Nope, that's not what I've been up to (ankle still not okay), that's what Buddy did on his very first trip to the Field Museum last month! That and press every button he could reach, regardless of whether or not he could see the results from pressing them. He's usually quiet around strangers but apparently not when there are buttons involved - he was shoving the big kids away to get to them. Luckily he's still small enough and cute enough to get away with that.
Then we went into the older sections, the Northwest Coast and Plains Indians displays, which were two of my favorites as a kid. No buttons to push here, since they haven't yet been modernized and made all interactive, just quiet, low-lit displays of clothing and weapons and sacred objects and all the usual stuff you think of belonging in a natural history museum. Buddy loved this too. He would run in his special penguin fashion (chest forward, arms somewhat back) full steam ahead - until suddenly he would stop before a case and look inside it intently. Until he was off again. Then he discovered the free-standing cases and the opportunities they offered for running around, and around, and around, giggling madly whenever I anticipated him and caught him by going in the opposite direction.
I love going to museums and had been wondering what it would be like for me when we started going to them with Buddy, since right now (and for many years) he'll dictate the pace of our visit. So now I know - it's awesome. I loved watching him enjoy himself and feel so at home, I loved looking to see what was catching his attention. It helped that we tag-teamed, The Dude and I, switching off on who would be the one to follow behind Buddy and who would push the stroller with all our stuff. That way we both still got some chance to look at the displays ourselves.
So I am looking forward to future trips to cultural institutions - I think the Art Institute may be the next stop.
(Plus, at the Field Museum, there's now a Corner Bakery on the first floor instead of the crappy stuff they used to offer for food. Really, how could it get better?)
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Gotta Love Those Dishpan Hands
No, I haven't been writing. I've been washing dishes instead.
It's been cold here, which would be fine if our apartment weren't so dang cold, and if my office weren't so dang cold, and if our dishwasher didn't freeze when it gets this cold. So, I've been washing dishes, once, twice, even three times on the days when we're home all day using those dang dishes.
I don't mind when it's cold outside. It's supposed to be cold outside. I get very cranky when it's cold inside. Cranky and slo-o-ow-moving. Way too slow to actually do anything (aside from, maybe, washing dishes).
Oh, and something's not right with my ankle, so I'm not running right now. Swimming, yes, which I also love dearly, but it's not the same at all. I don't want to whine too much in this post so I will just leave this topic for now.
Pretty much all I want to do is work on my quilt. Or read about quilting. Any quilters out there? At least I'm getting somewhere on one of my New Year's resolutions.
I can't think of any clever way to end this post so I will just say, it could be worse. It could be colder.
It's been cold here, which would be fine if our apartment weren't so dang cold, and if my office weren't so dang cold, and if our dishwasher didn't freeze when it gets this cold. So, I've been washing dishes, once, twice, even three times on the days when we're home all day using those dang dishes.
I don't mind when it's cold outside. It's supposed to be cold outside. I get very cranky when it's cold inside. Cranky and slo-o-ow-moving. Way too slow to actually do anything (aside from, maybe, washing dishes).
Oh, and something's not right with my ankle, so I'm not running right now. Swimming, yes, which I also love dearly, but it's not the same at all. I don't want to whine too much in this post so I will just leave this topic for now.
Pretty much all I want to do is work on my quilt. Or read about quilting. Any quilters out there? At least I'm getting somewhere on one of my New Year's resolutions.
I can't think of any clever way to end this post so I will just say, it could be worse. It could be colder.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
New Year's Review
Prior to Buddy's birth, I was always wondering, to borrow the title of Po Bronson's book, "What Should I Do With My Life?" (I even posted study questions from that book earlier this year.)
It’s a question that just doesn’t seem that important to me right now. The urgency around it has left. And I am so grateful. I have spent more than enough time in my life agonizing over it.
I’d heard it said that having a child focuses you, puts things into perspective. Leaving aside the whole mess of how one's life and priorities change with having a child in the first place, it also becomes a lot easier to answer the question “What is most important to me?” when my resources outside of child-rearing become more limited, and I have to scrounge for every available bit of time/space/money/energy. "What is most important to me" is whatever I feel I have to do to feel most wholly myself (and thereby also most available to my chosen commitments of child, mate, and work).
Who knows why this seemed so impossible for me to figure out in the past? I could speculate for pages but would only end up boring myself and any others foolish enough to stick along.
In any case, this year I was granted a respite from the grinding questions of WHY is this important HOW is this meaningful WHAT will this mean for my life, and could, in little morsels of space for myself, just do, and be, as I most wanted.
(I think also my sheer animal pleasure in Buddy helped open that space for me. I am happiest in a kinesthetic rather than analytic mode anyway, but it’s very easy to let monkey mind take over in everyday life. Having Buddy around moves me more easily into my body.)
And at the end of the year, what turned out to be most important to me outside of Buddy? Spending time with The Dude. Spending some time every day in purposeful movement. Connecting and reconnecting with friends. Making things with my hands again. Being of help at work.
I realize that the two questions I bring up, “What should I do with my life?” and “What is most important to me?”, are not the same. There is an urgency, a pressure, to the first one, that to me relates to other questions about vocation, about having a sense of calling or mission, about ambition and feelings of self-worth… I think what I am grateful for at the end of 2009 is that this question is no longer, or not currently at least, the one I feel I need to answer.
Happy New Year Everyone!
It’s a question that just doesn’t seem that important to me right now. The urgency around it has left. And I am so grateful. I have spent more than enough time in my life agonizing over it.
I’d heard it said that having a child focuses you, puts things into perspective. Leaving aside the whole mess of how one's life and priorities change with having a child in the first place, it also becomes a lot easier to answer the question “What is most important to me?” when my resources outside of child-rearing become more limited, and I have to scrounge for every available bit of time/space/money/energy. "What is most important to me" is whatever I feel I have to do to feel most wholly myself (and thereby also most available to my chosen commitments of child, mate, and work).
Who knows why this seemed so impossible for me to figure out in the past? I could speculate for pages but would only end up boring myself and any others foolish enough to stick along.
In any case, this year I was granted a respite from the grinding questions of WHY is this important HOW is this meaningful WHAT will this mean for my life, and could, in little morsels of space for myself, just do, and be, as I most wanted.
(I think also my sheer animal pleasure in Buddy helped open that space for me. I am happiest in a kinesthetic rather than analytic mode anyway, but it’s very easy to let monkey mind take over in everyday life. Having Buddy around moves me more easily into my body.)
And at the end of the year, what turned out to be most important to me outside of Buddy? Spending time with The Dude. Spending some time every day in purposeful movement. Connecting and reconnecting with friends. Making things with my hands again. Being of help at work.
I realize that the two questions I bring up, “What should I do with my life?” and “What is most important to me?”, are not the same. There is an urgency, a pressure, to the first one, that to me relates to other questions about vocation, about having a sense of calling or mission, about ambition and feelings of self-worth… I think what I am grateful for at the end of 2009 is that this question is no longer, or not currently at least, the one I feel I need to answer.
Happy New Year Everyone!
Friday, December 11, 2009
Aahhh!
I went for my first run in almost three weeks today and it was glorious. Painful but glorious.
(Painful in an unexpected way - my lower ribcage was all tight! From all the coughing I suppose.)
I've heard a good rule of thumb for deciding whether or not to run while sick: if the trouble is above the neck, go for it, if the trouble is below the neck, take care. My troubles have finally moved to and above my neck so I decided to go for it. I actually started yesterday - with the cold/snowy weather we've switched to using the Green Monster to take Buster to daycare, which is the same stroller we use when running with him. It was so cold yesterday I started jogging a bit with him just to keep warm, and lo and behold, I didn't fall over in a coughing fit (at least not until I stopped). Plus I am finally sleeping more like a healthy person and therefore waking up early enough to consider exercising before work.
So last night I laid out my best winter running outfit, set my alarm, stayed up too late and got woken up early by Buster (par for the course), switched my running outfit completely around (also par for the course), dropped him off and went for a little run. Only 20 minutes to start with but a girl's got to be smart about these things. Then back home for oatmeal, hot chocolate, yoga, and a hot shower. Heavenly.
I am so grateful to be feeling mostly normal again.
(Painful in an unexpected way - my lower ribcage was all tight! From all the coughing I suppose.)
I've heard a good rule of thumb for deciding whether or not to run while sick: if the trouble is above the neck, go for it, if the trouble is below the neck, take care. My troubles have finally moved to and above my neck so I decided to go for it. I actually started yesterday - with the cold/snowy weather we've switched to using the Green Monster to take Buster to daycare, which is the same stroller we use when running with him. It was so cold yesterday I started jogging a bit with him just to keep warm, and lo and behold, I didn't fall over in a coughing fit (at least not until I stopped). Plus I am finally sleeping more like a healthy person and therefore waking up early enough to consider exercising before work.
So last night I laid out my best winter running outfit, set my alarm, stayed up too late and got woken up early by Buster (par for the course), switched my running outfit completely around (also par for the course), dropped him off and went for a little run. Only 20 minutes to start with but a girl's got to be smart about these things. Then back home for oatmeal, hot chocolate, yoga, and a hot shower. Heavenly.
I am so grateful to be feeling mostly normal again.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Happy Holidays!
So, here's the holiday scorecard thus far:
On the upside, after spending a couple of days sick at home with a bouncing-off-the-walls Buster (sent home from daycare for the aforementioned pinkeye), work today was positively restful.
- 2 cases of flu (not H1N1)
- 1 case pinkeye
- 1 delayed trip to Ohio
- 1 missed race
- 2 extra days missed work
- 38 voice messages waiting for me when I got in this morning - but no voice to answer them with.
- 1 insanely busy work schedule
- 1 insanely busy rehearsal/recording/performing schedule
- 0 chance to go shopping (and $0 to go shopping with)
On the upside, after spending a couple of days sick at home with a bouncing-off-the-walls Buster (sent home from daycare for the aforementioned pinkeye), work today was positively restful.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
More Scary Movie Month - Who Knew?
My darling husband, who apparently has more free time on his hands than I do, put together a list of the scary movies we've seen during SMM since we met. I don't even remember most of these, but defer to his frightening ability to remember all things media-related. I've marked the ones I do remember watching (plus the ones I remembered once I IMDb'd them).
2005
*Young Frankenstein
*The Thing (1982 version)
*American Werewolf in London
--- All winners this year, I think that's how he suckered me into this tradition.
2006
*Corpse Bride
*The Howling
*Evil Dead 2
*Fright Night
*Van Helsing
--- Not quite the all-star lineup of 2005, but with the exception of "Van Helsing," all worth watching.
2007
Nightmare on Elm Street
Teen Wolf
*Bride of Frankenstein
Mystery Science Theater 3K: Touch of Satan
Jeepers Creepers
--- Since I've worked hard to forget that I saw these (aside from Bride), I'm not going to comment. This wasn't a good year for either of us, so I'm not surprised that our SMM suffered as well.
2008
*They Live
The Monster Squad
Friday the 13th: Part 4
*Phantasm
*Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
*Army of Darkness
*Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
*Creepshow
--- I remember "Phantasm" but wish I didn't. Same for "MS's Frankenstein" - this was the one with Kenneth Branagh. "Army of Darkness" was a lot of fun, and the original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" was really interesting, and, of course, great preparation for this year's viewing of the 1978 version. I have a fondness for both John Carpenter and Stephen King, so even though I'm not crazy about either "They Live" or "Creepshow," I don't regret seeing them. (I'm not crazy about them because they creeped me out too well, not because I didn't think they were good.)
And that's it until next year!
2005
*Young Frankenstein
*The Thing (1982 version)
*American Werewolf in London
--- All winners this year, I think that's how he suckered me into this tradition.
2006
*Corpse Bride
*The Howling
*Evil Dead 2
*Fright Night
*Van Helsing
--- Not quite the all-star lineup of 2005, but with the exception of "Van Helsing," all worth watching.
2007
Nightmare on Elm Street
Teen Wolf
*Bride of Frankenstein
Mystery Science Theater 3K: Touch of Satan
Jeepers Creepers
--- Since I've worked hard to forget that I saw these (aside from Bride), I'm not going to comment. This wasn't a good year for either of us, so I'm not surprised that our SMM suffered as well.
2008
*They Live
The Monster Squad
Friday the 13th: Part 4
*Phantasm
*Mary Shelley's Frankenstein
*Army of Darkness
*Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
*Creepshow
--- I remember "Phantasm" but wish I didn't. Same for "MS's Frankenstein" - this was the one with Kenneth Branagh. "Army of Darkness" was a lot of fun, and the original "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" was really interesting, and, of course, great preparation for this year's viewing of the 1978 version. I have a fondness for both John Carpenter and Stephen King, so even though I'm not crazy about either "They Live" or "Creepshow," I don't regret seeing them. (I'm not crazy about them because they creeped me out too well, not because I didn't think they were good.)
And that's it until next year!
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Scary Movie Month - The End
Well, we've finally come to the (much-delayed) end of Scary Movie Month. After my last SMM post our movie watching got derailed by illness and changing schedules, making both of us determined to go to bed as early as possible, as often as possible. But we were equally determined to finish off at least a couple more movies (and the last of the candy). So here goes.
On Halloween, with a poor pitiful Buddy having made our going-out plans impossible, we settled in to watch Night of the Comet. I feel it is my duty to tell you to spare yourself the same misery. Horrible 80's music - they didn't have the budget to get the hits. (They used a cover of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun".) Horrible, horrible 80's clothes. Boring for the first half, with miserable dialogue, and then, once it got interesting, a ludicrous ending. It was meant to be a "Valley" horror movie - well, gag me with a spoon.
It was at this point that we got derailed by the aforementioned travails, and for a while I was seriously considering giving up and returning the rest of the movies. Good thing I didn't! We (unwittingly) saved the scariest for last: Drag Me To Hell by Sam Raimi. Bad dialogue? Yes. Campy? Yes. Made me shriek, jump from my seat, turn my face to the wall, clutch at The Dude - over and over again? Yes. Would I see this movie again, especially now I know where the (really) scary bits are? In a heartbeat.
So with that, we close out Scary Movie Month 2009. Definitely a memorable month for movies. My top five for this year? "Coraline," "Let the Right One In," "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," "Gojira," and, of course, "Drag Me to Hell."
Let the Christmas movies begin!
On Halloween, with a poor pitiful Buddy having made our going-out plans impossible, we settled in to watch Night of the Comet. I feel it is my duty to tell you to spare yourself the same misery. Horrible 80's music - they didn't have the budget to get the hits. (They used a cover of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun".) Horrible, horrible 80's clothes. Boring for the first half, with miserable dialogue, and then, once it got interesting, a ludicrous ending. It was meant to be a "Valley" horror movie - well, gag me with a spoon.
It was at this point that we got derailed by the aforementioned travails, and for a while I was seriously considering giving up and returning the rest of the movies. Good thing I didn't! We (unwittingly) saved the scariest for last: Drag Me To Hell by Sam Raimi. Bad dialogue? Yes. Campy? Yes. Made me shriek, jump from my seat, turn my face to the wall, clutch at The Dude - over and over again? Yes. Would I see this movie again, especially now I know where the (really) scary bits are? In a heartbeat.
So with that, we close out Scary Movie Month 2009. Definitely a memorable month for movies. My top five for this year? "Coraline," "Let the Right One In," "Invasion of the Body Snatchers," "Gojira," and, of course, "Drag Me to Hell."
Let the Christmas movies begin!
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