It's a new year.
Christmas was a swirling dervish of presents and travel and I'm almost recovered. I didn't rush to put up decorations before the 1st as is my usual practice and I'm proud to report they got back in the attic on January 21st. #crushingit
January highlights:
Sarah turned six, and had three separate occasions to mark the day of her birth-- school cupcakes, a pancake breakfast celebration on the actual day followed by a dinner date with Dad, and a Barbie (TM) Rock N Royals Birthday party that I invited all 20 students in the class to and then promptly stressed til the moment of the party that more than 2 kids would attend. I realize that an unaccepted invitation to at 6-year-old's party is not a rejection of me as a person. I realize that. I do. I really do. (Inner monologue: If only I was better at making friends then more kids would come to my kid's birthday party, UGH, being a introvert is so hard.) Lesson learned: Invite any and all children in your social circle to your kid's birthday party. 10 percent will come. It'll be ALL GOOD. I'll pick up this existential birthday angst up again next January for my social butterfly daughter. The party was an unqualified success-- we did a craft, temporary tattoos, clip-in colored hair and colored hairspray, Barbie play, cake and presents, karaoke and trampoline play.
Pinterest? Can't touch this.
I'm writing this on hold with our insurance company as we changed over January 1 and our three providers are not showing us as insured but BCBS is.
So.... Situation Normal there.
Can I make a confession?
I didn't even watch Downton this Sunday night.
I know.
My people are counting on me.
But it's gotten so.... boring/lame/stale/predictable.
Season recap: Carson is the epitome of all that is good and noble and true in the male species. This speech on wanting a true marriage was pitch perfect. Backstory: his fiancée Mrs. Hughes (who has never been married, but as housekeeper is called Mrs. to disguish her position from lower ranking staff) is sheepish about the (erm) marital act as a late middle-aged woman and fears disappointing Mr. Carson. She asks her closest friend in the house, Mrs. Patmore, to act as go-between with Mr. Carson to discuss his expectations in that department. It's about to get as awkward as a true-love-waits Sunday School lesson in which the male leader likens your "special gift" to a present that only your spouse can unwrap. Which is, yes, very very true, but also skin-crawlingly awkward.
"Downton Abbey: Episode #6.1" (2015)
Charles Carson: Tell her this, Mrs. Patmore. That, in my eyes, she is beautiful.Mrs. Patmore: I see.
Charles Carson: You say she asks if I want a 'full' marriage and the answer is yes, I do. I want a real marriage, a true marriage, with everything that that involves. And I hope I do not ask the indelicate when I send you back to relay this message.
Mrs. Patmore: Don't worry about me.
Charles Carson: I love her, Mrs. Patmore. I am happy and tickled and bursting with pride that she would agree to be my wife. And I want us to live as closely as two people can, for the time that remains to us on earth.
Mrs. Patmore: Well, you couldn't make it any clearer. I'll say that for you.
Source: IMDB
Men, please copy these lines down verbatim and insert them into your wife's
Valentine's Day card that you will be accompanying with a thoughtful gesture that extends beyond the card itself. I want to help you.
Also, I want to convey complete sincerity here, infertility is a delicate subject to approach and I would never want to imply that it is not a serious and emotional struggle that couples face, but they way it is being used in the Anna-Bates storyline stretches one's patience.
Anna finally is cleared any involvement in the death of her attacker, and the minute the couple receive the good news that they are finally free to live their lives again, Anna is all "I'll never make you happy the way you deserve because I cannot have a child and you're just lying when you say you're happy and it doesn't matter."
Since this is a fictional drama, OF COURSE we know that Anna will have Bates' child and OF COURSE it will all be wonderful, so I feel like Anna's character feels a bit one-note when dealing with the complex emotions of infertility.
Anyhoo. Edith finally has a date with a man who is 1) not 70 and 2) is not moving to pre-Nazi Germany, so hooray, Edith. Go on, girl. I'd say "get down with your bad self," but let's not forget her covert pregnancy and the Solomon like push-and-pull between Edith and the Drewe family to raise Marigold.
I won't even bore you with my thoughts on the blackmail Lady Mary plot, except to say I'm over Lady Mary and Lord Grantham is a poorly written character.
Lastly, I have to share my current podcast/IG/Netflix faves:
Netflix:
The West Wing. I heart this series. I watched the first 4 seasons in college and sporadically until it went off the air in 2006. It feels relevant 10 years later. I love the passion of the characters, their flaws and sense of moral unction to do what is best for the country. I wish the politicians on the national stage conveyed the authenticity that the paid actors reciting written dialogue on a TV show do, but that's the way it goes with reality.
IG:
I started following a mom entrepreneur that another notable suggested and I just enjoy her fun, positive style. Plus she sells the cutest Mom shirts. I can't make myself purchase one at $35 a throw, but I'd love if someone gifted me one. (Not that my husband reads this.)
Podcasts:
The blogger behind Modern Mrs. Darcy, a book-lover's dream, has started a new podcast called What Should I Read Next? The host interviews a book lover and plays "book matchmaking" based on the interviewee's taste in books. I've also been listening to Off-Camera with Sam Jones, a movie insider's podcast with notables like Matt Damon and Will Ferrell. This is also a show on IFC channel. Some of the movie stars are predictably pretentious about THE CRAFT, but many are fascinating, particularly the Damon and Ferrell interviews.
I'm also pleased to report I've used my elliptical a grand total of 3 times and read my bible maybe 30% of the days in January. Self-helpers call this imperfect progress, so I'll be honest and take it.
Have a great Wednesday!
(Oh, p.s. I get to go to Chattanooga with my youth worker friends for the Conclave conference this weekend--Child-free girlfriend/hang out/learning time! Yay!)
