We listened to this song the other night at the recommendation of my mother and sister — classic! But we’d rather not make the baby stay up late. In fact, we decided that the past couple of weeks of worse sleep were officially the four month sleep regression. In true Katiebelle form, she’s so brilliant she regressed early! (That’s a joke.) But we seem to be on the upswing, so fingers crossed that sticks.
“Mom bought some clothes from a hipster baby brand that only has muted colorways that clash with my hand-me-down onesies. Who told her cream and white was a solution? Or that cuffing my pants this high was OK?”
I had two days in a row with no Zoom calls, which means I got to do a bit more playtime with the cutie pie. Lots of kicking of legs in the air, twisting of hips, and gazing out of windows. What could be better?
The toys are there to entice reaching — it works!Definitely rolling, but not quite rolling over
Happy almost-weekend! Let’s all kick our legs in the air and look out a window.
I had several conversations today where the conclusion was that every time we think things have reached their dumbest, something even dumber happens. It seems everyone is anxious and kind of cranky. I sit in my office just counting down the minutes until I can flee the building and be free to not think about anything except sewing and not the internet.
But, as I’ve mentioned before, the challenge is not to get caught in that trap. Overall, our lives are great and we are lucky to be where we are.
For instance, on Friday, for my birthday, my Mother, brother, and sweet niece and nephew ventured to the Zoo. This was my idea because I really only see the twins when they come over and I thought it would be fun to hit up one of my favorite places. Plus, with the Zoo being reservation only, there really aren’t that many people there and there’s always a bomb parking spot.
Me: Lottie, smile! Lottie: see above!
We rode the train and saw the bears and the sea lions and the penguins. It was a great afternoon! And then we went home opened presents (that the twins were very excited to open and then disappointed when they turned out to be age-appropriate gifts for me). We had a simple dinner and yummy dessert. It was great. And just what I wanted.
I know that things will only get crazier in the coming weeks and I am just trying to focus on the good things that I can control–new sewing projects, helping my mother organize the basement, Club Taco to-go margaritas, the changing weather and cooler temps, work pants with an elastic waist, wine. You get the picture.
There are good things happening–they just might be small joys. This too shall pass.
“All of you should wrap yourselves in the garment of humility toward each other, because God sets his face against the arrogant but favors the humble. Humble yourselves then under God’s mighty hand, and he will lift you up in due time. Cast all your cares on him, for you are his charge.”
Monday was a crazy day; Mondays usually are, right?
But I smiled whenever I thought of the wee laddie starting to play soccer.
“Herd soccer” for three year olds!
Today on the Episcopal calendar of saints we recognize the Rev. James Chisholm and his selfless example during an aggressive epidemic of Yellow Fever which ravaged Portsmouth, Virginia in 1855.
Many of the wealthy residents—including physicians and clergy—fled, leaving many citizens of Portsmouth without medical care, even without food and clean water. The Reverend James Chisholm, first rector of St. John’s, sent his sons away (his wife having died 7 months earlier) but remained in Portsmouth to care for the poor and the sick. Exhausted by his efforts, Chisholm contracted Yellow Fever and died in the Portsmouth Naval Hospital.
Merciful God, who didst call thy priest James Chisholm to sacrifice his life while working amid great suffering and death: Help us, like him, to live by the faith we profess, following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ our Lord; who with the Father and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
These movies –“Four diverting, optimistic and cool retro classics from Hollywood’s Golden Age”–look like good ones to check out. I am definitely going to find the Mr. Belvedere movie.
And, hello, who wants to try these?! Well, maybe without the vodka, thank you.
Happy Tuesday!
*”We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)
Plexiglass dividers between the seats are so flattering.
I think daughter #1 had a pretty great birthday what with an after-school trip to the zoo with the wee babes and a party at home afterwards (just the fam).
The zoo train is the best.But sometimes there are bad smells at the zoo. C’est la vie.
On Saturday after FaceTiming with wee Katie, daughter #1 and I really got down to business in the basement.
We went through bins and consolidated a lot of stuff, throwing away a lot on the way.
It was glorious. We still have more to go through, but I am very pleased. There is nothing like getting organized to soothe the soul.
After a trip to the recycling center with a load of cardboard, we stopped at Club Taco for to-go margaritas and guacamole. Then we settled in for a long music session, listening to a cache of CDs from the 1990s we found in the basement.
Good times.
More cowbell!
One of the scripture lessons on Sunday was from Romans:
Welcome those who are weak in faith, but not for the purpose of quarreling over opinions. Some believe in eating anything, while the weak eat only vegetables. Those who eat must not despise those who abstain, and those who abstain must not pass judgment on those who eat; for God has welcomed them. Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall. And they will be upheld, for the Lord is able to make them stand. Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honor of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honor of the Lord and give thanks to God. We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living. Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” So then, each of us will be accountable to God. (14:1-12)
Let’s try to get through the week without passing judgment on our brothers and sisters, shall we? I know it’s hard, but c’mon.
*Henry Van Dyke, “Hymn to Joy” (Van Dyke wrote this poem in 1907 while staying at the home of Williams College president Harry Augustus Garfield. He was serving as a guest preacher at Williams at the time. He told his host that the local Berkshire Mountains had been his inspiration.)
The DH and I are having a quiet weekend, which is to say that we aren’t doing anything much except sitting work. We did put the new desk in its place, but we have postponed the additional furniture moving (Tim’s old desk out and my parents’ desk to its new spot) because the old joints don’t feel up to it. When you get to be our age, it’s best to be cautious. You know how people say their body is a temple? It’s true but…
Moving on from our aches and pains, today is son #2’s birthday! I think the last time I baked him a birthday cake he turned 21!
This year, as he turns 28, we will have to celebrate via phone. Here’s hoping that the next year goes more smoothly than the last one! As for being 28, I recently came across an interview with Mark Knopfler in which he noted, “
“I was 28 when Sultans [of Swing] broke, when that first album burst open all round the world. We were still living in Deptford, and with the record deals back then when you first signed, they wouldn’t give you any money for 18 months. I think they’re still like that today, actually.
“So it was No 1 all over the world, but I didn’t get any money from it for ages, and we were still living there for a good while. But I managed to move up the road after a few years. All those deals get renegotiated, in return for which you give them more albums, that’s how it works. And it slowly edges up to where you get a reasonable royalty.”
Mr. Knopfler says he’s grateful for the years of hard work because he learned a lot, especially about people. He went on to say, “I know plenty of musicians who have never unloaded a lorry and I think, I’m sorry for them, because if you’ve never really done anything like that then you don’t really know what it’s about. What people are thinking, all the rest of it.”*
Now we all know that Mark Knopfler is a brilliant musician and very perceptive guy. Clearly he worked hard and never felt that he was too good for the job at hand, but did everything to the best of his ability and learned from it. This attitude reminds me of the birthday boy, so in his honor, here’s “Sultans of Swing”!
Today is daughter #1’s birthday! Like everything else this year, our celebration will be low-key but determined. Plans are to clock out of work a little early, drive to STL, hook up with the wee babes and their parents and head to the Zoo. (Cross your fingers that it doesn’t rain on our parade.) Afterwards we’ll head home for toasted ravioli and cake and presents.
Can I come too? (We wish!)
Sounds like a good way to start the weekend to me! Welcome to my house…
After a long weekend, this work week is kind of doing me in. Katiebelle has been a little off with her sleeping (which is to say she’s been a totally normal baby — she just tends to spoil us with solid naps and nighttime sleep) and it makes for a cranky mom. Not leaving for work in the morning or coming home in the evening can be so brutal. On fun days it’s great (I get to play with a baby whenever I want!) but on cranky days, there’s just no transition from one challenge (Zoom fatigue) to the other (witching hour).
Wearing a dress made by her great grandmother Mary and bloomers from her Mamu
But enough of that. I have zero actual complaints. The precious babe continues to be precious. She is still working on all of her skills that will soon lead to rolling (we think). She seems to be growth spurting amidst all of this development (hence the fitful sleep, perhaps) and is now up to 14 lbs and 26 inches (by our own measurements, anyway). She is a little bit chunky in all the right places! (Is that the most embarrassing sentence a girl could ever have written about her?)
Here she is with one her favorite new toys, a bag that crinkles when you crush it:
Then again, who needs toys when you can stare at your own two hands?!
*”You Are My Sunshine,” a lullaby we sing before naps and bedtime, but which is totally not a happy song. How did I not realize this? Katie better not leave me, shatter all my dreams, etc…!
I’ve written about Magnolia Journal before–and what a welcome magazine it is among the increasingly vapid shelter magazines.
The most recent issue focuses on the “rhythm” theme. And while I enjoyed the usual soothing colors and clean interiors, I realized my favorite section, and the one I get the most out of, is the section that features stories from a variety of regular people about how the theme manifests in their life or how the disruption of this theme taught a valuable lesson.
It struck me that what we frequently miss from today’s “journalism” is the actual talking to people. Sometimes the absence of something isn’t tangible until you see it somewhere else, right?
This section in the Magnolia Journal tells the stories of individuals and is a reminder that we are individuals trying to get by together. We all have stories, and experiences, and pain, and anguish, and success, and triumph. We are not all the same. But sharing these stories illuminates how even in our differences, we can find a commonality among our similar pain or triumph. We can also learn about others–and come to understand how their backgrounds made them who they are today.
Sometimes, it seems like the art of showing not telling, something we learned way back in the day in English class, is a lost one. Also lost, putting oneself in another’s shoes, thinking before speaking, and getting to know someone before judging them.
Anyway, this struck me while reading the magazine this week and I hope you won’t judge me too harshly for making a generalized observation in a post about not doing this.
You don’t believe — I won’t attempt to make ye. You are asleep — I won’t attempt to wake ye. Sleep on, sleep on, while in your pleasant dreams Of reason you may drink of life’s clear streams Reason and Newton, they are quite two things, For so the swallow and the sparrow sings. Reason says ‘Miracle’, Newton says ‘Doubt’. Aye, that’s the way to make all Nature out: Doubt, doubt, and don’t believe without experiment. That is the very thing that Jesus meant When he said: ‘Only believe.’ Believe and try, Try, try, and never mind the reason why.
Well, I hope you had a good long weekend. Mine was lovely and I feel that I accomplished a little bit too. There’s nothing like a trip to the recycling center to lighten my step.
Today is the birthday of one of my heroes (and a non-relative) Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain (1828-1914). He is best known for his gallantry at the Battle of Gettysburg, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor. Following the Civil War, he served as Governor of Maine and the President of Bowdoin College.
We will toast him tonight. I am happy to say that I have been to Gettysburg and was able to cross that excursion off my bucket list several years ago. I hope I can cross something else off my bucket list this year, but chances are looking slim. Year’s end is quickly approaching, after all, and I am starting to think about Christmas. Amazing.
As always, we like to listen to Steve Earle’s fine song about Colonel Chamberlain and Little Round Top on his birthday. We’ll toast Steve too for managing to rhyme “Chamberlain”:
dual personalities 