What! Electicity out.

When we have storms, we usually don't loose power. Or if we do, it comes back pretty quickly. But Hurricane Sandy knocked a branch down on power lines two streets over and we were without power for about 20 hours.

If it weren't cold, we would have been fine. We had food and water and such, but we had no heat and no hot water and no oven or stove. Everything was cold. After huddling under blankets all morning, we went out to eat for lunch, then over to my brother's house to stay with their napping little boy, so they could work on the play. The power still wasn't home when we got back, so we packed up and went out to my parents for the evening. We were going to stay overnight, but we called our neighbor and they said the power came on 15 minutes after we left. So we came home and had a rather uneventful night.

We talked about how much trouble we would be in if all of a sudden all the electricity went out all over the world. It isn't a very pleasant thought. I had liked to think that I would be ok because I know how to build fires and cook and such, but when faced with having to do it, I realized that I am rather fond of electricity and in fact take it for granted most often.

But we have power now and we are very thankful for it. And we are a lot warmer.

Re-designing?

I have been debating re-designing my blog. I have gone through the various setting and fiddled and played around and such several times. But I just haven't been able to click the "Apply to Blog" button.

I started because it seemed like everyone was re-designing their blogs and web pages recently. Several friends moved to WordPress, some have changed titles or URLs, and my little blog looks so... blog-like. Not that it is bad. In fact, I kind of like the bright blue background with a bean sprout coming up. It seems perfect for the title. But even the title might be out of date.

When I started my blog, I had helped my mother do green beans for many many years. In fact, for two years I did them almost all by myself (with my sister) while my parents were in Jamaica on a missions trip. I like green beans, and I even like doing them. It was a bit much those two years, but it is now a matter of laughter. In fact, this year Mommy gave me a bunch of canned green beans as a gift.

There is something very community orienting about a garden. Even when I was a kid, helping in the garden, Daddy would tell us stories as we weeded to help us keep our minds off the nasty bugs and sore backs. And now I look forward to strawberry picking with Mom and Dad so we can talk and remember together.

But now my little flowerbed and my window boxes are sadly lacking in their beauty and profitable-ness. I always forget to water and I still don't like weeding. I don't find lots of pleasure in gardening, though I enjoy it when I am done with it and have a pretty flowerbed or yummy herbs and veggies. So on one hand, the title of my blog doesn't seem to fit so well anymore.

But on the other hand, it fit perfectly. Like my gardens, my blog is full of weeds/words, with occasionally flashes of beauty and fun. Like gardening, blogging is more fun when done with people (i.e. when people comment; thanks everyone who does :-) ). Like a garden, occasionally things might get dirty/messy because I am a normal person with my own peculiar, and yet so common, issues. Life, like gardening, can be a struggle; and blogs, like my flowers, can get forgotten.

So I haven't committed to any re-design yet. I still might, but like choosing seeds in the spring, there are so many designs and they could work, but will I be able to make it grow and be productive? or am I left dreaming of flowers while pulling weeds.

Thoughts on Turning 30

I have been 30 for almost a week now. It hasn't been the best week of my life.

My birthday was wonderful. Eamon slept in for a little bit in the morning. And he napped decently. Then Daddy watched Eamon while Thomas took me out for dinner at the Powerhouse - always an amazing culinary experience. We had a good time just being together, eating delicious food, discussing theology and life, and not worrying about the baby. Daddy played with him, gave him a bath, put him to sleep, then vacuumed the dining room and organized the living room! So I came home from a wonderful meal to a clean house. It was lovely.

But the next morning didn't go as planned. Neither did the rest of the week. From fevers and colds to random walks and unexpected phone calls, things just didn't go like I had thought they would. But I got the dishes done almost every day. And only woke up grumpy one morning.

So now I am 30. It seems crazy. I almost remember when my parents were 30. They were moving away from their families, had 2 little kiddies, found a new job, moved to a half-double, found a new church. It's a little weird to think of things like that.

All my expectations of being 30 are kind of shattered. Nicely shattered. I don't feel particularly old or settled or like I have my life together, and I think I am ok with that...usually.  There are moments when it hits me that I am not as young as I used to be. And there are times when I just wish I had a nice house and Thomas had a happy career. And there are even some odd moments when things go smoothly and I think, "What's the fun of that?"

I think I am beginning to like the idea of being 30. It seems like a good age to be. I guess I will find out this year if it really is.

Adventure of the Washing Machine

Once upon a time there was a washing machine. It lived in the basement of Sir Daddy and Lady Mommy's house. It was loved and relied on. However, it had a little quirk. Its door stays locked for two minutes after the Spin Cycle is completed. This has been the downfall of several loads of laundry, for in those two minutes, Lady Mommy's mind gets distracted and the laundry forgotten until it is smelly from sitting in the washing machine.

Until the time of this story, this quirk had not cause any real trouble. But alas, one day, Lady Mommy ran to the basement to quickly change the laundry from the washer to the dryer while Baby Eamon stood yelling in his crib. She reached the washer, tried the handle, and it would not open. Baby Eamon yelled more. She tried again, but still it would not open. And Baby Eamon was still yelling. She ran two flights of stairs, got Baby Eamon, who promptly stopped yelling, and carried him back down the two flights of stairs. But when she tried it again, the door still did not open. She waited several hours, but still the door did not open.

She thought, "Perhaps if I run the load again, it will reset and open the door." So she did, but the door still did not open. By this time it was late, so she turned off the machine and went to bed. In the morning, she found the manual that came with the machine. It did not give her any helpful advice, and the service number that it provided put her on hold, telling her the wait time would be at least 10 minutes. She hung up. She called the people who installed it, just in case they would have some advice, but they did not answer the phone. So she called a repair place in town that fixed her dryer earlier in the year.

The man that answered the phone first said that no one would be able to come until later the next week. Then as he realized what the problem was, he was willing to talk Lady Mommy through the steps need to fix this "simple problem." The first thing was to unplug the machine and wait for 15-20 minutes. Lady Mommy did this without any success. The next step was to take off the front panel, pull the lock manually then replace the cover. So with Baby Eamon, screwdriver, and cell phone in tow, Lady Mommy faced the washer. The three screws that the Man on the Phone told her about were not where they were supposed to be. Baby Eamon tried climbing the washer, then eating the lint on the floor, then unpacking the sewing boxes that were stacked nearby. This did not help Lady Mommy understand what the Man on the Phone was talking about. So she took a break and gave Baby Eamon his lunch and put him down for his nap.

While eating lunch, she asked her good friend Google for some help. He was quite helpful in explaining that the machine that the Man on the Phone thought she had, and the machine that she really has are different. Google also explained how to remove the front cover of the machine she did have, though it was very complicated. Once Baby Eamon was asleep, Lady Mommy again faced the washing machine. She again unplugged it, and just to make sure that it was still stuck, she tried the handle. The door swung open easily.

Lady Mommy plugged the machine back in, took the laundry out and put it in the dryer, and put a new load in the washer, confident that if it did get stuck again, she would be able to fix it. An hour later, she checked the wash. The door again opened easily.

Lady Mommy put away the screw driver, and Baby Eamon slept (for another 10 minutes.)

Birthday Celebrations

We had just a little party for Eamon. We weren't going to do anything, but when I found out that my brother didn't have rehearsal, we invited his family over for some cake. Keith took some of the pictures, and caught some really great facial expressions.

Eamon enjoyed his gifts from that day - books, blocks, and a rocking horse. The next weekend, we gave him a few more when the entire family got together - a musical instrument set, stacking doughnuts, and the Noah's Ark that my grandparents built for me. He likes having new toys to play with, but he still prefers my computer and the stereo system if I am not looking.

He also likes playing the piano, by which I mean pounding on it for a few seconds then trying to climb it and pull everything off.

12 months = 1 year!

This is at the beginning of the month. Three teeth on the bottom, two on the top. Getting those top two middle teeth were the trial of the month. That and two ear infections...

So some nights were really great. He would only wake once around 1, then wake up around 5:30, but fall back asleep until 6:30 or 7. But other nights, he was awake every hour, or every two hours, crying and crying, wanting to be held. However, ever since that last tooth came in, and that last ear infection was vanquished, he has been napping really well - a hour or hour and a half in the morning, and two to three hours in the afternoon.

It is amazing what sleep does to a mother's and baby's disposition. Life seems so much happier now.

He has been talking up a storm recently. Not all of it is understandable, but he is definitely sure of what he is trying to say. He recognizes lots of animals, but dogs and horses, and occasionally lions, are the only ones he matches the sound with the animal. I can usually understand what he wants, even though he can't say it. The sounds he can make are: b, d, g, h, k, m, n, r, t, dz; short a, long a, short o, short e, long e, and short u. He has begun putting consonant sounds together like br, gr, and dr.

He is very helpful around the house, as you can imagine. He loves to get out the Tupperware for me and pull the clean silverware out of the dish-drainer. He enjoys pulling out the books, the onions, the pots, his toys, the plastic bags, and anything else that can be pulled out. He also helps me when I cook by standing on a step ladder and putting his fingers in whatever I am making. We are working on the concept of putting things away, but he isn't really interested in learning that skill.

He still loves to eat, though he is much more picky about what he likes to eat, nowadays. Funky texture (lumps in baby food) seems to bother him. He eats baby food still, jelly toast, yogurt, noodles, bananas, and apples. He tried french fries when we went to NYC, and liked them even more than his baby food. Our usual breakfast is apple juice oatmeal. Lunch is jelly toast and fruit, and supper is baby food and tastes of whatever we are having. I try to vary it up a little from time to time by adding in yogurt or different types of fruit and veggies, but that is the basic.

He is getting much better at playing by himself, which ought to allow me to get lots more done, but somehow that doesn't happen. Partly because I need to have my eyes on him every single moment. I step around the corner and he is half-way up the steps or playing with the stereo system. I know, I know, we should baby proof our house. If you have ideas and want to come help do that, lets set up a time. I have been trying to get this house organized in ways that he can play, but we just have too much stuff and not enough room. But we also don't know what to get rid of, besides the piano, which is difficult to get rid of at the present moment. Alas!

Oh, I nearly forgot, he is about 18 pounds and is so tall that he can't stand under the table without bumping his head. His appointment is next week, so I don't have the exact measurements.

Other notes: He puts almost everything into his mouth. He loves looking at books and pictures on my computer. He enjoys playing with Daddy. In fact, Daddy coming home is probably one of his favorite times of day. He can go from being grumpy to happy in seconds. He isn't walking yet, though I have a feeling it will be soon. He has been getting frustrated with crawling today.

 

Well, there a year! It seems to have taken forever, and no time at all, at the same time.