Giggle. What are these?

My daughter can read in Polish.  Therefore, it’s not the words on the label that threw her off this evening as she went grocery shopping with me.

But what happened was so cute.  We were walking down the aisle while I was checking my grocery list.  When we came where I needed to stop, my daughter giggled and asked, “What are those?!”

I looked at what drew such curious giggling from my daughter and began giggling on my own.

Glancing at her innocent, adorable face and said, “They’re eggs!”

“But they’re white,” she proclaimed.

“Why, yes they are.  Yes, they are.”

Far, far away from the land famous for white eggs, aka America, white eggs here in Poland are a novelty not quite known how to be perceived.

I LOVE MY GAL!

And to top off the trip, she wore an ace bandage on her hand and wrapped her arm in her scarf like a sling.

Just because.

She also threw on her high-heeled (for a 9-year-old) turquoise shoes with no socks.  Believe me—it’s cold outside.

And off we went.  To the grocery store together.

Where she, my precious Adelyne, discovered white eggs.

And where we, mother and daughter, both left with the giggles!

Caution. Don’t eat raw chicken—even for a man!

“I will do anything for love…”

Richard and I had barely started dating the month before.  So, to this point, our relationship included awkward conversations, competitive tennis matches, fumbling kisses, basketball games of P-I-G, and getting to know one another.

And then that big red day hit—Valentine’s!

My husband is a total romantic.  How he ever asked out such a tomboy, I’ll never fully understand.  Perhaps I once did my hair?  And my makeup?  Perhaps I once DIDN’T wear sweats?  Who knows.  It’s all foggy to me.

Due to his romantic nature, I should have expected him to do something phenomenal for Cupid’s Day.

And he did.

A beautiful setting, under a gazebo, near a small creek.  Flowers.  Balloons.  Rich in a suit.  China place settings.  And raw chicken?

Raw chicken?!

A million thoughts were swirling through my mind.

First and foremost—oh no!

You see, my husband’s family is full of mega-watt healthy eaters.  Like Raw Foodists (not nudists), Vegans, Vegetarians (are there any more categories?).

Yes.  I know chickens are not vegetables.  But I didn’t know if eating “Raw” chicken was a new way to “Go Green” (on your plate).  You see, I am a meat and potatoes (meaning—hamburger and french fries with an XL Coke, please) type of gal.  And I really evaluated, mentally,  “How much do I like this guy?  Enough to eat one small piece of raw chicken?”

Seriously…Eating raw chicken literally crossed my mind.

Crazy?

Perhaps in love???

Back to the chicken.

So, as my “date” was serving up the food—all of it raw vegetables (again—family of raw food eaters), he got to the chicken. That’s when he asked, “How much chicken do you want?”

And I gulped, said a silent prayer, and also made a mental note to myself, “Remember, Brooke, if you get salmonella poisoning, let the ER know immediately that you ate raw chicken…All for a man.”

Then I looked up into his green and sparkling eyes, his bright and beautiful smile, and I said it, “One, please?!”

Slip.  Slide.  Raw chicken meat now on my plate.

Gulp.  Sigh.

“I will do anything for love…???”

He sat down across from me—so happy and proud.  And we held hands while he prayed.

Well, at least I think he was praying because I was busy in my own mind hollering, “Dear Lord God—save me from salmonella.  I know I am foolish to eat raw chicken, but I REALLY like this guy.  He went to all of this work for this beautiful Valentine’s dinner.  SAVE ME, LORD!”

I think I heard an “Amen”.  So I looked up and smiled sweetly (probably batting a few eyelashes as well).

Where do I start?  Perhaps I can nibble on a raw carrot while I see HOW he eats his chicken?  Perhaps I can eat all of my raw veggies, requesting more, and then “filling” up on raw veggies and discreetly toss my raw chicken over my shoulder when he isn’t looking?  Perhaps I can…

Wait.  What’s that?  What is he doing…

He’s pulling out a lighter.

He just lit something on fire.

And then I noticed something on the table that SHOULD HAVE been quite obvious before.

A fondue pot.

Slap my head and call me insane.  I was about to eat raw chicken.  For a man.  On Valentine’s Day.

I remember being in a Tom Sawyer play as a 5th grader, and one of Tom’s lines was, “I’ve been such a fool, Becky.  Such a fool.”

Well, I think that I can officially rephrase those lines today, “I was nearly such a fool, World.  Such a fool!”

A fool for love…

“I would do anything for love…even eat raw meat!”

And fly in small tarp planes with new pilots.

Crazy Brooke!  Keeping it real…for love.

xo for your big red day of love,

b

***

Picture is Richard as a new pilot prepared to fly Brooke, the reluctant passenger, in the Piper Super Cub.  Anything for love?! 

Plans for Valentine’s Day. Or do you have children?

I’m innocent I tell you.  Innocent!

When we only had one it was still so easy…

No, we didn’t often go out to eat.  First of all, we were in Poland-it is very cold there.  And we had next to no money.  Therefore, we did a lot of “at home” dates.  Which are, by the way, sometimes the most awesome kind you can have.

But once you add a baby to the mix, you have to get more creative.  Like…At home dates AFTER the baby goes to sleep.  And that is exactly what I did.  I planned a special date for my hot husband!

I made sure to have all the proper ingredients for a fabulous evening:

Great dinner made by me (sometimes I can actually cook)!

Candles for lighting and setting the romantic mood.

Soft and romantic music playing in the background.

A washed, fed, and put to bed baby (a must for a romantic stay at home date)…

And then I slipped into something small, black, and pretty.

We sat down to eat our meal, enjoy our conversation, and have a generally relaxed evening when it happened…

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

Uh-oh.  Baby’s awake.  Perhaps we can ignore the cry?

Nope.  Impossible.  Because, at this time in our life, the flat we were living in had our daughter’s room literally connected to our kitchen which was connected to our table—and our daughter’s room had no door.  Literally no door.

So we heard it loud and clear again, “WAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Yep.  She got her mightily impressive lungs for screaming from me.

And again, “WAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

Begrudgingly we get up (sounds like we are GREAT parents, eh?!) and go get our crying (screaming) daughter out of bed.

“Here, here, Sweet Adelyne,” cuddle, cuddle, cuddle!

That’s when it happens!

BLAH…

All down my something small and black and pretty.

Gag (me this time).

In my mind I had planned the perfect stay at home romantic date.  Instead, however, baby gets cleaned up.  Mommy gets cleaned up.  Food gets covered up.  Mommy goes out into the cold to find medicine for the baby (walking all over the city to look for an open store, of course)…

Candles get blown out.

Music gets turned off.

Daddy rocks baby.

And, eventually, we all fall asleep.

Now, isn’t that romantic?

Hope your planned Valentine’s date stays germ free 😉

Have a great day of love!

xo b

Alex the Lion nibbles on Adelyne…

Today was amazing—from the sounds of it on my Skype call with Rich.  They landed in Joburg late Monday night.  So today was their first day to start to explore…

Their explorations started with a trip to a lion park.  Anyhow…the cubs you could handle and hug and pet and play with.  One particular cub, Alex the Lion, really took to Ada…and her clothes.  In the video Richard sent me (that I can’t seem to upload here…bummer), I can’t tell if she is pleased or annoyed.  But her daddy said that later in the day all she could talk about was how fun it was to hold Alex the Lion!

And then they made their way to the “lion walk” with the 1-yr-old lions.  Ummm…The guide gave Rich strict instructions to “Keep Adelyne Close!”

Rich said it was a GOOD thing he did.  As soon as they entered, he said the lions got down on their haunches and began to creep toward her.  I guess she is more “bite sized” eh?  But the closer Richard got to Adelyne, the more intimidated they were, and they backed away.  I guess he is still too big of a meal for 1-yr-old lions.  Roar!

After the lion park, they headed to their game park where they’re staying for two days.  They got to swim, go on a night safari, and eat outside under oil lanterns!

Man…can we say, “Momma be jealous”?  I can!

During the night safari, the guide tossed food to the crocs…Rich said the water became a ripple of activity.  It was fascinating.  And then during the Safari drive, they actually spotted White Rhinos!  One even had a baby.  Rich said a tusk of another was a good 2+ feet in length.  Amazing!

What does Adelyne hope for in the next two days?  Adelyne hopes to get close enough to a giraffe to ride its back.

What a crazy explorer she’ll make—She should’ve been stranded in the movie Swiss Family Robinson.

Anyhow, it was a short but awesome Skype convo between me and my man.

Tomorrow they get to become like the cowboys of the National Geographic.  They are joining a “round up”!  True that. (Why am I going all old school talk on you all, I don’t know…Jet lag?  Oh wait.  I didn’t go anywhere 😉 )

Back to the “round up”.  I guess that there are too many animals on one reserve, so the helicopters will come and herd the animals into different crates to be taken to wider, more open spaces.  Just like Marty’s dream in Madagascar, eh?  Wide, open spaces!

I think that Rich is as excited about this next one as Adelyne!  There is a bit of AZ cowboy in him ready to go all “Yeehaw” on the zebras’ behinds.

Anyhow…One more day of South African exploring before they head into Botswana for a multi-day joyful wedding celebration.

I’ll keep you as updated as I myself am 🙂  (which means not too terribly updated).

Hugs for now…And lion kisses…Much like those Alex the Lion gave Adelyne.

Munch.  Munch!

My husband had a comb over…Yep. And I almost didn’t date him.

If you are walking down the street, you would see my husband.  He is a fine specimen of a man.  He is tall and lean and tan and has amazing green eyes with flecks of gold and dark hair (well, now it’s a bit salty).  His teeth are white.  Oh so white (and I’m not just saying that because he had them whitened even more through Groupon ;)).  He is also a KILLER dresser.  The man really does have style.

And then you would see me.

First of all, I have been through many changes in the past year.  Namely Maxwell Loren—our 14-month-old son.  So, I’m 37 with a 1-year-old.  And I don’t work out.  During pregnancy, I couldn’t even move.  And, yes—let me just publicly admit it.  I am a bit of a slob.  I have short hair (thankfully it is no longer the color and texture of straw used in scarecrows).  And my hair is thick.  And kinky (unfortunately, I cannot use the word curly). I always tend to pull it back—and it really doesn’t belong in a ponytail.  You see, my hair is, well, it’s short and sticks out of the back like the frohawk of a chimpanzee. And, on most days, I have an aversion to makeup.  But, let me be honest again…It’s not because I am a natural stunner.  I am simply lazy.

And yet—I almost didn’t date my husband because he had a comb over.  Let me clarify.  His comb over was not a balding one.  He just combed his thick head of hair in one direction to the side. Ugh.   “Definitely not cool, man,” said the sloppy woman with no hair style.

But this man asked me on a date, and as much as I wanted to say, “NO!” my sister convinced me to go.  She thought my husband was good looking.  In fact, if she wasn’t married, she might have flirted a bit herself.

And, in the words of one of my oldest and dearest friends, “Your husband is like a fine wine—he gets even better with age.”

How in the world did I, the slob, think about not going out with Rich—the comb over?

Perhaps my ego was far bigger than I gave it credit.

Well, fortunately, my sister talked me into the date.  And, believe it or not, we had so much fun talking and laughing that I completely forgot about his hair and had a GREAT time.

Isn’t life full of surprises?!

Glad mine was.

Now, let’s be honest…It really doesn’t get any sexier than this, does it?!

Richard and Adelyne 2006

(c. Photo C. Benjamin)