I promised some of you I'd put pictures of Christmas on a.s.a.p. Turns out that it will be later than anticipated. I'm technologically-impaired, so although I have inserted the memory card from my camera into my computer, I have no idea how to access the pictures. :( And tomorrow I'll be back at home, and busy with packing for our 3-mile move. I don't think I've written about that, yet.
One of Jon's co-workers, Becky, is going to England for 6 months and we are cat-sitting for her. We thought moving into Becky's condo would expedite the cat-sitting, and would prevent potential problems that could arise from Becky leaving her condo dormant for 6 months.
So we're moving - again - and in 6 months we will do it again. As if simply being pregnant wasn't stressful enough. . . . Maybe I'm just destined to get really, really good at this. Maybe one day when the Lost Tribes of Israel get found, I'll be the one to help them pack.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
New York Christmas
This is the third night of being in Brooklyn. It's Christmas Eve, and not easy to remember the significance of the day in this place.
The important part of Christmastime, however, is continually evident. I am with my family - Jon and Adara and I have been together almost constantly: exploring downtown Manhattan, the Jewish Children's museum, etc. And my brother Ed has opened his home to us. He came down sick this morning, so he's been home more than was originally planned. It's good to have him around more, because that's the reason I came here. The sight-seeing is fun, but there's nothing at all like being with family for the holidays.
So, now that Christmas Eve is finally here, we have taken out the Christmas presents and arranged them in a nice pile. Jon found an umbrella and a tube of wrapping paper, stuck it in a base, and that's our "tree". I'm still toying with the idea of a popcorn chain to make it a little bit more decorative, but I can't decide if it would be an improvement on the fact that our Christmas tree is an umbrella, or would it just emphasize the tackiness of the situation. Anyway, it's going to be a moot point before long. Christmas Eve is practically over, and once Christmas is here, decorating the tree seems rather pointless.
So this is Christmas. I'm happy for a non-traditional Christmas experience, although I wonder whether I should be making more of an effort to remember Christ. It's a challenge here. New York City - too many people in too small of a place. Inside my brother's apartment, it's the same story, only with furniture instead of people. One time since I came here, I have been able to feel quiet for a moment: at dusk in Central Park. But it was freezing outside and we'd been out all day and just wanted to go home.
Yet despite the seemingly negative impact of these things, I've had an enlightening experience. With so many people to observe, there is much that is good to be seen.
At one point today as I found myself alone in a drug store -- well, alone meaning Jon and Adara were not with me, it was 5:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve, after all -- I had a moment to ponder. All the people going about their various duties, acknowledging each other in the same way that they acknowledge the shelves in the store. It might seem impersonal, but there is a sense of respect there. We don't just knock into the shelves willy nilly, nor do we push against the other people around us -- when we can help it. In fact, people often make way for others, trying to be as helpful and polite as possible. It brings a sense of hope and a consciousness about the goodness of humanity in general -- perhaps this is the most precious thing I could have experienced for Christmas.
Above it all, it has been a wonderful experience. Three days left to discover and explore. I can't wait.
Merry Christmas.
The important part of Christmastime, however, is continually evident. I am with my family - Jon and Adara and I have been together almost constantly: exploring downtown Manhattan, the Jewish Children's museum, etc. And my brother Ed has opened his home to us. He came down sick this morning, so he's been home more than was originally planned. It's good to have him around more, because that's the reason I came here. The sight-seeing is fun, but there's nothing at all like being with family for the holidays.
So, now that Christmas Eve is finally here, we have taken out the Christmas presents and arranged them in a nice pile. Jon found an umbrella and a tube of wrapping paper, stuck it in a base, and that's our "tree". I'm still toying with the idea of a popcorn chain to make it a little bit more decorative, but I can't decide if it would be an improvement on the fact that our Christmas tree is an umbrella, or would it just emphasize the tackiness of the situation. Anyway, it's going to be a moot point before long. Christmas Eve is practically over, and once Christmas is here, decorating the tree seems rather pointless.
So this is Christmas. I'm happy for a non-traditional Christmas experience, although I wonder whether I should be making more of an effort to remember Christ. It's a challenge here. New York City - too many people in too small of a place. Inside my brother's apartment, it's the same story, only with furniture instead of people. One time since I came here, I have been able to feel quiet for a moment: at dusk in Central Park. But it was freezing outside and we'd been out all day and just wanted to go home.
Yet despite the seemingly negative impact of these things, I've had an enlightening experience. With so many people to observe, there is much that is good to be seen.
At one point today as I found myself alone in a drug store -- well, alone meaning Jon and Adara were not with me, it was 5:30 p.m. on Christmas Eve, after all -- I had a moment to ponder. All the people going about their various duties, acknowledging each other in the same way that they acknowledge the shelves in the store. It might seem impersonal, but there is a sense of respect there. We don't just knock into the shelves willy nilly, nor do we push against the other people around us -- when we can help it. In fact, people often make way for others, trying to be as helpful and polite as possible. It brings a sense of hope and a consciousness about the goodness of humanity in general -- perhaps this is the most precious thing I could have experienced for Christmas.
Above it all, it has been a wonderful experience. Three days left to discover and explore. I can't wait.
Merry Christmas.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Tender moments
Has it really been 6 weeks since I posted last? Yikes. Well, today I just had a brief experience to recount here, excerpted from a talk I am writing for sacrament meeting:
"At the end of one particularly emotional day, I could no longer maintain my composure. Partly because Adara was watching me, I tried to set aside my tears and continue cooking dinner. Tears still broke out from time to time, however, and at one point, as I was sitting at Adara's eye level, crying, she put her hand to my head and, with her almost inarticulate speech, said, "It's okay."
Of course, at that point, everything was okay, and my emotional rollercoaster soon came to a smooth stop.
"At the end of one particularly emotional day, I could no longer maintain my composure. Partly because Adara was watching me, I tried to set aside my tears and continue cooking dinner. Tears still broke out from time to time, however, and at one point, as I was sitting at Adara's eye level, crying, she put her hand to my head and, with her almost inarticulate speech, said, "It's okay."
Of course, at that point, everything was okay, and my emotional rollercoaster soon came to a smooth stop.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Pictures! (mostly of Adara)
Here are a few highlights from the last two or three months. Sorry, what with being pregnant, going to Utah, and my YW duties, I've been a little overwhelmed. And this blogging 
stuff can take quite a bit of time! But - on to the feature photos:
On the right we have Adara with Sweetie and Moon, this season's lambs at the Biltmore farm. The lambs were about the only animals she would touch. Getting her to touch anything else, including the baby chickens, involved drama, screaming, and frustration, so we quit trying.
Here is Adara looking fascinated at the geese in Liberty Park, Salt Lake City. Afterwards we went to the model of the canyons in the area. There were signs written in Spanish with advisory notices on them, but I didn't see where they'd posted the notice in English. Since the kids were the ones using the play equipment, I thought they should have put up pictures.
Adara borrowed pajamas from her cousins, Xander and Xavier. The new charge for checking bags on the airplane limited how many clothes I brought, which gave us this cute opportunity.
(Top) Being chased by cousin Carmen. It's amazing to me that the oddly-balanced body of a toddler is able to run at all without toppling over.
(Center) A visit to the Great Salt Lake with Xander, Xavier, Aunt Dolly and Grandpa Hoefer. Trying to walk in the water by herself, she went almost completely under, and the wet clothes were making her colder than being naked. So we went almost-skinny-dipping. The only part of being at the lake that the babies did not like was when they stepped in the thick mud on the bottom of the lake, or on "mud bars" with their tops poking out of the water, and the mud sucked their feet under, sometimes as far as up to their knees.
(Bottom) Back at home with Papa: Saturday morning, Sesame Street, snuggled in blankets, waiting for a large special breakfast.
Looks like that's all the pictures this post will hold. More later.
Love from the Wilsons.
stuff can take quite a bit of time! But - on to the feature photos:On the right we have Adara with Sweetie and Moon, this season's lambs at the Biltmore farm. The lambs were about the only animals she would touch. Getting her to touch anything else, including the baby chickens, involved drama, screaming, and frustration, so we quit trying.
Here is Adara looking fascinated at the geese in Liberty Park, Salt Lake City. Afterwards we went to the model of the canyons in the area. There were signs written in Spanish with advisory notices on them, but I didn't see where they'd posted the notice in English. Since the kids were the ones using the play equipment, I thought they should have put up pictures.
Adara borrowed pajamas from her cousins, Xander and Xavier. The new charge for checking bags on the airplane limited how many clothes I brought, which gave us this cute opportunity.
(Top) Being chased by cousin Carmen. It's amazing to me that the oddly-balanced body of a toddler is able to run at all without toppling over.
(Center) A visit to the Great Salt Lake with Xander, Xavier, Aunt Dolly and Grandpa Hoefer. Trying to walk in the water by herself, she went almost completely under, and the wet clothes were making her colder than being naked. So we went almost-skinny-dipping. The only part of being at the lake that the babies did not like was when they stepped in the thick mud on the bottom of the lake, or on "mud bars" with their tops poking out of the water, and the mud sucked their feet under, sometimes as far as up to their knees.
(Bottom) Back at home with Papa: Saturday morning, Sesame Street, snuggled in blankets, waiting for a large special breakfast.
Looks like that's all the pictures this post will hold. More later.
Love from the Wilsons.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Siblings
Yes, I'm pregnant, and it's announceable because I am finally (almost) done with the 1st trimester and therefore in the "this kid's really set on going the distance, isn't he?" 2nd trimester, which means I feel much better about announcing it to the world. I just wouldn't want something to happen when the kid still weighed less than 4 paperclips and have everybody saying, "Oh, I'm so sorry." I mean, yeah, okay, a potential baby would no longer have potential to be an actual baby and that's seriously a tragedy. But having the entire world say "sorry" about an unrealized potential (which has the beneficial side effect of me not being sick anymore and not having to go through labor (which, incidentally, was not that bad the first time around. Second time's bound to be different, though. Hope it's not different in a bad way.)) would be a bit much for me.
I can understand Jenna's question about me being pregnant. I pretty much said so on her blog. But Writer . . . you must not be very familiar with Adara's mini-movie series: Starfire, the Unknown Hero and Starfire II: The Unknown Shadow. Otherwise, reading the "unknown hero" comment as "I'm having another baby" would be a very creative interpretation.
And speaking of Starfire -- episode two is now available on YouTube in three parts. It's only part II of the Starfire series, but it was too big to post all as one video. So it's "Starfire II: The Unknown Shadow, part I" and so forth.
And still speaking of Starfire, or Adara rather, that's the original reason I logged on today. Creative vocabulary use is one of the joys of toddlerhood and I wanted to share. Today when we were outside, Adara pointed at her eyes and said, "Eye." Then she squinted and waved her hand ambiguously in front of her face, made the sign for hot, and said, "Hot." In essence, she was saying, "My eyes are hot." Which can also be interpreted as, "the sun is bright and it's burning my eyes." Ve-ry creative, Adara. Very creative, indeed.
Ain't language development the awesomest thing in the universe? I wrote my undergraduate thesis on the study of language and I have yet to become un-fascinated with the subject. Did you know that almost universally, regardless of ethnicity, geographical region, or anything else, most babies' first sound is "ma". Which, of course would explain why, almost universally, the word for "mother" in just about every language that I (in my modest exploration of the world) have come across, is "mama.
Perhaps you did know that, but did you also know that the ability to learn language seems to be actually pre-wired into our brains? Not an actual language, of course, or else we'd all just come out speaking. And if we did, I wonder what language we would speak and if we'd have to learn a new language in order to communicate with adults? Hmmm . . . Anyway, we all seem to have certain parts of our brains that are just waiting to input data into them so they can start processing and figuring out the rules of the language. Doesn't matter what language data you input, the brain's wired up to figure out what the rules are. Cool, huh? Well, it could also be, like, a "duh!" cuz otherwise how would we all have learned to speak. But when you think about it, really, how did we all learn to speak?
Okay, really, I should stop. Hope your reading's been as much fun as my writing.
--Mary
I can understand Jenna's question about me being pregnant. I pretty much said so on her blog. But Writer . . . you must not be very familiar with Adara's mini-movie series: Starfire, the Unknown Hero and Starfire II: The Unknown Shadow. Otherwise, reading the "unknown hero" comment as "I'm having another baby" would be a very creative interpretation.
And speaking of Starfire -- episode two is now available on YouTube in three parts. It's only part II of the Starfire series, but it was too big to post all as one video. So it's "Starfire II: The Unknown Shadow, part I" and so forth.
And still speaking of Starfire, or Adara rather, that's the original reason I logged on today. Creative vocabulary use is one of the joys of toddlerhood and I wanted to share. Today when we were outside, Adara pointed at her eyes and said, "Eye." Then she squinted and waved her hand ambiguously in front of her face, made the sign for hot, and said, "Hot." In essence, she was saying, "My eyes are hot." Which can also be interpreted as, "the sun is bright and it's burning my eyes." Ve-ry creative, Adara. Very creative, indeed.
Ain't language development the awesomest thing in the universe? I wrote my undergraduate thesis on the study of language and I have yet to become un-fascinated with the subject. Did you know that almost universally, regardless of ethnicity, geographical region, or anything else, most babies' first sound is "ma". Which, of course would explain why, almost universally, the word for "mother" in just about every language that I (in my modest exploration of the world) have come across, is "mama.
Perhaps you did know that, but did you also know that the ability to learn language seems to be actually pre-wired into our brains? Not an actual language, of course, or else we'd all just come out speaking. And if we did, I wonder what language we would speak and if we'd have to learn a new language in order to communicate with adults? Hmmm . . . Anyway, we all seem to have certain parts of our brains that are just waiting to input data into them so they can start processing and figuring out the rules of the language. Doesn't matter what language data you input, the brain's wired up to figure out what the rules are. Cool, huh? Well, it could also be, like, a "duh!" cuz otherwise how would we all have learned to speak. But when you think about it, really, how did we all learn to speak?
Okay, really, I should stop. Hope your reading's been as much fun as my writing.
--Mary
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Blog break
We visited some neighbors of ours today. They had their t.v. turned on to a football game. As we watched, Adara started calling the football players "papa". We tried to teach her that the generic name for a papa is "man". Her interpretation was to look at the football players and say "mmMMMmmm!" It's the same noise she made when we brought out the ice cream, and probably was a good assessment of why a lot of women watch football.
We have a ton of pictures to post, but I won't be able to get to it until after I'm done with Young Women in Excellence (which I'm responsible for) and the proofreading for the arts magazine I'm volunteering at. So stay tuned. Delightful pictures of our trip to Utah, and other random moments from the life of the unknown hero, are on their way.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Ants
A few weeks ago I noticed an ant crawling around my bathroom. Knowing there was nothing there for the ant to survive on, I left it alone, thinking it would eventually give up and leave.
The next day I noticed two more ants had joined the first. These three crawled for days around the bathroom. I assume they explored every inch, top to bottom. After what must have been more than a week, I found all three of their dead carcasses in a corner, as if they had given up all at once and laid down to die together.
I thought that would be the end of it. What colony of ants would send more of its workers into a situation that had already proven to be not only fruitless but also suicide? Well, apparently the ant colony living in the foundations of our home would. A few days later I found a contingent of at least 20 ants.
At that point I thought I should take drastic measures. I killed the ants. But they were back the next day. I ignored them. Soon, a spider moved in. There are considerably fewer ants crawling around the bathroom now, and it appears there is a collection of tiny, dry, ant carcasses in the spider's corner.
I guess I could have the apartment sprayed by the professional pest control people and the drama would be over. But this makes going to the bathroom far more interesting than it usually is. I'll be sad when winter finally arrives and the ants go into hibernation, and the spider goes his way.
P.S. Adara's bathroom is separate from mine. I'd never let a spider stay in her bathroom. She might kill it.
The next day I noticed two more ants had joined the first. These three crawled for days around the bathroom. I assume they explored every inch, top to bottom. After what must have been more than a week, I found all three of their dead carcasses in a corner, as if they had given up all at once and laid down to die together.
I thought that would be the end of it. What colony of ants would send more of its workers into a situation that had already proven to be not only fruitless but also suicide? Well, apparently the ant colony living in the foundations of our home would. A few days later I found a contingent of at least 20 ants.
At that point I thought I should take drastic measures. I killed the ants. But they were back the next day. I ignored them. Soon, a spider moved in. There are considerably fewer ants crawling around the bathroom now, and it appears there is a collection of tiny, dry, ant carcasses in the spider's corner.
I guess I could have the apartment sprayed by the professional pest control people and the drama would be over. But this makes going to the bathroom far more interesting than it usually is. I'll be sad when winter finally arrives and the ants go into hibernation, and the spider goes his way.
P.S. Adara's bathroom is separate from mine. I'd never let a spider stay in her bathroom. She might kill it.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Apples, Sunshine, and Rainbows
This is the last of about 4 posts that I've completed today. Sorry it's so much all at once. I might recommend reading one post a day, so you can spread out the enjoyment for maximum mental health benefits.
We went to the Apple Festival yesterday. North Carolina, it seems, is the nation's 7th largest producer of apples. And this region is the largest apple-producing region in North Carolina. So we went to the apple festival, ate sliced apples dipped in caramel, tried to wash off the caramel on Adara's shirt by wiping chocolate ice cream on it, all while watching some incredible clogging. The performers simultaneously fiddled their fiddles while flashing their feet faster than you could blink.
The endless booths of crafts, concessions, and sidewalk sales, however, were just a smidgen different than other festivals I've been to. We saw a booth for the Republican party, and several people were sporting paper "I'm an Obama Fan" cooling devices. Then, apparently as a counter-response for the political booths, there were religious doomsday preachers with banners and signs.
My favorite part on that end was the post card we picked up from one of the preachers. The heading was WWJD: Who Will Jesus Destroy? That was followed by a list, complete with scripture references, of the various sins for which a person will be destroyed by Jesus when He comes again. Of course, on the back of the card, it explained that you can repent and then Jesus won't destroy you. But the author of the card, covering his bases, reiterated that unrepentant sinners would be destroyed. Just in case you missed the message earlier.
I'm not sure why I didn't feel motivated to go home and repent after reading that card. But I did go to church the next day, and we talked about performing service for your fellowman. ". . . the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience . . ." indeed. Or, in modern terms, "to each his own". Whatever else the Apple Festival was, it wasn't boring.
Here's a picture of a goat. I don't know why there was a goat. Actually, we saw 3 or 4 of these painted goats. Just another unique local tradition.
We went to the Apple Festival yesterday. North Carolina, it seems, is the nation's 7th largest producer of apples. And this region is the largest apple-producing region in North Carolina. So we went to the apple festival, ate sliced apples dipped in caramel, tried to wash off the caramel on Adara's shirt by wiping chocolate ice cream on it, all while watching some incredible clogging. The performers simultaneously fiddled their fiddles while flashing their feet faster than you could blink.
The endless booths of crafts, concessions, and sidewalk sales, however, were just a smidgen different than other festivals I've been to. We saw a booth for the Republican party, and several people were sporting paper "I'm an Obama Fan" cooling devices. Then, apparently as a counter-response for the political booths, there were religious doomsday preachers with banners and signs.
My favorite part on that end was the post card we picked up from one of the preachers. The heading was WWJD: Who Will Jesus Destroy? That was followed by a list, complete with scripture references, of the various sins for which a person will be destroyed by Jesus when He comes again. Of course, on the back of the card, it explained that you can repent and then Jesus won't destroy you. But the author of the card, covering his bases, reiterated that unrepentant sinners would be destroyed. Just in case you missed the message earlier.
I'm not sure why I didn't feel motivated to go home and repent after reading that card. But I did go to church the next day, and we talked about performing service for your fellowman. ". . . the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience . . ." indeed. Or, in modern terms, "to each his own". Whatever else the Apple Festival was, it wasn't boring.
Here's a picture of a goat. I don't know why there was a goat. Actually, we saw 3 or 4 of these painted goats. Just another unique local tradition.
A Day in the Mountains
Here are a few pictur
es of our adventures into the Smoky Mountains. This first one was taken at an overlook next to the highest peak in the area. Mount Pisgah, I think it was. It was not at all what we'd been expecting.
The next stop was the Cradle of Forestry. It was interesting. I guess the whole reason forestry was started was to protect the forests from destructive humans. We have Mr. Vanderbilt to thank for getting the ball rolling on preserving the forests of America.
We made a few other stops - at the rock slide (we didn't go down -- it was about 40 feet of gently-sloping rock that ended in a shallow (8-10 foot deep) pool) and at a waterfall. Sorry I don't have pictures of either of those. Adara was great at the waterfall, though. If she could have, she would've walked right up to the falls and put out her hand. Luckily, the water was a little too deep for her at that point.
When we came home, we saw this little guy hanging from the tree in front of our house. The video clip starts with about 3 seconds of worthwhile material and after that it's too jumpy to see much. So pay attention from the beginning.
es of our adventures into the Smoky Mountains. This first one was taken at an overlook next to the highest peak in the area. Mount Pisgah, I think it was. It was not at all what we'd been expecting.The next stop was the Cradle of Forestry. It was interesting. I guess the whole reason forestry was started was to protect the forests from destructive humans. We have Mr. Vanderbilt to thank for getting the ball rolling on preserving the forests of America.
We made a few other stops - at the rock slide (we didn't go down -- it was about 40 feet of gently-sloping rock that ended in a shallow (8-10 foot deep) pool) and at a waterfall. Sorry I don't have pictures of either of those. Adara was great at the waterfall, though. If she could have, she would've walked right up to the falls and put out her hand. Luckily, the water was a little too deep for her at that point.
When we came home, we saw this little guy hanging from the tree in front of our house. The video clip starts with about 3 seconds of worthwhile material and after that it's too jumpy to see much. So pay attention from the beginning.
Sibling Rivalry
We babysat a 2-month-old the other day. Adara seemed to be enjoying herself pretty well at the time, but after the baby went home, I found this:
A Rural Southern Experience
We went out to dinner the other night with a friend who was visiting from Detroit. The restaurant we went to was recommended as a local favorite. That means barbecue. Which, here in North Carolina, means shredded pork. The best part of the meal was the deep-fried cornbread sticks shaped like ears of corn. Yum.
The best part of the experience was the ambiance. Adara's favorite decoration was the pig by the bathrooms. I think, with a little imagination, the store manager could have found a more hygienic place for an obvious children's attraction.
Just a short way form the restaurant was a well-decorated house that we just had to take a picture of. This is just a small percentage of the masterpiece.
Here's Jon with Adara and our friend Kathy at the ice cream parlor. And, finally, we went to Wal-mart, where Adara showed us her true self. As soon as she could get her hands on these t-shirts, she wouldn't let go. And thus ended a beautiful day in rural America.
The best part of the experience was the ambiance. Adara's favorite decoration was the pig by the bathrooms. I think, with a little imagination, the store manager could have found a more hygienic place for an obvious children's attraction.
Just a short way form the restaurant was a well-decorated house that we just had to take a picture of. This is just a small percentage of the masterpiece.
Here's Jon with Adara and our friend Kathy at the ice cream parlor. And, finally, we went to Wal-mart, where Adara showed us her true self. As soon as she could get her hands on these t-shirts, she wouldn't let go. And thus ended a beautiful day in rural America.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Cutesy Stuff
Today's blog is about Adara. And her mama. It's a topic that I am slightly embarrassed to find myself interested in. I never thought I would be affected by it in the same way that other "cute-sy" moms are. No offense to cute-sy moms. I just don't think of myself as cutesy, partly because I'm not into most of the things that other moms think are cute. But today's story has formed a bridge between me and my cutesy mom counterparts.
The story is simple. Adara was playing with another toddler: a girl more than twice Adara's size. I didn't see everything that was happening while they were playing, but the important part was what I did see. Adara was running away from her playmate calling, "Mama, mama, mama!"
It was the first time she's ever done that, and at the time I was distracted from reflecting on the sentiments that arose from the event. Now, in retrospect, I feel all special and motherly inside. It's a new thing for me. And it's not too bad. I guess this is the feeling I'm supposed to treasure up in the memory chest of my heart, and whenever I need to polish my faith in my daughter, I can take out this memory and dust it off.
Oh, and not to ruin the moment or anything (dangit! I just ruined it!), I wanted to comment on the picture at the beginning of this post. I took the picture last month -- well, I should say that Jon took the picture last month. It's a good portrayal of the kind of growth Adara's experiencing: a lot of the growth is in her physical abilities, but she's also learning a ton of language and that is the coolest thing ever! Okay, most of the time she sounds like Flipper singing opera. But it's the thought that counts. Literally. (You could almost see the thought-wheels going when, as we watched Starfire II, Adara signed 'Papa', then 'Mama' alternately as she recognized our voices acting out the parts in the movie. Y'think she knew she was watching science fiction, or does she actually think that that's what reality is like?)
Oh, and one final side note. Think about the picture for a minute. If mama is at the top of the slide, and papa is taking the picture, who's at the bottom to catch Adara?
Monday, August 18, 2008
Checking In
There's absolutely nothing new to post here. Just checking in. While I'm here I guess I could chronicle some of the music that my wonderful husband has been listening to:
Everything John Williams: "Star Wars" theme music, "Olympic Spirit", "E.T." soundtrack, "Legend of Zelda" music, and the "Mission Impossible" theme (remake; he did not write the original theme).
The last song that came on before he decided to throw in the towel was from M.C. Hammer: "Whoomp, there it is." The only reason I know how to spell "whoomp" is because Mr. Hammer spells it as part of his lyrics. How original.
Other interesting items, though not directly related to my life, are:
The return of a dear friend, blog name apaperbackwriter, to the United States. Although the joys of travel are missed upon returning home, I am glad she is home. It just feels good, somehow, to have her back, despite the fact that she and I live over 1,000 miles away from one another.
The upcoming celebration of my grandmother's 80th birthday. She will be celebrating in Salt Lake City, and given her health and state of mind, I would like to be there for this one. I don't know if it's possible yet, but it is a possibility.
Everything John Williams: "Star Wars" theme music, "Olympic Spirit", "E.T." soundtrack, "Legend of Zelda" music, and the "Mission Impossible" theme (remake; he did not write the original theme).
The last song that came on before he decided to throw in the towel was from M.C. Hammer: "Whoomp, there it is." The only reason I know how to spell "whoomp" is because Mr. Hammer spells it as part of his lyrics. How original.
Other interesting items, though not directly related to my life, are:
The return of a dear friend, blog name apaperbackwriter, to the United States. Although the joys of travel are missed upon returning home, I am glad she is home. It just feels good, somehow, to have her back, despite the fact that she and I live over 1,000 miles away from one another.
The upcoming celebration of my grandmother's 80th birthday. She will be celebrating in Salt Lake City, and given her health and state of mind, I would like to be there for this one. I don't know if it's possible yet, but it is a possibility.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Publishing
I am very excited to announce a breakthrough in my career-oriented endeavors. The editor of a local arts magazine replied today to my suggestion to him that I could volunteer as a proofreader. It feels like I've been trying to get started in this direction for a long time. It's a relief to have something definite to show for my efforts.
In other news, this past weekend I went tubing with the youth of our stake. We drove for more than an hour to this place, which was near a city named Cherokee. I was interested to see what would be in the city of Cherokee, since I possibly have ancestors from that tribe of Native Americans. Unfortunately, and I should have seen this coming, the biggest attraction in Cherokee was the casino. That was a bit sad.
But I did get a chuckle from the motel across the street from the casino. The hotel's marquee said, "Can walk to the casino", or something like that. The sign was literally 30 feet from the casino, which was about 20 stories high and had the word "CASINO" written in huge letters across the front. " I think that hotel needs to do some marketing research.
The other really different thing I noticed about Cherokee was the crosswalks. On a stretch of very tourist-y road about 400 feet long were about 10 crosswalks spaced about 15 feet apart. I could not understand what necessity drove the city to put that many crosswalks on that street. Any ideas anyone?
Oh, and as for the tubing, that was fun. My tube, naturally, was the only one that went flat. And the water level in the creek wasn't very high, so on top of having a slow leak, I kept hitting rocks and further flattening my tube. It was fun, though. It was doubly fun because I was there by myself, sans husband, sans baby. They spent the day together, apparently successfully, because when I came home everybody was happy and there was no permanent damage done to either the house or the baby. It was a rare occasion for Jon to spend the day alone with Adara, and he did great. I think I'll have to leave the two of them alone together more often now . . .
In other news, this past weekend I went tubing with the youth of our stake. We drove for more than an hour to this place, which was near a city named Cherokee. I was interested to see what would be in the city of Cherokee, since I possibly have ancestors from that tribe of Native Americans. Unfortunately, and I should have seen this coming, the biggest attraction in Cherokee was the casino. That was a bit sad.
But I did get a chuckle from the motel across the street from the casino. The hotel's marquee said, "Can walk to the casino", or something like that. The sign was literally 30 feet from the casino, which was about 20 stories high and had the word "CASINO" written in huge letters across the front. " I think that hotel needs to do some marketing research.
The other really different thing I noticed about Cherokee was the crosswalks. On a stretch of very tourist-y road about 400 feet long were about 10 crosswalks spaced about 15 feet apart. I could not understand what necessity drove the city to put that many crosswalks on that street. Any ideas anyone?
Oh, and as for the tubing, that was fun. My tube, naturally, was the only one that went flat. And the water level in the creek wasn't very high, so on top of having a slow leak, I kept hitting rocks and further flattening my tube. It was fun, though. It was doubly fun because I was there by myself, sans husband, sans baby. They spent the day together, apparently successfully, because when I came home everybody was happy and there was no permanent damage done to either the house or the baby. It was a rare occasion for Jon to spend the day alone with Adara, and he did great. I think I'll have to leave the two of them alone together more often now . . .
Monday, August 4, 2008
That's Entertainment
Yesterday we had one of our first video calls with Adara's Poppy and Nana Wilson. Everybody is tickled to get to see each other and talk at the same time.
This is Adara's favorite kitchen toy. When I'm cooking or cleaning in the kitchen, this is usually what she does. Well, this and also put random things in the cupboards. I found a shoe of hers inside the frying pans the other day. Lovely. Reminds me of fairy tales and eating boiled leather soles.
On Friday night we went to a free Shakespearean festival. This month they are performing "As You Like It." It was good, if obviously short of funds. The costumes mixed various time periods, but don't ask me to guess which time periods those are. The only one I can identify for sure is the modern one. For the most part, I thought the modern clothes fit in well and did not distract from the performance; however, when Orlando came on-stage at one point wearing ear phones and singing "We are the Champions", I thought that was a bit distracting.
Otherwise, the inclusion of modern and local North Carolina cultural elements added a unique flavor to the performance. I especially liked the banjo player who strolled and plucked around the stage during scene changes. Very fitting for the setting we were in.
This is Adara's favorite kitchen toy. When I'm cooking or cleaning in the kitchen, this is usually what she does. Well, this and also put random things in the cupboards. I found a shoe of hers inside the frying pans the other day. Lovely. Reminds me of fairy tales and eating boiled leather soles.
On Friday night we went to a free Shakespearean festival. This month they are performing "As You Like It." It was good, if obviously short of funds. The costumes mixed various time periods, but don't ask me to guess which time periods those are. The only one I can identify for sure is the modern one. For the most part, I thought the modern clothes fit in well and did not distract from the performance; however, when Orlando came on-stage at one point wearing ear phones and singing "We are the Champions", I thought that was a bit distracting.
Otherwise, the inclusion of modern and local North Carolina cultural elements added a unique flavor to the performance. I especially liked the banjo player who strolled and plucked around the stage during scene changes. Very fitting for the setting we were in.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Bouncing off the Walls
Today I had my first motherhood experience with the expression "bouncing off the walls".
Adara is not a stable child. Normally, I would only mean that in the context of the inner-ear. If I had a nickel for every time she hit her head on something or fell over nothing, I would use it to buy her a crash helmet. As it happened, she improvised one this morning.
Putting the blanket over her head, Adara ran blindly into the high wooden end of her crib, propelling herself backward for several steps before collapsing on the mattress, then repeating the process ad nauseum before she finally fell asleep for her nap.
It reminded me of football linebackers practicing with crash pads to block their opponents. At least they have sense to use the pads. But knowing that my 15-month-old has the same amount of sense as a football linebacker is a little bit concerning. No offense intended for any linebackers who may be reading this. I know football players are really smart and the stereotype is intended to get people off the players' backs - I mean that figuratively of course.
Look at it this way: a lot of college football players major in philosophy. Every time I tell someone that I majored in philosophy, they say, "Wow, you're really smart." So I guess now we know what Adara inherited from me. Maybe one day she will join the football team . . . or major in philosophy.
P.S. Sorry for not having any pictures. I can't find my camera.
Adara is not a stable child. Normally, I would only mean that in the context of the inner-ear. If I had a nickel for every time she hit her head on something or fell over nothing, I would use it to buy her a crash helmet. As it happened, she improvised one this morning.
Putting the blanket over her head, Adara ran blindly into the high wooden end of her crib, propelling herself backward for several steps before collapsing on the mattress, then repeating the process ad nauseum before she finally fell asleep for her nap.
It reminded me of football linebackers practicing with crash pads to block their opponents. At least they have sense to use the pads. But knowing that my 15-month-old has the same amount of sense as a football linebacker is a little bit concerning. No offense intended for any linebackers who may be reading this. I know football players are really smart and the stereotype is intended to get people off the players' backs - I mean that figuratively of course.
Look at it this way: a lot of college football players major in philosophy. Every time I tell someone that I majored in philosophy, they say, "Wow, you're really smart." So I guess now we know what Adara inherited from me. Maybe one day she will join the football team . . . or major in philosophy.
P.S. Sorry for not having any pictures. I can't find my camera.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Groovin'
These are just some videos from the last two weeks. The one with Adara on the whale is mostly for the benefit of her Poppy and Nana Wilson. But the one with Jon and Adara dancing together is a tribute to Jon's ability to imitate his daughter. She's got his genes, mostly, anyway, so it's not surprising that he's able to do this. But it is impressive.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Moot. Folks. And Folkmoot
Two weeks ago I attended Y W camp. The YW president, Melissa, was pregnant and could not go to camp because she had been admitted to the hospital the day before camp started. She's been there for two weeks, but today we found out that the pregnancy was lost.
My world has been greatly effected by Melissa's hospitalization. As her counselor, I've been on the phone with her for several hours during the last two weeks. I've taken notes about what she has wanted to do, then been her hands in getting it done. I feel her loss, and as I watch my own daughter, I can hardly believe that I was not the one to lose an infant.
In conjunction with my YW duties, I have discovered, to my surprise, that I have been most Laman-and-Lemuel-ish in my behavior with my husband and my life in general. It is not as easy to stop complaining about everything as Sunday School teachers make it sound! But, thanks to the YW Personal Progress program, I am on my way to becoming a little Mary ray of sunshine, once again. (Adara was looking pretty sun-shine-y in this picture; sorry I haven't posted more pictures, but as usual, there are lots more pictures on my picasaweb page for those of you with desires for such. I usually upload pictures to picasaweb around the same time that I do my blogs, so that's the best time to look for new stuff.)
This resolution to be cheerful was put to the test when, on Saturday, Jon decided he wanted to finish all of the filming for our movie: Starfire Part II (that's the working title; stay tuned for more). We were literally working on the movie for 12 hours - from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., which for us would be all right, maybe slightly stressful. But add a 14-month-old and the occasion approaches what one might call an ordeal.
I am pleased to report that the filming was finished with a minimum of grousing and almost no extended unpleasantness between the director, his star, and his assistant. We even successfully filmed a 60-second scene in a room in the Howard Johnson, thanks to Jon's ability to explain his vision and excitement to an open-minded and fun-loving hotel manager. (We had been denied rights to film at an uppity, to-remain-unnamed hotel nearby, and another hotel had no room for us :) -- so I was ready to throw in the towel. It was a great relief to me when Jon secured a victory with the final hotel we visited.)
Now for a picture break. But stay tuned, there's more blogging to be done after the pictures.
With these random pictures and the journaling above, you get a pretty accurate overview of what it has been like here for the last
two weeks. The coup de grace, well, actually there were two, but anyway, it was the international folk festival that Adara and I attended on Friday afternoon. We drove for 40 minutes to attend Folkmoot, which had one of the most entertaining and diverse array of performers that I have seen in awhile. Of course, I may just be starved for interesting activities that I can do with my daughter. But I don't think so. Here's why:
The French group came out in the traditional French mode, which, if you've seen very many French folk groups, you'll know that's a nice way of saying "boring". However, before long, the male dancers came on stage on stilts. Being 11 feet taller than your partner presents an interesting choreographic challenge, which the French avoided. They just had the men dance as a unit and the women dance as a unit, and the two were on the stage at the same time, but they didn't usually interact very much. However, the Frenchmen doing the polka on stilts, with a brief stint of weaving in and out of the women below, made it all worthwhile.
The young girls from Chinese Taipei presented what I thought was the epitome of dancing. Graceful, fun, employing multiple dance steps and formations, as well as Chinese lanterns and other props, the dances were never boring and never repetitive. The music, on the other hand . . . let's just say that, while the Chinese seem to have perfected the art of dance, they have perhaps gone into another dimension when it comes to music. To illustrate, the sound of one instrument made my little daughter start looking around for a dog. As I thought about it, I realized that it did sound like a little mechanical robot chihuahua trying to sing his short little barks.
Finally, if I have ever seen a Japanese drum performance before, the performance at Folkmoot proved that I never had really seen a Japanese drum performance. It was exquisite, if a bit loud. Like the Chinese performance, it was never boring. Unlike the Chinese performance, the music was musical - the flutes and conch shell were wonderful counterpoints to the different-toned drums, and the visual effect of the drumsticks (which we learned are called baci (read with Italian pronunciation) in Japanese) kept both me and my daughter captivated. Since Adara had only watched a maximum of two minutes of the other performances, I believe this made the Japanese performance the best of show.
That wraps it up for the dance portion of this blog. Again, I'm sorry there aren't more pictures this week. It would have been especially nice to have some pics of Folkmoot, but what with holding a toddler, the fact that my digital camera is rather cheap, and the dim light and fast-moving dancers, it probably wouldn't have been worth the bits and bytes and photosensory whatever.
But wait, there's still more to this blog! (I really should post more often.) The second coup de grace, as it were, was during intermission. Adara and I had gone out to the car for a snack and a man had come up to comment on our bumper sticker, "Mormons for Obama". To make a long story short, and an already long blog a little longer, we talked for probably 30 minutes about Utah, North Carolina, Mormons, etc., and he asked where our church was and whether it would be polite of him to drop by, should he wear a tie, and so forth. I thought he was being polite by asking about our church, so when he waved to me from the back pew in the chapel this morning, I was pleasantly surprised.
I guess the moral of the story is, it doesn't matter how you promote your religion, just as long as you do. I'm still shaking my head over that one. Political conversation aside, I wasn't so sure that it was a good idea to put that bumper sticker on the car, mostly because we were moving to "the South" and I wasn't sure how safe it would be to advertise that we are both Mormons and democrats. (Not to say that I am a democrat - I have no political affiliation, but I do drive the car with the bumper sticker, so I am guilty by association.) But my fears were completely unfounded - not only have we not been lynched or ostracized for either our religion or our political affiliation, we have instead been befriended because of both. Just "be yourself" I guess, and "seize the day" "e plurubus unum" and all that.
Ya'll come back now, y'hear?
My world has been greatly effected by Melissa's hospitalization. As her counselor, I've been on the phone with her for several hours during the last two weeks. I've taken notes about what she has wanted to do, then been her hands in getting it done. I feel her loss, and as I watch my own daughter, I can hardly believe that I was not the one to lose an infant.
In conjunction with my YW duties, I have discovered, to my surprise, that I have been most Laman-and-Lemuel-ish in my behavior with my husband and my life in general. It is not as easy to stop complaining about everything as Sunday School teachers make it sound! But, thanks to the YW Personal Progress program, I am on my way to becoming a little Mary ray of sunshine, once again. (Adara was looking pretty sun-shine-y in this picture; sorry I haven't posted more pictures, but as usual, there are lots more pictures on my picasaweb page for those of you with desires for such. I usually upload pictures to picasaweb around the same time that I do my blogs, so that's the best time to look for new stuff.)
This resolution to be cheerful was put to the test when, on Saturday, Jon decided he wanted to finish all of the filming for our movie: Starfire Part II (that's the working title; stay tuned for more). We were literally working on the movie for 12 hours - from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., which for us would be all right, maybe slightly stressful. But add a 14-month-old and the occasion approaches what one might call an ordeal.
I am pleased to report that the filming was finished with a minimum of grousing and almost no extended unpleasantness between the director, his star, and his assistant. We even successfully filmed a 60-second scene in a room in the Howard Johnson, thanks to Jon's ability to explain his vision and excitement to an open-minded and fun-loving hotel manager. (We had been denied rights to film at an uppity, to-remain-unnamed hotel nearby, and another hotel had no room for us :) -- so I was ready to throw in the towel. It was a great relief to me when Jon secured a victory with the final hotel we visited.)
Now for a picture break. But stay tuned, there's more blogging to be done after the pictures.
With these random pictures and the journaling above, you get a pretty accurate overview of what it has been like here for the lasttwo weeks. The coup de grace, well, actually there were two, but anyway, it was the international folk festival that Adara and I attended on Friday afternoon. We drove for 40 minutes to attend Folkmoot, which had one of the most entertaining and diverse array of performers that I have seen in awhile. Of course, I may just be starved for interesting activities that I can do with my daughter. But I don't think so. Here's why:
The French group came out in the traditional French mode, which, if you've seen very many French folk groups, you'll know that's a nice way of saying "boring". However, before long, the male dancers came on stage on stilts. Being 11 feet taller than your partner presents an interesting choreographic challenge, which the French avoided. They just had the men dance as a unit and the women dance as a unit, and the two were on the stage at the same time, but they didn't usually interact very much. However, the Frenchmen doing the polka on stilts, with a brief stint of weaving in and out of the women below, made it all worthwhile.
The young girls from Chinese Taipei presented what I thought was the epitome of dancing. Graceful, fun, employing multiple dance steps and formations, as well as Chinese lanterns and other props, the dances were never boring and never repetitive. The music, on the other hand . . . let's just say that, while the Chinese seem to have perfected the art of dance, they have perhaps gone into another dimension when it comes to music. To illustrate, the sound of one instrument made my little daughter start looking around for a dog. As I thought about it, I realized that it did sound like a little mechanical robot chihuahua trying to sing his short little barks.
Finally, if I have ever seen a Japanese drum performance before, the performance at Folkmoot proved that I never had really seen a Japanese drum performance. It was exquisite, if a bit loud. Like the Chinese performance, it was never boring. Unlike the Chinese performance, the music was musical - the flutes and conch shell were wonderful counterpoints to the different-toned drums, and the visual effect of the drumsticks (which we learned are called baci (read with Italian pronunciation) in Japanese) kept both me and my daughter captivated. Since Adara had only watched a maximum of two minutes of the other performances, I believe this made the Japanese performance the best of show.
That wraps it up for the dance portion of this blog. Again, I'm sorry there aren't more pictures this week. It would have been especially nice to have some pics of Folkmoot, but what with holding a toddler, the fact that my digital camera is rather cheap, and the dim light and fast-moving dancers, it probably wouldn't have been worth the bits and bytes and photosensory whatever.
But wait, there's still more to this blog! (I really should post more often.) The second coup de grace, as it were, was during intermission. Adara and I had gone out to the car for a snack and a man had come up to comment on our bumper sticker, "Mormons for Obama". To make a long story short, and an already long blog a little longer, we talked for probably 30 minutes about Utah, North Carolina, Mormons, etc., and he asked where our church was and whether it would be polite of him to drop by, should he wear a tie, and so forth. I thought he was being polite by asking about our church, so when he waved to me from the back pew in the chapel this morning, I was pleasantly surprised.
I guess the moral of the story is, it doesn't matter how you promote your religion, just as long as you do. I'm still shaking my head over that one. Political conversation aside, I wasn't so sure that it was a good idea to put that bumper sticker on the car, mostly because we were moving to "the South" and I wasn't sure how safe it would be to advertise that we are both Mormons and democrats. (Not to say that I am a democrat - I have no political affiliation, but I do drive the car with the bumper sticker, so I am guilty by association.) But my fears were completely unfounded - not only have we not been lynched or ostracized for either our religion or our political affiliation, we have instead been befriended because of both. Just "be yourself" I guess, and "seize the day" "e plurubus unum" and all that.
Ya'll come back now, y'hear?
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Hamlet, a Baby, and Some Teens
Apparently, Adara is the star of this blog, as everyone keeps asking for more pictures. I'll post a few here for now, but the best way to see "more pictures of Adara" is at picasaweb. If you need the addy, drop me a line and I'll send it to you.
On the left, Adara is sporting her new favorite expression - shocked surprise. Above, she is taking care of her baby, which she asks for frequently, especially at mealtimes. I wonder why she associates caring for babies with food?
Finally, here is a picture of the playground - the best spot to satiate Adara's adventurous spirit - and a family photo which I thought turned out pretty well.
As for my life, well, that's a mixed bag. In the last few days I have attended the Young Women's camp, talked to the assistant editor of a local publishing company, and attended a production of "I Hate Hamlet" performed by the local community theater. A diverse array of activities, and therefore a satisfied soul at the end of a week.
The assistant editor at the publishing company graciously agreed to answer some of my questions about what his job is like. It was a victory for me, mainly because I have found lately that I dread talking to new people about pretty much anything -- especially if I have to put on the "I've got my life under control" face. I did manage to put that face on during the phone conversation -- even though the ast ed called me back right as I was recovering from Adara's excrementally smelly wardrobe malfunction. Somehow she didn't have a diaper on during most of the telephone conversation, and as I hung up the phone I had to clean the carpet again - although this time it was not as bad.
Another highlight from my recent activities involves a line from "I Hate Hamlet". The brief setup is that Andrew is going to play Hamlet. Deirdre, Andrew's girlfriend, has suggested that she would like to audition for the part of Ophelia.
D: Oh Andrew, could I audition? Would they let me?
A: I guess I could ask them.
D: Would you? And it wouldn't be sleazy, because I'm not sleeping with you! Isn't that perfect?
A: Deirdre, that's nuts. It's like . . . show business for Mormons.
D: It's going to be the best! Good night, sweet . . .
A: Don't say it! If I can't have sex, I don't know why I should play Hamlet.
D: Sweet prince! (exits)
A: What is this -- a test? No sex? Shakespeare? It's like high school!
I wonder if the author of this play knew about the plan of salvation . . . ?
Which leads us to the Young Women's camp. All I have to say about that is, the combined personality of the Young Women in my new ward is more than my entire graduating class at Westminster College. As Westminster prides itself on being the "only non-denominational private liberal arts school" in Utah, with ties to, but no official affiliation with the Presbyterian Church, you would think there would be a lot of interesting personalities. But these young women beat that, hands down. It's going to be an interesting year at church . . .
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Southern Living
Here's a sample of life in our new home: every time we go outside, we meet a new dog. Think about that. I'm in a small, let's say infinitesimally small corner of suburban America. I go outside to walk around with Adara several times a day. After a week or two in our "old" home, we basically knew all the animals that were out during the day. But not here. Two weeks and we've only repeated a dog meeting two times. (Meaning we met two dogs more than one time each.)
It's incredible! How many dogs can one place handle? I wonder what the total dog population is when you leave my immediate neighborhood?
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Survey
So to start, I should probably give everyone a little update. We're pretty much settled into our new place here in North Carolina. For those of you who didn't know, or don't remember, where we were moving to, and if you're just dying to know, send me an e-mail. This is a public blog so I don't want to get into too much detail.
I hope to get some pictures and/or videos uploaded soon, but I can't find the cable I need for that. Hopefully Jon knows where it is, but he's in Cleveland for job training for another day or so.
Here's the survey:
What is your favorite ice cream?
I like nuts and caramel in my ice cream. One type is called Moose Tracks. It has nuts, caramel, and chocolate (I think). But, like my dad said before me, pretty much all ice cream is good.
Do you use sarcasm a lot?
I used to, but now most of my communication is with a one year old. I'm afraid of what kinds of disasters would happen if I tried using sarcasm on her.
If you were another person, would you be friends with you?
I'd like to think so. I think I'm a generous and a forgiving person. So at the very least, I would try to sympathize with myself and see how I could justify why I was such a whine-y baby, so I would think that I was my friend even if I didn't really like myself very much. (I love these kinds of questions.)
Do you have a special talent?
I think I'm more sympathetic than most people. I mean, I just naturally try to understand the person I'm talking to, and it seems to me that most people aren't like that. Seems like most people have their own opinions and decide whether or not they agree with the person they're talking to. If anything, my sympathizing is my weakness as well as my strength, because it keeps me from having really firm opinions about things. And how do you ever make any decisions if you don't have an opinion about what's right or best to do?
What color pants and shoes are you wearing?
My pants are off-white, my shoes are gold. I bought them at the Goodwill. They're a funky kind of knit material that makes me feel like I'm almost not wearing shoes (except for the clunky plastic soles that thump around every time I take a step). Anyway, I bought them as house shoes to keep the carpet cleaner. There's no way I would wear these out of the house! And when I have my own house, we are *not* having carpet everywhere. I'd rather freeze my bare feet on cement floors than wear shoes all the time!
What was the last thing you ate?
A homemade burrito: the refried beans were made with pinto bean flour (just ground up dry pinto beans). No lard, no salt. Just our favorite seasonings and the joy of eating healthy!
If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
I'd be a "chocolate pudding" crayon. By itself, the color isn't that appealing. But calling it chocolate pudding makes it more enticing, even if it does quiver at the slightest touch.
Hair color?
Dark brown with a few strands of gray.
Last movie you watched?
The Bourne Supremacy. It was quite well done. Interesting plot, believable and like-able characters. It was very race-y, and the downside was that it had more than its share of violence, and a light amount of gore. Very appealing to male-type people who, in addition to the obvious appeal of watching a guy who can beat up 6 people at the same time, also like mysteries and think that having a conscience is a good thing.
What is on your mousepad?
The little finger pad that lets me move my cursor without needing an actual mouse has become so worn that you can almost see my fingerprints on it.
Favorite sound?
A choir singing in close harmony: dissonances resolving to harmonies, expressive crescendoes and diminuendos, etc. I also really like bluegrass music: fiddles and banjos goin' to town! Yee haw!
Ya'll don't forget to tell me stuff about yourself when you post a comment.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Chocolate and Green
Green issues: Jon and I disagree about global warming. We agree that people should use nonsustainable resources more responsibly, and in general that everyone could do more to decrease their carbon footprint. But whether or not the rhetoric of global warming/climate change is true or not is a matter for debate. Any ideas anyone?
Also this week, we had a very small party for Adara. Some video of the birthday presents and chocolate banana can be seen here:
http://video.google.com /videoplay?docid=-179392600695 1450568
http://video.google.com /videoplay?docid=5765821497435 244088
http://video.google.com /videoplay?docid=-854674839478 4239776
Also this week, we had a very small party for Adara. Some video of the birthday presents and chocolate banana can be seen here:
http://video.google.com /videoplay?docid=-179392600695 1450568
http://video.google.com /videoplay?docid=5765821497435 244088
http://video.google.com /videoplay?docid=-854674839478 4239776
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Great Leap Forward
Monica, a mutual friend of Jon's and mine who's studying at Thunderbird, was studying at my apartment today. China, she says, is on the verge of a great leap forward. And so is she.
Another longtime family friend, Lisa, wrote to me today, ostensibly to inspire me to take advantage of my talents and to do something with them. Thus my great leap forward begins with a small decision to take an online proofreading course. It will be a challenge. As if being a young mother and a new wife wasn't enough to handle. I'm learning to cook healthy, balanced meals while researching how to flow naturally into a somewhat regular nap schedule for my one year old, all the while teaching her how to communicate with American Sign Language in the hopes that it will curtail the worst of the temper tantrums. (In our case, I think it has simply sped up the growth process: she's beginning to throw mini-tantrums and refuse to comply with our well-established expectations, like signing "please".) And now I think it will be fun to go back to school (well, online school) and start editing a newspaper! I must be crazy!
In other news, the ASL learning has taken off. Adara has made her own great leap forward and is now able to tell me when she wants me to pick her up (all the time!), whether she would like bread, milk, or a banana, and, most importantly, when she has had enough of whatever we're doing! She probably can use at least 10 signs properly (she'll be one year old next week), and of course can understand more than that. It is very cute to watch her, and rewarding for both of us that we are able to communicate more effectively.
Another longtime family friend, Lisa, wrote to me today, ostensibly to inspire me to take advantage of my talents and to do something with them. Thus my great leap forward begins with a small decision to take an online proofreading course. It will be a challenge. As if being a young mother and a new wife wasn't enough to handle. I'm learning to cook healthy, balanced meals while researching how to flow naturally into a somewhat regular nap schedule for my one year old, all the while teaching her how to communicate with American Sign Language in the hopes that it will curtail the worst of the temper tantrums. (In our case, I think it has simply sped up the growth process: she's beginning to throw mini-tantrums and refuse to comply with our well-established expectations, like signing "please".) And now I think it will be fun to go back to school (well, online school) and start editing a newspaper! I must be crazy!
In other news, the ASL learning has taken off. Adara has made her own great leap forward and is now able to tell me when she wants me to pick her up (all the time!), whether she would like bread, milk, or a banana, and, most importantly, when she has had enough of whatever we're doing! She probably can use at least 10 signs properly (she'll be one year old next week), and of course can understand more than that. It is very cute to watch her, and rewarding for both of us that we are able to communicate more effectively.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Fully Mobile
One week ago, Adara decided she wanted more mobility. She let go of all of her props and started walking around the room - just like a grown-up! Well, a grown-up that just got off the Triple-Loop Death Screamer roller coaster, that is! On the one hand, it's nice not to have to hold her hand every time she wants to go somewhere. On the other hand, finding her 20-30 feet away from where I left her just a few seconds ago is getting to be a bit disconcerting. Perhaps I'll get used to it. Or maybe I'll buy a fence.
I hope you can watch the videos I've uploaded. Enjoy!
I hope you can watch the videos I've uploaded. Enjoy!
Sunday, March 9, 2008
2008 February Newsletter
JON AND MARY WILSON FAMILY NEWSLETTER
March 10, 2008
Happy Spring everyone! I hope this letter finds you all well. I’m writing to you at 1 year, 7 months, and 27 days from the date of my marriage to Jon Robert Wilson.
Some of you may know that I began to feel queasy and tired just a few short weeks after my honeymoon. By the end of August, Jon and I were fairly certain that our new little family had already begun to grow into three. We were a little surprised (though we should not have been) at how quickly it happened! We both wanted a child very much, but the timing was not what we expected.
In November Jon received a letter of acceptance from Thunderbird School of Global Management in
Jon was a great help to me during this time. Despite his workload as a new MBA student, he found time to help me think calmly about the pregnancy and my work situation. Finally, on 21 April 2007, Adara Belle Wilson made her grand appearance. Jon and I had enjoyed the day at 
Three days later, Jon had his first final exam.
He had just enough time to bond with Adara before he was off to 
ly-Clark. Adara and I, meanwhile, stayed with various relatives until, at the age of 3 months old, Adara made her first international voyage. In sweet reunion, our family visited the rain forest and white-sand beaches of Manuel Antonio National Park, the chilly heights of the Irizu volcano, and the internationally-acclaimed Monte Verde where we walked on suspension bridges, zipped over the canopy (but not with Adara) on zip lines, and marveled at the sights in the butterfly and frog museums.
Once back in the
Back in
With the essays finished, the holidays were right around the corner. We were planning to visit 
both my family in
Laden with toys, we returned to 
were consulting the government of the
While he was gone, Adara was learning to walk. She's 10 months old now and embarking on new adventures. She crawls out the front door toward the playground and hardly stops to look back. We’re doing our best to keep up with her.
We’ll be moving again in June of this year after Jon’s graduation. He has interviewed for three different positions with some companies in the eastern
Sometimes I wonder if life will ever slow down. It probably won’t. But a brief slowdown has given me a chance to post this blog and hope you all enjoy reading it as much as we've enjoyed living it.
All our love,
Jon, Mary, and Adara Wilson
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