The Last Week, In a List

Here is a chronicle of the week's notable developments, which fall into two categories... Awesome and Not Awesome.

Awesome : The chartreuse velvet rocker/recliner we picked up for $18 at our local thrift store. (Bless those Adventists.)

Not Awesome : The long black ballpoint pen mark Mazzy promptly added to the seat cushion.

Awesome : Mazzy's piano skills, now being refined by weekly lessons.

Not Awesome : The incessant piano playing, plus the number of times each day my 3-year-old sings "If you like it then you shoulda put a ring on it."

Awesome : Daddy working from home, lovely for so many reasons.

Not Awesome : Daddy working from home, for other reasons.

Awesome : Last Saturday's date night, which included hanging out with friends at a bar!

Not Awesome : Waking up on Sunday (after hanging out at a bar) to discover some sort of allergic reaction on my lips from eating raw oysters.

Awesome : Rockstar (pictured here ----> )

is still alive!!

Not Awesome : Rockstar is the only one of our nine hens that is still alive. (We cross our fingers every night and have yet to identify the wily chicken killer.)

Awesome : Spending the majority of the last three days with my five year old snuggled in my lap, her head in my hands, running my fingers through her hair.

Not Awesome : The infestation of lice that brought about the aforementioned tender closeness.

Awesome : Everything in my house being clean and freshly washed and smelling of Tea Tree Oil, also because of the lice.

Not Awesome : Our cat's ever-expanding repertoire of midnight shenanigans, which now includes the nightly breaking of at least one bedside water glass.

Awesome : The growing eagerness for the movies of March. Specifically Ponyo, coming out on video March 2nd, and Alice in Wonderland, in theaters March 5th. Neither Tim Burton nor Hayao Miyazaki can do any wrong in our eyes.

Awesome : Speaking of movies, Jon miraculously improved my mood last night ('twas a very irritating day, again the lice) by suggesting the perfect 80's B-movie: Dead Calm. I usually don't go for scary movies, but I was in no mood to laugh or feel sentimental, and this movie was more amusing than scary, with the most amazing payoff at the end. I did wind up laughing after all.

And, finally, one more Awesome...

Awesome : The culinary craftiness of Marshall Brainstorm, whose homemade(!) hot sauce and curry now rank #1 in the JLF kitchen. Keep it coming, Mr. There's-Nothing-I-Can't-Do-Better-Myself.

Father-Daughter Fiddle Lessons

These two made the hour long journey to their first fiddle lessons this week. They arrived home beaming with joy and whipped out their fiddles to show me what they had learned. Mary Had a Little Lamb never sounded so sweet and so horrible at the same time.
I love that they are both learning together. He's just as unfamiliar and awkward as she is. Hopefully this will be a bonding journey that they will always look back on with fond memories. Who knows, maybe it's the beginning of a family band.
Fortunately for you these pictures don't come with sound.

Week Four

Week Three

Instead...

I know that football, and particularly the Super Bowl, is an important part of the lives of many Americans. But for the Jones Love Federation, this past Sunday had something else to offer.

A beautiful sunny winter day atop Table Rock.

Week Two

10,957 Days

It feels like I've arrived, now that I'm thirty. I've been living and breathing a good long time. I've had, as my daughter would say, 10,957 sleeps. I feel like I have a newly acquired right to claim that I'm officially mature. For me, that particular sense of legitimacy has been a long row to hoe. At the same time, it doesn't seem possible that I've been with my husband for eleven years and that my youngest (and final) child is now three. Jeez, I'm not that old!


My daughter would also tell you that the best part of any birthday is the party, and this year my friends threw me a good one. A "Gender-Bender Star Search" one, to be more specific. Confused? I was too. But boys dressed as girls and girls as boys and everyone was supposed to be an 80's TV character. We had Punky Brewster and Alex P. Keaton, Cliff Clavin and Rainbow Brite. I'll limit the photos (trust me, your mental image is better) to this one: my personal favorite ensemble of the night, The Smurfs.

(Plus a Ninja Turtle thrown in for good measure.)

AND there was a Talent Show. This part was my idea. Partly because we have to compensate for a staggering lack of nightlife out here in the country, but mostly because it feels good to watch your friends put on a show for you. It does. And my friends happen to be quite talented, if I do say so myself.

There was a clear standout in this category, too. A runaway winner, really. And without further ado...

Thankfully, it must take a lot longer than thirty years before you really grow up.