fresh start

Because I believe what the internet needs is more pictures of my kid, I am going to give blogging another go.

We are on the move again. Major life changes make me sentimental and motivate me to find surefire ways to stay in touch. Please stop by the new blog if you feel so inclined:

herenowreport.blogspot.com

You'll need an invitation - if you are in need of one, let me know via comment, e-mail, facespace, or smoke signal. Can't wait to see you there!

health check

If this smiling kid does not make your heart just melt (those cheeks! that dimple! that fuzzy cow-licked hair!), you'll want to check your pulse. You may be dead.

in which i become a mommy blogger

You might have heard: I had a baby.

That day was one of the best of my life. Words are useless in trying to tell about it. How could I describe the feelings that made me cry when Shay and I finally got to see and hold our little boy? We named him Malcolm. We love him to the moon and back and clear out to the moon again.

Day 1. I love the suspicious look he is giving us -
"Are you sure about this?"
As a bonus, check out my monstrous swollen hand.

It has been an adventure, figuring out how to be his parents. There have been moments of sweet perfection where parenting made more sense than anything else on the planet.

Day 3. Beautiful eyes and wrinkled forehead.

But there was also the minor issue where our cute son cried - or rather, screamed - most of the day and night for a couple of months. We read books about how babies sleep 16-20 hours a day and we laughed heartily. Shouldn't those books go back on the shelf of the "fantasy" section where they belong? We were occasionally driven to the brink of sanity. We latched on to the "sweet perfection" moments for all they were worth.

2 months. He may have cried loudly all through his baby blessing,
but he was all smiles when it was over!
Well, he offered smiles, and also his "I am way too cool for this picture" look.

Now as Malcolm gets older, there are more of those sweet moments and fewer "brink of sanity" moments.

"Who's the new guy?"
(I don't know why I love this picture so stinking much. I do though.)

At three-months-and-some-change, it seems like we're turning a corner. It is a relief to have longer periods where he is happy and interactive. Have you noticed that he is also, um, huge? His cheeks get more comments from strangers than any of his other fine characteristics. At his 2 month check-up he was just shy of 25 inches long. That is big, folks.

3 months. Unlike the better mommy bloggers, I have no photography skills to speak of,
no fancy camera, not even decent photo editing software.
But I do have a really, really cute kid. So, I've got that going for me.

We're free and clear this summer - no school for Shay, no work for me, and no commitments for Malcolm (he's convinced us to wait a few months before we send him out to the factory to earn his keep.) We are enjoying all this hanging out as a family; I love that both Shay and I get to watch in amazement as Malcolm figures out cool new things every single day. We've got just a few more weeks of lazy togetherness ahead of us. And I'm looking forward to it.

two lists

In 2009 I:

-took touristy pictures in Denver, Chicago, St. Louis, Oklahoma City, and a handful of other "new to me" cities

-soaked up the goodness of living in our quirky college town

-celebrated five years of marital awesomeness

-cooked a complete Thanksgiving dinner for the first time (it was stellar, thanks for asking)

-turned a year older and spent my birthday riding rollercoasters

-built up guitar calluses on my fingertips again

-remembered how much I like the place where I grew up

-drove 1000+ miles along old Route 66 and stopped for many a random attraction

-finally hosted one of those dress-up-to-all-get-out murder mystery dinners

-visited cool local sites I've been meaning to visit, like the Brown vs. Board of Education Museum

-read a whole lot of non-fiction

-spent midsummer eating lingonberries and picking wildflowers in Sweden

Holy sweetness. 2009 was fantastic. But wait. It gets better.

Coming up in 2010 I will:

-finish incubating a human life

-give birth (April-ish)

-parent an infant

-I figure any feat I accomplish beyond these will just be overachieving

-so it looks like I'm pretty much set

to blog, or not to blog?

Sometimes I think personal blogging is brilliant, useful and entertaining.

Other times I decide that the whole idea of keeping a personal blog is weird, almost narcissistic, and so 2007.

In the beginning I loved that blogging gave me a way to keep up with so many friends, and to quickly and easily share info about the life and times of me. It was nice to feel connected, with minimal effort.

Then blogging inadvertently became a primary means of communication with people that I used to actually talk to, on the phone or by e-mail, or even in person. (Sad.) Yes, I could still call you, but what would we talk about? Not only do I already know every detail of last week's trip to your parents' cabin, but I also know which park you took your kids to this morning, and what you ordered at dinner last night.

So, blogging. I'm back and forth. Mostly back.

But today, I miss it.

I want to write something trite, and send it out into the world! I want someone to comment on it! I want to post a picture of myself looking cute and autumny in my black suede boots! I want you to tell me how cute they are! On the picture thing, I think I can refrain. But not so much, I'm afraid, on the writing something trite. So go ahead. Read it. Validate me. Pretty please.

And then later, if you don't mind, I should probably just call you.

insert interesting post title here

The trip to Sweden:

It was the perfect mix of familiar and new. Shay and I traveled down one side of the coast and up the other; did a lot of sight-seeing and wandering and hostelling. Later we spent several days in Karlstad, my Swedish "home," and we got to spend the midsummer holiday with friends there. All things considered (including the part where we had to wear SWEATERS and COATS for several days in JUNE), the trip was a sweet success. In a word, delightful.

Right this minute:
I'm huddled in a library cubicle at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. Shay is working on a research project here, so we've been staying on the U of I campus this week. I've found Champaign to be a rather dull place. The city is small, and eerily empty in the summer. Luckily I brought books. Lots of books. Also looking forward to a day trip to Chicago on Saturday.

Up ahead:
Utah, we love thee! Shay and I are making a road trip out of our summer pilgrimage to the Homeland. We'll be in southern Utah for almost two weeks, from July 18 - 30. I would love to organize a get-together if any Utah friends want to get-together. E-mail me if you're interested and give me some dates and times that you're free. Alternatively, we can just assume that we will probably run into each other at least once at Cafe Rio.

And now:
I offer you my standard-issue slide-show travel report, complete with shaky, grainy video (thanks, Shay!) and mediocre snapshot photography (that's my specialty!) So wait for your motion sickness meds to kick in, be sure to use the restroom before starting the show (it's lengthy), and buckle up. It's going to be great.

possibly still lost, soon to be found

It's entertaining to imagine my wide-eyed, 20-year-old self, still wandering around somewhere in Scandinavia. I spent so much of my time there completely and wondrously lost... the idea is not that far-fetched.

I'm off to see if I can catch a glimpse of that me. I'll let you know what I find.

if i twittered

Everything you didn't want to know about today, conveniently packaged into installments of 140 characters or less.

8:23 I dreamed a dream. It had to do with airports. Also, zucchini. That's about all I can make of it at this point.

8:50 Taking Shay to the dentist. I fear this could be the most exciting outing of my day.

10:14 You did not just open your car door and set your big gulp, half full of Pepsi, in the parking lot before driving away. Common decency, people!

10:52 You go, Harold Meyerson. Nice editorial.

11:46 I'd say summer smells overwhelmingly like honeysuckle.

1:15 I refuse to swim until someone skims all the "cotton" out of the pool. A little gust of wind and it all happens so fast. Blasted cottonwoods.

1:17 I must be bored. I'm on facebook. Also just googled "cottonwood" plus "Kansas."

1:18 Turns out the cottonwood is the state tree of Kansas. Maybe I should have more respect for it now?

1:19 Shay says, "Cottonwood? Am I supposed to find that interesting?" Glad we can have respectful & productive conversation about important issues of the day.

4:05 Hotly contested battle for the title of "Most Exciting Outing" today. Will the bike ride to the public library win it all?

6:20 Coleslaw. I am newly converted.

8:30 Remember back when people used to answer their phones? Those were good days.

10:00 The Chocolate Chip Cookie will be the death of me. Mark my words.

because I'm tired of looking at that silly sign

Would someone post here already? I have gotten a little bored with blogging and don't have much to say. But I check back here sometimes, hoping I'll see something new.

gateway arch - st. louis - some random hot guy

missouri botanical gardens - really lovely - made me sneeze

There. That's better.

there's a recession on

Last week, we noticed several of these signs springing up in our neighborhood.

I'm definitely interested, but a little confused. Not quite sure whether there are just so many children available for sale that the event is going to be huge (there are, after all, more than 100 families in on the venture), or if the actual kids being sold are expected to be larger than average. I think more careful wording would have prevented this kind of confusion.