end of spring break

Today is the first day of spring, and I like that Google is celebrating with their Eric Carle design.
This week was Spring Break, and we got to relax for at least some of it.

On Wednesday, P and I went to the city. We hung out at the bar and had yet another mediocre NYC meal (we seem to have a knack for finding these places where the vegetarian options rival those of Applebee’s) before going to see HAIR. I have a soft spot in my heart for that show, because it’s crazy and the music is fun and political and the narrative is loose and it doesn’t make too much sense. Also, I was in a production of HAIR when I was in college and it was so wonderfully different than anything I had done before. In retrospect, it was sort of the beginning of the end of my interest in typical musicals.

The guy who plays one of the leads in the Broadway production was a friend in college. P and I hung out after the show to see him (which was hard--between P and me, I don’t know who hates that after-the-show scene more). But he was so gracious, and funny, and reminded me of a story from college I had forgotten, and well... it was great. Two other guys with whom we did theatre in college were also there, so it was a mini-reunion of sorts. Actually, there is a HUGE college reunion this weekend at U-M that we all are missing, and my having such a good time the other night made me a bit sad about that. But I have to admit to my mixed feelings about it. It’s hard enough having to face every single person from my past on Facebook nowadays. I haven’t been to a high school or college reunion yet, and I'm starting to understand why. It's hard when you feel like you've changed--for the better--in 15 years. Seeing others who see you only as you were then often makes you wonder whether you really have.

Today the three of us went to j’s school for a preliminary consultation about where he will be next year. j’s teacher M has been evaluating him over the past few weeks, and he’s done pretty well. It’s obvious he’s made tons of improvement since September. He’s even near the top of the charts in terms of his ability with numbers and letters. However, his social interaction and ability to focus still need work. I think the consensus at our meeting today was that we’ll be recommending that he stays where he is for next year: for now, at least. He may move to a class with more students, which of course is what I secretly hope for, but I can see the benefit of his being with M for another year with the therapies he’s getting. Clearly he loves her--he often demands that P and I (and anyone in the house... you’ve been warned!) sit for Circle Time when he imitates M singing songs and reading books.

And now, back to work, since the end of Spring Break is unfortunately looming.

st.patrick's day

On Tuesday, P, j, and I went to a local pub that we figured would have some St. Patrick’s Day festivities. P ordered a Guinness that j badly wanted to drink, for some reason. We tried to calm him down with the promise of French fries, only to discover that the only thing they were serving that day was corned beef and cabbage. We ordered a plate in the spirit of the day, which meant that P got the corned beef while j and I ate the cabbage (really nasty--and I like cabbage) and boiled potatoes and carrots. j was not pleased, but he loved all the local people wearing green, and of course the bagpiper. He even danced a bit, stomping and kicking and flopping a bit in a way that looked sort of Irish. At first I thought he was representin’ his ancestors, but then I wondered if most kids just kind of look like they’re training for Riverdance when they first begin to dance.

playground, politics

Yesterday we went to yet another playground we hadn’t been to before, and today we went to the “regular” one (about 10 minutes away from our house). The one yesterday features an old fighter plane in the corner (um...ok) and j had a great time on the whirly-thing-that-makes-me-nauseous. Today he followed another little guy’s lead and actually hung from a bar above him for a few seconds (“I’m strong! I’m strong!”).

I really hope that they build a playground soon in our little village. There are plans in the works, but I think that its creation will depend upon next week’s upcoming mayoral election. I went to my first community event here last week, which was a forum for the candidates for mayor and trustee. The incumbent, who has been in office for two years, has done a pretty incredible job, beautifying the community, making the tap water drinkable, and generally fostering a progressive attitude—all the while lowering taxes. Her challenger, who was mayor for many years before her and now wants his job back, is running on a “financially responsible” campaign, challenging her claim that taxes have gone down. (And so what if they go up a bit in the hopes of improving the village?) It was interesting to attend the forum, in which the incumbent was able to rattle off the numerous improvements she’s made in two years and he was unable to argue coherently against her candidacy. If her challenger wins, I will be quite sad. And we will probably kiss the improvements to our little village—potential playground included—goodbye.

winter / spring

Another nice weekend day. It’s the beginning of Spring Break here, so I’m getting pretty excited about spring. Just like last year, the tulips promise warm days soon to come, when we can get outside and attack the yard that has been too long abandoned.

I’m finally getting around to pulling pictures off my cell phone. These were taken after a snow/rain storm last month. On the mountain I have to take to and from work, the trees were covered in ice. People were pulling over and getting out of their cars to take pictures, right in the middle of the road. I opted to take this on my cell phone while driving slowly. Not too smart to do on the edge of a mountain, I admit, but it was an unbelievable sight.

haircut, climbing

We had a great weekend. Actually, we had a great week even though P was in Chicago. I'm looking forward to P being back (argh--his return flight is delayed!), but I've enjoyed having this one-on-one time with the little guy.

Yesterday j got a haircut. I was amazed by how excited he was about this, considering I have to tackle him daily in order to brush his teeth. I pulled up to the curb next to the local salon where he’s been getting his hair cut for a year now. He knew immediately where he was--“I’m gonna go get hair cut, mama”--and apparently felt the need to get dress for the occasion. Despite the fact that it was 60 degrees out, after we got out of the car, he demanded his hat, gloves, scarf, necklace (a lanyard for a flash drive), and sunglasses. He walked into the salon and stopped, clearly expecting heads to turn, which they did: his stylist (that sounds so funny) K said, “Hey, it’s cookie-man!”

On his previous visits, a cookie has kept him pretty happy while his hair gets cut. This time, however, there was no need for the cookie. Quietly (!), he walked over to the chair and I lifted him up. He said basically nothing the entire time his hair was getting cut, preferring instead to watch himself in the mirror and smile shyly at K. It was as if another child had inhabited j’s body. After the haircut (which included the electric razor that he didn’t even get upset about--he just giggled), K gave him a cookie, which he ate his while playing in her kiddie Beauty Salon play area. J loved using the hair dryer and comb on the head of hair that was sitting there... which must have been a head of hair for stylists to use for practice. It was clearly real hair, since the consistency was right and there were a few gray hair mixed in.

The only time j got upset was 20 minutes later when I had to pick him up to carry him out. He wasn’t excited about heading to the playground afterwards; he just wanted to stay in the hair salon. Of course, he loved the playground once we got there.

We went to a bigger playground today, and it was great. He has very little fear of climbing ladders and sliding down. Also, I don’t have to worry about him grabbing other kids anymore, and I can’t even tell you what a relief that is. I followed him pretty closely the whole time, though. Since it was a beautiful day, there were many families there. But no grabbing. It was actually fun to watch j around other kids. He has a hard time connecting with them meaningfully, but he loves to get excited and happy when others are having a good time.

“Look, mama, he’s screaming! Wow!”
"She's bouncing, yay!"
(to a younger boy with a runny nose) "Do you have a booger?"

The only strange moment was when he growled the word “Gorgeous” repeatedly down one of the covered slides: “Gorgeous... gorgeous... ggggorgeous!” This cracked up some other parents, too.

snow day

All three of us have today off as a snow day. It's a mess out there right now. A glorious, school-canceling mess. I am grateful for it, because I needed another weekend day. P and I were gone the whole weekend helping my brother and sister-in-law move into their new (to them) house. They have been doing work on this house for months, because it really needed not just cosmetic work, but other important things, like heat. It's been hard for them, I know, but it will be worth it. The layout of the house reminds me a lot of ours (small-ish raised ranch). However, instead of being in a valley with a mountain view, their house is sort of the opposite--it's on a hill and in the distance, over other houses, you can see the ocean. It's crazy and amazing and I know they are just going to love it there once they finish with the rest of the renovations.

In anticipation of the snow day, j helped me bake cookies last night and today. This meant we got to finally use the *sweet* chef's jacket that he got from Uncle D and Aunt J. It came in handy with all the flour, sugar, and molasses that got on it. I have more pictures and will send them along in the usual ways shortly.

in which j refuses my label

Last week j was playing around with the undershirt he was wearing. He decided to remove one of his arms from the arm-hole and stick it through the neck-hole, which gave his outfit a sort of toga-like-feel.

So I asked him, "Are you a toga-man?"

He was patient, but by the look on his face it was obvious that I clearly wasn't getting it.

"No, Mama. I'm not a toga-man. I'm a very special dancer."

Where he got this, I have no idea. School probably? And exactly what kind of "special dancer" he is, I'm not sure. But it was pretty darn funny.

coffee and tempeh

We had a nice weekend, even if we’ve ended it a little bit sick. Yesterday we went to a park in an area where I hadn’t been with j for a year and a half. It’s a great park, full of many things to climb on. And j was so great--such a huge change from last year, when we were on pins and needles taking him to a park for fear he would grab another kid. He’s just awesome. He runs around the place and peers around the equipment, like You see me, Daddy?

I got a new coffeemaker for the holidays and though I'm still not sure what I think about it, it’s very easy to use. Now that j knows how to use it, he insists on making me coffee, even more than he did before. Mama, you want some coffee? Ok! You want coffee! It’s the first thing he asks when I wake up, when we enter the house, and at night when he’s bored. I’ve been trying to crack my coffee addiction, but j is an enabler. He likes to push the button to turn on the machine, watch it come out (There’s the coffee! Mama, I did it! Yea!), spoon sugar into the cup, and stir in the soy milk. Then there is the inevitable spilling (we’re still working on gentle stirring), but he loves to pull out a towel and wipe up afterwards. He is definitely in training for a life in the kitchen.

Speaking of (my own self-imposed, half-hearted) kitchen training, I made a soy-lime tempeh stir-fry on Saturday. We discovered that P is not too hip on tempeh--or at least when I make it--but I can’t really blame him. I liked it a lot, but I can see how not everyone would. However, we both liked the cauliflower and potato curry I made earlier in the week, so I’ll have to keep going with the Indian recipes.

valentine’s day

We spent the week sloooooowly working on Valentine’s Day cards for his pre-school class. j helped affix the stickers, but he wasn’t terribly interested the whole ordeal, except for the tape. Also, he was distracted this week by the easel he got for Christmas from his aunt and uncle (thanks--it is fantastic!) but we hadn’t had a chance to put up until this week. We just got new carpet in the basement playroom and painted the ceiling, so we’ve spent the last month rearranging things and finally it is done.

j loves, loves, loves his easel, especially the whiteboard part. He likes to draw pictures of our family, especially when I draw the circles for faces and he gets to add hair, Daddy’s beard, and “extraordinary long arms” to our bodies, just like Mr. Tickle has. Since he doesn’t like to sit down much to draw (this was confirmed when we spoke to his teacher last week), I wonder why the easel is so appealing. I think it has to do with the fact that he can erase on the whiteboard. He loves to erase and start over again. I can understand this urge.

But my favorite part is when he switches up what the eyes and mouths in his pictures look like. No, Mama, you gotta be tired. And he gives me dark lines for my eyes. Mama, I gotta be happy. And he erases the horizontal line he’s drawn for his mouth and draws a grin in its place.

I’ve also been trying to spell words for him to see. He’ll shout out letters and I write them on the whiteboard. He’s starting to understand how to spell his name, I think, though he insists that there is both an N and an M in it.

25 random things

On Facebook, where I’ve been spending far too much recreational time lately, there’s this whole “list 25 random things about yourself” thing going on. After having been “tagged,” I started to compose my 25 things, only to realize that I have too many Facebook friends and co-workers on there to feel comfortable sharing the 25 random things actually on Facebook. So I’m posting it here, where fewer people read. I’m sure that I will re-read this in a few years and be horrified, but it was an interesting exercise. Here goes.

1. Until recently, I wore the same pair of black boots to work every day. Now I alternate between two different pairs of black boots.
2. I sang in an all-women a cappella group for a few years (2003-2005), and though it was stressful at times, I really miss it.
3. I hate talking on the telephone. I prefer to communicate in person, but if I can’t do that, I would much rather email--I’m more confident writing.
4. I dislike shopping. I don’t have anything against people who love shopping, but I do get really annoyed by people who assume that all women love shopping and therefore, I must love it too.
5. I take back what I said above if the store is Staples.
6. My favorite alcoholic drink is a vodka tonic with lemon. Or lime. I’m just liking lemon right now.
7. Most of my close friends when I was younger were men. Now most of my close friends are brilliant, talented women who inspire me to improve myself.
8. It took me ten years to finish my doctorate, and I'm glad it took that long. I needed the time.
9. Generational generalizations, especially about students (e.g., “Millennial students these days...”) piss me off.
10. Generalizations about people in general piss me off. I generalize myself but try to avoid doing so as much as I can. Maybe I just want to be more conscious of it.
11. My husband, son, and I were all born in different states (Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, respectively).
12. One of my degrees as an undergrad was Musical Theatre and I did a lot of performing when I was younger. This sometimes surprises many people who know me now. The fact that I teach English sometimes surprises people who knew me then.
13. I think and talk about de-cluttering and simplifying a lot, but never get to purge as much crap from my house as I’d like.
14. I’m somewhat opposed to the idea of having a pet, but am willing to work on getting over this.
15. I am not willing to work on getting over my irrational fear of clowns.
16. I have a hard time understanding being absolutely convinced. This becomes an issue mostly when conversations turn towards organized religion, atheism, some kinds of feminism, and certain kinds of pedagogy.
17. I met my husband when I was 11 and he was 14, but we didn’t start dating until he randomly spotted me on the street when we were both in grad school.
18. I consider myself to be a pretty shy person.
19. I don’t like when people take themselves too seriously. I don’t like myself when I take myself too seriously. Unfortunately, this happens often.
20. I am a workaholic. My job sometimes drive me nuts, but I overall I love it.
21. I am a feminist who recognizes that there are many kinds of feminism.
22. I dig Ian McEwan, David Foster Wallace, Jonathan Safran Foer, Nancy Franklin, Jack Black, Tenacious D, and of course, P and j.
23. I had dyed-blonde hair until 7 years ago, and am thrilled that my natural brown hair is “back.” I imagine that I will have long gray hair as I get older. My hair is cooperating with this prophecy.
24. I agree with our President that The Wire is the best show on television. I also believe that Season 4 should be required viewing for educators and politicians.
25. If I believed in hell, I would also believe that there is a place in it reserved for the creator(s) of Bratz dolls.

new year

We got back from our wonderful Michigan trip on Saturday, and I was back at work today, where I was greeted by scheduling nightmares, faculty problems, and student complaints (complete with parents in tow).

God, I miss vacation already.

So here is my favorite video from our trip. It’s totally crazy, but it always makes me smile. Warning: you may want to turn down the volume on this before playing, especially if you’re at work or some other kind of public place.



Though you can’t tell from this video, j’s language is coming along really well. We think we’re experiencing a sort of a language explosion these past few weeks. We’ve got the nouns, the pronouns, the verbs, the adjectives, the adverbs, the conjunctions, the prepositions, the interjections, and best of all--the sentences! He’s also getting adept at negotiation. (You want this one? Or that one? This one? Or that one? This one? OK!) Of course, all negotiations hinge upon one’s wanting “this one,” not “that one.”

snow-eating

School has ended for me and for P; j has school until tomorrow, the 23rd. These are some pictures from this weekend, when we were pretty much snowed in for three days. As in years past, there was much snow-eating. Snow-eating, I’ve found, is the outdoor equivalent of paper-eating, which is j’s indoor fascination. He’s even found himself a corner of the room, behind the living room curtain, in which he crumbles, munches, and then disposes of spitballs in one of my many plants. Yes, this is my amazing, spectacular child.


The snowflakes have been my project with j, who has learned to use scissors quite well at school. Scissor-wrangling was not even on my radar screen (What do you mean, scissors? He’s only 3!), so I’m glad that he’s been learning at school. So the snowflakes you see on the window are my creation; however, j will do quite a bit of cutting on his own (mostly ribbon). He’s also been helping me tape as I wrap presents--since I recycle catalogs for wrapping paper, this usually means putting tape over the models’ eyes--and he’s also been monitoring the Christmas lights that are taped to the windows. They inevitably fall off (loudly, too--as a family we’re just starting to learn not to jump when they unexpectedly drop), so it’s good to have someone eager to tape them back onto the windows.

We’re headed to Michigan this weekend just after Christmas, and are very excited (yet completely unprepared, as usual) for the trip.

holiday decorating

We just pulled out the holiday decorations, which we haven’t seen since December 2006. Last year we closed on the house in December and moved here in early January, so we didn’t bother decorating our apartment. Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of holiday decorating, but even an old Scrooge like me can appreciate making holiday decorations part of a home. We have not spent two Christmases in a row anywhere since we lived in the Bronx (1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003). When we lived in the house in Easton, I remember being very excited while putting up the decorations, imagining that each holiday the tree would be where I had placed it for years--nay, decades--to come. And then we moved 5 months later.

Since P likes his job, I (mostly) like mine, j is doing well, and the economy is going down the drain, we plan never to move again, so I got that same feeling when opening up the box of decorations this year: I will always put the tree here. We only have a baby tree (given to P by a students a few years ago); we also don’t have many decorations, which is just fine by me as I try to simplify and declutter. Two years ago I made the commitment that if the decorations can’t fit into the designated box, we have too many. P is more than fine with this. :)

I haven’t been blogging this semester mostly because my commitment to work has taken over my entire life, and this week I became chair of my department, which is a commitment which will last until June 30, 2010 when I hope to pass off the responsibility to someone else. I’ve sort of been doing the chair responsibilities this semester but getting paid much less, so the pay bump starting next month will give us some more money in the bank--or rather, the student loan coffers. Also, now that I have a better sense of what the job requires, I hope that things will calm down next semester as I settle into a routine.

And with that, I leave you with an interesting picture of j. Discuss.

happy weekend, happy tuesday

Last weekend was a good one, and it was followed by an even better week. Tuesday night... I can't tell you how ecstatic I was to hear the words "President Elect Obama." And you know what? It Still Feels Good. (This Judith Warner piece, especially the picture, is really fantastic too.)

I really should be in bed right now--just 20 more minutes while I wait for the laundry to finish. Here are some pictures of last weekend. On Saturday we raked leaves (still far too many left, though) and our boy danced among them wearing many stripes.


Then, on Sunday, we headed back to PA to visit our old neighbors L and S, who will be moving themselves next month to South Carolina to be with their sons. Friday was S's birthday, so j helped me bake some pumpkin bread with cream cheese frosting. There was a lot of pouring water to and from measuring cups, and he insisted that I put powdered sugar on his face.


Then it was off to PA. As we neared the end of Jersey, we saw some beautiful hot air balloons, and I was able to grab a few shots while racing along the highway.


(Click on the images to make them larger.)

halloween

This week I got to see Cornel West on campus--what a fantastic speaker. It was more than his referring to private conversations with “Brother Barack.” He puts things into perspective and despite all of his excitement and preacher-like cadences (or perhaps because of them?), he's a very calming presence... actually, I need to finish this blog entry soon because he’ll be on Bill Maher in a few minutes.

We had a great Halloween this year. In the afternoon my mom and I headed over to j’s school, where they had a Halloween “parade” with the kids in their costumes. j wore the same spider costume he had last year (glad I listened to P’s advice about getting the larger size!), and it was fun to see all the little ones dressed up. My favorite was the kid dressed as a slice of mushroom pizza.

Our presence having completely distracted j from any hope of a normal day, we took him home about 45 minutes early. Though we planned to have dinner before trick-or-treating, kids began at around 4:30, so P and j headed out early. The trick-or-treaters kept coming on and off until about 8.

I know it’s not everyone’s thing, but I like Halloween quite a bit, and am ecstatic that we finally live somewhere where a fair amount of kids come trick-or-treating. I’m already planning for changes I’ll make next year. The first is that I should buy some kind of luminaries to light the way to our door since it’s somewhat dark. Kids had to travel up two flights of stairs to get to our kitchen door, and the luminaries would make it safer. Also, I want to start collecting some more decorations, and get j in on the act sooner. (Over the last few weeks in school, he made the few things I put on the window here.) Oh, and more creepy stuff--we have some funky spaces in the front of the house that could lend themselves well to more Halloween decorating.

I took some fun pictures tonight... if you’d like to see them and I haven’t already sent them to you, send me an email. I’m not sure if j is getting too old for me to keep sending tons of unrequested photos. :)

playing catch-up

This may have been the longest blog hiatus I’ve had. It’s been a crazy month, what with all this administrative work, P being in rehearsal, and my mom moving a mere 10 minutes away from us. As of yesterday, however, P’s show is over, my mom is moved, and the administrative work is at least slowing down a bit. Lately work, especially this extra job, has been incredibly stressful and kind of depressing and I’m not sure how it will--or even should--fit into the rest of my life, but I’m trying to do my best for now.

School is going well for j. Because of the bus, he has long days, leaving at 8 and not getting home until 4:30, but we’ve definitely seen an improvement in his communication skills and behavior. According to his teacher, he’s an enthusiastic participant in all the activities--especially the singing. He still has trouble focusing on one thing at a time. All this isn’t a surprise, but it is nice to hear overall positive things right now.

And the election! Only one more week to go and I cannot tell you how much I long for next Wednesday when it’s all over. We’ve been talking politics in this house every day for over a year. j can immediately identify the candidates by sight:

“Barack Obama—-yea! John McCain—-ugh”
...though he sometimes, much to his parents’ chagrin, gets the commentary reversed.

He can also identify Michelle Obama and “Joey Biden!” and McCain’s running mate, “Tina Fey.” (I’m desperately hoping that come next week, he won’t need to ever know the actual name of the Republican VP nominee.)

It's funny, this writing thing. Getting down just the few above thoughts was a little rough since I haven't been doing it for a while. Must. write. more. often.

chopsticks!

Let me preface this video by explaining that today was the first day j used chopsticks. It was not intentional. There’s a new restaurant in town that serves Chinese food and sushi, and P decided to get some sushi for lunch.

I knew that there was a brief mention of chopsticks on a Sesame Street video that j watches, but I had no idea how well he had it memorized until he saw P’s chopsticks.

“Chopsticks!” j grabbed the chopsticks from his dad, forcing P to wander the kitchen in search of a new pair and ending up with some fancy ones I purchased a few years back. Then, while trying to spear a piece of avocado, j said (I am not making this up), “This is how I eat chopsticks. I hold it like a pencil, then you take it, and eat it!” And for his first attempt, he didn’t do half bad.

Then he got a bit more adventurous, and, well, this happened...

ahoy

Did you all know that today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day?

Seriously, it is. And there's an event going on at a local bar here in celebration. Really.

school (seems to be) way cool

Well, we’re near the end of the week and the bus is going well. j rides in the morning with one aide and a driver, and in the afternoon with another aide and driver. He loves the aide who rides with him on the way home--her name is Aggie, and this week has been All. About. Aggie. (The wheels on the bus go Aggie, Aggie, Aggie... etc.) I think his reluctance to get on the bus in the morning has been more about the fact that Aggie isn’t there rather than general dislike of the bus.

And school seems to be going well, too. He brings home tons of artwork each day, including this masterpiece, which cracked me up. I can imagine him leafing through a toy catalogue with someone at daycare, pointing to things excitedly. Ball! Letter! Baby!

fey as palin

In case you haven't seen it, here is Tina Fey as Sarah Palin and Amy Poehler as Hillary Clinton on SNL last night.



Best line? Poehler/Clinton saying she doesn't "want to hear you compare your road to the White House to my road to the White House. I scratched and clawed through mud and barbed wire and you just glided in on a dog sled wearing your pageant sash and your Tina Fey glasses."