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Friday, November 13, 2009

7 Quick Takes Friday, #40





1. Earlier this week, Emily at The Keeping Time posted something about tricks she has up her mama-sleeve for when she's sick and not up to majorly child-intensive days. One thing in particular she mentioned was letting her girls watch videos of Royal Ballet productions. "Mia would love those," I thought. "But where on earth can I find something similar?"

Then a little lightbulb went on over my head (Don't worry. I'm almost sure it was a CFL.) and I quickly pulled up some Youtube videos. Now we're all enthralled with The Paris Ballet's Sleeping Beauty. So lovely.











Of course, Mia has all sorts of technical questions and since the ballet doesn't follow the Disney story I know (can you BELIEVE that?!), I'm more often than not just flying by the seat of my pants. I know squat about ballet. She wants to know the names of movements and costumes. I think some studying is in order.




2. I let Mia watch some of the ballet on my laptop at the kitchen table one day during lunch. She's so interactive during the videos that I didn't worry about her spacing out and becoming a droid; she was eating and talking the whole time -- but to have the video playing during a meal was quite the special treat. She loved it.

While I was talking about which video number we were on in the sequence, Mia said, "Mom, I just want to watch all HUNDREDS of these, OK?" Smiling at her sweetness, I made some agreeable sounds before turning to Lauren to see how her lunch was coming.

She had smeared ketchup between both hands and was creating a messy masterpiece on her plate. At least I stopped her before she'd had a chance to move to her hair.

How's that for a juxtaposition? One daughter inquiring politely about cultured and civilized ballet, while the other daughter plays in a delightfully sticky, yet terribly un-cultured, condiment.




3. This weekend is the weekend I've been looking forward to for months. It's our Annual Ladies Shopping Retreat weekend! That sounds more formal than it is, but I think an entire weekend devoted to shopping with other like-minded ladies -- both family and friends -- deserves a title. Also, I said our shopping weekend, but this is only the third time I will have ever gone. Once before kids, once when Mia was almost 2, and now when Lauren's almost 2.

We're leaving this evening, going to a beautiful area of the state to wander around a giant outlet mall until our feet swell, our backs ache, and our tummies are overflowing with Coldstone Creamery deliciousness.

Truth be told, I'm not much of a shopper. I get worn down by too many choices and too many flying dollar signs, but this trip is wonderful despite all of that. I mean, I guess I'll probably find myriad ways to spend my fair share of money, but the real reason I go is for the getaway -- the vacation aspect. I never leave my kids. This will only mark the second or third time I've ever traveled without Mia and the first time without Lauren. I already feel both free and heartbroken. Is there a name for that feeling?



4. On a related note, pray for Justin's sanity this weekend. He's not used to having both girls all to himself, and Lauren is currently The Toddler From Hyper-ville. Wish them luck. And patience.



5. Up above, when I mentioned CFL bulbs, it was because they've been on my mind lately. We had two floodlights go out in our kitchen and living room a while back. Like, months back. It's been infuriating to not have enough light especially in the kitchen, but I kept forgetting to check and see which kind of bulbs we'd need to replace them with, and it just never got done. At the store this week, I just decided to get something and hope for the best. I have no idea if bulbs are pretty universal or more specific, but whatever I got worked just fine. And they are CFL's, so they should last awhile.

But, after installing them, I'm not so sure I like them all that much. The new, bright whiteness is highlighting every stray cobweb in the corners of my ceiling. There's a tall wall dividing the living room and kitchen that doesn't quite reach to the ceiling, and I can see dusty tufts lining the top of it. I'll have to climb up there and get them down, and that just depresses me. What if there are spiders up there? Who cleans the tops of walls for pity's sake?

New lightbulb owners. That's who.



6. Mia was playing with a few of her fairy dolls this week, and I overheard some of her narrations.

Blue Fairy: I loooove being God! You can be my angel!
Pink Fairy: You're not God, you're just a fairy!
Blue Fairy: But I have hands like God...I have feet like God...I LOVE like God...I have to be God!Pink Fairy: Weeeellllll...OK. If that's what you decided.

Surely there's some fabulous life lesson here about being God's hands and feet, but I just can't see past the cuteness. I wish you could've heard her sweet, airy voice as she pretended to be a fairy, pretending to be God.



7. This week, I've noticed a wonderful trend: more free time. I haven't been staying up too late (most of the time) or feeling extra pressure to accomplish things quickly. I've felt leisurely. Fulfilled.

In wondering where all this has come from, I remembered that I haven't been on Facebook all week. Maybe even 2 weeks -- since whenever they changed the format and confused me, I haven't felt the desire to log on and read random sentences about people's lives. While I didn't feel like I spent much time there, I guess it was adding up to more and more minutes out of my day, making me lose precious time that I could be using for getting real things accomplished (like commenting on your blog. That's truly important, right?). I'm not saying I'm still not a champion procrastinator, but I'm taking this as a sign to just let FB fall by the wayside. I'll still check it for messages -- some friends and family members use FB instead of email -- but I just don't feel inclined to bring a big time-sucker back into my life right now. This sense of leisure feels too good to dismiss.



You know what you shouldn't dismiss? More Quick Takes at Conversion Diary. Check them out and have a wonderful weekend!

17 comments:

  1. I hope your CFL last a while--we don't find that, many times, they don't last any longer than a regular incandescent bulb! It truly makes me want to stock up on lightbulbs before they are made illegal!

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  2. Have fun shopping with the ladies!

    And I am impressed that you've been able to let facebook fall by the wayside. Keep it up! There is hope for the rest of us!

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  3. Mia and the fairies -- now THAT is a story you've got to hold onto forever!

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  4. Love Lauren's ketchup creativity. She lives life to the fullest, that one :)

    I think the possibility of spiders automatically makes your husband the top-of-walls cleaner.

    #6: Mia is AWESOME.

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  5. I'd rather play with ketchup than watch ballet. Don't judge me.

    Huge mistake by facebook. What were they thinking??

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  6. 1. I love ballet! I can't wait until Abigail is old enough to go see The Nutcracker - brilliant idea using YouTube though.

    2. So lucky you caught her before it got in her hair! My niece once smeared a whole tub of butter in her father's hair while he napped (he's a really heavy sleeper).

    3/4. Have fun, and I will be praying for both you & Justin!

    5. I think subconsciously that's one of the reasons we always use low wattage "soft white" bulbs.

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  7. The ballet is gorgeous! And I love her cute comments with the fairies.

    Re; Facebook--I feel the same relaxation when I forget my cell phone and go without it for a few hours.

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  8. Have a fun weekend shopping! Always love that feeling, but hopefully your hubby is up to the challenge :) I'm sure he'll do fine!
    And be ready to give you a BIG kiss for all you do when you walk in the door.

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  9. 1. I love the ballet-watching idea! Must remember it.

    5. I had a similar experience last week when I had the opportunity to set eyes on the top of my kitchen cabinets. (I was cleaning smoothie off the ceiling . . . don't ask.) Eeeww, is it nasty up there! (Notice I said "is" not "was.")

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  10. My kids haven't been nearly as cultured. When I was sick recently, I set them up in front of old Inspector Gadget cartoons on Hulu.

    A ladies shopping trip sounds like tons of fun! I want to go on one!

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  11. I gotta use that ballet thing, Kenna would love it! Since she started taking ballet lessons, she just loves everything about it.

    Lauren is just too cute!

    That "free and heartbroken" feeling? I think it's just called being a mom...so many mixed up emotions go with this job! I'm sure Justin will do great, though. He's such a good daddy!

    And the Fairy God is pretty sweet. She's a creative little thing, isn't she?!

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  12. Have fun shopping! It's amazing what a time sucker facebook is, isn't it? Twitter is worse, at least for me.

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  13. Good luck staying off facebook! I should give that a whirl. Also have fun on your shopping trip this weekend!! :)

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  14. When I'm busy, I actually turn OFF my computer for big chunks of my day. No e-mail, no Facebook, no blogs, no looking up random tidbits or store's phone numbers online. And I get SO MUCH done. And then I feel like I've been productive and got a lot done so I should get to have it one during the day again. And back to the time-suck I go....

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  15. I'm glad Mia liked watching the ballet! I always feel better when Katherine's watching (aka jumping around, dancing, twirling) something like that instead of just zoning out on the couch. Of course we're doing plenty of zoning these days too...

    Have fun on your shopping weekend! Maybe Justin will clean the top of the wall while you're gone. Oh, and tell him to update your blog while he's at it. Chris is out of town this weekend and without new posts to read, I'm likely to get bored. He's up to all that, right?

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  16. I have to admit I got fascinated and sucked in by the ballet. How do they make it look so effortless? Because what they're doing takes muscle strength and control beyond what I see on any given day. Granted on any given day I see a lot of sedentary people, but I also see a lot of very active people that wouldn't have close to enough strength, even if you forget the balance and flexibility aspects of the whole thing.

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  17. Lenae - She is, isn't she?!

    Chelsea - I know! I can't my bearings on the new layout. For the best, I suppose.

    Amanda - The butter story is funNY! And I think your prayers helped - Justin and the girls had a great weekend. Only a few blown forehead veins :)

    Beck - 5. LOL!

    Jordana - Inspektor Gadget is smart, right? That counts as beneficial :)

    Jen - You mean...off...like...OFF? You're a genius!

    Emily - Ha! I think we'd have a better chance getting Justin to clean the wall than post something on my blog! But I have thought about that before...he's very *ahem(hot)ahem* smart and interesting. I'm sure his posts would be well received.

    CM - You're not kidding. Ballet looks like SERIOUS work. Those performers must work their tushies off.

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Hmm...And how did that make you FEEL?