Wednesday, January 13, 2010
I cannot complain
because I have a secure roof over my head, medical care at need, and food in an actual refrigerator. I am devastated looking at the photos and reading the accounts of the earthquake in Haiti. Why do these natural disasters happen in places where the people are already living in such poverty? Motherhood woes and dissertations are minor in this world folks. I am not deep in rubble searching for my family. While many of you know I'm not a deeply religious person, I would ask if you are, pray for these people at such a time. I will send my own personal missives up to the stars and across the oceans. I follow a blog of a family that has adopted children from Haiti and hopefully, she'll have some information. If anyone knows of any other resources to reach out, let me know.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
BM
No, not "bowel movement" but "Before Motherhood" - this elusive time of my life that I (admittedly) find myself searching for once again, even though I know it never will return.
Nine months ago, I was BM but desperately wishing I had the little babe in my arms. I was fat, I was cranky, my feet were swollen and nothing better than being a mom was on my radar. Now please, don't freak out (Mom, yes that means you). I'm not saying that I regret our decision in any way.... but it does give one room for pause.
Right now, I'm sitting here and I'm supposed to be working on something. A dissertation chapter possibly, a lesson plan, interview research and preparation for the upcoming interviews... but I'm not. Because I need to get this off my chest. Steve took Stella to run errands to "give me some down time" but in my world, getting an hour away from my daughter does not yield "down time." It yields the uncompleted list of tasks I was supposed to do by last Wednesday. It yields the knowledge that an old friend from NY called me to wish me a Merry Christmas from freaking Germany and I still haven't talked to her. It yields the painful reminders that my dissertation is still 2 unfinished chapters and 3 chapters of revisions away from being done. It yields the dirt in the house, the laundry not done, the library books to be returned, and the interview research still incomplete.
So maybe this isn't about motherhood, but about the teaching profession. That when you are a teacher, you are never done. The job does not end when you walk out the door at 5pm. It stays with you in the evenings as you are preparing lesson plans or grading, it stays with you at 3am when you wake up and realize that you still haven't done revisions to that journal article that is seemingly never going to get submitted (and really, who is going to publish it anyway?), it stays with you when you check your email and yet another student is writing from LAST QUARTER contesting their grade, giving you all sorts of excuses why they really should have received an A- when they only EARNED a B+.
A few years ago a fellow PhD student and friend had a baby and she put the dissertation on hold for awhile and was a mom. (She's a follower of this blog and better blogger than i... her wit is unbelievable folks!) I think it took her another year? year and a half? to finally complete it. And full disclosure, I remember thinking to myself, gosh? Why can't she just write the damn thing? I mean, how hard is it really to do with all those naps that babies take? How could you just "give up" on school to be a mom?
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
Let's just say, I know now. Oh, do I know. And I deeply understand the desire to "just want to be a mom." (as if that were something to "just be"). I mean, we waited awhile to have kids, and I feel some days that I'm shortchanging Stella because I plop her down on a blanket so I can check my email, farm her off with a friend so I can have a phone interview, drop her off with a grad student so I can work my ridiculous graduate job for 4 hours. I am EXTREMELY lucky to have the schedule that I have, to be able to have spent this much time with her without having to put her in full time daycare - I know that. And there is a hard fight within me - on one hand, the desire to be with her full time and relish in that, and the desire to have full time childcare so I can just get my work done and do the other job that I do - teach and write.
But I also wonder if this will ever change? I will still need to grade papers as a professor. I will still need to create lesson plans - and if i get these jobs, I will be teaching FOUR classes a semester. I will need to do all the things that are required so I can get tenure and have job security. I will want to direct a show one year and have to be out every evening for rehearsals for six weeks. And I will probably still be stressed and feel guilty while I do all of this.
In my research to find information out about these on-campus interviews, I came across a book title recommended to female professors - "The Family Track." I requested it from the library and went on Amazon to read some comments about the book before it came. One reader said the book is invaluable for working mothers and women in academia, but might "scare off graduate students" with its raw and honest portrayals of how hard it is (and how hard academia makes it) to be a mom and a professor. I want to read the book, but I'm also scared as well. (And I'm sure waking up at 10pm, midnight, 1:30am and 3:30am to a cranky baby who could be A) teething B) gassy C) on her stomach and refusing to turn over or D) all or none of the above does not bode well for completion of anything).
I think that's why I have gotten into bread baking in the last few years. For me, baking bread is an achievable goal. I mix some ingredients, I wait, I mix them again, I wait. I shape, I bake, and I either have made what I set out to do, or I did something wrong and it didn't work. It's that simple. Within the span of 4-6 hours, I know whether I took care of the dough in such a way for it to be the delicious bread with incredible crumb structure and crunchy exterior that I was searching for.... OR, it sucked. Being a mom does not yield such immediate results. Neither does the path to professorship.
So I am somewhere in limbo. In the middle of a rise. Somewhere where the gluten strands are forming and creating the mixture of water, flour, yeast and salt. I will either rise and bake to perfection, or I'll be flat and hard and dense.
I'm suspecting the latter... but a good loaf of bread would be a nice surprise.
Nine months ago, I was BM but desperately wishing I had the little babe in my arms. I was fat, I was cranky, my feet were swollen and nothing better than being a mom was on my radar. Now please, don't freak out (Mom, yes that means you). I'm not saying that I regret our decision in any way.... but it does give one room for pause.
Right now, I'm sitting here and I'm supposed to be working on something. A dissertation chapter possibly, a lesson plan, interview research and preparation for the upcoming interviews... but I'm not. Because I need to get this off my chest. Steve took Stella to run errands to "give me some down time" but in my world, getting an hour away from my daughter does not yield "down time." It yields the uncompleted list of tasks I was supposed to do by last Wednesday. It yields the knowledge that an old friend from NY called me to wish me a Merry Christmas from freaking Germany and I still haven't talked to her. It yields the painful reminders that my dissertation is still 2 unfinished chapters and 3 chapters of revisions away from being done. It yields the dirt in the house, the laundry not done, the library books to be returned, and the interview research still incomplete.
So maybe this isn't about motherhood, but about the teaching profession. That when you are a teacher, you are never done. The job does not end when you walk out the door at 5pm. It stays with you in the evenings as you are preparing lesson plans or grading, it stays with you at 3am when you wake up and realize that you still haven't done revisions to that journal article that is seemingly never going to get submitted (and really, who is going to publish it anyway?), it stays with you when you check your email and yet another student is writing from LAST QUARTER contesting their grade, giving you all sorts of excuses why they really should have received an A- when they only EARNED a B+.
A few years ago a fellow PhD student and friend had a baby and she put the dissertation on hold for awhile and was a mom. (She's a follower of this blog and better blogger than i... her wit is unbelievable folks!) I think it took her another year? year and a half? to finally complete it. And full disclosure, I remember thinking to myself, gosh? Why can't she just write the damn thing? I mean, how hard is it really to do with all those naps that babies take? How could you just "give up" on school to be a mom?
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA
Let's just say, I know now. Oh, do I know. And I deeply understand the desire to "just want to be a mom." (as if that were something to "just be"). I mean, we waited awhile to have kids, and I feel some days that I'm shortchanging Stella because I plop her down on a blanket so I can check my email, farm her off with a friend so I can have a phone interview, drop her off with a grad student so I can work my ridiculous graduate job for 4 hours. I am EXTREMELY lucky to have the schedule that I have, to be able to have spent this much time with her without having to put her in full time daycare - I know that. And there is a hard fight within me - on one hand, the desire to be with her full time and relish in that, and the desire to have full time childcare so I can just get my work done and do the other job that I do - teach and write.
But I also wonder if this will ever change? I will still need to grade papers as a professor. I will still need to create lesson plans - and if i get these jobs, I will be teaching FOUR classes a semester. I will need to do all the things that are required so I can get tenure and have job security. I will want to direct a show one year and have to be out every evening for rehearsals for six weeks. And I will probably still be stressed and feel guilty while I do all of this.
In my research to find information out about these on-campus interviews, I came across a book title recommended to female professors - "The Family Track." I requested it from the library and went on Amazon to read some comments about the book before it came. One reader said the book is invaluable for working mothers and women in academia, but might "scare off graduate students" with its raw and honest portrayals of how hard it is (and how hard academia makes it) to be a mom and a professor. I want to read the book, but I'm also scared as well. (And I'm sure waking up at 10pm, midnight, 1:30am and 3:30am to a cranky baby who could be A) teething B) gassy C) on her stomach and refusing to turn over or D) all or none of the above does not bode well for completion of anything).
I think that's why I have gotten into bread baking in the last few years. For me, baking bread is an achievable goal. I mix some ingredients, I wait, I mix them again, I wait. I shape, I bake, and I either have made what I set out to do, or I did something wrong and it didn't work. It's that simple. Within the span of 4-6 hours, I know whether I took care of the dough in such a way for it to be the delicious bread with incredible crumb structure and crunchy exterior that I was searching for.... OR, it sucked. Being a mom does not yield such immediate results. Neither does the path to professorship.
So I am somewhere in limbo. In the middle of a rise. Somewhere where the gluten strands are forming and creating the mixture of water, flour, yeast and salt. I will either rise and bake to perfection, or I'll be flat and hard and dense.
I'm suspecting the latter... but a good loaf of bread would be a nice surprise.
Monday, January 4, 2010
A Pictorial Christmas
Our visit to the Zygmonski's - in pictures (b/c my parents took so many, we have a lot.)
Woohoo! I got a seat all to myself (thank you oh gods of the airlines...)
Pretty cool things are going on outside. This also keeps me occupied for awhile.
This is what keeps Daddy occupied during a two hour delay to Philly. Did I tell you how much we HATE the Philly airport?
Stella gets some Xmas presents - and pretty fun headband so people might finally know she's a girl. (dude, she still wears pink and she gets "how old is HE?" ugh. see, it doesn't matter if you dress them in green or freaking magenta, in our patriarchal society, they ALL are boys!)
'Cause Stella so needed a tutu, right?
Stella decides that she wants to wake up every 45 minutes, so Mom and Dad decide to just watch a movie in bed and then sleep with her, because that has to be better, right? (um, don't ask how that one turned out.)
Bathtime is more fun in a bigger sink, don't you think?
Stella beats up on those younger than her... my high school friend Mara's son Justin.
A visit with Milan, who's just chillin'
Mara (son Justin) and Sejal (son Milan) - we all had those proverbial "clocks" ticking last year, don't you think?
Stella was absolutely fascinated by the bubble lights and the Christmas tree. Grampy Z was happy to comply.
Stella's fella, the best thrift store find evah.
Home again, sorting through all the crap, i mean, stuff.
And my favorite toy? The plastic packaging on Dad's new chamois cloths. Yup. That's our girl.
Woohoo! I got a seat all to myself (thank you oh gods of the airlines...)
Pretty cool things are going on outside. This also keeps me occupied for awhile.
This is what keeps Daddy occupied during a two hour delay to Philly. Did I tell you how much we HATE the Philly airport?
Stella gets some Xmas presents - and pretty fun headband so people might finally know she's a girl. (dude, she still wears pink and she gets "how old is HE?" ugh. see, it doesn't matter if you dress them in green or freaking magenta, in our patriarchal society, they ALL are boys!)
'Cause Stella so needed a tutu, right?
Stella decides that she wants to wake up every 45 minutes, so Mom and Dad decide to just watch a movie in bed and then sleep with her, because that has to be better, right? (um, don't ask how that one turned out.)
Bathtime is more fun in a bigger sink, don't you think?
Stella beats up on those younger than her... my high school friend Mara's son Justin.
A visit with Milan, who's just chillin'
Mara (son Justin) and Sejal (son Milan) - we all had those proverbial "clocks" ticking last year, don't you think?
Stella was absolutely fascinated by the bubble lights and the Christmas tree. Grampy Z was happy to comply.
Stella's fella, the best thrift store find evah.
Home again, sorting through all the crap, i mean, stuff.
And my favorite toy? The plastic packaging on Dad's new chamois cloths. Yup. That's our girl.Thursday, December 17, 2009
Ye Olde Christmas/Holiday/Seasonal Letter
We're not green. We're just cheap.
This year, ya'll got postcards sending you to this blog address so you could read our annual Christmas letter virtually instead of having me photocopy letters and put them into your Christmas card. And if you didn't get a postcard, it probably means I don't have your address or you live here in San Diego. (or I'm a loser and I forgot, so put something in the "pithy thoughts" section to tell me so).
Okay, maybe it's not that we're cheap. Maybe it was just because we're picky and Target had a crappity card selection this year that prompted me to say, wait a sec! I can make my own!
Either way, if you already read this blog, then you probably have no desire to read the text below, as you already have been keeping up with our (mostly) mundane lives throughout the year. And if you're new to the blog, welcome! Blogs are a fabulous way to 1) waste time and 2) enjoy a healthy dose of schadenfreude, one of my most favorite non-English words. For those undoctrinated, schadenfreude in German loosely means, "enjoying and/or taking pleasure in watching/reading/seeing something icky happen to other people." For a more astute definition, read HERE. I love this word, especialyl because there is no English language equivalent, but I certainly think it refers to a blog because you can read all about us and think, man, I am SO glad I'm not the Germonski's this week... like say, the week our van got stolen. Or the week I complained about getting no sleep because our lovely daughter was up every hour. See! Now you're hooked, right?
But back to the Christmas letter. As you may have seen from the postcard, but probably already knew from an email back in April, we have a daughter! Stella Ruth Gerlach made her presence known by breaking my water at 8am on April 16 at the dog park, starting contractions finally at 6pm, and popping out at 11:38pm, all 6lbs, 8oz of her.
And now we can't believe that 8 months have gone by. They say it goes quickly, and when we were in the thick of it we never thought it would get any easier, but then all of sudden, here we are.
She helps Daddy with his motorcycle parts...
with the laundry...
she plays with Mommy and Scupper on the bed
and she's graduated to the "big girl tub" - the kitchen sink. A far cry now from her first bath tub, the Thanksgiving turkey roasting pan.
I know we don't have to tell many of you the myriad of ways children change your lives. I've learned to operate on 4 hours of sleep, Steve has learned to carry the baby and do many things - check email, pick up dog poop in the yard, throw a frisbee for Scupper, eat chips and salsa (although that is getting hard to do now that Stella wants to eat the bag. Yes, folks, the bag holding the chips. I think it's a crinkly-sound sort of thing).
We have had a busy year, even though this was the year that we said we wouldn't be here. We were going to give San Diego 5 years, and we're going on year six. and many of the things that we reported last year are curiously familiar. such as...
No, the dissertation is not finished.
Yes, Steve is STILL at the La Jolla Playhouse.
Yes, he still has a love/hate affair with the job.
Yes, Scupper still eats anything and everything, and he has now added teethers and plush baby toys to his repertoire.
But there have been new excitements, such as the acquisition of aforementioned camping van that has taken us on 4 camping trips with the whole family. We want to do more, but now that Stella is more mobile and the weather is cooler up in the high desert, we have to come up with a sleeping/heating plan. Steve forwent racing at the Velodrome this season to be a dad - but come January 1, we're both back on our exercises of choice - Steve back to the bike, and me back to yoga.
We've been graced by wonderful visits from grandparents and friends, and we thank you for sharing the joy of our newest addition. Scupper might be a little jealous that he didn't receive such a reception when he joined the family, but he's doing well with Miss S. If anything, he does a little too good - as in licking her feet, her ears, her cheeks, her hands.... With the addition of solid food and now "finger foods" he has discovered the joy of sitting directly under her high chair, and sometimes when we don't catch him, lapping his tongue around the lip of the tray and seeing what particles he can snag. He also has discovered that once Stella is OUT of the high chair, he can nose around on the seat and find other discarded goodies. Ah, mushy carrots and broccoli never tasted so good.
We look forward to the new and exciting possibilities that the new decade may bring. As of today, I have an on-campus interview in late January at Drexel University in Philly for a tenure track job in their (tiny) theater department. It's not ideal, but baby, it's a job nod in this awful academic job market, so I am thankful I even got this far. Tonight I just found out that I got another one at a small college in Ohio. Ohio? Mmmm. We aren't too sure about that, but figure I should go anyway and check it out. The main teaching responsibility there (as opposed to theater history type stuff at Drexel) is teaching acting. Yes - acting. Eek. Not exactly my strongest suit (so I'm kinda surprised they called, but not complaining). Steve continues to apply to teaching job in technical theater departments across the country as well - and he almost had one last week. Almost. We were pretty crushed last night when we got the "no thank you email" after an on-campus interview, but optimistic me is hoping that the application for a job in Olympia, Washington might yield fruit. I think we could all do with a dose of fresh mountain air, and Scupper would LOVE to run all over the Olympic range. So we'll see - having both of us looking for University Teaching jobs is tough, but as always, I hope that something will work out. Does the phrase "spousal hire" still work in these times? ;)
And speaking of "these times" I'm purposefully leaving out any discussion of the world at large, not that we do not have any civic consciousness, but I think it's best to depoliticize our holiday letter, lest we offend anyone. That said, Steve is ready to go if you want to "get into it" on healthcare, the war, the Iranian protests, the President... just let us know.
Our best to everyone who is healing at this time - may 2010 bring energy and health; our brightest to everyone who is feeling a little low this year, may 2010 bring comfort and laughter; and our love to everyone who has supported us this year in our greatest challenge yet, may 2010 shine on you with all the hope that a new year can bring.
With love and hugs,
the Germonski's
This year, ya'll got postcards sending you to this blog address so you could read our annual Christmas letter virtually instead of having me photocopy letters and put them into your Christmas card. And if you didn't get a postcard, it probably means I don't have your address or you live here in San Diego. (or I'm a loser and I forgot, so put something in the "pithy thoughts" section to tell me so).
Okay, maybe it's not that we're cheap. Maybe it was just because we're picky and Target had a crappity card selection this year that prompted me to say, wait a sec! I can make my own!
Either way, if you already read this blog, then you probably have no desire to read the text below, as you already have been keeping up with our (mostly) mundane lives throughout the year. And if you're new to the blog, welcome! Blogs are a fabulous way to 1) waste time and 2) enjoy a healthy dose of schadenfreude, one of my most favorite non-English words. For those undoctrinated, schadenfreude in German loosely means, "enjoying and/or taking pleasure in watching/reading/seeing something icky happen to other people." For a more astute definition, read HERE. I love this word, especialyl because there is no English language equivalent, but I certainly think it refers to a blog because you can read all about us and think, man, I am SO glad I'm not the Germonski's this week... like say, the week our van got stolen. Or the week I complained about getting no sleep because our lovely daughter was up every hour. See! Now you're hooked, right?
But back to the Christmas letter. As you may have seen from the postcard, but probably already knew from an email back in April, we have a daughter! Stella Ruth Gerlach made her presence known by breaking my water at 8am on April 16 at the dog park, starting contractions finally at 6pm, and popping out at 11:38pm, all 6lbs, 8oz of her.
And now we can't believe that 8 months have gone by. They say it goes quickly, and when we were in the thick of it we never thought it would get any easier, but then all of sudden, here we are.She helps Daddy with his motorcycle parts...
with the laundry...
she plays with Mommy and Scupper on the bed
and she's graduated to the "big girl tub" - the kitchen sink. A far cry now from her first bath tub, the Thanksgiving turkey roasting pan.
I know we don't have to tell many of you the myriad of ways children change your lives. I've learned to operate on 4 hours of sleep, Steve has learned to carry the baby and do many things - check email, pick up dog poop in the yard, throw a frisbee for Scupper, eat chips and salsa (although that is getting hard to do now that Stella wants to eat the bag. Yes, folks, the bag holding the chips. I think it's a crinkly-sound sort of thing).We have had a busy year, even though this was the year that we said we wouldn't be here. We were going to give San Diego 5 years, and we're going on year six. and many of the things that we reported last year are curiously familiar. such as...
No, the dissertation is not finished.
Yes, Steve is STILL at the La Jolla Playhouse.
Yes, he still has a love/hate affair with the job.
Yes, Scupper still eats anything and everything, and he has now added teethers and plush baby toys to his repertoire.
But there have been new excitements, such as the acquisition of aforementioned camping van that has taken us on 4 camping trips with the whole family. We want to do more, but now that Stella is more mobile and the weather is cooler up in the high desert, we have to come up with a sleeping/heating plan. Steve forwent racing at the Velodrome this season to be a dad - but come January 1, we're both back on our exercises of choice - Steve back to the bike, and me back to yoga.
We've been graced by wonderful visits from grandparents and friends, and we thank you for sharing the joy of our newest addition. Scupper might be a little jealous that he didn't receive such a reception when he joined the family, but he's doing well with Miss S. If anything, he does a little too good - as in licking her feet, her ears, her cheeks, her hands.... With the addition of solid food and now "finger foods" he has discovered the joy of sitting directly under her high chair, and sometimes when we don't catch him, lapping his tongue around the lip of the tray and seeing what particles he can snag. He also has discovered that once Stella is OUT of the high chair, he can nose around on the seat and find other discarded goodies. Ah, mushy carrots and broccoli never tasted so good.
We look forward to the new and exciting possibilities that the new decade may bring. As of today, I have an on-campus interview in late January at Drexel University in Philly for a tenure track job in their (tiny) theater department. It's not ideal, but baby, it's a job nod in this awful academic job market, so I am thankful I even got this far. Tonight I just found out that I got another one at a small college in Ohio. Ohio? Mmmm. We aren't too sure about that, but figure I should go anyway and check it out. The main teaching responsibility there (as opposed to theater history type stuff at Drexel) is teaching acting. Yes - acting. Eek. Not exactly my strongest suit (so I'm kinda surprised they called, but not complaining). Steve continues to apply to teaching job in technical theater departments across the country as well - and he almost had one last week. Almost. We were pretty crushed last night when we got the "no thank you email" after an on-campus interview, but optimistic me is hoping that the application for a job in Olympia, Washington might yield fruit. I think we could all do with a dose of fresh mountain air, and Scupper would LOVE to run all over the Olympic range. So we'll see - having both of us looking for University Teaching jobs is tough, but as always, I hope that something will work out. Does the phrase "spousal hire" still work in these times? ;)
And speaking of "these times" I'm purposefully leaving out any discussion of the world at large, not that we do not have any civic consciousness, but I think it's best to depoliticize our holiday letter, lest we offend anyone. That said, Steve is ready to go if you want to "get into it" on healthcare, the war, the Iranian protests, the President... just let us know.
Our best to everyone who is healing at this time - may 2010 bring energy and health; our brightest to everyone who is feeling a little low this year, may 2010 bring comfort and laughter; and our love to everyone who has supported us this year in our greatest challenge yet, may 2010 shine on you with all the hope that a new year can bring.
With love and hugs,
the Germonski's
Friday, December 11, 2009
Another developmental milestone
It's been a busy December, thus the lack of blog posts. I've been holding down the fort during the day, writing emails to my whiny students at night (I mean, I totally forgot to take the quiz online, I never do that, and I know you said no makeup quizzes, but could you let ME do it? Um. No. What about "no makeup quizzes" do you not understand?) creating a multiple choice test (I was loathe to do it, but with 195 students, something has to give right?), dissertation writing... HA! Fooled you! There was no dissertation writing going on!
Ah, but that's neither here nor there. Steve was wined and dined by Stanford Univ for a position... but we haven't heard from them, so we suspect they decided that the other person they talked to fit the bill more. Bummer. the Bay Area was calling our name. I'm still holding out hope, but with a week gone by and no more info, we think it's a dud. I have had 3 interests in my application materials from colleges I have applied to... a phone interview with a college in Wooster Ohio. (oh yes, the bustling metropolis of...), Drexel in Philly (close to the fam, not the best program in the world) and a small college in Atlanta. So we'll see what happens with those. Phone interviews are the most awkward thing in the world, and I'm not so great about getting to my point in an efficient manner... and speaking of that... THE POINT OF MY BLOG POST!
So Stella hit a very important developmental milestone tonight.
No, it's not the two teeth she has (one fully in view, the other peeking through the gums)
No, it's not that the Physical Therapist said her head is now round enough that they aren't worried (Yeah!)
No, it's not that she sits perfectly unassisted....
Give up guessing?
Stella now has learned to antagonize Scupper! Woohoo! After months of putting up with his licking of her face, her ears, her head, her feet, she can get him back!
Tonight after her bath, she was playing with a new found friend, a rubber ducky that squeaks that our friend Johanna gave her. I showed her that if you squeeze it or bang it on things, the squeaker works.
Enter Scupper. He loves to lick her clean feet after a bath (isn't that helpful?) Sitting on my lap, he came up to lick her face and she bonked his nose with the duck, and of course, made it squeak. Peals of laughter erupted and her face beamed! Interested in the toy (of course) Scup came in for more. Bonk bonk bonk! Squeak squeak squeak!
Too much fun... Stella had a ball, and Scup was so hoping that he was going to get the toy so he put up with it for a bit.
They are going to have so much fun growing up together... I can't wait until Stella learns to crawl and see what fun might ensue then! Watch out Scuppy!
Impish face of the month.
Ah, but that's neither here nor there. Steve was wined and dined by Stanford Univ for a position... but we haven't heard from them, so we suspect they decided that the other person they talked to fit the bill more. Bummer. the Bay Area was calling our name. I'm still holding out hope, but with a week gone by and no more info, we think it's a dud. I have had 3 interests in my application materials from colleges I have applied to... a phone interview with a college in Wooster Ohio. (oh yes, the bustling metropolis of...), Drexel in Philly (close to the fam, not the best program in the world) and a small college in Atlanta. So we'll see what happens with those. Phone interviews are the most awkward thing in the world, and I'm not so great about getting to my point in an efficient manner... and speaking of that... THE POINT OF MY BLOG POST!
So Stella hit a very important developmental milestone tonight.
No, it's not the two teeth she has (one fully in view, the other peeking through the gums)
No, it's not that the Physical Therapist said her head is now round enough that they aren't worried (Yeah!)
No, it's not that she sits perfectly unassisted....
Give up guessing?
Stella now has learned to antagonize Scupper! Woohoo! After months of putting up with his licking of her face, her ears, her head, her feet, she can get him back!
Tonight after her bath, she was playing with a new found friend, a rubber ducky that squeaks that our friend Johanna gave her. I showed her that if you squeeze it or bang it on things, the squeaker works.
Enter Scupper. He loves to lick her clean feet after a bath (isn't that helpful?) Sitting on my lap, he came up to lick her face and she bonked his nose with the duck, and of course, made it squeak. Peals of laughter erupted and her face beamed! Interested in the toy (of course) Scup came in for more. Bonk bonk bonk! Squeak squeak squeak!
Too much fun... Stella had a ball, and Scup was so hoping that he was going to get the toy so he put up with it for a bit.
They are going to have so much fun growing up together... I can't wait until Stella learns to crawl and see what fun might ensue then! Watch out Scuppy!
Impish face of the month.Thursday, December 10, 2009
YES PLEASE!
Um. so good. I can't even tell you how good. Like just ridiculously easy and tasty and yummy.
If you like salted caramels, you love these.
What you may ask?
Salted Brown Butter Rice Crispie Treats.
Oh yeah.
Get the recipe at the link above at my fav food blog: smitten kitchen.
If you like salted caramels, you love these.
What you may ask?
Salted Brown Butter Rice Crispie Treats.
Oh yeah.
Get the recipe at the link above at my fav food blog: smitten kitchen.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
The infamous gurgle
So Stella does this gurgle thing where we think she's either very proficient at rolling her "r"s OR she is gurgling her spit. It's probably the latter... but here she is on Turkey Day as Steve plays pee-a-boo behind my back.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)