Back to School

As I've said before, I'm happy to be back to school. I'm so very tired, but glad to be back to work. Joseph seems to be adjusting pretty well and Matt has been absolutely wonderful in helping with this transition. His folks are here this weekend to spend some time with the Little Man. His doctor says that he should be eating about twice as much as he is, but he's already eating so much more than he was a couple of weeks ago. So, we're hanging in and we'll see how it goes. I thought that it was time to post some more pictures, so here we go:

My folks with Joseph. I think it's interesting that you can see the family resemblance.

Playing "cups" in the sink. He loves his bathtime and water!

A chilly day...I really just thought that the Spongebob socks were the cutest thing!

And, 9 months. I was trying to take his picture in something blue every month, but Dad got him dressed that morning and didn't know the schedule and there was no way that I was going to change his clothes that afternoon...I could hardly move. So, ignore the food on his collar and his probably dirty face.

Now, it's me & Martha

Well, I've decided that It's a Good Thing that I'm back to school. I was fraught with anxiety (in case you hadn't figured that out) about my decision to go back full time, and I feel so much better after today. Today was New Year's Day and it was comfortably familiar and energizingly fresh. Not to mention that Joseph seemed to do well at daycare--this was my biggest concern.

So, Matt and I dropped him off together since Matt had never been there or met the people who worked there. We left to some sad and tired eyes, but he wasn't crying. I was another story...I made it to the parking lot and only cried half way to school. Thankfully I had a lot to do today to distract me from constantly thinking of my sweet little boy. I resisted all urges to call and check on him, but did bolt out of school as soon as possible to rescue him from certain upset. When I got there he was asleep for his second nap of the day, he had eaten two whole jars of food, made friends with another boy almost his age, laughed, smiled, played, and generally enjoyed himself. I couldn't have been happier! I can hardly get him to eat one full jar of food during an entire day, and they got two whole ones into him while he was there (then he had another half for dinner)! I know that they're not all going to be great days, but I'm so relieved to know that he's getting good and gentle care.

Then, to top off my day, Kate taught me how to make socks on something besides dpn's! I tend to get frustrated with all of the little needles pointing everywhere, and she's making tolerance socks on a big circular needle. Her instructions are fabulous, and I'm pretty sure that I can follow them.

Quick Kate story: Kate is a friend from college...we were both chem majors in Christ College. She's turned her chem major into a successful (although quite busy!) medical career. Apparently I stole a stop sign for her 18th birthday. Incidentally, I've got my own stop sign and a slow children at play sign (why do we have to single out the slow children?). And there are a couple of streets that have no one living on them in the middle of Nowhere, Indiana that lost a stop sign over 10 (WHAT?!) years ago. Anyway, I've always remembered that Kate brought me to her home (where I met her wonderfully kind parents) before she brought me to O'Hare to fly home for some break. It was the first time that I'd been to someone's house that I had met at college, and her home was just so...homey: it was one of those places that smells like cookies in my head and makes me want to curl up on the couch with a blanket and a cup of tea. I thought that it was so cool that she brought me to her house since exactly 2 people from Valpo came to my house during the entire 4.5 years that I was there (I married one of them, and I know it gets to be a little tricky when your home is 1000 miles away. Details.). So, that's my Kate story.

Me & Alice Cooper

So, I've decided that I'm not ready to go back to school. I keep singing "no more pencils, no more books..." in hopes that it will become a reality. My days are numbered, though. Fortunately one of the nice things about August and back-to-school is that they sell office supplies and I can usually justify buying something fun (or 20 glue sticks). As long as I've known myself, I've had this strange affinity for office supplies. I have favorite writing sticks that my students aren't allowed to touch (I have stopped class to have everyone look for one particular pen). There are more notepads in my house than anyone has a right to have. My dad buys me pens for Christmas, and I LOVE them! I have a red Swingline that is amongst my most favorite items. And, I asked for a Xerox machine for Christmas when I was 7. I'm not kidding.

In my attempts to make the most of this situation that I can no longer change, I'm trying to get energized. The stars are not aligning for me, though. I'm excited to see my schooly friends again, but sad because a couple of them won't be there (one getting her MS in Chemistry--I'm so jealous! and another off to a new job in CT). I'm excited to use my brain again, but know that I'll miss my little boy. I'm excited for the clean slate that the new year offers, but know that the same-old same-old stupid drama will infuse things in short time. I'm excited to earn money again, and there's no "but" to that one. So, I'm going to keep my head up and know that I'll feel better once things are swinging and that first paycheck is in the bank.

Catch up

First things first: our eight month picture with Mona the Cow. So serious...

Now, get comfy. It feels like it's been a while. We had a great visit a couple of weeks ago with our friends from Valpo...I know that I already mentioned that, but now I'm posting some pictures.

Here's the whole crew Flumin'

We got a backpack for the Little Man that he rather enjoyed, not that you could tell based on his expression...

After we got wet walking, we rode the gondola thingy to the top of Cannon Mountain for some yummy lunch.

Turns out, that was about all that Joseph could handle for fresh air and White Mountain excitement.

Then we spent last weekend in the trailer in Maine with my folks and Max and Jackie. We nearly got washed out the first night...parts of Freeport were flooded. Joseph was tracing the raindrops on the windows.

He figured out how to stick out his tongue last weekend too. So, that's been added to his repertoire of head shaking (which he's pretty sure means "Hello"), mouth popping (which Amy taught him the weekend before), tongue clicking, and an assortment of da's and other random noises.

Since I'm reasonably certain that New England is just going to wash away this summer, it was nice to see a rainbow the other night. It's actually a double, if you can see the second one... my mom reminded us that rainbows are our family friend Ginny smiling at us all :)

Then Max and Jackie leave this Sunday for the Land of Red Dirt. We're not sure if we're going to see them before Christmas since plane tickets now require a deposit of a major organ and a dedication of your first born. We'll miss them :(

And, school starts a week from Monday. I'm pretty sure that means that our house will become kind of like the second ring of Hell. September is always brutal as we readjust to a school schedule and mindset, so this year will certainly be much better [or so much worse] since I haven't worked since last Thanksgiving and am still awoken twice every night by a sweet little boy who I'm sure will adjust perfectly smoothly to his new day care place [or not at all]. He's still not eating like he should, so that'll be fun too. And, Matt is working in a school now, so he'll be playing the back-to-school game too. Eih. We'll make it. Stay tuned for stories of how Matt and I want to kill each other...September really does get pretty rough...

Briefly

I just wanted to post a quick message. We had an awesome time last weekend with our friends from Valpo that came out to NH to visit. Despite the impending weather, we managed a great drive on the Cape and almost made it through the Flume without getting rained on. Once again, we had spectacular views of the White Mountain region from atop Cannon mountain. I'll post pictures when I can. We're off to Maine this weekend. Joseph and I leave tomorrow for a long weekend with the whole crew (my folks, Max and Jackie, the three of us, and the dogs) in Portland and Freeport.

So, I've been thinking...

...about quite a bit lately.

First, I'd just like to mention how lucky Matt and I are to have such wonderful friends. Please, if you're reading this, consider yourself one of those amazing people that we love, appreciate, and value. Recently we've had the opportunity to reconnect with a pile of friends that we hadn't seen or heard from in a while. A tribute to the friendships has been that we've been able to update each other and enjoy each others' company and conversation despite the time apart or out of touch. I've just been so heartened to realize what genuinely wonderful people we know and have been fortunate enough to share various chapters of our lives with. And, I've got to admit that I'm loving finding old (and new) friends on Facebook. It's been so neat to see what people are up to and read their blogs and look at their pictures and know that they're doing the same to me :) I know it's kind of odd (is it?), but it's kind of cool, too.

Then, there's this bone I'd like to pick with FDR. Well, not really, probably, but he seems as good as any person to blame this guilt I'm feeling on. [For you grammar folk, I know that's the second sentence that I've ended with a preposition.] Apparently, FDR was the one who encouraged women to enter the workforce and make something of themselves while their men were off fighting and dying. So here I am, a pile of years later, with a perfectly valid college degree that has made it possible for me to do a wonderful job that I love and that I don't think that I'm too bad at. [3] And, I've got this wonderful little boy that I love more than anything that I'd like to make sure becomes a good and productive member of his world. Why do I feel like these two things can't happen at the same time? I don't know. I figured out, when my job share fell through, that whatever I chose to do this coming school year would give me grief. I would either find another job share to spend more time with Joseph and eat macaroni without cheese due to our financial constraints. Or, I would go back full time to earn a full salary and put Joseph in day care. Eh. So, I've decided to go back full time. I've waffled on this so much, and I'm still not convinced that I'm making the right decision, but I feel really good about the place that we've found for Joseph. And, it seemed to me that part of raising a child was to provide a safe and happy home that could function on its own. So, there we are.

Now the quick things that I've been thinking about:

• A bark controlling collar is the greatest invention ever.
• Thank goodness for baby consignment stores.
• I love outside, I just wish that it wasn't so sticky so often this summer.
• School will be starting WAY too soon.
• I love my new vacuum cleaner (it really sucks!).
• Am I really going to be driving a mini-van?
• There is dairy in so much food...I really like ice cream and cheese. :(
• I hope that Joseph grows out of this allergy, but worse things could happen.
• Why has it taken me so long to pick up a Jodi Picoult book? She's great!
• I'll post some more pictures after this weekend--we've got some fun stuff planned with our friends who have come in to visit.