Day 42

Back from an incredibly awesome extended family weekend in Pittsburgh, I find myself tonight reflecting on some popular cliches--most of which I find incredibly annoying but also true/good advice. (I guess it's why people insist on repeating them again and again and again, just as I'm about to do. Sorry.)

In no particular order, here goes:

1. Life is too short... [you can fill this in with whatever you'd like but basically the point is that you should be enjoying every moment.] And on the topic of "enjoying every moment," my friend Mia just sent me a link to this very excellent blog post.

2. Just do it. Ok, this is not really a cliche and it's not at all annoying to me. I think this Nike slogan is brilliant and basically a much more eloquent version my new motto, "shut up and go." (In fact, I'm sure that Nike's motto subconsciously inspired my new mantra.) This weekend I just did it--I shut up and went... ice skating at PPG. It wasn't pretty but it was super fun. Jules had a blast too!

3. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. (HT - if you're reading, I know what you're thinking and, no, you shouldn't comment.) This motto makes me want to hurl but I like the point: Make the best of it. Big shout-out to my sis and JO who are pretty skilled at living this cliche. (Congrats.) And not that Kai napping is a big lemon, but when Kai-guy slept through the ENTIRE Children's Museum experience, Kate and Jon (ha: Jon and Kate!) found a way to turn that into something completely delicious while Jules and I were legitimately exploring the exhibits. Here's a taste:

And another...

4. If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. This is great advice--from my mom. I'll be honest though: I pretty much suck at following this. I say a lot of things that aren't nice. But I say a lot of things that are nice, too. So I'm talkative. Maybe there's a way of looking at this as a ratio, like the one doctors use to evaluate your cholesterol?

5. Don't worry, be happy. Um, right. Bobby McFerrin, clearly you and I are wired a bit differently. But I like your style.

Day 5

Very big-girl day. Refinanced our house. Took Jules to the doctor for a mysterious rash. (He's fine. Rash, still a mystery). Hired an electrician to save our home for imminent fire. Seriously. Take it from me: If your lights have been flickering for a month, call an electrician ASAP no matter what anyone else says. I have taken over all electrical responsibilities at our house.

Also, I received the MOST thoughtful birthday gift from my sis, Kate: Joy of Cooking, 1975 edition. (Recall: the year I was born).

See?

I have a humungous cookbook collection. But, bizarrely, until today, I did not own Joy of Cooking. I may have mentioned that I wanted it. I may have... and maybe even that I'd heard one of the older editions was better. (I think my wise co-worker Stacy, who manages EatingWell's Test Kitchen told me this.) Or I maybe I didn't say anything at all. But Kate knew it'd be the perfect gift.

When I told Jon about Kate's awesome gift, this was his response: "What the f*ck? You're f*cking kidding me. That girl is totally out of line with her 'perfect' presents."(Note: Jon loves my sis. Perhaps more than he loves me. In a totally appropriate way, of course.)

Huh?

Turns out, Jon had ordered the exact same thing for me for Christmas, just hours earlier.  I seriously don't recall talking about wanting to get this book so this coincidence is totally blowing my mind still hours later. Anyway, Jon cancelled the order, noting that his reason for the return was, "My wife's sister bought my wife this very same book for her birthday. Now I, her husband, am left trying to figure out what to buy her for Christmas." Oh. I might note that it is our (mine and Jon's) tradition to buy each other a book (one that has some significance) for Christmas.

So today I have no trouble identifying the targets of my gratitude: the two people who seem to know me better than I know myself. Oh, and the man who saved our home from catching fire.