father's day weekend

Early on Friday I determined that we would just proclaim the whole weekend "father's day weekend." This is mostly because I am lame and lack the patience to wait to bestow Michael's father's day gifts upon him until Sunday. I have been very nonchalant about it, telling him not to be dissapointed by a very small present and that things would be very low-key. He has been wanting a seat for the back of his bike (his bicycle, not motorcycle- I'll never let Henry on the back of his Triumph. ever.) so that he and Henry can cruise around the neighborhood. He takes this alone time with Henry quite seriously, and believe me, I am always happy to oblige. So I got him a sweet little cocoon seat for Henry to ride in. Also, both of our ancient ipods died at nearly the same time. We have been ipod-less for about a month now, and it is beginning to really get to us. Mowing the grass and riding in the car are impaired tasks minus the ipod. Not to mention all of the whining I've heard about the cd detritus growing in the car. Technology has spoiled us and there is absolutely no turning back at this point.... so I snuck over to the Apple store this week and picked up a nice little 8gb nano for him. (The thing is ridiculously tiny by the way. It seems like it should have some more meat on its bones for the cost. But that's just me...) And last but not least, I ordered a swell little print from Etsy a couple weeks ago by none other than the awesome Ashley G. She is linked to the right as "kitty genius." I have admired her work for some time, and am thrilled to at last own one of her prints. Perhaps this part of the gift has ended up being a little more for me than him.... hmmmmm. But certainly we will both enjoy looking at it and living with it.

I went out as much as I could because despite working really long hours, Mike always has time for both me and Henry. And it is always quality time. I love him more than anything in this world (well of course Henry is close behind) and always feel happy when I can really show him. I try to every day (keeping the sweet tea pitcher full), but who doesn't like scoring some sweet loot every once in awhile?!

bump watch '08

Me and Twittering Bird compare baby bumps. This was taken a couple of weeks ago; we have both popped a lot more since then... She will probably kill me for posting this (even though it is not even a bad shot), but I seem to remember a picture she posted a couple of years ago on Flickr in which I was very pregnant with Henry at the fair in Chincoteague, and it was an ultra unflattering shot of me eating a french fry or something. So there you have it.

Obama!

Tonight feels like such an historical evening as Obama is clearly our nominee. His speech tonight was so beautiful and
moving; I look towards the future now with a feeling of hopefulness.

Happy Birthday Brother

You are the best-est, most goofiest big brother, drunkle, and friend we could ever wish for.
Happy Birthday, old man. This photo is a little off-season as you can see, but I really like
the shadow of mom touching your arm as it is projected on the wall behind you.

it's a...

So did I mention that we are having a girl? It was determined by some higher power that my sex shall not be outnumbered in this family. We are over the moon. I love this baby girl so much already... can't imagine how much I'll love her by the time she arrives. I just hope she doesn't hate me one day for displaying her privates in sonographic form here on this blog in this way.

sorry, another rip from the "intraweb"...

something to cheer you (and me) up after that last clip...
The Free Design/ Stereolab




ahhh. my blood pressure just lowered significantly!

My mom alerted me to this clip which she had caught one night on msnbc a week or so ago. I dug it up and am posting it here because a) it makes me feel less alone in the world as in 'thank god I'm not alone in feeling this pissed off about our illustrious president, what in the hell is going on in this country???' and b) I feel so thankful to be living in a country wherein commentary such as this can be aired in the public media. Mr. Olberman's phones are surely tapped, but that's just a whole different story. and finally, c) it calls our president out with exact evidence that he is a lying, blubbering fool surrounded by very dangerous people who have made a mockery of the essence of our 'democracy'. The clip is long, but it is worth it to watch for the fine finish, I assure you.

expensive donuts, amazing utter closeness, and other things

I'm still glowing from an excellent Mother's Day weekend. On Sunday we hosted a family brunch. These days I love so much to have people gathered in my house, eating together, relaxing, and enjoying each other's company. As long as it only lasts for a few hours (which is the beauty of a brunch). I've been realizing more and more lately how lucky we are to be surrounded by such great friends and family. Their proximity means that we can get together often, but for shorter amounts of time. I kid, I kid. But I am serious about loving my family more than ever lately. It could be because I am busy building my own strong and loving family. Perhaps I am just becoming more mom-like... mom-like without the 'mom jeans.' ever.

I will be nineteen weeks along tomorrow, and this is the part of pregnancy that I love. There is a rush of excitement and happiness that I can't quite explain- a strange sort of pure awareness. As I write this I can feel the baby rolling over inside of me and this sensation moves me- literally and emotionally. I guess I could say it is the extreme exact opposite of feeling loneliness. Which I am prone to, and I think some people just are, and I think there is absolutely nothing wrong and actually something great about the experience of feeling or being lonely. If any of that made sense. But for now I relish this sense of Amazing Utter Closeness.

Along with the giddy happiness comes the crying easily part. So cliche, yes I know, but whatever. This weekend I cried when I realized how much we spent on a dozen donuts and two pastries from the French Bakery (beware: a trip to the French Bakery might set you back um, I don't know, a good chunk of your monthly mortgage payment. Seriously. Beware.). Something else that made me cry was the mother's day card that Mike gave me on Sunday morning. It included a beautiful photo booth strip of him with Henry (My Favorite Men) and a little drawing by Henry. All attached to a fig tree, which Mike and I have been talking about wanting to get and plant forever. It was so thoughtful and touching that you would have cried too, dammit.

monday etceteras

Henry is napping so I am taking a break, sitting on the couch. This is what I see- my pansies in the window box through the screen; they are all leggy and looking very end-of-the-season, but I admire them nonetheless. I love this spring weather, warm but not hot. Cool, open-window weather. I can hear my neighbors children just arriving home from school. They are running, laughing and screaming into their backyard.

Some roses from the garden. They actually smell really nice- a sweet fragrant lemon-y scent. I love how big and floppy the petals are. They look almost like peonies from a distance, or crepe paper flowers. Lately I have been blown away by the climbing roses I've seen. That will have to be a new addition to the yard next spring.

Some cucumbers waiting to be planted. The Five Points Farmers Market re-opened this weekend in a new spot just down the street from us. We scored lots of great veggies and fresh local butter. We also scored a new Saturday morning ritual!

maple park

Another stop on Saturday brought us to the Currituck Skatepark (also known as Maple Skatepark). It is located right next to the small Currituck Airport just across the state line in North Carolina. I couldn't believe that on a Saturday afternoon there was only one other skater there. There was something sort of eerie about the place- this nice little park in the middle of (what felt like) nowhere, with tiny little prop planes taking off and landing at regular intervals. It has an 11 ft vert keyhole with pool coping and an open flow bowl attached. For awhile we were the only ones there, so Henry was able to run around the keyhole section and watch his daddy dropping in while I shot some little digital clips.
I like how the bright sun reflecting off of the concrete blew out some of my shots, making them look sort of vague, much like an old memory is sometimes remembered.