Thankful Thursday

It's been a crazy, busy week for me. It's always this way at the end of the school year. But, amidst all the hecticness I found three things to be grateful for:

1. I'm so grateful and happy that Geoff took me to a movie on Saturday night, even though he didn't want to. When I first suggested it (earlier in the day) he seemed interested, but when it was nearing time to leave I could tell he didn't want to. He admitted he really wasn't all that interested in seeing the movie I had picked (Sunshine Cleaning). Though when it first came out I thought he said he wanted to see it. Oh well. Anyway, I told him it was OK if we stayed home, but I was bit disappointed. He immediately changed his mind and he went - happily. That made me so glad. AND we both really liked the movie!

2. I'm so thankful that I was able to attend my cousin Aime's bridal shower on Sunday afternoon. It was an excellent chance to see all my female cousins and my aunts (people I don't see often enough. And lately when I have seen them it has been under sad circumstances). It was so nice for us to have a chance to be together celebrating a happy occasion. And I'm also thankful that after the shower, Sandy (my step mom) invited us over to her house for dinner with her and my Dad. It was nice not to have to cook, but just being able to so casually spend time with my family is something I am extremely grateful for. I lived in AZ (away from all of our family) for 14 1/2 years and I missed out on lots of family events - big and small. I am eternally grateful to be back in RI - near all the people that I love.

3. I am so grateful that I have a boss who is so willing to be flexible when it comes to needing time off for family obligations. Pat, the library director, never bats an eye when I request time off to attend parent meetings, chaperone field trips, watch classroom skits or go on two week vacations with my family. Even if I ask her at the last possible moment. I realize that this is rare and I'm thankful because otherwise I wouldn't be able to keep this job that I absolutely love. Because as much as I love it, it's more important to me to be on those field trips, see those skits and especially to go on those family vacations. So, thank you Pat.

OK, I know I said I had three things to be thankful for, but #4 is happening as we "speak":

4. And lastly, I am thankful that right this very minute, Katie and Madeleine are actually upstairs in one of their bedrooms having a REAL conversation with each other. Full of whispering and girlish giggles. My girls rarely have any "fun" conversations with each other. This one started as a result of the HS orientation meeting that Madeleine attended tonight. I think she asked Katie a question about one of the clubs and soon they were talking all about HS. And before I knew it, they were actually talking and being silly together. It feels like Christmas and my birthday all in one! I think I'll just stay down here for awhile and not spoil the magic by going upstairs and telling them it's time for bed. Some things are more important than a reasonable bedtime.

Wake Up Call

Yesterday I had a major wake up call. Madeleine, my 14 year old, reminded me that we have a parent/student orientation at the High School tonight for incoming freshman. I had completely forgotten about this, but she was right. There it was, in my handwriting, in the family bible calendar. How could this have slipped my mind so completely? Especially since Wednesday night is my night to work at the library. I hadn't even asked my boss for the night off. This is so not like me.

Then it hit me. My wake up call. Madeleine would be in HIGH SCHOOL in September. HIGH SCHOOL! Of course, intellectually I knew that she would be a freshman next year. And that she would be changing schools. I'm not sad or emotional about this, but stunned. So, why does the fact that she will be a High Schooler and not a Middle Schooler bring me up short? My friends think it's because she's my baby. I don't know, though. She is my youngest child, true. But, I've never thought of her as my "baby". Maybe when you only have 2 kids and they are 2 1/2 years apart, the youngest one isn't really a baby in comparison to the oldest. Certainly, I never babied her. She would not have stood for that. Even as a baby, she was not one to be cuddled and cooed over. She was independent and feisty from the get go.

When I really stop and think about it, I think what is so shocking is that HS has gone by so quickly for Katie, my older daughter. And I've seen how much she has grown and changed from a freshman to a junior. And some of those changes have been painful. Madeleine is at such a cool stage in her life right now. She has a wonderful group of friends, she is starting to spread her wings socially and she is just a delight. I guess I want to hold on to that a little bit longer. I'm not anxious for her to become more independent and pull away from Geoff and me. I guess I just want to hold on to her for awhile longer. Maybe she is my baby afterall.

Book Review: The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson

First, I must thank Debbie of Suburb Sanity for recommending The Gargoyle to me. This is undoubtedly the most unique and fascinating book I've read in a long time. I just LOVED it! In many ways I felt as though the author had written this book with me in mind. It seemed that every page revealed some other little element that just so happens to be something that interests, fascinates or intrigues me - books, libraries, librarians, Illuminated texts, the middle ages, gargoyles, Galileo, time travel and even my phobia of snakes shows up as a metaphor for the narrator's pain. *cue Twilight Zone music.*

The Gargoyle tells the story of the nameless narrator, a cynical and self-absorbed pornographer and drug addict, who is severely burned in a car crash. Soon his friends and associates stop visiting him and he loses his business. However, during his long recovery in the burn unit, he is visited by an alluring, though obviously unstable, sculptress who claims that they were lovers in a past life. Marianne Engel continues to visit the narrator during his hospital stay and regales him with stories of their past life and other ancient legends of undying love. Eventually the narrator is released to Marianne's care and he finds himself, for the first time in his life, growing to care about someone other than himself. In time, Marianne's instability becomes more pronounced and the narrator find himself becoming her caregiver. But during her lucid moments, Marianne continues to weave her story of past life and love. A story that the narrator finds interesting, but that he does not believe to be true. And all the while he is desperately trying to save Marianne from her increasingly severe madness.

Andrew Davidson is a master storyteller. He skillfully teases the reader with the slow unfolding of Marianne's story of past life and love. I found myself, much like the narrator, anxious to hear the next "chapter" in her story. In addition, the other legends of undying love, which are woven into the narrative, are then cleverly tied into the present with incredible deftness. Awesome. Being that the book was so brilliant, unique and fascinating, I was expecting some equally clever ending. While it wasn't as jaw droppingly unique as I was expecting, it was still very good. And it does leave the reader wondering and questioning. It's one of those books where you immediately want to ask someone else who has read the book - "what do you think THAT was all about?" I LOVE when that happens in a book. And it doesn't happen all that often. So, if you've read this already or are planning on reading it, I'd love to hear what you think.


Image from Google Images

Sentimental Sunday

I had a very hard time deciding what photo I wanted to highlight for Sentimental Sunday this week. I wanted to pick a photo from our 2007 trip to Europe celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary. We spent two weeks, with our girls, visiting Iceland, France and England. It was a wonderful trip. So, I decided I would choose one photo from each country for three consecutive Sundays. So, here's my Iceland photo:




This is the view from the top of Hallgrimur Church in Reykjavik, Iceland. I love this photo because it so clearly shows the colorful houses that line the streets of Iceland's capital. In the foreground is a statue of Lief Erickson, given to the people of Iceland by the United States in 1930, commemorating 1,000 years of the Icelandic Parliament. The oldest Parliament in the world. In addition, you can see the water in the distance - very important for us mermaids! ;) Next Sunday... France!

TV Quick Quips

For what it's worth, here's my opinion of this week's episodes of my favorite shows:

The Tudors - Can't believe that there are only 2 more episodes this season. I love these Showtime and HBO shows, but the seasons are so short. This season has been so fascinating as a study of the history of this time period. The first two seasons were really more about Henry and his relationships with his wives (and mistresses), but this season has been like a history lesson. I LOVE it! As I've said in the past, I'm fascinated with this time period and I'm enjoying watching history come alive.

American Idol - First, did anyone else think that Kati Perry's cape with Adam's name embroidered on it was extremely inappropriate? Seemed very insensitive to me. AND, I thought if anyone should have been eliminated, it should have been her. She was, without a doubt, the worse singer there Wednesday night. Also, I wonder why Kris was the first person to be told that he was safe. Did they really think they were amping up the suspense and that we might actually believe Adam would be leaving? Come on! As soon as they said Kris was safe, I KNEW that Danny would be going home. Regardless of the fact that he had never been in the bottom three and Adam had. That strategy totally backfired, IMO. As for the final two. I think they got it right. Adam's always been my first choice. And between Danny and Kris, while I've been disappointed in each of them at different times, I think Kris is a more versatile singer. He really does make many of the songs "his own" - to quote the judges. I can't remember any other idol contestant who has done that as successfully as Kris. At this point, I would be pleased if either of them win.

LOST - OK, I know I've said in the past that I like the LOST recap shows. And I do. But, come on! Do we really need one right before a 2 hour finale? That is just WAY too much of a time commitment for this busy mom, wife, part-time librarian ... person with a life! I will admit that I watched about 2 minutes of the recap and then switched to American Idol. I watched the actual episode later on DVR. And here's my reaction.... WTF? That was 2 bloody (literally) hours just to have the bomb go off. Really the rest was just "fluff". Except seeing who Jacob is. But in the end did that even matter since he ended up going up in smoke? Whatever. Final season.... bring it on!

The Office - I had NO idea that this week's show was the finale until I saw a commercial on Tuesday! I was so not expecting that. I knew it would be soon, but since I hadn't seen anything during the previous episode, I assumed I had at least 2 more weeks. What a shock! And speaking of shocks, I sure wasn't expecting a JAM baby! How cute was it that Jim had tears in his eyes at the end of the episode? I must say, The Office always has really good finales! So, now the question is.... Will we have a JAM wedding before the arrival of the JAM baby? I sure hope so. It would be a real bummer for all the JAM fans if we don't get to see a JAM wedding. I sure hope next season doesn't open with Jim and Pam already married. The Office finales always leave me on the edge of my seat and hankering for the new season. *sigh*

Image from Google Images

Nostalgia at the Chorus

This week Geoff and I attended two chorus performances. Katie performed in the HS chorus on Tuesday night and Madeleine performed in the Middle School chorus last night. We have been attending these shows since the girls were in elementary school. Twice a year. As much as I love to see my girls perform in any and all of their activities, I must admit that sometimes these chorus (and Jazz Band concert combos in HS) get a little old. They tend to last up to 2 hours and there are multiple choruses and band configurations to watch. Do I sound like a terrible mom? Maybe I am.

Last night I realized that we were attending the last of TWELVE concerts at the Middle School. And that's just Middle School. Usually I feel a little cranky about these events. But this year I felt much more nostalgic. Maybe it's because it was the LAST time I would sit in the Middle School auditorium. Maybe it was the lovely speech that the 8th grade made to thank Mrs. Thurber, the chorus director (who Katie absolutely loved). Maybe it's because it hit me that my girls really are growing up and moving closer and closer to independence. Maybe it's because at the very end of the show, Madeleine had a solo and she ROCKED THE HOUSE! Go Madeleine! Whatever it was, I felt a weird combination of nostalgia and excitement. Excitement like I used to feel when my kids were younger and attending school events was novel and something I looked forward to. Not sure exactly when I stopped feeling this way, but I'm glad I experienced that feeling again last night. I hope it continues for these next four years. My last four years with at least one of my girls at home. Somehow the reality of that fact is starting to sink in. And I know how fast 4 years will pass. But, the good news is that I still have 8 more concerts to attend. And next year I will have the joy of seeing both of my girls perform in the same chorus. That is something novel and exciting to look forward to.

Image from Google Images

Thankful Thursday

OK, once again I've had a super busy day and I'm writing this post at 10:30 pm (a little earlier than yesterday's post. WooHoo!). So if it doesn't make complete sense, please bear with me. Lots to be thankful for this week:

1. I am thankful that I found my way to the ICA in Boston on Friday without getting even a little bit lost! And I'm glad I figured out that the best way to do that is to take multiple sets of directions. A compilation of all of them will most likely make sense. Who needs GPS anyway?

2. I'm thankful that I have kept in touch with Kristen, my friend from college, and that we manage to get together a couple of times a year even though we live 2 hours away from each other. Sometimes we meet at an outlet mall that's partway between our towns, but usually we meet in Boston to explore a museum. I'm grateful that I have a friend who shares my love of art and history. And books - we always manage to share a couple of titles with each other. Oh, and next time we get together she wants to come and explore Providence. THAT is something to be grateful for as well!

3. I am so thankful that Geoff and Madeleine helped me clean out the garage this past weekend (even if it was on Mother's Day). Just call me Angela. If you don't get this reference, read this. First of all, my pack rat husband finally agreed to get rid of a bunch of tools and other useless junk unused items, which had been clogging up the garage for years! And secondly, I found Hortense!!! Who is Hortense? Hortense is my little stone gargoyle who sits in my bird bath every spring and summer. I always put the birdbath (and Hortense) away for the colder months and two years ago when spring finally sprung I couldn't find him anywhere. I was seriously bummed. I LOVE gargoyles and I was especially fond of Hortense. On Mother's Day I found him buried under above mentioned "unused items". *ahem* (That is not a picture of Hortense, but it's pretty close to what he looks like. If it wasn't 11:00 pm I'd go take a picture and post it, but it is and I'm not.)

4. Thrilled beyond belief that I won two tickets to Trinity Repertory Company in the RARI raffle on Saturday! I was hoping to see at least one show next season and when I looked at the upcoming schedule (before I won the tickets), there were 4 shows (out of 6) I REALLY wanted to see and one I wanted to see and one I was lukewarm about. I tried to talk Geoff into a season subscription and he wasn't buying it (figuratively or literally). I did get him to agree to see one show. So now I can see two shows! Right? The free tickets "buy" me a bonus show - don't they? Of course they do. It's perfect logic!

5. I'm also grateful for having a chance to spend some time with my friend Margaret on Tuesday. Margaret is another friend of mine who loves art and history. She lives here in RI and occasionally we go to NYC and visit The Metropolitan Museum of Art. (And a few years ago we spent 5 days in DC visiting as many museums as we could. It was awesome!) This spring we signed up for a three lecture series of Art Talks at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Since neither one of us knows all that much about art, even though we both love it, we decided it might be fun to learn a little bit that we could hopefully apply the next time we're standing in front of a fabulous painting by a famous artist. Unfortunately, we didn't get very much out of either of the two lectures that we actually attended. But, it was still fun to meet for lunch before the lecture. We bought salads at Whole Foods and sat on a bench by the Providence River and had a nice chat before going to the boring lecture. Hey, being with a friend makes everything better.

Wow, looking back I really had a great week! It's been busy, but full of great things. And if that means having to write posts in the middle of the night (or until 11:00 pm) - so be it. I'm lucky to have had such an awesome week! How about you? Did something good happen to you this past week? I sure hope so!