INSTANT KIWI

My Review of Aventura Clothing by Sportif USA Petaluma Cross Front Tank Top (For Women)

2009-03-29T03:28:00.001-07:00

Closeouts . Add a little extra green to your wardrobe with Aventura Clothing by Sportif USA’s Petaluma cross front tank top. Pure, breathable organic cotton is processed without the use of toxic pesticides for a healthy, stylish alternative to warm-weather pieces. Eco-Conscious ...

Flattering, Comfortable, Great Fit

NursingNurse New York 3/29/2009

Pros: Versatile, Stylish, Comfortable, Great Length, Durable, Soft

Best Uses: Casual, Exercise

Describe Yourself: Practical, Comfort-oriented

Love this cross-front top that makes nursing a breeze. It is so flattering to my post-partum figure, too. It accentuates the positive while remaining modest and draws the eye away from my middle. I love cross-front tops and this one has a price that can not be beat, especially considering the quality, which is just great!

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My Review of Poly-Rayon Stretch Palazzo Pants (For Women)

2009-03-29T03:24:00.001-07:00

Sierra Trading Post

2nds . Romantic flare, feminine drape and pure comfort make these poly-rayon stretch Palazzo pants a perfect choice for a night on the town or relaxing at home. Made for a major retailer Sit low on waist Straight-leg style Inseam: 29” Fabric: 80% polyester, 35% rayon, 5% spandex Care: Machine ...

Nice N Easy for Post-Partum Dressing

NursingNurse New York 3/29/2009

Waist: Feels true to size

Length: Feels true to length

Pros: Comfortable, Breathable, Stylish, Flattering, Versatile

Best Uses: Casual Wear, Wear To Work, Night Out

Describe Yourself: Eclectic, Bargain Shopper, Casual

Im still getting back to my pre-baby shape and these pants are a real pick-me-up. I feel put together and stylish in these comfortable, flattering pants! I found them to be just as described and I went back and ordered a second pair once I knew what I was getting. Maybe because they are seconds the quality is hit and miss but so far it's been a hit with me. Certainly worth the price and then some!

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My Review of Penza Shaping Bralette (For Women)

2009-03-29T00:13:00.001-07:00

Sierra Trading Post

Closeouts . This Penza shaping bralette is designed to streamline your silhouette so you can wear the outfits you love. Back is constructed of stretch, ribbed microfiber, which eliminates back bulge and visible bra lines. Unlined, shaped cups (no underwire) Cups are seamless and constructed of str...

LOVE AT FIRST WEAR!

NursingNurse New York 3/29/2009

Sizing: Feels true to size

Pros: Comfortable, Lightweight, Breathable

Best Uses: Warm Weather, Anytime, Cold Weather

Describe Yourself: Occasional Exerciser

I love this bra. I ordered two initially and just ordered two more. Im a nursing mom and this bra is so easy to just pull down and to the side in order to nurse and it supports my large chest beautifully with no underwire and no feeling like the strap is digging into my back. I cant say enough about how wonderful this bra feels on and how well it supports. What a find!
AND it is made in the US! What more could you ask?

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MaryElise is Six Months old...

2009-01-30T12:23:00.000-08:00

So, I think it is time I write out her birth story!

I had been in contact with Jen a few times in the weeks leading up to
MaryElise's birth because I was having contractions and thought they might be heading
somewhere...but they never did. I was a little bit nervous because my water had broken with my
first child and I walked around leaking for a few days before I went to the hospital and
found out that all that liquid was, in fact, amniotic fluid. I had kept looking for the
mucous plug, which never materialized at Ian's birth.
So, on a Friday afternoon, almost two weeks after my "due date", Jen visited the
house and rubbed some Evening Primrose Oil on my cervix. I think she said I was a couple of
centimeters at that time, but I knew from my first pregnancy that one can walk
around for a LONG TIME at two centimeters!
The next day, I lost my mucous plug. And the next. And the next. And the next.
This is really funny to me because my biggest "complaint" about Ian's birth is that I
never got to see the darn mucous plug everyone talked about so much. I had no idea what itlooked
like, so I thought well, maybe I missed it. This time, the Universe made sure Idid not miss
the mucous plug, as it made its way out over three days. (Who knew it was so
big????) I tried very hard to not take this as anything big, but I did see is as a
positive sign that
things were eventually going to start happening.
Monday afternoon, my copy of "The Wise Woman's Herbal for the Childbearing Year"
arrived in the mail. I had ordered it the week before because I am interested in
going to midwifery school and I had read all the books I had already from cover to cover.
I opened it to the pages that address inducing labor and decided to give one of the
remedies a try.After talking it over with my husband and agreeing that it was not going to do
any harm to try the remedy, I drove to the store and purchased the following:
Orange Juice
Castor Oil
Vodka.
I remember walking out of the liquor store, first of all embarrassed for being
SO pregnant and buying a bottle of Absolut, and thinking "Okay, this is it. If you drink
this, you are not going to be pregnant any more." and taking just a minute to make sure I was ok
with that. When I got home, I followed the instructions in the book and drank one glass of
the concoction and took a hot shower. An hour later, I drank another and decided
that I would not repeat the dose again after an hour because I was already feeling
drunk and did not want to get the baby drunk too.
Then we went to a neighbor's house and played a board game until about eleven.
When we got home, the castor oil took effect. I went to get up to take another shower and GUSH my water
broke. I was so happy! My husband and I high fived one another and I called Jen. She said
just call her back when things get going. We both thought it was a good idea for my
husband to get some rest, but there was no way I was going to be able to sleep. I called my
Mom at around midnight and took a shower. Then, I ate some Ramen noodles. I was not
hungry at all, but after having had my son in a hospital
where I wasn't allowed to eat, I was bound and determined to eat during this labor!
Then, I settled in on the birthing ball and starting timing my contractions.
Time started doing really weird stuff, like speeding up during the contractions. They were
timing at a minute or so long each, but I was feeling like they were much much shorter.
Things started to get so that I couldnt move or talk through my contractions at around
two a.m. so I called Jen and she said she was on her way.
I woke up my husband, who set about filling up the birthing pool, which was out on our
deck. The night was unseasonably cool, though, so we didnt end up using it much.
I guess we used it for about an hour, but like I said time was doing all sorts of funky
things. The whole night seems like it went by in an hour as I remember it now and I felt
that way, then, too.
Jen arrived at three o'clock and I was ready to go use the tub. We spent some time out
there under a big big moon, but it was chilly outside and my contractions were coming on
super super strong. I said to Jen "I guess I should tell you what I did." She just looked at
me. I told her what I had drunk the night before. She said something about
castor oil births sometimes being like Pitocin births (hard and fast) which this labor
totally seemed to be...and when I complained she said "You didn't call me!"
We moved inside because it was no longer comfortable for me to be out in the pool. I was
frightened by how hard the contractions were coming. When I had my son, I was
in active labor for twenty four hours and I could not imagine being in labor this hard for
that long again. I asked Jen to check me. She said she could tell
by the way I was looking and acting that I was around seven centimeters. I went to the
bathroom and it took my forever to get back into the living room because the contractions
were coming so so fast. By the time I got back in the room and on the ball for a few
minutes, I felt like I couldnt take it any longer. I got on the bed we had set up in the
living room and just rocked back and forth and chanted "Hail Mary, full of grace" between
contractions. I was ready to pray to anyone who would listen at that point. I literally screamed
with every contraction because moaning was just not cutting it any more. Soon, Jen checked
me again and found that I was totally dilated. I was astounded. I thought I was going to
labor like this for hours and hours. I couldnt believe it was okay to push.
Now what?????
With my son, I had an epidural after over twelve hours on the Pitocin so I had no idea what
was going on "down there" when it was "time to push". The nurses and my doula all
shouted at me when it was time to push and I could not feel anything at all. I had no idea
if I was doing it right except based on their feedback, and I couldnt tell the difference
between a good push and an ineffective one. So, this time I was freaking out a
little bit about not knowing what to do and Jen and my husband just stayed calm and quiet. I was
thinking "Why is nobody telling me what to do??????" All of a sudden, I knew exactly when
and how to push. A contraction would come, and at its peak I would jump on top of it like I was surfing on a wave. If I tried to push any time before the "right" time, I could tell it was not effective and a waste of my energy. I
felt like I was working so hard but I knew I had to work even harder. When I hit the bottom with
each contraction, I had to dig even deeper.
In that moment I realized that nobody was going to get this baby
out forme, nobody was even able to help me get the baby out. I was either going to stay
pregnant forever (which seemed like an actual possibility in
the heat of the moment) or do the work, myself. I decided to get that baby born.
Jen suggested I move from all fours to squatting, and that helped the baby to
move down even further. At this point, Jen called out to my husband. I was facing away from her
and I
wondered, "Oh no, what could be so wrong that Jen needs to ask my husband for
advice?"
"Is something wrong????" I turned around to see my husband chasing a bat around
the
room with a broom. "Everything's fine..." he said in his best
pretending-everything-is-
totally-casual voice.
When I finally pushed MaryElise out, I just remember saying "It can't be real!
It can't be
real!" It was just so amazing. I was squatting, my husband was behind me with
the baby
in his hands. He handed her to me from behind and I just could not believe I had
just given
birth to this baby. My husband said that when just her head was out, she was
just hanging
there looking serene like a little Buddhist monk. The sun was just rising and
we heard the
first birdsong of
the day just
before she came out. She was born at 5:45 am. She was calm and beautiful.
I immediately felt so empowered and disbeliving at the same time. Did I just do
that?
Nobody else told me the way. Nobody yelled "push push push!". My body knew
exactly
how to give birth to MaryElise and I rose to the challenge. I have never been
more proud of
anything in my life. I thought I knew the limits of my strength and my
power...and then I
gave birth to my daughter. And I felt as high as a kite. "It's our baby!"
After the birthing of the placenta, my husband went and got champagne and the
birthday
cake I had baked for MaryElise the day before I went into labor. We all had cake
and
champagne and I just rested while MaryElise nursed and slept and we just were so
happy in that calm moment together. Everything felt really perfect, calm and
natural. Im so
so grateful we had her at home, that I found Jen and that my husband honored my
wish to
have the baby on my terms in our home.

****This is a copy of a post I wrote on a message board for homebirthers in the WNY/NWPA area. I thought Id share it here with you, too.
-H

What to say, what to say...

2009-01-30T09:13:00.000-08:00

Well, maybe I should begin with "sorry it's been so long" but you know...what with the whole dial-up-can't-get-logged-in situation and the been-working-all-the-time-an-hour-away thing and the whole got-a-six-month-old-at-home thing and did I mention the trying-to-keep-up-my-breastmilk-supply thing, too?

Yeah, we're busy here.
So, to keep you busy, here are a few scenes from winter here in Arkwright, New York.
Enjoy!

Spend a little time here, if you are still on the fence...

2008-11-01T09:02:00.000-07:00

Or...even if you are not.
This site has some solid information, free of drama and hyperbole.

The bottom line on where I stand is this:

I'm voting on Tuesday and my vote will be proudly cast for Barack Hussein Obama because I believe that any other vote would place the future of this nation in jeopardy.

I hope that those of you who do not share my view that a catholic not only may but SHOULD vote the Obama/Biden ticket will take a look at the information offered on the site linked in the title of this post. Just click on the title.

God Bless and Happy Voting!

Heather

How does your baby grow?

2008-11-01T08:48:00.000-07:00

This picture is actually about a month old. I forgot to bring my camera with me to Pittsburgh (love that high-speed connection) so all her recent pictures are back in New York with Daddy.
MaryElise Kathleen Noonan, as of her SECOND MONTH checkup (that's over a month ago) weighed 13lbs 11oz. Got to love that Mama's milk!

Forgive me for being proud, but it's pretty darn cool to think all this growing came as a result of something my body made.

I would love to announce that my body is shrinking at the same pace that ME's is growing, but...we keep way too many baked goods in the house.

About a Boy

2008-10-31T06:28:00.000-07:00

Ian is eight now. Almost nine, I guess. Not that I want to wish away the rest of our year. Im considering today how lucky I am to be able to homeschool...I get to spend more time with my little guy before he's too big to be my little guy any more. He is a delight with the baby. Tells me he enjoys changing diapers.
So, Im reflecting today on my little chicken whispering, arms-bearing, hugging and kissing, imaginationing, loving, helping, singing and humming, reading while walking little guy.
And being oh so very grateful.

MaryElise is One Month Old Today!

2008-08-22T09:18:00.000-07:00

I know she looks like she's All Business in this picture, but we've been getting quite a few little smiles out of her these past few days at Nana's house. This new blue bouncy seat is responsible for a few of them. I got it via Freecycle for Nana's house but I think it's going to make the trip back to NY with us in exchange for the pink one we have there because she just loves this one and well, that one, not so much.

I like this one better, too. For one thing, where on the other model there is a heinous plastic toy bar, on this one there are nice lovely soft moon and stars hanging down. This one alleges it plays classical music but I think we will just let that feature remain untested. I have this thing about lighting up and playing music. Oh, and vibrating. Not big on the whole vibrating baby gear, either.

Of course, just after I snapped this picture, her big brother (or gas) prompted her to grant us the biggest, sweetest smile.
But, I was busy typing this.

Let that be a lesson to me.

Homeschool 2008-2009 Preview

2008-08-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

Well, after some degree of back-and-forthedness about what exactly our year is going to look like with regard to work, commuting across state lines and school, Ive decided to continue to homeschool for now. These decisions were complicated by, and most likely caused complication with regard to, my pretty significant bout of post-partum depression which, thankfully, appears to be starting to subside. What helped was:

1. Deciding that making too many changes at once would be detrimental to my emotional well being and that of my family and
2. Deciding that I would have to be crazy to leave my daughter and return to work at six weeks, especially given my current psychological state.

Once I had these realizations, I started feeling better immediately. That's a pretty good sign that they are decisions that are good for me and my family.

I also think it would be beneficial for me to seek out some therapy in the weeks to come. My husband and midwife both agree.

So, the question of what to do this year in terms of school was looming over my admittedly clouded head, making it really difficult for me to make the decisions I needed to make. Im very pleased to be able to say that I have decided on the following in terms of curriculum.

We will continue the Core Curriculum/ What your x-grader needs to know series, moving on to third grade work this year. ()

I have found that the company has re-vamped their approach to be much more inclusive when it comes to homeschoolers, so that's an added bonus. There are resources available on the web and some in print, which I have purchased, such as a daily planner and teacher's handbook for the the third grade level.

Ive also chosen a new math curriculum, as I really feel like Ian has gone beyond what I am able to accomplish with the Waldorf methods we were previously using. We are going with this program:

It's a manipulative-based, real-world math program that stresses the basics and their real-life application. Some of the processes are carried out in ways that are totally different from what I learned at good ol St. Matthew School and the Institute of Notre Dame, so it should be interesting to learn along with Ian. Tim said the package of goodies arrived in New York today. Im excited but also apprehensive as Im hoping I made a good choice and did not invest our money in something we are not going to end up using.

As far as reading goes, we will continue with the Ian-directed reading choices with a few choices thrown in there by Mama as well and we will start doing some simple book reports this year, too. Ian is reading so far beyond his grade level that Im not sure exactly where to begin in terms of choosing the books he will read, but one of the first ones we will read will be "My Side of the Mountain" which Tim suggested based on his childhood relationship with the book.

We're going to follow the Core Curriculum for History and Geography which means we will use the Pearson book () which I managed to score on ebay for half the retail price. Sweet!

Spelling is an area on which I think we need to focus in a more formal manner this year, so Im still looking for a spelling book. Of course, vocabulary words from other subjects will be studied too.

Our neighbor, Onge Warner, recently a new mom as well, will be teaching Ian Art this year. We will do some theory at home, and of course integrate the arts into the rest of the curriculum, but she will be meeting with him once a week or so for formal art lessons, which I think is FANTASTIC!

i want to focus on the human body and its development in Health as well as fulfill all the stranger-danger-wear-your-bike-helmet stuff the state says we have to do.

In terms of music, Im not sure how we will supplement what's in the Core Curriculum but there's always lots of music at our house.

Honestly, Im feeling overwhelmed and trying very hard to put on my game face and move forward into the Fall Semester. That's probably why Im boring you with this post...If I see it all written in front of me, I can convince myself that I do have a handle on things and that we are going to be successful learners this year.

I do have a handle on things.
And we are going to be successful learners this year.

Pray for us.
Thanks.
H

Placentophagy

2008-08-18T13:31:00.000-07:00

I wanted to include with this post a link to an article about placentophagy so that people could understand the biology behind the practice of consuming the placenta and how helpful it has been for me in my battle with postpartum depression, but unfortunately, most of the links I found when I googled the word were just blog entries by people talking about how "icky" it is.

Placentophagy is the practice of consuming the placenta after birth. It is practiced as a cultural ritual by some, and taken medicinally as a remedy for postpartum depression by others. I have to admit that when my midwife suggested I consume the placenta from MaryElise's birth, I was not enthusiastic about the idea. For one thing, upon googling it, I found instructions for separating the placenta from the membrane and baking it to produce a resulting meal that resembles liver, to be eaten with knife and fork. The idea of handling the placenta so extensively and then eating it as a liveresque main course squicked me out, I admit it. As Tim put it, it was "Too granola even for [me]."

My first memory of liver is that of my Aunt Gladys basically shoving it into my face encouraging me, in her own special way, to "Try it! Try it!". I remember it smelled bad. I didnt "Try it!". The only other experience I have with liver has to do with medical training. With that in mind, I decided that no, I could not filet and then bake my placenta and then eat it with knife and fork. Then my midwife mentioned eating it a different way, one that I could potentially stomach.

You may be wondering why we had the placenta two weeks after the birth. We had saved it in the freezer because I had hoped to plant a tree over it for MaryElise. What we ended up doing with it instead:

We thawed it in the fridge over night, then Tim, God Bless Him, processed it in the blender (which chose to die midway through the task) and poured the resulting froth into ice cube trays. Every day, I remove two cubes and process them in the blender with other ingredients"I to make a smoothie. And I have to say, the smoothies are really quite delicious. Not a hint of placenta flavor (whatever that may be). Mostly Ive been adding blueberries, juice, vanilla yogurt and bananas. Passion fruit juice is my fave so far.

Okay, so that's the how. "What about the why?" you ask.

Well, it turns out that postpartum depression that comes on quickly after the birth is a result of rapid, dramatic shifts in a mother's hormonal balance after birth. I basically had a huge stockpile of estrogen for nine months and then WHAM! none. It's like PMS a thousand times over. I don't know how else to tell you how bad it was except to say "It got so bad that Im eating my placenta in order to get rid of it." Yeah. That bad.

I will keep searching for a decent link. I want people to know about this because I think it's really important that we acknowledge that once again the body's wisdom is so perfect and once again our culture denies this fact by mocking the idea (I even found an entry on a blog site called "empower her" that did nothing but talk about how ICKY the idea is. How empowering!) or by denying the possibility that it actually works without doing any sort of research whatsoever.

oops, baby's crying.

Peace
Heather

MaryElise Kathleen Noonan, Day One 7-22-08

2008-08-17T09:14:00.000-07:00

You must forgive me for not having posted this sooner. For some reason, even attempting to log on to the blog site from home crashes our internet explorer, so while I can access the site for reading (not much good when you're the writer) I can not post anything to the blog from home.

Well, she's here.
MaryElise Kathleen Noonan was born on July 22nd 2008 at 5:45am. She was born at home, just inches above our living room floor, where her Daddy did the catching and the cord cutting. My midwife arrived at around four am, after I had been in what turned out to be pretty rapidly-advancing labor since midnight. No contractions at that time, just water breakage. The contractions started around two, I called her at three, and well, the baby was on her way.

When Jen (my midwife) arrived, I had to confess that I had drunk a really putrid disgusting combination of vodka, orange juice and castor oil beginning around six pm the evening before in order to bring on labor. My mucous plug had been making its way out for days and I knew I was ripe. The Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year had arrived in the mail that day and i decided to go for it once I found the recipe inside. It only works if you are ready to be pushed over the edge, and apparently I was because just like clockwork, after some brief nipple stimulation, my water broke and we were on our way.

I know you are dying to see her as opposed to reading my description, so here is the first-ever picture of MaryElise, taken by Daddy, while the midwife was getting her dressed. She and I had been cuddling all naked and bloody for a while before the midwife cleaned her up a little bit and got her dressed in her tie-dye onesie and a nightgown. We had already nursed at this point, too.

I love homebirth!

The next pictures are of MaryElise and myself taking a Leboyer bath. Google it :-).

And here she is snoozing, looking just like her Mama.

Of course, she is almost a month old as I type this. There is lots more to blog, and I will do so this week, so thank you for your patience and keep checking back!
-heather and maryelise

Can't Sleep... There's this baby in my esophagus

2008-07-05T23:29:00.000-07:00

Oh yeah, I remember this. It seems we (Mary Elise and I) have entered a new phase in our time as inside-baby and mama. The ol' Just Try and Get Some Sleep with a Watermelon-sized Infant in your esophagus phase.
Handily coupled with the "Was that a contraction?" phase.
Ah yes, I remember it well.
It's funny how they say the pain of labor escapes you just after it's ended. Sensory memories are a real funny thing, though, too.
And as my husband would say, "funny" is a funny word. Not so much funny ha-ha.
I had remembered before tonite that in the end I slept sitting up with a washrag in my mouth, but...
I had forgotten how much it kind of well not kind of but really...

What's the word moms are supposed to use in place of the word "blew"?

People keep asking me if Im "ready" but not in the context of wondering if Im really ready...rather in the context of "Are you so sick of feeling like crap that you just want that thing in there to come out already?????" And Ive tried really hard to gently assert that while there are inconveniences involved in carrying a full-fledged infant around inside my uterus, there is a bright side and that bright side is that I am not able for any of my waking hours to forget that, for the second and most likely (my husband's eyebrows just went up in his sleep, methinks...most likely???? Well, we know from experience that we can not tell the future...) last time in this lifetime

I am harboring a miracle.

But Im also thinking, just now in fact, as I sit up at two am with infant-on-the-esophagus, that there just might be something to the whole "God made the end so darn uncomfortable so we would eventually want to push the thing out" theory too. Kind of like The Teenage Years. It's going to happen. She is going to come out. And the moment she comes out, I get to touch her and look into her eyes and hear her voice for the first time, but I also encounter the new risk of forgetting I have seen and felt and heard a miracle. And maybe the Universe knows that, being the sort of person I am, Im going to need a little encouragement to cross that threshold.

So the Universe puts an infant in my esophagus for a few nights and asks again "Are you ready?".

Yeah, I think Im ready.

Just please, I pray, don't let me forget the miracle.

No Baby-on-the-Outside Yet, but...

2008-07-05T10:14:00.001-07:00

I did discover that the hanging planter I'd been watering regularly since May was actually the home of four beautiful baby robins. Sorry about the regular flooding, mamabirdie!

Hello, baby!

And here are a couple of shots (taken by me) of baby-on-the-inside, who, according to our midwife, is about 7.5lbs and in prime position for delivery. I was even able to isolate a foot last night. Now it's up to Mary Elise to decide the time is right (preferably when we are not visiting my parents three hours away from home, like we are right now.)

Hello, baby!

Our friend Carmen came by last week and took (literally) a thousand pictures of my belly in all its engorged-gorgeousness. I was just so grateful. For one thing, she came on my birthday bearing not just a cake but an amazing home-made red velvet cake straight out of heaven's pantry. For another reason, belly pictures were something I had really hoped to do this time but there was just no way we could have afforded to pay someone. Carmen loves to take pictures of pregnant women (and bake amazing cakes) and it turns out she isn't averse to receiving incredibly relaxing, deep, holistic professional massages either, so we worked out a barter. Once she is finished with the editing process, I hope to display some of her beautiful work here.

And on a related topic...Id like to offer a little tidbit of pregnancy wisdom the universe just handed to me. If you are wondering, like I was "How will I know when my baby has 'dropped'", the answer is very simple. When you are able to eat a half pound of Candy Kitchen Fudge (the King Tut flavor, in this case) not only without nausea and vomiting, but without so much as a sense of being "full", you can be assured that your baby has, indeed, dropped.

Sailboat Recon

2008-07-05T09:44:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, we got a call from our friend about a potential adventure that awaited us at the base of a waterfall in a nearby creek. Brian later admitted that before making the call, he asked himself "Who do I know that's unbalanced enough to try this..." and our family apparently sprung to mind.
Ian was watching one of the Lord of the Rings movies, a treat we had just picked up at the library, when we presented him with a choice: Would you like to stay here and watch the rest of this movie, OR...would you like to go and rescue a sailboat?
So, into the car(s) we piled...Tim and his boys in one car, Ian and myself in the Forester, and down toward the creek we went. It took a few encounters with some neighbor boys over the next few days to get the whole story, but apparently someone grew tired of this cute little orange sailboat and offered it to one of the local boys. The local boy decided it would be fun to try to ride it over the falls, as was evidenced by the boat's location upon our arrival and the apparent damage to the bottom of the craft. Our friend, Brian, had been out hiking when he noticed the bright orange and white vessel stranded in the creek and thought we might just be the people who would be adventurous (read: crazy?) enough to try to get it out.

Once the guy living across the street from the area in question commented that several people had tried (and failed) to remove this boat from its current situation, well, I knew we'd be there as long as it took to succeed.
And succeed, we did. We are now the proud owners of a lovely small sailing craft as well as some of the rigging we later found out was still in the original owner's back yard.

Here are a few of the highlights:

Tim in the thick of things. This was taken at the top of the ravine one one side of the creek. Without going onto someone's land, we could not explore what the other side looked like past what we could see from this side. From this side, it appeared to be just as treacherous. (In other words, no place for someone to be climbing with a sailboat on his back.)

The falls, viewed from the overpass.

After a period of time spent brainstorming, it was discovered that the land on the other side of the creek from where we approached was actually a lot more easily traversed and that if we hiked far enough up that side, we would eventually come to a place where we could just walk the boat right out of the water. Well, when I say "we" I mean the men (hey, Im pregnant, remember?) and when I say "walk" I mean "carry". But still, prior to this tidbit of info, we were considering trying to get it back up over the falls, so this plan sounded like a cake-walk.

With permission from the owner of the land, the men folk set off up to tow the boat up the creek and then carry it back to the starting point, on land this time, where we were able to secure it to the top of Tim's Jeep and Viola! the Nugent-Noonan's are now the proud owners of the sailboat Mary Elise.

Why I Homeschool

2008-04-29T08:59:00.001-07:00

We are in the process of preparing for a new life and a potentially new way of life at our house. As I contemplate what to do about Ian's education next year (to homeschool. to enroll in public school, to enroll in catholic school), I glance out the window and see one of the Top Ten Reasons I Choose to Homeschool.

I imagine that Ian would not be permitted to attend school under either of the other options wearing his batman costume.

Been Busy Building a Baby

2008-02-29T15:13:00.000-08:00

There is absolutely no excuse for not posting anythingto the blog in well over a month, okay almost two months.
Except that Ive been, um, kinda busy, you know, throwing up and feeling for kicks and taking naps and going to bed early and getting ultrasounds and finding out we are having a girl...
So, Im hopeful that little bit of information will inspire you, dear reader, to forgive me for not being a better blogger.

My husband, son and I went last week for my ultrasound at a local hospital. When I called to schedule the appointment, the secretary informed me that I would need to have a full bladder for the test.

Okay, did I mention that the baby has taken up residence on top of my bladder, kind of like one of those papasan chairs, for oh let's say about four weeks now? Yeah. I have to pee just about every fifteen minutes. And that includes during the night. Yeah. So, Im thinking to myself "Okay, self. You are going to have to suck it up and drink a bunch of water before you go because this might be your only chance to find out the sex of the baby and we want good pictures!"

So, the day of the big test comes along and I brace myself for the Big Hydration. I realize, though, that even though Im a Licensed Health Care Professional, I have No Clue Whatsoever how long it actually takes liquid to travel from one's stomach to one's bladder. So, to be safe, I decide I will drink 500cc's an hour before the test and then another 500ccs a half hour before the test. Cool.

We reach the testing place right on time and take a seat in what will turn out to be the first waiting room...waiting for my husband and for them to call my name. I already feel like my bladder is going to burst. And that's not hyperbole. It is painful for me to walk and I am finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate on anything else. Ian is preoccupied with the large fish tank to my left, pointing out the different fish and monitoring their behavior. My husband arrives and sits next to me. At this time, I realize that it might be better for me if I sit further away from the constant trickle-bubble-trickle of the huge fish tank filled with gallons and gallons of water. I stand up to walk across the room and look at the paintings on the wall...until I realize that featured on the wall are three gigantic oil paintings of Niagara Falls.

Great.

If it didn't hurt so badly, yeah, Id be laughing. My husband laughed for both of us.

Once we were escorted to the second waiting area, I turned to my husband and said "I cant hold this any longer. Im in agony. I have to go!" He supported my decision, urging me to see if I can "do a partial" (must be a guy talent, Ive never "done a partial" in my life). I rationalize that I will probably be in this room for at least twenty minutes, and it didnt take very long for the last liter of water to reach my bladder, so I will just go to the bathroom and then drink another liter of water and it will be just fine.

As soon as I flush the toilet, I hear my name being called in the waiting room.

"She just went into the bathroom."my husband said. "She couldnt hold it any longer."

"Oh that's fine." said the technician. "She doesn't have to have a full bladder for this test."

Hurray for Perez Sisters Photography!

2008-01-04T18:08:00.000-08:00

We are having some disc-drive issues, but I am able to share this one little gem with you.
Maybe I will have some time and the opportunity (Have I ever told you how much dial-up really really lacks? I know, it's a shocker.) to post something of substance here Some Time Soon.
Until then, my friends.
Please enjoy...a moment from our wedding on November 23 2007.

The Chuppah

2007-12-13T17:33:00.000-08:00

For those of you who are wondering how long it is going to take me to send you a thank-you card for your wonderful, generous, thoughtful wedding gift...well, the answer is:
Not nearly as long now that I have this!

We have been waiting for a good, printable picture of our chuppah and now we have one, hurray!
Now the only things standing in my way are incessant, intractable nausea and Christmas!
Check your mailboxes early in March.
:-)
-d
PS the photo is credited to Melinda Perez, one of our lovely, friendly and most talented photographers!

Snow in the Air but Flowers in my Mind

2007-12-04T04:51:00.000-08:00

Ive located the cord for transferring pictures to my computer! Hazah!
Actually, truth-be-told, Ive located the original cord that came with the camera when I purchased it this past summer after having lost the cord that went to my old camera (and subsequently finding it after having made said major purchase...but that camera really was ancient!)
So after replacing said cord, the one that came with the new camera, and losing the replacement cord, I have found the original cord in the most natural of all places, why, of course, at the bottom of my knitting bag.

And the reason, my friends, that you should be happy and shouting for joy at this discovery, aside from the obvious -- I am not going to have to pay Radio Shack another thirty dollars for a replacement cord this week -- is that I get to share with you these lovely images of natural beauty captured at my wedding.

My bouquet: No, it is not what I ordered. The roses were supposed to be almost black and the cala lilies were supposed to be fewer so that the effect was more like a sea of almost black roses with a border of cala lilies as opposed to a sea of cala lilies with a border of roses and yeah, we were pretty specific when we talked about it. But, you go to pick up your wedding bouquet on your wedding day, grateful that the morning sickness subsided when you ate your complimentary egg and toast at the B-n-B, and the florist explains to you (only after you calmly and gently comment that gee, I thought the roses were supposed to be darker...) that "that's what they sent me" (whatever that means, whomever they are) and so "I put in extra cala lilies to make up for it" (Okay, only kinda that's the exact opposite of what I wanted now as opposed to what I wanted with a little bit of a different color) what are you supposed to do? You are supposed to remind yourself that it's a bunch of flowers and that your day is going to be just beautiful and fun and amazing anyway and you thank her for the extra cala lilies and you think about how much worse it could be and you say to your friend, "Well, what are you gonna do?"
So that's what I did.
Anyway, here's how it looked. It was still gorgeous.

And for those of you who may have been wondering why every nurse in the Neuro ICU was saving Mannitol bottles for the past six months...

They make the most lovely miniature vases.

These were scattered everywhere. Just perfect.

More random beauty...we placed these in every nook and cubby we could find...by every window and candle light. It was a really nice effect. I wanted there to be "surprise beauty" everywhere.

Who knew? Imagine the implications. Does this mean I might fail a random drug screen?

2007-12-03T17:51:00.000-08:00

Your Inner European is Dutch!

Open minded and tolerant.
You're up for just about anything.

Who's Your Inner European?

Hi, Jesus! It's Ella!

2007-12-02T08:56:00.000-08:00

Just had to share this little story told by a friend of mine. She was down South for Thanksgiving dinner with her mother and father (he a pastor, they all live overseas as missionaries when my friend was growing up), her brother and sister-in-law, and their children - Ella and Lucy (brand new baby girl). I think Ella is two.
So, my friend's brother asked Ella if she would like to say the blessing, to which she promptly responded "No." Her reason? "Because Im not friends with Jesus any more."
Okay.
My friend's father is stifling his amusement, while Ella's dad proceeds to begin the blessing. After getting out two words, he is interrupted by a little voice piping up:

"Hi Jesus! It's Ella.
Thank you for Baba and Maple Syrup.
Amen."

Wedding Teaser

2007-12-02T08:05:00.001-08:00

Well, Ive been a Mrs. for just over a week now. It's still fun to call myself T's "wife". I got a little bit impatient and asked our photographers for a teeny tiny taste of what they had for us in terms of finished product.
They graciously responded with, among ten others, these lovely gems.

Our day was perfect and it looks like our pictures will reflect the spirit and character of the setting, the vows, the music and the people involved just perfectly as well. I cant wait to see the rest!

Me and Technology

2007-11-30T13:38:00.000-08:00

Okay, rather, me and power/transfer/charger cords.
What is it about them that causes them to slip into a black hole the second I take my eyes off them?
I have some lovely pictures to share of our time spent in the Holy Land this week.
Well, on the miniature Holy Land Relief Map at the Chautauqua Institution :-). The pictures were supposed to be the punch line, but
Sigh.
You know me and technology.

This Little Light of Mine

2007-11-17T14:12:00.000-08:00

I'm gonna let it shine...

Here are some more Martinmas Moments to enjoy!

The campfire "down below" was so much fun. I love the way a campfire smells, looks and sounds. I am quite grateful that Ian is growing up in an environment where being around such fires is commonplace. (Unlike this former city mouse!)

And speaking of letting your light shine...These are just about the Most Shiny Happy People I know.

Our First Annual Martinmas Lantern Walk

2007-11-16T14:29:00.000-08:00

We were so blessed to have family and friends together to celebrate the Feast of St. Martin of Torres. Because of scheduling, we got together the Tuesday after the holiday...and because we were a few days late, we were able to not only enjoy some seasonable but mild weather, but a gorgeous star-filled sky and our very own Northern Lights Show as well.

Everyone gathered at our house at dinner time. We enjoyed some homemade soup and listened to a reading about St. Martin, the beggar to whom he reached out, his subsequent vision of our Lord wearing the very cloak he gave the beggar, and the meaning of the gospel truth "When you did it to the least of my brothers, you did it to me."

After everyone's hunger was satisfied, we made our way outside for the Lighting of our Lanterns and a lovely walk through the fields above our home. We climbed higher than I had expected, but the view of the sky and the lights from there was just magical and so worth the extra steps. Even Canucu came along and kept up with the two-legged friends.

Once we had made our way back down and around, we headed "down below" to our picnic pavilion for a campfire and s'mores.

The Happy Couple got to share the Good News once again...

Pete and Sarom Lighting some of the lanterns...

Northern Lights!

"Down Below" for the campfire and treats...

Ya know, I wish that I had Jesse's Tree...

2007-11-16T12:00:00.000-08:00

I wish that I had Jesse's tree... Why can't I find a tree like that?

Well, this year, Im making our own Jesse Tree. I havent participated in the making of one of these since I was in grade school at St. Matthew's School in Baltimore, Maryland.
This is my first at-home Jesse Tree and Im not going it alone. Thanks the the amazing women at 4 real learning forums
(http://4real.thenetsmith.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=16130&PN=1) I was able to take part in a Jesse Tree swap. Each of us is creating 28 of the same ornament and one very generous lady in DC will be putting them all together into kits for us to use at home, each kit having twenty-eight unique ornaments. The ornaments featured on the Jesse Tree are:

Earth
Apple & Snake
Mary
Ark & Rainbow
Camel & Tent
Lamb
Colorful Coat
Doorway With blood
Tablet With 10 Numbers
Cluster of Grapes
Stick With bronze serpent
Whale
Sheaf of Wheat
Slingshot
Scroll
Stump With Leaf
Lion & Lamb together
Dove & Crown
Shepherd’s Staff
Cross
Heart With Writing
Bethlehem
Fiery Furnace
Brick Wall
Star
Candle or Light
Angel
Baby in Manger

Each represents a passage in the Bible where Jesus was either referred to in prophecy or a part of His life. Here's what I gathered together to make my contribution:

And here's what I made:

I admit it, I chose the simplest one I possibly could. (Even though the Coat of Many Colors was calling out my name.) What with the wedding coming up on Friday and oh let's see...a chuppah yet to be completed, food for forty odd people to make and several dozen origami cranes still existing in only two dimensions as I type this, I felt that participating alone was going to be a stretch, so I better keep it simple.
Im very proud to say my ornaments have already reached DC and are awaiting processing this very moment. I will be certain to include some pictures of all the ornaments when they arrive. We are working on a gorgeous Advent Wreath in New York and I hope to have pictures posted of that and our Martinmas Lantern Walk (which featured Surprise Guest Appearance by none other than the fabulous Northern Lights!) soon.

Look for them soon. Peace. And hey, thanks for checking in.
Heather

Why is this woman smiling?

2007-11-16T11:09:00.000-08:00

Here's the scenario:
It's Sunday afternoon. She has to be at work (where she will stay for thirteen hours) in a matter of hours and has not rested today. After driving to two different locations so that her darling little one could get his creative anachronism on (so to speak), she found that both meetings of the SCA had been aborted due to "the cold" (where did these people grow up, anyway?) and while she did get to see some interesting sites like this:

And some downright adorable ones like this:

I really think her being so happy has something to do with this:

Yes! (Yay!) We are having a baby! (And Ive got the twenty seven pregnancy tests to prove it.)

We are just so ecstatic and blown away that we have been given the opportunity to be caretakers for another wondrous miracle.

Throwing up pictures...so to speak

2007-11-02T08:07:00.000-07:00

Happy All Souls! We are caught up in a whirlwind here but there's some serious baking going down. Will write more over the weekend, but please enjoy the images of us making soul cakes and day of the dead cookies.
-H

This little guy in the apron is Ian. I found a soul cake recipe online and we followed it...except I changed the white flour to whole wheat pastry flour and added some chopped black walnuts to some of the cakes. When they were finished cooking, I was disappointed to find they had not risen so much as a centimeter. We powder-sugared them anyway and ate them after returning from mass on Thursday night...and lo and behold it turns out they were DELICIOUS and perfect for dunking in milk or coffee. They had the grainy consistency of a shortbread cookie but were just sweet enough to be fantastic with a little bit of jam or nutella spread on them. So, even though the recipe didn't turn out anywhere near the way it was supposed to, it's still a keeper.

These are some of the Mexican Sugar Skull Cookies we made. I used my mom's tried-and-true sugar cookie recipe, cutting the sugar by half and subsituting almond extract for the vanilla she uses. I figured it was fitting, given marzipan's presence in the traditional celebration. We did two trays with lots of decoration and one tray with just the names of our friends and loved ones who have gone on before us written on them. I think my mom got a little choked up. I have to admit, this was more meaningful to me than I had initially anticipated. I definitely plan to do this every year.

Loved-ones remembered.

Ian fashions his cake to look like a donut...

Oh How I Want to Be in That Number...

2007-11-01T12:17:00.000-07:00

When the SPOON SAINTS go marching in!
What a great All Saints Day craft! It requires some basic craft spoons or tongue depressors, construction paper or cardstock, magic markers and glue... and your imagination. Here's who we made today: St. Therese de Lisieux, Mary, Saint Michael the Archangel and Saint Francis.

And here we have Mother Theresa and her namesake. Don't they look happy together!

This was such a fun craft, and really simple. Thanks to the ladies at 4real learning forums for the how-to.
Stay tuned for soul cakes and Day of the Dead Sugar Cookies.
Peace,
Heather

Click Here for something completely different.

2007-11-01T08:42:00.000-07:00

Physics is so not my forte.
So, this little toy is demonstrating to my son the laws of physics. Yes, our planet does that quite nicely as well, but this little gem makes you laugh out loud at the same time.
Try it! It is not as simple as you might imagine.

Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's

2007-11-01T08:28:00.000-07:00

But render the Junior Mints and Reese's Cups unto MAMA!

We have another really lovely time trick-or-treating and celebrating at Tina's house this year. I snuck off to the Princess and the Pea bed to grab a short rest before going in to work at eleven o'clock, but not before enjoying going door-to-door with Ian and eating some of the wonderful food she had prepared for us. (And my mother's Amazing Maryland Crab Dip...and that doesnt mean "Maryland Style"...she's from Maryland, the crabs were from Maryland and the dip is out-o-this-world!)

So, another day of fun and spooky treats has come and gone. I wish I had a picture of the "ghost" I fashioned out of a pack of snackwell cookies, a piece of kleenex and some scotch tape for Erin, who relieved me at work at four am so I could get home and snooze a bit before Ian woke up. It was quite a masterpiece.

This year, the fun doesnt end on Halloween. Quite the contrary. We are going to be making some terrific All Saints and All Souls goodies today: Soul Cakes for dessert tonite and Mexican Day of the Dead Sugar Skull Cookies for tomorrow. (You can pretty much rest assured that I am cutting the sugar in the sugar cookie recipe by HALF. Enough is enough, after all.)

Have a wonderful All Saints. Light a candle for me,

H

LACK-O-DANTERN, LACK-O-DANTERN, you are such a funny sight...

2007-10-30T19:09:00.000-07:00

That's what my little guy used to call Jack-o-lanterns when he was around two years-old. I love the way it feels when it rolls of the tongue...try it! "Lack-o-dantern!"

Tonite we (my son, my mom and my Dad) carved pumpkins. This is the first year in a while that I have been able to be home and participate when everyone else does the cutting. Usually I have to work. Another reason I love my weekend schedule.
A few other things about this year's carving night were different, too.

1. My father employed power tools for the job-at-hand while my mother tried to pretend she was not afraid he was going to cut off one of his appendages (or hers, as she was holding the pumpkin all the while).

2. I did not merely Intend To Save the seeds for roasting this year, but actually did save the seeds for roasting.

3. Ian created his jack-o-lantern, from start to finish, all by himself. This intention was announced at the commencement of the carving phase, after he had already cut off the top an scooped out the innards. I can't say I enjoyed watching my seven-year-old wield a knife in such a fashion, but I sure enjoyed seeing the look of determination on his face, subsequently replaced by a look of satisfaction at his handywork and a job-well-done. See for yourself:

YOU WERE ONCE AN ORANGE PUMPKIN ON A STURDY YELLOW VINE...

"Now you are a lack-o-dantern! See the candle light shine..."

So Shall You Reap

2007-10-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

We have begun to allow the chickens to roam in the Garden Proper and it is probably only a matter of days before they will be allowed in the teepee garden/pumpkin patch as well. While Autumn is my favorite time of year, I can't help but be a little bit sad to see our garden decay. I had begun a little notebook of what was planted when and where and how and what I would like to change next year. I had hoped that next year we'd have more than three brussels sprouts and that Id remember to harvest the lima beans before two thirds of them were dried out. I wanted to sew in some of the Alaskan Fish Fertilizer in the Spring. I wanted to plant more pumpkins and get the nastertiums in earlier.

Next year we most likely will not be here to enjoy our garden. I know, I know, we are going to have a Whole New World open for exploration and they DO have dirt and seeds and rain and sunshine in New Zealand. (I checked.) But Im feeling the loss of my first garden.

T created the raised beds with the help of his kids and Ian and myself of course when it came down to to transporting dirt from one part of the property to the other. And we all built the teepee garden (much less wonky once T pointed out it, um, isn't supposed to look like that). My garden was a reason-for-being-outside. It was the reason I caught so many amazing sunsets and evening skies. It was a way to silently meditate in the early morning hours when little boys were still sleeping soundly in their beds. It was how and where and why I saw my first Bat Parade.

My garden (OUR garden) was a way for me to feel connected to the earth, my food, and the Universe... and my family.
It gave us (and continues to give us! Don't forget the purple potato patch!) nourishment of more than one variety. It nourished my body, heart, soul and mind.

I called it the Garden of Possibility. It lived up to its name.

So here's to my garden. May it live on, even if it has to be at the hands of another.

WONTON!

2007-10-29T03:44:00.000-07:00

At some point in time, someone gave T and his family a set of Puzzler cards bearing the mind-exercising (and really fun!) puzzles featured on the NPR Sunday Puzzler show. I found them and had been casually working some of them out with Ian as we sat on the front porch (he was mainly holding Gherkin the Turken while I figured out puzzles aloud). I happened to mention to T that I had found them and what fun they are. He had no idea they were even in the house, at least, he couldnt remember them or their origin. So, he and A have been dipping into the puzzler box every now and again and having a BLAST figuring them out.

Here's one of the ones they phoned in to me at work last night.

There is a name of a popular soup which, when written backwards, is a phrase meaning "later".
What is it?

Wonton!
(Not now)

Not only are these puzzles good mental exercise and great family fun, they make you feel SMART, too!

Nurses are Sick, but also quite Generous

2007-10-28T01:07:00.000-07:00

Here is the first non hat or scarf crocheting project Ive ever completed. It was begun at a nursing conference where I was inspired by the sub-zero temperatures in all the presentation rooms.
Naturally, Lori began speaking right away about how much she wishes someone would make her a blanket like that...with those gorgeous colors. And the edge.

So, I presented it to her yesterday as an early Christmas present. Nurses are generous.

This picture was taken at work, where the gift-giving was to occur. There was talk of setting up a dummy isolation room and taking turns posing with the blanket wrapped around us in our Lovely Yellow Gowns, but there were no empty rooms.

See, if you were a nurse, you would think that was funny. Nurses are sick.

The down side to giving Lori her gift now is that I will most likely end up making or buying her something else before Christmas arrives. The up side is that I now have one less thing to worry about getting rid of before we move.
Im looking around at all the "stuff" Ive accumulated throughout my 38 years on this planet and I pray for the strength to part with most of it. They say it's quite freeing...having nothing. I have to say I dont know what that kind of freedom feels like, but Im finding myself more and more of late, as much as the notion scares me, drawn toward finding out.

I can honestly say that if every "thing" I own were to be taken from me in an instant, as long as my family and loved-ones were safe and well, the first thing I would feel, before I had a chance to become sentimental, would be relief. I think that says something about my current state of affairs and what needs to be done.

I pray for the strength to do it. To find meaning in and inhabit the shedding of "stuff".

More on this later, as Im off to work.

Blessed Sunday,
d

My Little Franciscan

2007-10-27T01:19:00.000-07:00

We eventually got the three knots tied nicely after the pictures were taken. (Thank you, Dad!)
How about those sleeves, eh? That's right...Im sewing things with sleeves now, folks. It's a whole new ball game.

When I finished the costume (okay it still isnt finished, it needs some sort of closure at the back, hence the saggy neckline), he was just so excited, he wanted put it on RIGHT AWAY, so we did. It really warmed my heart to see him as excited to dress up as St. Francis as he gets when he dresses up as a knight or a jedi or a pirate.

More Martinmas in the Making

2007-10-27T00:57:00.000-07:00

This is one of the invitations Ian made to our at-home Martinmas celebration. He asked me today, after we had just read about St. Martin of Tours, if he can dress up like a soldier like St. Martin. How did I know that was going to happen? Im not sure where he got the military gene but....It's in there.

We didn't get much "school" done today. When contemplating the whole home-schooling idea, I forgot to factor in the dozens of errands that I used to run every week while Ian was in school. Now he goes with me. I wish I were one of those mothers who had the patience and energy to consistently create math lessons in the grocery store or discuss history along the interstate. Im always looking for learning moments with Ian, but I have to admit there are times I let the moment pass without exploitation.

My conscience today is eased, however, because we are planning a family walk this evening out among the glorious autumn foliage. If we plan it right, we will be able to take in the colors at my favorite time of day...when the landscape is awash in the pink and purple hues of the evening sky.

Ian has a second-grader friend coming over for dinner and play this evening. He will be doing his homework here...I must admit Im a little bit curious about what his class is learning and how it is being presented. Ian became very frustrated with the copywork I gave him to do today. I ended up changing my mind and having him create an invitation to the wedding for his friend Seamus instead.

He began crying and told me that "This is just so much harder than first grade!"

I dont know if he is just having a rough day, if he just doesnt want to do "hard things" (which had been noticed by his first grade teacher last year as well as myself) or if I really am asking too much of him. Im shocked, actually, because I had been under the impression that the work we were doing was not challenging enough for him.

Who knew?

Well, we still don't know. It could have been any number of circumstances converging at one time to create that feeling in him. I did, however, lighten up the load today and will continue to try to be more sensitive.

As for me, I have a duvet cover to complete and a St. Francis of Assisi costume to begin.

Now is the time on Sprockets when we have a nervous breakdown.

2007-10-22T15:09:00.000-07:00

One month and one day til the wedding.
I feel something akin to entering Transitional Labor. Im finding myself asking aloud, once again, "People do this more than once??????"

Martinmas In the Making

2007-10-22T06:39:00.000-07:00

This year, my second-grader, Ian, will be lucky enough to celebrate Martinmas twice. First, on the eleventh of November, my parents will take him to celebrate with his old school friends from the Waldorf School of Pittsburgh. They will assemble at Frick Park for their annual lantern walk, complete with songs, lanterns, hot chocolate, coffee and home-made pretzels.
Here is a photograph of one of the lanterns he made while at the Waldorf School of Pittsburgh. It now sits on the nature table in our Waldorf-inspired classroom at home in Arkwright, New York:

And as long as we are on the subject of our classroom...here are a few of the things I really like about our homeschool:

The rolltop desk ("my desk") is very old and was salvaged from a tug. All three of T's children used the desk at the center of the room ("Ian's desk") and I painted the chalkboard wall and created the window treatments myself from silks that Ian dyed in kindergarden and some scrap fabric generously given to me by my dear friend (and fellow fabric/yarn/office supply junkie)Lori.

The cross on the wall in this one is made of drift wood we scavenged on the beach at Lake Erie this past summer. Lots of beach glass from those same recon missions is displayed on our nature table. I created it on the spur of the moment one morning while Ian was still asleep. Needless to say, it was a big hit...I had an idea it would be, given his affinity for sticks (and for Our Lord, whom he used to refer to as "Saint Jesus"...but that's another story).

And the second celebration...the one Im so excited about... will take place on the Tuesday after Martinmas. My first annual Martinmas Celebration at our home in New York. If all goes as planned, the second annual Martinmas Celebration will be taking place in another hemisphere, so Im making a point of inviting a few of our dear friends to walk with us, bearing both light and witness into the beautiful Western New York night.

2007-10-21T18:41:00.000-07:00

Poppies
Mary Oliver

The poppies send up their
orange flares; swaying
in the wind, their congregations
are a levitation

of bright dust, of thin
and lacy leaves.
There isn't a place
in this world that doesn't

sooner or later drown
in the indigos of darkness,
but now, for a while,
the roughage

shines like a miracle
as it floats above everything
with its yellow hair.
Of course nothing stops the cold,

black, curved blade
from hooking forward—
of course
loss is the great lesson.

But I also say this: that light
is an invitation
to happiness,
and that happiness,

when it's done right,
is a kind of holiness,
palpable and redemptive.
Inside the bright fields,

touched by their rough and spongy gold,
I am washed and washed
in the river
of earthly delight—

and what are you going to do—
what can you do
about it—
deep, blue night?

I just love this poem. It is one of my favorites...and I have a hard time choosing favorites in most situations. The subject matter, the imagery, the truths expressed.

And Im grateful that I know what it means to be washed and washed in the river of earthly delight and etheral delight in that momentary bliss when they are, in fact, one and the same. That moment when the expansive poppy sky spreads forth and moves away away away over the horizon with the sweeping storm clouds that half-obscure its red glow. That moment when the autumn leaves, at the climax of their death-song, are literally intoxicating and God and Universe and Earth and All are sweeping me up and saturating my senses. And what are you going to do about it, deep blue night?

I will never be a princess and this is not "my day".

2007-10-21T12:00:00.000-07:00

I have the uncommon distinction of being a thirty-eight year-old first time bride. One of the great things about having this distinction is that I gave up my delusions of princess-dom (and my desire to wear a tiara) oh, say...thirty years ago. So, I've got that going for me, which is good.

Another really wonderful "thing" about being an older bride is that I've had many really wonderful days in my life already. And I don't really need this one to be "mine". While doing the requisite pre-wedding reading (books on planning your PERFECT day! Imagine! A PERFECT day! Sign me up, right?) It occurred to me over-and-over-and-over again that Brides in this culture are being told a big, awful, potentially relationship-damaging lie by the Bridal Industry. And we all know why they're even showing up for the Big Day. Their reason has nothing to do with commitment, the creation of a family, our spiritual well-being or our happiness in marriage. They want our money.

How fortunate I am to be in a position where, as it happens, I have no money. Or at least, very very little money to spend on this wedding. Yes, this too is a gift. Here's how:

I can not afford the 1500 page Fairy Tale Wedding Album full of photographs where I look....well...perfect.\
I can not afford the forty layer cake that better be just oh so perfectly right even though most brides dont get a chance to eat it except whatever her groom accidentally places in her mouth as he publicly betrays her trust by smearing it all over her face and her perfect makeup and her perfect gown with the price tag the size of the average mortgage.

Instead, we have (gratefully, joyfully, solemnly) had to approach our wedding day as the day it really is. The day when the people we care about, not all the people with whom we were ever acquainted, but the people who really know the us that is us deep down inside, will gather around us and with us and lay their hands above us and pray with us that we will remember these vows stated in the presence of God and man and air and sky. And we will witness the creation of something that is Greater than the sum of its Parts.

I am so so very pleased, and yes grateful, to be a thirty-eight year-old first time bride.

Co-sleeping....in shifts

2007-10-21T05:28:00.000-07:00

I came home from work this morning to find this guy (the one without feathers) all rolled up and warm under the quilts in my bed. He says he likes the way it "smells like you, Mama".
And you ask me why Im so grateful?

And so, not wanting to disturb him (he prefers sleeping sideways, smack-dab in the center of the bed, and has done so since he was nine months old...incidentally, when we stopped co-sleeping on a regular basis) I chose to stay in my dirty dirty ceil blue scrubs and lay down on the sofa to catch a few moments of peace before he awakens, we eat something for breakfast, his grandfather swoops in to take over and I go upstairs to a warm, darling boy-scented bed and fall fast asleep.

Except there is a woodpecker delivering what is apparently a most urgent message via morse code, conveniently, against the exterior of my house. An annoyance, absolutely, but once I remember what it was like when I lived in a basement apartment and it was people delivering loud, often obscene and far less melodic messages on the stoop just outside, above and to the left of my bedroom window that kept me awake late into the night, I decide it isn's *so* terrible a sound.

I can get just as much rest by focusing on my breathing and engaging in quiet meditation and prayer as I can from actual sleep.

At least, that's what Im going to tell myself until Im upstairs.

Last night my dhtb rang me at work and asked if I had time to listen as he read our daily devotional (we hadnt a chance to read it in the morning as I was off to get my ds from his second-ever sleepover and back to Pittsburgh in time for karate class). It was such a small gesture, but so great with meaning.

The devotional is a new thing for us. With everything that is going on, all the changes in our lives (eu-stress is still STRESS, after all), it was my suggestion that we actually put into practice what we have said all along about wanting our spiritual life together to be held as a priority. We both had envisioned, I think, something much more....eastern. Something involving zafus. At least one zafu, anyway.

But my ds's own spiritual path, as it crystalizes and takes shape in front of our eyes, has brought me back Home Again to the realization that I can live my truth wherever I find myself. And so we return to what we know. And what a deep, rich homecoming it has been.