Category: General News

Nov. 24: We woke up to a beautifully snowy neighborhood.  Each twig on each branch of each tree is etched in snow.  It’s beautiful.
It was nice to wake up to a beautiful sight, because last night was not a good one.  Sylvia spiked a fever last night after she went to bed, and she was up (I think) every 45 minutes or so all night long.  Bryan did some long stretches with her, we brought her into bed with us, and in general, we tried to do everything we could to ease her pain.  Poor girl.  I think this may be teething related, but we’ll see.  If she recovers by the end of the day, we’ll chock it up to one of the two teeth that are coming through.  Otherwise, we may have a sicky girl on our hands.  Andrew was blowing his nose this morning too…

Also, Andrew has something he wanted to add:
“Daddy, it snowed.  Daddy, are you thinking that you see snow at your work?  Yes.  I do.  Daddy, I like you.  Daddy, Andrew, Mommy.”

Nov. 23: I’ve been going to Curves gym now for about a month, and it’s going really well.  I’ve been going three or four days each week at 6am, and I’m home by 7am.  The work-out gets my heart-rate up, and it gives me a lot of energy, but I have yet to feel sore or do much sweating.  [That’s in serious contrast to my time at Monkey Bar gym which I loved, but which leaves you unable to climb stairs, lift a coffee cup to your mouth, or get up from a chair while you’re getting started!]
Here are my favorite things about going to the gym:

1. Listening to NPR in the car.  I can never listen to the radio.  I get almost no news.  But now I’m getting about 15 minutes of Morning Edition and I feel more keyed into world happenings.
2. Being on my own for 50 minutes each day.  As I’m doing my circuit at Curves, I don’t have to worry about anyone else’s needs.  And no one is going to cry for me, so I can let the part of my being that responds to my children take a breather for an hour.  It’s pure bliss.
3. Coming home to my snuggly family.  Often when I get home, Bryan and both kids are in the bed.  And it’s dark.  And they’re all so cozy!  I can crawl back into bed and have Andrew wrap himself around me in his sweet, warm sleepiness and say, “How was the gym, Mom?”  and then “Do you remember any of the dreams you had last night?”  Sylvia is all smiles and gurgles and morning mama love.  And I’m awake enough to appreciate it all.  It’s good.
4. More energy.  I’ve noticed that on days I go to the gym I can go, go, go more easily than on days I don’t.  I still don’t totally understand how by getting up an hour earlier and exercising I end up with more energy, but I do.  So that’s a good thing
5. Getting fit?  A sub-goal of this whole endeavor.  I like taking action to bring a little tone back to this mama-bod.

So far, I’m really happy with my membership with Curves.  Hoping it continues to be a fun thing to do!

Nov. 21:  It is so interesting to start to get a real sense for Sylvia’s growing temperament.  I’m very hesitant in general to put labels on people because I think it can be limiting.  I don’t want to pigeon-hole my kids, and I don’t want to come to any conclusions about their temperament that could change the way I interact with them and inadvertently push them into some kind of mold.  That said, I spend a lot of time thinking about their growing personalities, and I think I can safely make some statements about the way they are today.  Not to say that it won’t change next week, but some things about those two are very true for them right now.

For example:

The other night when Terry, Tom, my dad, Michael, and Lisa came over for supper, we were talking about Andrew.  Terry said that if he had to describe him in two words it would be strong-willed and meticulous.  Other words that I can think of for him are organized, imaginative, self-assured, bouncy, focused, contemplative, kind, determined, mellow, and loving.  (By the way, if anyone ever wants to play “Describe your child,” I’m in!  I’ve discovered that I love hearing other people think about my kids in this way!!  Add your own thoughts to the comments here if you’d like to join in right now:)

Sylvia is a very different little person.  For example, I would not describe her as mellow.  Spirited seems more up her alley.  And joyful.  Energetic, spunky, engaging.  She’s got some fierceness in her that she expresses by loving things intensely or being extremely displeased when things don’t go her way.  And while Andrew can certainly be strong-willed at times, I’d give that adjective more to Sylvia.  She has a lot of wonder…it’s so nice to watch her sit in the yard and stare at the trees and plants for hours.  She is strongly tuned-in to the people around her.  And she loves faces.  Would that be described as personable?  The other night, Lisa described Sylvie as spontaneous and spirited. I’d add boisterous to her list.

And I’d go on, but she just woke up from her nap!  Coming, my little free-spirit! 

Nov. 21: Sylvia isn’t taking her afternoon nap.  I can’t convince her.  After trying to get her down for a half hour, she was quiet for about 10 minutes, so I started a post about sleep.  Then she started crying, so I went in again to try to quiet her.  The girl was practically bouncing up and down.  Resigned to the idea of no afternoon nap (which means that in a couple hours things are going to be pretty unhappy around here), I came out to see that Andrew had closed all the windows on my computer.  Post gone.
Not only that, but I’m feeling slightly less than friendly toward my little man because he threw an all-out tantrum as our friends were leaving from a play-date this afternoon.  He wanted to watch a DVD.  He was climbing the walls and wailing as we were trying to say goodbye.   It wasn’t cool.  Not behavior I expect from a three-year-old Andrew.  So I’m feeling rather peeved by Andrew and baffled by Sylvia.  And I have no post on sleep except to say that I wish she would sleep more.  Maybe we can all just take a nice two-hour nap this afternoon.  Then we’d all be in a better mood!
Addition: After writing this, I discovered that the pack ‘n play that I had offered to loan to Heather for the week is still up in St. Paul at Maretta’s house.  I realized this as her dad was on his way over to pick it up!  Fortunately, my friend Pam had an extra one at her house.  So around 3:30, I packed both my grouchy kids and my grouchy self into the car.  We drove to Pam’s house – Sylvia fell asleep. We drove to Heather’s house – Andrew fell asleep.  I drove through the country watching the geese fly low in formation as the sun set in a sherbet of color while listening to NPR.  Sleep for the little ones and a little restoration for me.  Turned out to be a pretty good afternoon.  I think it was a good thing that I had to do the pack ‘n play shuffle:)

Nov. 11:  To celebrate Sylvia’s 9-month birthday, she and I took a train ride from St. Paul home.  Now she’s done something before her brother – a train trip!  She was a rather noisy girl, shrieking regularly whether happy or sad, and I was fretting about waking all our fellow passengers (many of whom had been on the train since Seattle).  After a bout of shrieking, I turned to a somewhat intimidating man seated across the aisle from me and I apologized for Sylvia’s volume.  “No problem,” he said.  This steel construction worker went on to tell me about how he and his wife had a very hard time having children.  When they finally did, he said, he learned to appreciate every sound the little ones make as a miracle – happy or sad.  He said she had a beautiful voice.
Well that certainly turned my morning around.  I’d been getting frustrated with the wee girl, but it was mostly because of worries about my fellow travelers.  Since he was so generous with his compassion, I looked around and saw that only one or two people didn’t have plainly sympathetic looks on their faces.  I ended up passing Sylvia over to a couple passengers who I don’t think I would have ever interacted with had we not shared a train car.  Sylvia loved getting to smile and goo at a new face, and her sweetness certainly brightened a few moments of their day.  Plus I got a few minutes off from walking with her…up and down and up and downandupanddown the train car.

I had a wonderful visit with Maretta, and a good two-day Alumni Adventures meeting at Carleton.  Maretta and I had fun on Saturday shopping around on Grand Avenue.  She watched Sylvie during my meetings in Northfield, and then I came back to her place on Monday night so I could catch the train on Tuesday.
I took the train because I sold my car (!!!) to Maretta’s friend.  Hooray!
OK, shrieking girl calls.

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!

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.

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

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???

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.