L-O-V-E

Sweetest pic ever.

Check out good-stock.com.

Newsflash

I'm getting married on Saturday.

That's all.

Welcome to Summer

Here in Seattle, we're pretty much willing to take what we can get as far as summer goes. I mean, we haven't always been so desperate--practically the groveling ex who just can't stop CALLING--but this year of rainrainrainrainrain has really broken our usually weather-tolerant hearts.

So tonight, when Kelsey saw a gigantic mosquito in our cozy little apartment, it was only fitting that she announced the following:

That thing is DISGUSTING, but because it reminds me of summer, I'm going to let it live!

That's us, taking what we can get.

Famous Last Words

Lately the kids I work with (or for, depending on the day) have been hamming it up in the one-liner department. Some days, I can't believe a big shot editor hasn't secretly been watching me from afar, and then surprised me with a booming, "Holly Elizabeth, WRITE ALL OF THAT STUFF DOWN! We'll pay you for it--your loans are forgiven, your husband has a car again, and we're sending you to Sicily as a thank you for your groundbreaking, um, recording of kid-quotes."

Scout, age 2: Holly, well, I'm just not up to playing with you right now.

Jack, age 4: MY BUTT IS STUCK IN THIS BABY SWING! HEEEEEEEELP!

Maya, age 3: Are you going to wear a ruffly dress to my wedding, Holly? (She's my flower girl, by the way.)

Cole, age 6: Hey, I always put on my dirty clothes after the bath. It's how my mom likes to do it.

Scout, age 2 (again): Did you know that I had a really, super high fever last night? And then my Aunt Marcy put a bandaid down my throat that made it alllll better. And you know why it didn't hurt? She was just SO careful when she stuck her hand down my throat! It didn't even hurt! Really! Really!

Nia, age 4: (After being told that, unfortunately, there is no more bread for grilled cheese) Well, I wanted grilled cheese, but I guess a quesadilla will work alright. HOLLY! I AM BEING SO FLEXIBLE RIGHT NOW!

These are the zippy moments that keep me going in this somewhat haphazard lifestyle I'm leading. Makes me think that motherhood, in due time (in like twenty years, people), will be a whole lot of work, but a whole lot of sweet moments too.

Through the Storm (Or, Hollywood Moms Who Need Better Editors)

Am I a little bit embarrassed to be looking forward to this? Well...nah!

So I Was Telling Maryann About This...

I have an idea... it's been floating around in my brain for about a year and a half now, but I haven't actually gotten around to it.

What if, instead of searching for a vast array of somethings for everyone we know this Christmas, we narrowed it down a bit and gave everybody LITERATURE. Maybe a novel, maybe a list of our favorite blogs (literature used loosely), maybe a subscription to a literary journal or poetry magazine.

Wanna try it? Wanna recruit?

:)

OH!

I have another one. Another one that I've had for quite awhile. I really miss hearing the snippets of sophistication from all the folks who groomed me while I was in the cocoon of SPU, and I'm wondering if somehow we could inspire them to have a collective blog. A sort of--here's what made me think today, you should read it too, kind of blog. Basically just a whole slew of interesting or inspiring or gobsmacking links that the rest of us might find noteworthy.

Now I just have to get them to find five extra minutes in their eight days a week schedules. Wish me luck.

Wait, Wait!

I have one more grievance--Twenty-year-old station wagons that never had good Consumer Reports reviews in the first place that DIE approximately two weeks before one's wedding. And then require upwards of EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLARS to get running again.

Yeah, I'm grievin' about that one.

List of Grievances

1. Snotty preschool teachers who DO NOT ACCOMMODATE PICKY EATERS. Okay, I get it.
2. Not knowing what Tim Winton meant when he talked about the sweet momentum of writing a novel. Really? Momentum that feels as delicious as reading itself? That is something I'm still searching for.
3. The ugly return of big plastic homeschooler glasses. I was homeschooled, people, I'm allowed to say that. Tis a trend that needs not catch on.
4. Children who refuse to sleep. Children who slap their mothers in the face. And children who throw their food on the floor as a means of protest.
5. The fact that Adobe is denying me access to ALL downloads until the beginning of July. I'm sorry, I need to use InDesign immediately to figure out the wedding programs. HELP.
6. Children who are constantly watching television or eating nonfoodlikesubstances or making hissing noises. Sheesh.
7. Not being able to ride my bike without having MAJOR bodily harm--either because I'm hyperventilating from the damn hills or because I decide to ride directly into the path of a yellow cab.
8. Getting "declines with regret" in the mail, and then running into someone I really like but knowing we didn't/couldn't make room for them in the first place.
9. Obnoxious tenants who are afraid of SPIDERS.
10. Inconsistent emailers. It's so easy to hit reply, why wait?

Thanks for reading this edition of my List of Grievances. I promise I'll cheer up tomorrow. ;)