Pulchritudinous.

October 11, 2010 By Kelle

When I was just beginning to fall in love with writing…back in the day when I ratted my bangs one, two, three times with my turquoise pick and spraaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyed every last dead end of ’em, slowly and evenly, with the tall, cold can of Aqua Net…back in the day when I’d click back and forth between red ink and blue ink on my four color pen…back in the day when my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Kerspilo, told us the world was our oyster and we were its pearl…I met my friends, the Adjectives, and fell hard and heavy for them. They had me at beautiful. They slayed me with delicious. They charmed me with alluring and exquisite and pulchritudinous (yeah, you heard me…pulchritudinous…look it up).

Over-adjective-izing will forever be my problem. Because I like beautiful and amazing and pulchritudinous, and when I’m feeling it? I want to shout them all…to echo from the mountaintop “I’m blithe.” “I’m elated!” I’m intoxicated with exhultant joy and, oh for God’s sake, I’m so over the top, I’m begging for someone to slap me in the face.

But, I’m going to try and go easy tonight. Because, really, I loved this weekend. I loved it. It was one of those nothing-special but because of that, so-very special weekends, all in one. And yes, that sounds very unicorn-and-rainbowish, but I’m a little unicorn-and-rainbowish, so I guess that’s okay. And just to confirm that thought, I got up to get a drink a minute ago, mid-post, and my head hit a set of windchimes I forgot I had hung from the chandelier…and it made this little harmonious plllltttiinnnggg sound which kind of sounded like unicorns and rainbows, and well…there you have it. Okay, so now I’m laughing.

It was a beautiful weekend, you know. A happy one. Not so happy that it was out-of-touch. No, it was grounded with just a tiny bit of well-now-that’s-just-life. Because two of my dear friends are having babies this week and while all the girls will be high-tailing it to the Birth Center to bring flowers and newborn cotton sleepers and wash their hands getting ready to hold fresh skin, I’m opting to go hold those babies once they are home…because I’m not quite ready to revisit that place yet. Happy?…yes. Celebrating new souls for my very-loved-friends?…yes. But due for some closure where I can head up alone some night with no purpose but for to say “Hey, I’m back” to those walls and make a moment of that something sacred that happened there…yes. But, that’s life.

And with life comes breathing and feeling moments like this.

…and this.

There were lots of these kind of moments this weekend.

My girls love their “Aunt Dot.”

This weekend had Balance pinned by its hind legs up against a wall. Slam dunk. We did it. We won. We left the laundry to peak a little higher in trade for simmering cider with mulling spices and yet we spit-shined the kitchen instead of whipping up another batch of pumpkin loaves. We lingered in our pajamas past noon today and welcomed friends for waffles and sausage this morning and yet last night, we skipped a bath because there was a melted popsical at the bottom of it I didn’t feel like cleaning up and instead made it for an impromptu trip to the lake for basking in, um…the loves of my life.

Pip & Bean Cape.

I love that Lainey was heartbroken over a dead bird she found at the edge of the lake. I love that she got over it when she found a really cool walking stick next to it. I love that, on the way there, I saw a woman I thought I knew, smiled, madly waved and yelled “Hi, Peggy!” and she smiled and waved back and yet, as she passed, I realized she’s not Peggy and I’ve never seen this woman in my life.

I love that Nella played peek-a-boo and Latte rolled maniacally in the grass and Lainey searched for the perfect flower to give her sister. And, come sunset, that great big yellow ball fell slowly and heavily, shedding its golden light so generously on the pale apples of the cheeks of my beloved firstborn.

Oh, delicious…scrumptious…delightful. Take a bow, Adjectives.

Someone does a little “How big is Nella?” now. And how big is she?

So big.

Come late afternoon today, we did one of my favorite spontaneous adventure things. Amid the mess of a Sunday afternoon where used jars of babyfood sat opened on the counter and tape and glue and broken crayons blanketed the floor from the latest craft endeavor and the vacuum hose trailed a perfect “S” along the living room carpet where it had high hopes of swallowing the spilled crumbs of the bottom of the goldfish cracker bag but never quite made it…yes, among all that, Brett stopped and said “Hey, wanna go for a bike ride?” And I jumped at the chance…not so much because I wanted to go for a bike ride but because I was welcoming any opportunity to leave the brewing disaster we had created.

So it was. We ditched it all for feeling the wind in our hair and turning back to see two little cherubs squeezed together in our rickety Craigslist cart that is proving worth every used penny it cost.

There’s a hidden park a few miles from us. We pedaled until our legs stung but it didn’t matter because it was breezy and golden, and we landed with two happy girls who were quite enthused to swing high and free.

And that, my friends, is the smile of unicorns & rainbows.

And, right about the time I heard the ptttllingggg of imaginary windchimes, we decided to pedal a bit further for some football and some beer and some southwestern eggrolls at Chilis. Dock bikes. Unload. And love this…

Nella was tired and Lainey was wanting to trail along every time I got up to do the baby dance–that slow walk and jiggle and sway that always puts ’em to sleep. And so we made the best of one of those out-to-eat times when you take a bite and then draw a puppy on the restaurant menu and then take another bite and then “I-spy-something-red” and then take another bite and shake a rattle and then swig a drink and spoon cold, mashed macaroni-and-cheese with airplane maneuvers and an enthusiastic “ZOOOOM!” into a little mouth of one that’s hungry and sleepy and wanting to go home.

But still…it was all so good.

And then this moment happened which may be my favorite sister moment captured on camera yet.

…because they love each other…they do. And sometimes she still throws a book at her, and yet I love that too…because it’s life.

There you be…our weekend.

Buddy Walk team theme guess, anyone?

So now Baba O’Riley is blaring, and if I don’t get up and do some sort of interpretive dance moves in my living room right this second, I’ll be disappointed in myself.

With that said, sponsor Tina Steinberg Designs (my beloved fingerprint necklace) is offering readers free shipping for October. Time to tell your hubby what you want for Christmas…or maybe Grandma’s gift this year (get your holiday orders in early because fingerprint process can take a few weeks.) Use code “sendlove” at checkout, and your gift ships free!

And, for the record, I’ve never used the word pulchritudinous in my life.

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