YOU JUST THINK YOU'RE SOOO CHARMING, DON'T YOU

Nine days...

And counting until Beatrice becomes a big sister. Baby Charlotte Santa Rita is due on June 12th. Bea came early so it's possible Charlotte might be getting anxious to see the world as well. While we wait for the arrival of possibly the third sweetest niece in the world, here are some pictures of Beatrice.

Outside the Baltimore Acquarium

On Easter

GO, GO, GO...

Right now and rent Invictus!!!! It is the most inspiring and uplifting movie of the year!! The title of the movie is from a Victorian poem by William Ernest Henry and means "unconquered." Nelson Mandela read and kept the poem in his pocket during his difficult years in prison

Invictus
by William Ernest Henry

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.


The first half of the movie, like many of Clint Eastwood's films, is slow but the acting is outstanding and the last scenes of the movie, with panoramic shots of the cheering crowds in the massive stadium and the inspiring poem read in the background, will send chills through your body. If the story were fiction viewers would no doubt say that such a feat could never occur. It is therefore so remarkable that it is true. South African Pride!!

Interview with the real Francois Pienaar, the captain of the Springboks.



Matt Damon on a bicycle, gliding above scenic ocean views in Cape Town. It's a beautiful thing. When he meets Francois Pienaar, the beast of a rugby player he portrays in the movie, he jokingly says to him "Well, I look bigger on screen." .




After years of division, the collapse of Apartheid brought decades of anger to the streets in the form of brutal violence and destruction. The Sprinbok's motto-"One Team, One Country"- was meant to unite the people.

TGIF!!

(This was written a few weeks ago while Daniel was away in California, but for some reason I didn't post it.)

This week Frodo and I had lots of alone time. I could tell him I loved him as many times as I wanted without Daniel getting jealous. Hehehe.

Here is a funny anecdote about one of my kiddos at school:

Today during one of my first grade classes one of my students started screaming bloody murder after his front tooth fell out and started spewing blood onto the desk. "I can't go to the clinic, don't make me go to the clinic." He firmly attached his arms to my hips and did not let go until I had told him about twelve times that I would not be sending him to the clinic.

"I think I'm going to puke," said one kid with a penchant for melodrama, looking down at the blood on his folder.

After the tooth stopped bleeding he calmed down significantly. "Ohhhhhh," he said as he sighed a breath of relief. " I can just tell my dad I was eating a cookie and my tooth fell out."

I'm not sure what terrified him so much. The blood, the thought of getting sent home to his dad, or the clinic. Oh well. The beauty of children is that they generally recover quickly.

Going to take dogs out now. Daniel gets back tonight.

Everybody's Workin' for the Weekend!

The weekends have just been flying by! I suppose that's just what happens when you start working, even if you don't have hectic social schedules. Paradoxically, time spent relaxing moves at a faster pace. Another thing that happens when you start working...you start spending more money! My resolve to save half of my salary has been worn down. The past two weekends Daniel and I have gone, with the rest of Gaithersburg, to that very special type of consumerist heaven that could only be borne in America: Target. Groceries, DVD's, diapers, electronics, cosmetics, and pretty much anything else, all housed in one large echoing, vacuous space. Last weekend I was overwhelmed by it all, but today I decided to focus on a few things and was much more successful.

One thing that always gets me a little excited is when high-end designers decide to produce a line of clothing for the masses and sell their specific looks at much lower prices. It can, however, go dreadfully sour. Case in point: Vera Wang for Kohls. In 2007 I was disappointed when I found that the season's baggy shirts and fitted leggings were so poorly constructed that l looked like a bag lady. Her usually pretty shirts and dressed adorned with feminine bows and jewels looked cheap. I think since the fit and aesthetic of her designs rely heavily on quality fabrics they just didn't work when made en mass with cheaper materials. Even considering the "bargain," the clothes didn't seem worth the price.

This is not the case with Zac Posen's new line for Target. They didn't have everything shown in the link, but overall I was quite impressed. I got a cute dress that I really didn't need but just couldn't pass up.

I didn't try this one on, but if you have somewhere fancy to go, the fabric and cut of this dress look rich and glamorous in person. (It looks more gold than flowery.)

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Wikus Van de Merwe

This is by far the funniest things I have seen in a long time. The guy, "Wikus Van de Merwe", was the main character in Peter Jackson's District 9. What is amazing is that he is actually an English South African and sounds nothing like this in reality. He captures his Afrikaans character so well--the likable but self-satisfied Afrikaans bureaucrat. I think he should have been nominated for an Oscar for his role in District 9, but it may be something that only those familiar with the subtleties of "this type" of South African would appreciate.

Anyway, this sketch was an introduction for the South African Music Awards. He tries to find Charlize Theron to present the award with him. My family knew an interesting story behind her discovery. Here it is:
She started out as a model and was trying to cash a check in in a bank in Hollywood. When the teller wouldn't cash her check she made a huge scene and threw such a fit that the Hollywood producer standing next to her in line took notice of her theatrical skills (and probably her long, stunning gams as well.). "Wikus Van de Merwe" tries to go to that same bank in this sketch.

Funny Skit

this and that

Last week I went to my first two water aerobics classes of the Spring. In the winter water aerobics is a miserable experience, coming out all wet and cold with your muscles aching for the rest of the day. In the summer, however, it relieves my allergies to swim. I plop my sore body into the soothing water; happily looking around at the funny old ladies with shower caps over the hair, I try to ignore the hearty swimming coaches yelling at poor, awkward adolescents in the swimming lanes, and delight in the ease with which my body moves in the water.

I have temporarily lost daniel to Little Big Planet. Leaving me to wax poetic. Frodo keeps on making vicious attacks on Sam over a tiny piece of rawhide and small spaces of territory on their daybed. I desparately need to find a new book to read. I am bored and sore but don't want to go back to work tomorrow.

I hope that the two weeks of testing ahead go quickly but will find relaxation in my evening sessions at the pool.