Dr. Martin Luther King Day 2008

The Wind Means a Change is Coming

I don't want to be cryptic, there are just a bunch of stuff afoot. Too much to get into on the old "biog" here. Let's just say that God's Inbox is full. It is these times when I am comforted by Jesus' words, "Behold the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, and yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." I want this, to grow into something to behold, something glorious. The spinning and toil do me in.

The Table Has Turned

One of my rules is NOT to eat from my kids' plates. I have learned not to eat the parentheses of pork tenderloin or the apostrophes of pasta. If I did, I would still be wearing my maternity jeans. However, I now have a son who eats as much as I do. Manny will look over my shoulder and ask for a bite then he'll ask for another, and then my growing boy will edge his way into my lap and I will hand it over and watch him devour it. I have made rounds of of garlic-fried rice, an extra omelette, another peanut-butter apple. But when I am about to tuck into my dinner, I do not want to schlep the goose pot back to the table. I want a minute to eat in peace.

My parents used to take us to a Chinese buffet and they would just revel in the competitive eating. It was glorious to them, providing abundance and watching their children eat their fill. A primal privilege. But also growing up with immigrant-parents, there was a kind of food boundary-- the shrimp paste, the fermented fish sauce, ox-tail, tripe. These were things my parents ate and we kids, did not. Did they not offer it? Did they not expect our American-slang palates to enjoy them? My thinking now is, they did not want to share. I now get it, the private plate just for me, warmed just so at 150 degrees, the sane solitude of eating something no one else will ask for.

Homeschool in '08 and Starfish Hi-Fives

Some things we've been working on since the start of our Spring Semester: What is the difference between a continent, a country, a state, a city, a neighborhood? Several books we've made: Excerpts from Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech including the most incredible drawings of the "curvaceous slopes of California." A book called "Max's Big Day" about a r/c car at his first race. A 3D car garage with a sand shovel as a lift for the mechanics to get a look under the car's carriage. We've had hikes at the arboretum and visited a Japanese market.

Clara has taught us all the "starfish hi-5," which is a regular hi-5 except you spread your fingers and you don't really slap that hard. I found her teaching it to Calliope and of course, to all of us now, it is all the rage.

Holiday Highlights: Mary's Doula and 4 Upright Bipeds

Epiphany brings a good round close to the season for us. It is after midnight and Geoff and I spent the past 3 hours taking down the decorations. I should say taking down the decorations, eating leftovers, drinking wine and recapping. I, the listmaker, love recapping. I have a spot in my notebook called "Post Mortems"-- how that errand could have gone more smoothly, how we could have been better prepared for that trip, what snacks never to bring to Church, you get the idea. One thing I was grateful for was my Mom looking at the two full plastic tubs in our dining room on December 20th and suggesting that I not worry about the rest of the Christmas decorations and just focus on the tree. This thought had not occured to me, I was content to berate myself for not appropriately decking out our house. Those two tubs would have weighed on me ad nauseum. Life is so much better when I let my expectations flex, why do I always forget this?

Anyway this is was our fifth Christmas in Philly, unbelievable to me. Burbridge St. was galant with its dignified light displays, David and Kristen with their globes on their Rhododendron, Calvin's family down the hill with the chunky retro color lights, the kids loved Lisa's house with the musical lights! Our Jesse tree was the best it's ever been with the additions of the boys' drawings this year-- a lion with an X over its mouth for the Daniel story, bones for the Ezekiel story, a ladder for Jacob's story.

Our goal was to have a three day stretch where we stayed in our PJ's cooked amazing warm things, read and built fires. We went 2 days strong but then broke it to go see a local matinee of Toy Story. After that, we had a good stretch again but then after another 2 days, the kids were dressing themselves and eachother, sort of alarmed that we were languishing so audaciously. We thought they would find it comforting.

One highlight was the Nativity Set we found. I have taught the kids, when looking at for a Nativity set, it's all about Mary and Jesus-- does Mary look beautiful but pure? Is the baby Jesus cute? We did this at Ten Thousand Villages and again at Bargain Thrift. The winner was $12 at Bargain, meets the criteria, AND Mary has a doula. No joke, have you ever seen a Nativity with another woman who is not an angel? I have discussed this with an art historian, an anthropologist and several others. Our Mary has a doula. I think it's in the Apocryphe.

Our break, of course, has included several amazing dates-- a lunch at French Bakery, a long-awaited double date at Bar Ferdinand, and even a few dates Geoff and I needed to have with friends. All soul-renewing and fun, laughing so hard over Sangria and tapas, and seeing Geoff come home after watching Science Fiction.

Also, we are pleased to announce that we no longer have 2 girls in diapers, but little Clara Margot has her own Days of the Week undies that have gone several week cycles of use and we have cut our Seventh Generation special order down to half! And lastly, on Christmas morning, Calliope busted out 8 steps. She may be the youngest but she gets points for drama! All of our kids are upright bipeds now, amazing.