doughtily /adv./ courageously and resolutely; steadfastly. valiantly. bravely and heroically. stoutheartedly. boldly. intrepidly. pluckily.
doughtily /adv./ 1. This week's word almost seems unlikely to live up to its definition. You don't expect a word with the beginnings of "doubt" to end up brave and bold and valiant. Against the odds, as it were. Perhaps this is why I like it. The dark horse of courageous and plucky adverbs. I spent too much of the week crying (clearly), but I am doughtily persevering and mothering and wife-ing all in the ugly face of the fallen world and the dangers it holds for me and the ones I love.
doughtily /adv./ 2. I have been touched and sobered this week by the story of Nie Nie and her Mr. Nielson and all those who are doughtily rushing to their aid. Though I do not know them personally, I have spent most of my mornings this week sobbing in the shower for the way their lives have been so changed, and praying doughtily for their care. I have observed and admired their family doughtily doing whatever needs doing, and watched the blogging world doughtily rallying to do what they can (each in their own way) to raise funds for this family. And because of their tender story, I've also vowed (again and once-and-for-all) to love the life I've been given, hold my darlings tighter and my grudges less, and to find joy in the simple yet extraordinary miracle of everyday life.
doughtily /adv./ 3. We doughtily made our way through the third week of school this week, especially courageous since the adrenalin of the new school year has worn off and the exhaustion of routine and scheduling has finally caught up with me. I went to curriculum night for the youngest three on two different nights, and took home armfuls of rules and calendars and unit plans and report card templates and expectations, and the stomach ache I haven't felt since May returned with a vengeance. When Ethan's preschool teacher told us that she was going to divide the kids into two reading groups according to the level they were at, I thought I'd had quite enough and seriously considered pulling him out in defense of his childhood.
doughtily /adv./ 4. I met my very good friend, Merri, for breakfast at the Farmhouse on Wednesday morning and enjoyed one of the best hours of my week over an omelet and orange juice. We doughtily made a secret pact that has already blessed my life (though I haven't kept it perfectly, I'll admit that straight out)...and we have plans to meet for breakfast in a month to make another one. We tried to take a self-portrait afterwards (to mark the occasion) but there was no memory card in my camera, which is too bad since we both looked darling.
doughtily /adv./ 5. I told David that if I was going to continue to doughtily mother our gorgeous children through this school year, I was going to need more alone time with him. This keeps me going better than anything else. So we met for lunch on Friday which was delightful (even though most of the conversation was political) and then we went out on a real live date on Saturday night...a stop by the Mac counter and then to a movie. David said the movie (a foreign film, French with English subtitles) had too much nudity, violence and swearing for me to be able to recommend it to anyone, but I did really love it. So don't go see it, even though it was quite fabulous.
