Sunday, March 25, 2007

Pictures from our walk

Henry and I went on a walk yesterday to the farm. I took him to a new spot, one he hadn't visited before, on the non blueberry field side of the road. The water was really flowing as the ice and snow melted and we found a couple different little impromptu streams and creeks.



if you look up close in this one, you can see the little ice covers that've formed along the segments of the plant that droops across the creek.



this is a neat shot of a moss covered stump. I like the idea of using it as a backdrop somehow in a photo collage. the green stump looks like a mountain or big hill from this perspective.


the path we were walking along is something of a nature super highway. We saw turkey tracks and deer tracks on saturday, and then while walking along the same path with jeff and maggie this afternoon, we noticed some kind of wolf or coyote print. these pictures are from Saturday.


I like how all the turkeys seem to keep to the right and the deers to the left.



there's something like a 'race car boneyard' at the bottom of the field we were walking through, and I saw this bumper sticker on one of the dead cars, made me think of Brooke.



we also spent some time visiting with the two dogs that live at the farm, Riley (in white) and Scout (in black).



and then we wrapped up the evening with dinner at Chilis. here's maggie and her dad, enjoying each others company.

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Grasshopper New Media



GNMParents

GNMParents is a multi-media channel featuring blogs, podcasts and video, aiming to provide a full and rich content experience for parents at all stages of parenthood. Our goal is to inform, entertain and engage the community.


There is a lot of good stuff there, so if you're a parent, ch-ch-ch-check it out!

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Maggie's toys

I made Maggie a castle out of recycled stuff, painted it white and then mod podged tissue all over it. Then I sprayed it a bunch with sealer, then I squeezed a bunch of puffy paint onto it. She uses it to stage elaborate plays, casting any suitable friend in the role of a lifetime.


This morning we decided to fill up her castle with all available cast members and take photos for you. (And I wanted to show off the little felt stuff I've stitched up here and there!)


Here is Little Guy, on the left. He plays the Beast. On the right is Phillipe, the faithful steed.


I am trying to figure out ways to make clothes for the various dolls. I think I need different fabrics and more experience. I sure hope I pick up a sewing machine at a yard sale this summer! wish me luck!

And the purple rose I whipped up in request to Maggie needing a rose for sleeping beauty to hold while waiting for the prince (played by Woody from Toy Story) to kiss her.


Dora and Polly Pocket hug it out at the castle entrance.



cute, huh? HUH?!?!

Me and my Daddy


This picture is from a couple years ago, and it's the picture for March on our calendar in the kitchen.

Book Report


I just finished "Such a Long Journey" by Rohinton Mistry. Such a wonderful book. This is the guy that wrote "A Fine Balance", which I loved, and also "Swimming Lessons: and Other Stories from Firozsha Baag". This author is so terrific, I can't begin to tell you.

from the back cover:

"Such a Long Journey" introduces us to a novelist who recalls both Dickens and the early V.S. Naipaul. Through the best of movtives Gustad Noble becomes enmeshed in the corruption of the Indira Gandhi years. Gustad's attempt to sort out his conflicting loyalties manages to be ribald and heartbreaking, deeply compassionate adn unsparing, in its depiction of the venalities and compromises that make up this novel's large and teeming world.


Gustad is such a wonderful man to observe as he makes his way through the story. I really enjoy novels that are set in other countries, written by people from those countries. Mistry was raised in Bombay and emigrated to Canada in 1975, and his descriptions of the plight of the average joe living out their lives in the heart of Bombay, India are totally delicious. I really did savor every word of this novel, just as I have the other two books of his I've read. I just ordered his one other book I've not read online, in fact!

My favorite passage:

Dinshawji smiled weakly. 'Your smiles will vacate the premises,' said Gustad, 'when you hear what I have to tell you.'

'You keep shouting at me,' he complained. 'All afternoon you have been drowning yourself in anger. But why not say what has left its sting poking in your heart?'

"I want you to be able to enjoy your cup of tea first. It may be the last thing you will ever enjoy.'

Dinshawji laughed, a poor copy of his usual incorrigible laugh. 'What suspense you are creating, yaar. Taking tuitions from Alfred Hitchcock or what?'

(Dinshawji is a real cutup at work, raunchy joke and has been making jokes about wanting to introduce the bank receptionist named Laurie to his lorri. 'You can play with my lorri,' he said, 'such fun the two of you will have together.' Well Laurie finds out that lorri is a slang term for penis and realizes what's been going on, and so decides to confide in Gustad before taking the matter up the chain of command. But obviously she is mortified and wants to quit, but can't quit, etc. Gustad assures Laurie that he will convince Dinshawji never to upset her again and has arranged to meet Dinshawji after work to lay into him.)


Gustad minced no words, wanting them to be as deadly as the goaswalla's knife that went bhup! Dinshawji's pale countenance lost its last trace of colour; his mouth fell open, fetid breath billowed across the table. 'But there is more,' said Gustad mercilessly. Dinshawji gazed blankly at his hands in his lap, too ashamed to look up, too dazed to speak. "Luckily, Laurie does not believe in your secret service and ten lakh rupees and guerrillas. She laughed when she told me. But if it reaches Madon's ears? And he gets suspicious about our deposits? What are we going to do then, you bloody fool?'


(so then Gustad tells Dinshawji that he must stop harrassing the coworker, and that he will tell the others that 'poor Dinshawji's health is not good again, he is completely under the weather' so that Dinshawji has an excuse for toning down his behavior across the board at the bank where they work. Thru out the book, Dinshawji is described in such a way so you realize he has been slowly growing seriously ill.)

From the next morning, Dinshawji changed utterly. Everyon'es heart went out to the grave individual, suddenly fragile and spent, who greeted them with only a quiet hallo. When Gustad came across him later in the day, he was surprised at how authentically Dinshawji project his new image. Till he remembered that it seemed authentic because Dinshawji was no longer playing a role; reality, at last, had caught up with him; and Gustad felt awful for confiscating his mask.


Anyways. a really terrific read. I can highly recommend it. Especially if you enjoed "A Fine Balance", and who wouldn't?!

Monday, March 19, 2007

Maggie is sick!



This picture is from last year, but it's suitable enough for my purposes today. A stomach bug of some kind. Feeling kinda yucky. Tummy is all scratchy. Feeling berry berry kinda yucky. She threw up some water twice today and is now resting comfortably on the couch. I bet she has what henry had a couple weeks ago, only it's coming out the end that is the opposite way of henry's bug.

Friday, March 16, 2007

Some Art

My sister Marcia sent us a couple of squares to decorate with crayons that she will incorporate into a baby quilt, and this is what I sent. Notice that I didn't let the kids do anything beyond henry adding his name to the second one. It was too fun and I'm too greedy!




And here are two pictures Henry and I made for my dad. I felt sort of silly and regretful after I put the words on mine, but it just happened. One of the things I'm struck by as I sit all the way over here on the other side of the country, is the profound gratitude I have for folks who come to visit my dad. It is so good of them to come. I just really wish I could be there to add my visits to the mix on a regular basis and since I can't, at the very least I want those who do sit with him to know how much I appreciate the fact that they are there. Anyway. I was compelled to add the words and I think my uneasiness with it comes more from my art having exposed my true feelings about the situation.




Henry's picture is really great, too. The colors are so rich. I wish I'd reminded him to sign and date it. Marcia, if you're reading this, jot down on the back the who and when before you tack it up, would you? THANKS!

Block Posters

I came across this great website that lets you upload a photo, and then decide how many pages across you'd like them to blow up the image. Then they make a .pdf file based on that information that is however many pages it takes to print out the image at the larger size! It's very cool. Takes a gallon of ink, as you can imagine it might, but given the right opportunity, it'd be worth it.

Here are a few things I've made so far. The ink supply on my printer is wonky right now, so the actual print quality is not the greatest, but you get the idea... This is a big family photo I made. It's hard to do the trimming and fitting together, also. I made a poster of my friend and the trimming and fitting together went smoothly on that one, so maybe it just takes practice.




This one I like a lot. The picture is very abstract to begin with, so on a larger scale, it looks very cool. It's a picture of my neice Karina in front of one of those exhibits they have at science centers where you can horse around with shadows and light play and soforth.



Then this weekend Lanie and I were playing around with the idea of blowing up an image to a really large size and then printing out just one page of it. We made these of her (wearing her billybob teeth) and nora and phil before I ran out of ink while trying to print cassidy's. I found this cool clear plastic sleeve thingie at ikea and it makes a perfect frame.


Anyways, check it out if you'd like. it's fun and it's free!!

Blockposters.com

Sunday, March 11, 2007

Free Pony Rides!

There was an open house at the local pony farm yesterday, and so we took the kids down there. Lanie and Nora were visiting this weekend. Here are the two girls getting buckled in.




this is a cute one of Maggie looking excited.




Nora really enjoyed getting a close up view of the horses. Maggie, not so much. She was quite wary for some time, and then all of a sudden she decided she wanted to pet one and then laid her hand calmly on the horses nose.





Nora took in all the place had to offer, really. She and Henry both got their faces painted. Henry chose a black horse on his forehead, and Nora wanted a pretty horse ribbon put on her forehead.





And away he goes...




Nora enjoyed her ride as well.





This is about as far as Maggie was interested in going as far as a pony ride was concerned. She changed her tune once we were walking back to the car, of course. She had a good time, though, as evidenced on her face.

Friday, March 09, 2007

Shaving Cream is the New Fingerpaint



Maggie loves her glass slippers



I also like this picture of her giving the camera the evil eye...

Is time kind to any of us, really?


The photo in my hand is from 1996...

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Time Out for Parents


From Cheri Huber's terrific book "Time-Out... for parents. A Compassionate Approach to Parenting"


We are conditioned, however, to be Happy. If we are happy, we believe that we are "good" or "doing it right." If we are sad or mad or confused or afraid, we have been taught to feel that we are "bad", or are "doing it wrong."

So we learn to be even-tempered, never to be "out of control," which is seen as being "childish."

The belief is that to have your emotions take over makes you a bad person, so we become masters at rationalizing ourselves out of our feelings.

Therefore, a "good" parent teaches the child: ALWAYS KEEP IT TOGETHER.

And when, inevitably, the parent loses it, and explosed, s/he hates himself/herself and feels guilty, feels like a bad parent.

That feeling of about-to-lose-it is actually a gift: it is the self signaling itself that a need is being neglected.

It is sort of like emotional hunger pangs. When you get really hungry, you do not consider that you have 'lost it.' You might have learned that it is helpful not to get that hungry, because when you do you tend to gobble your food, eat the wrong things, overeat - it's not a good system.

But does letting yourself get that hungry make you a bad person?

No, of course not. It makes you a person who is out of touch with your body.

When you get to the point of screaming with anger or frustration, does this make you a bad person? NO. it makes you a person who is out of touch with your feelings.

Screaming, then, is to emotions
as gobbling is to hunger.

When we have gone too long without a basic need being met, our reactions become HUGE.


and:


Of course, it's natural to avoid our feelings if we find them uncomfortable. It takes practice to get in touch with them and more practice to accept them for what they are. One step at a time, that's all that is needed. And, you are doing it.


and:

In fact, to feel my feelings I do not have to do anything or involve anyone else at all. We live in fear of our feelings, however, believing that if we allow ourselves to experience them, we'll run amok. The belief is: if feelings are controlled, behavior is controlled. But it is my experience that just the opposite is true: when feelings are controlled, behavior runs amok. When I depress my anger, sooner or later I find myself screaming at someone. When I'm not afraid of my feelings, when they are allowed to exist, it seems that they limit themselves. When I just let the energy of anger be there, noticing how it registers in my thoughts and in my body, it seems to go on for a while and then be finished. If I learn to use that energy in a way that benefits me, I will soon see that the motion isn't destructive at all. In fact, it's quite instructive.

Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Tuesday Morning

8:09am here on the great East Coast. Maggie is still asleep! Night Night is currently MIA.

My goal today is to get back in the swing of things. I definitely established some habits that are still pushing me through my days, but the in-between time of those efforts is dragging. Sometimes I think



...ooo... the laptop is making a terriible moaning sound as I write this. Jeff would want me to close up right away!

- more later!

Saturday, March 03, 2007

Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town

Henry and I just got back from the movies. We saw "Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town". I remember loving a Kettle movie, the one where they won the new house. In this movie, they won a trip to New York and end up getting tangled with a bank robber. Hilarity ensues, believe me. Our local movie theater has a free classic film playing on saturdays at 4:30 (donations happily accepted), so we went to this one.

We stopped at the local Army Navy store on our way home, but they were closed by the time we got there. Even though the lights were on and two people were standing around inside, and the signs were all turned to "OPEN", but in fact, they were closed. Boo says Henry.