multi-hyphenated-me

the hyphens that define my life

My Daily Blog: T-4 Man Enough to Cry June 15, 2013

Filed under: Family,soccer — multihyphenatedme @ 12:52 pm
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Nothing makes my heart hurt more than seeing my children cry.  I’m not talking about the whiney fit throwing cry when they don’t get their way, then they can cry all they want, I am immune (or, at the very least, I talk a good game).  After the final soccer game with his Chelsea Blue team today, his coaches said incredibly kind words and wished our twelve-year-old, Trace, well on his journey.  Trace accepted the words, the gifts and hugs with chin quivering and tears streaming down his face.

Trace is hit hardest, emotionally, with our move.  He’s leaving the school he’s attended and friends he has made since first grade.  He’s leaving the team and coaches he has played with for two years.  He’s really just coming into his own and we’re yanking the rug out from under him. We are paying the price.  The solemn looks, the anger, the frustration, the sadness and lots of tears have been given in heavy doses since we announced the move.  Totally understandable but it doesn’t change our decision.

On the drive home today after the game, we talked about emotions.  I told Trace I was proud of him for letting his emotions show, for crying and not holding in or masking his feelings.  Trace said he loved playing with the team and his coaches are awesome. He appreciated his coach saying that whenever Trace is in town, he has an open invitation to play with the Chelsea team.  He felt loved, his efforts appreciated.

Trace is looking forward to playing with FC Spokane.  We arrive in Spokane on Friday and he will begin training on Monday.  Trace has had great coaches over the years and has developed well with their training.  We are excited to see how Trace’s game develops further with new coaches, a new team and new training.

When we first joined with Chelsea, (it was then JUSA Crew), I forewarned the coaches I was loud, I cheer words of encouragement, and I question the referees occasionally.  The coach said he welcomed the entire family.  To my credit, I haven’t gotten kicked out of a game or scolded by a referee. Yet.  I didn’t happen to mention my sideline charm to the FC Spokane coaches.  I’ll let this post be their fair warning. They will learn soon enough, plus I didn’t want to hurt Trace’s chances of getting on a team.  Since we are so busy getting settled this summer, and I need time to learn all the boys names, I’m going to try really really hard to be mellow this summer and ease my way in with the fall season. Wishing myself luck with that plan.

I love watching Trace play soccer.  I have loved his time spent with JUSA Crew/Chelsea Blue. Though it was a tear jerker for everyone watching, I am proud that he loves his team and coaches so much he needed to cry today.  My maternal reaction when my kids cry is to run to them, hold them and comfort them.  You know your kid is growing up when they reach out to his teammates for support and they are there to support him.

One final group hug, Trace called out the final team huddle and we left with well wishes from all. Thank you Andy and Dave for the time, energy, dedication, encouragement, love and support you gave to our son.

FC Spokane I hope you’re ready for Trace.  He is a beast on the soccer field and emotionally in the game.  And **BONUS** you got me on the sideline.

 

My Daily Blog: T-5 H.A.G.S. June 14, 2013

Filed under: Family,Life — multihyphenatedme @ 7:43 am
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Schools Out for Summer.

HAGS!! is the new acronym to hit elementary school yearbooks.  I couldn’t decipher it on my own, I had to enlist the help of my 9-year-old to guide me through the elementary school vernacular.  My thought was that HAGS!! was similar to WHAS UP?!?!  Instead of saying HUGS!! you say HAGS!! Oh no.  HAGS is simply Have A Great Summer.  Of course.

Urbandictionary.com has some entertaining definitions and examples using HAGS in a sentence.  I won’t go into great detail here and highly recommend you check it out yourself, but I will tell you that my favorite defined HAGS as an STD (yes, you read that correctly, sexually transmitted disease).  HAGS could also stand for Herpes, AIDS, Ghonorrea and Syphilis.  Now read your elementary kid’s yearbook and interpret all 37 HAGS references with the STD message.  Fun to frightening in seconds flat.

No more pencils.  No more books.  No more teachers dirty looks.  These are all things worth celebrating, but school out for summer for me should be celebrated for not having to wake sleeping children, pack lunches and no homework!  Woo!  My life just got easier.  Except, now  I have to entertain 3 kids so they don’t fry their brains playing video games all summer, fight like mad dogs or push me further into the well of insanity.

What are your summer plans?  Here’s a newsflash in case you haven’t been paying attention – we’re moving to Spokane.  Though moving is a big project, it isn’t all-consuming right now, nor will it be once we arrive.  We’ll take it one box at a time.

We’re billing this summer as the “Summer of Adventure”.  It could equally be named “Spokane, You Got It, We’re Doing It”.  “Summer of Adventure” actually begins on Tuesday, before we leave, with our final trip to Disneyland.  As annual pass holders, we have our fill of Disney often, but Tuesday, with the help of our adult daughter, the boys will be at Disney all day long.  We’ll show up for dinner and take over for the rest of the night.  (Smart).

Nothing says summer like a good road trip!  We will be on the road and we will cover 1,237 miles but that is the beginning and end of “trip”.  We’re moving, no sightseeing or time-consuming tourist attractions on the way up.  Not much of an adventure?  Yeah.  Right.  If that’s what you think, you’ve never travelled 20 hours, in a car, with children, not to mention our menagerie.  Door to door in less than the 20 prescribed hours it takes to get there without losing our minds.  Safety first, of course.

The Adventure picks back up when we arrive in Spokane at the start of Hoopfest, “the largest  3-on-3 street basketball tournament on the planet”.  Check it out www.spokanehoopfest.com Spokane utilizes 42 city blocks for 456 courts on day one of this weekend extravaganza.  We are definitely going to check out this action.  The boys are already talking about forming teams next year.

That’s as far as we have planned.  Knowing what we’re doing next weekend hardly qualifies a dramatic action-packed title like “Summer of Adventure”.  Buying furniture doesn’t qualify either, yet it counts for me..  If you’re one of the kids, your biggest concern is when will the internet be connected?  If you’re my husband, his plans include buying a boat which certainly lends credibility to “Summer of Adventure”.  Buying a boat will be great for all of the lakes and summer fun in Spokane.  I cringe at the thought.  This will be our fourth boat since we’ve been together.  Boats are a lot of fun, but they are a lot of work.  There is no work sitting on the beach with a book where I am perfectly content.  Just the thought of the beach and a book takes me to a happy place on a lake, at the ocean, or next to a mud puddle.  With adventurous boys and a water-skiing husband that also loves to sail, we’re definitely boating this summer if not sailing too.

Bicycling, checking out the sites, entertaining friends and family, trying new restaurants and just absorbing our new surroundings will be adventure in itself.  Our summer will be full of fun.

HAGS!  Whether this is a wish for fun or catching an STD, I hope you have a great time doing whatever you have planned this summer!  Make it count.

 

 

My Daily Blog: T-7 Survival Mode June 12, 2013

Filed under: Life — multihyphenatedme @ 7:02 am
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My friend said ‘We’re still on for Tuesday, right?’ Wait.  What’s Tuesday?  ‘We’re having lunch.’ Oh yeah, right, lunch Tuesday.  Definitely.  What a flake I’ve become.  Maybe I’ve always been flakey but the mysterious blank spaces in my mind are becoming more and more apparent as our move draws near.  Our family calendar is so crammed full of activities, even with written and electronic calendars which help tremendously, I can’t keep everything committed to memory.  I was supposed to walk with a friend last night during our son’s soccer practice.  Nope, didn’t remember and committed to packing with my husband.  I’m not even focusing on and selecting the fun stuff.  I chose work over fun.  Something is seriously wrong with me.

Perfect timing.  Just what I need for this move is a mental breakdown.  No joking around, I’m concerned.  Yet I question it too.  Why am I forgetting the fun stuff?  Why am I not forgetting the work stuff? Why am I not shirking my move responsibilities?  Why am I meeting my family’s needs?  Why is the laundry getting done?

Oh. Dear. God.  I’ve crossed the line.  I’ve reached the point where I’m so focused on the move and on work that both have totally consumed me. There is no room left in my brain for fun.  EEK!  I should run away. Fast.

Don’t get me wrong, I am having fun, too much fun, and I’m having fun having fun.  In fact, I am having more fun on a daily basis in the past few weeks than I have had in many months, if not years.  Almost every day includes a social event. On a regular basis, I’m social.  I socialize.  But I don’t socialize daily. Let’s remember who I am – I’m on a first name basis with the local librarian!  I’m a bibliophile!  I sew.  I cook.  I garden.  I like getting massages and pedicures.  My hair needs to be cut! Fun is taxing and I miss my projects.  My projects kept me organized and on task.  Without my projects, I am lost.

My mind is not lost.  My life is lost.  Don’t misread my writing.  I love going out with my friends.  We have had good times, great laughs and I will miss them dearly.  With my life packed into 122 boxes and counting, I can not go on much longer sorting, pitching, donating, keeping, wrapping, packing, taping, boxing and stacking my life.  The good, yet sad news is that I don’t have too much longer.  Only 7 days remain.  One week.

I’m in survival mode now.  What would Bear Grills do in a time like this?  He’d probably eat our pets and make clothing, furniture and shelter out of the packing materials so I won’t follow his lead.  What I need is my friends.  What I need, to paraphrase Bill Withers “Lean On Me” lyrics,  is to let me lean on you, because I’m not strong. I need you to be my friend and help me carry on.

This isn’t a cry for help.  It is a plea to my friends for understanding and compassion for my flakiness and general brain meltdown as we are in the final stretch.

 

My Daily Blog T-8 My Life in 40 Moves June 11, 2013

Filed under: Life — multihyphenatedme @ 9:13 am
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Several of my “friends” have called me their transient friend since the news of our pending move. Hearing this from those who have lived within a 20 mile radius their entire lives, doesn’t surprise me.  Hearing this comment from a globetrotting friend made me take pause and  question what was actually being said.  I had to look up “transient” to confirm the definition as my initial response to the word is derogatory as a drifter, or homeless.

Transient:

1
a: passing especially quickly into and out of existence : transitory <transient beauty>

b: passing through or by a place with only a brief stay or sojourn <transient visitors>

2
: affecting something or producing results beyond itself
“Brief stay” is what dubbing me transient.  “Brief” is subjective.  For me, brief is a day, a week, or a month.  For others, our six years in this community is brief.  What does brief mean to you?
Transient may not be the best word choice, but I have moved quite a bit.  The move to Spokane will be my 40th move.  My 45th birthday is in September.  No, I haven’t moved nearly every year of my life. I have had the pleasure of moving multiple times in a single year to rack up the count.  My moves define my life.  I have lived in 6 states, Washington will be the 7th. Fifteen of my moves were beyond my control while I was dependent on my mom. Four moves during the college years. Eight moves before I realized I was in a really bad relationship before I, well, moved out.  Four moves as a single mom. And eleven moves in the 16 years my husband and I have been together. Some of my moves were transient, to be sure.  In 2001, while our house was in escrow in Parks, AZ, we moved to the apartment my husband’s company provided in Tusayan, AZ, at the gates of the Grand Canyon.  Sixty days we lived at the Grand Canyon.  Our daughter became a Junior Ranger and we hiked and explored every day. I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.  In fact, I wouldn’t change most of my moves as they, for the most part, have all been for the better. There are some moves that I’m not so thrilled with, but they have shaped my character and made me who I am. Transient or not.
Here is a list of the places I’ve lived:
1. Monroe, MI
2. Sandusky, OH
3. Castalia, OH
4. Sandusky, OH
5. Norwalk, OH
6. Driggs, ID (Teton Valley)
7. Santa Monica, CA (1)
8. Santa Monica, CA (2)
9. Torrance, CA (1)
10. Torrance, CA (2)
11. Playa del Rey, CA (1)
12. Playa del Rey, CA (2)
13. San Diego, CA
14. Playa del Rey, CA (3)
15. Santa Monica, CA (3)
16. Long Beach, CA
17. Playa del Rey, CA (4)
18. Westchester, CA
19. Hermosa Beach, CA (1)
20. Redondo Beach, CA (1)
21. San Pedro, CA
22. Venice, CA
23. Hawthorne, CA
24. Redondo Beach (2)
25. Manhattan Beach, CA
26. Hermosa Beach, CA (2)
27. Oceanside, CA (1)
28. Westchester, CA (2)
29. Redondo Beach, CA (3)
30. Redondo Beach, CA (4)
31. Placentia, CA (1)
32. Tusayan, AZ  (The Grand Canyon)
33. Parks, AZ (1)
34. Las Vegas, NV
35. Laguna Beach, CA
36. Oceanside, CA (2)
37. Parks, AZ (2)
38. Placentia, CA (2)
39. Placentia, CA (3)
40. Spokane, WA
What is most interesting to us about our Spokane move is that Spokane has been selected by us, for us.  Most of my other moves have been dictated by employment, the economy, or current situation.  Spokane is a grown-up move.  We have researched and selected Spokane based on everything it offers us as a family and each of us individually.
Is Spokane our end all?  Who am I to say?  Home is where my heart is, wherever that may be.
 

My Daily Blog T-9 Single Digits June 10, 2013

Filed under: Life — multihyphenatedme @ 9:50 am
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My husband read my blog for the first time last night.  He may have felt some peer pressure from the going away party Friday night when all of my friends were shocked that he didn’t read my blog.  When he finally stopped asking about WordPress and my webpage, his first comment on the blog was “What is the T-# about?” Dude, are you new to our life? No, after being together 16 years including lucky thirteen years of marriage, he is not new here.  Dang it though, he brings up a good point for new readers.  If you’re new to my blog, “T-” is the countdown to our move from Placentia, CA, in the OC, to Spokane Washington.  We are now at T-9. Nine days until we move.  Single digits. Shit is about to get real.

As if life hasn’t been real up until now.  The move isn’t complex.  Work is still work.  Our social calendar is ridiculously full with end of school, 6th grade promotion and other typical activities. No pressure. Just another day in the life.

Ok, there is some pressure. Even though we’re at T-9, my entire house has to be packed by Sunday June 16 in order to get the stuff shipped.  I don’t have 9 days, I only have 6 days.  We physically leave in nine days.  Big difference.  Six days definitely applies some pressure.  Then there are some other issues….

My husband and I discussed meals for the next nine days. We have lots of events this week during or immediately after dinner.  The kitchen, in its entirety, needs to be packed.  I voted for take-out every night with the promise that I’ll cook every meal every night once we arrive in Spokane.  Mr. Spoiled and Frugal says no, we have to have home cooked meals every night as it’s too expensive to go out.  This is why women throw frying pans at their husbands.  No, I didn’t throw any pans, but I thought about it.  He has clearly forgotten who he has married.  My household role is to plan, shop and put the food on the table.  For the next nine days, I’m going to plan the restaurant, drive to the restaurant and put take-out food on the table.    The food will be healthy, no fast food, so no issue. Practical and sane, both of which I strive for daily. Why was this even discussed?  Decision made.

Clothing is another issue.  Currently we have way too many pieces of clothing lying around as we sold the dressers this weekend. I did an initial packing of winter and out of season clothes weeks ago but there’s still too much out. Tonight’s project is to purge everyone’s wardrobe down to nine outfits.  That’s it.   Everything can be rotated, interchanged, washed and ready to go.  If we look a bit more bizarre than normal, keep in mind, we’re moving.

Higher on the totem pole is the internet modem which will stay in place until the final possible moment that it has to be unplugged.   We may look a fright but we will be connected.  Priorities people.

T-9.  The final week of school.  Our final full week in our neighborhood. The countdown to our move is definitely on.

 

My Daily Blog T-10 Rest and Relaxation June 9, 2013

Filed under: Family,Life,Links — multihyphenatedme @ 7:54 am
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

la quintaBoxes, packing tape, packing paper is in every room of our house.  Our furniture has been sold (we’re starting fresh and will buy new furniture to suit our mid-century house once we get to Spokane ). The kids are sleeping in sleeping bags on the floor. Clothes are strewn around the bedrooms in some sense of chaotic order, yes the dressers went too.  With just the essentials left unpacked for our remaining 10 days, the house is beginning to not be a home but an open storage facility.

We need a break from our reality.  Weeks ago, we made reservations at La Quinta Resort (www.laquintaresort.com), one of our favorite Palm Springs area resort destination with the kids. After the going away party, with emotions high, the kids need a break from the in-your-face reminder that we’re moving.  We love La Quinta for the 1926 Spanish ranch style, built against the mountains you don’t feel like you’re in another hotel, large rooms to accommodate our brood, multiple pools and restaurants and beautifully groomed 45 acres.

Yesterday morning we headed to La Quinta for our final hurrah in the desert.  We arrived in the area just in time for streets to be shut down for President Obama and Chinese President Xi and their multiple vehicle entourage to pass as they travelled to The Annenberg Retreat at Sunnylands in Rancho Mirage.  The kids were excited as the cars passed.  My husband not so much.

Once the hoopla passed, we made a beeline for the resort.  We brought our bicycles so the boys started riding around as soon as we arrived.  Within moments we were poolside.  Let the rest and relaxation begin.

If you have never been to Palm Springs, you really have no choice but to relax in 105+ degree temperatures.  You instantly melt into your lounge chair then pour yourself into the pool to refresh, then back to the chaise rotating like a rotisserie chicken to get a perfect golden tan.  That’s just the first 10 minutes.  Some of you reading this post will instantly dismiss desert heat by saying you don’t like heat.  I hear you.  I don’t like heat either.  My family will confirm that when the temperature climbs about 80 degrees I am not happy (read: I will bite your head off) unless I’m at the beach, a pool or the AC is cooling me down.  That’s why you must be still in Palm Springs.  The heat is relaxing and tolerable if you just stay mellow.  Do not follow my husband and children around as they bicycle miles, play tennis or this wacky version of baseball using palm tree bark/frond for a bat and a tennis ball in the Palm Tree Garden, unless you are this immune-to-heat type.  The added bonus for me is that while the boys are out doing their thing in the heat, I am left in peace, which for any mother, is golden.

Thanks La Quinta for the memories.  You have been good to us over the years, providing this momma much-needed rest and relaxation.

 

My Daily Blog T-11 The Love of Friends and Cake June 8, 2013

Filed under: Cooking,Creative,Family,Life — multihyphenatedme @ 9:38 am
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
“A heart is not judged by how much it is loved, but by how much it is loved by others.”  
The Wizard said to the Tin Man, The Wizard of Oz

Our hearts are full of love for my friends that hosted our going away party last night as well as for those in attendance. Over 100 people ate, drank, went swimming, played water polo/soccer and hung out in support of us, our children and our decision to move from Placentia, California – the OC – to Spokane, Washington. Nothing makes a party better than street tacos, beer, sangria, sodas, salads, dips and, my favorite part, cake.  Thank you my dear friends, my six senoras, that hosted the party.  I love you for your thoughtfulness, kindness, generosity and, most of all, your friendship.

I have to give a shout out to my friend made this Fiesta Cake for the occasion:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The bottom layer is an inside-out german chocolate cake with chocolate ganache.  The second tier is sour cream almond with strawberry filling with buttercream frosting.  The third tier is ooey-gooey chocolate with chocolate buttercream frosting.  All wrapped in fondant and decorated to match our fiesta theme.  Was it any good?  I made the ultimate sacrifice and ate (not tried, ate) a slice of each.  Which flavor was best?  That is a tough, if not impossible call.  I had to have a second slice of the sour cream almond just to confirm that all flavors are fabulous!  How lucky am I to have leftovers in the fridge!! A huge thank you to my friend that made the cake.

As party favors, I gave each family a jar of homemade strawberry jam.  For the kids, we gave addressed and stamped California postcards to send California love to the boys.  Hopefully this will create a fun summer pen pal program and help keep everyone in touch.

Thank you my friends.  You are not easy to leave.

 

My Daily Blog T-12 And So It Begins June 7, 2013

Filed under: Family — multihyphenatedme @ 11:30 am
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

It’s starting.

Yesterday, my 6th grader had to read a speech he had written about his elementary school experience in front of his class, as did all of his classmates, to select a student to read their commencement speech at 6th grade promotion next week.  I read the speech he had written, it was simple yet emotionally strong enough to make my eyes well up with tears.  No wonder then, that while he was standing in front of the class reading his speech, he stumbled when he read he would miss his friends.  He cried and couldn’t continue so his teacher finished reading his speech. We know this move is not easy on him but to have to publicly display his 12-year-old emotions is rough.

Today at a our son’s third grade class Reader’s Theatre production of Charlotte’s Web, I felt a wave of emotional finality at the elementary school.  I said my first “goodbye in case I don’t see you next week”. Goodbyes are going to happen, the countdown is getting close to single digits, goodbyes are inevitable.  I just wasn’t ready at 9 AM.  I need time to prepare.  I need time to brace myself.  I need to bring tissues!

We have been at our elementary school for 6 years.   We have made many great friends. Five families are  hosting a going away party for us tonight.  Their thoughtfulness, kindness, and generosity humble me completely.  Everyone’s excited except no one wants the party to happen to have to say goodbye…except our youngest who just wants to go swimming and eat tacos.  He’s ready to party.  This is our last big event, our last get-together.

In our virtual world, goodbyes aren’t as forever and final as they once were due to limitations with high-priced long distance calls and the chore of writing a letter.  Goodbyes are not any easier though.  My son may play virtual FIFA Soccer video games with his OC friends, but won’t play on the same real soccer team.  I can email and text my friends but I won’t volunteer with them, see them regularly or just hang out.  Virtual and real living are not the same.  Living in Spokane will not be the same as living in OC, nor do we want it to be.  We want change and the price tag for change is that our lives won’t be the same. With friends, that’s difficult and emotional.

Don’t forget the tissues, there will be plenty of tears.

 

My Daily Blog T-13 Act of Kindness June 6, 2013

Filed under: Life — multihyphenatedme @ 8:28 am
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Yesterday, in response to tweeting my blog post T-14, I received a tweet reply from a local Spokane guy that describes himself as an “Aspiring Coffee Geek – Hashtag Enthusiast – Photobomb Artist – I’m taller than I look in my bio photo! What do I really do? …”.  Turns out he’s a well-connected New Media Marketing Strategist (whatever that is) that is kind enough to reach out and connect me with other Spokane tweeps. YES!

After connecting with a few people, I told my husband that I’m already making friends in Spokane. He gave me a raised eyebrow look so I told him of my twitter action.  My husband is not a fan of social media as he believes it to be a total time suck.  Keep in mind he doesn’t do in person “social” much, he has his core group of friends but social only happens when he has to, thanks to his chatty well-connected wife.  He is completely capable, a very nice man, intelligent with big ideas and lots to say with no tolerance for small talk and inability for remembering anyone’s name. I, on the other hand, my husband quickly reminds me after I tell my story, am a freak magnet. Maybe just a people magnet with a strong pull toward the bizarre. In all fairness, I repel people too typically because I overwhelm them but that’s a discussion for another blog post. My husband goes back to whatever he was doing with the advice to proceed with caution.

He knows better.  Caution and I are not the best of friends.  Jumping in with both feet is more my style. It is Twitter, 140 characters or less, I’m safe, jump.  I conversed with Mr. Spokane a bit and followed all the Spokane people and joined the Spokane groups he recommended.  It took all of ten minutes.

A simple act of kindness, a short tweet exchange was just so NICE.  I tried to remember the last random act of kindness I had given or done for someone. I can honestly report that while in moving mode, it hasn’t been recently.  Note to self:  get back on track with giving.

@DoyleWheeler, thank you for your act of kindness, for connecting me with Spokane and for reminding me the importance of reaching out and helping others.

Go out and give!

Follow me on Twitter @BethBakulich

 

My Daily Blog T-14 Zelda before Zelda June 5, 2013

Filed under: Books — multihyphenatedme @ 8:32 am
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

My husband once told me that my outfit made me look like Zelda.  Who is Zelda?  I had no idea what who he was referring to so I consulted my good friends on the internet. Turns out that The Adventures of Zelda is a Nintendo action, adventure and puzzle solving game.  Who knew? Princess Zelda is this elfin person that wears white and pink robes and a crown.  Definitely not the outfit I was sporting the day I earned the Zelda comment.  Turns out, a main protagonist in The Adventures of Zelda is Link, a character that wears belted green tunic, leggings and boots, similar to the belted sweater, tights and boots I wore that day. Apparently my husband doesn’t know the game either.  The Links (there are multiple of similarly dressed characters with the same name) have cool titles “Hero of Time” and “Hero Chosen By the Gods” to name two.   I was dressed like some clone characters, possibly a hero of some sort, but not her royal highness Princess Zelda.

While waiting with my daughter at the oral surgeon yesterday, she asked what book I brought to read while she was knocked out. I said, “Zelda”.  “Oh,” she said, “a book about the video game”?  What is it with this game? I went on to tell her that the book is titled Z: the novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler.  The Zelda before Zelda. Having both seen the 2103 movie adaptation of The Great Gatsby recently and having both read the book as part of her high school reading list, she was well versed in F. Scott Fitzgerald. We touched briefly on his wife, Zelda, before my daughter was called back to have her wisdom teeth removed.

Seventeen chapters still wait to be read in Z.  I am completely engrossed in this book.  I love the Jazz Age, the roaring 20’s in both America and in Europe and the commingling of incredible artists.  Does this happen today?  The Fitzgerald’s lives were wild and reckless and make for fantastic reading! Z also delves into or touches on the lives of other writers and artists like Hemingway and Picasso. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain is about Hemingway’s first wife Hadley Richardson.  I enjoyed this book and find myself drawn into the relationships between the Hemingways and the Fitzgeralds. Woody Allen’s movie Midnight in Paris depicts the relationships as well.  Zelda makes a meaningful appearance in the movie, in true form.

Of the 36 chapters read, Zelda is a young woman trying to find herself and develop her talents.  Dancing, painting and writing are explored as she grows in the book. I strive for personal growth and appreciate Zelda’s efforts.  I paint.  I write.  Just the other day, I thought I’d start taking dance classes to change-up my workouts (and lack thereof).

Both Zelda’s seem fun. Whether your hobby is video games or reading or watching movies, I recommend checking out the Zelda’s.

Did you know that The Great Gatsby is only 50,000 words?  Only.  This post is 512 words.  I’m on my way.