blessings

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, and also because my last post was a downright downer, here are some things that bring me oodles of joy:


Friends. J-Rod visited Boston over Veteran's Day and we honored our troops in the best way we knew how: cheeseburgers, wine, & American flags. Oh and many 11-11-11 wishes. Hit that 11:11 am AND pm, broke it up into 20 second intervals to maximize wish making... have I shared too much? Do I sound crazy? Twas a delight to have my first guest & I really love that Jeanenne and I make an effort to see each other. Life is hectic & there are always a dozen things we think we should be doing, but really, what's the point if we don't make time to see the people we care about?

Festivities. One night we made scrolls for our 8th graders who were writing their own declaration of independence. With a preamble and all (cue Schoolhouse Rock "weee the peopleeee, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice and insure domestic tranquilityyyyYYYY"). Being the domestic goddess that I am, I decided to bake some brownies. And voila, out came a pile of poop. Poop + scrolls with grill marks -- strangely representative of this stage of our lives.

Future. I got accepted to my first law school last week! It was such a happy, validating, relief of a moment. Also I am not ashamed to say I listened to the voicemail on repeat and did my pointy finger celebratory dance. Also my roommate Rob got into his first med school on the same night which was just beautiful. Asticou is going places!

Fowl. Just keeping with the F theme. This is the pond I pass when I go running in the arboretum. Are you more confused because you don't know what an arboretum is or because you didn't know I am a world-class marathon-training runner extraordinaire? I like to run. My power song is All of the Lights and when I feel like collapsing I just think of Jennifer Aniston being twice my age and 70 times more in shape than I. Keeps me going for a few more feet.

Frankness. My 7th grade girls kept asking me to straighten my hair so they could see it. Today I busted out the straight hair and MAN these kids are brutally honest. Reactions to my straight hair from various middle schoolers:

"You look like a prettier version of Ugly Betty."
"You should really do this every day. You look SO much better with straight hair. It brings out your complexion. And your attitude."
"So you got tired of your frizzy hair?"

Fam. Most of all, I am so incredibly thankful to have a hilarious, supportive, functional family. In less than 48 hours I shall be reunited with this bunch, eating food I can't afford on my own, watching the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, playing Phase 10, reading at Barnes & Noble, and basking in the glory of home sweet home. This pic is from T-Givs 2010. This year's pics will feature Alex as a full 5 inches taller than me. Yikes. They grow up so quickly.

Father of my children.



A blessing to us all.