Joel in is big boy carseat - he loves facing front!
Birthday cake. He ate the frosting, and kind of moved the cake around on his tray a bit. He was pretty tired by this time, though... His cake was shaped as a star. I thought it was cute. (But, then again, I did make it...)
Joel with his car saying, "brrrrrrooooooooommmmmmmmm", 12 month old speak for "vroom". That, and he has a page of our page-a-day calendar that he retrieved from the trash can in the bathroom... He wouldn't let me put anything on after his FuzziBunz this day. He went around in only a diaper for probably an hour. (He does look good in yellow, though, even if it's only on a little part of him.)
My class is going well. My lab partner, although 18 years old (!) and still very negative about school (as 18 year olds are), is quite smart and interested in doing things efficiently and well, as am I. We did cheek scrapings yesterday! Woo! That and elodia leaves. (Is this bringing back crazy memories to anyone? I keep thinking that Mr. Asmus - the a & p teacher at Perrysburg - is going to come up behind me and tap me on the shoulder with a skeleton.) (Randy - I get to do Spunky II next semester!)
I just called my senators for the first time today! I'm a member of Bread for the World, and I got an email telling me about the minimum wage vote before the senate (I think tomorrow?) and that I should call Senator Brown. So, I did. Then the guy taking messages asked me if I had called Senator Voinovich, and transferred me there. It was an excellent 2 minutes and 23 seconds experience. I feel like an active participant in my government. (Well, more active than I was - before I just voted. So, one more step!)
My flute choir started again yesterday. Three of our members had birthdays since our break over Christmas, so the conversation on ages and birthdays began. That's when I realized that every single woman in there could be, or could almost be, my grandmother. But, I absolutely love them, and I can't believe they listen to the person in the room who is not yet 30. (Although, we're coming pretty close now...)
A quick note on my class: Remember Loud, Blatant Guy that I mentioned in my last post? The one who said to my instructor that half the class wouldn't be there in two weeks? Yeah. He hasn't been to class since then.
This is Gage on his birth-day! He is a week old as of Friday. Beautiful, and with so much hair! He and his Mama are doing great.
My boy is going to be a percussionist... oh my... Neil brought home his drumsticks from his parents' house a couple of weeks ago. Joel nearly swooned.
This is Joel meeting his new friend Gage. These two are gonna do damage together, we just know it... Five years from now, Jen and I will be peacefully drinking tea and having lovely conversation, and it will get quiet... and we will be very afraid.
I haven't updated with pictures in so long, I wanted to do a couple. More tomorrow, maybe. Or the next day. We'll see.
PS - I've started classes. There is a loud, blatant guy who sits next to me, right front and center. He will make the class interesting. And loud. We'll see. So far, it's fun, and I'm really enjoying myself. I don't remember one single thing so far. Well, except that I know that the skeletal system has bones in it...
another PS - I am part of a challenge for January to get rid of 200 items that are cluttering up my home. So far, thanks to freecycle and motivation for a beautifully clean closet, I'm up to 86 items! Rockin!
Baby Gage has arrived!!!
Jennifer called me at 4:00 am to let me know they were heading to the hospital. I haven't heard the whole story yet (she's exhausted...), but I know he arrived around 6:30 this morning after a very quick (and very hard) labor. Yay to Jenn, Dave, & Max! We are taking Joel to meet his new friend after my class today.
I start my Anatomy class today. I got my books, ID, parking pass, and all else taken care of yesterday. I filled my bag last night. It felt kind of weird. I hope I do better this time around. It all makes me nervous.
Jenn called me yesterday after her midwife appointment, just as I was trying to find a parking spot at Owens. Jenn said that she was kind of jealous and kind of not that I'm back to school (she was there four years ago). I said that I was kind of jealous and kind of not that she was about to give birth (where I was almost exactly a year ago!). Good times.
The lady on freecycle came to get all the stuff off of my porch. It feels so great to get rid of it. It's addicting; I attacked my cupboardy thing (cupboardy = cupboard-like) in the front room last night. It is now full of exactly what I intended it to be filled with when I got it: flute music. Hurrah! I'm finding new homes for or about to freecycle the other stuff. I smile every time I walk into that room and look at it now.
Joel had his first trip to the dentist yesterday. The dentist is wonderful. It's important to have a good pediatric dentist so that you don't dread the dentist every 6 months for the rest of your life. Joel loves brushing his teeth. After getting his new toothbrush at his appointment yesterday, he walked around the reception area for 10 minutes charming the receptionists and brushing his teeth. Silly boy!
I luuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrrrrvvvvvvvvvvve freecycle. Love it.
Joel has had stomach flu for the past couple of days. He's better today, but he decided to share it with me. I slept until 12:30, and went back to bed by 2:00. Ick. I'm feeling a bit better now, though.
I am getting really excited about being a part of a
CSA this year! That means we'll get a box of organic, harvested-that-day vegetables delivered to us each week. (I think on Thursdays, but I'm not sure.) We signed up for a full share, which I know is going to keep us very, very creative. (A full share is allegedly enough vegetables for 4-5 people for a week. So, that's all we're going to be eating!) So, fair warning: if you come over to our place for dinner between May and October (and you should), be prepared for really good vegetables. Lots of them.
So I wrote this in here before... but:
Joel is turning one in a week and a half! Unreal! We're celebrating on Sunday, January 14th from 1-3pm. We would love to have you come and celebrate with us! (Don't feel like you need to bring him anything. If you want to, that's okay, but it's so not expected or anything.) It's at our house. There will be lots of balloons! :)
(Joel loveslovesloves balloons. It's crazy.)
Oh, my.
This is so cool.
So, so cool.
Christmas was good, New Years was good...
I'm going on cleaning-out phases right now. Notice: not cleaning phases, just cleaning-out phases. I just rejoined freecycle to try to get rid of stuff I need to get rid of from the bathroom. I have enough unopened lotion and other bath junk to make a junior high girl swoon. And other stuff. Tomorrow will perhaps be the family room.
This began today in response to me not being able to find all of my knitting needles. I just found them two weeks ago, lined them all up, felt warm and happy inside, and have somehow misplaced ALL of them. This bugs me. How does one misplace knitting needles? I have something that I'd really like to start on, too. Bummer.
I am trying to work on my essay for grad school. I'd love to get that done in the next week or so. So, really, why am I looking for knitting needles? I've got other more important stuff to do, right? But, man, I really need a hobby, too! I haven't gotten to do anything creative in what seems like forever. (Except mothering, which is the most creative thing I can think of, but that isn't fulfilling my working-with-my-hands need right now.)
My anatomy class begins next Friday. I got an anatomy book out of the library two weeks ago. I have no idea how I'm going to do this...
I guess it might be a good thing that I've lost my needles. Perhaps it is a direct voice saying, "You have a lot more to do than sit around and knit pants. Get up and memorize the parts of a cell!"
Ick.
On another quick note, I've signed the vegpledge. I've been saying I'll only eat meat two days a week for a month now. So, I'm cutting it out completely now. It's so past time. Happy, happy. (I made an incredible butternut squash-sweet potato-apple soup on Saturday. Give me a little warning next time you swing by, and I'll make up a pot. Phenomenal on so many levels.)
My baby is almost one, and therefore no longer really a baby. We're celebrating on Sunday the 14th starting at 1pm. If you're interested, swing by. He loves being the center of attention!
