the wit and wisdom of ted

this was a hard year. the pandemic made it hard for the world. racial and political tensions made it hard for our country. and cancer made it hard for our family. but at the end of this crazy and exhausting year, ted lasso shined in like a ray of sunshine and i'll always be grateful for it.

the story of an american college football coach who ends up coaching professional soccer in southwest london, it is heartwarming and hilarious. but also heartbreaking at times. i didn't like the hard parts the first time through, but i've come to appreciate their importance.

while the show falls firmly in the comedy category, it is also full of poignant messages. the best of which, in my opinion, is ted's truth bomb from the final episode of season one:

"i promise you, there is something worse out there than being sad, and that is being alone and being sad. ain't nobody in this room alone."

a timely word for the year we've had.

there are a million other great quotes, and lines that made me laugh out loud, but i've narrowed it down to my ten favorites [which was no easy task]:

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beard: you wanna grab some breakfast?

ted: nah, i just had one piece of cereal and i'm pretty stuffed.

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rebecca: you're going to show up tomorrow with biscuits, aren't you?

ted: come on now. i would not bet on that. i mean, unless you wanna win a buttload of money.

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rebecca: so, how was your first official day?

ted: i'm not entirely sure what y'all's smallest unit of measurement is over here, buuut that's about how much headway i made.

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ted: you're gonna love this story. actually, did y'all get the oj trial over here?

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ted: see what i tell ya, huh? this woman right here is strong, confident, and powerful. boss, i tell ya, i'd hate to see you and michelle obama arm wrestle, but i wouldn't be able to take my eyes off it either.

rebecca: that's not a compliment i've had before.

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roy: agree to disagree. i find it hilarious. i thought it was funnier than step brothers.

ted: oooh, high praise.

roy: that scene where the bunk bed collapses? i used to think that was the funniest thing i'd ever seen, but then i just saw that, and now i'm gonna have to rethink my order of what i think is the funniest thing i've ever seen.

ted: yeah, that's where sports and art combine, as far as i'm concerned.

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ted: nate the great! he's gonna be my date! and for obvious reasons we'd love to be at table eight!

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sam: coach, is it true in america you guys have so many beautiful dogs in pounds that some get put down for no reason? 

ted: that is true, sam. but it's also something a lot of female singer-songwriters are trying to change.

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ted: all righty. see the milk sisters anywhere? you want me to skim the back room?

rebecca: don't make me regret this ted.

ted: don't worry, don't worry. i'm gonna be an udder gentleman, okay? hey, i wonder if they've ever seen the movie bridget jones's dairy? sorry, that's not my breast milk pun. i can do better.

rebecca: oh my gosh. this was a horrible idea. seriously, please go home.

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ted: i promised myself i was never gonna watch fresh prince again when they swapped out aunt viv's. but truth be told, as long as they let carlton do his thing, i was always gonna take a minute and just sit right there.

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life with jack

jack turned twenty months on this 20th day of october, so i declared it to be his mini golden birthday. to celebrate, we thought we'd document a few of the fun things we're loving about jack right now:

• he loves playing with balls...footballs, basketballs, any kind of ball. and he excitedly yells "ball ball!" anytime he sees one.

• whenever he spots the chiefs logo or a football game on tv [which happens a lot at our house] he puts his arms up and says "touchdoooown chieeeefs!"

• he has loads of hilarious faces and expressions: the sneaky, innocent look when he is trying to get something that's off limits; his big eyes when he runs across a room; the squinty eyes when he's copying daddy; the surprised face he makes just for fun; and the big, toothy grin when he sees a phone and says "cheeeese!"

• the awesome bouncy dance moves he breaks into almost every time he hears music.

• he's still an embarrassingly good sleeper and our quarantine rhythm has him sleeping in L. A. T. E. 

• the sing-song way he signs and says please, which sounds exactly like "peas." it's one of my favorite sounds. 

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that pandemic life

we've been living the pandemic life for about six months now, and while our pace of life is a little slower, in a lot of ways things aren't all that different from before. donald works at the hospital two or three nights a week, and jack and i spend most of our days hanging out at home. while we would certainly prefer to be going on adventures and spending more time with friends, overall being at home still feels pretty normal.

but there are many things we've become accustomed to over these past six months that are decidedly not normal. we wear masks everywhere we go and everywhere you look there are signs and floor stickers reminding us to stay six feet apart. grocery stores are well stocked again, but paying with cash isn't always an option due to a national coin shortage. we can't visit the library in person, so we reserve our books online and pick them up curbside. getting takeout food doesn't feel as risky as it once did, but actually eating inside of a restaurant is a rarity for us.

schools are a mixed bag. many districts have some form of in person learning, while others remain fully virtual. churches are able to hold services, and we've been a handful of times, but it isn't at all what we're used to. while there is some comfort in actually sitting in the sanctuary as opposed to watching online, and a welcome feeling of community with those we see on a sunday morning, things are very obviously not as they should be. the lights in the lobby are dim. there is no nursery or toddler room for jack to explore. there are many faces we don't get to see and our beloved lakeland lunches have been confined to zoom or the occasional socially distanced park visit.

there are stretches when we're at home for so many days in a row that i kind of forget how different everything is [except when all the pools were closed this summer...that i always remembered]. but there is no arguing that we are living in strange times. 

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the one where we were all in quarantine

these are certainly strange times. our little family was already adjusting to a temporary new normal as we were spending much of our time in st. louis helping my mom through chemo, and then everything changed. for a time the news was shifting significantly hour by hour. schools and universities were closing. professional and collegiate sports cancelled. the number of people permitted to gather in one place started dropping and didn't stop. it all happened so fast. 

we didn't know what we were getting into. no one did. i was especially nervous about my mom contracting covid with her weakened immune system. we didn't eat any outside food for two solid months, not even takeout. we wore masks to the grocery store, where we sometimes had to wait in line to get in. many shelves were empty and the toilet paper aisle was always bare. methodically wiping down each grocery item as it was unpacked was a chore. we went exactly nowhere else.

time had almost no meaning as the days blurred together, but there was still good. there were things that brought joy in the midst of so much uncertainty. these are some of those things:

• daily walks with jack [and in an ideal spot no less]

• lakeland lunch zooms

• lots of jigsaw puzzles

• jack's falling off the chair video

• lakeland's easter benediction

• donald playing with jack over facetime

• the parks & rec special

• mom's birthday parade

• the marco polo app

• colt clark & the quarantine kids

• a family size package of original chips ahoy cookies

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jack is one

[aka baby jack; jack jack; jack-o-jack; buddy] 

these are ten of the things we love about you:  

1. you are a champion sleeper [and we appreciate that very much]  

2. the way your face lights up when you smile  

3. when you laugh really hard and drop your head  

4. the way you play and explore  

5. you are generous with your smiles and good at making friends  

6. how excited you get when you see mom or dad  

7. the sound of your giggles  

8. those bright blue eyes that everyone loves to comment on  

9. you are an easygoing traveler  

10. when you lay your head on us and snuggle [it doesn't happen very often, but we LOVE when it does]

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anniversary number seven

on anniversary eve jack spent a few hours with grandma while we used donald's beloved amc film fanatic card to see just mercy and indulge in some sweet treats from hurts donuts.

on our actual anniversary we were heading to st. louis, so to keep with tradition we scouted a location for some road trippin' fried chicken. we ended up at lee's famous recipe chicken in columbia and were pleasantly surprised to find that their recipe is famous for good reason. we made it to my mom's house and after putting jack to bed we settled in for an evening of fighting the villains in harry potter hogwarts battle.

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