Nov. 11: I’m quite excited to report that my dear brother Michael has secured employment. Since Excel Inns was purchased and the home office closed in April, Michael has been on the job hunt. He called me today sounding rather elated and told me that he had gotten a job offer from Lands End. He’ll be commuting down to Dodgeville for work. I don’t know exactly what he’ll be doing, but I’m sure it has something to do with making computers work correctly:)
Yay Bubs!
Clumsy
Nov. 7: Andrew is at preschool and Sylvia is blessedly napping, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to share a personally deprecating story.
Last night I had hooked up my laptop to my external hard drive to work on some old photos. Forgetting that it was plugged in (with a very short cord), I stood up with the laptop and began walking. The cord quickly stopped me. The laptop flew from my hands, smashed into my shin, and hit the ground. Fortunately, the laptop and the external hard drive both came away unscathed. I wasn’t quite so lucky.
I got a gash on my leg that quickly started swelling up like a goose egg. I was nearly in tears (OK, I was in tears), and Bryan couldn’t figure out what had happened. “From the laptop?” he questioned. I was moaning in pain and hobbling around to check to make sure the computer was alright, and Bryan was sort of questioning my fortitude. “I don’t need your pity,” I said, “but I could do without the demeaning comments.” (Note: Bryan is one of the kindest, most loving people I know. And I tend to be pretty tough. The fact that I was moaning over a bump with my laptop did seem a little absurd.)
Well, when he got a look at my leg, he ran to get me ice, helped me elevate my leg, and held the ice on it. That was about the time that shock set in.
I kid you not, my teeth were chattering, and I had a couple blankets on. I couldn’t stop laughing because the whole thing was so ridiculous. I imagined going into the emergency room and trying to explain that, no, I hadn’t walloped myself with a crowbar. Somehow I had kicked a falling laptop with my shin.
After an hour, it felt better, so we went to bed with my leg elevated on pillows. It feels fine this morning. Looks kinda nasty, but at least it’s winter now, so no one needs to see my legs.
I’m happy to find that my laptop is in fully functioning order. Just one of those crazy things.
Getting at the heart of the matter
Nov. 6: Heather sent me the following quote. I find it to be so true, that upon reading it for the sixth time, I’m crying. I think this puts into words a little of the philosophy that guides my life. It’s how Mom taught us to look at life, and it’s so central to my approach to being a mother.
The things that matter most in our lives are not fantastic or grand.
They are moments when we touch one another, when we are there in the most attentive or caring way. This simple and profound intimacy is the love that we all long for. These moments of touching and being touched can become a foundation for a path with heart, and they take place in the most immediate and direct way. Mother Teresa put it like this: “In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love.”
– Jack Kornfield from A Path with Heart; excerpted in Love and Gratitude
Dirt eater
Nov. 4: I know this is going to deeply call into question my standards and parenting morals, but I couldn’t resist sharing this clip of Sylvia.
I can just hear her in 10 years:
“Mother, I CANNOT believe that you let me eat dirt.”
“I cannot believe that you took pictures of me eating dirt instead of stopping me as any sane mother would do.”
“I cannot believe that you published photos and VIDEO of me eating dirt to the internet for all the world to see.”
“If I run for elected office in 20 years, you just know that this is going to surface and incite a scandal.”
Me:
“Aaawww, but Sylvie, just looks at what a cute dirt eater you were!”
A mama’s gotta share all that good baby-dirt-mouth love!
Besides, maybe your affinity for dirt keeps you healthy!
http://medjournalwatch.blogspot.com/2007/05/dirt-is-good-for-your-child.html
Voted!
Nov. 4: I am so excited that election day is here! I find myself feeling very hopeful that for both state and national politics, a new, more reasonable era is approaching. For the sake of my kids, I certainly hope so! I took Andrew and Sylvia to the polling booth this afternoon. Andrew was super sleepy, so he requested a ride in the Ergo, and I carried Sylvia. They can both say they were right there while I helped make history:) Sylvia nearly pulled an extension cord out of the wall…glad we didn’t nearly cause major voting problems! There was no one in line (and in fact no one but me voting) when I went in at 2pm. And now? Now my house is insanely quiet. For the first time in AGES, both kids are sleeping during the day. It’s been nearly a half hour. BLISS!
I’m shopping for Christmas cards:) Check these beautiful cards out! Were I rich, I would do something like this.
Upadate: Before hitting send, Sylvia woke up. She’s now crying in her crib. Why so much not sleeping, dear Sylvie???
A poem for today
Just
by Alan Shapiro
after the downpour, in the early evening,
late sunlight glinting off the raindrops sliding
down the broad backs of the redbud leaves
beside the porch, beyond the railing, each leaf
bending and springing back and bending again
beneath the dripping,
between existences,
ecstatic, the souls grow mischievous, they break ranks,
swerve from the rigid V’s of their migration,
their iron destinies, down to the leaves
they flutter in among, rising and settling,
bodiless, but pretending to have bodies,
their weightlessness more weightless for the ruse,
their freedom freer, their as-ifs nearly not,
until the night falls like an order and
they rise on one vast wing that darkens down
the endless flyways into other bodies.
Nothing will make you less afraid.
Anne sent me this poem on Mom’s birthday this year, and I just ran across it in a mad attempt to organize my gmail inbox. I’ve really enjoyed watching the geese fly low over our home recently. Always makes me think of my mom.
The things he says!
Nov. 2: Behold! A new installment of the cute things that Andrew says. I’ve got a couple notebooks where I jot these things down, and the time has come to share them. This boy… He’s something else. And so sweet and snuggly. I really love him. So now without further ado..
Andrew: “Mommy, guess what!! (as he runs down the hall, leaping into the air like a gleeful leprechaun)
Mom “What is it, Andrew?”
Andrew: (as he pulls his pants up to his knees). “I’m getting hair on my legs!! I’m getting to be a big daddy!”
After preschool, Andrew flew from the playground and gave Aunt Melanie a leaping-hug…
Andrew: I missed you for five days while I was at preschool! I can’t even BELIEVE it!
(and later, throughout Aunt Mel’s visit)
Andrew: “I love you so much, I can’t even BELIEVE it!”
or
Andrew: “You’re the SWEETEST Aunt Mel in the whole world.”
As we are driving in the car, Andrew channeled the book “Guess How Much I Love You”
Andrew: “I like you to the sun. I like you as much as the bushes! I like you as high as the pavement!”
After giving him a cup of yummy cider
Andrew: “Thanks for giving me some apple cider, Mommy. Dat was just what I wanted.”
While folding laundry on my bed
Mom: “Andrew-man, please don’t hop on the bed.”
Andrew: (while bouncing up and down) “I’m not hopping, Mom. I’m jumping!”
While we were at the Windsor Cemetery visiting my mom’s grave one beautiful fall afternoon
Andrew: “Grandma Margot died. She’s buried in there (pointing at the ground). (pause) I wish she were here. I miss Grandma Margot.
(pause) I bet Grandpa misses her.”
and later
Andrew: “I wish Grandma Margot didn’t die.”
While driving, Andrew is coo-ing and goo-ing and being silly with Sylvia…
Andrew: “Mommy, I like you. I like Sylvia too. (pause) I like Sylvie better than you.”
Mom: “I’m glad you like your sister so much.”
Andrew: “I love her. She’s so SWEET!”
Finally, not something Andrew said, but a snippet of a conversation I had with Jessica that really cracked me up. I think it demonstrates how even boys who love their little sisters can be too aggressive sometimes. And how much it can help to have a friend to talk (and then laugh) about it!
Me: “Andrew bit Sylvia today. Hard. He left teeth marks.”
Jessica: “Ouch! What did you do about that? (pause) I ask because Eli hit Celia over the head with a fire truck.”
These kids are just too much!
Visiting Mum
Nov. 2: On Tuesday, Andrew, Sylvia, and I drove down to Janesville to visit Mum. We had a nice time together. She really enjoyed seeing the kiddos, and she seemed rather overjoyed that I’d come. I think she’s feeling pretty lonely. Hard to believe that she’ll be 90 years old this winter!
Here’s a video I took of her during our visit. Andrew was not interested in participating:)
Splish splash
Nov. 2: Sylvia loves, loves LOVES taking a bath. She laughs, she splashes, she delights in all the water. Amazingly (as compared to her brother), she even thinks that having a cup of water dumped over her head is great fun. She blows bubbles all on her own (she came up with the idea herself), and even when she slips and gets a face full of water she doesn’t seem that perturbed. It’s so fun to watch her take a bath!
If you need a little happy therapy, come on over for Sylvie’s bath time!
Visiting Mum with the kids
Nov. 1: On Tuesday last week, I took Sylvia and Andrew to Janesville to visit Mum. She’d called me a few times recently – sounding pretty lonely – and she really seemed to appreciate our visit. She marveled at Sylvie and Andrew, and she was in pretty good shape during our visit. Hard to believe she’s going to be 90 years old in a few months! Pictures are in the gallery.