Last night we perpetuated a brilliant scheme. Our babysitter couldn’t come until 9:00 p.m., which is a very normal time to go out in Italy, but is also an hour past our family’s bedtime. Yes, Tony and I usually go to bed at the same time as our children. Pathetic, I know, especially in Italy. But we do get up a lot earlier than they do, at least. Our children love babysitters, and get very excited about the prospect of one coming, which excitement often culminates in running through the house, hiding under beds, and erupting in sudden peals of hysterical laughter.… Read more
Author: Sarah Bringhurst Familia
Philippines, Part 10: Luxury Travel, Filipino Style (Cebu)
We spent last week doing research, on stage at a Manila night club and on the catwalk at the Manila Sports Club. If you missed that episode or any other, you can find them here:
Philippines, Part 1: Have Baby, Will Travel
Philippines, Part 2: Do You Know How to XOOM?
Philippines, Part 3: Confessions of a Carseatless Baby (Vigan)
Philippines, Part 4: Strawberries and Cotton Candy (Baguio)
Philippines, Part 5: Hanging Coffins! (Sagada)
Philippines, Part 6: Voyage of the Icebox (Banauae & Batad)
Philippines, Part 7: Revenge of the Cockroaches (Manila)
Philippines, Part 8: Please Don’t Feed the Sharks (Anilao)
Philippines, Part 9: “Sexy Chic” at the Playboy Fashion Show (Field Study Research)
Philippines, Part 10: Luxury Travel, Filipino Style (Cebu)
Philippines, Part 11: Nuts to the Huts (Bohol)
Philippines, Part 12: If You Were Stranded on a Desert Island .… Read more
The Sun Egg
Overheard in my living room last week:
Dominique (to Axa): You’re the women who did not kill her baby.
Axa: Yes, I’m not the harlot.
Before I am accused of a shocking parenting lapse, I would like to point out that this is a Biblical allusion. Bonus points to you if you can guess the story.
Dominique also has his own way of coping with the winter weather. He announced a few days ago that from now on, we will read the same story at nap time every day. His chosen story is called The Sun Egg. It is a Swedish fairy tale about a forest elf who discovers a beautiful brightly-colored sphere in the forest.… Read more
Grouchin’ in a Winter Wonderland
In case you’re wondering, this is what I did not post yesterday:
I am done with winter, I am done with cold feet, and I am done with sick people trying to kiss me and my kids! I think I will spend the rest of the winter hibernating in my house. Wake me up when it is half-past May.
Yesterday at Church I hope I didn’t offend half the branch, because I just could not do the kissing thing. I resorted to the friendly wave from across the room, and acting really busy between meetings picking up all the food and pencils my children obligingly scatter around.… Read more
Philippines, Part 9: “Sexy Chic” at the Playboy Fashion Show (Field Study Research)
In case you were worried, this post is planning to be strictly G-rated. Last week we had front-row seats for a dramatic tropical storm and met an ex-Navy Seal named Tiny (or was he an ex-Marine? They both sound vaguely nautical, and I’m so bad at these distinctions), who took us on the wildest scuba diving adventure of our lives. If you’d like to catch up, here are the previous episodes in the series:
Philippines, Part 1: Have Baby, Will Travel
Philippines, Part 2: Do You Know How to XOOM?
Philippines, Part 3: Confessions of a Carseatless Baby (Vigan)
Philippines, Part 4: Strawberries and Cotton Candy (Baguio)
Philippines, Part 5: Hanging Coffins!… Read more
What’s in a Name?
I have been married for nearly seven years, and have never been able to decide exactly what to do about my name. Every new bride in the United States must decide whether to keep her maiden name or take her husband’s. In effect, society views it as a choice between showing your support for family values or asserting your identity as an individual equal to your husband. The debate is fraught with cultural significance, and you’d better believe that you will be judged by everyone (including yourself) on which choice you make.
What happens to those of us who would rather not choose between the two?… Read more
What to Read when it’s Snowing
Is it the anticipation of winter that made me want to open a Russian novel? I’ve been reading Anna Karenina, and enjoying it immensely. Almost as much as War and Peace. Russian novels fascinate me just like Russian music, because they seem so familiar, but not. I could almost be reading Jane Austen, or Victor Hugo, or some other European author. The characters, after all, even keep lapsing into English and French. And with their balls and their high society and their country estates, it really could all be happening in some Western European country during the long 19th century. Except that it couldn’t.… Read more
The Syria Files: Secret Rebel at the Embassy
On the surface, the Foreign Service seemed like the perfect career for me. After all, wasn’t it right up my alley to have an excuse for moving to a different exotic country every couple of years? When I was taking Arabic classes in college, the Foreign Service (and other more bellicose elements of the U.S. government) loved to proselyte us. What better thing than to explore the world while serving your country and making a comfortable (and unbeatably secure) living? What better thing indeed.
I thought about it. I was still thinking about it when I went on a semester abroad to Syria.… Read more
Our First Snowfall
The long-awaited snowfall finally came yesterday. We woke up to a thick white coverlet over the whole yard, and large flakes drifting slowly into the stillness of a Sunday morning. It was picture-perfect, except for the fact that it was Stake Conference, and we had to drive all the way to faraway Alessandria for church. We already had our breakfast and lunch packed, and we woke up the children and piled everyone into the car at 7:45. The Conference began at 10:30, but they wanted everyone in their seats by 10:00, so we had planned an early start. As we pulled out, our landlord was shoveling the inch of snow off the driveway, and shook his head over our lack of snow tires.… Read more
Happy Saturday
Here’s some exciting news for you. I have been featured as a guest blogger on Latter Day Homeschooling! So you’ll find today’s post here. Happy reading, and have a lovely weekend.… Read more