Chatty Video Clips

These videos were taken this evening and showcase her constantly-expanding speech. The quality is poor but the sweetness makes up for it, I like to think. Rob and I enjoy watching and reliving these moments after Goongirl has gone to bed.

20 months

It pains me to think that our girl is a short four months away from turning two, a number that is beginning to sound terrifyingly old, very unbabylike. But oh, what a dear, sweet, silly joy she is! The last week has seen a flurry of new vocabulary as she's catching on and repeating the words she hears us say. Owl (and the hooos that go with it), all done, nigh-night, pumpkin, vacuum, nurse, Buggy, and Olive are some of the things that she's enjoying saying lately. Yesterday she showed a blatant preference for me getting her out of her crib; Rob went in to get her when we first woke up while I was in the bathroom and she withdrew, peering around to the glow of the bathroom light. While no fan of being favored over Rob, I still found it kind of sweet. She's also taken to clinging to my legs and grinning up at me. I absolutely love this. And the hugging. How I live for those sweet hugs. Being a mother to this amazing child could not be more wonderful.

Our goon sporting the most luscious of Van Dyke juice goatees. She can't get enough of the stuff (shown here: kale, parsley, ginger, carrot, celery, lemon, and apple).

There and Back Again in 33 Hours

Yesterday Buggy and I headed south so that I could attend the wedding of an old friend in Arlington, Virginia. My dear friend Sam, who lives in nearby Falls Church, graciously volunteered to watch Olive for me while I attended the ceremony (being that I didn't know anyone else there and went without a plus one, the ceremony alone sufficed). It's always great to see Sam, her husband Howard, and their precious little egg of a son, Grant. Howard's mother, Carolyn, was visiting from North Carolina, and they gave Olive the stuffed tapir Carolyn had given Grant, but he'd shown no interest and Olive had. He is a very welcome addition to our family for sure.

We arrived at my parents' house early enough to let Olive visit with Mimi and Pop Pop for a while before she went to bed. She delights in the wonders of their home - particularly a duo of elves at an antique toy piano that my mom made some years ago. It's pretty magical, actually, even to an adult, so I can only imagine the fascination it evokes in someone her age. On this visit, however, she seemed more perturbed at the elf sitting on the bench (the other one is posed in song perched atop the piano itself) with his hands crowding the keyboard. Being the avid pianist she is, she didn't take kindly to him not leaving enough room for her hands. We worry that she'll cause some harm one of these days so my mom will have to remember to stash these two away the next time we come to call.

Another source of immense pleasure for my gal was Jo, my brother Taylor's cat. She took to calling out the name, "Kitty", while we were there. She was also greatly amused by the double staircases, the climbing of which was facilitated by handy banisters and carpeting. That girl is quite fond of her silly grandparents, too; we're going to have to make an effort to get down to visit them more often.

My folks had to leave for work the next morning before we awoke, but we were able to get in some more time with Tay, Kitty, and her great-grandparents who live downstairs. And then Ben, or course. No Maryland visit is complete without seeing our beloved buddy, whom met for breakfast at Café Nola in downtown Frederick where Ben and I met for tea - our first outing together - over three years ago. The two of them have a pretty special relationship and it's sweet to see each of them light up when the other is around. After breakfast it was back on the road to Pittsburgh, the bright mid-Autumn sun beaming down all the way home.

It's blurry, but this is one of my favorite shots.

When I'm in Frederick I like to drive past Gi-Gi's house. Alice doesn't live here anymore, as they say, but to me she always will.

Those Sweet Kids of Mine

Well wouldn't you know it - those Khorey kids threw me the best birthday party I've had since I turned eighteen. It may've been the only birthday party, but the thought that went into it was impressive. The older two gave me a bit of a scare when they arrived home thirty minutes late (Obama was in town and caused horrendous traffic jams), and Nina seemed eager to have Alex home. While having a snack I mentioned to her about Rob's birthday being tomorrow and she remembered: "Aren't your birthdays close? Did I miss yours?" Yes, but I told her not to worry about it. She then told me that I could pretend to forget about his birthday and then celebrate, and that I'd understand later. Alex arrived and seemed especially peppy. He asked me to come outside because he wanted to show me something he'd found, then led me to some interesting fungi that was spreading beneath a tree in their front yard. When he started babbling about a bees' nest somewhere else I started to think something was up. We headed back indoors and Nina summoned me into the dining room to help her with her homework. There on the table was not her homework but a cake and a large gift bag. They'd all planned it out well ahead of time. Nina rummaged through drawers to find a candle, sat me down at the head of the table, turned out the light, then stood at the ready with a camera to capture the moment I blew out the flame after they sang for me. This girl knows how to do birthdays. We passed around plates and ate half of the cake that she'd baked herself between the four of us. Nina gathered the gift and the three cards that each had made for me and moved us to the living room where I sat to open the package. Alex had been eager to hint at the contents: "What's your favorite store?", he prodded. "Walmart", I told him, just to throw him off. I lifted out a beautiful ivory box and unwound the cord that held it together. Inside was an unusual and completely gorgeous trench coat-dress. I've never seen anything like it and that's what I love so much about it. The thing about me is that I like what I like, and perhaps a bit too much, because most of what I have is so much like other things I also have. But this coat is perfect in that it appeals to my aesthetic without resembling anything else I own. And it will look grand with my new flowered boots I found on eBay last month. It's nice when people know me well enough to pick out a great gift - especially as picky as I am. Here's a hint:

Thirty?

Yesterday I celebrated my 30th birthday. My birthdays have passed without much fanfare for the past nine or so years, which is okay by me, and this was no different, really. We decided to go out to a nice dinner, though, to Eden, a brand new restaurant in Shadyside that specializes in local raw vegan fare. The food was right up my alley: beet-carrot-cumber and apple-pear-ginger juices, a beet and apple salad with lemon, mint, and cinnamon, and our entrées, pad thai for Rob and kale and mushroom pizza for me, followed up by Rob's pumpkin pie and my bosc pear sorbet. The evening was warm so we dined outside on the sunken patio. Buggy was making quite a mess of the salad and juices she was sampling so we dispensed with her dress and she amused herself with her napkin as an accessory. She was unusually grumpy for much of the evening but I caught her on camera during her silly spells (there was no middle ground with her last night).

I ushered in 30 in the most pleasant of ways, eating delicious food with my two favorite people in the world (all of the runners up I spoke to on the telephone), then relaxed back at home with a bowl of popcorn and an episode of Boardwalk Empire with a sweet guy by my side and a sweet gal in her crib. I think this will be my best decade yet.

Success!

After one more evening of painting the fully-erected mural on Saturday evening I got it to a place where I felt comfortable showing it to the public. Just a little color blending at the seams, painting over the Spackle I'd put over the screws, and filling in a few still-neglected areas was all it took. The sense of relief and lifting I experienced when walking out to my car at 8:15 was divine. I could go home and not feel pressured to head back to the studio apartment to paint during my free time. I could finally be home in the evenings again to put Olive to bed. It had been days since I'd done that and I was really starting to feel like the mother who works far too often and misses out on the little milestones in her child's life. Rob had been reporting to me the many words she'd been saying to him last week - none of which I've heard yet - so I really felt that much more removed from my family and life. She now can say new words like "hand", "doggy", and "toad", though I've also heard her say a pretty good "water".

Yesterday the church had the dedication of the mural. It was done in memory of two members, now deceased, Mary and Dwight Brown, whose daughter and husband came in to town just for the occasion. Rob and I were able to skip out of work to attend and we showed up as the pastor was leading a prayer and introducing the crowd gathered outside the room. They were all very pleased and I received so many wonderful compliments and praise for it. Many were under the impression that I'd done a small painting and were blown away when they saw that it spanned the entire wall. When I stepped away from it to see what they were seeing I agreed; the colors were beautiful and it's a great mural for the space. Children will love it.

My favorite part of the piece, the pair of foxes that were so effortless to paint, yet more successful than many of the other animals, I thought. Perhaps this will lead to a fox mural in Olive's bedroom.

The Beast

This thing has been hanging over my head since the beginning of June and I'm about to wash my hands of it at long last. I had the foresight a few weeks ago to hire someone to assist in the installation when I realized that Rob and I could not do it alone. I'm a little bit proud to say that, aside from being the supportive, loving, and helpful man that he is and tying the panels to the top of our car and making a number of trips to the church, Alina and I did it ourselves. Yup, Alina. Rob questioned my choice when I hired the only female applicant, but her twenty-plus years of curatorial experience spoke to me. The moment we met earlier this week I knew I had made the right decision. There was no way on earth I would've gotten it done without this little trooper's help. She is tiny. I, at 5'4 1/2", towered over her. Anyway, the lady knows her way around with the power tools, was filled with wisdom, and makes sure she does her job the right way. We finished in two sessions, yesterday logging eight hours hefting those heavy-as-lead MDF panels up and down the ladder while the church staff would periodically peer in on our progress. I learned a lot. For instance, just because it's a wall does not indicate that the line is straight, much in the same that I'd be a fool to assume that my boards were also cut straight (not that the guy who did the cutting inspired much confidence in me in the first place). It's usually going to be a lose-lose situation whenever you're not both designing and erecting the building and cutting your boards in your own shop. We ended up doing a lot of remeasuring, cutting, tilting, leaning, and faking the boards to fit the space. The mural is wonky, but that's okay. Such is the nature of things when you're not painting directly on the surface, which is exactly what I plan to do the next time I get involved with a project like this. Maybe when Olive is all grown up and I get tired of hanging out with Rob. In other words, probably not too soon.