Not much on this one, but let me just make one quick point:

Has the bar for Palin been set so low that not screwing up is now equated with doing well? There was this sort of collective stunned silence at the end of this debate (figuratively, not literally) as everyone realizes that Palin didn’t make any major gaffes. Is mediocrity the underlying theme of this ticket: McCain/Palin - we won’t screw up as bad!

Look at her answers closely: she rarely left her very narrow comfort zone; she dodged question after question; her speech was filled with repetitive phrases obviously drilled into her by the McCain camp. America has to wake up and realize that this isn’t an episode of America’s Top Model or Dancing with the Stars; this is our countries future. We’ve had 8 years of “Maverick” policies, and I’m scared that McCain is triumphant in the fact that he’s fought both Democrats and his own party. “Not a Team Player”, anyone? Doing your own damn thing and not working with anyone is in no way bipartisan….it’s….like, unpartisan, or something.

I’m very very scared.

Who needs actual content when Shatner is involved?

Dear Liam,

Did you know that you turned two on August 26th?  I’m asking because we really didn’t get to celebrate your birthday the way we had intended to and I’m worried that you might not have realized that day was a special day for you.  We had planned to have a little party.  We were going to invite some of your library story time friends like Megan and Hunter and your cousins in Tulsa.  But then, mommy got offered this job.  In fact, on the very afternoon of your birthday she was on the phone with the president of the college that hired her trying to wiggle a little more money out of them (it didn’t work..just so you know as a future lesson, don’t try to negotiate more money from people who simply don’t have any money to negotiate with…it can be very disheartening for both parties involved). So, yeah, I was sort of busy, stressing about work stuff and really didn’t get to celebrate one of the most important days of my life. The day you were born.

You did get a present.  A Little People Construction site thingy that makes noise and is supposed to build problem solving skills (at least that’s what it said on the front of the box).  But we didn’t wrap it.  Momo and Baba’s present was wrapped but Mommy and Daddy’s wasn’t.  You didn’t even get it on your birthday.  You got it the next day when Dad and I just so happened to need something at Wal-Mart and we figured this would be a good time to get your present eventhough  we weren’t entirely sure what we were going to get you.  I don’t know why but I think I feel guilty about this most of all.  That and the fact that I didn’t stick to my rule of always making your birthday cake from scratch all by myself despite my baking handicap but I already messed that one up last year because Grandma Pat made the cake and I only did the icing.  I was going to fix that this year.  I was going to make you a cake all by myself and it wasn’t going to be some boxed thing neither.  I planned something elaborate. Something bonified.  We’re talking Martha Stewart calibre.  Seriously.  I swear, this will never happend again.  And despite how your birthday may or may not be celebrated, don’t ever think that August 26th isn’t considered one of the most amazing days in the history of our lives because it is.  It’s amazing because you were born on that day and you’re.simple.amazing.

So, you’re putting three word sentences together now.  This morning we were at Eggberts with Baba and you said “eat bacon good”.  You really like bacon.  And you really like eating at Eggberts.  I don’t know how many times I’ve heard you pick up a phone and order “egg” “bacon” and “cracker”.  You’re always so believable when you’re playing with phones, mimicking us grown-ups to a “T”, pausing at just the right moments, inserting “mmm’s” and “yeah’s” in all the appropriate places.  And I love how you love books.  Not just children’s books.  Now that we’ve been staying at Momo’s and Baba’s you’ve been playing in you’re uncle Mitchy’s room, perusing his selection of Penguin Classics.  You seem to favor Tacitus and Machiavelli’s The Prince (your father is a little concerned about the latter choice).

I also love how you appreciate nature.  When we walk to the park you always point out all the dead worms on the ground. Except you call the “hum”.  Somehow we’ve managed to teach you to have such an appreciation for nature that you blow the dead worms kisses.  You also do this with bugs, especially the ones you find crawling on flowers.  Thankfully you never put your mouth to any of the bugs but just sort of kiss the air in front of them. However, you did kiss and hug a tree next to the playground today.

Everybody always remarks on your smile and how happy you always seem to be.  I think it’s contagious because even in my darkest moments I can’t be sad when I’m around you.  It’s just not possible.  Although there is one exception and that’s when you’re sad.  Like the other day when I was rocking you in the rocking chair, singing you a lullaby and all of a sudden you just looked at me with tears in your eyes and put your head on my shoulder.  You cried but you didn’t make any noise. So I started crying and we both just sat there in the rocking chair crying until you sat up, smiled and used your sleeve to wipe my eyes.  I kid you not, you really did that.  You turned two and acquired an awareness for life kiddo.  You know something big and sad is going on.  Something big and sad is going on.  We’re moving away from the only home you’ve ever known.  I haven’t taken you back to the house since we moved all our belongings out because I’m afraid it will be too traumatic for you.  I thought about taking you back to the park up the road from our house just for old times sake, one last time before we leave, but I think that would just be cruel and confusing for you.  I’m not sure there’s anyway we can explain to you what’s going on, despite you’re three word sentence structure and the solid critical thinking skills (ok, I know I’m you’re mom and all mom’s say this about their kids but really, you’re way smart).  I do know, however, that where ever you are you’re always going to be surrounded by people who love you.  Moving is an awkward transition.  But just stick close to the people you know first. Get a feel for those people you don’t.  Then just get yourself out there and give everyone that confident “hi” you’ve perfected so well.  Nobody can resist a friendly face, especially one like yours.

The truth is, I think you’re going to love New York.  In fact, we’re moving up there at the most perfect time of the year.  Fall.  Apple picking (which means Nain’s homemade applesauce).  Pumpkin picking.  Fall colors on the trees. I for one have always wanted to live on the east coast during Fall.  It’s going to be awesome.  And just think of all the cousins you’re going to get to know.  Trust me.  I’ve been married to your father for six years and I still don’t know all the names of his aunts, uncles and cousins.  I would feel bad about this but even your Dad has trouble remembering them sometimes.

So, basically, I know things are kinda rough right now but it’s only temporary.  Just think of it as one of many learning experiences you will have in life.  This is going to teach you how well you can adapt to new things when you have to.  And just remember that you’re not the only one learning this in the family right now.  You’re Dad and I are learning it too.  For your sake, we’re going to try to pretend really hard that we actually know what we’re doing but the truth is, we don’t have a clue and we’re bound to goof at some point, in fact, we may have already and just don’t know it yet.  So, let’s just stick together and ride this thing through like an earthquake.

Went to see Batman: Dark Knight last night. Brilliant. And by that I mean Heath Ledger was brilliant. Everyone else did just fine, but they just sort of melted into to the background when Ledger took the stage. Frankly, I got bored when he wasn’t in the scene. I don’t really care if he was true to the comics or not, he portrayed the Joker exactly as he should be.

And Serendipity. We’re moving, as you are all aware of by now, and so selling the house has been a big worry for the both of us. Especially me. I’ve put a lot of work into that house, but being an amateur and perfectionist at the same time, I see all the mistakes I’ve made (which are glaringly obvious to me) and it turns my stomach just thinking about people walking through the house, seeing all my mistakes and just leaving in disgust. Well, I was loading up one of the PODS yesterday when a lady came walking down the street, she noticed the PODS (how could you not, the things are monstrosities). She approached me and asked if I was selling the house, to which I answered affirmatively. She then told me that she lived just down the road and about her mother who is looking to move to Bartlesville to be closer to her grandchildren. I told her the price we were asking which ended up being within her mothers’ price range. A beaming smile on my face at this point, I invited her inside for a tour. She was impressed. And I could not have been happier. So her mother is coming next Friday to look at the house herself, so me and Carleen are making a mad dash effort to get the house prettified before she shows up.

I could not have received better news. I haven’t slept well in a week thinking about selling this house. I got a terrific nights sleep last night.

email sent from Mike to friends:

Subject: Pathological need for boxes

Hi everybody! So yeah, we’re moving in a few weeks and I have a couple PODS units coming to the house that we’re going to load up. Thing is, I NEED boxes like a boxer needs dope and cheap hookers. Should you have any kind of boxes laying around I would be greatly indebted should you bring them over to the house. Also should you find yourselves, between Monday the 8th and Friday the 12th, desperately needing to pack someone else’s belongings into boxes, you’ll find that we’ve got just the thing to cure what ails you.

Thanks everyone!

Seriously, we do need boxes so…if you’ve got some to spare we’d appreciate it. :-p

It has officially been made…um…official. Carleen has been offered the position of Reference Instructional Librarian (correct me if I got that wrong) at the Jefferson County Community College in Watertown New York. Included is a significant pay increase. New York. *happy sigh* An hour away from where I grew up. Probably about 30 minutes from Canada, 10-20 from Lake Oneida. Camping. Hiking. Boating. Temperate Summers. Beautiful Autumns. I could not be more excited. I cried most of the day after I found out, I was so happy. We’ll get more details tomorrow - such as official pay, starting date, etc. But we will probably be moving sometime within the month.

I have a secret and it sucks.  Not the secret itself but having to keep it because I have yet to get the absolute official word on this.  It looks like Mike and I may be moving soon.  Like, out-of-state moving.  We found out last Tuesday.  The last four days have been fury filled with all kinds of emotions for me.  Excited? Hell ya.  Nervous? You betchya.  Anxious? Don’t even go there.  Sad? Yup, lots of that too.  Why?  Well, cuz Oklahoma is the one place I’ve lived longest.  I was overseas for a total of fourteen years.  As much as I claim to be a foreigner the hard truth is that I’ve lived in Oklahoma a grand total of sixteen years.  Ok, yeah, so there are those four years I was in college but still.  There are a lot of memories here and since my parents are opting to move along with us so they can be close (thank god…added plus is once my brother decides to move back to the continent then we’ll all be in the same time zone for once), it’s unlikely I’m going to be coming back to Bartlesville anytime soon.

I have another secret.  Country music has grown on me.  I actually listen to it regularly (shut-up Mike!) and I’m not sure country music is going to have the same ring to it where we’ll be going as it does down here where, yes, good looking men still wear cowboy hats and wranglers in public during the daytime.  In fact, they come into our library all the time.  I had to kick one guy out once because he was “dippin’ chew” and spittin’ it into his soda bottle.  It was really quite quaint.

Then of course there’s friends. Game Night.  Halloween parties.  Group gatherings at Movies 6 for openings.  I admitt, our social life has always been limited due to shyness and general busyness but there’s some really special people we’re going to be leaving and that really sucks.  I know we’ll always be in touch but it’s hard when you realize that things won’t ever be the same.  Now that your time is limited you start kicking yourself for not getting together with people more often.  I have a general disability when it comes to friendships.  It’s always been hard for me to get too close to people when you’ve had a childhood like mine.  If I wasn’t moving then my best friend probably would be soon so with all that bouncing around you just sort of learn to disconnect and be content with close aquaintances instead of long life friendships.  But you get together with the same people on a regular basis every week for four years and you get close whether you like it or not.

So, it’s not a sure thing yet but it still has my head spinning.  Moving was a little better when I was younger.  All I needed was a suitcase and a plane ticket.  Now we have to sell a house, move a two year old, two dogs, a truck full of belongings, then buy another house, possibly a four wheel drive…phew.  Luckily, we have two sets of parents and a lot of emotional support from good buddies.  It won’t be a piece a cake but it will be fine.  Stress is temporary.  Change is mandatory.

I keep forgetting that the point of this exercise is not to offer up the best of the best each week, but simply to constantly be shooting. Not only that but to show even the failures, analyze them, and learn for next time. My biggest problem has always been quantity. I think I’ve shown that I can get quality out of a scene, now I simply need to work on quantity of work - I tend to only shoot those scenes that I deem “just right” or at least very nearly so. I just need to shoot more. So here’s this weeks sampling:

I’m getting some nice tonal range here but now my only beef is my clarity, these shots are all just a bit blurry - even though I was shooting at a fairly high shutter speed. I’m shooting for either a 50mm (cheap) or 85mm (bit more expensive). My other complaint with my current lens is the lowest f/stop is 4.5 - I’m missing about 3 stops or range and it’s killing me. Both the 50mm and 85mm go down to about 1.8 which would be great - I’m finding myself wanting to stop down more and more to blur the background to separate my subject, but I’m very limited in that regard. Tack that onto my current shopping list of equipment.

I knew I couldn’t keep a schedule. At least I know not to work for a newspaper. This week’s photo’s are pretty much about me just trying to get something posted this week having fun in front of the camera. Self-Portraits. I did have fun with these, as I tend to do once I get an idea and start messing around with it. No attempt at decent quality - it’s all on-camera flash, pointed straight at my face in the middle of the night. It’s neat to see how my expressions changed from what I wanted them to be to what they become after the pre-flash burned out my retinas.

I was pointed to a great website: Strobist by my friend Josh recently, as such, I’m looking to pick up a decent flash unit and and try some studio work. I’m looking at a Vivitar 285HV. It’s a workhorse, a powerful flash, and almost totally manual, which is all that I’ll need once I can get the flash off the camera (tripods, cords/Pocket Wizards, umbrellas - $$). Anyway, hopefully within a few months you’ll be seeing some studio style shots from me - I’m looking forward to it!

I can’t remember what I was trying to show in the above shot - but I got this from a long series of pre-flashes as the camera tried to get focus and evaluate the scene. Flash in your face + night time = seriously burned retinas.

You can tell I had fun, and that was the point.

Note: the next Photo of the Week will probably be coming to you from my parents computer in NY, as we’re going up for a visit at the end of this week. It’ll be nice to get a change of scenery.

Sorry folks, I’ve missed the past 2 weeks of PotW - the first week I needed to get the bathroom done in a hurry for the 4th of July, which put PotW on hold for the next week. Also, you’ll notice I’m early - I’m hoping to get downtown so as to shoot things that aren’t in my backyard, but not sure if I’m going to get down there. If so, you’ll get a bonus PotW this Friday. But we’re back with an extra special HUGE PotW to make amends - this weeks set is a theme: Decay. I’m working on a self-portrait set, but I’m having trouble deciding what exactly I want to say with that one - generally if I don’t make self-portraits that are me hamming in front of the camera, they end up being all emo and dark. I’m not a model (you know what I mean?).

I love “old stuff” like this. I really like old barns filled with lots of rusty farm machinery. I should be able to find one of those around here if I try.

A very disappointing week. I tried to get downtown and get some shots of all the run down areas of town, but I had Liam with me and he was rather uncooperative. So all in all I have very few shots to choose from this week.

I’ve noticed all my photos are pretty weak on contrast, I can get my shadows where I like them, but my highlights are either washed out or muddy any photoshop tips/hints in that direction? It could be a setting on my camera as well, I’ll have to check that out. Anyway, here they are:

This is a hat that’s been sitting in a chair in our sunroom for weeks. Yup. It’s a hat.

This is the base of a lamp post in downtown near the Philips Petroleum building. It’s a nice area that I had never really walked through, I’d like to revisit it at night sometime (once I get a tripod).

I love chipping paint photos, but again, I wish the white could have been a bit whiter.

If you’re currently eating something or squimish, don’t read any further.

Mike had to pull a half eaten baby rabbit from Turbo’s clenched jaws yesterday. This was a very traumatic experience for me. I realize that dogs are dogs and that hunting down and eating wild meat is simply bred into their nature, but why can’t he just stick to his Science Diet. It’s so much less bloody. Mike was actually on the phone wishing his dad Happy Father’s day when I noticed Turbo through the window, tiny Thumper feet hanging from his mouth. Without any particular plan in mind, I grabbed one of my shoes and ran out to do…something. But, by that time it was clear that the poor thing had departed from this world, I sighed and I contemplated just letting him eat the rest. Then I started thinking about the size of Turbo’s stomach and the size of said rabbit. He was eating it whole, kind of like a snake would. I worried that this might cause some sort of blockage in his stomach because surely, he doesn’t digest fur, does he?

It’s been storming off and on for almost two weeks now. Usually I love storms. I love listening to them, falling asleep to them. But unfortunately all the rain is causing a great deal of grief when it comes to our house, and belief it or not, my car. The house is flooding/dripping on two ends. My dad and Mike have been working on the corner flooding next to Liam’s room. After digging for a day they discovered that someone had drilled a who in the wall, which is probably where the majority of the rain was coming in. However, there still seems to be some leakage problems but they need to wait until everything dries properly before they seal it all. Meanwhile, it just keeps raining. Very annoying.

The sun room ceiling is still dripping, even after Mike and his dad spent days trying to seal up all the gaps. The car. Well, my car is always a mystery. It continues to be tempermental about starting. It died on me just before my massage therapy appointment last week. Not a good time to have a dead car. I was so looking forward to that massage, I was totally prepared to hike my way their in the heat. But the new mystery is that the trunk fills up with water after it rains and we can’t figure out where it all comes from since every “test” we’ve done on it seems to indicate that everything around the top of the trunk is sealed tight. I’ve had to chuck my spare tire because it got all rusty. Hopefully I won’t get a flat anytime soon because that would really suck.

New Liam words: bug, baking, honey (my heart melts when he says this), air conditioning (ok, so it doesn’t come out exactly like that but he has the syllables right).

New Liam challenge: getting him to sit down for dinner, eat dinner, show any interest whatsoever in dinner.

Sorry, I’m technically a day late on the PotW, but Friday seems a better day to do it anyway. Well, here goes:

This weeks batch was actually very difficult. First I had to weed out all the Liam pics, which proved to be my best stuff of that batch. Then I had to filter out three from the rest. I was really digging a lot of the ones I took this week, making it difficult to choose three.

This one was tough, since Liam was right there with me, so I was trying to spin the (what do you call those things?) thing around without whacking him in the face. I would have liked to have gotten another shot at this pic, but it was a no go.

Edward Weston in the house! This one is very evocative of the work of Edward Weston - my all-time favorite photographer. Of course, he was using a Large Format camera (Quick Aside: the Large Format class I took in school ruined photography for me. I LOVED L/F so much that once out of that class, I really couldn’t go back to 35mm. The amount of control and clarity you get with L/F is astounding.) so he really has the advantage on me.

Why is this interesting to me? I don’t know. Some workers are gutting the elementary school’s heating and a/c units and this was a shot of some kind of….part.

Well what do you think?

Ok folks, I’ve been watching people on the web work on this challenge for some time now, Chrissy, Mae Jane…accomplish 101 preset goals in 1001 days. I’m going to give it a shot. I’ve tried things like this before. I few years ago I made a list on 43 things, but I was only able to come up with 33 things to do. So, how, I ask myself, am I going to be able to come up with 101 things if I can’t even come up with 43. I need some suggestions. I intend to include some of my 43 things on my new list, although some need to be updated and tweaked a little. For instance, I don’t think I’m going to manage to visit all of the world’s continents in 2.5 years. I mean, I have two down so far but financially it’s just not feasible right now. And, I don’t think I’m gonna swing the mile under 10 minutes. Last I checked I clocked around 12 to 13 and that was before I had Liam. However…and I know I’m probably going to get some head shakes from Mike on this one, but I really do want to run a 5k. Just a 5k. Nothing big. I’m fully aware of the possible pain that would result form such an endeavor but my plan is to do it this summer…get it out of the way now, accomplish that goal before the arthritis really kicks in, then finally wave good bye to my running days and hello to bike riding and elliptical trainers. The socks, however, I have a head start on. I’ve been working on a pair of socks for Mike for a few months now. I have one done. This is pretty much the first knitting project I’ve done that didn’t end in a scarf or hat.

But still, I’m stuck. I need some suggestions. My only request is that it doesn’t require the consumption of bugs (if I’m stranded in the desert…ok, fine, roast up that beetle) but stick with the crafty, creative, sporty and adventurous endeavors (except, I did mention the bugs, right?).

Tomorrow’s Friday. I swear, this week seemed endless. But, if I’m remembering right, this also means that Mike will be posting his photo of the week soon. We went to the park the other day and he took some really great shots using the blue tinted filter again. I’m using one of the pictures he took of Liam for our banner. It really is nice to see Mike using a camera for artistic purposes again. He never lost his touch, that’s for sure.

Tomorrow is Mike’s birthday. He’s turning 29. We did our main celebrating last night. We had planned to go out but settled on a dinner (turkey burger) and a movie (The Invasion). Liam spent the night at my parents so it was nice and relaxing. We tried to sleep in but we both have inner 7am clocks now.

This weekend was Sun Fest. It’s like a craft/music/family entertainment festival they have in Bartlesville every summer. I’ve gone every year I’ve lived here (minus the few years I was in college). It’s grown a lot since I was in high school. The vendors used to be mainly country crafters but now there are potters, candle makers, horticulturists and artists of all kinds who attend trying to sell their stuff. I buy something every year, usually from my friend Jennifer and her mom. Jennifer makes delicious natural bath scrubs and soaps (I say delicious because some of them do contain coco) and her mom paints lovely flowers on pretty much anything she can get her hands on, mirrors, chests, tables. One year I bought an old vintage suitcase that I now use to store material. Hopefully one day I’ll use that material to make something extraordinary (must master that sewing machine).

They also had a dog show. Like, the cool type of dog show. They were all rescued dogs that had been trained to catch frisbee’s and do crazy stunts. Really made me want to go home and try some tricks with Chani and Turbo. They’ll sit and shake hands for a treat, and Chani used to be able to “find” treats when I hid them but it’s been awhile. I feel bad sometimes, I don’t feel like I spend enough time with my dogs. I look at Chani and remember what things were like when it was just me and her during the day (Mike would be asleep since he was working the night shift). Those were lazy days. Walk, play, watch a little t.v., play, read, walk again, dinner and then back to the couch again.

The weather’s getting hotter. There’s so much that needs to be done in our yard but the mosquito’s are awful right now. It looks like Liam has my sweet blood because they pick on him too. We try to spend as much time as we can with him outside, going early in the morning or later in the evening when it’s a little cooler. He’s discovered the monkey bars at the park now. He grabs a hold of the shortest bar and swings, then laughs, I guess at the tickly feeling it creates in his tummy.

So, my birthday is coming up next month. My birthday present is going to be a night to myself in a cabin in Osage Hills, and possible a kleen kanteen. We were going to get me a bike but it’s too expensive right now so we’re saving up, twenty-five dollars each pay check, until we have enough for two bikes and one of those canvas tents for Liam that attaches on to the side. I’m having serious hip problems and was recently told that I have to quit running. I’m having a really had time with this since running has been my “escape” exercise for some years now. I was never a very good runner. I could go a good distance but I don’t think I had very good form which is probably why I ended up with hip/back problems. One of my longterm goals was to run in a race but I never got around to it. I guess I’ll have to find a bike race to participate in now.

The weekend before my birthday we’re taking a trip upstate to see Mike’s parents and take part in a family reunion. I’m excited about this, Liam will have a chance to meet more family and that’s always a good thing. The sad part is that I have to come home on the following Monday (not enough vacation days) and Mike and Liam are going to remain in New York for about a week. This will be the first time I’ll be away from Liam for that length of time. It’s over a month away and I’m already dreading it but I’m excited too because it gives Mike more time to be back in his hometown and visit with his family and friends.

In an effort to get myself back into taking pictures on a regular basis, I’m going to start a weekly post entitled (fittingly) Photo of the Week, where I take a bunch of pictures during the week and post my favorite(s). Beyond that, this is pretty well self-explanatory, so, on with the pics! Oh, I forgot my one rule: It can’t be a picture of Liam - we post so many of those already and it’s too easy. I’ve got to go out and really search for a picture.

This was a tough choice, but I really did like this one the best out of the ones I shot today (more below, for comparison) I’m experimenting with some built in filters in my camera - one that tints the B/W to be a slight blue color, and another that adjusts the contrast. I really like the look of the blue and I’ll probably experiment a bit with that. Here’s some other favorites:

Mike’s birthday is coming up on the ninth. I bought him Resident Evil 4 for Wii. I gave it to him early because we had game night last night and I thought he would like to play it with some of our buddies. Unfortunately, I had to retire early last night (was feeling a little loopy) so I didn’t get to gaze at the wonderful graphics that he’s been raving about all day. They’re definitely something. It almost makes me want to play but one look at the way Mike has to navigate both control and nunchuck makes me retreat back to my Google Reader and just say no.

I’ve uploaded a few new photos to our Flickr from our trip to the Aquarium last week. Liam enjoyed petting the sting rays. Mommy was a little edgy around the sting rays, given that she was stung by one while vacationing in South Carolina one summer. I accidently stepped on it (you know, it might help if their skin were a different color than say, SAND). We had also planned to go to Big Splash while I was on my vacation last week but unfortunately the weather was so bad that they had to close down. In fact, we’ve had quite a few storms the last few days. Mike took Liam over to my parents today so I could work some more on cleaning out the craft room (Mike was about to lay orange cones around the doorway….it was getting really bad). I big thunderstorm hit while they were there. Apparently, they both sat out in the sun room and watched while Liam pointed to the sky and said “Boom!”. Meanwhile, I was at Wal-mart picking up more storage bins. The down pour started just as I was leaving. I was a soggy-bottom girl by the time I got home. Still, there’s something about being drenched in thunder storm rain that’s very refreshing.

Was cleaning out our hall closet the other day, trying to make more room in there for stuff overflowing in our office/craft room. I went through one of my “treasure boxes” hoping to reorganize and add to it. My mom has always been very meticulous about keeping things from our childhood. Our scrapbooks are…well, definitely scrapbooks, packed full of pictures, cards, notes to teachers, report cards, school works. She didn’t just keep the usual stuff. She also kept stuff that if she had asked me at the time I would have said “chuck it, it’s meaningless”. For instance, she kept a poster from a project I did on the Vietnam War in 8th grade and my multiplication flash cards my dad made for me in elementary school.

This particular treasure box was packed with clothes, toys, diaries, dolls, wallets, Donald Duck comics, my grandmothers tiny hand bible from her confirmation, dresses from special occasions, calendars, posters, phonics books…the list goes on. Anyway, I felt very nostalgic as I was going through it all and was compelled to take pictures of everything before I stored it all away again probably never to be looked at for another ten years but I only had a few hours before Liam woke up from his nap so I came up with the idea of making a short video instead. It was the librarian part of my brain talking to me. I just felt I needed to document the moment.

YouTube only allows a certain length of video so I uploaded to Vimeo but for some reason the Vimeo embed wouldn’t work in wordpress so I remembered that Flickr allows you to upload videos now. But they only allow you to upload 90 seconds worth. The entire clip is almost 15 minutes longs. I babble. I’ve been messing with this for a few days trying different ways to get the clip embeded into this post but you know, I’m on vacation, I’m not foolin’ with it so to view the clip just go here.

So, this is like, my first video upload where it’s just me and the camera talking. You’ll notice, I’m kinda flaky.

Liam will be two in August. It’s getting to the point now where it just sounds funny to count his age in months. I say twenty-one months and it just sounds like I’m trying to hold on to his babyhood when really he’s turning into a little boy.

Which means he’s starting to do little boy/little kid stuff. He climbs things constantly. In fact, it’s rare his two feet remain on the ground because if they’re not climbing, they’re running somewhere and if he’s not doing that he’s on the floor trying to body slam the dogs, etc.

As Mike noted, we have started to potty train Liam. We’re doing it pretty informally for now, simply trying to introduce him to the contraption called “the toilet”, what it does, how to use it. He’s gone a total of four times now. He’s a very good student. But making him more aware of the potty process has also made him more observant about other methods, such as the way Turbo pee’s. It took awhile to figure out what Liam was doing when we went on walks in the afternoon and he’d stop short in the street to lift his leg against a nearby pole.

Somewhere I have counted all the words that he is saying now. “Ewww” is one of his favorites. We use it often to keep him from touching things that he isn’t supposed to, like trash can, trash on the ground while we’re on walks. He also uses the Norwegian word for bee (bie) to describe all insects including aunts and as we found out yesterday, spiders. He can also say most of his different body parts and many different sounds for different animals. He can also say mess. Not surprising since it tends to follow him around where ever he goes. I say that but have to mention that he’s also learning to “tidy”. For instance, one morning, early, just after we had all rolled out of bed, Liam walked into the t.v. room and noticed a plastic grocery bag on the floor. I had been organizing his old baby clothes the night before and used plastic bags to store them. I guess I left an empty one. After seeing the plastic bag, he promptly picked it up, walked into the kitchen, pushed open the door to the laundry room, and put the plastic bag in the bag where we keep grocery bags to be recycled, turned around, walked out of the laundry room, closed the door the best he could without jamming his little fingers, looked at us with a “why don’t you people pick-up after yourselves” look, and walked briskly back to his toys.

Cute things.

Hi. Thought I drop in and try to help Mike with the updates. It’s been a crazy few months.

If you care to venture out of your rss readers you’ll note the change in template. Wordpress has been upgraded. I subsequently spent most of Tuesday night trying to master the widget feature…my twitter and shared items are available for view, as are the headings for Mike’s most recent post to his campaign blog, and the headings for my most recent posts on my library blog and brand spankin’ new yoga blog which is pretty much nothing but inspiring quotes, since I don’t really have time for anything else.

I will also soon be starting another blog that will chronicle my effort to teach my son Norwegian. This is going to be quite the task given that I am not actually fluent in the language myself. Who knows, he may end up speaking Dutch by the time I’m done with him at which point I’ll just send him down to live with Ellen and her family at their “compound” in steamy hot Texas land.

Work has been fun but busy these past months. We’re into the second month of our My Favorite Book Display. I also hosted a poetry night which was a total blast. I was also recently asked to help build a bookshelf out of books, a project meant to be a kind of collaborative out-reach thingy with the Price Tower Arts Center (they’re doing an exhibit on upcycling in August). So, I have about two months to figure out how to do this. Any ideas? (Please?) Step-by-step instructions will be very much appreciated.

Other than that, I am dazzled every day by my son who continues to suprise me with his curious and always adorable personality. Mike and I have been keeping note of his milestones on our wall calendar. Will post them at some point. Sigh. I have a few vacation days coming up at the end of May. Can’t freakin’ wait!