Weekend Wrap-Up (latest obsessions edition)

While I vowed not to leave the house for three days, I'm going to have to break that vow to go to my parents' house for dinner tonight. Ah, well, means I don't have to cook, right? And Sylvia's going to make us apple crisp for dessert.

It's still been a great weekend, and we balanced productivity with inactivity quite well, I think!

On Saturday, Riley and I re-arranged the girls' bedroom, and we like it a lot better. There's still some de-cluttering to do, but half of the room looks great :)

Last night, we had Movie Night and watched Beaches, one of Sylvia's latest obsessions. And, OMG, I cried like it was the first time I'd seen it! But it is interesting watching these movies from a different perspective. Seeing it as a mother, as a divorcee and all that combined with remembering how I felt when I saw it fresh out of high school is an interesting experience. So in a way, it was like seeing it for the first time again.

We've also decided that our obsession for the Gilmore Girls isn't quite being fulfilled enough, waiting for new (to us) episodes to air on syndication, so I've just added all 7 seasons to my Netflix queue. And I can't wait. And while Rory Gilmore has been a great role model for the girls with her Harvard obsession, I'm not too sure how I feel about Rory's influence on Sylvia's decision to try coffee. I don't know if I can afford to have two Starbucks addicts in the house!

And my other favorite obsession is Bella DePaulo's Singled Out. I'm reading it in preparation for ATMP's next book club pick, her newest book Single with Attitude. (Okay, I'll 'fess up. I ordered the wrong book. But I'm glad I did.) I strongly recommend it to everyone, in or not in a relationship, wanting a relationship or not, and yes, I even recommend it to the happily married.

I've certainly had experiences where people have said things that they don't necessarily mean to be an insult to me as a divorcee/single person, but have nevertheless surprised and even hurt me. I don't hold it against them. I realize that finding the "one" is a huge part of our culture, and I've even joked about it: "I have bad taste." Still, the more I've sought it out, the more I've found a large number of people that are quite satisfied being single, and yet have to overcome the assumption that they're not happy. I'd like to see that assumption changed. I'd like for single people to be presumed happy as they are.

As with any significant change in our culture, it won't happen with just single people alone. We need the happily coupled to support that idea. Sure, if a single person says to you, "do you know anyone?" by all means, set them up. All I'm asking is that your first look isn't one of pity.

Oh, and I don't think I posted yet about Sylvia's spectacular performance with the SparKids at the LA Sparks game on Tuesday night. It was hard to get good photos of the actual performance, but I like this picture of the 3 of us.



Sylvia had a lot of fun, but I admit, it did throw us off our routine for the rest of the week. We stayed for the entire game and got home close to eleven that night. Sylvia also got to participate in an acting workshop and comedy workshop this week, and loved every minute of both.

The other news: I was proud and thrilled to see that my latest LA Moms post was picked up for syndication. So far, I've found it in three different papers' websites.

Riley's latest obsession: Talking to a friend of hers on the phone. I love watching her light up when the phone's for her! She's talked to him about three times a day this weekend. And she's definitely her mother's daughter: please don't ask if they've got a crush on each other. They're just friends. She's also going to start writing to a friend of hers from last year who had to move to a new school. Since Sylvia already has a pen pal, she's excited about having one of her own. Besides, I think she can empathize greatly with what her friend is going through. He wrote his old class a letter and said that sometimes he goes into the bathroom and cries, missing his friends. It makes me wonder if my girls ever did something similar, but also grateful that they can be good friends to others going through it.

And now, I have to go back to enjoying my awesome girls' company.