this weekend we’re having a pizza and game party with a small gathering of some of our dear friends. we’ve nailed down the pizza toppings and beverages (food and libations are always the easy part for JP and me) but what we’re not decided on are games for the group of ten. we’ve got catchphrase and taboo as options but we’re open to other suggestions. readers, what games for large groups do you enjoy?
while you’re thinking of that, here are some interesting links from this past week:
- i had a lot of fun making DIY heart garlands to decorate our windows for valentine’s day.
- this video, denver by hand, features amazing work from some great craftsman in our community.
- a must read NYT article about marriage: that loving feeling takes a lot of work.
- amanda from the petrichor posted cute polka dot desktop downloads.
- an iPhone contract from your mom? seems to me more parents should be following her lead.
- eery behind-the-walls at chicago’s fulton market. via glotalot.
- check out these lullabies for a cause by danielle decosmo. proceeds go to an Arts in Medicine program in florida. brought to my attention by this denver blogger.
jp and i are trying to watch less tv and do more activities that allow us to chat and flex our brains. he recently taught me chess and i beat his butt the first time around. a new monday night (our weekend) tradition.
- i cannot stop listening to this hauntingly beautiful song: chris garneau, baby’s romance
- summer of 2005 i found myself in paris at the same time as the end of the tour de france. i was there on the Champs-Élysées when armstrong crossed the finish line and made history and i was elated. i am so saddened now that a sport i love, cycling, has such a disgraceful culture. the point of lance armstrong.
- still haven’t gotten organized for the new year? make your own mini calendar notebooks to carry around with you in your purse
- valentine’s day (my favorite holiday!) is coming up. here are free downloadable printable hearts for valentine’s activities
- ballots are out for westword’s best of denver 2013. fill it out and don’t forget to vote for your favorite locally owned small businesses.
miss minka moo and max man galavanting around the front yard some afternoon in august of 2012.
my parents have been married 33 years today. the above photo was taken sometime during their first year of marriage. my father, who also blogs, has dedicated the month of december to writing daily about peace. below is what he posted for today, a bit for my mother.
33 years ago today my life took a great bounce. At that time I professed my love for Marcie to be the equivalent of playing three basketball games. She didn’t understand it, nor could I adequately explain it… until last month, when I played perhaps my last pick-up game, augmented by the four week recovery period of my ailing left knee. This caused me to reflect on why I loved basketball so much, and why, at age 56, I tried to play again. I realized as I was racing… okay, gliding… okay, recognizably moving up and down the court, that I wasn’t playing a game. I was living in a state of peace. The peace that comes from doing something solely for enjoyment. A peace that accompanies the familiar and invites the unknown. The familiar such as the rules and the sounds of the game–the squeak of the shoes, the soft kiss of the ball off the glass. And the unknown such as your new teammates, and how to supplement each other’s weaknesses and exaggerate the strengths; how to blend different styles to the greater good of the game; how to expect and eagerly accept challenges, knowing that by working together you will find a way, a fair way, a good way. Because though the game has rules and sounds, it also unfolds differently every time, inviting creativity that leads to the freedom to pursue success.
Such has been my last 33 years. I have a teammate who complements my weaknesses and accentuate my strengths. We have blended our styles and worked through challenges to find our way to a good life, a great life. Like the game of pick-up basketball our life has rules and sounds, yet unfolded unpredictably, inviting our creativity to choose success. To invite peace. With Marcie I am living in the state of peace, the peace that comes from doing something that brings total enjoyment. We have appreciated the familiar and embraced the unknown.
Do I love her as much as three games? These 33 years later, I finally see it. Life is what brings you peace. The absence of peace is the absence of life. Basketball has always afforded me an avenue to peace. My life with Marcie – my love for her, her love for me – is one of deep abiding peace worthy of a lifetime of basketball.
Happy anniversary.
how blessed i am to have this sort of model of love in my life and such great individuals as my parents. happy anniversary, mama & papa.
falling in love, living in the big city, getting married, moving to a new town, finding jobs, buying a house, making it a home, having a child, taking risks, becoming entrepreneurs and small business owners, finding a place in a community, experiencing fulfillment while also trying to keep our selves together under crazy schedules and stress. that’s essentially life in a nutshell for jp and i from the beginning to this current moment.
it’s been fast and busy and demanding and rewarding and confusing and oh so lovely. and maybe you’re sick of me talking about how busy i am but let me know if you feel the same way: those days when you hit the ground running and don’t stop until just before you have to put yourself to bed and you can take a moment sit in your comfiest spot in your home with your favorite drink in hand and just pause to take a look around yourself and feel really good about all that’s getting done or that you’re wisely choosing not to do. those days that zoom by and are filled with life and cleaning up after babies and completed tasks and networking and community and dirty kitchens and playrooms. those days, with the promise of that quiet reflective moment in the evening, are what i live for right now.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls Collective, and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
welcome
