Barnaclebutt

Yesterday was the first day of school. At some point, after dropping everyone off, I let out this long sigh of relief and let my mind drift back to last year and how truly awful it was.

I remembered how guilty I felt about our move and how scared I was that my tiny shiny children would suffer for even a minute. The thought of them feeling scared and lonely was unbearable.

But now here we are. And everyone went off to their classes excited, nervous, and happy. Just like it should be! Katie is a freshman in high school! How did that happen?
Maddie is a JUNIOR! Stop the clock.I can still pretend Jonathan and Ellie are little so I'm going with that. Notice not how big they really are.
Perhaps the sweetest moment of yesterday came in two parts. As I was driving Maddie to golf (yes, she is playing varsity golf) she started telling me about how at lunch she saw a girl eating by herself so she and a friend went over to talk to her and invite her to eat with them. They found out that she was new and had moved here from Washington. Then Maddie told me how she wished someone had done that for her on her first day last year, and how she thinks that people who haven't ever moved don't even really notice someone who is alone but that because she has been through it, "my heart goes, 'ohhhh,' when I see someone like that. I know now that no one really wants to eat by themselves."

My own heart went "ohhhh" when she told me this. I am so happy that my beautiful girl has found a way to take something good and valuable away from a difficult experience!
I sometimes call Maddie and Ellie my "bookends" because they look so much and act so much alike, so what happened next shouldn't surprise me. As I was tucking Ellie into bed last night I asked if she liked who she was sitting next to in school. She said that she did because she is sitting next to the new girl and she is happy to be her first friend because she knows how it feels to be scared on the first day at a new school.

I have a very full, very happy mommy heart right now.

I don't really do reviews, it takes too much serious thought to figure out what I really like about a book, and then if I do, it ends up being too personal to share anyway.

But I am going to tell you three good books right now. I'm not going to review them; I'm just going to recommend them. Don't be mad, it's just how I am. Lazy.

The first is The Magician's Assistant, by Ann Patchett. Do you already love Ann Patchett? Here is a sentence out of this book, "While Iowa struggled through the bitter knife of winter and New York folded in crime and the South remained backwards and divided, Los Angeles pushed her slender feet into the sand along the Pacific and took in the sun." Boy do I like that sentence.

Okay, next is Malinche, by Laura Esquivel, the author of Like Water for Chocolate. I'm reading Malinche right now and I promise it is fascinating. Malinche was Cortes' native interpreter and lover.

My last recomendation is There, Their, They're: A No-Tears Guide to Grammar From the Word Nerd. This is super handy for answering your quick grammar questions when you're writing your blog and WAY shorter and more user friendly than, say, The AP Stylebook. My sweet mother-in-law has been recovering from a surgery and I learned that all this time I've been talking about her being "nauseous", totally insulting, she's "nauseated!" So helpful.

The problem with spending my day on this DIY project:is that I don't get to this do it myself project. How did the shoemaker get those elves anyway? I mean, I'm nice. I'll make some little clothes or something. They just won't get washed.

So the answer to who won the Fosse weight loss challenge is...we tied. Total win win, eh? I seriously don't even mind golfing if it means I get beautiful blue gray paint all over the place!

I'm feeling kind of sick today and it makes my head not work right so I will leave off with the talking and just share some pictures from the Oakland Zoo on Saturday. Perhaps the best moment was when I said about the baboons, "It's so weird that they don't have hair on their bums." and Kate replied, "Neither do you, don't judge."




My first diet coke in two weeks! Oh, I am so happy. Plus you can see the beautiful charm bracelet Marc gave me for my birthday. Sweet man.

This picture makes me want to play Zoo Tycoon.

They are turtle enough for the Turtle Club!

Marc and I have had a bet. A little wager as it were.

I bet that I could loose the most weight in 9 days, and if I did he would have to paint the entryway, our bedroom, AND the family room (yeah, I already painted it, but I don't like the yellow).

He bet that he could loose the most weight, and if he did I would have to take two golf lessons and golf nine holes with him. Don't imagine he is nicer than me; I feel the same way about golf as he feels about painting.

So this morning was our weigh in. Who do you think won?

So. Cub Scout camp was last week.

I saw a request on the Redbook website for people to submit blog posts about their heroes. Right now my vote for most heroic women goes to the beautiful ladies who volunteered their time to organize our Scout camp at Saint Mary's college. And then stayed ALL week. Five days, no joke, with 115 boys in 90 degree weather.

I volunteered for three days and by the third day I was all mumbling and grumbling at Marc about how tired I was. Because I'm wimpy like that; now you know something bad about me.

But onward and upward! Remarkably, Scout Camp was not exhausting to Jonathan. He had a fully energizing time, coming home each day excited about all he had done-and ready to play with his buddy Kiran who lives next door.

Here he is doing the things boys like:

* POST EDIT: I forgot to put on here that I was inspired to finish this bad boy up by Kimba at A Soft Place to Land. It's a cool blog and today there are a billion other great DIY ideas linked up there. Don't do the dishes, check it out!

Katie and Maddie's bathroom was in desperate, desperate I say, need of a makeover. Megan came to help paint.
You might want to cover your eyes and peek through your fingers when you look at the before pictures of our downstairs bathroom.