Sturm Haus

Oh, I want to go home for this:

 

I mean, did YOU know that there's an excellent blues recording studio in middle-of-nowhere Kansas? That the owners have made it their mission to record as much as they can with aging blues artists so that their music isn't lost? Or that the venue is a church with phenomenal acoustics? I love that this exists in my home town. And I want to go Friday night, see The Howlin' Wolf Band and the Muddy Waters Band.

If my dad was reachable, if we were still talking, I'd be emailing or calling him to see if he'd like to go. It's the type of thing we could go to and enjoy together and talk about years later. For now, though he's fallen off the family map, as he's done a couple of times before. I just have to hope he's ok and taking care of himself.

And in the meanwhile, I might have to plan a trip home. Lucky me, there's guaranteed babysitter availability in that town -- if not my mom, then one of the many kids I babysat when I was growing up, all of whom are almost old enough to have kids of their own. (I don't think I'm going to take that any further. My odometer rolls over here soon, and the less said about it, the better.)

My mom gets in at 12:30. Jon's flight leaves around 7. I'm going to finish changing linens and straightening things up, get cleaned up, run to Target to pick up the 100+ photos I had printed for Jon to take with him, stop at TJ's for milk...

We found out yesterday that Jon's Grandpa, his mom's dad, had died over the night. He'd been ill for awhile so it wasn't completely unexpected. But I think Jon was still surprised. It always is surprising, isn't it? If not the death itself, then its finality.

My mom flies in tomorrow for our long-planned holiday weekend. Jon will fly out later in the evening for the funeral and come home Sunday evening. He'll be traveling by himself to a family function for the first time in a long time, if not the first time ever.

I wish Otto and I could go to keep Jon company, though he won't be alone. Meredith will be there with baby Leo (the darling), Jamie is going with Audrey. He'll have his mom, 3 aunts, and probably at least a few cousins to hang out with. But in another way I'm OK with the fact that we won't be mixing family reunion and funeral again.

Yesterday we also found out that this is Otto's last week in Miss Nancy's room. One year ago exactly he moved from being a baby (or Wobbler, as was his official designation) to being in the big room with the cool toys and circle time and field trips. Next Tuesday he'll start in the official Toddler room, Miss Kim's room. The room where everyone potty trains and gets ready for pre-school. He'll be with his friends Evan and Jake and Erin, so that will be good. I hope he likes it. I don't really want to go through another 3-month adjustment period like we did last year.

Change is always a shock to the system, though. No matter how prepared you think you are, it's still a bit of a surprise to find yourself in a new place or situation.

All changes, even the most longed for, have their melancholy; for what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves; we must die to one life before we can enter another.  ~Anatole France

When I left home this morning, I left Jon, Otto and Jake planning their day.

Jon was thinking about a trip to the hardware store to buy special attachments for our pump, making it easier to blow up Otto's pool.

Otto was eating breakfast wearing nothing but his diaper, excited at the prospect of said pool being in the back yard.

Jake was watching all of us, hoping "walk" might come out of someone's mouth.

Otto had a rough evening last night -- he has a diaper rash, one bad enough that he had a fit when we tried to bathe him, so getting him to sleep wasn't easy. He kept saying "don't like it!" and "diaper off!" so we let him sleep au naturel (with appropriate bed protection). This morning he was much more cheerful. Jon offered to keep him home, though, which I thought was a fine idea. Today will be sunny and warm, a perfect day to play outside in the pool, eat pizza for lunch, and take a long nap. Throw in a trip to the hardware store and it sounds like the perfect guy's day at home.

Me? I'm at work. Yesterday we moved a lot of shelving from the upstairs to the downstairs. After our wonderful volunteer and equally wonderful page moved the carcasses, I went to the hardware store and bought 3" drywall screws, came back, located wall studs, and managed to secure the shelves safely in their new location. It was a little noisy driving the screws through the cases -- April came over and teased me with her "now young lady, while we don't expect you to be completely silent, this IS a library" speech. Then we wiped down shelves, replaced them all, and moved the young adult collection.

Today we're working on the VHS collection and local history room. If I'm not buff at the end of this, I never will be.

I lost Otto for about 15 minutes Wednesday afternoon. He wandered down the street to follow a stream of water from our neighbor's blow-up water slide and was playing in the gutter. I thought he was playing with the kids at the slide and kind of panicked when I couldn't find him - BUT - he was fine. Just 4 houses down the street from me. If Jon had come home 5 minutes later, he never would've known I (temporarily) lost his son. But it was only for a few minutes! And he was fine! And now I can buy one of those backpack/leash things!

Yesterday, in the 90+ heat with 1,000+ humidity (you think I'm joking, but just walking out the front door is cause enough to sweat through a shirt), my YS librarian and I bought a ton of new flat-pack office furniture at Ikea. We loaded it into our cars. Drove it back to the library. Unloaded it. Put most of it together. By the end of the day I was fragrant and rather sore. Today I'm taking apart some shelving to move downstairs. Viva la cordless drill!

This weekend Liam is coming to visit (along with his family, of course, but when I told Otto about it this morning he said Liam's name like this - "LEE-ummmmmmm!" - Hallie comes out "Howie" with a shy grin). We are going to have fun even if the weather turns on us and we can't go to the waterpark.

Speaking of weather... is everyone ok out there? Is your roof in one piece? Your basement dry? Your road to work clear? Ohio is in the midst of a 100 year flood. Been there, done that, thank you very much (Iowa in '93).

appointment conspiracy

Tomorrow is Doctor Day. In the morning Otto and I go to see his ENT for his 6-month ear-tube checkup. He's doing well, so I don't anticipate any problems there. The hope is that we can get through one more winter with them before they fall out, and by then he should be old enough/big enough that we don't need them anymore.

In the afternoon I go see my ob/gyn for the annual checkup. Whoop dee do. Should be uneventful, as well. When I called to make that appointment, the first time they offered me was the same as Otto's ENT appointment. What is this, a conspiracy? All these docs only see patients one day a month? Not true, I know, but it was a little weird.

I got my lab results back from the visit to my endocrin guy a couple of weeks ago. My cholesterol has magically dropped almost 20 points in the last year. Hooray! I was borderline last year. I didn't make any extreme changes to accomplish that. If I had to guess, I'd say it's probably due to my new strict whole-grain-bread requirements. No enriched flour, whole wheat only, no high fructose corn syrup -- ditto on tortillas. Very "You On A Diet." Now, if only my weight would magically drop, too. That'd be the best.

In between appointments we're going to meet up with Daddo for lunch, and Otto and I will finally get to go see his office and visit coworkers again. We used to see them every so often when he was in Novi, but Auburn Hills might as well be on the dark side of the moon.

Overall I suppose it's sort of an odd way to spend a day off, but I'm looking forward to having a day with Otto and getting to see Jon's workplace.

Tonight I made the mistake of letting Otto try on his new Lightning McQueen underpants. I thought "hey, a little motivation never hurt anyone, right?" He looked darn cute running around in miniature tighty-whities with cartoon characters racing across his behind.

Unfortunately, it does hurt someone. It hurts the Daddo who has to peel them from his resisting body so that he can take a bath, and then hurts again when the crying starts post-bath and Daddo makes him put a diaper on instead of underpants. "Mama? Lightning? Pants? Please? Mama? Lightning? Please?"

Oops.

Liam is visiting this weekend - maybe he can show Otto how going potty works, and get him another step down the road. I'm beginning to think we're close...

just singing in the rain

Sunday was so gloomy and cloudy and cold that we stayed in all day. In a vain attempt to get my child to fall asleep for his nap, I decided we'd watch Singing in the Rain. Otto's been intrigued by the DVD cover for awhile, often bringing it to one of us and declaring "raindrops!" Yes, we agree. It's raining! And those people have umbrellas!

We got through a good hour of it together. Otto loved the singing/dancing numbers. He's big into participating now, and would stop playing with whatever and stand up to dance whenever they did so on the screen. I even got him to imitate the infamous "yes yes yes!" "no no no" scene. 'Bout the time that Gene started singing in the rain, though, Otto lost interest, and it was nap time.

Fast-forward to this morning. We drive to day care in a downpour that would look familiar to Mr. Kelly and his set designers. I couldn't find either of our raincoats this morning, so we're sporting jackets and umbrellas. I lift Otto out of his car seat, stand him on the ground, make sure his duck-handled umbrella is firmly fixed in his hand, and gently push him toward the front sidewalk. "Go ahead and start in, Otto, I have to get your bag."

When I straighten up and turn around from the car, it's to see my poor little man standing more than ankle-deep in water flooding the sidewalk. He looks... concerned. Uncertain. What to do next? The sidewalk is flooded for a good 12 feet, the whole distance to the front door.

Juggling my own umbrella and his bag, I reach for his hand and help him up on the railroad tie that borders the walk. Completely unfazed, he follows me in by walking slowly and carefully along the narrow curb, looking up once to smile as he gets toward the end. He doesn't bobble his umbrella, or reach for me to pick him up, or get upset about his wet shoes and squishy socks. Inside I immediately change him into dry sweats and socks and hang his damp things from the little clothesline over the changing table while he heads off to play. Just another big boy's adventure, I guess.

If it happens again, I have to remember to sing and dance. He'll get the joke now that he's seen the movie. And if we're getting wet we might as well have a little fun doing it!

winter in summer

This morning Jon said "I think I might turn on the heat today."

I said "NO! It is AUGUST! We will NOT turn on the HEAT when it's still SUMMER!"

Technically, it is still summer. Not something you'd know right now looking out the window, though. Our high today was 62 degrees or something like that... and it'll be in the 50s or 40s again tonight. It's rainy. Cloudy. Sunless. And downright chilly.

The true drawback to this for me is that it's too cold to run the A/C. Which means we open the windows. Which means I itch. My allergies are kicking in already big time, which does not bode well for me for the rest of the summer. Jenn at work and I were commiserating about being itchy on Friday. Evidently it's been a good summer for ragweed. Sigh. I know it's a bad summer when I take so much Benadryl that it no longer makes me sleepy.

Our sister-in-law Audrey should be home by now, enjoying a 2-week break from her work in Afghanistan. We're hoping she and Jamie have a wonderful time and wish only that we could swing by for dinner one evening or something -- just long enough to say "hi!"

Otto has been helping me with laundry today. In the 20 seconds it took for me to walk from our room to his room and put away a handful of miniature socks, he dumped 3 piles of neatly folded t-shirts and towels and underwear back into the laundry basket. This was my fault because I pointed out that the baskets were empty and ready for "more clean clothes." He redeemed himself by helping me put the towels away.

He's now climbing all over me, sure sign that I've been typing too long.

itchily yours, H

morning person

Otto is sometimes so incredibly sweet -- especially lately as his verbal skills take off. He's a naturally happy boy, but I'm lucky to have the morning shift with him because that's when he's his brightest, funniest, most creative self.

This morning was a good example. I had him on the changing table for his daily application of SPF 30 and decided to do a little massage as I rubbed it into his face. I used some of the strokes I learned all those months ago in infant massage. He closed his eyes while I worked, and as I finished he said "thank you!" in his clear, high-pitched little voice. It made me wonder if there's a part of him that remembers the massage class and all those sessions we had at night before bed. We both loved that routine.

Then we went into my room to dress (because my room is where the laundry basket is), and I asked him to pick out a t-shirt. He picked a Thomas t-shirt up immediately and draped it over the Lightning McQueen car in his left hand. He held it toward me and said very seriously, "McQueen hold." So McQueen held his shirt until I could help him put it on. I had him step into his shorts, and as he leaned over to pull them up he put one hand on the waistband. With the other he held Lightning McQueen close. We pulled them up (he pulls the front, I pull the back), and after he stood up he looked down at his legs and said "where'd pants go?" Then he smiled and held McQueen against his tummy, like, "McQueen pulled them up!"

We ate breakfast, where "McQueen" pushed his plate around the table, and climbed into the car for the ride to day care. Otto sneezed on the way, which I heard but didn't comment on. After a moment Otto said "'sund-heit! Mommy!" As in, "mom, you forgot to say gesundheit!" Then he laughed hysterically. He's two, and already I'm good for making jokes.

I've never been a morning person, but if anyone's going to convert me, it'll be him.

At day care he's starting to get interested in the 3-yr old room, so yesterday I showed him its bathroom with the 3 little toilets lined up. I said "if you want to play in Miss Kim's room you have to learn to use the potty." He's still not too sure about it, but soon his buddies are going to move to Miss Kim's room, and he's going to want to move too.

For now, though, he's happy in Miss Nancy's room, where they make snacks like goldfish bowls -- blue Jello poured in a ziploc baggy, with gummy fish thrown in -- and make jokes together and laugh a lot.

Stevie Ray Vaughan is on PBS tonight -- I love him. He died the year I graduated from high school, and I didn't really start to appreciate him until I was out of college. Someday I'm going to teach myself all about the blues the same way I taught myself photography in high school -- books from da liberry.

There are days where I spend the drive home wondering why my grad school admitted me. Were they insane? Then I spend days like today alternating between doing PR-type stuff (updating our web site, sending out an email newsletter, working on a brochure) and having diplomatic discussions with various people. Like a rep from B&T who called to tell me we owed money from 2005-2006 on a pre-paid collection development plan. At which point I asked, "if it was pre-paid, how can we owe money?" These are the days when an undergrad degree in international relations and several years futzing around in marketing/advertising seem to be the perfect librarian background.

Tomorrow is our staff development day. We take one day each year to all be in the same place and train together. We get out of the building, have lunch, learn new things. Last year we toured the Zingerman's Bakehouse and learned about their customer service ethic, which was impressive and, for me, inspiring. This year we're getting training on some of the state library's resources. Our staff meetings are relatively short, though we hold them regularly. So while I'm looking forward to tomorrow, I'm also a little stressed. One day to get some very important training done, getting everyone on the same page...

Our remodeling project is moving along now. We're knocking out walls on the 2nd floor, installing new shelving, and, my biggest stress, installing new carpet throughout. A couple of our key staff areas are going to be redone, meaning I have to find someplace to put those folks in the interim. And did I mention moving 30,000+ books and such so that we can install new carpet? No? Well, you'll hear about it again. Probably a lot. I've called in my resident logistics professional to help create a Gant chart and detail the plan. If my library friends out there have any tips for how to do this, I'm happy to hear them. We can't afford to hire the carpet guys to move everything for us, so my plan so far includes rented carts, extra days closed, staff and volunteers moving books, a local contractor moving shelves, and lots and lots (and lots) of chocolate to keep everyone involved in a good mood. I'm really looking forward to the new space, and really starting to dread the process of getting there.

Now that I think about it, there are a lot of similarities here with childbirth. Maybe I can create a self-hypnosis program to help me get through construction? It's either that or an epidural.

which book are you?

You're Loosely Based!
by Storey Clayton
While most people haven't heard of you, you're a really good and interesting person. Rather clever and witty, you crack a lot of jokes about the world around you. You do have a serious side, however, where your interest covers the homeless and the inequalities of society. You're good at bringing people together, but they keep asking you what your name means.
Take the Book Quiz at the Blue Pyramid.

12 on the 12th

Twelve years doesn't seem so long, I guess.

Just a blink of time, really. Here and gone. Holidays and everydays stringing together, and then suddenly here we are.

Jon and I dated for about 4 years before I finally said on the phone one night, "do you want to get married in August or December?" He had a couple of semesters left at school. I had graduated and was living at home, working to make student loan payments. He was in Ames living with his brother and a friend. I was more than tired of driving 6 hours to spend the weekend and ready to start planning a wedding.

So he said "uh, uh, August." Not my favorite month, and hot as hell in Kansas. Looking back, though, it was the best month possible. This is the time of year when possibilities open up. School's starting soon, football's just a couple of weeks away, with cooler weather and favorite holidays to anticipate. A good time to start a new life together.

I'm not sure what year 13 will hold, but I'm conscious of the fact that it's another year ticking over, another opportunity for a fresh start. Making small goals and resolutions, taking little steps toward being more who we want to be. And appreciating where we are.

The past week or so some sort of internal switch flipped.

I'm researching local orchestras and violin teachers (my violin's still in its case, but not for long).

This afternoon we spent a pleasurable hour at REI looking at tents and talking about what we want in a family tent. Something we could take backpacking, if we want? Or do we assume all camping will be out of a car in future? (Otto amused himself by zipping and unzipping the doors of the tents on display, then pulling out all the Thermarest mattresses and carefully stacking them. I think he had half a dozen pads piled up by the time we were done.)

Tonight I washed off my bike, Jon pumped up the tires, and I rode around the neighborhood. I'm looking for a bike trailer so we can start biking to the library. Maybe even to the big park nearby, if we get ambitious. (Otto was really impressed by the bikes. He cheerfully helped me wipe down mine, then his Daddo's, waved goodbye each time we rode away, and shouted "Mommy!" or "Daddo!" when we reappeared as though we'd been gone for hours.)

We've spent the summer catching up with our favorite neighbors (other families with little kids), and I'm actually thinking about hosting some sort of get-together and inviting the new couple two houses down to meet everyone. I think they'd fit in -- they seem really nice.

My house is kind of a disaster. I have big projects at work that need some extra time. But I'm finally tired of being defined by those two things in my life. I want hobbies again, fun things that get me out and meeting people, or at least OUT.

It could, I suppose, be somewhat related to the little boy living in my house. He's pretty independent now, you know. He can open doors, climb in and out of bed, ask for things when he wants them. He's talking a mile a minute lately, not all of it understandable, but more and more of it clearer every day. He's still not going to bed quite as early as we'd like, but he stays there once we turn off the light.

Two weeks ago he wanted to take a truck to school with him. I said, "Ok, but it has to go in your bag once we get there." He was fine with that. The next day he took a different truck. Then he took a favorite truck book. Every day for two weeks he's picked out a new, different toy to take to day care. I said to Miss Nancy the other morning "You realize he does this by himself, picks something out to bring to show everyone." And she said that yes, that's great, they have sharing as part of circle time and everyone gets a minute to say something. Otto has decided that he wants to share his entire car/truck collection, one thing at a time. I love that he's taken the initiative to do it, and that he's not repeated himself once in two weeks (and probably won't).

We all need hobbies and interests, don't we? Whether it's trucks or hiking or music. I think I'm on the road back to finding mine.

it's difficult to take clear photos of a fast-moving subject (or, why I haven't posted many photos lately)

sweet shopping

Jonathan organized a day out for us yesterday. We both heard about the Detroit Urban Craft Fair on the radio, and while I thought "neat, wish I could go, no idea where it is," Jon thought "hey! I know where that is, let's go do that and then have lunch!"

So we drove downtown yesterday and had a good time checking out the (primarily) 20 and 30-something vendors packing the Majestic Theater. I liked some of the stuff quite a bit. Some of it I thought "eh." And some of it took me back to my 4H days, when I was a geeky girl sewing aprons and stuff. I used to love making my own clothes, or having my mom make them for me, but it wasn't cool, and I didn't have as much time for it when I finished high school.

Anyway, we bought some sweet prints yesterday including a cute monster print to have framed for Otto's room. He liked it, and thrilled the young women manning the table by pointing to different prints and excitedly naming the subject - "cow! moo -- sheep! baa baa -- owl!" He wasn't as excited about the rest of the art there. Instead he kept trying to go up on the stage, and threw a big fit when I wouldn't let him. Still, we had fun, had lunch, and came home.

Today I'm being bad - lazy - hanging out and doing laundry and watching it rain. Jon's asleep upstairs. Jake's crashed on the couch. Otto's watching Cars and looking like he's ready for a nap. Sounds like the perfect time to do some virtual shopping, doesn't it?

Yesterday I tried to get Otto interested in this wonderful trike, but he just wasn't into it. Maybe for Christmas?

It's August, when back-to-school sales and the promise of cooler weather turn my attention to my rather pitiful wardrobe:
shoes at Eddie Bauer

  new items at b&lu

  linen separates from Flax

  Anne Klein suit pattern at Vogue

For the house, Ikea's new 2008 catalog is out, and it features lots of pattern and color:

Also, I'm picking blues for our bedroom:
  gallery from domino magazine

The summer reading program is over at work, which I hope means it'll be easier to focus on other things, like the remodeling project. I need for this to be a really productive week... guess I'd better go do useful things now, like planning our lunches and making sure we all have clean clothes to wear, and sweeping dog fur off the kitchen floor.

me me me

The Rules:

Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves.

The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed.

At the end of the post, the player tags 8 people, posts their names, and leaves a comment on their websites to let them know that they have been tagged.

I've been tagged! I think for the first time ever. Thanks Schmutzie! So, here are 8 Things About Me.

• Lately I'm drinking too much Diet Coke - Coke Zero has been my poison of choice this summer. I usually stop at Speedway on my way to work to get my fix.
  
• There are about 15 boxes of books in the basement that I need to open, assess, weed, and find shelving for. If I weren't a librarian, I'd probably just say I have 15 boxes of books in the basement. But now it's a collection that needs development. Sometimes I'd like to turn that part of my brain off...
  
• First record I ever bought? Culture Club's Colour by Numbers. I was eleven or twelve -- the ewoks were also hot that year.
  
• I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis roundabout 2000 -- that's why I see an endocrinologist at least once a year. Yesterday was the annual checkup. I am a firm believer in having specialists for special conditions.
  
• When I'm sick enough that I have to stay home, I lie around and watch the Pride & Prejudice BBC miniseries. Colin Firth = feverish (in more ways than one).
  
• Jonathan once said, "You're not just 'glass half empty,' you're 'the glass is half-empty with pirahna swimming in it!'" Unfortunately, he is correct.
  
• My favorite color is RED.
  
• When I was in high school I went with a couple of friends to see the Kronos Quartet perform at our local arts center. For their encore they played their arrangement of Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze, and we thought it was AWESOME. Being orchestra geeks, we hung out with them afterward and drank their champagne. I think that's the closest brush with fame I've ever had.

Now I'm tagging... Ane, Kirstin, JPR, Jeff and Karen

Because I can!