Outside my window there is a supermoon!

I am thinking about The Avengers. Troy and I just went to see it this evening (on opening day!) and it was really, really excellent. Joss Whedon knows how to direct an ensemble cast like no one else, man. Usually during action movies I get pretty bored during the action sequences, but I wasn’t bored for a single minute during this movie, which simultaneously felt like it flew by and went on far longer than 2 hours, 20 minutes. There were a couple of cameos that were a pleasant surprise, and I laughed out loud many times. When the end credits started I turned to Troy and said, “I wanna see that again.”

I am thankful for the fact that the big database Troy’s division was working on, the one that was causing him to work such ridiculously late hours and some weekends, has been turned over. Troy has been coming home in time for dinner most of this week, and it’s been fantastic. I know it won’t last, but I’m enjoying it while it does.

I am wearing dark gray yoga pants and this t-shirt. Why ARE there so many songs about arcs of electromagnetic radiation with wavelengths between 380 and 750 nm in concentric bands formed by the refraction and reflection of solar energy off of moisture in the Earth’s atmosphere? (Though really…there aren’t that many.)

I am remembering that I really loved the TV show “The Incredible Hulk.”

I am going to the National Mall tomorrow. We thought it would be cool to take Aurora downtown and take photos of her in front of some national monuments and museums, so she’ll be able to see evidence that she visited D.C. when she’s older.

I am currently reading Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. Well, re-reading it, really. It’s only been released in the UK so far, but it will be released in the U.S. and Canada next February. So if you think you’d like a book that’s funny and sad, sarcastic and sincere, and above all geeky—a book about two misfit high-schoolers who accidentally end up sitting on the school bus together every day and fall in love over X-Men and Watchmen comic books and mix tapes featuring The Cure and the Smiths—a book about falling in love the way you do when you’re 16 and it’s your first love and everything is desperate and hopeless and wildly hopeful—then stay tuned. I’ll be talking about E&P again in February, have no fear.

I am hoping that out cats will stop vomiting and peeing and pooping all over the place. But I know it’s a forlorn hope. They’re 16 and 10 years old. They’re gonna be throwing up on our carpets and peeing on our laundry and pooping right next to the litter box until they die, probably. Sigh.

On my mind: Uh…my mind is a blank for once. Fringe? We’re watching Part 1 of the Season 4 finale right now.

Noticing that I need a pedicure. And to use lotion on my hands more often.

Around the house things are getting rather messy. Three kids create so much more mess than two. I don’t even wanna think about what four kids would be doing.

In the kitchen, there is a bag of gumdrops. BRB.

One of my favorite things is the bouquet of orange ranunculus and pink tulips sitting on our mantel.

From my photo archive: our friends’ daughter holding a woolly caterpillar on a stick at the beach in April 2007.

Here’s a classic meme (via Leah [heh, that rhymes!] at agirlandaboy), because right now I don’t seem to be capable of any kind of blogging more strenuous than this. If you follow me on FB or Twitter you might have heard that our visit to Omaha ended with pretty much everyone in the house taking turns being sick with a gross stomach virus and a snowstorm on Saturday, AKA the day we were originally supposed to fly to Texas to meet Troy.

We postponed our flight for a day which was a good thing all around, giving everyone an extra day to recover. Troy had to hang out at the hotel for an extra day and we missed out on spending a day with Troy’s mom and stepdad, but it wasn’t a big deal, and it couldn’t be helped. We’re having a low-key, relaxing (except for Elliora being fussy and clingy thanks to her incisors being jerks) visit.

On to the meme.

A. Age: 36 for another month and three days.

B. Bed size: King, which we bought a couple years ago because our queen-size bed had gotten too small for two adults, two cats, and a growing child. Now, Annalie sleeps in her own bed 99% of the time, and Elliora can’t be trusted to sleep in our bed without getting up and destroying things, and the cats are banned from the bedroom because they kept peeing on our laundry. It makes me kind of sad that no one else is sharing our giant bed, which we bought specifically to share, with us anymore.

C. Chore that you hate: Cleaning the litter box. Folding laundry. Raking leaves or shoveling snow.

D. Dogs: We don’t have one. Moving every two years with two cats is challenging enough.

E. Essential start to your day: Breakfast. When I wake up, I must eat ASAP.

F. Favorite color: Yellow (golden, not pastel) and orange.

G. Gold or Silver: Silver.

H. Height: 5’2″

I. Instruments you play: Piano, flute, violin. I also sing (mezzo-soprano).

J. Job title: Mom. Homeschool teacher.

K. Kids: Two girls, Annalie and Elliora, ages 7.75 and 14 months.

L. Live: D.C. metro. This summer we’ll be moving back to San Diego. We were originally supposed to move right about now. We’re happy to be going back to San Diego; not so thrilled about the extra six months in D.C., although we’re trying hard to look on the bright side.

M. Mother’s name: Debbie.

N. Nicknames: I don’t really have any. I used to go by Beth, but only a handful of people call me that anymore. I guess some people call me B.

O. Overnight hospital stays: For me, when I had babies. And also when Elliora had RSV when she was one month old, I stayed at the hospital with her for three days.

P. Pet peeves: The improper use of the word “cliché.” (It is a cliché. It is so clichéd.) People not pulling out into the intersection when they’re waiting to turn left on a green light. TV shows getting cancelled before they even had a chance.

Q. Quote from a movie: “Life is pain, highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.”

R. Right- or left-handed: Right. But I have always wished I were left-handed.

S. Siblings: One brother, 17 months younger.

Edited to add: Jen came up with a T, and I liked it so I’m including it.
T. Taste you do not like: Orange-flavored soda and candy (I like actual oranges and orange juice, just not orange-flavored things), black licorice and jellybeans (I like anise-flavored baked goods, but in candy form it’s too strong), Earl Grey tea, flowery flavors. (I had trouble coming up with these. In general I have stronger negative feelings about certain textures than I do about flavors.)

U. Underwear: Purple.

V. Vegetable(s) you hate: I don’t love eggplant or turnips, but I’ll eat both.

W. What makes you run late: I pretty much always underestimate how long it will take me to do everything. I know this and try to compensate by adding 10-30 minutes to my estimates, but it doesn’t always work.

X. X-Rays you’ve had: Just my teeth during regular checkups.

Y. Yummy food that you make: Extra-lemony eggs benedict. Homemade pizza with pesto and butternut squash. Roasted asparagus/broccoli/carrots/brussels sprouts. Pickled eggs, about which I weirdly had a dream last night. (The dream itself wasn’t weird; I just dreamed that we got home from our vacation and I was happy to realize we still had pickled eggs in the fridge. It’s just kind of weird that I was dreaming about pickled eggs at all.)

Z. Zoo animal: I always loved the goats in the petting zoo.

What happened to the T? It’s a mystery.

p.s. New banner. Thanks, Brenda!

pretty: I like playing with the shutter speed when there’s a fountain around. This one is in the main park in Erin and Rocco’s downtown.

happy: Annalie loved this ziplining thing on the playground in the same park. She went on it over and over and over again. There was a similar piece of playground equipment on the playground at our old church in Maryland, and she loved that one too. And she was pleased as punch with herself when she was able to go all the way across the rings on her own.

funny: Silly ice-cream posers. And goofball me, posing on Annalie’s scooter with Elliora on my back.

real: This is what happens when you accidentally fall asleep with wet hair when you’re putting the baby to bed for her afternoon nap.

Pretty, happy, funny, real is about capturing the context of contentment in everyday life. Via girlwithgreencard.