What we're into these days

I realized that this blog tends to focus primarily upon my life with Miranda. However, there are lots of other things going on in our lives and in our community. I need to post more about the PhD journey, but today I thought I'd share some of the ways our community is involved in Lexington and the world at large.

• Our friend Sarah Brown successfully managed the campaign for Andrea James, the councilwoman-elect for Lexington's 1st District. In January, she'll become Andrea's council aide and work fulltime in the council office.
• Billy and some other folks from Communality went to the Wiconi Missio Dei gathering in Nashville earlier this month.
• Several women (Sherry, Laura, Jen, Jodie, Lisa, Miranda and myself) had a nice evening at the Bluegrass Women Unite event. We are hoping to get one of our ladies on the board and be able to participate at a deeper level. Miranda almost broke about 100 pricey items, and was less than impressed with the baked Brie.
• We are hosting a Cool Cities discussion network at the High Street House.
• Five ladies from our community, myself included, are traveling to Evanston, IL next month for a School for Conversion in the New Monasticism network. We're hosting one here at Communality in March, so we're going to Illinois to participate and get a feel for how they run. (I wrote a chapter on hospitality for this book that has emerged from the network.)
• Some of our folks are hosting the local Soulforce network at the High Street House.
• We hosted a prayer breakfast last week for the Jubilee: Drop the Debt network.
• People from our community have written three chapters in the upcoming book The Emergent Manifesto.
• I am participating in BUILD (Building a United Interfaith Lexington through Direct Action) and hoping to involve Communality at a larger level. It will be alerting the city government to problems it deems especially significant and asking them to address these problems in a substantial way. This year, we're focusing upon affordable housing and affordable healthcare.

I know this list is incomplete and sketchy, but hopefully it sheds some light into the things with which we're involved. You can also get another, probably more complete look at our community's life over at our blog, the ashram. No need to reinvent the wheel, right?

Thankfulness, 2nd installment

• being able to sleep late because Miranda is at her aunt's house for a few days
• Miranda having an aunt and cousins who love her and want to keep her for a few days
• Friday night date night! (lots of culture on the lineup)
• possiblity of a new home (pics to follow when decision is final)
• upcoming wedding of a good friend in Colorado, with a reunion of lots of friends from the Appalachia Service Project days

Crayon Magic Trick

No, don't tell me... let me guess... I see... I see, the color... RED.

More random pics

Here are some good pics of the Wee Wunchie from the last month or two. We seem to take so many with the camaraphone, but getting them onto the computer (much less the blog) is another matter!

Taking a nap in Mommy's lap. Actually, she varied between snuggling into my shoulder and stretching out as seen below. Billy claims that I'll use any excuse to nap, sleep, or snuggle with her, and he's right.

Another unconventional nap position. We'd just finished an excellent and very filling brunch at the house down the street, and Miranda began to glaze over (possibly a food coma from the eggs, ham, cheese, bacon, biscuit, avocado, tomato, banana, cantaloupe, and pancake she consumed). I supported her little head with my hand, and she fell right off. I even managed to get her into the stroller without her waking up.

Billy titled this one "Wompa Read" in honor of the fabulous wompa boots she received from Grandmommie. Those boots are my favorite, although she kicks them off at every opportunity.

Nothing so refreshing as a quick morning rinse after a brisk debate over the cough medicine.

Is this where I should give Mommy a kiss???

Yes, that's the place!

Thankfulness (aka stealing Lisa's good idea)

My friend Lisa Samson had the great idea to chronicle some of the things for which she's offering thanksgiving this fall season. I'm just a big fat copycat, so here's my first installment.

• every autumn, the first smell of leaves and woodsmoke
• Pomegranate Pizzazz tea -- just discovered it
• Sunday evening potluck at Communality -- always good, creative food
• finding a really good pair of jeans, that really fit! (I bought 2 pairs)
• sharing a burger with Miranda at Buffalo Wild Wings last weekend when Billy was out of town, and watching her enjoy the excitement of a sports bar on Saturday night and cheer with everyone!

On bringing nature closer

A few years ago, Billy and I (actually my mom, my sister and I) planted a flowering crabapple tree outside our bedroom window. It's pretty small, and it's probably too close to the house, but it was my hope that it would encourage various birds to light there, enjoying the shelter and food. However, I find that I often forget about it, just seeing it as part of the landscape.

I was brushing my teeth this morning when a flutter of color caught my eye. I glanced out the window and saw one -- two -- three male cardinals in the branches of my little tree, snacking on the fruit and peacably coexisting. For the next few minutes, they flitted in and out of the branches, joined by their mates and a couple of sparrows, while a red-headed woodpecker rat-tat-tatted on the nearby elm. He even discouraged a bushy squirrel from descending the tree; he turned tail and hopped across the garage roof.

Billy brought Miranda to the window, where the red of the cardinals caught her eye and captivated her for a minute or two. Then she banged her miniature pumpkin against the glass, and our friends took flight.

Everybody else is a better blogger than me!

How has it been so long since I posted anything??? Sorry for being so lame.

What's been happening? Well, I feel like I've been writing my paper on Aquinas and searching for a new house, and that's basically it. Those two things have pretty much consumed me for a while. Oh, and caring for Miranda, but that seems normal and not so out of the ordinary.

Miranda is doing so well, learning new things practically every day. She has learned to say the following words (i.e. we have heard her say something very similar to this at least once):

• ball ("ba")
• bottle ("ba-uh")
• thank you ("Dak-oo"), complete with sign-motion, done approximately once out of every 20 times we ask her to say it
• mommy
• daddy
• "be gentle!" (imitating our neighbor Shirley -- same inflections and everything!)
• uh-oh
• bed
• shoe ("choo")

She also has mastered or is working on the following skills:

• climbing up steps
• going down steps, either on her own (sit-down method) or holding someone's hand (step-down method)
• getting down from the couch or bed (same as above; her favorite is to hold your hands and slide to the floor)
• grabbing something from the fridge door, usually salad dressing, whenever we open the fridge -- she's as quick as Annie Oakley
• stacking things -- paper, puzzle pieces, pacis -- to pick them up with one hand (is it only things that start with p??)
• knocking on the door when she wants to go in or out
• looking through the window for our neighbor Shirley and waving to her
• dancing to music is becoming a new favorite
• lifting up her legs to indicate readiness to put on jeans or pajamas
• kissing on the mouth
• several varieties of giggling ("he-he-he") and belly laughter ("HA-HA-HA!")
• going down slides by herself, and crawling back up them if her shoes have enough traction
• throwing temper tanturms, though usually of short duration

Her favorite foods seem to be cottage cheese, wheat pasta spirals, and as many tomatoes as she can get her hands on. When they were ripening in our garden, she'd head out there any time we were outside and proceed to pick and eat as many as she could, both red and green.

She's also made great progress at Kids' Day Out. She enjoys her time and rarely cries. Needless to say, we're relieved.

I have a terrible cold, so I'm headed home. More later.

Finding a Rhythm

I seem to get all these great ideas for blog posts, but can't seem to find the time to get them done. Sound familiar to anyone else?

After 13+ months of motherhood, I finally seem to be creating a good, sustainable rhythm for my days and weeks. Whereas I spent last year studying in 1-2 hour bursts between feedings and naps (and generally accomplished very little on my thesis), we've arranged for me to have 4-6 hour study blocks, three days in a row. This is incomparably better; I'm much more productive and don't feel like I'm just spinning my wheels. I've also printed out my thesis outline (with subtopics) and taped it to my study carrel, where I can check off papers as I complete them. Plato? Check. Aristotle? Check. Stoics? Check. Hauerwas? Check. MacIntyre? Check. One hundred others? Not yet...

Sometimes I can't imagine how I'll transition from this endeavor to teaching ethics. I don't see how I'll get my intellectual shit together, so to speak, and have anything coherent to contribute. I read the blogs of other folks in academia, or in the Emergent conversation, and they seem to sound so much... further along. I need to remind myself that finishing my thesis is the task before me right now, and that when I get to the next step, I'll probably be as prepared as the next PhD flunkie.

This new rhythm is also good for my relationship with the Crunchie. Now, when I leave the library, I leave my work there and don't worry about it at home. So, from 3 PM on Wednesday to 9 Am on Monday, I can focus on the girl, and the hubby, and the community.

Now, I just need to find a rhythm for exercising and cleaning house. Any suggestions?

Uh oh, she's catching on

Not so smooth a departure from Kids Day Out this morning. We think she's realizing that when we leave, we leave and don't return for several hours. She was crying when we left. :-(

Exciting New Frontiers

Now really, almost any post about a 13 month old could have this title, right?

This week's exciting achievement is that Miranda has begun to attend Mother's Day Out! Yes, she will bravely be facing down adults and kiddos alike, every Monday from 9am-2pm at the nearby Methodist Church. She seemed excited when we arrived, didn't burst into tears when we left, and did really well overall. She cried a bit when another child got upset, but recovered with the administration of chicken, pasta, watermelon and a good nap with her ultra-soft blankie. When Dad arrived at 2:00, the staff said they were impressed!

Still in her proud Daddy's arms, so far so good.













Early training in the complex arts of negotiation and acquisition.











Take a hike, Mom, I've got this covered. See ya at 2 o'clock.

Some really depressing news (and a way to forget about it)

After working with my advisor Robert to locate the semi-complete draft of my paper on Aquinas, which we discussed in England last month, we have decided that the only copy was, in fact, on the now-lost computer in the computer bag. Along with the paper copy on which we took notes for the final draft. Along with all the photocopied chapters from books on Aquinas, with the helpful underlinings.

Shit shit shit. Back to square one. I'll be spending this morning and afternoon tracking down those books, recopying, and beginning to reread.

However, I've found an antidote to the depression this has caused: picking up the pictures from Miranda's birthday party. Instant upper. Examples coming soon.

Lastly -- a special congrats to our friend Michelle, who just had her second son in Philly, Elias Lewis Harper Brix. Great labor and delivery, and she's already blogged. What a woman!

PFFHT!

I am working on a really cute post about her birthday... really, I am.

But in the meantime, Miranda has made several strides forward in abilities and general cuteness. She has 9 teeth (she apparently skipped a canine and went to 2nd canine on the top), she walks and walks, and she loves to give you five and giggle. But the newest and funniest development is that she can ZERBERT! Last night, she walked over to my bare leg, leaned over, and "PFFFHT!" It was so cute, and of course it tickled, so I laughed like a maniac, which encouraged her to repeat her amazing trick about 15 times.

She's so great!!!

Celebrating Four Years as Family

[Disclaimer: I also posted this over at the ashram; such blatant reproduction is frowned upon in grad school but may still be permitted in the blogosphere.]

Well, yesterday was August 16th, 2006, which marks 4 years since the Spirit brought John Fitzgerald Kennedy Bruce-Papafio to 701 Golfview Drive. That's more C-SPAN, NBA, local Christian access, World Cup soccer, Buffalo Wild Wings, O Brother Where Art Thou, rice, Twix, and Sprite than I would ever have imagined! Through fun times and hard times, God has taken good care of us all and led us into deeper meanings of grace and faith. We are happy that we've had these four years; here's hoping for more.


John enjoying a celebratory lunch yesterday at "Country Cook'n, by George!" Excellent green beans.
John holding the Crunchie last autumn.

Golfview pals Troy and John.

Trifecta trio John, Mike, and Billy. (The Crunchie served in an advisory capacity only.)

"Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid." (Jn 14:27)
We love you, brother.

Milk Restored!!!

Well, at least enough milk to nurse 2-3 times a day. She and I are both pleasantly surprised at the development. Thank goodness for Reglan!!! However, I'm having a lot of pain on one side, which I first attributed to her new upper teeth, but the other side is fine, so I'm wondering if we have a case of thrush. Hmmm... any suggestions?

Thanks for all the supportive emails, I really appreciate everyone's encouragement and empathy.

Stay tuned for an exciting, upcoming retrospective on the first year of our life with the Crunchie.

Over the Pond -- some overall highlights, and one anti-highlight

A quick word on the theft -- our insurance is working with us to replace the laptop (although, after our deductible, everything else will probably be a loss). Better than nothing!

Despite ending on such a sour note, I really enjoyed the trip. I loved so much about it: sleeping all night; drinking coffee, tea, and soda without worrying about caffinating Miranda; fish and chips, sausage and mash; seeing old friends and making new ones; catching up on some movies and good books. I actually read 10 books during the trip: Tiger Lillie, The Handmaid's Tale, Cell, Tales of a Seasick Doctor, Speaker for the Dead, My Sister's Keeper, The Memory Keeper's Daughter, Of Woman Born, The World According to Garp, White Oleander. What a gorge! It was great!!!

Reuniting with Miranda has been pretty smooth. She hasn't been diffident or angry with me, and we've had lots of fun just hanging around since my return. There is, however, one disappointment -- due to a few pumping mishaps, my milk has dropped to almost nothing. She was eager to nurse the first night I was home, but seemed surprised at the difficulty she encountered getting a drink. Surprise has turned to frustration, and to disinterest, which scuttles any chance of getting my milk going again.

I wasn't ready for how sad this has made me. When I left I thought, "Well, hopefully we'll keep nursing when I get back, but if not, then at least we've had a good full year." But, deep down I thought that we wouldn't have any trouble resuming, because we'd had such an easy year as a nursing couple. And I wasn't prepared for how much I want to continue nursing. I feel like we're just midway through our time nursing -- it just doesn't feel like it's time to quit.

My midwife gave me a scrip for Reglan, so we'll see if this gets us back on track. Hopefully it will, because I really miss mothering her that way. I'll keep you posted!