4 Days See Ya In Vermont

Just a quick note as we are finishing packing. The computer is next up. Our next week will be filled with graduation, painting, packing the truck and driving across the country on 36, 24, 6 and finally onto the interstate for I-90 across New York. See you on the other side.

5 Days Simplicity...returning to

If I am up at 3 am you know that life is stressful right now. Of course we are only in the middle of moving across the country to start a business in a town where we know no one. So instead of getting some much needed sleep I am sitting here on the computer (actually in front of it, I would smush it if I sat on it).

Yes there is a lot of unknowns coming up soon so I am trying to focus on the things that I actually know. This means I have spent and inordinate amount of time collecting paint chips anytime I am at or in the neighborhood of a store that sells paint. Even if our landlord doesn't let us paint we will be able to do the fabric wall thing. Either way thinking about colors has been a good stress reliever lately.

This brings me to what I look forward to the most when we move, a return to simplicity. The last few years have been chaotic between Kevin's school and having a baby we haven't had much time or mental space for it. But now that school is over we are going to go back to our old ways. I am so excited.

This world we live in is complicated, there are so many things going on that we can't simplify (have you looked at the news paper lately?). the one thing any person can control is their own life. That is why we chose simplicity. Before you get any pictures of a Japanese inspired home with no furniture and no entertainment let me explain how we do simplicity.

To us it means our Friday night date involves cooking dinner together and dancing in the kitchen to Rosemary Clooney or Sam Bush. It means creating a home where curling up on the couch with a book is the fought after and then pile on location. It means being out on the trail before seven, just because. It means reading out loud to each other in the car. It also means that we are going to get organized.

The organization thing is the tough one for us. We are fairly good at organizing, it's the staying organized that is difficult. We get complacent and things pile up, then the piles become enemies and we fight dealing with them. But we are determined to start fresh begin with new systems for getting things done, keeping things neat, going out less to eat, and most importantly spending more time together. It sounds linear, I know, but there needs to be an underlying structure that allows for the creative, spontaneous, and random to occur.

here are some resources I found on getting organized:
I think this list is about where I am, a beginner.

This site has some good ideas, doesn't seem as Zen as the title though.

I like the 90% rules Emme has here.

This is the website of the New Road Map Foundation, Your Money or Your Life by Joe Dominguez is the book which their ideas are based, it is a good look at how to become financially independent.

And of course there is the book that I found in a used books store seven years ago: The Simple Living Guide by Janet Lours Amazon doesn't have a copy but you can find it at Abebooks used.

The saddest part of looking up all these sites was the amount of sites that were about things you should by to help you organize. I'm not talking bookshelves and file folders but lots of crap.

I suppose I should attempt to get some sleep.

6 Days When Your House Looks Like This

When your house looks like this:



You really only can go do this:
Or smile like this:

8 Days What a wonderful birthday

My birthday was perfect. Well as perfect as a birthday in the middle of packing up a house in the middle of a heat wave can be perfect. Kevin changed every diaper yesterday and he even braved packing the kitchen. I wasn't quiet as productive as him yesterday but we spent the day packing things and talking.

We made dinner reservations for eight at Le Central. This worked well because Alder cozily slept in his stroller while we had a romantic dinner. We even split a nice bottle of wine (I love the bring the bottle home law in Colorado, you actually take rest home).

He got me this book

I love the stories in and the illustrations by Meilo So are gorgeous. He always tries to find gifts that will inspire me to do more art.

We are trying to get in the habit of giving each other, and Alder gifts, that have more with doing than things. The other part of my gift is a camping trip to Maine in September. We would like to get to the point where each of us gets a birthday trip as the main gift. Of course there always needs to be something to unwrap, even if it's just the map.

9 Days ...and I turn 34

Since our lives are getting all chaotic and sleepless with this move I am going to do that less than inspiring 34 things about me for my 34th birthday, mainly because it's what I did in the middle of last night trying to get myself back to sleep.

1. My favorite place on earth is the remains of an old broom handle mill in western MA.

2. I am afraid of pigeons ... I touched one I thought was a statue as a child and it flew at me.

3. I have lived in 16 different places in the 11 years that I have lived in Colorado.

4. As a child I would sneak and eat all the spinach before it was time for dinner.

5. When I am stressed I dress all in blue and it makes me very happy.

6. Palisade Peaches (from Palisade Colorado) are my favorite fruit.

7. I can not stand when people start sentences with 'Yeah, no....'

8. I actual like moving and setting up new homes, although someday I would like one of our own.

9. My 'best friend' (for lack of better words) and I have known each other since the first day of Kindergarten, have worked together many times, moved to Colorado together but have never lived together.

10. I love making to do lists, in fact I have a little book just for them.

11. I went tree climbing with my husband on our first date.

12. When I am away from the ocean for too long I miss it like a friend.

13. When I am away from the mountains too long I miss them like part of myself.

14. I was born at 6:36 in the morning and I am still a morning person.

15. I can change my own oil, spark plugs, distributor caps and brakes.

16. I only have a TV for watching DVDs for fourteen years.

17. I love making homemade pasta.

18. I love our Kitchen Aid mixer, I use it almost everyday.

19. I am left-handed.

20. I am moving in 9 days to Vermont.

21. The only time I ever went fishing was in college when my friend and I spent more time reading out loud to each other than catching fish, we did catch a shoe.

22. I learned how to whistle when I was 2 years old.

23. I did not really learn how to spell until I was 23, it just sort of clicked then.

24. I am addicted to the public library.

25. My husband swears that I am addicted to Public Radio.

26. My favorite number is 24.

27. I rather see live music outside at a festival any day.

28. I am an only child raised by a single father from the time I was 12.

29. I have an extended family that is as close to me as if they were my own siblings, my cousins are Uncle Dan and Aunt Amanda to Alder.

30. I have never stolen anything but I have trespassed.

31. I once had a week long romance with a guy who had a motorcycle who I showed all over the Southwest of Colorado from the back of his bike with out a helmet.

32. I love going to Estate Sales not only to find stuff but because I have seen the insides of some of the most amazing homes that way, I always bring a camera.

34. I love that my birthday is during a meteor shower.

That was incredibly self-involved but a lot of fun. Sort of my own little birthday gift to me.

11Days What Alder Does

Walking out into the rain (quickly followed by crawling in away from the hail)




Finding a cave just his size.


Enjoying a drink while out to dinner.

He has two new things that he is doing. He has figured out how to climb out the cat door, Bancha is now back to knocking to come in. He also has been helping with doing laundry, putting stuff in the washer, but most of all he loves closing the door.

Everytime I think that things are not changing with him he goes ahead and surprises me. Have I mentioned he says Mama on occation (yes the turns me to 'mush mush' to quote my husband)
Have a good weekend.

13 Days A Day in the Life

5:15 Wake up

5:30- 6:30 Check email and do other computer stuff.

6:30-7:45 Breakfast with family.

7:45- 8:15 Actually get a shower, get dressed (interesting with most of my clothing packed)

8:15-8:50 Drive Kevin to school on the way to downtown library.

9 am- 10am Get to library an hour early so we go for a walk around the Golden Triangle. Spend a half hour in front of the library waiting talking to one woman who just to Denver and avoiding the man who was having an ongoing dialog with himself the entire time.
10 am-11am Grab a ton of books for me to look through then head to the kids room so Alder can play.

11am 11:30 Visit with Trish in the bowels of the library.

11:30-12pm Drive home.

12pm-12:45 Eat lunch. Me ham sandwich and salad. Alder saucy meat.

12:45- 1:30 Stare at wall, too hot to go outside.

1:30-2:15 Got to fabric store for felt for furniture at new house (wood floors! and more solid fabrics for Alders quilt.

2:15-5:00 Stare at wall. Pack one box of 'shoose' and outdoor gear. Draw pictures together on unmade boxes. Talk to Kevin on phone during which time Alder manages to remove his diaper and climb into fireplace- like lightening.

5pm-6pm Take Alder out front to play with hose and get clean. He also spends time walking up and down the block.
6pm Write about my day.

This has been the slowest day I have had in years, it was as if someone had added fifteen seconds to every minute for me. Oh well, it passes and I can smell something good coming up from the kitchen.

14 Days What Now?

Two weeks from today we will be driving away from Denver with all of our stuff in a U-Haul truck. I've spent so much time over the last few months waiting for this that now that it is so close I am starting to get nervous. It isn't the packing and driving that are making me nervous but the starting again in a new town.

As much as I have complained about Denver this summer, have I mentioned the heat? This really has been the place that I have lived I have enjoyed the most. It was the right place at the right time in my life. I don't regret our move but I will miss all the wonderful people that have become my friends. That being said this is also the first time that I feel as though I am leaving someplace with friends who I will stay in contact with.

Kevin doesn't deal well with change, we know this and try to make moves easy for him by making sure we set up the house quickly and start exploring the natural world where we live. For me it is the being new that I have the hard time with. I know it takes a year to really start to feel comfortable living anywhere. That is a long time without a strong community of friends around. A long time to be skirting the edges of a place without really getting it. At least with this move we will be near family who we can see every few weeks (I believe my aunt has every other weekend plans to see her "grandson").

So what does that leave me doing now? Well packing. Our life has become a world of boxes, full boxes, empty ones, ones still flat, ones used as boats. So rather than thinking too hard about being new, a situation which only dissipates with time, I think of boxes.

And of course biscuits, because nothing can be too bad when your making biscuits and eating them with honey butter.This is Alder mixing his own biscuits with his great grandma Hannah's bowl and his grandma Joyce's spoon. Two wonderful people who he will never meet but their spirit infuses him, I can already see it.

15 Days Africa

We have been watching a few movies about Africa lately and it has brought up many issues about the world and human behavior. The sad part is that American's look at the entire continent and call it Africa. Why is it that we regard every country there as interchangeable? We would never say something was just European or Asian. I don't think people would confuse Vietnam and Kirghistan or Germany with Portugal, yet we continue to look at Africa as a monolithic culture people and government.

I first noticed this when I was taking a class on the teaching of social studies (in my last life) when many of the adult students thought it was a waste of time learning all the African countries by name and location. Why teach something to their students when the media and larger world just look at them as one. I couldn't believe that these future teachers were claiming the media as a standard for them to hold. I certainly wasn't going to bring up the underlying racism in what they were saying.

Since then I have done my best to educate myself about different countries in Africa when they come up in the news or in art. If it wasn't for the internet I would be stuck reading heavy anthropological texts because it seems that the idea of Africa as a single place is pervasive. The excuse I here is that there are so many countries with similar sounding names. Oh okay Joan... oh wait your name is Jane.

Before Alder this only served as another spot that I was frustrated with the general population of my country. Now I see it as a great place to model the importance of respect and the joy I have in learning about new places. Alder will know the difference between Zambia and Zimbabwe and not just their position on the map.

There are 54 countries in Africa can you name them?

Some Africa Links

http://geography.about.com/library/maps/blrafrica.htm
A basic list with links

African Studies Center UPenn
Web resources, annotated

Afropop Worldwide
African music and the influence it has had around the world; there is a section to look by country, there are some non African countries listed.

16 Days 10 x4 is 40

Kevin and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary this week, as I mentioned before. Quiet and family was what we went for (and I had one of those umbrella drinks at dinner). But it was quickly eclipsed by Kevin's parent's 40th anniversary this weekend. They aren't much into celebrating, especially themselves. But this year they decided to do something so we all went to see Cirque du Soleil's Corteo which was here in Denver. It was amazing and everyone really enjoyed it, although I think Kevin reached a new level of awe for mixing of dance and physicalness.

Afterwards we went out to dinner at Pagliacci's an old Italian restaurant, I figured we could keep with the clown theme. It was lots of fun for dinner (Alder came only to the dinner) but also a little sad since it was the last time that we will be with all of Kevin's family before we move. We are really starting to have a lot of lasts for Denver now.

19 Days 4th Anniversary

We were woken up at five or so by Alder, his favorite early morning game is the bounce and head snuggle and then he's up again off to some other corner of the bed to do it again until he's ready to leave the "island". Four years ago today was our wedding, it was a beautiful misty day the garden had bloomed just for us and the rain stopped only hours before the ceremony.

Four years and two thousand miles away it is a hot dry morning and there are three of us. But what fun we still have. For those people who don't think marriage is for them that's fine but I am a lover of celebration and honoring things that are important. We were married at the bottom of the lawn at the house I spent every summer growing up. My father planted a garden that blooms each year for this day. Now that we are moving out east we plan to spend our anniversaries picnicking in that garden.

At first when thinking about what we would do this year we had fancy dinner and babysitter dreams. But those faded as we realized what we want to celebrate and that didn't fit. Now we have no plans yet- pack a few boxes? Being a family together is what we are celebrating. We can get a babysitter some other night.

20 Days What Weekends are Made For

This weekend was full of all the goodness summer weekends are supposed to be. It started with a wonderful heavy rainstorm that lasted all the way through dinner with friends on Friday night. Saturday morning was cool and smelled of rain. I caught and hour of time alone drinking coffee and reading on the deck of a cafe, a rare treat.







There's Kevin at the back of the boat looking at the shore

Later that morning the three of us headed down the hill to Sloan's Lake for the Dragon Boat Festival. Kevin was on his school's team "The Flying Tigers". As our neighbor who is a member of the local Toaist society 'he came in second twice'. But they did okay for a team of 18 who only practiced once. That evening we lazily watched 'Superstar' and laughed a lot.

Sunday Grandma and Aunt Karen took Alder to watch Kevin race again while I spent the day with Alder's godmama having a nice Sunday brunch and going to the Earth Works Expo. Well the expo was disappointing but getting to spend time together before the move was wonderful. We moved out here to Colorado together almost twelve years ago.

27 Day When the News Makes Me Go Grrrrr!

NPR just reported this story about infant deaths in Detroit. It makes me furious that the doctor was making all these claims about cosleeping being the cause of the deaths when there have been studies that have shown that cosleeping reduces the risk of SIDS. The doctor in the story made cosleeping out to be this thing that only happens in families that are too poor for cribs or who don't know better because they are from distant lands (read backwards). The reality is that it is only in The United States and England (Canada?) where cosleeping is not the norm.

If you are curious about cosleeping there are some resources here and here.

Just had to put this out there.

28 Days Wood Prints

One of the things I plan on doing more of when we are in Vermont is printing. I had to put away my print making stuff when Alder was born. Between the sharp blades and the fumes it seemed like a bad idea with baby. In our new place I am going to have my own space with a window for ventilation some I can start up again. Until then I get inspiration from a few different artists.

Nikki Mcclure

Mary Azarian

Eric Drooker
open books and then Flood and watch the sequence.

Sonia Delaunay-Terk

Daphne Taylor

30 Days The memories packing brings

I spent the morning packing boxes and listing stuff on Craigslist. At one point I was going into the closet to pull my husbands sweaters and glanced at my side of the closet. And this is what I saw.
I love how it is full of flowery shirts. This has been a long process. I grew up in a house where clothing was usually navy blue and tan or gray and white. My mother's taste tended towards tweeds and denim while my father wore a business suite or Chinos with a navy blue tennis shirt everyday. My clothes were either hand me downs from older friends or bought along the lines of their tastes. As I grew older they felt like my own.

But I remember spending hours looking a catalogs with dresses and shirts with flowery patterns and light colors. I would wander through the neighborhood dress shops like some people do jewelry stores. But when it was time for a new dress they were usually very dignified or casual.

Slowly after I left home more feminine clothing entered my wardrobe but I still preferred blacks, blues and greens, and nothing to girly. It wasn't that I didn't like the colorful stuff it was just that I felt awkward wearing it.

After I meet my husband I was introduced to a new palette of colors for clothing. He wore oranges and browns and light blues. Since we were fairly close in size I found myself in his t-shirts and button downs often. It was a slow process but I eventually added more light colors to my closet. But the dresses and skirts and flowery prints still eluded. Then we moved to Denver where the summers are hot (I know I've mentioned this before) and so I started to wear skirts on hot days and well they've drifted into my life and I have begun to love them.
The flowers came along slowly first in blues then broadening. Until now the closet bursts with colors.

But I was trying to tell a story. Last Fall a childhood friend came for a week. We were getting ready to go out for a nice dinner and for fun I asked her to choose me clothing, like she used to years before. Before we got to my room she told me that I should wear something flowery, as a joke. She was surprised to see my closet and me causally saying 'but which one'.

My family is still surprised when they see me in anything other than jeans and t-shirts or some women's version of a male piece of clothes. The funny thing is if I map this change in wardrobe I see that it follows a more complex line of changes in me as a person. As I have become more confidant with who I am I have felt more at ease in my body and therefore more willing to wear different colors.

In a lot of ways I can thank Kevin for a lot of these changes. He has always been supportive of my choices and he never expects less of me since I am a woman. Yet he revels in my womanness. With this support I have been able to pursue the things that are important to me and not worry that he might be critical. Knowing that he is there loving me has allowed me to become more of who I am. From starting a non-profit to wearing dresses.

hmm... I think I'll go kiss him.

31 Days a Walk Across Denver

Alder and I walked across Denver yesterday. We started out at the Tattered Cover, our favorite bookstore, where I actually splurged on a few books:

Simple Sewing Patterns and How To by Lotta Jansdotter

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowlings

Embroidery Techniques and Patterns by Marie-Noelle Bayard

Finding Your Inner Mama by Eden Steinberg

The Bake Shop Ghost by Jaqueline Ogburn

This is the most books I have ever bought without them being for other people, I know we can't really afford it but soon we will be without the Tattered Cover and their huge stock of books to browse through. Okay so I finished Harry Potter at 3:30 last night but that was worth it.

After Alder climbed the stairs, five times we headed west towards home visiting friends along the way. We also stopped into Stuben's for some lunch. And then headed into down town. There is something eerie and enjoyable about walking through a business area during the weekend when it's all quiet. Then it was past the train station where the cross country train was stopping for dinner. Over the train bridge, the south Platte river bridge, and the new walking bridge (see photo) to the slog up the long hill home. Five hours and seven miles later we were collapsed on the floor.

A friend of mine calls this sort of stuff urban spelunking but I think yesterday was more urban trekking. It isn't a replacement for being out in the hills or mountains but it can be fun.

33 Days Purple

You know how songs get stuck in your head and won't leave? Well for the last two days I have had a color stuck in my head not a song. For some reason I have been spending an enormous amount of time thinking about purple. It isn't that I want something purple in particular, I have just been thinking about the various shades of purple and what other colors look good with it and where in nature purple occurs. These are some pictures I found.

©2001 McIntyre

35 days Birthday Pictures

O

On Alder's actual birthday I tried letting him feed himself his yogurt. We've got a ways to go on the non solid foods, but he is starting to get the idea. The bath afterwards was a lot of fun too.



Aunt Karen was worried that we would be upset how messy he got with his cup cake. She obviously had not been there the day before for the yogurt. The party was pretty good, it was mainly family and a few friends, no other babies but the cousins had a lot of fun playing with him.
Trish made him this great dog, and he got some other neat gifts. Of course he loves the singing nursery rhyme book, it isn't so bad that I can't tune out the sound especially since it makes him so happy. I can't promise that I'll replace the batteries.

36 Days left Empathy and Quilts

I have been wanting to post for a few days now but I keep putting it off because I managed to clean up the camera to somewhere obvious, which is as everyone knows is never an obvious place.
Of course this means no birthday party pictures. So on with life I guess.

Yesterday was a lesson in empathy for Alder. We we over at our friends' house getting
ready to go to the pool. L was getting her diaper changed and was crying. When Alder heard that and saw what was happening his face went into a pout and he began to cry as well at L's Mama. While I don't like to see him cry it was interesting to see what he chose to react to... one of his least favorite activities.

The other piece of empathy yesterday was the butterflies in my stomach while Kevin took his exit exam for school. I can't imagine being tested on four years of information in a 200 multiple choice question test. Of course he was more nervous today when he couldn't remember if he signed one of the sections.

So the other reason that I haven't been blogging as much is that I got myself sucked into a quilt project for Alder. It started with some embroidered squares that I didn't know what to do with. Then I thought a little quilt would be nice. So I was working on a simple 16 piece quilt happily embroidering pictures and words on to various squares. Yesterday I was cleaning up around the house and realized that we already have umm... four baby quilts, including one that was from when I was born. So I decided to grow the quilt to be for a twin size bed. So I raided our fabric box and found some more pieces but I am missing a lot. I went on line and fell in love with this and this fabric. So now I have to cross my fingers and hope they don't disapear before my replacement credit card shows up.

39 Days Alder Turns 1

One year ago today I might someone for the first time. It was two am and here in the same room that I am writing this sitting in a tub (horse trough) Alder Joyce came into my life. I can hardly remember that vermix covered baby. How much peace and balance you have brought to my life. In one year you have taught me so much about the world and myself. You truly are my Tree of Joy. This Mama is honored to be experiencing everyday with you. Who knew there was a love this strong?

I thought I might put his birth story here but it is seven pages typed. If anyone is really dying to read it I can make it available.