daily life

The DMV

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Ever since living in Italy, I no longer really worry about red tape or long waits at the DMV. American bureaucracy is so mild in comparison to Italian bureaucracy that if I ever even feel the least bit impatient, I just open my mental catalog of the many stressful hours bopping from one Italian government office to another in pursuit of this or that slip of paper or colored stamp, and smile, because I’m here, and not there.

And in fact, despite its reputation, I don’t ever remember an excessively long wait at any DMV. All I recall from my first trip to the California DMV at the age of sixteen was that the person who conducted my driving test had a pretty low opinion of my driving skills.… Read more

Waiting for the Rainbow

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

So, do houses not need lightning rods anymore?

I have been wondering this for a few weeks, ever since thunderstorm season (I don’t use the word “hurricane,” because I think it’s bad luck) began in earnest. I distinctly remember that in Ray Bradbury’s creepy masterpiece, Something Wicked This Way Comes, it was of utmost importance to get a lightning rod installed on one’s house before the big storm arrived. And then when the lightning hit the rod, I think that was when the army of spiders started to invade the house. Or was that just some bad dream I had after reading it?… Read more

Dumpster Diving in Deltona

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

I know. Another post about garbage. I need to get my mind out of the trash heap. Still, if you share my interest in garbage, I must recommend reading about our garbage debacle in Italy, not to mention what we did about the horrifying garbage problem in Tunisia.

The only time I’ve ever been bona fide dumpster diving was at married student housing in Provo, Utah during graduation week, when most of our neighbors were moving on to real jobs, and we were newlyweds gearing up for another year of starving studenthood. Among other things, I scored a functional microwave, some hair-cutting supplies, and a pair of shiny jet-black vinyl pants (pictured below, modeled by me on our first Valentine’s Day).… Read more

Welcome Home, Part 6: The Garage

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

O.K. I know it sounds weird. But we really do live in our garage. It was actually Tony’s idea. He likes to have an office where he can work from home, and he said he wouldn’t mind putting it in the garage. And it’s not like our car ever really needs to be in the garage. I’m pretty sure people don’t have to scrape ice off their windows in the winter here.

The rest of our house has a pretty open floor plan, which doesn’t bode well for important phone calls or a quiet, non-distracting work environment, but the garage is off in its own little corner of the house.… Read more

Swimsuit Edition

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Yes, it’s that time of year. At least it’s that time of year in Florida. I don’t know if real Floridians consider April a part of summer, but it sure feels like summer to me. In fact, we’ve been going sporadically to the beach and regularly to the pool for the past few months.

Unfortunately, my swimsuit didn’t survive last year’s daily dunks in the extra salty Mediterranean very well. The elastic is so bad I’m afraid it will fall off in the water one of these days. So. I’m in need of a new swimsuit.

As I said before, though, I really hate sunscreen.… Read more

Welcome Home, Part 5: The Harem

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

First, because I must, a word about the word. Among the things that fascinate/repel Westerners when they think about the Middle East is the idea of an exotic, opulent harem full of beautiful women, secreted away from the world for the sole purpose of unbridled male pleasure.

The word itself is a Turkish derivative of the Arabic root “haram,” meaning sacred, and therefore forbidden. The idea is that a woman and her household domain are sacred, and not to be intruded upon by outsiders. The concept predates Islam, and secluding the royal wives and concubines has been common practice in the Near East from time immemorial.… Read more

A Mormon Holiday

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Heather at Women in the Scriptures was talking the other day about our lack of holidays that specifically commemorate our religious history as a people.

Sometimes I am a little envious of my friends whose religions involve a year full of holidays. Ramadan, for instance, is kind of like a month-long holiday for Muslims, complete with special foods and lots of family time.When I was growing up, the Jewish family next door invited us over to their house to eat potato pancakes for Purim. Then we listened to the story of Esther, and all us children stamped our feet and shouted to drown out the name of dastardly Haman whenever it appeared in the story.… Read more

Having “The Sex Talk” With Our Daughter

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

You know you’re getting old when . . . your daughter asks you about sex. Fortunately, Tony and I have discussed at length how to talk about it with our children (even though I wasn’t really expecting these questions yet from my seven-year-old). In fact, in a way, we’ve been having “the talk” with them in various ways ever since they were tiny. How? Well, let’s see.

We chose to have 2 1/2 year-old Axa present in the room when Raj was born. To help prepare her for the birth, we read this sweet picture book together:

It tells the story of a homebirth from the perspective of the new big brother.… Read more

The Great Bumper Sticker Poll

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

Each place seems to have a particular style when it comes to bumper stickers. In Utah, I mostly remember the kind that show off how many kids (and pets) people had, and a lot of “my child was student of the week . . .” When we spent a year in Washington during the Bush era, I saw endless variations on “War is not Pro-Life” and “A Village in Texas is Missing its Idiot.” Despite Italy’s low birthrate, the favorites there seemed to be the little yellow pseudo road signs suction-cupped to the window and proclaiming, “bebe a bordo.” Bumper stickers in San Diego are mostly anathema, due to everyone’s cars being too nice.… Read more

Welcome Home, Part 4: The Florida Room

Sarah Bringhurst Familia

I hope this doesn’t offend anyone, but before I came to Florida, I thought that screened-in porches were just a really ugly way to obscure the entrance to your house, and make it seem dark, spooky, and forbidden. However, when I saw the screened-in porch at our new house, I changed my mind.

It reminded me a little of those gorgeous soaring aviaries in the San Diego zoo. And yes, my first thought was that we could get a pet sugar glider and keep it out there (Florida’s rules on exotic pets are much more relaxed than California’s). Unfortunately (or fortunately, if you ask Tony), our landlord won’t let us have any pets other than Axa’s birthday betta.… Read more