Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Cinderella goes to the ball after marriage and two children

When Cinderella's fairy godmother appeared, did she also give her a bath? Do her hair? 

I wonder because Saturday when the clock struck 10 p.m. I finally did get to go to the ball, thanks to my fairy godmother (i.e. a friend and visiting teacher who offered to watch my kids).

But before that happy moment, I spent a whole day with time running out.

When the clock struck 7, 8 and 9 a.m. I was making biscuits for breakfast, helping the two sweet baby sisters eat breakfast, and taking a shower, hoping to go snowshoeing.

When the clock struck 10 a.m. I felt weary, and just needed to sit down. Perhaps my lack of sleep, due to my nearly five-month-old was showing, because I felt a sort of exhausted sick. I ended up falling asleep and when I woke up I felt much better.

When the clock struck 12 p.m. We still needed to get too many things done to go snowshoeing, in order to prepare for the ball! I began sweeping the floors, then warmed up leftover soup for lunch and fed children.

When the clock struck 2 p.m. I somewhat grumpily attended a leadership meeting with my husband and my two children, hoping to go snowshoeing after.

When the clock struck 4 p.m. it was over and the greater vision I had for life more than compensated for the lost two hours, but it had taken long enough we postponed our snowshoeing.

When the clock struck 4:30 p.m. I was serving hotdogs for dinner and then was cleaning the bathroom.

When the clock struck 6 p.m. I told my handsome prince that I needed to stop cleaning and start getting ready. He was still washing dishes, putting away laundry and placating children. Shall we call him Rennderella? But, there's a reason princes don't need fairy godmothers in the old stories. It takes them like 30 minutes to get ready. To look extra nice that evening Renn did spend an extra 30 seconds putting some gel in his hair.


As the clock struck 7:30 p.m., I had finished pumping milk for my daughter, and was in my bedroom feeding my baby, half dressed, thinking I'd failed with my hair, and then my fairy godmother arrived. I told the prince to tell her I'd be right out and I was. She said I looked great. I told her my dress had come for the magical price of $1 from Keewanaw Consignment where they were clearing out the old stuff, priced just right for a graduate student budget. She took our picture and we were off to the Library Restaurant, a wonderful kind of place where they decorate with books and letters of the alphabet.


At the Library Restaurant, I took more pictures, enjoyed a dinner of salmon and Mediterranean salad (my husband and I always order two platters and then split each in half),





and attracted the attention of a boy at the neighboring table who seeing me with my camera and fancy gown, asked if I was a spy.










Then my husband and I went to the Snow Ball -- frequented by first year students -- and at first thought all everyone did was sit at the tables and talk.



But, when the jazz band started their tunes the couples came out and turned, swang and swayed.


Renn and I chatted with a retired couple who took a picture for us



and then danced part of a swing song and all of a slow song, before hurrying home to get our kids before the clock chimed 10:30 p.m. We were late by about five minutes. Fortunately, I brought boots and slipped them on to walk through the snow to the door as my glass slippers vanished into thin air.


2 comments:

Lara Neves said...

Fun! I'm glad you managed to make the time work out for you. :)

The Mediterranean salad and the salmon with sweet potato fries are my two favorite things to get at the Library! Good taste!

And you looked beautiful!

Unknown said...

I love the picture of you with the menu. It just looks so sophisticated! Glad you got to go out!!! I liked the story format too!




My wedding cake

My wedding cake
My sister, Christie, made my wedding cake -- all five layers of it. It was fondant, covered in fresh red roses and green ribbon. For a more modern look she chose to make a square cake.

Trip up the canyon

Trip up the canyon
OK, here's the truth, what Renn and I really look like when we wake up. After our first backpacking trip as a couple, Renn's hair looked like grass growing on his head and mine lay flat and matted as we walked out of the mountains.

Karen and Renn in Mexico

Karen and Renn in Mexico
This is us on our last day at the Hummingbird Inn in Maneadero, Mexico. It was a fun week of service with Engineers Without Borders. Renn and other USU engineering students helped put in drain fields at an orphanage, The Gabriel House, for children with severe disabilities. I helped dig some holes and wrote an article for the newspaper about the experience.