Balancing Act

My Twitter profile reads: navigating my way through grad school and now parenthood. trying daily to find the right balance.

Sometimes I'm not so sure I'm doing a great job of it. Something's always got to give. Lately I feel like it's Simon - though the blog may not be the best evidence of that. I hit the ground running with Simon was 5.5 weeks old with this third year of grad school by teaching two classes and trying to finish my thesis (second year project that will count for my Masters). I feel like I haven't stopped. Christmas was nice - I seem to remember a break then, but that was so long ago now.

For the Fall semester I was supposed to be working 2.5 days a week. In reality it was 4. Thankfully Rob was home with Simon, but I wasn't. This semester I was supposed to work 3 days a week and be with Simon the other 2, in reality that hasn't happened either. It's been 4 or even 5 days almost the whole semester. On some of these "extra" days I've just brought the kid with me, but some times it isn't appropriate, or I just get more done when I'm not chasing a mobile baby who wants to be a toddler. (OMG he's getting so big so fast and he's just started balance standing without holding on to anything.) So he's been going to extra days at daycare.

And I'm torn. Because he loves it there. Kids! Toys! Food! And honestly, I don't mind leaving him. Except that it's not being the mom I want to be. I've already struggled with and come to terms with the fact that I'm really not cut out to be a full time Stay at Home Mom, but I DO want to be home with Simon more days than not. Yesterday, after church we had such a fun day, the three of us playing and laughing. Rob was wrestling Simon and he was crawling to me to keep him "safe" while he giggled so hard. And I realized, I've been missing far to much of that, and when I am with him, I'm fried. Today, I picked him up early, and pushed through the tired and we had the BEST afternoon. An hour at the park and peek-a-boo and chase at home.

But I've gotten so much done this year academically. I taught 2 classes in the fall (bad idea, but live and learn) and one this spring. I finished my coursework (as of next Wednesday) and my thesis is done. Like actually done. As in the paper I've been talking about for the last 18 months is being sent to my readers. When I talk about my paper, it is going to be a different one.  This. Is. Huge. And I'm on to the next thing with an abstract due, and another project that's just been waiting to be written up, and fellowship applications to finish. It's never ending.

I've been asked a few times recently how I "do it all" and the easy answer is that I don't. Our apartment is mostly a disaster and I don't really cook all that much. Balance is so hard to find. And I'm finding that I'm giving up some of the "me" things in order to make up the Simon time that school eats away at. And that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. But the "me" time is important too.

There are two more weeks to this semester, and I switch to a summer schedule. It will be three days a week. And I am going to really work to keep it to that, and to make those days count. Because when I have time to take Simon to the playground and watch him go down the slide by himself, I smile. And I want time for me too. I don't self identify as "just" a mom, or student, or wife, or woman. I am all of these things and more. And giving all parts of me the time they deserve is a key to this balancing act of life.

So while student and mom have been taking precedence lately, I really would like to get back to wife and woman. Rob might appreciate that too.

Milk

after a late pumping session on a day I'd forgotten some pump parts...oops

Just before Thanksgiving I read this post, the first I heard about Jackson and Reverie.  The post showed up in my blog feed, linked from one of the blogs I read regularly. As with anytime I hear of a baby loss, and now in this case the loss of a mother, I hugged Simon a little tighter, lingered a little longer while nursing (one of the few times he's still and cuddly) and said a little prayer for the family. Because of my own C-section and the fear and trauma that accompanied it, I don't think I mentioned this story to Rob.

A few days later I saw an email in my neighborhood mom's group asking for breast milk donations for the twins. I took note of the request, but as I don't actually know the family or the mother making the request, I passed not knowing if they would want a milk from a stranger.

A few months later I saw a second call out asking for donors.  Some of the original donors had weaned their nurslings, or were no longer able to pump enough for their own baby and have extra.  I had 70+ ounces sitting in my freezer. Simon was not taking a bottle well (choosing to make up his deficit by nursing extra at night and increasing my supply even more) and I knew that I was going to end up throwing out a milk as it expired. Breastmilk is only good frozen for about 3 months.

So I answered the email. I included basic medical details about myself and Simon, and linked to my blog - as I figure this is the best way for a stranger to get a glimpse of who I am. I had 50 ounces ready to go. And thus began my journey as a milk donor; something I never thought I'd do.

***
I didn't know how I would feel about nursing while I was pregnant.  I knew I wanted to, and I was lucky to have a very good support system in place. Going to a Le Leche League meeting before Simon was born and reading The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding are two of the best things I did to prepare for a baby.  I never had supply issues. And once I learned how to help Simon latch properly on day 2 in the hospital I never had any pain or problems.

I didn't immediately love it, it was a way to feed him, it was easy, cost nothing and good for us both. Simon is a snacker, in the beginning nursing 12-15 times a day, but for a maximum of 10 minutes at a time. I think at almost 9 months we are down to an average of 8 times a day. And I really don't want to think about what my attachment would have been like had I not been nursing. Today we have a good nursing relationship. He smiles at me and laughs because he enjoys it so much.  I'd kind of like to cut down on the pinching and clawing of my face and the distractablility when we are in public, but I'll take it.

Breastfeeding is the one thing that's always been easy. I am grateful for this and know we are lucky. The bottle however has been a struggle. I pump plenty and have a love / hate relationship with my pump, but Simon doesn't like the bottle. Up until 6 months it was rare for him to ever take more than 5 ounces in a 12 hour stretch when I was gone.  Since starting daycare we are up to about 8. But I'm still pumping 12-15 each day, so lots of extra.  The build-up led to the donation.  I am working on a small stash for when we travel this spring, but other than that it was going to go to waste.

I'd heard of breast milk donation, but didn't really get it.  It wasn't something I'd ever considered for Simon and being a donor didn't cross my mind until the great surplus.  The last two weeks Simon has suddenly upped his bottle in take, so I don't know how much longer I will have extra.  But I'm willing to donate as long as I do and someone wants it.

***
I've helped coordinate two drops for Western Queens now with other mother's dropping off of me picking up donations and scheduling a delivery to one of the family's nannies. The first drop was a Styrofoam cooler full with 187 ounces; for the second drop I took a large freezer bag with 256.  The story has continued to spread.  I was interviewed, though not quoted for this Wall Street Journal article. I really can't imagine what Jay and his family are going through, but the twins are thriving, and it feels really good knowing I'm doing something to help.

Officially Spring

Spring has spring. And while I believe that we may very well still get some snow this year, I'm going to enjoy the moment. And the moment means eating outside. Mediterranean crusted salmon with sauteed kale and garlic. A little vino. And a baby in bed.

Ten random things for Tuesday.

1. Rob brought me flowers last night. Just because. It made me smile.

2. Simon woke up just before I left this morning all smiles.  But at some point over night he sneezed and there was dried snot all over his face.  Adorable and disgusting at the same time.

3. I've been cooking more lately because Rob's working at night and really, I don't love cooking.  Baking I like, cooking is just necessary.

4. I'm having all kinds of weird food cravings.  Rob told me that's just how I eat.  I'm the crazy woman who craves healthy food when pregnant and the weird combos all the rest of the time.  At least I'm getting back to normal.

5. I weight one pound less than I did when I got pregnant. Ideally I'd like to lose 5 more pounds. In order to do that I need to stop eating donuts.

6. Simon is belly crawling (a post in itself).  Exciting and terrifying.

7. He is also getting his two bottom teeth. I hope they pop through soon because he is chewing off his fist.

8. I can't believe January is almost over.  I am nowhere near ready for the semester to start on Friday.

9. This paper that I am always talking about.  It's the same paper every time.  Multiple drafts. But this time for reals, I only have three paragraphs to go and it will be "adviser to view" ready.

10. I heart daycare. It's awesome.

Words to live by: Intent

The last few years I've seen bloggers choose a word of the year.  I like the concept, but never had a word that seemed right. This year I have a word or words.

intent. intentional. with purpose. by design.

I want to be more thoughtful about my actions in all areas of my life.  I want to continue on the path we've slowly been moving toward. We are pretty good about creating less waste, we use cloth napkins and rags for cleaning. We cloth diaper. We have learned to distinguish between wants and needs and buy so much less than we once did. But there are still the occasional splurges and binges. I want to buy with purpose and try and buy used when possible. I want to find ways to create less waste. We really don't NEED much. I am pretty content with the material things, and would like to purge more.  I want there to be intent behind things we bring into our home.

I eat a lot of junk food.  I have a sweet tooth.  Rob like vegetables, so that has changed my diet some. Last summer we joined a CSA and ate so many vegetables I have never tried.  Who knew I loved beets? I want to be more intentional about the food I buy and prepare. I really do buy into the whole "whole food" movement.  But I am lazy and prepared foods are so darn convenient. The CSA made us eat healthier than I ever have before, I want to continue on that path.

I need to be more intentional with how I manage my time.  I waste so much time checking email a million times a day or facebook when there are no new updates. With Simon and school and being a wife and all the things I have going on I need to be better at using my time wisely.  So working with intent and staying on task when I am at school or with students will allow me to be more present when I'm with Simon and at home, and not distracted. I also need to have purpose with my time on line.  When blogging or checking email or Pinterest or whatever I may be doing, I need to be more intentional with my time and when I'm done, shut down. And then go back to focusing on my family.

We'll see how this all goes.  Nothing is a huge change, but some readjustments to how I approach life.

Welcome 2012.

The Obligatory Year End Post

I was going to write this yesterday. Then decided not to partially because I didn't quite know how to word it or what I wanted to say. So here I am on January 1, New Year's Day. I don't see the need for a recap of my year post, the blog archives are here, and needless to say this has been a life changing year.  I did have a baby after all.

But I also completed two more semesters of my PhD program (only one more semester of coursework) and presented my research at poster sessions at two national conferences. There was a lot of stress - I don't remember the month of March and didn't blog, so I really have no record of what I did.
What I really want to recap though, is the state of the blog. It starts in the summer of 2010 when I went to BlogHer and was so timid I didn't really network like I could have. But I did get new blogs to read and at the start of 2011 I became active on Twitter. In the archives I saw the first outreach of my new blog friends - I ordered Girl Scout Cookies from a fellow blogger. I also started commenting regularly on blogs.  Mostly smaller blogs like mine, and I got responses!  Wow, more blog friends. The summer of 2010 I was also hoping to have a baby, and started reading infertility blogs.  The IF blog community is amazing. Since I never blogged as an IF blogger and got pregnant after only 2 treatment cycles I hesitantly eased into this community.  These women are knowledgeable and were more helpful throughout pregnancy than any book. I found a few NYC bloggers and started commenting some.

Throughout all of this I started getting comments back!

My little blog is read by people, I did install a counter at the bottom, I average a couple hundred views a month. And occasionally I get comments from people I don't know on blogs I've never heard of, so more blogs for me to read. I kind of love blogging.

This year was my fourth blog-o-versary. I have plans for year five. I want to continue to comment on blogs and make more bloggy friends.  I am attending BlogHer again this year (it's in NYC) and my goal is to be less timid. And hopefully meet some more bloggers, maybe get lunch or coffee.  We'll see. I want to get my own domain name, I'm excited about that. I'm toying with the idea of adding adds. I don't plan on ever making a living from blogging, but it's a hobby that isn't going anywhere, so why not profit a little from it? If I can figure out the Amazon affiliate program (it is more of a taking the time to do it) then I can get a bit back from my own shopping on Amazon anyhow. It's really time for me to take my blogging seriously.

This year I noticed the biggest change in how I right. I don't classify myself as a specific type of blogger, I blog about my life since this started as a way to keep my family informed about my exploits in the city.  I am a mom now, so Simon will figure in as heavily as Rob always has.  But with my pregnancy my writing became more of a journal for me at times. I like that record of my feelings.  And because I'm not just blogging for Mom (who doesn't read the words anyhow, she's more of a picture type of gal) and people are actually out there, I have changed to write for my audience, whoever that may be. I want to keep journaling some and write openly. I want to find a way to write a bit about school - in a way that won't get me fired.

I'm excited about how this little blog has changed in 2011 and am looking forward to what this new year brings.

Queens County Farm Museum

We used to go apple picking or at least cheesecake and cider donut buying at Rob’s favorite orchard upstate-ish. (I’m still not entirely sure how far north you have to be before you are considered “upstate”)  Last year we took friends, six adults in total.  This year there are four babies added to the mix and the logistics of trying to go and having to rent multiple vehicles made my head hurt.  But, then I saw some pictures some friends took at the Queens County Fair.  Did you know Queens had a county fair?  I didn’t but I want to go next year.  Although I’m guessing it’s quite a bit different than the county fair I grew up with in Indiana.  But it’s at the Queens County Farm Museum.

I was looking at the details because a farm in the city, of course I want to visit.  And they have an apple festival. And a CORN MAZE!  So we planned a trip for the Sunday morning.  And walked around with sleepy babies who are too little to care about the animals.  But next year, next year Simon will LOVE it.  We toured through the apple festival, and I will admit I wasn’t much impressed.  A few really big bins of apples to pick out and purchase.  Some apple cobbler and other fried apple goodness and a tent with pie.  That was about it.  Whatever, we’ll still go back because it’s a real live farm…in Queens! 

I grew up on a farm.  When I was in high school all our family friends with little kids would come over so we could go look at the cows. I want Simon to have that. I want him to know about cows and chickens and sheep and pigs.  They have a petting area set up where you can feed the animals.  It’s also a working farm with a garden.  And a cornfield.  That is turned into a MAIZE MAZE.  This I was excited about.  I’ve always wanted to do one, but most that I had seen were far out in Long Island or New Jersey.  This may not be the biggest or flashiest, but it got the job done.

The maze was totally worth the $18 we paid to go through.  I felt like I was in Gilmore Girls, you know the episode with the Haybale Maze.  We had a flag and a clue sheet.  There were mailboxes throughout the maze with pieces of the map that you could get and tape together.  There was also baseball trivia, because the maze was in the shape of a baseball player and ball field.  We were all cool like “we don’t need the map, this will be easy.”  But we picked up the map pieces anyway and I got the trivia because I like trivia and made our way through the maze.  After about 15 minutes we saw the end.  And I was a little sad we had paid and got through so fast.  But we found the end without using the map.  As we walked to the stairs of the bridge to get out we realized that we were in the wrong path.  Oops.  I guess we were a little lost in the maze.  So we wandered around got some more map pieces and came to the end.  Only to find we were still lost!  I guess the map really is helpful…  We made our way back to a spot we could locate on the map and then tried again.  This time turning down a path we had previously avoided.  We made it out in 47 minutes.

Next year maybe the kid will stay awake.

Wow, you're really playing house today.

That's what Rob said when he saw that I actually SET THE TABLE, with the fancy dishes.  Our apartment has been a disaster area recently.  Simon was 11 weeks yesterday, so it's been approximately 12 weeks since we had a good deep clean.  I've slowly gotten back into a normal routine, one that includes menu planning.  Since we have so many CSA veggies and it's getting colder, I thought a roast would be nice.  So this morning before church, and after probably the crappiest night of sleep to date, I put the roast and potatoes, onions, and beans in the crock pot.  Even I can put together a meal that simple on almost no sleep.
After church Simon took a real nap and Rob and I cleaned.  Then Rob kept cleaning between naps, and Simon took a SECOND nap.  This is almost unheard of, but after reading a blog post on sleep, I thought that daytime swaddling may be in order, and it worked!  Once the house was clean I put on REAL CLOTHES (and clean ones!), as opposed to the yoga pants and tanks I usually wear when it's just us.  I asked Rob to put on a clean shirt.  He wanted to know if it had to be fancy.  Nope, but clean with no spit-up would be nice :)
Then I set the table, and "Wow, you're really playing house today."  What's really sad is tat I can't remember the last time I made a nice meal for just us.  I pull out the china a few times a year for just us, usually and I know that it's been a long time since that.  But I can't remember the last time we planned a meal beyond it being dinner time and throwing something together.
So here is our dinner.  Beef roast with potatoes, onions, and beans, crescent rolls, and a bottle of wine.

 Here we are in our clean clothes.

Simon napped (again!) during dinner.

And just to show how awesome I am I even made dessert.  Using the CSA pears.  Pear tarts, which are pears in brown sugar on biscuits with cream.  Rob did whip the cream.  And what I like about this dessert is even if you screw it up, it's just fruit and sugar, so still tastes good.

The best part - we have breakfast and lunch out of the leftovers.  Oh, and the clean living room, that's pretty awesome too.

A Day in the Life: 12th of September

I started blogging four years ago on Wednesday.  One of those early, first month I was blogging posts was a rundown of my crazy day.  I was thinking today that I should do a play-by-play post and remembered that early one.  You can read about that day, I started at 5:15, I'm guessing I went to bed the night before between 10 and midnight.  It's funny how my life is so different, yet still very much the same.

I'm going to start this day at midnight, due to no longer sleeping through the night.

Midnight - Go to bed after folding baby laundry and finishing prepping for my class today.
2:ish am - FEED THE BABY
4:54 am - FEED THE BABY
6:15 am - FEED THE BABY
6:20 am - Alarm goes off, it's NPR so I let it play
6:25 am - Put baby back in bassinet and hit snooze so I can sleep 10 more minutes before getting up
7:14 am - Overslept, wake to radio, get up start shower and ask Rob to please change and dress the baby.  So glad I laid out clothes and diapers last night.
7:35 - Pump for five minutes so baby has a snack
7:48 am - Leave for CSI with Simon.  Only 10 minutes late, but no time for either of us to have breakfast (and I never got around to packing lunch either)
8:05 am - on the 7 train.
8:34 am - on the Express Bus to SI
10:00 am - arrive at the lab where I work, FEED THE BABY drink some water, eat an energy bar
10:10 am - Simon charms the office ladies, I check my mailbox
10:15 am - check email and respond to students, count photocopies for class, random class prep stuff, meet with a student, Anna (a fellow grad student, who has generously agreed to childcare) arrives and I go over Simon's care (diapers, bottle, etc...)
10:55 am - FEED THE BABY
11:10 am - teach my class
1:10 pm - finish class meet with a student, pick up the baby, who is freaking out in the hall, on the way to the office with student to fix a schedule problem.
1:15 pm - give Simon back to Anna so I can sign some papers
1:20 pm - FEED THE BABY who is like OMG I am starving and you never FEED ME
1:50 pm - Simon is asleep. Eat an energy bar, drink some water. Answer student emails, work on online class prep.
2:10 pm - meet with Patty
2:15 pm - meet with another student
2:30 pm - head to office to fix more scheduling things.
2:45 pm - BABY woke up and OMG you left me alone and I don't know where I am and I am going to FREAK OUT
2:50 pm - FEED THE BABY
3:00 pm - Simon is happy, start working on the three things I MUST finish before leaving (two of them are sending two sentence emails...)
3:30 pm - Simon has had ENOUGH of work today.  Meet with Naomi.
3:50 pm - Finish last email.  Pack up.
4:00 pm - leave the lab
4:15 pm - Express Bus back to Manhattan, think about reading for class on Wednesday, take a nap instead.
5:15 pm - On the 7 train
5:48 pm - Arrive home and OMG I woke up and I don't care that you are wearing me in the carrier I don't know where I am and am going to FREAK OUT, and I'm really wet and I think you forgot to feed me today.
5:50 pm - change the baby
5:53 om - FEED THE BABy
6:00 pm - ask Rob to please turn on the US Open because I'm still FEEDING THE BABY
6:10 pm - hand the baby to the Daddy and eat a pudding cup
6:50 pm - FEED THE BABY
7:00 pm - Pour a glass of wine, and blog, the veggie lasagna (thank you Tammy!) is almost done.
7:02 pm - Simon FREAKS OUT again.  Rob has him, he's not wet, dirty, or hungry.  Rob plays his least favorite game "Cry Until Your Tired"  Simon lost around 7:20.  He sleeps until he'll be ready to eat again soon.

Kind of ready for bed now.  The rest of the night will include eating dinner, watching tennis, watching Bachelorpad #guiltypleasure, and bed by 10:30 - I hope.  And of course there will be more FEEDING THE BABY.

Tomorrow we go to the doctor for our 2 month shots.

*Simon travels in the Ergo carrier on these trips.  He pretty much sleeps the entire time.  I can feed him in it if I need to.
*I do NOT eat enough on CSI days.  Kind of no time, but I'm working on it.  Usually if I pack something I eat it, but it might take a couple of hours.  The second energy bar today actually took two "sessions"

Oh, Irene

We missed the earthquake last week, but were back just in time for Hurricane Irene.  MTA shutdown, grocery stores out of water, everyone out of batteries.  We were lucky.  Many areas lost power, hopefully not for too long.  New Jersey was hit hard.  There was lots of flooding, we had none of that.  We prepared for Irene by going to the grocery for our normal shopping trip mostly because we needed food.  Saturday morning I filled up all of our pitchers and water bottles, just in case.  We have a flashlight, matches, and candles.

 

Yesterday morning we took a walk to get out before the storm hit.  We had light to moderate rain on and off yesterday.  Lots of rain overnight.  Our window is leaking...again...ugh...since they just "fixed" it.  Since it was fixed a year ago, this fix really made it worse.  This morning Irene made landfall in New York.  A tropical storm now.  Once she passed, the back end was lovely.  A bit of sunshine, a light rain, the smell of fall in the air.  A leaky window, I'm glad that's the worst of it.  But now I need to get the window fixed.

the worst destruction we could find

After the weather cleared, we went for a Sunday afternoon walk.  Business as usual in Sunnyside.  Many restaurants and shops were open.  The park was full.  This tree, kindly leaning against the car rather than smashing it, was the worst damage we came across.  Lots of leaves down.  Last weekends thunderstorm was worse.  Again, we were lucky.

flying a kite in the park

As a bonus to me, classes are cancelled tomorrow.  I'm assuming in part because the MTA won't be up and running until later in the day tomorrow and no one can get to school.

 

Super Baby!

Emily and Scott arrived Saturday morning and we headed to Park Ave for Summer Streets.  Simon of course was dressed to impress in his "superbaby" costume.  Yes, I put my baby in a cape for funny pictures.  He doesn't quite look like he's flying, but it's the best we could do.

Last night Grandpa and Marilyn got in.  Today we are doing lots of this...

Some Notes

This made me laugh.  Last Friday we took Simon in the Ergo carrier to do some errands in the city.  One was to drop off a library book.  They check your bags when you enter and leave.  Rob opened the diaper bag and I followed him, but was stopped to check my "bag."  The guards expression was priceless when I said "it's a baby" and pulled back the sleep hood of the carrier.

Monday we went to see Harry Potter 7.2  Simon was great.  We went to the 12:45 show, the first one of the day.  There were only about 30 people in the theater with us.  Simon ate or slept all but the last 20 minutes when I walked him in the aisle by the exit.  We can totally do movies with a baby...for a few more weeks anyway.

Simon Kenton, one month

Tuesday was the big One Month well visit.  Wow!  one month.  The Squeaker (that's his latest nickname because he squeaks all. the. time.  and it's hilarious) weighed in at 10 pounds 3 ounces (60%)  His weight gain is awesome at about 2 oz a day right now, it will slow down.  His height was 21.25 inches but I know this was wrong, he was 21 at birth and is much longer now.  We are going to work on getting him to cooperate and stretch his legs for next month.  No shots this time around, next month we start the vaccinations.

Anniversary Date 8/10/11

Wednesday was our third anniversary.  I really can't believe it's only been three years.  I can remember life without the Squeaker, I have a hard time doing the same for Rob.  It's been fun, it's still fun, and I hope it stays that way.  Josh came over to babysit.  I fed Simon right before we left.  We went to Saffron Garden, an Indian restaurant a few blocks away.  It was very empty, then we remembered it was 7 on a Wednesday.  The food was good, but I think our old favorites are still our favorites.  After dinner we took a walk then stopped at the wine bar, Claret for a glass of wine and the creme brulee.  We were gone for 2.5 hours.  Josh got to change his first diaper and baby was still alive when we got home.  I really liked fixing my hair, wearing make-up (something I only really do for occasions anyhow) and wear a dress that did not have to be appropriate for nursing.  Date night = awesome.

BlogHer, the blogging conference I went to last year was in San Diego last weekend.  I was excited to see where it would be next year, thinking that could be a nice vacation.  It's in New York, again.  Which is disappointing because it means no travel, but good because it means I am absolutely going.  And I think I will also attend Pathfinder day for the pre-conference workshops.  Maybe I will meet some bloggy friends for real - anyone out there think you might come?  Blogging is a hobby that I have stuck with for almost 4 years now, that's epic for me. I want to keep evolving as a blogger and building new relationships.

Rob has been home for two weeks now.  It's awesome.  I am just getting to a point where I think I could tackle a trip to Manhattan on my own, I did it a couple of weeks ago and was on the couch for two days recovering. Two of us makes it almost easy.  It's great to have the family time.  And also the tag team because taking care of a newborn is EXHAUSTING.  I finally really get what 24/7 is because you have to be on top of it always. I can't be away from Simon for more than a couple of hours due to feeding, but Rob can take care of him, bring him to me, and take him again.  So I'm getting some longer stretches of rest.

on the steps of the Met, 8/3/11

Last week (in addition to the Friday funny) we took the stroller in to run errands and had lunch at the Shake Shack.  Some day when I have a computer again all of my ipod photos will be available for blogging, even though the quality is not so great.  Then Wednesday we went to the Met.  Simon was our ticket to the front of the excessively long line to see the Alexander McQueen exhibit Savage Beauty.  One of the line attendants saw us and gave us a pass to go right to the front because of the baby.  Woot!

roof of the Met, 8/3/11

My adviser and another grad student came to visit yesterday.  We mostly looked at and talked about the baby.  But also got me up to speed on a few things for the fall semester.  I'm looking forward to it this year. I'm teaching a class and taking a class and finishing two papers.  I get to take Simon with me to the lab the day I teach, and someone will watch him during the class time.  The day I have a class I'm going to leave him home with Rob because it will only be 3 hours of away time.  When Rob starts back to work we'll come up with a new plan.

My sister and dad are coming tomorrow with their SOs.  I'm really looking forward to it.  Emily hasn't seen him yet in person, and my dad saw him at 1 week.  He's gained THREE POUNDS in the last four weeks so he's going to seem HUGE.

Have a great weekend!

Ten Things about Summer

 

Rob has a green thumb.  The strawberry plants are actually producing tiny strawberries.  I didn't think it would happen.  But now I'm thinking another transplant is needed.  In March we moved the six plants into two bigger pots.  But now they are looking crowded.  Two plants per pot, or one?  And will the budding berries survive a transplant.  For sure it will happen in the fall.

 

I have a green thumb too.  My two Cherry Tomato plants have about 15 maters growing.  I am a bit worried about the yellow leaves.  One of the plants is almost half covered in yellow leaves.  At first i thought maybe over or under watering- but it's just one of the plants and they are in pots right next to each other.  However the yellow one seems to dry out faster than the other.  Any advice?

 

Rosemary, Thyme, Oregano, Parsley, and Mint are doing great.  One parsley plant is here, and the rest in the hanging box.  The lettuce from last year started coming up again and rather than dig it up I put one of the parsley plants here.  The Basil in the other hanging box is doing well also.  The two small pots on the far left have flowers!  Mostly I plant things we can eat.

We've been using the herbs a lot this spring and now into the summer we go.  It's fun to go out and pick and chop fresh herbs for cooking.  And because we have it we are finding more ways to incorporate herbs into cooking.  Rob is really good at putting things together to use up our CSA vegetables. It usually involves a lot of onion, garlic, and whatever herb goes best.

The Mint is nice in water or tea.  Just drop in a leaf and go.  Mint is also like rabbit-nip.  If you put your fingers by his nose after handling the leaves he will lick your fingers.  And we give him the occasional leaf.

Summer has also brought the first day that I've swollen enough to lose an ankle.  Just the right one is gone today.  I am sitting with my feet up as much as possible.  And really I can't complain.  My sandals are a little tight, but until yesterday I have been able to wear sneakers as long as Rob was around to tie them for me.

I spent two hours outside on the balcony this morning with my coffee reading.  It was delightful.  I love our outdoor space.  Over the weekend Rob said he really wanted to go to a cafe and sit outside and drink coffee, but that he didn't want to spend money.  I reminded him that we have a balcony and cafe table, he can do that for free here.  We are lucky.

Simon will be a summer baby.  I am only a pretend summer baby since today is technically the first day of summer.  Happy Solstice!

It's been pretty nice, weather-wise.  On days it isn't too hot I take a long walk and try to do one neighborhood errand each day.   The round trip is about a mile.  Almost every evening when it cools off, Rob and I take another long walk.  This is putting me at walking around 2.5 miles each day.  Exercise!  That isn't too taxing.  And it's nice to get out of the apartment.

Iced tea is one of the world's greatest inventions.  We are drinking lots and lots of it.

Photos of Posts to Come

 

Wordless Wednesday: I really wish I could take a vacation

Sorbet in Cannes, 2010

bloggy goodness

Back in August, I went to BlogHer.

I met some bloggy friends.  

Who I follow on Twitter and read their blogs.

A few weeks ago I saw this tweet:

 Picking up initial order of GS cookies - pls buys some so I dont eat them all and end up having a 12 lb baby. Free ship if u get 5 boxes!

And I love girls scout cookies.  Back in Indiana when I taught dance classes, I always stocked up.  There were a ton of girl scouts.  And someone was always selling outside of Wal-Mart or Kroger if I forgot to order.

Then I moved to New York.  And no Girl Scouts (well there are scouts here, but they are hard to find, and I don't know any) so no Girl Scout Cookies.

So I tweeted back.  And placed and order.  And after two blizzards delayed shipping.
THIS arrived last week:

And THIS is what was inside:

Different names for some of the cookies.  Peanut Butter Patties instead of Tagalongs and Caramel Delights instead of Samoas.  But they still taste the same.

Rob tried to eat a whole box of my PB Patties.  I told him those were for me and his baby.  The Caramel Delights were all his (I don't like coconut).  The Thin Mints are for sharing.

Even if I never have a Girl Scout of my own, now at least I can get some cookies.

Thank goodness for bloggy friends.

Camera Love

We bought a new camera a few of weeks ago.  It's fancy and has two lenses.  And takes HD video.  We've been talking about it and researching for about a year, and decided now is the time.  I'm learning to use it.  I'm really looking forward to a day when I can take it outside.  I've been using the new camera instead of the old one for blog pictures, which is going to be fantastic.  Once I can figure out how to get the pictures off of the camera and on to the computer.  I think I finally have the right software installed.  And I've been looking for the cord, which Rob has put away somewhere safe that is not the camera bag.  There are a LOT of cords on his computer.  But then I realized that even if I could find the cord, I don't have the foggiest where to connect it to the camera.  I think I need another lesson.  Until then, words only.

Snowbound

I haven't blogged much this month.  I blame it on the snow.  We have had snow approximately every three days.  Which, since I am still on school break and can do my research from home, means I don't really leave the apartment all that much.  I do try and leave at least every other day for some errand or other, or just to take a quick trip to Manhattan to meet Rob for his lunch or afternoon break.

We are supposed to get up to 10 inches over night tonight.  Yesterday the snow was pretty with giant flakes falling softly.  This morning, and now afternoon, the snow is still falling heavily.  Our balcony has about half an inch right now and since it is covered I can only imagine what the street is like.  I have a few goals for today, and one of those is to venture out (a short distance) and I am hoping that the snow is still pretty in the neighborhood.  Pictures will come.  That is if I mange to accomplish my goals today.

The one that is for sure.  I WILL win the battle against the dishes.  Our kitchen has become my own war zone.  You see, I really really hate to do the dishes.  So I usually don't.  Rob is awesome like that in that he is in charge of most kitchen cleaning.  BUT, since I've been home this month and only partially working, really there is no excuse for me NOT to do them.  It really started last week.  There was one pan that needed to cool.  Then then next day it was a different pan and some cups.  Then the next day, my lunch dishes.  You get the picture.  We are dirtying more than we are cleaning.  And by we I kind of mean I.  Again with the being home for all meals (and baby means no more meal skipping.)  So, sometime in the last week it's gotten out of control.  And each day one of us is washing all the dishes that will fit in the drying rack on the towel on the counter.  But we never seem to quite get all of them.  And then there is the problem of eating more.  But TODAY, today I am finally going to win this battle.  I did all but a few.  And as soon as I finish my lunch, I am putting those away and will finish the job.  And then I will have won the battle of the dishes.  And this will remind me for at least a couple of weeks not to let it get out of hand.  That is goal 1 for today.  And there are no pictures because it is kind of embarrassing.

Goal 2 for the day is to finish coding the next two moderators for my research.  I haven't blogged much about school.  But I am moving along on my, what is officially the Second Year Research Project (because it is theorized to be mostly conducted during the second year of the grad program) but what will effectively become my (enroute) Master's Thesis. (Mom, feel free to critique the grammatical accuracy of this sentence, I know it's a mess.)  I am conducting a meta-analysis looking at how video game play affects information processing, specifically visuo-spatial and attention.  A meta-analysis is like a literature review with statistics.  I am hoping that my preliminary conclusions, that video game play (VGP) can have a POSITIVE impact on certain skills will hold up.  This would give me something nice to add to the literature that says VGP and media are ruining the next generation.

I am lucky that this project is moving.  I think it will actually be finished during my second year.  And this will definitely help me progress quickly through my PhD program and that is my plan.  Baby will not slow me down.  Much.  I hope.  I am presenting a poster for this meta-analysis at two conferences this spring.  At SRCD in Montreal in March and at AERA in New Orleans in April.  What this really means is I have about 6 weeks to finish the analysis so that I can get the poster done in time.  Yikes!  Luckily I am moving along.  And I was the happy recipient of a grant this year which is paying for my travel and allowing me to purchase my very own copy of the statistics software we use.  It is a specialized software and as these things go not cheap.  I got a student discount and now have to run parallels so that I have Windows on a Mac.  But I can work from home.  Which I have been doing all month.  Probably not quite as much as I should.  But an hour or two a day looking at a ginormous spreadsheet does add up.  So today Goal 2 is to go through two more columns for the analysis.  I will spare you the detailed description of that.

Goal three is to venture out after Goal 1 is completed to accomplish Goal 2 at the cafe down the block.
Part of goal three will also be to take some pictures along the way.  This way I can get a Wordless Wednesday in to accompany this post.  I think this may be the most in depth writing on mundane things that don't matter that I have written to date.

I will post a baby update with new belly pic this week.

The Aftermath

So we missed the actual blizzard, holed up in Indiana.  I'm so happy we decided to stay until Tuesday, our flight home wasn't affected at all!  According to CNN at the airport LaGuardia was open for business, but there was a lack of aircraft.  So arrivals were a go, unfortunately for those leaving NYC, departures were still kind of a mess.  We got in 15 minutes early and were on our way home.  The approximately5 mile trip took about 2 hours.  We waited 40 minutes for the bus, which (luckily? maybe?) was making express stops between its terminals.  The airport and the subway station.  This was due to the fact that local streets were still impassable.  So we took the expressway as much as possible and crawled through the local streets that were unavoidable.  We saw a couple of stuck busses and many stuck cars along the way.  Once finally at the subway, it was a quick trip home.  Oh, so good to be home.


Since I'm on break from school still, I worked on stuff from home today, venturing out to the grocery store.  Below are the picks I took along the way.  Believe it or not, this is a vast improvement over yesterday.  I can only imagine what Sunday and Monday must have been like.  We missed the big storm last year too over Christmas - and that was nothing compared to this.  I'm not sure if that is a blessing or not.  I was here for the blizzard of February 2006.  That was fun!

the intersection at 50 and Skillman

tire print in the side of a drift

intersection at 50 and 43rd - you can't really tell here but the pile across the street is up to my shoulders

snowman in front of the emergency boiler that has been there since Dec 10, 2009, I think it might become permanent

the entrance to our building

size detail, almost to the top of the meter

 

So much to be Thankful for

Every year at this time I like to take a few minutes and count my blessings.  And really we have so much to be thankful for.  Rob and I have had a great year and have grown closer together as we have traveled the world and enjoyed being married.  I am thankful that we were able to take a couple of really great vacations.  I am thankful that we have a comfortable place to live, and jobs that we like.  I am thankful for the new friends we have made through going to a church in our neighborhood.  It's nice to feel connected to our neighbors.

I am looking forward to tomorrow when we celebrate here at our home with some family.  We will miss the folks in Indiana.  But will have a feast of our own to enjoy!  I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all the cooking goes well.

Pics to come.

Take some time to think about what you are thankful for.