TX- Big Goodbye

Ah, Texas.
We had good times! We made some new compadres.

We hunkered down in our Fort.


We blazed some trails.



We got a long, little doggie. Got to see one, anyways.


We had our first ride on one of them thar train engines.


We 'et some cactus.


We rode our hosses off into the sunset.

We got to spend a long, purty time hanging out with some of our favorite people and exploring a new place. We had Big, Texas-sized fun!
And we will never forget.

TX- Big Birthday

While we were in TX, my mom had a BIG Birthday. I'm not going to reveal it. But it is a multiple of 10. A day to celebrate!

Little One and I took her on a little road trip to a fun little town by the river. We had a great time, and I think Nanna even enjoyed the day, too. I have to say. Even if my mom feels this way about her birthday:


I for one am seriously happy she was born. Because my mom is pretty much the best most awesomest person ever, and I like having her around to hang out with! And also, because if she hadn't had a birth day, well, where would I be now? And Little One?! Celebrate your Day mom! It means you are here with us, making the world a better and sunnier place. And it means that this is possible:

Happy. Happy Birthday.



*Oh you didn't hear? It's Nanna. We started out with plain old Grandma, but Little One re-christened her during our Big visit. She stuck to Her decision until we said, ok fine. Truthfully, Little One prefers the pronunciation "Nanda". But my mom is working on "Nanna" as a compromise. We'll see how it goes.

TX- Big Fun for Little People

The children's museum in San Antonio is huge. We thought we'd stop in for a couple hours and spent the whole day. See?
She was unimpressed by the mini-alamo.


But She warmed up when we got to have a tea party.


And then there were bubbles!


Magnets!


Slides! With Daddy at the bottom!


A walk in fish tank. Why don't I have one of those?


There was this awesome room with tubes and balls and negative pressure. This part had air rushing out that made the balls "float". They were surprisingly hard to catch and put in the basket. But She did it!


And, I'm not going to lie a highlight for Little One was this girl's funky boots. She chased them all over.


Her favorite part was definitely this. Shopping.


Glad to see She understands the importance of sunscreen!


We even made our very own creepy family portrait. Hee hee.


Sometimes the best thing about having kids, is getting to play!

TX- Big Zoo

Actually, compared to DC, it was moderately sized. But we got to go with Her aunt, grandparents, and great-grandparents, so it was a pretty fun meeting of menageries. Especially since we got there right after a new crop of baby monkeys had arrived. Have you ever seen anything quite as cute as this?! NO!

Ok well, there is this little primate.

But there was lots of other good stuff at the zoo, too. There was love.

There were birds.

There were love-birds!

Ahahaa you fell right into my corny-ness! Gotcha.

TX- Missions Completed

You may recall way back in Big Texas, when we were derailed in our quest to visit the missions. Well, just so you know we're not a bunch of quitters, here is some proof that we made it. It was stunning. The fact that such beautiful and enduring architecture and art was so painstakingly crafted out of the wild and isolating Nothing is amazing. I admire the incredible gumption and effort that it took to make these missions and to orchestrate their many functions. They were churches but also farms, ranches, schools; really whole villages, where priests oversaw the everyday lives of scores of Native Americans who did all their living and dying there. I appreciate much of the ideology of those early Franciscans, and I can see how one might have felt pride and purpose, looking out from the tower at the people they had helped to be fed, literate, sheltered, and saved in many ways. Of course I also know that not all those residents wanted that kind of saving, or were there voluntarily. I know that ideology wasn't necessarily reality, and that these missions were the beginning of the end of entire cultures. That they ended up falling apart across the street from Lou's Bar and Circle K.

For me, a Catholic and the great-granddaughter of a Native American, this is a part of my cultural heritage. It's hard to know just what to make of it. But I love going places that remind me to consider it. And I love that in those spots, I can walk around and know that feet have turned up the earth there for hundreds of years. I like watching Little One run in the open spots and walk with Her grandmother, picking up rocks and tracing in the dust, and know that children have been playing the same way, in that same spot, for centuries. I like to imagine them and what they became; children who have grown and died and whose grandchildren have lived and gone, who once pressed their little hands to those same stone bricks. They were smoother then.

I like to wonder who will follow after us.


I also like to wonder what the old family who lived in this spot would have thought, if they could see it today. I imagine they would think,
"what the heywire is a Coke machine doing in my house?"

A Salute'

I've been awfully quiet around here. Not because I don't have anything to talk about. Ha. Like that is even possible! I want to catch up, but for now I have this little thought that popped back into my brain while I was at a little wedding last weekend. (Which is like saying "oh I just had a little snack at the Vegas buffet" but that story is coming another day).
I know the bride from a group of girls with whom I go waaaaaaaay back. Not as far back as they go with each other, but- for me- waaaaay back. I was the first one to get married. To buy a house. Definitely the first to go to bed by 10 on a Saturday night. The first to have a baby. I am in fact, still the only one with a kid.
So even though this wedding couple has been together for years longer than J and I have even known each other, I am fairly certain that I still get to be the official Old Married Lady of the bunch. Don't argue! I will give time-outs! Now. I thought I'd play the part and deliver some Old Married Lady wisdom for my friend, whether she wants it or not. That's just how we OML's do. So here is some of what I've learned so far:
You cannot fit two whole oranges into one orange peel.
When I studied science, I learned that it is physically impossible to smoosh two things into the space of one. Impossible! But, well, that is basically what a marriage is. Trying to somehow fit two lives into the space of one lifetime. This can be difficult. It can get a bit crowded in there! We've all got things that we want to have. Or to do. Or to be. But you might have to give up some of those things. To, you know, make room for the other person. You might have to give up a lot of them. Or twist them around in a way that is painful if you're not very stretchy.
But maybe it will help you to think about this thing that I have realized so far. Which is that compromising or even sacrificing those things wasn't some kind of a mistake or misfortune. They were decisions. Made for this reason: that for all of the things you ever wanted to do, or have, or be, there was one thing- something- that way deep down you just wanted more. More than all of those things put together. Something you wanted Most. And whatever that thing was, for you, you found it! You found it in each other.
When it does start to feel a bit crowded in life, or if sometimes things don't work out just as you planned (and of course they sometimes wont), I hope that you will remember that your life is a fairy tale. That you already have your happy ending, you already are successful in life and have had your dreams come true. Because the thing you wanted most, more than anything else in the world- you got it! You have it! No matter what, or where, you have it there in each other. And the rest...is just icing.
So. Here is to the next Old Married Lady in line! To having found what you want most in all the world, and to getting to keep it. To life being sweet. And impossibly full.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Did you know I am many %s Irish? Well I am. Just ask my feisty streak or order me some Guiness if you don't believe it. I hear Irish people also have luck! And also eat too many potatoes. That explains a lot. For instance, I like potatoes. Also, though, look what I found today, in a big iron cauldron, at the end of a rainbow!*

This little Leprechaun. Pretty lucky, eh? I like this Irish thing. Where's J? I hear there's also something about kissing....

*Or found in a crib, at the end of a blankie. Potato, potahto.

Parental Paradox

Tonight Little One got scared and woke up crying. Needing to be cuddled a few moments and given a kiss on the forehead.
There is nothing on earth so wonderful- or so terrible- as hearing my baby calling me, "mama, mama!" from Her dreams.

She'll Probably Want a Colt for Her Birthday

Out here in sunny Arizona, things are fairly rural compared to home. Even though we're on the edge of a city, there are wide open spaces, little single-story office buildings, and these huge flat things they call "parking lots". Oooooh. This is all relatively novel for Little One, and She is enjoying the sweeping views and pointing out cows and horses on our drives. But don't worry, cosmopolitan friends, Little One is an DC girl at heart. I mean, you can take the girl out of the city, but you can't take all the urban out of the Little One. For example. These days, if you ask Little One what She wants to play with after breakfast, She will tell you. She would like to play with glocks.

I hope She keeps it up another 20 years or so

Little One is, well, little.
She looks almost comical, walking around just as steady as can be on these itty bitty baby legs. To me She just looks like Herself, until I see Her next to another kid Her age or younger, and then I realize. Wow. Someone left Her in the dryer too long.
Not to worry though, Peanuts. Like a Chihuahua, She has a BIG personality to make up for it.
At first She can be reserved. Not because She is actually timid, but (like Her dad) studious and a bit cautious. She can be a bit sensitive, and when She's nervous She actually wrings Her little hands and kind of teeters a bit, side to side. But once She warms up She's all activity; playing, singing, laughing, ordering us all around. And don't let Her little wringing hand, pouty lip, big batting eyelashes fool you! She's got a little feisty streak in there. (I have Noooo idea where that came from).
For instance. The other day She was chasing the dogs around a field at the park. Suddenly. Two giddy boys, about 4 years old or so, spotted Her and screamed, "ooh! BA-BY!" They rushed Her- out of nowhere!- and began chattering in Her face, manhandling Her, pulling this way and that, trying to pick Her up, poking at Her sunglasses. Little One is not a fan of this type of behavior. She is civilized. She demands a proper introduction! She commenced the wringing of the hands. The protrusion of the lower lip. The sissy-girl whimper. She looked to me for backup. "Mama?"
Hmm. I assessed the situation. She clearly wanted a rescue. But, Peanuts, Little One is a girl in the world. This will not change. There will always be obnoxious boys thinking they can invade Her bubble. Push Her around. And though believe me I'd like to, I won't always be there to swoop Her up. So I smiled at Her so She knew I saw Her pouty lip. And then, I ignored Her. It might seem a bit harsh, Peanuts, sure. But really what I was trying to do was not abandon Her in Her time of need, but to let Her know that I felt confident in Her ability to be strong and do things for Herself. And here is what happened.
She realized I wasn't coming, and for moment, She froze. Stood there looking through Her big sunglasses at the goons yanking on Her arms. Then, She took a deep breath. And began chewing them out in the most indignant, get-up-off-me-you-fools, oh-no-you-didn't tone of voice you can imagine. I have no idea what She said. It sounded like, "AH da da da dee dee DOH! Di DA bo gi gee boh da DA!" and so forth. It was punctuated by a teeny fist flailing up and down in time to the stomping foot, and was effective enough to send one kid packing. The other didn't get the hint. So finally, Little One paused in Her tirade and seemed to say to Herself, "just forget this, man". She took both hands and sort of swept him aside, as with the toy stroller when it happens to be in Her way. And She stomped off to vent to the dogs, leaving this boy -at least 4 times Her size- flat on his booty in the grass. He looked a bit surprised. And he ran away to the slide.
Isn't it amazing how 9 times out of 10, kids work things out if left alone to do it? And how all of us, left to our own resources, find out what we're made of? Not that I condone physical violence. I didn't encourage or congratulate Her. But I didn't scold Her either. I just continued about our walk as if nothing had happened at all. But silently, I have to admit, I was thinking, "good for you Little One. You be strong." And even more silently (don't tell anyone, Peanuts, shhh) I might also have been laughing. Just a Little bit.