Tag: hooray

general

i.o.u

abby mumford

jeannie moon to the rescue. here i am pondering what to tell you all when i find out she nominated me for a “stylish blog award” which means it’s now my turn to (a) reveal some secrets about me and (b) pay it forward.

PART A. facts about me.

1. i have never dyed my hair.

2. i used to have two holes pierced in each ear. now i only have one. i used to have my navel pierced. now i have none.

3. fingernails gross me out.

4. i have 2 plants in my office, a bamboo shoot and uh, something else. bamboo is basically a weed and so i couldn’t kill it if i tried and the second flower “likes sunshine and heat and indoors.” i can literally see it growing. it’s insane and kind of awesome, but it’s making me look like i have a green thumb. it’s a lie. a LIE i tell you. i think nameless flower is supposed to bloom sometime next month, but the whole “plant it outside in the spring” thing is going to be the death of that plant. you see, neither my apartment nor my work has a gardening plot. and thus, my lack of green thumb strikes again. at least i can enjoy the nameless flower for awhile longer.

5. my new netbook arrived and i spent last weekend writing. (note to self, remember to bring glasses home from work!) an unintended, but awesome side effect of owning a tiny computer…the screen is so small, it’s really annoying to look at the internet on it, which means i’m not tempted to do so which means WRITE ON with yo bad self.

6. my favorite gum is this which is nearly impossible to find anymore. the only store (and believe me, i’ve looked everywhere) that sells it anymore is a local place near work. they look at me funny when i buy 6 packs. i can’t help it. i’m addicted to this gum.

7. sleeping is my favorite. napping too.

PART B. pay it forward. so a lot of the names on jeannie’s list are ones that i would have listed, but the point is to introduce new blogs, so here are a few more than 15 MORE noteworthy blogs for you. their words inspire, teach, or provide a distraction. and now, i bequeath the stylish blog trophy to:

adriana kirilova

carrie harris

elizabeth ryann

ellen oh

embrace the detour

flirty baker

gina choe

the grateful project

janice hardy

jeffe kennedy

karla nellenbach

k.m. criddle

lay gastronomer

stephanie perkins

thoughtful eating

wander monster

when parents text

go forth and read.

travel

mission (quasi) accomplished

abby mumford

as i previously mentioned, all of my siblings and i have january birthdays. brother G’s was yesterday. O HAPPY DAY! and yes, the mission i so vaguely mentioned last post was directly related to that event.

it actually started over a year ago when my SIL (M) asked me how i felt about being a present of the surprise variety for brother G. you see, they live on the west coast and so our time together is more often relegated to emails and texts and phone calls and skype than to time spent in the same time zone. M and i figured out the perfect plan and coordinated our schedules so that i could fly out and be all SURPRISE, i’m here!

brother G’s work sent him to london. i stayed on the east coast that year.

M and i resumed our talks a few months ago and this time, all signals were clear for take-off. even though mother nature played hard ball and dumped 15 inches of snow on boston the day before my flight was scheduled to leave. fortunately, the runways were clear the next night and i boarded and shut off my phone after receiving instruction to call G when i landed because he would be the one to pick me up. my flight took off. i landed 6 hours later and dialed. G picked up and his voice didn’t sound surprised.

GAH. what? why not?

now G and i are similar in that we don’t often show our emotions (i’m working on it!), but this was more than that. he knew. he KNEW. but, but, but, WHEN? HOW?

rewind. M hadn’t told her kids anything because, well, they’re kids and don’t yet understand the concept of a secret. or how to keep one. MMM (8yo niece) is getting there, but we didn’t want to test her limits, so M waited until a week before my arrival to tell her. MMM zipped her lips. the morning of my arrival, MMM was whispering with her mom and didn’t realize brother A was around the corner within hearing distance. later, as G drove them to school, A says, “Dad, you’re going to pick up your sister at the airport today.”

G says he was very surprised then. it was just 10 hours before my arrival…

but you know what? it doesn’t matter because even though it was a quick visit, it was jam packed. i got to see MMM and A play basketball (6yos who haven’t had a practice because of inclement weather playing their first game? HILARIOUS), i got L (2.5yo) to talk to me even if it was only for a minute or two, we played xbox connect (AMAZING), we ate lunch at the top of the space needle with uncle rob, we watched movies, we giggled, i saw L throw a football better than some high school kids i know, but best of all, i got to spend time with each of the seattle mumfords one on one – chatting, listening, learning, observing, getting to know them as they are now and at 3pm and at 3am and at 7am. i experienced their life as it is on a daily basis, 3 hours behind mine on the east coast. all the noise and the silence and the chaos and the laughter and the bickering and the tickling and the sharing and the snacking and the sleeping.

i may have started out as the present, but what a goody bag i received.

feelings

NYE 2010

abby mumford

as the celebrations gear up and the year 2010 draws to a close, i wanted to wish you a happy, healthy, and hilarious 2011.

thanks for reading, for commenting, for sharing this blog space with me as i muddle and mumble my way through. your company makes this corner of the blogesphere feel like home.

*raises champagne glass*

here’s to another year together.

feelings

santa’s secrets

abby mumford

december 24th has always been a magical sort of day, especially when the stockings were hung by the chimney with care cause we knew SANTA WAS COMING!

GROWING UP. santa’s arrival was SUCH AN EXCITING THING, it was impossible to sleep in. since my poor parents had been up to all hours getting things ready, they refused to get out of bed before the sun was up (how rude), but we weren’t allowed to open presents until they were awake. what a conundrum! and so to contain our energy (read: delay the inevitable), they compromised with us: we could open stocking gifts without parents present. and so. we did. at 5am. and then we’d fall asleep waiting for mom and dad to wake up before the main show (breakfast, getting dressed, making beds, and then OPENING PRESENTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) could begin.

NEXT. we got older and found out what (or rather who) is behind the magic. at first, it seems a bit disappointing, but then you realize the magic is still there because when you think about it (and you do), you understand that it really does take magic to pull off an event like christmas. (and you thank your parents for the efforts they put in all those years). and you get excited by the holiday all over again.

AND THEN. i was lucky enough to have sister E be born when i was 11, which meant we got to play along with the santa magic, except this time, WE were the magic. i don’t have to tell you how cool it was to be in on the secret. to be the one eating the cookies and drinking the milk and nibbling the carrots left out for santa and his reindeer. to be the one who’s footsteps could be mistaken for a reindeer on the roof. sister E outgrew it, but nieces and nephews catapulted onto the scene and so us being the magic continued. happily.

AND NOW. all those years believing + all those years being means the magic for me is still tangible. probably because i want it to be. and i don’t mean i want it to be true that one man flies all over the world delivering presents and taking credit away from mom and dad. what i mean is that i now know how hard this holiday is on everyone and so i want the magic to inflitrate our worlds as laughter and relaxing moments and shiny lights and warm family moments and getting to sleep in.

thanks for putting on a merry show again this year, Santa, i mean, mom and dad. 

feelings

SURPRISE.

abby mumford

i took part in an unintentional surprise party this weekend. it wasn’t originally intended to be a surprise, but as the date drew closer and closer, C realized her BF had no clue what was going on.so she ran with it. (and we all managed to keep our mouths shut.) for about an hour after the surprise was revealed, he could barely talk, so thick was his shock.

SO FUN.

i unintentionally had multiple family reunions this weekend. first with my aunt and uncle (mom’s side) on friday night. then with my uncle (dad’s side) on sunday as i drove up the east coast from philly to NJ to boston.

SO FUN.

i also got to see the new tricks Baby Mac has learned. she waves hello, goodbye, and at any other random time that she wants your attention. she does so in the most adorable way possible because she’s (a) wearing a huge grin and (b) waves backwards, so she’s actually waving to herself. and the other trick is that she can now roll from her back to her stomach. previously, she could only roll from stomach to back.

SO FUN.

i walked into my apartment (ok, fine, struggled is a more apt word) under a laundry basket and two huge bags of weekend clothes, shoes, and a laptop and turned to say hello to roommate when BOOM. i saw it. a real, live christmas tree in my apartment.

SO FUN.

roommate is a christmas fanatic and i heart the season dearly, so it’s always been surprising we don’t decorate more. maybe it’s because we each travel for the holidays and so aren’t local on the actual date or because our landlord dresses up our house so much we didn’t feel the need to add more or i don’t know, but we have never put up true decorations in our own space. however this year, roommate took it upon herself to remedy the lack of christmas cheer in our apartment. it’s amazing what a real, pine smelling, needle dropping, festive tree can do for one’s spirit.

SO FUN.

the weekend started out as me being in on the secret and ended up with me being the one surprised.

SO FUN.