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| More Finger Painting |
09/19/11 - Lori
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| My Kids |
09/17/11 - Lori
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| almost midnight |
09/23/11 - Amy
"Locket"
There has been a request for the details of the birthday, and I finally have the time to give them!
Let's start with Wednesday, the 14th. Matt had to go to the bank to take care of some paperwork, and afterward, we were going to go to lunch with his sister. He was at the bank an awful long time, and I was starting to get hungry. His sister called him, and found out that they had to go pick up some prescriptions as well. When he and his mom got back from the bank, he also had new sneakers. Off we went to lunch; I was starving. I was a bit annoyed, but I didn't say anything.
On Thursday, after dinner, Matt and I were sitting out on the porch (my favourite spot). Matt's sister Sarah came in, and said that our presence was required to "discuss" something. I thought she was inviting us to play "The Game of Life" which we had played a few nights before. We walked over to the dining room table and the first thing I saw was Lori's handwriting - YES, the FIRST thing I noticed, among two other gift bags and a cheesecake! :) I couldn't believe it. It was two surprises in one - the one from my soul sister, and the one from Matt's family. I was tickled. My mind was racing with thoughts of how they cooked all this up behind my back, and how Lori and Matt had schemed as well. It was truly the most wonderful feeling, to think that all of these wonderful people were planning such wonderful things for me - more exciting than the presents themselves or even the cheesecake! :)
Fast forward to Sunday. We arrived on Saturday off a red-eye, so we went to bed early. I knew I would be up early, both because of the excitement, and because that is how I react to jet-lag. Nevertheless, Matt set his alarm for 9, in the hopes that he would get up before me. I woke up at 6:30. 6:30! I couldn't wake him up then, so I just relaxed in bed and waited for him to get up. By 7:30 I couldn't wait much longer. So, he got up and made me coffee (I LOVE getting coffee made for me in the morning :). Then, he asked me what I wanted to do for dinner - what happened next would depend on whether we went out, or whether he made me dinner. Since I decided to go out to dinner, he decided that we would have cake for breakfast, which we had in bed!!! Then I got my present. It came in a gift bag that I can re-use - another bag!!! (pics to follow) Inside was UK-Hercules, whom I immediately fell in love with. The card, which I posted a picture of, was HUGE, and filled with heart-shaped confetti (I didn't know that guys knew that stuff existed!!), which I proceeded to sprinkle all over the bed and floor. It is still all over my apartment - some was trailed into the bathroom and the living room. Love is all around! And then, the pièce de résistance - this locket. Now, I didn't tell Matt ANYTHING about what I wanted for my birthday (I just said "something pretty"), but I swear that I was secretly hoping for jewellery, and secretly hoping for something heart-shaped. How is that possible?! He said that he was worried I wouldn't like it, because of a comment one character on The Office made (an episode which we watched together) about girls not liking heart-shaped jewellery. Needless to say, I LOVE IT. (Oh, did I also mention that he remembered that I prefer silver jewellery as opposed to gold???) Anyway, this is what Matt was up to when he was at "the bank" on the 14th :)
After all of the morning excitement, we took a nap (I never do this!), and then watched The Blindside, one of my favourite movies. Then we went out for sushi.
The best thing about this day, however, was not the presents, and not being made to feel special (which is something that I know that I not only need, but crave). The best thing about this day was the awareness/realisation that this day didn't feel any different than any other day with Matt, because every day with him I feel special and loved. (I know, extra sappy - forgive me). And yes, I told him this, too! :)
09/22/11 - Amy
"For Carmen"
I finally got the chance to visit the new University Library. It is a beautiful space for books, with great views of the sea. I thought of Carmen and her books, and how they also have a new home, out of the darkness of the storage facility and into the light! :)
9/21/2011 - Carmen
Hmm....look familiar? One of Lori's pictures is my background at work and I just loved this picture so I had to make it my background at home!! Is this cheating? Oh well...so be it....I can be a cheater! I love your picture Amy, the color and light is amazing.
09/21/11 - Amy
"Triple Reflection"
OK, I know I have a lot of photos like these, but I couldn't resist another reflection photo. If you can't tell, it was taken in the bathroom. I had to laugh to myself that it would look rather silly if someone came in and saw me whipping out my camera in the bathroom. Thankfully, I didn't get caught ;-)
09/20/11 - Amy
"Polka Dotted"
I hadn't noticed myself, but the secretary in my department pointed out that I was triple dotted today - dress, jacket, and umbrella!
09/19/11 - Amy
"First Day"
The first day back to work after vacation, and the first day back to school after summer, deserves a crap picture to reflect the crap that it is! This is the only picture I took today, and it would have been a much better shot if I had taken it from where I wanted to - on the other side, with the sun shining on it, but I was in such a negative mood about walking back into work that I just couldn't be bothered! :-P
09/16/11 - Amy
"Paradise"
I sat out on the porch morning, noon and night and stared out at this oasis. It was warm. It was bliss.
09/14/11 - Amy
"Gisli"
Pronounced 'yisli.' The family's new 80-pound Marmaduke puppy ;-) He and I also became good friends on this trip.
09/11/11 - Amy
"Lounging"
Matt and Hercules on the couch. And yes, for the first few days I wanted to call him Cooper...or Snoopy. I've never really been a pet person, not having had them growing up, but Herc and I became good friends by the end of the week :)
09/10/11 - Amy
"Open Container"
Which is totally legal in Savannah! :)
PS 09/09/11 - I forgot! First day of vacation, can you blame me?!
09/07/11 - Amy
"Spoilt for Choice"
They even have a Pringle that is flavoured like French Fries! In the states, I noticed a similar shelf full of Pop Tarts.
09/16/11 - Lori
I had a GREAT birthday. People always ask, "what did you do for your birthday?" - my answer is, "Spend time with the people I love the most!".
After work, the DeLudes headed to Shantell's house for a fire in a PERFECT September evening. Carmen came as well, after being informed "you WILL jump on the trampoline, and I WILL take pictures". She had never been on a trampoline before and said now she knows what Jiffy Pop feels like :)
Amy - it was not lost on me that if you had been there too, it would have been a PERFECT birthday!
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| Birthday Bounce |
I had a GREAT birthday. People always ask, "what did you do for your birthday?" - my answer is, "Spend time with the people I love the most!".
After work, the DeLudes headed to Shantell's house for a fire in a PERFECT September evening. Carmen came as well, after being informed "you WILL jump on the trampoline, and I WILL take pictures". She had never been on a trampoline before and said now she knows what Jiffy Pop feels like :)
Amy - it was not lost on me that if you had been there too, it would have been a PERFECT birthday!
09/09/11 - Lori
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| Treat |
09/07/11 - Lori
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| Charlotte |
She's been there ever since - she keeps stringing her webs on both sides of the ceiling over my sink - I say, "Hello Charlotte" every time I see her. I'm a bit worried because she hasn't had a good meal since this Lady Bug (who's shell I found on my bathroom counter) - I am thinking of catching her a moth.
09/03/11 - Lori
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| Still There! |
09/02/11 - Lori
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| Finger Painting! |
09/01/11 - Lori
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| 15 Months |
Second - this was Cassie's 15-month physical, and she's about 16 months now - oops.
Anyway, one of the interesting things about taking er for her physicals is seeing how she acts in the room. When she was tiny, it was cuddle time while we waited for the doc. Then she started to use her hands, and she'd have a blast with the white paper on the table. Then - she started to realize there were things outside of her reach, but she did not know how to get them. Those were the challenging visits, because she didn't want to sit still. She still doesn't want to sit still, but fortunately now a book holds her interest just long enough to wait for the doctor.
9/17/11 - Carmen
Moving day is rapidly approaching and I wanted to organize my stuff that is in storage. Mostly totes all the way in the back behind the crap of 3 other people who just threw it in haphazardly. So I basically had to empty the whole 40 foot trailer and repack it....fun! I can't wait to unpack my books that have been packed up for over 4 years...yes they will probably be the first things unpacked....
9/14/11 Carmen
WWLT (what would lori think)...that goes through my mind every time I take a picture. So when she said that I should join you guys here I said sure! I'll forewarn you that most will be taken with my phone...I hope you don't mind. Today...my first day...I had an idea...unfortunately my camera was overused and the batteries dead. I wanted to take a pic of my new knee high boots up in the air....but this is what you get!
09/06/11 - Amy
"Ready"
Hair: cut. Nails (fingers and toes): done. Body: scrubbed. Face: facialed. Bikini: bought. All ready to go on vacation!
09/05/11 - Amy
"Done"
So proud of my man. Here is his dissertation, completed, bound, and ready to hand in. 80 pages of Viking goodness. A momentous occasion.
09/04/11 - Amy
"Bacon"
It is a truth universally acknowledged that bacon rocks. What does not rock, however, is the limp, floppy bacon that is commonly sold in the UK (the closest equivalent we have is Canadian bacon - nice sometimes, but not all the time). For the past few years I have been on a quest to find the best bacon for frying up all crispy, American style, but to no avail. This weekend, I discovered pancetta on the bacon shelf of the supermarket, and was pleased to discover that pancetta is actually code for "American crispy bacon." Hooray!
09/02/11 - Amy
"Rose"
"To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you - the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is she that I have sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars (except the two or three that we saved to become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is my rose"
-The Little Prince
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
09/01/11 - Amy
"First Birthday"
Today is my baby’s birthday. Happy birthday, Minnie!
I’ve been thinking about babies a lot lately…babies, and life choices. I have a baby, and her name is Minnie. She might look different than you’d expect, but she’s my baby, and I love her. It took me nine months of hard work and struggle to get her, and to me she’s so much more than just a car.
My all-time favourite episode of Sex and the City, “A Woman’s Right to Shoes” tackles this issue head on. Carrie arrives at a friend’s child’s birthday party all dolled up in her latest outfit, but her friend asks her (and everyone else) to take her shoes off at the door, so that dirt and germs wouldn’t be tracked into the apartment. Carrie complies, but at the end of the evening finds her $485 Manolo Blahniks missing. She comes back the next day to see if her friend found the shoes, but her friend couldn’t seem to care less. Instead of reimbursing Carrie for the shoes, she shames her for her “life choices.” Why should she have to pay $485 for Carrie’s self-indulgent (read: childless) lifestyle? (Even though Carrie has shelled out about $2,300 for engagement gifts, wedding and baby shower gifts, as well as kid birthday gifts.) The friend, in fact, used to wear Manolo’s, but since having got a “real life” forgot how it felt to walk in the single girl’s shoes. While Carrie has to be understanding of her life, her friend isn’t understanding of hers. While the friend puts her kids at the centre of her world, why is it not ok that at the centre of Carrie’s lays a pair of gorgeous, sparkly silver shoes? The friend’s attitude causes so much shame that Carrie wonders: “Is it wrong that my life is filled with shoes and not children?” I suppose that this is why I get my back up when people tell me I need to “just deal with” other peoples’ lifestyle choices, when no one else seems to have to, or be willing to, do the same with mine.
I don’t really like kids of the human variety, and don’t really want to have one right now, but I respect other peoples’ choice to have them. Society, however, only seems to value one model of lifestyle, the one that starts with marriage and ends with procreation. As Carrie says in the episode, ‘If you are single, after graduation, there isn’t one occasion where people celebrate you…Hallmark doesn’t make a “congratulations, you didn’t marry the wrong guy” card, and where’s the flatware for going on vacation alone?”
I’ve sat through conversations among friends and colleagues about diapers and formula… favourite kids’ books… advantages and disadvantages of magnet schools… none of which interested me, and none of which I knew anything about. Still, I smiled politely, respecting the childed peoples’ choices, waiting for a part of the conversation that I could participate in. It seems to rarely occur to people with children that others might not be interested in hearing about the minutia of their childed lives, because everyone likes to talk about kids, right?
The thing is, I try to show interest in my friends’ children because they are my friends’ children. They are a part of my friends’ lives – important to them, they are by default important to me. But often it’s hard, and I do have to make an effort. Still, most of my friends know hardly anything about my other baby – my book – and what it is about. Still fewer inquire about Minnie. The fact is, my book or my Minnie are probably about as interesting and relatable to my friends as the baby talk is to me.
Of course, our society needs to reproduce – that I get. But not everyone needs to – or wants to (or can!) – have a child. Still, having a child seems to be the pinnacle of every human being’s “to do” list: graduate high school, go to college, get a job, get married, have a baby. But what if you don’t tick all the boxes on the list? What if your lifestyle doesn’t follow that pattern? And what is wrong with, instead of parenting a human baby, writing a book, or getting your dream car? Why is mother a better occupation than teacher, or even investment banker? Why is one lifestyle valued more than another?
I was at a dinner following an amazing conference on Eastern European art last fall. One of the organizers, a Hungarian curator and art historian, was speaking with a Polish art curator about her latest exhibitions. The Polish curator (also a woman) suddenly interrupted the Hungarian one: “that’s great, that’s all wonderful,” she said, “but WHEN are you going to have a BABY?!” The Hungarian curator responded, “oh, we already have two kids.” “Oh, then everything is OK,” the Polish curator responded. I was flabbergasted. So, all of the achievements that this woman has made – the conferences she has organized, the exhibitions she has curated, the catalogues she has written, even the international connections she has fostered – those are all nice, but everything in her life is only “OK” once she has reproduced. I found that sad not only in general, but also in terms of my life, because I doubt that that Polish curator is alone in thinking that way.
I know that it probably sounds silly to refer to a car as one’s baby. But she’s ideal for me right now. She’s quiet, never cries, only needs to be fed about once a month, and never fusses. As a person who is just learning to take care of herself, this is probably the best baby that I could have, and the most that I can give right now. Minnie is my baby, and as silly as that may sound, it makes sense to me. I believe that’s what Lori might call…”Amy Logic”? In the meantime, I’m still waiting for my flatware…and my baby shower! Happy first birthday to my baby girl.
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