Pictures worth a thousand words

I dare say these two recent photos -Ol at Jack's baseball game last night, and a creation by Jack- are exactly the sorts for which that phrase was coined. At some level, I truly feel these images capture my children's personalities completely. Ol, fratastic Ol, will always find a nice way to chill, and Jack will forever make brainy mischief with words. I love it. Doesn't The Buttington Farter sound perfectly British? In the best way? It's possible it's the most accurate name for our homestead. And Oliver stayed like that for quite a while; no, he was not asleep.

Oliver went home with a buddy today, and I just received yet another PWATW (see title of this post) from buddy's mother. These two are soon to be "Strong Men" in the PK Circus, the annual show the PK class puts on at school, and here they had crafted a barbell from paper plates, masking tape and a pick-up stick and were lifting with mighty strength. Do you love the look of groaning support on friend's face?? And Ol's shirt tucked into his undies? I could die. Yes, he dressed himself this morning, and yes, orange and green are his favorite colors.

Meanwhile, J and I went on a date during which he downed stroopwafels (pron: strope-waffle) do you know of this Dutch delight? They are cookies made of thin wafers with caramel sandwiches in between. When T and I lived in Amsterdam, I learned that the cookies are this size because they fit nicely atop a warm mug of tea; that way, the caramel softens and your treat becomes even better in the resultant gooeyness.) and a drink, we bought three Big Nate books (the newest series obsession) and I assuaged tears of sadness due to our inability to find a Japanese calligraphy set. It's a hard life that boy lives.

Finally, I am on my couch, Percy wedged into a crack of his burrowing which is really a previously nonexistent space between my thigh and a cushion. I forgot to plate yesterday's watermelon and feta salad atop all the arugula I'd washed so enjoyed it tonight instead. Leftover yogurt chicken (this recipe was awesome; try it), avocado, garbanzo beans, tomatoes and feta + a mustardy red wine vinaigrette made for a delicious meal.

Hmm- a sermon on what?

Friends, we all slept or stayed quiet until 7am this morning. Unprecedented and utterly fabulous. We actually had to wake Jack up! Will wonders never cease?! Anyway, it's another gorgeous day here and I am spending pretty much all of it at home, cleaning, organizing and resting. Sounds like heaven to me. It's possible that I had an illicit dream involving Jon Hamm, January Jones and myself last night that I can mull over during all that...

On the way home from drop-off this morning, I passed a neighborhood church whose sign lets everyone know the upcoming sermon titles. This Sunday, parishioners will be hearing about "God as a hard-working maid."

People, on a number of levels this strikes me as a title they need to rethink.

For starters, the word maid sounds both pejorative and antiquated, like oriental. The undertones just don't seem positive. I think housekeeper sounds nicer. Also, it's my opinion that most "maids" are hard-working; I mean, the job is laborious, plain and simple. So do we need the disclaiming adjective in the sermon name? Furthermore, if I were God it's possible I would find the likening of myself to a maid a bit bothersome being that I made the universe and all. I have an immense amount of respect for housekeepers, but creator of all the world and maid of it don't seem to fit hand in hand to me. Might God not have folks he can delegate to?

I'm just sayin.

Lovely, lovely

Peeps, I've been caught up in a whirlwind since Thursday night, touching down briefly in VA yesterday and in and around home in DC today. I catered, taught, hosted, cheered, enjoyed the stupendously glorious weather and relished time with friends. DC'ers, was it not spectacularly gorgeous today? I mean really, spring at its best. T and his dad took the boys to the Nats game last night with a huge group of teammates and family members from Jack's baseball team. Naturally Jack is newly obsessed with baseball now, and his team won again today; the Blue Devils are undefeated so far this season! This is quite the shift from two seasons back when they won exactly zero games. Go growth!

I had some lady friends over for lunch today, and boy was it a pleasure to sit comfortably in the back yard, all prettied up in dresses and makeup.

People, as an aside, T is watching SNL from last night, and I swear to god, who, WHO, is funnier than Maya Rudolph? She is g-damn hilarious! Balls does that woman make me laugh.

Back to lunch. The menu was pretty darn tasty if I say so myself: Herbed Tomato Tarts; Zucchini Feta Cakes; Quinoa with Apricots, Pistachios and Lime-Mirin Vinaigrette; Watermelon and Feta Salad with Serrano Vinaigrette; Yogurt-Aleppo Pepper Chicken; Port Salut with Louisiana Pepper Jelly; Smoked Salmon Smearbread; Pink Bubbly; lemonade; Minty Tea; Strawberry Cake; Chocolate Almond Cake; aaannd, yep, Ming Tsai's Shortbread.

Second aside, how much do I miss Bill Hader? He is frickin' hilarious. Stefon anyone?

Anyway, good food. Real good. And then a fun baseball game. And I'll bet I sleep well tonight. I'll take it!