It was early in the morning, I was nauseated, there were doughnuts.  Although I could not keep a doughnut down without consequences, my loving children were more than happy to oblige me with an easy breakfast.  After supervising the picking of their doughnuts, the older children were fine.  They wolfed them down, gulped their milk, and were off to play some sort of car/castle/lego game.  The Hurricane got up later.

I fed her one Entenmann's Devil's Food Chocolate frosted doughnut, which are the delight of my husband's soul.

She like the others, crammed it in successfully, needing no Mommy supervision.  When she was done, I took her out of her chair and brushed her off.  As I was having a new wave of pretty intense nausea, the last thing I wanted to do was enter the kitchen and be confronted with its evil smells, so I pushed in all the chairs to the dining room table and collapsed in the rocking chair until I could get things under control.  That was my big mistake.

A few minutes later, Cara chimed out, "MOOOMMMMM!  Look at Allie!!!".  Ruh-roh.

I came into the room just in time to see my sweet little one spot me and feverishly shove the rest of a devil's food chocolate frosted doughnut into her mouth.

She smiled a brown-toothed grin at me as I grabbed the now half empty box from her frosted paws.  Indeed, my sweet little one had inhaled three and a half of these very adult sized doughnuts in a matter of three minutes.  Well, now I know that she can pull dining room chairs out and climb up on the table.  And I also know that no matter how sick I feel, I need to fear the quietness...never a good thing...

This began a fire storm of mischief, some cute, some horrifying.  I have to say, though, she was unusually perky and talkative for the first hour or so after eating half a box of Entenmann's.  I don't think she's ever had that much sugar in a week's time before!  Her little round cheeks were in a permanent grin for quite some time.

Unfortunately, her Daddy's were not.  I had to break the news to him; he's still heartbroken.  Those wonderful doughnuts were a solace in an otherwise sparse land of yummy eating these days.  Luckily my Dad had just brought him some cream filled long johns and other miscellaneous doughnuts the day before.

And as for the next day, I only have two words...doughnuts...diapers...you do the math.

Word of the Week

Yes, now I am again on a roll with the Word of the Week thing.  Like I said, all I needed was a quick burst of writing enthusiasm!  Am I the only blogger who writes this way?

All blogging questions aside, we have a new word for your mastery and use this week.  As always, try to work it into your week!

Octogenarian:  of the age of 80 years; between 80 and 90 years old.


Phew!  Aren't you glad it applies to the whole decade?  Can you imagine the difficulty trying to be accurate with this word if it only applied to someone who was exactly 80?  Well, I guess you can always fall back on sarcasm and word color to get your usage in...not that I advocate that...


Here are my sample sentences for the week!


The child gave her great grandma a hug and said her birthday wishes thus, "Hooray, Grandma!  Now you're an octogenarian just like Grandpa!"  (I'm going to start training my little ones soon so they'll be ready when the year comes!  There's nothing like teaching your four year old six syllable words to impress for a birthday.)




The unflattering shape of the empire dress, combined with the horrifying pea-green polyester print, made Marcia feel as though she were wearing a octogenarian maternity fashion. (EEK!  Bad visuals!)


How about you?  Got a sentence today?

Sonnets for February

Well, let's continue the sonnet trend, shall we?  After all, Valentine's Day is next week!

Here's another by Shakespeare that I really relate to.  My husband and I are both poor, but there's plenty of love to go around.  Loving has its own rewards.

XXIX
When in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state,
And trouble deaf Heaven with my bootless cries,
And look upon myself, and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featur'd like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art, and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee,--and then my state
(Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth) sings hymns at heaven's gate;
  For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings,
  That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

Wise wise man...

''Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.''

—President Abraham Lincoln


Why is this principle so hard to put into action?

Word of the Week

Well, after a very unintentional absence, the word of the week is back.  Please, dry your tears.  I've had a hard time finding time to do some writing lately...after another few bursts of writing frenzy, we should be back on track for the future.  Until Andy's surgery at the end of the month, that is.  Well, I guess we'll just have to play it by ear.  


So...on to the new word...


co·nun·drum n. a riddle, the answer to which involves a pun or play on words; anything that puzzles.


During this stage of my pregnancy, my brain power is very limited, so I find that I'm very prone to this sort of thing.


Here are a few explanatory sentences using our word:


Her husband had asked for the keys to her car without realizing the horrifying conundrum into which he had put her.


With the beginning of her morning sickness, the simple decision of what to eat for breakfast was now a conundrum which engulfed the lovely mother for nearly an hour every morning.  (also lunch...also dinner...)


Being a girl with a corny sense of humor, Helen giggled as loudly as her children over the cartoon conundrum.


How about you? 

Congratulations to Me!

Well, since the family knows and the church knows and the facebook world knows, I thought I'd let  my readers in on my happy news...we're expecting another baby!  This baby is a real bright spot for us in a pretty turbulent time.  We're so thankful for this unexpected blessing!

On a relevant note, if I'm more sporadic with posting for the next few months, bear with me.  Between the morning sickness and Andy's upcoming surgery, I'm not sure how regularly I'll be able to get to the computer.

Happy Monday!

Sonnets for February

Yes...we're officially in the month of romance!  I thought it would be nice to delve into some Shakespearean sonnets for the season.  It's both romantic and educational.  I've been rereading many of them lately, and have been surprised how moving they are.  I think the last time I read them was shortly after my husband and I became engaged (insert sigh), but the sonnets are even more applicable now!

Let's start off with some of the more well-known.  Here is sonnet CXVI, which you may recognize as the combined favorite of Marianne Dashwood and Mr. Willoughby.  Well, we all know how that turned out!  As an ardent reader of Shakespearean sonnets, Marianne should have known that a vast majority of them were written for mature lovers.  There's a lesson for you teens and tweens...no matter what you feel now, those old married couples have the deepest love of all.  Marianne started to understand the sonnets truly after Sense and Sensibility had finished it's last chapter.

Ahem...so back to the sonnet...

CXVI

Let me not to the marriage of true minds

Admit impediments.  Love is not love

Which alters when it alteration finds,

Or bends with the remover to remove:

O no; it is an ever-fixed mark,

That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;

It is the star to every wandering bark,

Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.

Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks

Within his bending sickle's compass come;

Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,

But bears it out even to the edge of doom.

  If this be error, and upon me prov'd,

  I never writ, nor no man ever lov'd.

<<Sigh>>  I must admit, there are days when I feel like Time's bending sickle has hacked down my beauty!  Isn't it good to know that with real love it doesn't matter so much what you look like as what you are?

Love Lost

We've been continuing with the highly interesting documentary series, A History of Britain by Simon Schama.  Last night we covered Queen Victoria and the Victorian era, including the works of Elizabeth Gaskell, one of my new favorite authors (insert sigh)...that's subject matter for another post.

The documentary included a fairly good glimpse into the personal life of Queen Victoria and her hubby Prince Albert.  There are the usual interesting tidbits, such as the fact that protocol required her to propose to him.  To my surprise though, I found their relationship really touching.  There was so much mutual respect and affection, something that has been extremely rare when it comes to the royals we've covered so far.

Here's a painting of Victoria and Albert and the first five of their nine children.

What was most touching to me was the depth of Queen Victoria's grief after Albert's passing.  She wore black for the rest of her life and rarely left London.  She laid out his shaving items every morning, as well as a clean towel and clothes for him every day.  She slept with his nightgown beside her, and even requested that it be put in her coffin with her.  When an artist made the cast of Prince Albert after his death, she had one made of herself as well, so they would be remembered together always.  It was almost as if she died with him that day.

There were so many political accomplishments and improvements made during her reign, but isn't it interesting that when you think of Victoria as a woman, you almost always think of Albert as well?  

There is nothing in life so fulfilling as a marriage that is successful!

I Relate to this Christmas Painting...

From the safety of February, it's sometimes fun to reflect on the Christmas season you just passed. There's a lot of sentimentality and lovey-dovey feelings about Christmas.  I love that.  Really, I do...but sometimes Christmas feels more like this...

"In the Kitchen preparations for Christmas Eve dinner in a Paris Restaurant" by  G. Marchetti

I know that feeling of chaos...minus the lobster, of course.  Also, my sous chefs are a lot smaller and a little less skilled, and they talk way more about cars and princesses.

They probably eat a lot more when the chef's not looking, too...or at least the not-so-subtle dusting of powdered sugar across my son's face makes me think so.

Here's to a painting for the year-round entertainer!