Friday, September 19, 2008

The Burrito

Conversation overheard all week at nursery school pickup:

Random parent friend: "So, how was your trip?"
Me: "Amazing. I had this perfect burrito..."

It's not really fair to blog again without a photo - at least after an insanely fun 4 day solo trip to San Francisco. There's too much to share. But if I had to choose some choice thoughts to share from my excursion I'd go with these:

*Being away from my family is fun to a point, and then it starts to feel weird and wrong. Amazing, but it took a good 24 hours to discover that I am not and will never be the same person I was before I had kids... I mean, sometimes I fantasize that just being alone and traveling will allow me to be the way I used to be. NOPE. Even the keg stand and the lack of sleep didn't do it for me.

*Spending time with my favorite old friends, acting like there's no distance between us, and then having to separate to different states, countries, cities is PAINFUL. Why do we torture ourselves like this? We need one another. I'm perfectly capable of finding new friends anywhere I go (thankfully) but my college friends are the people I would choose to raise my family along side... to share our marriage woes, our parenting conundrums... and we are really worlds apart. This crazy computer is our glue. Again, weird. What I wouldn't do to live around the corner from Leah and Beth..

*One of my most satisfactory moments during the trip involved a burrito. A huge carnitas super burrito. The works... probably laden with plenty of lard, but not without perfect salsa, guac, sour cream, rice, beans, shredded pork. As long as my abdomen is wide. And I only had a tiny tortilla portion left at the end of my eating session. It was revolutionary and meant to be (the parking place directly in front of the restaurant was the sign). To sit still with my dear friend Beth and make lots of smacky sounds and comment on the flavor dimensions... and without children interrupting me. I was transformed for a moment, and I actually didn't miss the kids.

*Travel is healthy. And by that I don't mean traveling alone. Going places with the family is a great way to teach yourself and your children about the world (how easily I forgot that simple concept). While we took a brief outing to a beach I was awestruck by the Pacific Ocean... oh, and the Golden Gate bridge. Simple landmarks, monster changes in geography, ethnic food, unfamiliar smells in the air. It's all just plain good for your soul to experience new things. No, we don't all have $600 to throw at plane tickets, but we can hop in a car and head to the next state over. Or the next town that we know nothing about... so what if the kids complain the entire way? Or they scream the entire flight? Or they miss their nap and we all have a horrible night's sleep? The world has so much to offer us and I'm feeling guilty about ignoring it.

Anyone want some visitors?

Thursday, September 11, 2008

3 Cords


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Originally uploaded by mollieholliday
Oh my. This is what you are supposed to have in order to prepare yourself for winter up here.

And that nice land of ours behind the woodpile will be COVERED in snow some day soon.

This begins my enormous photo sharing... lots of places visited, lots of old friends, lots of new stuff like school and gymnastics class (still undocumented, but I promise some leotard shots in the future).

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

stackin' heat


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Originally uploaded by mollieholliday

Hazel and Rowan Visit!


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Originally uploaded by mollieholliday
A great thing about living in VT again is our proximity to old friends. We shared a gorgeous afternoon playing... and catching up. (These kiddos mom and I were pregnant at the same time and attended birthing class together.)

5 Granddaughters and one more on the way!


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Originally uploaded by mollieholliday
So great to see the cousins for a day... we miss them terribly.

My sister is having her baby via c-section on Friday morning. Apparently the baby is sideways! Why does this have to be the same day that I'm leaving for a 4 day trip to San Francisco?

"That goat is lookin' at me!"


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Originally uploaded by mollieholliday
(Thank you Brian Fellow for allowing me to steal a quote for my title...)

The girls absolutely adore animals... which is why I jumped at the opportunity to see my friend Ellen up in Burlington for a day. I drove up there for a busy busy day trip, saw my mother-in-law, ran into our old babysitter, had some flatbreads, threw everyone back in the car to visit Shelburne Farms (one of my most favorite landmarks in the world) and had a chinese food dinner at Ellen's parents' house. I drove the girls home in their jammies - they were all sacked out in the back of the minivan while I grabbed a listen to Al Gore's speech at the Democratic Convention on the radio.

Not Me


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Originally uploaded by mollieholliday
Penelope. You are just not me at all. Maybe in personality we could have some things in common, but honestly people think I stole you from the cute baby adoption center. Or that I special ordered you from South America...

My Experience of the Barefoot Potluck Wedding


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Originally uploaded by mollieholliday
Complete with summer's most popular shade of nail polish.

Show Me Your Most Serious Faces...


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Originally uploaded by mollieholliday
HA! Really. I told them to look very very serious. Does this explain why they never respond to me when I shout, "Girls! Seriously! I mean it!"

Monster Bugs!


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Originally uploaded by mollieholliday
When my daughters get mosquito bites on their face, this is what happens. Poor Ruby got a fat black eye from this recent episode... Why don't I remember this happening to anyone back when we were kids? I see children all over the place with this type of allergic reactions to the "common mosquito". Hmmmm...

Full of Pie


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Originally uploaded by mollieholliday
Right after their first successful contra dance, the girls stuffed themselves with blueberry pie and chilled out on dad's lap.

mission accomplished


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Originally uploaded by mollieholliday
I only managed to contribute to the very beginning of the wood stacking. Full credit should be given to Myles, with assistance from Raani.

Sign me up for early fall fires. Eeek.