Barbra was here

Barb came out from Oakland for a visit. She arrived last Thursday night and the kids and I oohed and aahed at the nighttime Halloween displays we saw as we drove out of town to pick her up at the airport.

That night, Kinder was thrilled to have First back in bed with him again. First was completely better from his illness (during which time he had slept in the big bed) and Barb was getting the big bed for the duration of her stay.


(The futons were booted from the livingroom when we upgraded to the Ikea couch-bed and dumped the broken futon frames. With no where else to put them, we had them in the kids' room, the only place they fit, the middle of the floor. This proved to be popular as they then could jump off the top bunk onto a soft surface. Within a week or so, they started sleeping on the piled futons and began reading together by the light of flashlights after lights out. After weeks of this set up, I finally cleaned and reorganized their room so that now the futons are against a wall and there is a cleared play space in the center of the room again.)

It took me pretty much the whole day to get that room in shape. The night before, Cap had moved my brother's old desk into our room and now the sewing machine is on it and I'll eventually turn it into a craft table. I moved their dresser and then the two futons. I was amazed at how well my back held up and, again, chalk it up to traditional Chinese medicine.

This is what the kids did while I worked:





Barbra and I went into the city Friday and met Cara and Rachael for a late lunch at my now reliable café in the Village where I had the yummy vanilla rooibos tea. We shared middle eastern food and caught up with each other before sharing an unsatisfying chocolate dessert and setting back out into the rain.

It was such a freakin' cliché, but I felt "young" again being with them. The images and rushes back to college memories made me aware of the passage of time.

I love walking through Penn station. I have felt it every single time I get off the train and do my trot-meander through the sights and sounds and warmth of that particular slice of humanity as I head to the connecting subway line.

On Saturday, I worked on Kinder's costume (he thankfully switched over to a mummy in order for me to manage to get it done by the party he was going to Sunday morning) and Barb went over to Cass and Bob's. It rained heavily for most of the day and soccer was canceled. That night B and I went to a Turkish-Mediterranean place in town for dinner and then up to the university theater to see Bill T. Jones. The performance was pretty stunning. I apreciate how his art is just accessible enough for me to feel like I "get" it while my imagination and wonder are being tweaked in delightful and devastating ways.

Sunday, Cap took the boys to the party at Felicia's and Anna and the kids came over. Anna drove down alone and we had a few hours together before André brought the kids over via bus form the city. It was great to see all of them, it was even okay to see André. It still makes me sad to think of how much I adored and felt a connection to him and have it be obliterated.

Yesterday Barb, the kids and I went to my favorite local diner which was fun. B grew up around here and they really don't make diners like this out on the west coast. We stopped into Whole Foods and Staples on the way home for some supplies: prosciutto for me, white paper for the kids (we make them reuse the back sides of paper for their drawing, but their output is huge).

We only took a few pics during our visit...it happens when there's so much fun and activity. The pic of B and me was shot by Kinder.



Woven throughout the last week plus has been increasing sleep deprivation as the Red Sox advanced to the World Series and then won it, Sunday night. Many of the games kept me up till 1:00 am and I am tired! Go Sox :-)

This morning, I finally sat down with the kids to play The Secret Door, B's gift to them. It was a fun cooperative game. The kids are fed (latke sandwiches, the de rigeur leftover breakfast after a dinner of latkes---they're not just for Chanukah around here :-), Danielle just dropped off a crucial piece for First's costume that she found for us in Sear's yesterday (thank you thank you), and Cap is about to sit with the kids for some table time.

I need to get dressed and face the music. First's costume needs to be tackled and if we're getting a pumpkin for him, it needs to be today (or tomorrow, I guess). As it is, Kinder's pumpkin has yet to be carved.

Big sigh, back to reality, serenity now!

The spirit of Dora lives

Kinder and I just had a surreal experience that made us laugh.

It is warm and wet today so all the windows are open. We were in the front room which faces the street that the high school is also located on, two blocks away. Beginning around 10:30 on weekdays, there is a fairly steady stream of foot traffic on our street. Students walking past our house on their way to or from getting something for lunch. We have a few bagel and pizza places a stone's throw from here.

Well, a few minutes ago, we were serenaded by a bunch of teenaged boys singing the Dora the Explorer theme song at the top of their lungs as they walked back to school. We didn't recognize the song immediately, but it dawned on us at the same time what the increasingly familiar tune was.

Sigh. It was both hilarious and lingeringly poignant.

Tagged

Tagged by Holly, here are eight things about me...maybe there will be some surprises.

1. I've played air guitar in the last 48 hours (to Matt Pond PA in the kitchen).

2. The first conversation I remember having with Cap was on his freshman hall (right under mine). He commented on my True West t-shirt. I was a big fan of Sam Shepard's in high school and the shirt was bought when I saw an off-Broadway production of his play, True West, starring Dennis and Randy Quaid as brothers. Cap and I were probably nineteen and eighteen. We were friends through our four years of college and didn't begin "dating" until two years after graduating.

3. I've baked two GFCF apple cakes in the last 24 hours. It's a great recipe from "Living Without" magazine. We have apples coming out of our ears. The second one came out particularly delectable.

4. I used to have a recurring nightmare as a kid. It involved a white picket fence, but was tense, suspenseful and kind of scary. I was being followed, but perhaps not pursued. It was never clear. There was also a big, fleshy, thing, that looked like the insides of a human and I always associated with a heart. But, the white picket fence would always, eventually appear and I would walk along next to it. The dream stayed with me for years, but I stopped having it sometime during adolescence.

5. The kids and I watched an Iron Chef episode the other day. They now know what arctic char is. I love that show. I really like the Food Network channel in general, especially Alton Brown. I also like other reality-based shows. I love The Amazing Race, and am currently hooked on America's Next Top Model (the contestant with Asperger's Syndrome drew me in initially) and Survivor: China. Wouldn't be happening without the dvr, but there you have it.

6. As a young girl, I loved the books: A Little Princess, the series of All-Of-A-Kind Family books and the series of Little House books. I was an avid reader until I had kids.

7. I love the ocean in winter. I imagine retiring to a home by the sea and I think a big draw for me is to be able to spend time sea-side year-round. I also love the wind and being amongst towering trees.

8. Something else I used to do more of before having kids is travel. Travel for pleasure is now something inconceivable (because of cost), but I hope that in five years or so this will change. I'd like to travel with them, but I guess I'd also like to travel on my own, and with Cap, too.

Now, how does this work, am I supposed to tag someone else?

Check out "tagged"

You can find it below...it was dated Sunday from when I started the draft.

The best medicine

Day trip

Yesterday the kids and I took a day trip north and west and met the Fiber Arts crew for apple and pumpkin picking. Our goal was for First to pick a pumpkin from a patch. The drive was beautiful, the foliage finally reminiscent of my memories. We drove just over an hour.

The pictures were taken before it all went wrong... I failed to pack enough to drink and it turned into a hot afternoon. There was little shade and the kids' cheeks turned pink early as they ran through the corn maze with their comrades.

I had thought about hats and figured it was late enough in the season and they wouldn't need them. I was wrong. But, that's what happens when I'm clutching various items and slinging a few bags and fiddling with my keys to get doors locked. The kids take off once they've gotten their shoes on and dash down to the swings out back.

So, they were hot and thirsty when we finally began the climb into the orchard. The kids and I were all exercising patience at this point because we were not there to pick apples. Of course, we enjoyed nibbles here and there (I had a scrumptious Fuji).

Then, Kinder started freaking out, no, FREAKING OUT, saying that something was hurting him as he jumped about, screaming in terror, grabbing at his pants. All I could think was that there was a bee in there getting more and more pissed at all the commotion, trapped and stinging away.

Luckily, it wasn't a bee. It was a bunch of prickles that he must have picked up as he tromped through the trees with Malik and his friends. Malik is a wonderful boy we've met through Fiber Arts who Kinder adores.

Nathalie, a new mom I met, helped me pluck out every offending fiber from the inside of Kinder's sweatpants. He was so traumatized that he wanted me to pick him up and carry him out of the orchard which I simply could not do. He is rapidly approaching 50 lbs. By this point, both my guys were grumpy and I led them out of the stand of trees.

As soon as we were back to the open field next to the orchard, First literally collapsed onto the ground. He was tired and thirsty. I wanted to go get our car which I had left by the farm market and bring it over to the orchard to drive it up to the pumpkin patch which was up and beyoned the apples.

I should have known when First said he'd rather wait for me there, alone, that something was wrong with him. But, I was somewhat harried by then... I called Kelly on her cell and told her that I was leaving First at the edge of the orchard and she said they were starting to walk back out to have a picnic, so I left him there, after directing him into a patch of shade, telling him the rest of the group would be there in a few minutes.

Kinder and I hiked back to our car. I went to the bathroom and then we bought some water and cider. We drove back to the group and I was glad to see First up and with the kids who were kicking a soccer ball around.

But then, Kinder said he wanted to stay in the car and First climbed in through an open window because he couldn't get into the car fast enough. They ensconced themselves in their car seats. I wanted to sit and eat with the group so I left them in the car with snacks and all the windows down. The cars were parked right on the grass of the field where we were picnicking.

After about fifteen mintues, Kinder called out for me and when I got to the car, First was nearly in tears saying he wanted to go home. I immediately realized that he was feeling awful. So, we abandoned our plans of pumpkin picking and decided to go home.

We drove back up to the market to use the bathroom and then took off. First threw up twice during the ride back, the poor guy. He took it all in stride and after the first time, I covered him in a blanket. He'd leaned over enough to throw up on the floor of the car instead of all over himself. There was barely any vomit on his clothes when we got home. This was a pleasant surprise for me.

Once home he threw up three or four more times even though there was nothing left in his system by then. I set up a plastic tub and some towels in the big bed and he slept fitfully until about ten when he finally stopped throwing up.

Cap and Kinder slept in the kids' room and I slept with First. He was burning up around 3 am and I got up and tended to him with a cold washcloth to his forehead for about 30 minutes. This seemed to help as he fell back into a deeper sleep. I remembered my mom doing the same for me...

I was up for a couple of hours because Kinder came in before I fell back asleep and it is hard for me to fall asleep once I'm sandwiched between the two kids. I finally crawled to the foot of the bed and curled up and slept there.

This morning, First is keeping his water and banana down. He doesn't feel feverish anymore and is quietly and alertly resting in the big bed. I managed to get the kids appointments with Vinny for this afternoon which I'm happy about.

Saturday 7:30 am

Out of one of the front windows I can see a tree across the street starting to turn red around the edges. So beautiful.

It was rainy and windy last night 'round midnight. I crept about the apartment closing windows wending my way around a new arrangement of furniture. Cap moved the computer out into the front room which is our living/dining room.

The kids use the computer every day, they have a 15 minute time limit which works out well for now. They have favorite websites bookmarked (they are not allowed to surf) and a kitchen timer they know how to use so are pretty independent. They mostly spend their time at Ben 10 sites, Noggin, Nick Jr. and PBS Kids. Occasionally they'll check out the money sites (the presidential dollars and state quarters) or Magic Treehouse site.

The front room has clearly become our daytime domain and it made a lot of sense to move the computer out here. I think eventually it will become more of a learning resource and proximity to our work space (the dining table) will be beneficial.

Taking the computer (and its little table and printer and printer stand, our old night table) out of the big bedroom will also facilitate the further transformation of that room into more of a haven for Cap and me.

It's his primary work/reading space and now there will be enough room for us to stretch in there.

We also decided to try out using the apartment door that opens into the front room as our main entry and exit. We have two apartment doors, one at each end of the apartment (I like to call our place doughnut shaped---our four rooms are arranged in a circle and you can, actually you have to, literally travel from one room to another in a circle, no hallways. The front room and the back room---the kitchen---are connected by doors which open into the common second floor hallway which is the landing between the first and third floors of the house. When we have people over, especially if there's food involved, we open both doors and use the common hallway as our own personal hallway between the kitchen and dining table in the front room, it's a straight shot, rather than going around through our bedroom (the big bedroom called that because our bed is the big bed). As in front room, our room, kitchen. If you went the other way it would be front room, kids' room, bathroom, kitchen.

So, we moved our shoe shelves into the vestibule space in the front room which has much better access to the coat closet (our bedroom closet) and the chest containing our winter hats, scarves, gloves, etc.

Where the shoe shelves were before, a cd shelf and book shelf now reside. That door will now be used only when we have groceries to pop right into the kitchen. The back door is the one you come to first as you come up the stairs from the first floor, so now our trip into the apartment will be a bit longer. It may feel counterintuitive for awhile.

I woke up this morning with some mild stomach burning for the first time in about a week. I was a bit chagrined, I like waking up free of that. But, last night I could feel some tightness. Yesterday had some stressful moments and the half an eggplant sub for dinner probably didn't help things (Friday night is pizza/sushi/family movie night.)

I have noticed that my portions continue to remain much smaller. I often feel full after the smaller amount of food and I am more often feeling hungry, which still fills me with wonder because it's such a new experience for me. Yesterday, with the summer-like humidity, I impulsively pulled on my orange pants and was surprised that I could actually close them. This means I've lost about an inch off my waistline the past few weeks.

I got Cap to come to bed to talk to me while I fell asleep last night and the happy by-product was that he ended up falling asleep before me. Our sleep schedules have always been different. For a long time, my work schedule meant that I was asleep by ten and up by six. Nowadays, things aren't much different, but I still do better with eight hours of sleep and try to be in bed by eleven.

Cap is a night owl. Once he started having a more traditional work schedule, in Sacramento, he started working on going to be earlier, but for him this meant by midnight rather than one or two or three.

So, we've never had the kind of night time routines I see people have on tv (and I imagine they do in "real" life). Brushing your teeth together already in your pajamas, climbing into bed together, reading side by side in bed, talking about your days in the dark, whispering, giggling, snuggling playfully...

The air wafting in from outside feels cool, almost cold right now. The sun is lighting up patches of trees and I feel good!

Today Kinder has soccer in a couple of hours, we have Anna's birthday party in the afternoon and then we're off to Manhattan to see my family. Jiji (my dad) is in town for less than 24 hours and we love to see him when we can. Sandy (my sister) is working in Flushing today (the Chinatown of Queens) and will be bringing over shumai and pork buns, mmmmmmm. Cap's baking an apple pie if he has time (if not I'll bake an apple cake) with some of the apples we picked last week.

And tomorrow, Norb (Danielle's husband) has graciously agreed to babysit the kids so that we can go out. I'm taking my hubby out to a movie and a meal. Probably The Darjeeling Limited (there's a special place in my heart for Owen Wilson circa Bottle Rocket and I'm a fan of Wes Anderson's work) and the vegetarian Indian place downtown. That was unintentional, Indian food paired with a movie set and shot in India.

Finnish delight

http://www.boingboing.net/2007/10/16/parentchild-dancing.html

Check it out, from the folks who brought us Moomintroll and Cap :-)

Inspiration

Some of the things I am drawing inspiration from this week:

• Last Light, Matt Pond PA's new cd.

• This blog written by a homeschooling mom who has spent much of the past few years healing her family through "everything-free" food:

http://everythingfreeeating.blogspot.com/

• Brotherhood, a series on Showitme which is a cross between The Wire and The Sopranos.

• Shortcomings, the new graphic novel by Adrian Tomine.

• Holly's blogs.

• A mug of decaf organic earl grey in the morning, a mug of fresh ginger and lemon at night, both hot, both with the amazing and expensive local honey. (I am thinking I need to cut out the middle man if possible...)

Some things I want to be more inspired by/be inspirational in doing:

• my relationship with my man

• my relationship with homeschooling

• cooking with the farm vegetables

Stuck in the middle with me

Maybe it's the humidity. After some fall crispness a warm and humid front has descended. I need to remember to talk to the Chinese docs about this persistent relationship between humidity and my disappearing energy.

Confession: my kids have become ardent fans of "AFV" (America's Funniest Home Videos).

The Choice organic decaf earl grey tea I sip in the morning with a dollop of my fave local honey soothes and awakens. Bergamot suits me, I think.

My regimen of Chinese herbs have improved my energy and I'm having a peach of a period. (No pms, a wild cleansing of my GI tract, sleepiness and sleep, no honkin' clots.) It's been about three months since I started.

But, after the busy-ness of last week, this week I feel sluggish. I knit, I play with the kids, I cook, but then in between, I'm a lump.

Maybe it's the rebooting of my cycle.

Maybe it's the downside of actually feeling better in some ways.

Maybe it's the humidity.

Apple picking

We went upstate to go apple picking this weekend. Last year's outing was fun, but not familiar. This year, I wanted the drive up to the Catskills and soak in the fall foliage, the stuff of my childhood.

My sister, Mike and my mom met us at a great orchard. Nothing fancy (no HAY RIDES! no CORN MAZES! no TONS of STUFF to BUY!) and in fact when we got there, it was cloudy, chilly, and so quiet and dilapidated in appearance that I wondered if we were wandering into a Stephen King story :-)



We picked Cortlands, Red Delicious, Golden Delicious and are pretty sure we got some Winesaps in there, too. I had no idea that Red Delicious apples, picked fresh off a tree taste almost like a completely different apple. Absolutely...delicious! This orchard used to be organic, but is now a low spray one. I think they might be amongst the cadre of small farmers who are fed up with/can't economically deal with the increasing cost and bureaucracy of being certified organic.


We met this fuzzy critter on our way out of the orchard. The kids and I could have spent the rest of the afternoon with him. He was very interested in moving along, not interested in half eaten apple cores...



We drove to a nearby college town to a park that Sandy and Mike knew about. They love this region and come up often to hike, lunch and stroll. We had a typical family picnic with tons of yummy food: various onigiri (rice balls), a cold rice pasta with zucchini and tomato, chicken hotdogs, sugar snap peas, cherry tomatoes, tamagoyaki (Kinder's favorite kind of eggs), and chips.

The kids played with various permutations of adults, it was a gorgeous autumn afternoon.

And the cherry on top was getting to see Ben after nearly ten years of not. He is now teaching at this univerity and he joined us for lunch and play. He took us on a tour of campus and we spent a few hours catching up and soaking each other in again.

Lovely.

Soccer

So, amongst the flurry of activities, Kinder announced that he did not want to ice skate this fall (my idea---Cap's uni has a rink with homeschooler classes), but wanted to play soccer instead. It was the first time he had ever expressed an interest and I was surprised, to say the least.

On Saturday morning, we drove around the south end of town looking for the field. It's weird, but lately, I've been winging it more when going to new places. For some reason, the days of printing out the Mapquest/Google maps directions are becoming more and more infrequent. Maybe it's passing the year mark of living here.

We finally found it and Kinder ran right out to join Silke and Roger's group (this program for 4-6 year olds is coached entirely by volunteers). I ended up hanging out with First, Kelly, Lila and Pippa (Cap joined the soccer players when Silke and Roger called out for parent helpers) at the playground on the edge of the field and watching Kinder from afar.

After about the half hour mark, I kept glancing over not knowing when the class was over. It turned out ot be an hour long and my historically stamina-less child, the one who lets out long and loud complaints whenever having to walk more than ten minutes, the one who last winter in the midst of the best snow play ever in the backyard with Elsa and Tobias plopped himself down into a snow bank after ten minutes and watched for the next twenty, the one who has, on occasion, felt chest pain and shortness of breath after bursts of running---he played soccer for an hour, running, kicking, dribbling, listening and following to directions successfully---and was fine!

Big, big surprise. A happy one. Things are starting to change in him as he approaches his sixth birthday.

Draft to post

Just learned that when a draft becomes a post, it is posted under the date of the original draft. So, don't miss the new post on "Superheroes" which comes before the knitting post even though I finished it after....

A return to knitting

The swift arrival of chilly and damp weather has brought with it a return to knitting.


After my haircut the other day I had a rare few mintes to myself while out and so went to the fair trade tea and gift shop across the street from the hair salon. I picked up some local honey, one of my must-have culinary and health items, and found a birthday gift for Danielle which was perfect: a whimsical marriage of form and function that I thought she would really appreciate (she did). I wish I had taken a picture, it was a wooden stand in the shape of a nose and mouth designed so that when you rest your eyeglasses on them, they complete the "face".

I noticed that the yarn shop a few doors down was having a retirement sale and was lured in. I'd been thinking I wanted to knit Cap a scarf and so needed some new yarn. I found some great wool skeins, for him, and for me or someone else. I had forgotten how expensive yarn is...I hadn't bought any since a few seasons ago in Sac when I knitted a bunch of wonderful Christmas scarves for the children in our life.

It's been wonderful knitting again. Time for myself where I am zen. I've noticed that I am more relaxed while knitting than I used to be. Despite this, some may notice that the scarf is tightening as I go along, a habit which I'd like to break at some point.

I'm trying a new stitch, the seed stitch. As it turns out, the yarn I am using is not ideal to showcase the stitch because it changes color and texture (the yarn is not uniform in thickness) and it's difficult to see the pattern of the stitch. But, it knits a flat piece, which I wanted, and I don't like the garter on both sides look.

I was delighted when First said he wanted to help make the second ball of yarn (he had watched me do the first ball out of the corner of his eye a couple of days earlier). He wound the yarn around the back of a chair as I unwound the skein and then he rolled the yarn into a ball. For anyone keeping track, great fine motor and eye-hand coordinating exercises. A practical art building up to his first knitting project which will probably begin this winter.




These pics were taken by Kinder.

Superheroes

The boys went to a homeschool day at our local art museum yesterday.

Comic books and super hero lore have been a vivid facet of Kinder and First's lives for the better part of a year. They were in Cap's childhood and adolescence, too, and it was serendipitous that he could take them to this one off session centered on the museum's current "Superheroes and Superheroines" exhibit.

They did a gallery walk and then worked on art projects creating and developing their own super heroes/heroines. They worked on cover art (the piece at the top done by Kinder, a picture that spans what would be the front and back covers of a book) and capes with painted logos (below, photographed by Kinder).

Their superhero charcaters were: Writeman (First) and Superdraw (Kinder).



Superdraw's power is the power to draw things in the air which than take actual form and matter thwarting the plans of villains.

Writeman's power is that when he looks into someone's eyes they know what they want to write, if they want to write something.

New 'do

My hair guy came through today. It's not quite as short as I'd envisioned, but I think his advice/instinct was good and I'm happy with the cut. (It was hard to get a good shot of the whole 'do with Kinder vying for frame space :-)

Our high elevation walker

First likes to walk at the highest points in a room. He much prefers solid, hard surfaces to soft, cushy ones. Chairs, tables, desks, stools, headboards, footboards (is that what they're called?), dressers...

I actually like this about him. It's unique. His agility seems so natural, such an animal state, and is beautiful to watch. And for a kid who is "in his head" much of the time, it's a welcome break for this mom to see him in a "zone", where he is not thinking so much. It looks kind of therapeutic.

I guess I thought he would grow out of it, but he hasn't, at all. At seven, his body has become long and pre-gangly. I wish I could build him bars and ledges, taking full advantage of our high ceilings. Because, not surprisingly, he doesn't do this high places walking anywhere other than in our home.

Introvert

Some strands coming together.

Jamie began things by talking to me about some books she'd read about introverts (months ago). From these conversations, I started to think about my introvert tendencies, as well as, First's.

Then there was Fiber Arts on Monday and our co-op meal last night.

FA felt, for the most part, chaotic to me. The kids were having a blast and were very energetic running in, out and around the house. Kelly's house is fantastic for this. It's an old, roomy house where all the rooms have two ways to exit and enter (great for running through). Their yard is a masterpiece, really, with three levels, two slides, an in-ground dipping pool, nooks and crannies, sloping and flat surfaces, and lots of green.

My kids were happy to play, like last week, but I could feel my energy, which was low to start with post-weekend, begin to drain almost immediately. It may have unfolded differently had I had a project to plunge into, but with all the busy-ness lately, I haven't gotten anything organized. (The kids' Halloween costumes and a knitting project are on my mental radar.)

The co-op meal felt very different to me last night, in large part, I think, because I was a guest and not a host. There were times during the meal that I could feel a familiar "freezing up" feeling followed by a detaching of my mind from my body. Exactly the kind of thing I would feel at parties back when I used to go to parties.

I struggled to stay put, there were six of us around a table and I wanted to just "be" with them. I forced myself to interject comments and even found myself telling some stories, but awkwardly, almost blundering, not fluid.

I realize that hosting gatherings, which I love to do, provides me with a way to be social without having to be "extroverted". All the cooking, fussing about, keeping an eye on things, keep me involved and cuts down on the amount of time I need to "small talk".

There's a down side, too, which is when I am hosting people with who I'm already close to. Then I often feel I've been cheated out of "quality" time because all I was able to do was make the equivalent of "small talk". I often feel this way when I get together with family.

Then this morning, on one of my Yahoo groups, I read some posts about introvert parents who are homeschooling, and their tips, stories, insights. It was an interesting and timely conversation.

And all of this has kind of settled into my head, reminding me that I'm an introvert.

I forget this because I am also very interpersonal. Once I connect with someone and become friends with them (which requires some one-on-one time...usually not a lot, I am quick to fall in love), I place a high value on spending time with them. Because we've moved so much in the last half dozen years, I've had to forego a lot of this because there simply isn't enough time in my days to talk to everyone I'd like to on the phone.

What I have found is that this doesn't matter in maintaining my friendships. More often than not, I will see someone who I haven't seen in a year or more and we can just fall into the intimate and warm communion that I remember. Literally, it's like we've jumped the space and time continuum.

We've been quite busy the past few weeks. Kinder is an extrovert and he has been showing me this fall that he is ready and wanting to do more outside of the house, outside of our core.

Fiber Arts, art class, co-op dinner, drum and movement, soccer, swimming, our schedule now includes planned activity every day of the week except Thursdays and Sundays.

Every weekend between now and Christmas has a planned activity.

Something else to keep in mind as autumn deepens. In order to create and maintain a good energy for myself, I need to be more vigilant about protecting my time alone... doing something other than watching tv!

Massachusetts

Another trip to MA under our belt. Part of me feels like I have an internal countdown, noting that each trip we take there is taking us closer and closer to being back there. Particularly when we go to Boston, something knocks around in my soul as we make the approach on the Pike, and Newton and then Brighton comes into view.

On our way up to MA, we stopped in to see Anna and got a tour of her new place in CT. I was surprised by the tinge of longing I got for single family home living. It's a great space.

We spent a few hours Friday in JP meeting our new nephew, Theo, and hanging out. We took the kids to a playground behind El's house in the hopes of catching her as she got out of school (she couldn't meet up, but we ended up seeing her Sunday). It was a summery day.


Then we drove down to Karen and Brent's. Cap went on to his dad's to get some work done, the poor guy was seriously behind the eight ball on a particular project. The boys spent a lot of time digging and building with Will on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They worked on a cinderblock fort way in the back of the yard and in the dirt circle closer to the house.

Here's a pic First took of the trench shortly before we left on Sunday morning (originally three holoes dug individually, which were subsequently connected).


And here are the happy diggers in their trench.


If I could bottle the feeling I had, bursting joy, peace and wonder, as I watched Kinder and Will at 7 am Sunday morning, them down by their holes, me on the deck, the wind blowing vigorously, the giant pines and their comrades swaying and rocking, the sky gray, the air full of early sutumn chill and microscopic droplets of moisture... oh, oh, oh, my kind of moment.

We spent part of Saturday at Jake and Evie's. Nancy, Alexandra and Cecilia (Cap's aunt, cousin, and Kinder and First's second cousin) stopped by on their way back from an outing down the road to ride the trains. The hens were out, Pops plucked loads of raspberries off the bush which the kids could not gulp down fast enough and then we all took a tromp through the woods that stand at the back of their property.




After saying our good-byes to Karen and crew (always bittersweet) we drove back to Boston on Sunday. We stopped into a Finnish bakery near Jay and Aim's and Cap chose a blueberry-walnut coffeecake to bring over.

We had a nice visit with Amy's parents who were also there. I got to hold Theo again and the kids played nicely together. Cap got to watch the Pats, it was a nice Sunday afternoon with family.

Jay and I took the kids to the playground and El was able to meet us, which was nice (Eleanor is a friend who I met when we taught together in an inclusion program for kids on the autism spectrum, she was the general ed teacher, I was the special ed teacher---a twist of fate which has resulted in a close and beloved friendship). Jay and I spent some time amusing ourselves creating the story of a very athletic looking woman who was there with her four sons...juvenile, but fun :-)

We headed out of town around 5 pm and ate dinner over at Mike and Julie's after picking up provisions at their local Whole Foods in CT (Mike is Cap's best friend from teenhood). Cam, their son, is such a cool kid, and the kids had a blast playing. Mike and Cap watched the Red Sox highlights and Julie and I looked at the portfolios of the current cast of America's Next Top Model on the CW website, followed by Nathan Fillion's recent appearance on Ellen on YouTube. Fun was had by all.

I wish I had more pics, but the memory stick filled up fast because there was a bunch of old stuff on there (our desktop is SO slow these days I just avoid it at all costs and that's where we store our photos).

Fedora

I walked in on Kinder playing by himself the other day and this is what he looked like.

I just added a group pic to "Flowing".