Skiing Update

We did go skiing Monday. Or at least, some of us did. We got to the ski area and realized we'd left Anna's jacket at home, so she and I hung out in the lodge while the others played. Martin did take Daffodil up on the lift and she surprised me by not being scared on the lift, but still a little anxious on the slopes. By the time we came home though, she said she was ready to go again.

Overall I am pleased with our skiing experiment. We obviously still need to improve our system for getting out the door fully prepared, but I am already seeing my hopes realized and then some. It's been worth it and, I imagine, it's just going to get better.





"The Eskimos had fifty-two names for snow because it was important to them: there ought to be as many for love." Margaret Atwood

The Labor of Love

I went back to sit with my Grandpa Joe again tonight. I keep thinking of these words: "the patience of hope and the labor of love." I've been wrestling with how to upload an audio file here so you know what I'm referencing, but it is becoming clear I am not going to solve that problem tonight. In the meantime, go here and skip the last 30 seconds (the song ends at 4:30 and the last bit ruins it). Hopefully my technical difficulties will be fixed soon and I can include it here.

I Love Letters

I was supposed to try and face-time this morning with my mom who is on the other side of the world. Technical difficulties and a time mix-up got in the way though. I haven't done a very good job of communicating with her since she left a month ago to go teach in Abu Dhabi. After being stymied in connecting this morning, I wrote a brief update for her which I think I will share here in another private-gone-public letter. This references friends and family which may be boring, though I have put in links where I can. A few years ago I made a new year's resolution to send a letter or note of appreciation once a week. I have never been very consistent with the practice, though the latent desire to revive the art of letter writing persists. Here's the most recent installment from this morning:


Dear Mom,

I'm sorry we didn't connect this morning--that would have been the perfect birthday present! I think there might have been a time mix-up too. You are 11 hours ahead of us so 7 a.m. my time is 6 p.m. your time.... Maybe we should try again tomorrow? In the meantime, I am long overdue in giving you an update of things on our end.

The weekend you left I was in LA with Rachel and heard of your departure complications from Sarah. It made me think of our own series of mishaps moving to Hawaii. I will reiterate what I discovered then: there is sometimes a very thin line between adventure and nightmare!

Chi and I had fun. We spent several days at the California Gift Show checking out potential products for her business. It is always fun for me to hang out with her for any activity, so it was a treat to have several days at once! We had a sort of scary adventure Sunday afternoon trying to get back to our hotel from the garment district. We ended up in a LA-version of Tijuana and enlisted the help from some guy in a shoe store. He called a cab for us which ended up being an illegal cab (old, dirty, falling apart Toyota with no markings and a shredded ceiling). Rachel said she had the choke hold planned in the event he started for Mexico with us.... Monday we haunted some thrift stops recommended by LA-based Emily Henderson and had lunch with the famous Stephen Tobolowsky before heading out to catch our plane. He was gracious and, as you said, easy to talk to. As Rachel observed, you can tell "he definitely holds a candle" for you. It was interesting for me to get another view of you, albeit an oblique one largely based in the past. I'm glad you and Sarah encouraged me to contact him; it was fun for me to meet him in person. Alas, I didn't ask for a picture!

The weekend after I came home we went to another gymnastics meet at the U. I somehow had forgtoten that the women's gymnastics team is #1 in the nation! I always love watching gymnastics and the kids loved it too (& Martin tolerated it :)). We also had a gathering that weekend with Grandpa Joe: all five girls and some spouses with Dad at Grandma & Grandpa's to play cards. I'm proud to report that Diane and I beat Dad & Grandpa (after much crowing on their part that we were doomed making the victory that much sweeter!). Christa even got 1500 trump with Liz against Susan and Sarah!




















Speaking of Grandpa, you may have heard that he fell and broke his hip this week. They were worried he wouldn't survive the surgery but, thankfully, he did. It was looking a little iffy post-surgery, but he seems to have turned a corner now. They are doing some more tests and an MRI today because they think he may have suffered a stroke and/or another heart attack post surgery. He seems to know where he is now though and who his visitors are, so that is an improvement. I am going down to see him this afternoon.

Medical news dominates as Heidi also came out at the beginning of February and the long-hoped for transplant for George happened on the 14th! Everything went fairly smoothly. They can tell the kidney is working in George (so amazing!) and both patients are doing pretty well all things considered. Heidi is out of the hospital now and George may be discharged this afternoon. They will both stay another week at Johanna's to be close to the hospital in case of complications.

Tomorrow we plan to go skiing again. Eden has had the chance to go quite a bit with a friend in the neighborhood and guided Soren and I on our first trip down the mountain last time. They both love it and, now that I'm not dealing with the tow rope, I'm loving it too. Daffodil manages the bunny hill just fine and I hope to persuade her to try the easiest paths on the mountain tomorrow. It is so cute to see Anna sailing down on the harness with Martin. I don't think she's that close to going independently yet, but she does seem to enjoy it.

As far as school goes for me, no final decisions yet. I got a call from Utah's Assistant Dean yesterday informing me I've been re-accepted there. Martin and I are laying plans to go to Portland for Lewis & Clark's law preview in March. I will try to attend as many events at the different schools as I can in the next 6 weeks. I've got to put money down at BYU April 1st if we go there...

Martin is liking his new job. Ironically, there has been a bit of an adjustment back to academia from the corporate world. It has helped him appreciate in a new way the experience he's gleaned at Lochner. I am still not really clear on what it is that he does; I keep asking him and then tuning out when he answers my questions! He's also been busy with the Planning Commission. I sort of think they gave us false advertising re. how much time would be required for the volunteer position, but he has found the work really interesting.

I think that roughly summarizes things on our end. I can't wait to talk to you and get more details on your adventure!

Love,

Becca


p.s., I've been posting some good stuff over on the poetry blog. Y'all are missing out; invitations are still available, just say the word.

Love Song Addendum

As promised, here are a few more love songs:

Unchained Melody, Righteous Brothers
At Last, Etta James
The Way I Am, Ingrid Michaelson
Just the Way You Are, Billy Joel
Prairie Song, Gene Loves Jezebel
When the Night Comes, Dan Auerbach
2000 Miles, Coldplay cover


A few things I loved from today: a run on the parkway, lunch with a friend, a cozy nap in the afternoon, perusing new poetry books from Martin.

Love Songs Revisited

This may be cheating, but I think this deserves another round.* And, quite possibly, an upgrade: do you have any new songs (or new discoveries of older songs) in the last three years that you would add to this list? My additions coming tomorrow.

*My apologies for the links that no longer work....

A Couple of Quotes

One of the best descriptions I've ever heard about the giddy, uncertain stages of falling in love:

"Thou art to me a delicious torment." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson


And what happens after the "delicious torment" phase? It's a matter of roots:

"Love is a temporary madness. It erupts like an earthquake and then subsides. And when it subsides you have to make a decision. You have to work out whether your roots have become so entwined together that it is inconceivable that you should ever part. Because this is what love is. Love is not breathlessness, it is not excitement, it is not the promulgation of promises of eternal passion. That is just being "in love" which any of us can convince ourselves we are.

Love itself is what is left over when being in love has burned away, and this is both an art and a fortunate accident. Your mother and I had it, we had roots that grew towards each other underground, and when all the pretty blossom had fallen from our branches we found that we were one tree and not two." ~ Louis de Bernières in Captain Corelli's Mandolin

This American Life

I know I mention This American Life a lot; I joke around that I practically proselyte for the radio show. What can I say? I love the stories. And this series of stories is definitely one of my favorite episodes ever.