G's baby shower

This is a very belated post, which will become clear with the post that will follow this one, but I can't miss blogging about G's baby shower! My sisterfriend done got herself knocked up, so I threw her a hootenanny. I designed some really pretty invitations and made lots of fun little crafts and bought a metric ton of orange gerbera daisies, and the party was on.

There was a diaper raffle (guests were assigned a diaper size to bring, and then I drew a participant's name to win a fabulous prize).

I made a lot of food. Seriously. A Lot.

Did I mention the party was blue, orange, and zebra stripe-themed? When I get a theme, I run that theme into the ground. Seriously, even the water bottles were wrapped in zebra print duct tape.

I made everyone participate in a craft (which is apparently My Thing. Everyone at sisterfriend's bridal shower had to scrapbook a page. The craft for her baby shower was slightly accelerated).

I painted all 26 letters of the alphabet with the same color she used on parts of the nursery, and then I provided all sorts of papers and tapes and doodads so each guest could decorate her own letter, signing the back, so that the baby will one day be able to judge his loved ones based on their artistic ability (joking. Sort of.).

Then she opened gifts.

My mom made sisterfriend's baby a beautiful quilt to match the nursery colors.

I also made each guest answer questions about babymomma and babydaddy's childhoods, and the winner with the most right also won a fabulous prize (it ended in a tie!). On the back of the quiz each guest wrote their predictions of birth date, weight, size, and so forth, and the person that won received a fabulous prize too!

It was a genuinely lovely day, and I am so happy I was able to give it to her. My mom brought our grandma, and it was so special for her to be able to participate in the day.

I love her, and I love baby G!

Boston 2013

I went to Boston for a work conference in June. We stayed right on the harbor. A very nice, if a bit smelly, city!

Ten years ago

Ten years ago at this time, I was in France. It was my first experience with international travel, my first time away from my parents for a significant period of time, my first opportunity to see the world through fresh eyes. I was seventeen.

During the trip, I solidified friendships with women who I continue to hold dear. I met a man who became (and continues to be) a very important person in my life. And I caught a glimpse of life outside the Midwest, and I understood what could be. I was very fortunate.

Although I know we won't reunite back on that bench in Aix-en-Provence this summer, my heart is there, remembering.

Maybe we will make it in the next ten years.

A Singular Woman

I love my dad. He got an e-mail address a year or so ago, and it's like an awesome alternative to texting with him. He sends random one-liners to me throughout the day. He has a thought, he sits down to write a sentence, and off it goes! He used to do the same thing through the physical mail, and sometimes he still does. I love receiving mail and instantly knowing the sender, just by his or her handwriting. Do you love that also? Do you, like me, worry it will be lost as more and more correspondence goes digital?

Recently, I received just such a piece of mail from him.

It was a clipping about my Grandma Ethel (his mother), probably from 1918 or 1919, when she became editor-in-chief of the IU student newspaper.

I didn't have many years to spend with my Grandma Ethel. Though she died when I was ten years old, she was almost 101 years old (she was born in 1896 and died in 1996, just a few months shy of her next birthday). My memories of her are in the nursing home where she spent her last years, bedridden, blind, and going deaf. She was a singular woman in her youth, however, and I am happy to have these glimpses from the past to animate my memories, breathing life into the frail, white-headed woman I recall.

In five years, at the press where I work, I was promoted from Editorial Associate, to Production Editor, to Lead Production Editor, finally to Managing Editor, which became official this month. I knew I was in the right business. It's in my blood.