The Good Gray Poet

This is the quote that Facebook said was blocked when I tried to post it. You can tell it's super controversial. 

Do I contradict myself?
Very well then I contradict myself,
(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

-Walt Whitman

Tuesday Five: I Crashed My Neighbor's Car

1. The Intrigue abode is on the market. I’m not telling you this so you can buy it, but if you are interested, hit me up. I’m telling you this because I have to keep the house clean so it can be shown on short notice. This is not easy for me. At all. 

2. Proof that no good deed goes unpunished: Yesterday we had a showing and the house was still sort of a mess from the weekend. I was at Target with Mrs. British Neighbor when I got the call. She offered to help me clean up. After a couple of hours of cleaning, it was time to pick Arthur Dent up from school. Mrs. British Neighbor offered to stick around for a bit longer. I loaded up a tantruming-as-usual Laura Ingalls Wilder and headed out to get Arthur Dent. Yep. I backed out of the garage and sideswiped Mrs. British Neighbor’s fancy new Volkswagen. I don’t have much else to say about that except that I’m picking her up from the auto body shop when she drops it off next week. I’ll also be going inside to pay for it.

3. Season 2 of “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” is on Netflix now. It’s as hilarious as Season 1, but with a little more exploration into the characters’ feelings and angst. I’m a little sad because I think we’ll finish it tonight. 

4. What are you reading? I’m about halfway through “The Readers of Broken Wheel Recommend.” It’s a cute twist on the book club novel, although a bit predictable. Any suggestions about what I should read next, Fellow Adventurers?

5. I’ll end tonight with a quote. “When I was young, I admired clever people. Now that I am old, I admire kind people.” -Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel

Tuesday 5: Tough Kids and Other Things to be Thankful For.

1. We have a lot to be thankful for this week. The International Man of Intrigue got some job related news that we’d been waiting for and worrying over for months. It comes as a big relief to have this news before we start our move to Hawaii, and we’re grateful that it went the way we hoped.

2. This week is also the two year anniversary of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s official adoption day. Her Godfather is visiting this week as well, so we went out to dinner tonight to celebrate her Adoptaversary. Everyone enjoyed it, and Laura Ingalls Wilder was mostly tantrum free. We’re so glad, tantrums and all, that she’s our kid.

3. In the last week, I’ve started taking pictures of Laura Ingalls Wilder while she's throwing temper tantrums in various places. At first, I felt kind of horrible about it, but after I started posting them to Facebook, I actually started feeling better for a couple of reasons. The first is selfish- it takes me out of the moment, just for a second, and really helps me keep my cool when I could get really angry or frustrated instead. The second is that it seems like people really enjoy seeing the “real” side of life. I love it when other parents of kids her age share with me that their kids are throwing fits, too. It’s so hard when it seems like it’s all day, every day. I never thought a little picture would calm me down, add some levity, and provide a little smile for everyone. Here’s to the Tantrum Photo Series!

4. I cleaned out my purse this week. I find that there’s always something unusual in there. This week, I found the x-ray of Amelia Earhart’s broken nose. If you don’t remember, she earned it playing football. I’m not sure why the x-ray is in my purse, though.

5. Speaking of Amelia Earhart and her toughness, Amelia Earhart and Gertrude Bell went to a roller skating birthday party on Saturday. Gertrude Bell played it safe by learning to skate and sticking to the carpeted area near the rink. In true Amelia Earhart fashion, she took a little while to get the feel for it and then headed out to learn on the rink. She fell down quite a few times, and hard. Every time she got back up and kept trying. She came home with some nasty bruises. I love her determination when it comes to things like that. 

Tuesday 5: Not Metaphorically Speaking

1. I may have had a minor moving induced meltdown this afternoon. The movers came to walk through and give us an estimate on the amount of stuff we own. When you move with the military, you’re given a certain amount of weight. The movers estimated we’re 5,500 pounds over our allowed weight. After I finished hyperventilating and ate some dinner and took a 20 minute nap I realized a few things. Number one is that we are probably slightly overweight, but not by 5,500 pounds. The second is that it’s just stuff. We don’t need it to be happy. Watch this space for a good deal on buying a piece of The Intrigue Family’s actual belongings- the ones that the Smithsonian doesn’t want, that is.

2. There’s a new Selena Gomez song that I’m finding very problematic. It’s called “Hands to Myself,” and I’m sure it’s problematic in a lot of ways, but there’s one line that really bothers me. The phrase “metaphorical gin and juice” makes me cringe. If you have to explain that you’re using a metaphor, is it still a metaphor? The whole point of metaphor in poetry or literature or song seems to disintegrate when one has to point out that one is using a metaphor as a literary or lyrical device. Rant over.

3. Speaking of music, I’m still really mad that Sarah McLachlan totally ruined that song “Arms of an Angel.” I used to really enjoy it, but now I just see crying puppies and kittens. Thanks a lot.

4. Being the mother of a toddler is a great time. Today, Laura Ingalls Wilder didn’t nap. There was too much going on at our house with people in and out as we prep for a move. She was cheerful despite all that, until she accidentally got a 20 minute nap in the car when we went to pick up the big girls from school. I woke her up when we got home. She proceeded to throw herself on the floor and scream for the next 20 minutes. It was so awesome. 

5. I asked The International Man of Intrigue what else I should write about tonight. He answered, “Spies.” I’m sure it’s because we’ve been marathoning “The Americans” on Amazon Prime lately. I asked what I should say about spies, and he said, “I don’t know. Spies.” So, number five this week is Just Spies. See you next week.