A Few Things

I always enjoy the weekend round-up posters that other bloggers do, but I've never really done one, I guess because I'm not that kind of blogger (the kind with a giant readership, I mean). I am, however, the kind of blogger who likes to tell people about cool stuff, so here are a few things...

* It was Shakespeare's (celebrated) birthday on April 23. No surprise I'm a fan (do people even say that? I'm a fan of Shakespeare? Seems weird.). Anyway. One of the most meaningful lines in a Shakespeare play for me comes from Antony and Cleopatra. When Antony dies, Caeser says, "The breaking of so great a thing / Should make a greater crack." When Eliza died, my world shattered, but of course the rest of the world kept moving. I spent the month of December in shock, stunned that other people were going to celebrate Christmas as though my baby weren't dead. The breaking of so great a thing should have made a greater crack. As one of my students said, "Shakespeare is pretty good, like, with words."

* I've linked this before, but if you're into Shakespeare, you should read this article about Hamlet and then listen to this episode of This American Life.

* My friend Sally just ran the London Marathon for the Stillbirth Australia Foundation in memory of her daughter, Hope. Sally's blog was one of the first I began to read after Eliza died. She was a bit ahead of me in the grief process, and she'd already had her first "rainbow baby." Her process of moving forward with her life while honoring Hope's memory gave me hope. Also if you read her blog with an Australian accent in your head, it's even more adorable.

* I can't stop with the snake oils and I've been making roller ball blends that the girls like to put on their feet at bedtime. I call it "medicine" because I want them to associate the bottles with things that aren't to play with (or drink!) and it should make them feel good. It made me laugh when Zuzu smelled some yummy potpourri and said, "Mmmm! This smells like medicine!"

* I'm really picky about shoes for the girls (by which I just mean they have be lightweight and have a super flexible sole). I love Saltwater sandals and I've bought a pair for Zuzu every year, but this year I've ordered her this pair from Stride Rite because it has a velcro closure, and Ms. Independent would prefer to be able to pull her own shoes on and off. I also got her a pair of Keen sandals for summer (ordered from 6pm.com because I was able to save $15), and she has these lightweight tennis shoes (hers are a bright blue, though). I told myself that she was set for summer, but then I ordered her a pair of Elsa & Anna flip flops when they were half price on Zulily. It's not summer without flip flops, right? I usually avoid character shoes (and clothes, although Grammy doesn't help me with this one), but I figure that the characters will actually be covered by her feet while she's wearing them, and she'll be super excited.

* Coco is fitting perfectly in the Keens and Saltwater sandals that Zuzu wore two years ago, but sharing shoes won't last much longer, unless they don't get much foot time--Zuzu is really hard on them! Keens are pretty tough, so they may hold up, but she literally wore holes in the last pair of Toms she had, and her tennis shoes are already really grubby.

* I'll be posting more about this, but we celebrated my mom and dad's sixtieth birthdays over the weekend! They threw themselves a double birthday party--rented out a storefront restaurant on the square, set up a huge spread of food, had plenty of booze, and invited friends to stop by. It was a great turnout and a fun evening (except that Coco wasn't feeling well). Zuzu had lemonade for the first time in her life and rode that sugar high until almost midnight (!). We are all still dealing with her hangover today.

* I've been listening to the audiobook of A Mother's Reckoning by Sue Klebold. Her son Dylan was one of the shooters at Columbine. In some ways, it's a difficult book to listen to, particularly as Sue reads it herself. It's incredibly well-written, and she's an excellent speaker/reader, but the grief she feels is painfully vivid, and she articulates the agony of grieving her youngest son's suicide while also grappling with the shame, guilt, and horror she feels about the murders he committed. Since Dylan's death, she has devoted her life to the prevention of suicide and violence. It's an incredibly moving story of fierce love and intense sorrow, and it's brought me to tears.

* We are summer vacation planning in many ways... I'm thinking about how I want to spend the days at home with the girls (plenty of lazy days, yes, but also some scheduled plans to get us out of the house doing something besides errands), and we're making vacation plans (including Coco's first airplane flight!), and birthday party plans (I've officially lost my mind and invited two very special guests from Arendelle, who will be making an appearance!).

* Before summer gets here, I still have to make it through two more weeks of class, plus finals week, plus grading-grading-grading. It's the end of semester slump, and after being sick enough that I was out of commission on Thursday and Friday of last week, I need to kick it into gear this week.