Monthly Archives: March 2011

The book of love has music in it, in fact that’s where music comes from…*

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*Version by The Airborne Toxic Event, lyrics by Magnetic Fields.

As the last bits of winter melt away (though we are expecting another winter storm this Friday), and as my efforts to recover from dentist-induced injuries continue, I find myself reflecting on the changes that have occurred in the past year, and the past ten years, really. In the past year we’ve: met our contractors for the first time; signed contracts and pulled permits; spent more money than we knew we had/had to; renovated our kitchen and three bathrooms (almost done with the last bathroom); had our entire house rewired; painted every inch of trim and walls in the first floor (except the ceiling and crown moldings), and half of the second; and started friendships that will (hopefully) last the rest of our days.

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We’ve come a long, long way together, through the hard times and the good…*

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I have to celebrate you, J.J., I have to praise you like I should.

After weeks and weeks of incrementally improving the family bath, and after hours and hours of extra effort and care the tile is officially DONE! I know, I can’t believe it either! Scheduling work on the weekends can be over (for now, until we need the plumber back), and we can finally, finally break down the work-room protections in the guest room. Seriously, I can’t even tell you how ready I was/am for this to be over. Of course I still have tons of painting, patching and protecting to do (as well as figuring out window treatments and shower curtains), but J.J. is done, and for that, I am soooo grateful.

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If I was from Paris, I would say ooh-la-la-la-la-la-la-lah…*

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It’s almost officially spring. And it’s snowing. Like a real, proper, accumulating in inches, with wet pant legs and muddy dog feet snow. This after Friday was easily 65 degrees, sunny (and windy), where I was outside with only a t-shirt on (and pants, too!). Tis what it is to be a New Englander. I know the it won’t last, but knowing that the yard is pregnant with bulbs makes me want to turn my hair dryer on to melt the snow a little faster, to urge spring along by any means necessary.

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Everything is gonna be alright, everything is gonna be alright…*

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Today, as I’m still thinking about Japan, I’m also thinking about the individual humans who are living through this tragedy, disaster, experience. Are they frightened? I’m sure of it. Are they tired? Certainly. How are they coping with the emotion, the fear, the lack of warmth, food and comfort? I personally don’t know how I’d survive. I count my blessings, my good fortunes, my own comforts and am grateful to my bones.

And, while sadness, fear and anxiety are no doubt the primary feelings that most of the survivors are experiencing, I think that it is important to remember that, eventually, everything is going to be alright. It will never be the same. But it can be alright.

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Cupcake Monthly: March, take two

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When you have a good friend, and they have a birthday, and you’re craving sweet things anyway… well, you extend your only-one-batch-of-cupcakes-per-month rule and say, okay, maybe two. I love baking, and frankly I needed the shift in focus (nothing like watching news, or worrying and crying about devastating natural and man-made disasters a la post 9/11). I needed a little cheer to lift me up, and make me remember why we all love life so much. It’s because of cupcakes, obviously.

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And there upon the rainbow is the answer, to a neverending story…

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Throughout the past week, Team Carpentry (aka: Team Jonas this time around) has been here working diligently, tirelessly (well, ok, he did get tired), and mindfully to get the built-in cabinet done for the Family Bath Project (aka: the neverending project, ahha ah ahha ah ahha ahhh). read on…

Cupcake Monthly: March

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No, you didn’t miss February. I did. I’ve been working hard on, er, correcting my eating habits, and creating an exercise routine, and I just couldn’t mess with anything tempting in February. But, March is my mom’s birthday month, and I simply couldn’t let her go without a tempting treat on her birthday (what sort of daughter would that make me?).

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You may ask yourself, what is that beautiful house?…*

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And you may ask yourself, well, how did I get here?

While enjoying some retro tunes (rocking the David Bowie & Talking Heads station on Pandora) with Jonas working in the background (making excellent headway on the family bath built-in unit), I started poking around in my photo archives. I was looking for inspirational spring images, you know, to get a burst of color, an inkling of growth, anything that could lift up the winter doldrums that have settled pretty heavily this year. Instead of flowers, or other springtime imagery, I found old pictures of the house, from right after we purchased it in the end of 2006. This house is rapidly becoming the place where I’ve lived the longest, and will probably be the place I think of as home for many years to come (whether or not we still live here).

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