When he woke up, in a great mood, we played, went to a housewarming, and had a great night. Saturday we woke up to snow! We trekked to the farmer’s market, and in his bunting, Gil was a big hit. There’s nothing like a bundled up baby to make you appreciate how pretty the world is when covered in white. Eggs, brussels sprouts, & cabbage. I think I’m going to make a cabbage pie. My friend Liz came over and we ventured to the mall. Again, Gil had a great time in the stroller, mall-walking, and playing in the children’s play area. Today he’s been playing with the sled, his blanket and the paper bags in the kitchen. 

What I’ve enjoyed most is being able to focus on him and hear all the words he’s saying and notice all the things he can do. With Seamus around, it’s easy to focus on him because he talks more. But Gilbert has so many words and such a sly sense of humor that it’s been really fun hanging out with him. He’s also had many fewer tantrums than usual. This morning, he was doing an experiment with a cup, a water bottle, some beans, and water. He concentrated for twenty minutes before the finale of the expriment which was knocking the whole shebang over on his highchair tray.Uh-oh! he exclaimed. Then he was ready to get down and build his flute. I’m now ready to split the boys up a lot more because, wow. One is so much easier! 

Seamus the Bubblehead

Gilbert can wear this hat now!

Liz gave the boys Knight costumes for Christmas. They look awesome, and they have a book that they can read about knights and dragons.

Taking pictures of toddlers is tough. They don't stop moving, but here's S & his cousin J playing with a boat.

G and his cousin M. The only reason he's standing still is he's trying to scam food from this plate that is not his. Also, the two little cousins had wardrobe changes that evening.

A wonderful and refreshing visit from Indigo. S called her "Indido" and her she is with the unicorn power sticker.

We had some really wonderful weather in NJ over New Year's. S is saying "Shell!" He loved looking for shells.A walk in the woods. G threw rocks in the creek. They played with the dog, and we hauled this stroller on an airplane! It was worth it.

A walk in the woods. G threw rocks in the creek. They played with the dog, and we hauled this stroller on an airplane! It was worth it.

• The Life and Adventures of Joaquin Murieta (John Rollin Ridge)–I’m excited to teach this in my American Literature survey!
• Closing the Food Gap (Mark Whitte)–This looks very interesting for questions about food–hunger, farmer’s markets, CSAs, food kitchens/food banks. It may be too complex for my first-year students.
• Ragged Dick (Horatio Alger)
• Passing (Nella Larsen)
• The Bean Trees (Barbara Kingsolver)
• Pocho (Jose Antonio Villareal)
• Under the Feet of Jesus (Helena Maria Viramontes)
• The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
• My Year of Meats (Ruth Ozeki)
• A few short stories by Jennifer Egan, Ben Franklin, and poems by Gloria Anzaldua and Langston Hughes

These last few are for my The American Dream class which is writing intensive and a literature requirement. I’m so excited to meet all my students tomorrow.

I also got some books over the break–some for Christmas, some from thrift stores, and some from my grandmother. I’m reading The Birth of Venus about 15th century Florence right now. It’s pretty compelling so far. I’m adding a new sidebar  to chronicle my reading this year. I don’t expect you to care too much, but I’m curious about how much pleasure reading  I do in a year.

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?

Got a real job. YAY! Went a bunch of fun places with the boys. You always see something different when there are little ones along for the ride. Bought work clothes from Goodwill.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I think my resolution was to spend three minutes a day on abs work. I think I did that for a week in January. Then I started doing it again lately when my back was hurting from carrying kids. So sort of? I don’t have any resolutions this year. I’m preferring to phrase this as “What are you looking forward to in 2012?” and making those resolutions. I might have also resolved to be more present…or was that 2010? I have been, in that I do not bring work home much, but sometimes I blog at work. So maybe not?

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes! Very excited for my friend Erin and baby Sam, Dan & Kathy and baby Finn, Nicola and baby Alan, and Leah and Lucy with baby Seda, RB and Niko, my cousin and Leaf, Eliza and Nina, the list goes on. And sometimes I’m having trouble remembering who was born this year and last.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No. Let’s keep it that way.

5. What countries did you visit?

hahaha. None. Except this one. But I did renew my passport this year. I have big plans. Oh, did I renew my passport last year? I did.

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you didn’t have in 2011?

Nothing. More time for everything.

7. What dates from 2011 will be etched upon your memory, and why?

My campus visits, but I’m not good with dates. That’s why I do literature. September 3, G’s first birthday was really fun. July 5 we moved into our new rented house. Oct 2 or thereabouts when M called me to ask about renting our Albuquerque house. What a relief! Sometime in March when MU offered me a job. Memorial Day weekend for my friend Liz’s wedding. That was fun. OMG. I totally forgot April 14 the day I defended my dissertation!

8. What was your biggest achievement of this year?

Finishing my dissertation and getting a job.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Not blogging enough to suit my dad.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Just a few colds here and there. But it sucked that one of them was the last two weeks of this semester.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

I don’t know. My awesome red suit? But I think I got that in late 2010. I’m convinced it helped me get a job.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Seamus’s. He’s potty-trained, speaks in complete sentences, and is getting really independent but remains sweet. Gilbert’s because he tries to keep up and succeeds so often we’re surprised when he acts like a baby. Patrick’s for being great at home and driving a moving truck cross country. And cleaning the house in ABQ and so many other things. My parents for coming anywhere to help with the boys at almost any time. Patrick’s dad for babysitting. Patrick’s mom for the great vacation spots.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Mostly political figures. But the advantage of not having much time means that I don’t know a whole lot about how depressed an appalled I should be.

The weather in DC. How is this possible that it rains more than Portland?

14. Where did most your money go?

Rent and mortgage (paying both at the same time sucks) and moving.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Moving, a new job, a new place. Seeing a movie. Going for a bike ride with Patrick without the boys. The big and the small all in balance.

16. What song will always remind you of 2011?

Buenos Dias–the song Seamus is obsessed with from his Spanish class. Wagon Wheel which is the first song that Seamus ever requested. Clementine which I sing to Gilbert almost every night.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?

Happier: yes
Thinner: a little as I didn’t have a baby four months ago
Richer: not so much

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Getting excited to ride my bike to school.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Driving.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

We’re not done yet! But the post right before this delineates some of our activities. We had a very nice Christmas Eve with P’s family. Then P got sick on Christmas Day, but the boys had a great time!

21. Did you fall in love in 2011?

Yes. With my new job.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

I enjoyed The Closer, Dexter, Gilmore Girls, and 30 Rock.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

No. But I hate moving. And Amazon.

24. What was the best book you read?

Ahab’s Wife really moved me. In Case We’re Seperated also has provoked me to think and savor short stories. I read a ton of pleasure books this year, but I can’t remember them all, so I think these are my favorites. Or at least they’re sticking with me.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

I let Patrick take care of musical discoveries.

26. What did you want and get?

Happy excursions with the boys in DC. We’ve had so much fun exploring.

27. What did you want and not get?

My money back from Amazon. Hence why I’m still on a one person boycott.

28. What was your favorite film of 2011?

The Help. I guess I should have put this as a favorite book, as I certainly liked the book better than the movie, but I guess I like the comparison too, so it fits here.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

31. Patrick got us tickets to Wicked. It was great. We had pizza at Saggio’s before.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Our washer and dryer in this rental house. I hate the w/d there, and we have such nice ones sitting in P’s mom’s basement.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2009?

Developing professional style.

32. What kept you sane?

Exercise, cooking, coffee, my friends, Patrick, my parents, sunshine.

33. What political issue stirred you the most?

The Plan B flap.

34. Who did you miss?

My Albuquerque friends when we left. It was good to go, but wow I miss those people.

35. Who was the best new person you met?

All my new colleagues are great people. They’ve been so welcoming and fun. My students are really cool and work hard. Baby Sam. Baby Finn.

36. What are you looking forward to in 2012?

Teaching classes that I’ve already taught. Teaching new classes. Taking the boys more places. Having my Granny come visit for Cherry Blossom festival. Working on my articles. Spending family time. Hearing Gilbert develop sentences.

(Right now S is behind me on the couch saying, “Here’s little kitty book. We’re going to read it to Gilbert. He likes it.” And Gil’s saying, “Book” and now S is reading to him.)

DC Area Christmas Activities We Did this Year:

• Scottish Parade in Old Town. This was fun, as parades go. Highlights were the bagpipers and big pipe and drum bands, and the dog clubs who would walk by with a bunch of dogs of the same breed. We went with friends who had a place for us to park. Otherwise parking would have been a nightmare. The boys like the music and so did I
• Santa at Tyson’s Corner Mall. This was fun, but G absolutely hated meeting Santa. Correction: he liked meeting Santa, but he did not want to sit with Santa. Seamus did want to sit with Santa, and he had a pretty good time. This was a good excursion for December because the play area for kids in Tyson’s is GREAT. It has a lot of soft climbing and sliding equipment and loads of kids running around in socks. The boys loved it and played there forty minutes before lunch and then an hour after lunch. They took very good naps that afternoon.
• Marymount Christmas Dinner. We went up for the student dinner, and it was very fun. I think I wrote about it earlier.
• Miniature Train Display at Union Station. This was cool, but it was a diaster for us. Aimed for slightly older toddlers 2.5-4.5. There is a pretty good display but a lot of it is at adult height, so difficult for kids to see. There is one that is easy for them to see and S was enthralled with it. The diaster was that we took the Metro to Union Station, and Gil’s ear must have been hurting from the underground, so he pretty much lost it on Metro. Then he fell asleep in the stroller, and thank goodness, because he slept on Metro on the way home, but that meant he did NOT take a nap that afternoon. Lucky for us, we had plans to go see The Descendants, so we left G with a sitter for his no nap afternoon.
• Falls Church Santa Fire Engine. This is awesome! The fire station decks out a fire engine in lights and then has Santa sitting on the top, drives around waving. The first night we saw it, it was 9:30 and we seriously debated getting Seamus up for the excitement. However, he was very much asleep. It went by at 5 and 6 a few days later and the kids thought it was so cool. (So did we!)
• Oxon Hill Farm and Park. Not really a holiday activity, but we decided to take the boys out to the farm, and it was the best activity we’ve done in a while. I’m going to give it its own post.
• Cape May Trolly. We rode the trolly at Cape May (not really a DC activity) to see the Santa lights. Pretty fun. Seamus like the steamed up windows, and it was cold!
• Getting a Christmas tree. S & G accompanied Grandude to get a Christmas tree and poinsettia.  They liked seeing all the trees and helping to pick one out. S really enjoyed decorating it with Grandude a few days later.
• Zoolights. We’ve had plans two separate nights to go do this, but we haven’t managed to! We did go to the zoo during regular time and the lights on the elephant sculpture were pretty cool.
• Christmas lights in the neighborhood. This is fun. We load the boys in the stroller and then walk in any direction and point out the light displays. They like the Mickey, Minnie, and Goofy lights. But they also like inflated Frosty or Santa, and they like reindeer who turn their heads. If we say, “Look Frosty is waving!” both boys immediately start waving energetically at the display.
• Hot chocolate. One night we rode bikes to Whole Foods five miles away and it was cold, so I made the boys some hot chocolate. Neither one of them would drink it even though it was just warm milk with a tiny bit of chocolate syrup. Weirdos.

I think the idea occurred to me around the time we started talking about the Writing Intensive requirement at my university. Students have to write in these classes, but, perhaps more important, they have to rewrite, revise, and rethink. That extra step of feedback and revision is what makes the class Writing Intensive. I guess I’ve always believed that students need to write in order to think out their ideas, but I’ve been less accustomed to having them rewrite, or revise substantially, but I think that that is a valuable skill for them to do.

I think this more now as I’ve been attempting to revise chapters from my dissertation into articles or book chapters. Part of my writing process involves looking for calls for papers that seem promising and then restructuring my argument and evidence into ideas that work for the specific call for papers. Sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn’t. I’ve also been doing some archival work that might augment my essays on certain writers (Katherine Anne Porter). However, with the revision process is the realization that some of this stuff just doesn’t work in the form it’s in. In that case, does it need to be thrown out? Saved for another project at a later time? Revised into a new form? This is where it’s nice to have multiple readers for your work.

Here’s how I tier it: First reader–me, obviously! I have to get it into shape past the first draft. Second reader–close friend whose feedback is valuable and who I don’t mind seeing some sloppiness or unrealized ideas. This person helps me put those ideas together or scrap them if they need to be scrapped. Third reader–my adviser who gives excellent feedback and also helps with the rhetorical situation of the article. Fourth reader–journal editors. Fifth reader–I hope a large general audience thinking about the issues I raise in my work! At all these stages, I’m doing revision which means the finished product looks very little like the initial piece of work. And it’s all valuable, but I only really learned how to do this when setting my academic work up for a larger public.

With student writing, I think a public project is an interesting idea, because if the work is just to turn in, they might stop working when they’ve decided the final product is good enough. When it’s for a larger audience, they might continue working to make it even better. But then, this more casual forum of my blog (for me–I know others actually plan posts and revise) is public, but the thoughts are often very much first drafts.

Just some thoughts. And if you want to read that public work you can here and here.

Before

Note the fine mullet growing up in the back. This may also be around the time the WKU team did not receive a bid to a bowl game.

After

Patrick thinks he looks like a St. Clair here. I don’t know. What do you think?

I also put up the Christmas tree this weekend:

Gil likes his Security Blanket

And I worked six days in a lead up to finals week. Since we went to Christmas dinner at Marymount last night, you might say I worked seven days…

Seamus and the IPod

And Seamus played Cupcakes before bed. He looks like a little boy now. Occasionally he’ll say, I’m not a really big boy yet. It’s all in relation to coming to terms with Gilbert not being a baby anymore, but also not qualifying to be a big boy…

Now Seamus knows that birthdays mean a few things. One, whoever’s birthday it is gets presents. Two, that person is special and we are nice to them. Three, there is cake involved. This summer we had a positive blitz of birthdays. Nana’s in June, Dada’s and Grandma’s in July, Granddude’s in August, and Gilbert’s in September. That’s a lot of cake! Even though Seamus likes everybody else’s birthday, he still likes his best. He knows it’s in April, and he knows that Granny’s birthday is also in April. April is in the Spring. E.T.C. (We go through this litany a lot!)

When I was a little kid, birthdays were mostly about family time, cake, dinner, and not having to wash the dishes on your birthday. When I was a teenager, I think that I had slumber parties for my birthday wherein we watched movies, ate popcorn, and generally behaved with lots of silliness. Just as I’m anti-organized sports for kids, I’m also kind of anti-organized birthdays (Don’t kill me). I hate admitting it, because I think it only reveals my absolute and utter laziness, which might prompt you to ask, why did you have kids if you didn’t want to celebrate their births? Um, and the rider to this question–kids are a lot of work, didn’t you know? And I get it, there is something so cute about kids playing soccer when they all run for the ball, and there is nothing cuter than a bunch of kids having fun at a birthday party. (Which is actually where this post is going, if I ever get there…)

So on Sunday, we were invited to Seamus’s cousin’s 3rd birthday party at an inflatables place in Manassas. I figured it would be fun, at the very least it would wear Seamus out for his nap, but he had a great time! On Saturday night, we told him he needed to go to bed and get lots of sleep because he had a big day at his cousin’s birthday the next morning. When he woke up, he asked about the birthday, and said, “Do you think there will be cake there?” We had never mentioned cake, but I guess it’s imprinted on his brain.

We read the fine print and realized that Gil wouldn’t be able to play, not being old enough. We’ve all been sick, so neither Patrick nor I wanted to engage in the battle of the wills it would take to keep Gil off the bouncy equipment. We decided to ask P’s dad to play with him for the morning. That turned out to be the best idea ever. Another family had a 17 month old (Gil is 15 months) at the party, and the poor kid just wanted to play and the poor parents were super stressed keeping him off the stuff. (Keep in mind that we weren’t sure Seamus would want to jump as he’s not much of a dare devil, and we knew Gil would want to because he goes up and down the big slide that Seamus won’t touch!)

Anyway, Seamus loved it. He jumped and climbed and went down the big slides, and had so much fun. And by the end, I understood why people do birthday parties (at home or other places): it’s fun to see all the kids have a great time. But he still didn’t play with the other kids. They were peripheral to his existence. Sure, he waits in line and takes turns and all, but he showed little interest in playing with them or talking to them. So I think I have a few more years before he’ll remember interacting with other kids at his birthday. Right?

Also though, I raked up the leaves last night, and Seamus and Gil were running all around the yard, fake falling, and rolling in the leaves, and talking loudly to each other. Seamus has no trouble talking to (bossing?) Gil. I think it’s his personality that urges caution in strange situations.

Between the holiday, the work week, and this cold that came out of nowhere, we’ve been a little slow on the posting.

But tomorrow, we’re going to take Seamus to his cousin’s 3rd birthday party. We just read the specs on the party place and we’ve decided to leave Gilbert with his grand-dude. Why would we not take Gil? Well, it’s a party at a Pump It Up, (with inflatables and stuff) and Gilbert is too young to jump. He’d be devastated and we’d be miserable trying to keep him off the equipment, so why doesn’t he have a special day with Grand-dude? I think it’s a win-win-win-win.

We’ll (try to) let you know what Seamus thinks of the birthday party. Our next family birthday party will be my Granny’s 87th!

When I got to college, I joined the debate team, and two of the coaches used to invite me over all the time when they were cooking vegetarian food. They both had this cookbook, and I felt more special for having it to, even though I hadn’t even cooked from it yet.

I don’t remember what I made first. However, right now, I can tell you that my berry cobbler recipe is located on page 62. I love it and make it at least once of month. I love her disclaimer–”It’s not inordinately high in fat or sugar, so I don’t feel bad giving it to my kids.” I’ve actually removed all sugar from the recipe (except that which is naturally occurring in the fruit) and it’s still delicious. One of the first times I used this recipe was when A, P, L and I lived in that crazy house on 49th street in Portland. I picked blackberries growing outside our house and used them in the cobbler. Since then, I’ve made this cobbler for so many people–most recently our new friends whose son loves it. Seamus will do pretty much anything to get to eat some.

Other favorites from this book are the red pepper pesto, the biscotti, the popovers, and the Tamales with Zucchini and Cilantro filling. I’ve made the Lemon Cheesecake Ice Cream multiple times, and I always forget how good it is. The Cold Melon Soup is a light, delicious flavor, if a bit weird. The risottos in here are really easy and satisfying.

Looking through this book, I realize I’ve cooked too many things from it to name them all, but there are still some that I’m intrigued by. Like Raspberry Borscht. And Eggplant Pancakes in Sweet Red Pepper Puree. And Tomatillo and Squash Soup. I like that there’s so much of her personality in these pages; this book reminds me of so many of my friends, for what they cook, what they like to eat, and the meals we’ve made or shared together. I also like how the book is organized by season and by suggested menus. That means there are a lot of salads, but it gives the idea that we should plan meals to be an event, whether they are big like Thanksgiving, or “Autumn Lunch on the Terrace,” ” A Summer Buffet for a Crowd,” or “Tomato Harvest Dinner.”

If you order this book, don’t do it from Amazon. I’m still mad at them.