"Holy Sex, Batman!"

Now that I've got your attention, that's the title of a chapter in Gregory Popcak's book on marriage, For Better... Forever! (Great book. We just finished reading it.) Here are some choice excerpts:

For the Christian, sex is always holy, sacramental, unitive, and procreative. If it isn't, then it isn't sex. It's eroticism.... [I]ts hallmark is that it values your personal pleasure over either the dignity of the person, the dignity of the act, or both. ...[It] turns lovemaking into an act that is more about meeting your own needs than about giving yourself to your mate. ...Further, contraceptive practices of eroticism reduce lovemaking to sexual bulimia in which all the pleasurable sensations of sex are sought while any real spiritual or physical effect is disallowed. ...Eroticism is to real sex what dumpster diving is to dinner at your favorite four-star restaurant. Sure, you could do either, but why in God's name would you want to?

I've thought before about the eroticism-eating disorder link. If you ask the average person what the purpose of eating is, they would most likely respond "nourishment." If they responded "pleasure, since I'm going to vomit it all up afterwards anyway," you would most likely feel disgust and pity and ask them if they've sought counseling for their disorder yet. But if you ask the average person what the purpose of sex is, how many would respond "unity with one's spouse" or "babymaking"? Are you not more likely these days to hear "pleasure"? Sure, we get pleasure out of eating, but it's more satisfying when you know the food you're eating is nourishing your body well. In same way, some get pleasure out of eroticism, but they won't be really satisfied unless the act nourishes their souls.

This book is really great. It's really opened our eyes and given us some great tools for how to make our marriage better. We highly, highly recommend it.

The weather outside is frightful...

but the fire is sooo de-lightfullll...
(or would be if we had any firewood)

and since we've no place to go,

(except romping)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

(preferably for another 36 hours so Mr. Pickles can stay home Tuesday, too) :)

I feel like I'm living in an Ansel Adams photograph.

our dogwood out front

This is the only time of year when I think red painted fences look beautiful. When the rest of the world is black and white, the color is striking.

Recipe for Happiness II

Mix in a big mug:

2 Tbsp. unsweetened cocoa powder (we've currently got Hershey's, but Ghirardelli is the best)
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 c. hot milk
1/2 tsp. peppermint extract

Stir, drink, and be transported to a happy place.

Sadly, I have to wait 41 days, 3 hours and 2 minutes until I can enjoy this again.

Oooohhh... shineyyy... 2

My wish has been granted!

Calphalon stainless steel, aluminum core, with non-stick frying pans, and glass covers. I never thought such a combination in one box would exist, so I was very excited to find this! I now have nicer pots than my children do.

Action shot, taken by Miriam, of me trying to fit them all in our itty-bitty pot cupboard.

Another action shot by Miriam of the resident two-year-old being cute. She's ready for both Mardi Gras AND St. Patrick's Day!

Out of the Mouth of Miriam

Miriam is much given to monologues and story-telling these days. This was recited to me the other day at lunchtime:

"When I'm a mommy, I'm going to have a wife -- no, a wuvvey named '[Mr. Pickles]' too. And when I'm a mommy I'm going to come visit you on Saturday, and stay for ten days and nine nights. And I'm going to put my babies to bed, and then I'm going to make a grocery list because we need to go to the grocery shopping because we're ALL out of FOOD! We were out of cereal, and raisins, and sweet rolls, and pie, and chips, and sals, and that's all I can say or I'll be all out of breathing!"

The Mystery of the Disappearing Katie

Katie did not want to take a nap today. After an hour-long, off-and-on struggle I finally closed the door and gave myself a time-out (on the computer). There's a child-proof door lock on the inside, so she's trapped. (Miriam can open it, but Katie hasn't figured it out yet, thank heaven.) I just went to check on her, and found this:

Where did she go?

Well, notice that lump behind the head of the bed?

I guess her bed was too uncomfortable, and sleeping on the floor, with baby doll blankets, was much better.

Or else she just wanted to spite me by going to sleep as I told her, but not in the place where I told her.

Ohhh, we're going to have lots of fun with this one in about 12 years.

Masterpieces from the Resident Artist

Miriam's been on a drawing & coloring spree lately.

Just so you know, the rhino lifting weights is a girl.

I love this portrait of the sisters. I think I'm going to keep it forever.

You really have to enlarge this one to appreciate the bathtub crayon art in its full glory. At the top it says (according to Miriam) "Miriam loves Katie." Beneath that, in the middle, is an elephant, with accompanying e's. In the bottom right corner is a fully decorated Christmas tree. And on the edge of the tub are two smiley faces. Mr. Pickles drew frowny eyebrows on one to mock Miriam while she was throwing a tantrum, but she didn't appreciate his artistic commentary and wiped them off.

Truly, the blood of Great-grandma Margaret flows in her veins.

A Dining Experience

We don't often go out to really nice restaurants. Whenever we go out to restaurants, it's typically as a family. When our family goes out we typically have three requirements for a restaurant: 1.) relatively inexpensive (or good coupons), 2.) must be in and out in 1 hour or less, 3.) they give out crayons.

For a date night, I'm reluctant to take my wife to a Five Guys--great as their burgers might be--but we often go to restaurants that are nearby either the movie theatre or else our home. This habit usually means that we don't get to visit a lot of the really good restaurants near Old Town Alexandria. For example, there are Bilbo Baggins, The Wharf, or Union Street Pub to name a few. The last time we went out for a really nice dinner was for our 5th anniversary, and that was a dinner boat cruise on the Potomac with dinner and dancing. This last date night was in January, and January was a tough month for us. So I wanted to take my dear wife somewhere new and exciting.

We've lived in this area about 8 years, and we've taken multiple strolls along the Alexandria waterfront. Along the shore is a restaurant with great views of the waterfront. Everytime we pass that restaurant I proclaim that I'd love to try that restaurant some day. Mrs. Pickles simply sighs and says, "Yeah."

The name of the restaurant is Chart House. Mrs. Pickles had probably given up hope of ever going there, because I had so often talked about wanting to go there but never took any action. As further evidence to confirm my belief, we walked up to the restaurant and she said, "Ooo! Ooo! Are we actually going to go there?!?"

This place was certainly worth the wait. It was a very classy restaurant. The restaurant manager greets you, seats you, and places a napkin in your lap. The waitress goes over the menu, makes wine recommendations, discusses any part of your meal and its preparation at your request. After ordering, the waitress runs off and brings back your first course, and you never hear from her again unless she sees a need or else brings your next course. There was never a moment of pressure to eat more quickly so that the table would open up for another patron. In total, we spent 2 hours dining there, and the waitress was always polite and happy to serve. Each time, before serving the next course, she would also wipe all of the crumbs off of the table. My daughters do this too, but the crumbs typically land all over the floor and chair. Needless to say, the waitress was much more careful with the crumbs.

They really try to create a dining experience, and they did a fantastic job. (If you saw how much food they served then you'd know that the purpose is not to eat all of the food in front of you.) I imagine that 200-300 years ago royalty was treated in a comparable manner. The only thing missing was a jester. I highly recommend this restaurant. As I said from the outset, I wanted to take Mrs. Pickles someplace new and exciting, and this place certainly fit the bill. Speaking of the bill, the price was steep (but well worth it). How much, you ask. It's my rule that the lady never knows how much the dinner cost on a date. Let's just say that the appetizers start around $10, and if you ask the host how much the average meal costs, believe him!

Five Things You May or May Not Know About Us

This post is for Dave, Pinky, Theresa, Joe, Mom B, Suzanne, and Michelle only. Everyone else has to skip it, unless they go here and comment first. Go ahead, we'll wait.....

Okay, finally, as promised, stuff you may not know about Mrs. Pickles. (By "us" above I mean the royal us, since I doubt Mr. Pickles has the time to waste on silly memes like this.) :)

1. I'm farsighted in my right eye and nearsighted in my left. Even though I can function around the house w/o wearing glasses, I can't drive (or pour liquids). No depth perception. ("Hm, how far away is that oncoming car? I think I can make the turn... aw, shucks.")

2. I spent the night (notice I didn't say "slept") in the train station in Munich, Germany during Oktoberfest, along with many others of the unwashed masses (because, of course, all the youth hostels had been booked for months for that weekend). Fortunately I was traveling with a group of friends, one of whom wore all black and carried a knife worthy of Crocodile Dundee.

3. After hming and hawing for years, I finally read (more like "devoured") all the Harry Potter books in a matter of 14 days, stretched out over a 6-week period (I had to limit myself to one a week so the house wouldn't fall apart and my family wouldn't starve). Can you guess how excited I am that Book 7 is coming out during my birth month????????? (Never mind the fact that it's also J.K. Rowling's -- and Harry's -- birth month.)

4. My absolute favorite check-out aisle junk food purchase is the Take 5 candy bar. Heaven on earth!

5. Once I tried to teach myself elvish calligraphy. I even made flash cards.

My Valentine's Got Class

Tulips (get it? tu-lips) and Ghirardelli. What more could a girl want?