Monday, December 31, 2018

Happy new year, dear ones

photo of Snapper by my old friend Ben Marks
I hope you've had a wonderful December. I happen to know that 79 of you bought the board game Azul, and that makes me so happy because a) we got it too, and it is one of the most fun, lovely, and deceptively simple-seeming games we've ever played, and b) we raised a bank-bucket of money on amazon. (FWIW, 134 of you bought the game Animal Upon Animal, and that made me so happy too.) I'm checking in just to share this great news:



And to say thank you. I am so in love with this community we've sustained for all these many, many years.  xo

P.S. If you have any time for books and want to totally nerd out on your familiarity with Greek epic poetry refracted through your bad crone self, please read Circe. I just finished it and it was pure witchtastic pleasure. Oh, and I had something up at the divine Cup of Jo this month. It's here. And more recipes at diaTribe here! And go see the movie Roma. xo

12 comments:

  1. Happy New Year! <3 <3 <3

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  2. Allyson7:35 PM

    My brother-in-law and his husband gave me Song of Achilles and Circe this Christmas! One of my resolutions for 2019 is to read more books (especially novels) and less social media in general, so this fits in well. (Your blog is an exception to the social media diet, of course.)

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  3. Allyson8:03 PM

    Also, the Rules for Raising Teenage Boys made laugh and cry, which seems to be my standard response to your writing, including your recipes. Happy New Year, Catherine! May we see more badass women, more humor, more strength and kindness, and less bullshit from old, white men in 2019.

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  4. That paint chip calendar was happily received by my very cool, Philly dwelling, artsy nephew, from his old-fart Aunt...me!! Now we make the post New Year PB cups. May we all have a more progressive 2019!

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  5. Honest to God, Catherine...My plan was just to sneak off to the bathroom and lock myself in for a quick “break” while my kids are fighting about whose turn it is to do the dishes, then I followed the link to your Cup of Jo article, and now I’m a weepy mess. Only you can help me to recall the beauty and sacred in the mundane. Back to the trenches I go with a bit more patience and Mama wisdom. XOXO

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  6. Kelly7:33 PM

    Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without some gifts from the Ben & Birdy list. :) This year we added Juxtabo and Anomia party edition. Immediate favorites. Along with the felt markers, Atlas Obscura and Emily Wilson's translation of the Odyssey.

    The annual baking of your tortilla eggbake was not to be as the stomach bug made a visit the night before, the night before Christmas followed by colds. So crackers, popsicles and gingerale instead while we played new games and read new books; it was a quiet, extended pajama-wearing sort of Christmas. Memories of your article on emetophobia and the old blog post eternal coughing of the spotless lung sustained me. :)

    I read the article in Cup of Jo first to myself and then to my 17 year old son. His comment was that you had nailed this whole parenting thing and he thought your article was perfect. Yes to it all he said. He was totally impressed and thankful for my reading your writing all these years. :)

    Thank you, thank you for all these years of sharing your family and holiday ideas with us. Please do keep sharing!

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  7. Oh Catherine. That article on a cup of jo.... I may have ruined my keyboard sitting here crying....

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  8. Happy New Year to you and yours! I just read your article on Cup of Jo and am, like everyone else, weepy and laughing and grateful for you. (As ever.) I am also repeating. "I'm so glad you told me/how can I help" as a mantra, in hopes that I'll remember it instead of jumping in to problem-solve or give my darn opinion when my 8.5 year old starts talking about her complicated friends/school/life.

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  9. miryboo5:33 PM

    Just made the cauliflower and mac dish- so incredibly good! My kids devoured it too. Thank you!

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  10. The Cup of Jo article has me sniffling into my teacup, as winter break draws to a close and I prepare to send my own new-college-kid back to his dorm. It's been so lovely just setting the table for four again, not feeling that little sting when I forgot and *accidentally* counted out too many plates - for five weeks, we've been a full complement. But the hardest part is knowing how much his brother (Birdy's age) will feel it when he's gone. I cherish their closeness, the way they settle back into their relationship like your favorite chair...but it's pretty empty when he's gone.

    Wait. No.

    The hardest part is watching that one, on his inevitable path to following his big brother. It's bittersweet, for sure.

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  11. Totally randomly (okay, maybe because I'm missing my teen's baby years) I clicked a neglected bookmark in my favorites folder called "Ben and Birdy index" of your baby center posts....and....they're gone. Ugh, gut punch. Are they archived anywhere else or did they disappear forever? I actually have tears in my eyes over here.

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  12. I just went looking for your breakfast burrito instructions & reread that post--OMG, that's EXACTLY where my almost-16 son Ben is. He is so judgy and cruel, the other day I was called a horrible human being and a BAD SEED!!! Your Ben came out the other side, right? I'm making the burritos this weekend, so that there'll be some food in the house, though I know it will always be the WRONG food. sigh.

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