December musings

(This entry was actually posted on December 6, but Blogger won't let me update the date on the entry above. If that makes any difference to you whatsoever.)

Below are musings and photos, in no particular order:

1. Connectedness. Ah it's nice to be connected again. For 5 or so days, we were without internet or phone service in our attempt to sign on with Vonage. Per sister Cate's request, Daran has agreed to blog about this, so stay tuned for the tortuous story of our journey through 21st century communications h*ll.

One nice side benefit, however, of being "in the dark" was that we all hung out together a bit more! Among the activities we (well, Daran and I) did together was to watch 3 DVDs, 3 nights in a row, thanks to my $500 Blockbuster prize! Yes, you heard that right! Unbenownst to me, I had entered a contest by signing onto the Papa John's website. (I vaguely remember trying to get a really good coupon from them online, which must have automatically put me in the contest). Months later, and after I'd unsubscribed from PJ (too many emails with mediocre coupons) I received an email letting me know I'd won a $500 gift certificate from Blockbuster. I thought it might have been a scam, but no one asked me for my credit card or social security number, so I was hopeful. Then, a few more months later I got an envelope from UPS and in it was my prize! Yippee!

We watched: The Squid and the Whale, Flight 93 and Syriana.

2. Conference. I had my first parent/teacher conference - as a parent! Ruby is developing emotionally, socially and physically all at a normal pace. She also eats well at school. Her teacher described her as loving, sociable and gentle. When I pressed her for the bad news, she admitted that Ruby could be demanding at times. Ha ha! So true!

3. Good Reads 2:

Preston Falls by David Gates (fiction/depressing/dysfunctional family/not bad, I'd read another by DG. In fact, I have one checked out called Jernigan)

Garlic and Sapphires byRuth Reichl (NYT food critic describes her job)

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (not quite done with this one yet, as I'm reading it with a tutee, but it's so much more interesting than I expected)

Don't forget to comment on any good books you are reading! I'd love to hear 'em!


4. Brad. Brad visited us one day. Here's a photo:

















5. Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was fun. My cousin Paul and his wife Julia and girls Grace and Abby came over for dinner. And of course, below you can see another picture of the cousins eating together. In retrospect, we shouldn't have seated Ruby in the middle. She insisted on bothering both cousins and eventually had to be removed. Soon thereafter all girls left the table and went to jump on the mattress in Ruby's room. Cries and shrieks ensued.
















6. Mother's little helper. Ruby had a grand time in the leaves that she helped me rake into a big pile in the front yard. Then she felt quite proud to help drag the tarp to the bottom of the driveway where one of our leaf piles lives. So helpful. This is a fun picture to click on and see it bigger. :)
















7. Rice and cream. Ruby's two favorite foods combined. (cream=sour cream, in rubyspeak).

Fall: Photos

Daddy love

Grandpa Ed visits; plays with orange ring; Elmo looks on.


Looking at Ruby's "baby book"

Ruby at the Guilford College 15 year reunion. Reliving the good old days.

Eating dinner with cousins Grace and Abby

A pile of cousins (count 'em - three!)

At a fun birthday party with gymnastics!

Bright and early, Halloween morning, the bee emerges


The bee heads to a party.
Below - bee meets tiger.

Good Reads

This will be the first of an occasional series I like to call "Good Reads." I'll tell you what I'm reading and what I've read recently or maybe even long ago. I don't really like describing books, so sometimes this may be little more than a list.

Dancing at the Rascal Fair - Ivan Doig. Thanks mom! I liked this book a lot. Reminded me of Wallace Stegner's Angle of Repose, one of my alltime faves. It's got the epic westward-ho thing going on. I want to read more of this Doig guy!

The Nanny Diaries - by 2 real nannies! (forgot names). OK book - kind of funny and disturbing.

A Girl Called Zippy and She Got up off the Couch - Haven Kimmel. 2 memoirs of an ordinary childhood in Indiana. HK is very funny. I liked both of these books a lot.

1776 - David McCullough. I didn't finish this book - too many battles. But DM is a great teller of history so I look forward to picking up his (Pulitzer Prize winning?) John Adams. I'm more of a bio gal!

A few old favorites:

The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
Rabbit Run (etc) - John Updike (maybe my favorite books ever!)
The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen

That's all for now, folks. Please share any of your good reads with me, if you care to! I'm always looking for a new good book! You can put suggestions in the Comments section of this blog entry. No need to register with Blogger - just post as anonymous and then include your name in the comments.

Go Get 'em, Tigers!

After 13 straight losing seasons and 19 years without making a playoff appearence, the Detroit Tigers just started their playoff run with a stunning series victory over the star-studded New York Yankees - the most storied franchise in professional sports. No one gave them a chance (especially me) but they seemed to have caught fire and hopefully they'll make it to the World Series.

I grew up a huge Tiger fan and attended the 1984 World Series (the year Detroit began its reputation for burning cars after a championship). Since then, we've had a playoff appearence in '87 and then nothing but losing, losing, losing! - including an American League record 119 losses just three years ago! This year has been an out-of-the-blue surprise, which are the best kind!

The title of this post comes from the 1968 jingle celebrating that year's World Series champs. My parents had the record and I used to listed to it once in a while. Boy would I love to have that record now!

We're all behind our baseball team,
Go get 'em, Detroit Tigers
Go get 'em Tigerrrsss!

Firsts: A Photo Collage

Ruby's first best friend is/was Elijah. Elijah's mom and I traded off kids when these guys were both about a year old which gave us each some precious alone time. In the process, these two became fast friends. Sadly, Elijah and his parents moved to Charlotte, but we got to see them recently on a trip to Chapel Hill. I think they're pretty cute together (click photos to enlarge).









Ruby is enjoying Elijah's company.













Not the very first kiss between these two, but perhaps the first caught on film?












Ruby's first bathing suit, from Australia! Thanks Grandpa Ed and Grandma Luisa! Surf's up!
















Ruby's first pigtails. Despite the indifferent look on her face, she was quite taken with herself and her new 'do.











More first day of school shots. Sorry, I couldn't help myself.












In the car. Totally unsuspecting.













Learning how to make coffee, spanish immersion style!

Naranja

For those of you waiting with baited breath to find out whether Ruby is speaking spanish yet, the answer is YES! I witnessed it yesterday when I arrived during lunch to pick up Ruby. The teacher asked her "Quieres mas naranja Ruby?" ("Do you want more orange, Ruby?") and Ruby said "nana, nana!" (It's the same way she asks for banana, but in this context, I'm sure she meant "orange.") Felicidades, Ruby!

Ruby Starts Preschool

First, though, a little history of our time together. Before Ruby was born, I had requested a year's maternity leave from the Chapel Hill school system. This generous amount of leave is pretty much a given to anyone who wants it. Ruby and I had a glorious year at home together, taking winter walks in the Baby Bjorn, taking summer dips in the kiddy pool, making faces at each other, all that mother-infant bonding stuff. Despite the sleepless nights and poopy diapers, I couldn't have imagined wanting it any other way.Once the one-year mark started to approach, I began to feel very sad about returning to work and having Ruby in full-time daycare/preschool. (I still don't really get the difference between the two). So, we entered into her 2nd year of life together thanks to the family-friendly extended maternity leave offered by the school system. Then, during the next few months I decide to resign from the school system entirely. After all, by this time I'm tutoring ESL students on the side and we're doing OK having me home and not bringing in the big schoolteacher paycheck (!) All was well until, oh, say, June of this year. Ruby hits 18 months and the terrible two's. (Some say that the terrible two's really refer to the second year of life! That's what I'm hoping, anyway). I'm thinking "why did I give up my day job?"

Then I remember the preschool applications I filed when Ruby was just a mere few months old! Thankfully, my first choice has space for Ruby two mornings a week! Enough to make this mama feel that some sanity might just be recovered.

So, on September 5 Ruby had her first day at Mi Escuelita Spanish Immersion Preschool. I didn't anticipate any problems dropping her off at school; she's done so well being left at the YMCA childcare center or at friends' houses. (For those of you with younger kids, she HATED being dropped off at the Y at first when she was about 14-15 months old, but time (or maturity) healed that wound, I suppose). And, as expected, she was a champ. I kissed her a beso goodbye and she never cried. When I came to pick her up four hours later, 1.5 hours after her usual naptime, I certainly expected a meltdown. None. She was eating her cute little lunch with her cute little classmates and just smiled and chomped. There was nothing cuter or sweeter than seeing her sitting at her little table eating cheese pizza and green beans and fruit cocktail and drinking milk with her buddies and her teacher, having spent the whole morning away from me, doing just fine, to make me feel all proud and happy and sad at once. I took her home at 12:45 and she went instantly to bed for a nap.

She's in what you'd call a "language explosion" right now, saying new words every day, imitating everything we say and has been putting several words together for a while now ("shoes on" or "more milk" or "no kiss") so I am curious to see what being in an all-Spanish environment will do for her language. Will she speak Spanish at school and English at home? You'll just have to keep tuning in to find out!

Summer Vacation

Summer vacation means a trip to the pleasanter air of northern Michigan for our family. This year we decided to bite off a larger chunk of time in the Great Lake State because I can think of no good reason to rush back to North Carolina in August. When my sports world goes dark (mid June) and the oppressive weather simultaneously arrives, I have to mentally hunker down and wait for cool nights and college football to rescue me from July/August. Oh my lord it's a slow go! The yearly trip to Michigan is the bridge over the doggiest of dog days.

This year we drove because of Ruby's developmental level. At 21 months we believe she is in the terrible twos. She is prone to meltdowns at the drop of a kitty and we wanted full control over our travel. So we rented a car and hit the road. Both ways we stopped in Charleston, WV, which the sorta halfway point between Chapel Hill and metro Detroit.

We had a brief overnight in Milford, MI at my Aunt Maureen and Uncle Mike's house. There, Ruby fell in the gold fish pond. The next morning we headed to my brother/SIL Geoff/Laura's house in Sanford, MI, which is in the middle of the state. They have seven children, two horses, one goat, two kitties and a dog. Plus they have a playground, trampoline, swimming pool, sandbox, and tons of other things for little kids to do. Ruby's cousins are all very excited to see us and they do a great job of playing with and caring for Ruby. The three nights and 5 days we spent there were probably the best of Ruby's life. With all of her cousins showing her the way, she played and played and played!

In between Sanford visits, we went up to Boyne City to visit Grandma Pat (my mom) and Grandpa Jerry. This is a much slower pace for Ruby but there are tons of toys and lots of land to explore. There, Ruby fell into a routine (no waking up and climbing out of the pack n play) and her tantrumming dropped way down. In fact, Ruby grew up a lot on the trip. She developed a new voice to use when she wants to be demonstrative (often related to NO!); her vocabulary increased dramatically, her gross motor skills increased. We definitely returned with an older more mature child. Perhaps she was anticipating starting pre-school upon our return.

While in Boyne City, we were able to make a day trip to see Ruby's great- grandfather, Robert Edmonds, and his wife, Norma. Grandpa also happens to be my favorite relative. He has built every house he's lived in for the past 50 years and is quite the artist, furniture maker, all-around creative man. That I have none of his ability is my great disappointment in genetics. At 83, he still works in his shop regularly and he showed us a very cool dresser he's just finishing up. There, Ruby saw her first live chickens and was not so sure about them. She was actually a little afraid of all the farm animals she met for the first time on this trip.

After a week of incredible feasts and relaxation (toddler style) at grandpa and grandma's house, we hopped back on the highway for another stop in Sanford on our way back to metro Detroit for my 20-year high school reunion. I wasn't all that excited for the reunion itself; I was most excited for a weekend of hanging out with three of my high school friends I've stayed in touch with over the years. As a bonus, I did see a few friends I haven't seen in twenty years and that was really cool. Though my memory of high school is not necessarily fond, I realized that I was friends with some really good guys back then. Hopefully we will stay in touch now in the age of internetting. The reunion went fine but it seems a better idea to have the 7-8 guys you care about bring their families and have an all day cook out. Coughing up $65 (which reportedly is a bargain in the reunion business) for buffet food and well drinks, while pretending like you're interested in someone's (who never talked to you in high school) life story is a poor use of time and money.

After two fun-filled, relaxing and stressful weeks we made it back home. Ruby is hardly ever in the car for more than ten minutes (and won't sleep in one) but in two weeks she covered 2,100 miles! At times it was very tough (read: ear splitting), but Kirsten had been planning intervention strategies for weeks leading up to the trip. Thanks to her hard work - which involved regular climbs into the back seat to play with/sing to/comfort/feed/occupy Ruby, getting toys/milk/pacifiers thrown back at her, and generally waiting on Ruby hand & foot while I drove - our trip was made possible. In fact, Kirsten deserves special recognition for her selfless attitude and hard work (way more than her share) during our two-week jaunt. So a big 740 News shout out to Momi, Momi, Momi!

Random Summer Photos of the Lil'un

Fun at Grandma Juji's

Fisher Price on the spiral stairs:

Fashion plate:

At a birthday party

Her first actual cupcake, devoured:

Posed family shot:

Sur l'herbe avec papa en le nude:

Chapel Hill raison d'etre

I first heard Jay Bilas say raison d'etre (to Matt Doherty) on ESPN last year and I've been waiting to use it ever since I learnt the phrase. Surely I'm using it wrong.

The first music recommendation from the blog goes to Josh Ritter. Justly describing any band or musician with my limited words is impossible but Ritter falls in the folk-rock category. His influences are mainly cited as Dylan, Springsteen, Leonard Cohen. I first started hearing his music after the release of his 2003 record Hello Starling. Particularly the song Kathleen from that record stuck with me and I finally picked it up and loved it. I kept it in my car, enjoyed it on a regular basis but didn't think of Ritter as more than another talented young musician, albeit one who happened to make a great record.

Then I see he's playing the Cat's Cradle here in town but it's on a Monday(!) night. Only the big guns can pull off a Monday night show in a town with only 50,000 people, and I would think Josh isn't one to do it - that should be a sparse crowd! I was doubtful I'd be going because he has a new record (but I like the old one!) and it's supposedly inspired by the hell of war we got going on (not another political message, please!) and it's on a Monday night! (that means being the dorky alone guy).

Okay, so then the local weekly did a little feature on Josh calling his new record "the best album from an under-30 guy-with-guitar that has been released in 2006" and they provided an audio link to Thin Blue Flame, the epic war song on the record (supposedly). So I listened to the song and I was really impressed at first listen. It doesn't sound like any political song and it's not. It's just great writing with an intense musical composition.

So I decided to go. My first great surprise was seeing a full house when I walked in - very heartened to see that on a Monday night. I quickly found the right spot to station my six-eight self where I would have excellent seeing and hearing without obstructing others - it's not so easy! But I found the sweet spot and Mr. Ritter came on shortly after I set up.

The band was dressed up nice and I didn't recognize Josh because in every picture of him I've seen he's got moppy hair and a serious expression. This Josh was clean cut, boyishly cute and had a big ol' grin on his face. He was definitely impressed with the size of the crowd. He looked to the audience, smiled and said "We're gonna have a hell of good time tonight." With that I let out one of my patented concert yelps.

It was a great great time. Everything was perfect. The crowd was enthusiastic and attentive. Ritter was funny and endearingly regular and artistic - he has a charming presence. Most of all the music was special. I see and hear scads of "critically acclaimed" music and much of it seems to blend in with all the rest. Josh Ritter crafts simple, beautiful songs that he delivers with a great spirit. After the show I picked up his new record, The Animal Years, listened to it today, and loved it. As the local paper noted, 90 percent of the record is "love-and-life songs," and the two "war" songs are incredible - no "message," just amazing song writing. I give it the full Daran Abbott Edmonds recommendation!

On the way home I celebrated my good fortune for living in Chapel Hill, NC. A place where I can jump in my car at 10pm, drive 5 minutes down the road to see an incredible band, be back in my bed by 12:15. On a Monday night. This is exactly why I moved here ten years ago. My raison d'etre (er somethin)!

Aunt Cate visits

Ruby's Aunt Cate visited last week from Austin, Texas. She was here for about 10 days which allowed us to have some good, relaxed fun. It also gave Ruby plenty of time to learn how to pronounce her name ("Khih!"). Ruby's lucky to have her Aunt Cate, who knows about neat stuff like bugs, plants, birds, music, food, and more. We wish Aunt Cate and Uncle Adam lived closer, but we also know how groovy Austin is and don't blame them for staying there.

And, congratulations to Cate for landing her "first real" job!!! PB & J's for all!!! :)

Ruby the Researcher & Garden Glory

Did you know Ruby was a scientist? It's true. As I type, she is actively contributing to scientific knowledge. By virtue of being a 19 month old toddler, Ruby is an unwitting participant in an EPA research study. (Al Gore would be proud). Actually, the study doesn't have much to do with the environment at all. For $120 plus a gift certificate to her favorite toy store, Ruby wears an "accelerometer" on a belt around her tummy which records all of her movements (with great precision, I might add). The two young ladies in the photograph are chemists (huh?) from a local research company who have come to transfer the data from her belt-computer onto a laptop. I saw her tantrums (yikes!), her peaceful stroller rides, and even her little nighttime wakings (we all have them, you know!) all there on the computer screen in their stark, empirical glory. The project she's involved in is trying to get data on babies' and toddlers' typical daily movements.

Here you see Ruby enjoying the kiddie pool WHILE doing important research. Don't worry, the accelerometer is waterproof! And surprisingly, it doesn't bother her at all.

On another front, the garden at 740 Williams Circle has (probably) hit its peak. During the cooler part of the growing season we enjoyed peas and about 10 fava beans. We then had quite the bean (green and yellow) harvest, though they've slowed down considerably. These days are all about tomatoes (Early Girl), cherry tomatoes (Sungold - incredible harvest and flavor, and I'll never plant anything else!), crookneck squash, zucchini, cucumbers and a few okras. I planted some basil from seedlings that I started from last year's seeds and have started a perennial herb garden with thyme, chives, sage, lavendar and mint.

Landscape-wise, I planted a couple trees earlier this spring: A red maple (Autumn Glory) for the eventual shade it will provide, along with its autumn glory; and a holly (Nellie R. Stevens) for evergreen privacy from the road. Daran's mom sent me two lilacs, one of which I have planted in a flower bed. I also started doing something cool called lasagna gardening. One such plot is at the bottom of the driveway and will eventually be a vegetable garden and the other is right out by the road and will take a wax myrtle (more privacy) and maybe another evergreen shrub or 2, along with some perennial flowers, or maybe a few other things.

Saturdays in Saxapahaw

Something that has become a Saturday tradition for us this summer is Saturdays in Saxapahaw. It is a combination of farmer's market, music, kids fun, and a picnic. The farmer's market is pretty small but mixed in with the fresh veggies and baked goods are refreshments like lemonade and wine.

The music we've seen has been excellent. The first band was the best - The Gospel Jubilators. They're an a cappella singing group that does gospel music in the style popular in the 40's and 50's - before gospel became more like pop music. So we were kickin it very old school a few Saturdays ago - Ruby prefers it old skool. This group is really good.

For perspective, the crowd sits up on a shaded, grassy hill above the stage. We like to grab a pizza on the way out of town (it's about a 20 minute drive) and bring a few beers along with milk & water for Ruby. We spread out a blanket and Ruby settles in for about 54 seconds before she is doing the meet-n-greet with the crowd. She likes to walk up to people, especially older kids, sitting on their blankets and stare at them until they acknowledge her. She then pretty much keeps staring at them but the people can tell that she likes them and they giggle with her and accept her style. Soon she makes her way into the parking lot and barrels through the farmer's market on the way to the water-filled canoe. This is where she spends most of her Saturdays in Saxapahaw.

Kirsten and I take turns chasing her around and supervising her social activity. Ruby likes to meet a little - eat a little - swim a little - wander a little - and, of course, cry a little. Generally we have to pack up and go about half-way through the show because her bedtime is 7 o'clock and she begins to breakdown if we push it too far. But while we're there she has a great time and it's fun for us to go to another town to see some live music and have a picnic. (clicking the photos makes 'em BIG)

This is something we're doing pretty regularly this summer so you locals should come join the fun! BTW, the weather right now in NC is unbelievable. For the people who've heard me obsessively mutter on and on about the dew point in the summertime, all you need to know is our dew point has been in the 50's lately! So that translates into temps in the low 80's during the day and in the 50's overnight. This is Christmas in July!