Tuesday, January 27, 2009

from my mother's files

The cleaning work continues...and I'm so lucky to have friends who have helped and will help me. Now I'd just better ask them. Anyway, here's a funny paper I'm going to recycle after I share it here on my blog. So true!

Monday, January 26, 2009

calling Ms. Kristin

In these last weeks of pregnancy I am trying to bring some order to places in the house that are delightfully dis-ordered. I long to see this drawer through your eyes and lens, Ms. Kristin, because there are so many treasures in it. The problem is, my house is full of treasures. I have a husband and son who want to hold on to everything (which is in many ways cool, because there are some cute little ca. 1984 plastic finger puppets in here, as well as other odd and interesting stuff) and a very low personal tolerance for plastic storage bins.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

six years old

On December 27 our family system gathered to celebrate Henry's sixth full year as an out-of-the-womb participant in our solar system.
The theme of the cake was out-of-our solar system.
Here's to a fine six-year-old ready to serve the world!

Christmastide 2008

This Christmas I contemplated saving graces and well-loved images from long ago
and icons of new hope for our time--thanks to you, Aunt Lib.
Barack, don't mean to put too much pressure on you!
You don't have to be super-human;
just please be decent and we'll be so very proud of you.
Epiphanies were experienced along the way

in the form of beautiful morning light,
table fellowship,
and birthdays of two dear family members--Elizabeth and Henry.

Monday, January 5, 2009

twelfth night

Here it is, the end of the Christmas season. I have photos and stories I would like to share but there's not time for that right now. I am feeling a delightful fullness at eleven p.m. What a long, full day it has been, but satisfying. The lights and ornaments on our beautiful tree keep me company as I reflect on the day. It began, atypically, at 6:30 a.m. I woke, dressed (with lots of layers), drove across town to order and pay for our milk and eggs, drove back, woke Henry at a little after 7:00, watched a bit of Curious George with him, ate part of my homemade yogurt, homemade granola and crunchy apple breakfast, zipped out the door at 7:30 for a three mile walk--yippee!, came back, got ready for our dear neighbor to come over and play with Henry, watched the boys play as I tried to get a few things done around the house. Had a mid-morning sweet potato, red pickled cabbage, pickle, broccoli snack, took them out on an errand, came back home, ate grass-fed t-bone steak and sweet potato and more broccoli an pickle for lunch, hurried, hurried, hurried out the door to get Henry to the nature center in time for our class. Enjoyed the class conducted around the theme of "Duck, Goose or Swan?" that included a jeopardy-style contest between parents and children--so much fun and challenging to my limited powers of observation, enjoyed a slow ride (with apple, nuts and chocolate chips) to the doctor's office as my I-wish midwife and for-real doula drove Henry and her boy to art club, savored the doctor's words to "keep it boring," (that's just soothing to me because he seems to think my having a vbac is so profoundly uninteresting...which is just what I was hoping for in a doctor), sat down and visited with my friend/doula (yippee again), had delicious gelato with the boys and the doula friend at a nearby cafe, hurried home, let Henry off at the front door, zipped to Hesston, where I pretended to lead the retirement community's men's chorus, stopped by to see my parents in their new apartment, drove back home, stopping by on the way to pick up our milk and eggs, groused and yelled when I walked in the door about the table not being cleared of lunch dishes and socks being on the floor (what good that did, I really don't know; think it was useless, unwelcome complaining), watched a little of a special on the advent of Buddhism on PBS, helped Henry get ready for bead, talked with his two Webkins and watched him draw in his diary, began to read chapter 21 of Little House on the Prairie, went to the bathroom while Joel read on, kissed Henry good night, came to the kitchen to make something to eat...more sweet potato, this time festooned with some cilantro, green onion, some chunks of elderly avocado, plenty of salt and butter, some more pieces of t-bone steak, finished off with the last piece of Sara's Christmas baklava. Now it is time for bed. Whew! Thank you, God. Thank you, life.