Fearless

Gal Pals

Look who's all grown up already and coming over for playdates...

It's baby Sofia!

99 Roads To Happiness

Thanks to those who played along with my end-of-summer captions contest. So many great entries! So many ways to interpret fish angst!

Choosing a winner was tough; to determine who would receive the esteemed title I carefully employed the most exacting instrument I possess in my critical-selection toolshed: I went with the one that made me laugh outloud.

But, first, I present to you the Honorable Mention winners.

The Buddhism Is Truly Everywhere Honorable Mention Award goes to M in O-Town. If anyone needs to reconcile the notion of Existence as Suffering it's a fish about to be brought home to a sizzling-hot frying pan. Quick! Find your happy place, grasshopper.

The Brevity Is The Soul Of Wit Honorable Mention Award goes to Carolynn (Top fish: "Pick Me." Bottom fish: "No, pick me."), who technically tied in word count--FIVE--with the unofficial entry submitted by her office pal, Jason (Bottom fish: "Get off me." Top fish: "Fuck you.") Who would have guessed that the lawyers would come up with the fewest words? (Just kidding, guys. Sort of.)

The Carpe Diem Honorable Mention Award goes to Jenna, who despite being a wife, mother of three, and President of the Indiana Association of Student Nurses, still managed to post her caption entry first.

Other stand-out scripting: Seuss references! Phallic allusions! Fish as Internet trolls! Well done, folks.

And now, the news you've been waiting for all week, as I dodged my daily blogging duties and instead frolicked on the beach with the kids and went out for happy hour with my high-school girlfriends (which is true but sounds better than the remaining truth about changing diapers, fixing meals and doing laundry):

The Double Duty Diary Summer of 2006 Grand Prize goes to PAT, for her classic worm as fish nemesis double entendre. (Plus, it fit just perfectly in the speech bubbles.)



For her wry caption Pat will receive, whenever I can get my act together and to the post office, a 99 Ranch Starter Kit, complete with Mai Fun Rice Sticks (aka noodles), jasmine-infused green tea (delish!), a trio of soaps--sandalwood, jasmine, and ginseng--and sweet cookie balls. Congratulations!

Anyone Out There?!?

Um, KimKadeLolaJuliaBarbaraJanePeggyCJPatKarenOonaPaulKathySueNicoleJody?

I know you're out there (Hi!).

Aren't you gonna take a shot at the fishy caption thingy?

C'mon... Don't be shy....

The Best Travel Deal Around

Not far from home exists a wonderful place called 99 Ranch Market. An enormous Asian marketplace, it's filled with groceries that, while including such universal homemaking staples as dishwashing soap, milk and toilet paper, focus mostly on an Asian clientele's palate.

As I've mentioned here before, John and I really enjoy eating all kinds of Asian food; as such, Finn and Shea have been exposed in their few years to more exotic items than each of our mouths saw in our first 20. So we try to visit 99 Ranch every couple months or so, mostly to replace our supply of sweet chili sauce, fish sauce, and spring roll wrappers. (Yeah, compared to the traditional American dinner table--and judging by the scrunched up faces my mother makes when I show her some of our food choices--we eat some pretty funky dishes sometimes.)

For me, going to 99 Ranch (or Mitsuwa, a marketplace with a more Japanese bent where John and I spent an entire afternoon one pre-children Valentine's Day), is like traveling. One of the things I love about traveling is the feeling of confusion and uncertainly it brings. That sounds slightly counterintuitive, I realize; after all, don't most people travel to escape the stresses of life? Yes, some do. Especially those who stay at their hotel pool or hotel bar for the entire duration of their stay in Hawaii or some other equally breathtaking locale. Ahem.

But the heightened awareness of one's surroundings that comes about from being in an unfamiliar place, smelling unfamiliar scents, tasting unfamiliar flavors, and negotiating unfamiliar terrain shrieks savagely in the face of the complacent normalcy that's often bred in the everydayness of life.

It feels more like living.

It's also humbling to be immersed in a place where not everything makes sense right away--Oh yeah, I'd forgotten, the world's much bigger than my little universe--as is having to work a bit to unravel the patternwork that's commonplace to everyone else. (Holly writes about this beautifully, here, in a manner more concise than I'm able to articulate right now.)

Once, during my corporate employment days, a Chinese co-worker agreed to allow me to tag along with her through 99 Ranch as she did her weekly shopping. Because we had just filled our bellies at a company dim sum lunch at the restaurant next door on the last workday before the Christmas holiday, we were able to leisurely wind our way through the aisles without worrying about watching the clock. She kindly stopped to explain what many of the products were that filled her cart; most of the items she considered staples had never crossed my mind, let alone my lips.

Now, as a little gift of travel from me to you, I present our weekend trip to 99 Ranch--in pictures! Don't miss the special contest at the end, wherein one witty Double Duty Diary reader will be awarded a very special prize for their creative input.

Who ever said Tuesdays were boring?

Fish you can just reach out and touch,
if you're into that kinda thing

Tiny little bananas make tiny little babies happy

And this, folks, is just the bok choy section

Doctor Noodle is Mr. Noodle's macho half-brother

The charming language fumbles are too plentiful to count

I've tried shrimp heads and chicken feet in my time.
But this? This just blows my mind and goes from bad...

... to worse.

SPECIAL CONTEST!

In the blog comments section, please leave your best/snarkiest/wittiest/fishiest captions for the photo below. Deadline for captions is this Friday morning, August 25th, by the time I drink my morning coffee. Fabulous prize, to be determined and distributed by me, will be awarded to lucky winner. Winning caption will be announced sometime on Friday, so don't delay!

Black And Whites Are Here

Going, Going, Gone

Four Generations

This Should Fix Things Right Up

Steven Colbert put some issues "On Notice" on my behalf.

You know, in the interest of truthiness.

(Thanks, Sweetney, for the inspiration.)

Butter. Shea Butter.

Thanks for the adorable t-shirt, Karen!

Drugstore Cowgirl

So, did you know you could get strep on your butt?

Hmmmm, me neither.

Turns out Shea's butt knew this, and managed to be first in line to sign up for a scorching case of Perianal Streptococcal Dermatitis--or Strep-da-Booty, which we affectionately call it around the campfire--that her pediatrician quickly diagnosed after taking a look at her adorable but very angry little bottom.

He also said it's easy to catch--probably from one of her vector parents, both of whom suffered a case of strep throat at least once this summer--and, fortunately, easy to cure.

Unfortunately, this marks the fourth case of the dreaded "strep" in the house this summer; despite our best efforts to scour the house of all germs and triple launder the linens, we just keep volleying the yuck back and forth.

I feel like we should paint a big AMOXICILLIN DISTRIBUTED LIBERALLY HERE warning on the front door--partly to warn visitors of our ongoing bacterial challenges, and partly to scare away any new strep bugs that are plotting their next attack.

I'm pretty sure the pharmacists at SavOn think I'm stalking them at this point.

I'm Lovin' It

While waiting for our quick lunch from the drive-thru line at McDonald's...
___________________________________________

Finn: "So, what's the happy part?"

Karin: "The toy."

Finn: "And what's the meal part?"

Karin: "The food."

FINN: Laughs hysterically, as if all the jokes of the universe were instantly explained to him.

[pause]

[pause]

Finn (serious once again): "Mom, they take so long to get me happy."

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

In England They Call It Fringe

Shea's got some crazy hair. When she was born it was nearly jet black and super shiny, like a pretty little Japanese baby's. We thought it would probably fall out and in its place she'd grow hair closer to her brother's hair color. We were wrong.

After some time in the sun it has lightened up a bit, but it hasn't fallen out and has even begun to curl a bit on the ends. It even seems to have grown at a doubletime pace in the area in front of her eyes, which encourages John to call her his little sheepdog.

To help Shea see better, we usually pull her hair up into this funny fountain style, which keeps it out of her face for a few minutes--until she realizes that she has the power to pull the hair tie out herself, thus breaking free of her shackles of feminine oppression and letting her locks flow free like a '70s Wella Balsam advertisement.

So, in an impetuous moment using my blunt, everyday stationery scissors, I cut her some kickin' bangs. Adorable, blunt, little Bettie Page bangs. And I'm loving them. She hasn't bumped into as much stuff as she used to, but she looks like a big girl now, and the messy little ragamuffin baby I was so used to has been suddenly replaced with a tidy little toddler.

My Family

Happy Blogday

One year ago today, during the swelter of the summer I will forever remember as the one when I pottytrained a toddler while breastfeeding an infant--and did very little else--I started Double Duty Diary after reading an article about blogs in Time magazine.

At first, it was simply to provide photos and the occasional update about the kids to family and friends. Since then, it has become a wonderful outlet for me, both as a writer and as a mother. I now think about things that happen to me in the course of the day in terms of how I can best blog about them--how I can eke out the humor in the frustrating, the tender in the everyday.

I've even "met"--exchanged comments and the occasional e-mail with, really--other mothers around the world who are also making their way in the new years of motherhood. Many of them inspire me with their writing, photos, wit and insight. Mommybloggers certainly aren't the nitwits the name might imply.

I hope you're enjoying reading Double Duty Diary as much as I am creating it; hopefully my kids will someday enjoy reading it, too. Thanks for tuning in. Here's to another fun year of our crazy life captured online!

That's Easy For You To Say

At Eddie and Amy's wedding I, as Eddie's best (wo)man, delivered a toast/speech* while everyone finished eating their delicious buffet dinner. I had never given a wedding speech before so I was a little nervous about how my written words would translate to the spoken word. Eddie told me later he liked it so mission accomplished, I say.

*And I didn't even cry (although Amy's beautifully written marriage vows heard earlier in the evening made for a little northern mist).
______________________________________________________________

Hi there! For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Karin, the sister of the groom. The much, much younger sister of the groom.

Today I was honored to stand next to my only sibling as he took his vows of marriage. It was a privileged duty and a unique vantage point—and the same position he stood in nearly six years ago for me on my wedding day.

I’ve been lucky in my life to be able to call Eddie not only my brother, but one of my best friends, too. We like to tease one another about almost anything, but one of our longest-running jokes centers around the realization that, despite the fact that we came from the same parents and the same home, we couldn’t really be more different. He likes to call me the City Mouse and himself the Country Mouse, after the children’s story of the same name.

And he’s right. Where I seek lattes, bookstores and quick Internet connections, he’s happiest deep in the trees, hiking up a trail, or somewhere under water. My little brother—the one who gleefully jumped off the high dive on MY first day of swim class as I struggled to put my face in the water—has always harbored a spirit that seems to hearken back to the days of great adventurers and explorers, one that channels the energy and ethos of the Jack Londons, Jack Kerouacs and Jack Sparrows of the day. He’s truly in his element and happiest when he’s discovering nature’s bounty.

Just listen to some of the unique experiences the guy’s had:

• He’s taught tourists from around the world how to surf the waves of Lahaina, Maui;
• He broke his longboard while surfing in Hanalei Bay, Kauai, only to exclaim how it was one of the best rides of his life and was totally worth it;
• He’s crossed the Sea of Cortez on a three-man boat;
• He’s bummed an impromptu boat ride with local Fijian fishermen to escape an approaching school of jellyfish;
• He’s ridden the world’s longest left at Raglan in New Zealand;
• He’s seen many, many G’days in Australia;
• And he’s traveled the four corners of this fair country and most places in between. In fact, his list of states still left to visit could probably fit onto a postage stamp—the one attached to the postcard he’ll mail you for your birthday from some far away, sun-drenched locale. It may come a few days late, but it’ll get there all the same.

Because of his adventurous wanderlust, Eddie has some colorful and exciting stories to share and, because of the remarkable array of experiences he’s had in his youth, has become the envy of most of the older, wiser men I know.

I realize that part of the tradition of serving as best man includes giving a speech that includes some embarrassing and/or compromising tales of “I knew the groom when….” And I hate to disappoint. But the one story that kept creeping into my head when I sat down to write this wasn’t about those crazy times jumping off the pier or getting lost together at Denmark’s Tivoli Gardens and giving Mom a heart attack. Instead, it was about the single moment when I realized that Eddie and Amy were cut from the same organic, batiked cloth—and were simply meant for one another.

After one of the many Christmas holidays they’d spent at Mom and Dad's, Eddie and Amy took off for a nearly week-long adventure down in Baja California, Mexico. When they returned, they showed us their stunning photos, told some great stories, and casually mentioned that they had BOTH forgotten to pack a hairbrush for the trip.

For me, the admitted comfort seeker, this oversight would have been a total deal breaker, one that would have sent me fleeing north for the border and tidier climes. Or at least to a farmacia or mercado to fill the loss. But it didn’t break their stride at all; in fact, they simply continued on, unfazed and fine all the same, focusing instead on the scent of the Mexican sagebrush, the tastes of the local panaderia, and the thrilling curves of the road to Cabo San Lucas. Today you can all see for yourselves how beautifully they both clean up as they sit at the head table, radiant visions. But in that moment I realized they were truly bookends—a matched set.

And so now their newest adventure includes traveling together through life—kindred spirits who share the same passion for finding the beauty and mystery life offers those who go out and seek it.

Please join me in raising your glasses in a toast to wish these two a hearty Bon Voyage of sorts, as they embark on their grand adventure together as husband and wife. May it be a journey filled with much love and laughter.

July 29, 2006
Arrington Apple Farm
Eureka, California

Thanks, Kris and Pete, for the photo.

Two Become One

Did you hear that my little brother got married?

No really, it's true. Oh, I see. You say you've read about the wedding plans here a few times. About a thousand times, or so, you say? Gotcha. And you want some pictures already? All right, all right. Well, you're in luck. I've got them ready for you. And some of them are even kinda cute!

Let me just say first, though, that if you weren't there we certainly missed you. It was by far one of the best weddings I've ever been to and that's not just because I got to tell embarrasing stories about my brother--on a microphone, no less--after the ceremony. The weather was SPECTACULAR, considering every other time I've visited the Arcata/Eureka area of northern Northern California I've frozen my butt off, even during the peak of summer.

(Quick aside: I often think of that great old Mark Twain quote about the coldest winter he ever spent was the summer he spent in San Francisco. So true. Now go six hours further north up the rugged California coastline and you'll understand the typical weather patterns there. This place ain't no Sunkist commercial; it's a dynamic, breathtaking slice of topography where Redwoods meet the Pacific, it rains an average of 40 inches a year, and the people all seem to share the same strain of coastal cowboy DNA. But on Eddie and Amy's special weekend the clouds parted, the sun shook its mighty money maker, and none of that nippy/chilly stuff applied.)

The whole wedding celebration went off without any major problems and with very little drama, even given the fact that so many slices of different cultures in Ed and Amy's worlds--everyone from pirates, priests, hippies and hipsters to vegans, vampires, toddlers and teetotalers--shared the same space and dining areas for three days straight.

Now the adorable honeymooners are swinging in a hammock somewhere on the beach in mainland Mexico, soaking up the sun and recovering from three straight days and nights of nuptial festivities.

I just realized that the only shot I have of Ed and Amy during the wedding ceremony so far is the shot below from Trudi. (Thanks, Trudi!) I will, however, have an entire roll of black & white images sometime soon; they were shot on my dear, old-school Canon AE1, which I reserve for capturing Events and Moments of Great Importance. I'll have to scan those in once they're developed and share them here.


Below is the photo link to my Befores and Afters. The Befores include the wedding rehearsal at Arrington Apple Farm; the subsequent rehearsal dinner at Cin Cin in Eureka; and the fun day spent on the grass of Arcata Plaza listening to the local musicians and eating locally grown fruit from Farmers' Market vendors. The Afters include a breakfast and visit to beautiful Trinidad State Beach; a breakneck, whirlwind drive through Ferndale, Petrolia and one of many Redwood forests lining Highway 101; playing and hiking at Arcata's Redwood Park; and the trip home.

Click here for photos. Enjoy!

All Washed Up

I haven't been able to write anything about the wedding weekend yet because I've been up to my eyeballs in laundry . . . laundry that had to be done at my parents' house for the last two days straight because our 23-year-old dryer decided to up and die the day before we left for the wedding.

The good news? This beauty will be delivered on Saturday afternoon. Ahhhhhhh.

We're Back

We've safely returned from a splendid weekend away with family and friends for Eddie and Amy's gorrrrrrrrrrgeous wedding in Northern California.

I hope to have stories and photos posted up soon, but in the meantime I'll leave you with a couple teaser shots to whet the appetite.

P.S. If you were at the wedding and took digital photos, please e-mail your favorites to me--particularly those of the wedding ceremony since I was in it and, therefore, wasn't shooting it--so I can compile them all in a single digital album that I'll link to on this blog. (I'll be sure to give you credit for any shots I use, Ansel Adams...)