Family Fort Night

Oh my, it has been too long since we have had a fort night...but last night we remedied the problem. Eric and Cordelia made a tent together. When I came down into the family room Cordelia was sooooo excited about the tent, so was I.





There were blankets on the floor and a movie (Tangled) was chosen. Cordelia helped me to color a sign to indicate that a fort night was indeed underway. Naturally we all got into our pajamas as well. The whole process of setting up took the better part of an hour as we set a mood and let the anticipation build.



Finally we settled in to watch the movie. We had a mid-movie snack to revive ourselves---Eric may or may not have fallen asleep.



When was the last time you had a fort night?

Surprise Date

Yesterday was a lovely day. Cordelia and I spent lunch with my parents and youngest brother. We came home and Cordelia took a nap. While she slept I sipped on my decaf soy latte and did some work, occasionally texting my husband sweet or ridiculous notes (I do this every day--not just on Valentine's Day). Shortly after Cordelia woke up I received a text from Eric suggesting that I get dressed up. I assumed that we'd be having a fun dress up night at home.

So I wandered upstairs and looked down at my burgeoning belly and into my closet filled with adorable fitted dresses and sighed; I'll see those dresses again in the fall. I pulled out my cutest and most comfortable maternity dress. I got dressed and put a red flower in my hair, matched my lipstick and jewelry.

Cordelia realized that I was getting dressed up and wanted to join in the fun. She chose her outfit which mostly worked (see pictures and read about her evening here). Just then we heard the telling sound of the garage door opening as Eric pulled in from work. He came upstairs and revealed that he had a surprise date for us and that we had to hit the road. He had arranged for my mother to watch Cordelia (Don't worry she and my father had pre-celebrated Valentine's Day). Cordelia was thrilled with the arrangement.

We were out of the house in a flurry. We dropped Cordelia off with my kind mother and were out the door and headed to some unknown destination. I had no idea where we were headed or what we would do and I loved it. I so rarely have the opportunity to be surprised by things, so this was quite a treat!



We ended up at a candlelit Italian restaurant downtown. Eric had made reservations in advance and even had them deliver a rose to me at the table...such a romantic!



We had a lovely evening. We talked. We watched the other couples, young and old. We ate too much food. We chuckled about our very overwhelmed waiter. It was wonderful! I was completely caught off guard by his sweet and thoughtful gesture, it made my day!











After dinner we picked up a bouquet of orange tulips for my mother (just her style) and Eric had to get Cordelia a little gift as well and went to pick up our little Valentine. We went home and finished off a relaxing evening. Cordelia snuggled with her father for a bit before bed. Then he and I spent some more time talking before I had to call it a night. Couldn't have asked for a more lovely day!

A Story About Names and Rings

My name has been a blessing and a little bit of an annoyance throughout my life, but mostly just a blessing. For those of you who aren't in the know my name is spelled Maria, but pronounced Mariah. Apparently it's a Norwegian thing, but you try going to school in New Mexico and explaining that to your classmates who are more familiar with Mexican names than Norwegian. Of course when I was little the name was pretty rare and truthfully it still is. When I hear my name called out in public I immediately answer "Yeah?" I never even consider that there may be another person with my name, although there are a few others spread around the country.

My name is now very precious to me, a big part of who I am, but it's an inherited name. I am named in honor of my great grandmother. For all of my life she has been a mysterious figure from the past, a woman unknown to me, but genetically linked. I have a few stories and a very general idea about who she was, what her interests were. I have always wondered about her; what were her dreams? her happiest times? her favorite past times? We are linked by names and genes, but not by time.

When I was preparing to marry Eric my Grandma Carol gave me a small ring, set with a simple piece of amber, that had once belonged to my great grandmother. The ring itself is quite simple and just my style, but more than anything it is a direct link to the woman whose name I've been using for all of these years.

Ring from my Great Grandma Maria

I wore that ring every single day until one day the prongs came loose and the tiny piece of amber went flying. I searched and searched, but to no avail. I was nothing short of devastated. How could it survive all of these years and then be destroyed by me? I tucked the empty ring away, hoping to have it repaired someday.

My sweet husband went and bought me an amber ring in an attempt to ease the pain. I was touched by the loving gesture and wore that ring until it too broke! I am not hard on rings it was just a weird year for rings apparently. I also tucked away that ring hoping that I would someday repair it as well.

Ring from Eric

For some reason I assumed ring repair cost millions of dollars and I just waited for that day when I would be wealthy enough to fix them both. Well, that day has come (total cost to repair both rings $30) and now the rings are back on my fingers and perhaps one day there will be another Maria with two amber rings to link her to the past.