Lyle

For one night of Hanukkah, my mom got the kids (and me! and technically, herself) tickets to a show at the Imagination Stage - Lyle the Crocodile.  The kids had seen shows at detsky sad, and Alex had been to plenty of performances, but I was unsure how Zoltan would be.

Duh. It's children's theatre. He was mesmerized. The show is 1.5h with an intermission so pretty doable to any child who can watch a movie at home or even a long show. We had amazing front row seats, although the theatre is small and I imagine every seat is good. They have stacks of booster seats as you walk into the auditorium for smaller ones to be sure to get a good view. The parking garage attached to the theatre is the same kind of metered parking that's all over Bethesda and it is free Saturday and Sunday, although I had loaded up on quarters just in case.

The show itself was fantastic. Lots of singing, dancing, costumes that attract attention on their own. Simple plot. A few jokes for the parents. Zoltan kept asking me why the man who played the crocodile didn't talk. I repeated "Because he's a crocodile and they don't talk." I don't think the answer satisfied him.

The kids have already said they loved it and want to go again. I don't love the upcoming shows but I think I'll suck it up and we'll get back there, or try one of the other local children's theatres (there are several!!)

Have I mentioned lately that I love where we live?

Gratitude #30

30. Today I am grateful for communities. I belong to virtual communities of foreign service folks or moms of children born in October 2007 and real life communities of parents and children who go to the playground after school pickup or people who went to law school with me.  It is instantly rewarding and validating to know that someone will just "get it" if I tell them a particular story, rant, or situation I need advice to solve. They say it takes a village and I don't think it's just about childcare.

Gratitude #29

29. Today I am thankful for my children. Often frustrating, occasionally precious (in the good way). Last night in the car home from my brother's house Alex suggested that we all go around and talk about what we're thankful for. I so love that she thought of doing that.

Gratitude #28

28. In honor of Thanksgiving I am thankful for good food. I am sure my mother never would have guessed, in my only-a-piece-of-Kraft-singles-on-a-piece-of-Wonder-bread stage that this would happen, but I have become picky about my food. I don't care what it looks like as long as it's high quality and tastes good. The cooking team responsible for our Thanksgivukkah certainly pulled out the stops!

Wordless Wednesday

Gratitude #27

27. Today I am grateful for the daily gratitude project. Every study on happiness shows that expressing gratitude is an important part of a well-lived life. Yesterday I received news that, while not catastrophic, derails plans that had been in place for a good year or so. But after a little cry and some self pity, I pulled up my big girl panties and put everything into perspective. Going through my past 26 expressions of gratitude helped with that exercise.

And a quote from Alex, that just randomly and serendipitously happened to occur last night:
"I like the word "happy" because it is a way that we feel good."

Well, I guess I won't start working in January ...

I learned today that the invites for the January A-100 class have gone out.  People lower than me on the register got invites. I did not, because I am not technically on the register. After 2 years my clearance needed to be "re-upped" so I am currently under investigation yet again. This time it feels slower than any previous time. We had really been planning on me starting work in January, so this is an enormous blow. Please, if anyone's reading this, think good thoughts for this to be done in time for the March class (assuming there is a March class).

Gratitude #26

26. Today I am grateful for family. Since we've been back in the USA we have spent more time with family - immediate, extended, biological and not - from both sides than we had in at least 7 years. I am excited to see my one big brother I haven't seen in more than 3 years when he comes for Thanksgiving, and my mother might just faint when all her children and all her grandchildren are under one roof.

The first lost tooth!!!

Extra, extra, read all about it! After two teeth have already come in - behind the baby teeth, oy can we say orthodonture? - Alex has FINALLY wiggled and waggled that one very loose tooth to its very end. It happened about 10 minutes past bedtime so there are no photos as yet. Now we need to find the tooth fairy's special present (a light-up toothbrush) and figure out her going rate ($1.00, I think).

And now we can start wiggling and waggling the one not-very-loose tooth, because I think these adult teeth will eventually need to more forward.

Gratitude #25

25. Today I am grateful for the kitchen cart my mom got us for Hanukkah (yes, it was given early. I'm Ok with that.)  It has seriously transformed my kitchen experience, and given that I make dinner 9 nights out of 10, cook something for breakfast several days a week, make bread, yogurt, applesauce etc etc I spend a LOT of time in that very small space. Not having to take out half a cabinet to get to the one thing I need that got pushed to the back not because it's less used but because everything is often used is a joy. Not having to wash every single dish or pan before starting the new project because there is zero counter space is another joy.

Thanks again, mom!