Dear little moment

Last night, Noah and I watched Hook, one of my family's favorite movies. (I did censor a couple scenes.) I had to stop it in the middle to make Noah a snack, and it was right at the telling of how Peter Pan came to Never Never Land. It showed him as a baby, listening to all the plans his parents had, college, a career, possibly becoming a judge. He couldn't stand the thought, and rolled his pram away. It happened to spill over and there he was, this dear little baby, about 6-7 months old, lying in the rain, crying, when a fairy, Tinkerbell, took his hand, and flew him to Never Never Land, where he became the leader of the Lost Boys. But he returned to his house from time to time, and saw that a new baby had replaced him. He looked sad as he watched, through the window, his parents cooing over his little brother.

This scene really affected Noah. He stood on the sofa, holding Ocean Wing, his bear, and told me, "That makes me feel sad. How could his parents not want him?" We talked about it, and then finished the movie. I love how Noah feels safe sharing his feelings of sadness or fear with me. I hope he always does. (Of course, as he gets older, I can't record these in my blog, as he would feel betrayed. But he's not adept at reading just yet...

Strumming along

Ben has been playing the guitar since about November last. We took an old guitar that was floating around the house, had it restrung, and voila! he was playing. He took lessons for a few months, and practiced a LOT, and he's really good now. He is constantly working on a new tune. Between his practicing and Sarah Jane's practicing on the harp, we have a very pleasant atmosphere.

Say hello to Cosmo

Well, I am soooo happy right now! Today, my mom and I drove for 50 minutes to pick out a Boston Terrier dog! Sarah Jane had seen an ad for two of them: male, neutered, 2 years old, all shots, house-trained. This is what I've been waiting for. I swooped in and nabbed one. And we're calling him Otto. He's a very handsome boy.


Turns out Otto is not 2 until January. His brother was so sweet, I had a hard time choosing. Otto was slightly calmer, and something in me just loved him, as I watched him snuggle into my mom and fall asleep.


Otto and his brother were up for grabs because their "mom" had to move and couldn't keep them.


The drive was very pretty and winding, over a mountain. After we got home, we introdued Otto to Maisy and they were fine with each other. I still haven't seen them really play like I thought they would. Still, they got along, not a bared tooth to be seen.

After a couple hours of serious puppy schnoogling, Sarah Jane and I walked Otto and Maisy to school to retrieve Noah. Yesterday, Noah had told me that he felt bad for Maisy because she didn't have a dog-friend. I told him, "Well, maybe if you say a prayer for her, it might happen." Today, in the school I told him we had a surprise, and took him out to Sarah Jane, holding both dogs. Otto bowled him over with kisses. Noah was pretty happy!

David really likes him. His sturdy muscled body, pushed-in muzzle, and broad head remind us of our beloved Pongo. She was our first dog, a boxer and a real sweetie. She left us too soon at age eight.

Pictures!

Working girl

Yet again, I have taken a part-time job. I'm working for a friend, who has a company that sells cleaning machines. My job is to phone previous customers, and find out if they have any needs, service for their machines, parts, another machine... It's a needful task, but one that the regular salesman don't have time to do. I can work from home, as I have a homepage on the company's website. I just have to keep the house quiet, which means locking up Miss Maisy, the crazy flip-out high-pitched barker who seems to think she has to alert me every time a leaf falls in the wrong direction, or, worse, a a woman decides to stroll her baby down our street.

My last job was in a large Christmas-oriented gift shop. It was fun at Christmas-time, even from September to February (after Christmas sales). But it got real quiet by March, and after re-dusting the Painted Ponies or Kitchen Fairies 3 times in 4 hours, I thought I'd go plum crazy. Plus, it just wasn't paying enough to justify the time and effort. Noah had to be in preschool with after care twice a week, and I worked 2 evenings. I never knew what I'd come home to at 9:30pm. Sometimes a mountain of dishes, sometimes an awake-hasn't-had-dinner 4-year-old. Not good. I quit. But now that 4-year-old is six, and in school all day, so maybe this new job will work out better. And it pays almost twice as much!

Josh goes to college

Dear me! I just realized that I never posted about the day Josh went to college. I'm in training for a new job, and I had much to do that week.



The move-in went smoothly. Josh had half the stuff Rebekah did for her move-in 2 weeks before. But then, he doesn't own 65 pairs of shoes...

We got to try out the food in the cafeteria, and it was yummy. Sarah Jane told me later that was just because the college was putting on a show; it wasn't always so good. But Josh is a rather non-discriminate eater, so I don't see this as a problem. We teased him about gaining the freshmen 15. By contrast, Rebekah has not been able to do this, and is frustrated by that.

Josh is now successfully installed in a liberal arts college not too far away. He started out as a biology major, in a pre-med track. But as he thought about it, he decided to go back to his original plan: architecture. Let's see, how did he put it? "Mom, I just can't stand needles and blood, and I knew it [plastic surgery] was wrong for me." He's talked to a counselor there at the college about how to aim towards architecture, and for now, he's taking the Gen Ed courses that need to be accomplished before getting into the architectural nitty-gritty. Still not sure which architectural school he'll choose, as there are a couple good ones within a couple hours.

Here we are with Josh as he moved into his dorm last week. Note David wearing the beanie he wore at this some college 24 years ago. The freshmen had to wear them that first week or so. Sadly, the college did away with the tradition a few years later, so Josh has not gotten to share in it.

And last but not least, I must show a picture of Chunky, Josh's alternate personality. Josh has had him since he was about seven - Josh, that is, not Chunky. He has a voice similar to Cookie Monster's and has a bad habit of stealing grape jam. We had almost forgotten about him, but as we helped Josh unpack, David found the cheeky monkey smashed into Josh's dop kit. Chunky informed us that he has also enrolled full-time, majoring in primate studies with an emphasis on social justice.

Here Chunky is ready for higher learning.

Annual Sweet Autumn pic, Helping Daddy

For seven years now, starting when Noah was 6 months old, he and I have posed in front of this Sweet Autumn plant. It's not as high as usual, as last winter's ice-storm damaged it. But where there's life, there is hope, and it managed to "rise from the ashes." It always blooms in September, and because of this, my husband's great-grandmother called it a "Back-to-School Plant" And his grandmother taught that to her son, my father-in-law, and he still calles it that. But I found, in my plant name digging (pun intended!) that it was in fact a Clematis, called Sweet Autumn. Still I think the other name is charming. (Unless you're a wiggly, summer-lovin' kid!)








Here, Noah is fascinated by the workings of a door knob mechanism. It's an oldie, and needs repairing. Unfortunately, while David and I were out last night, Noah lost one of the screws. So the door is inoperable. David has to fix it today!

Dish Faerie

It always amazes me how our dog, Maisy, can clean a bowl, and leave the spoon in it. It's as if a faerie stole in and did it.

I heard Maisy at work, and stopped her before it was licked clean. But I've found them that way many times...

And here she is, our naughty faerie...

My Jane Austen personality type

I took a silly test and found out something that I already knew...

Take the Quiz here!

"You are Marianne Dashwood of Sense & Sensibility! You are impulsive, romantic, impatient, and perhaps a bit too brutally honest. You enjoy romantic poetry and novels, and play the pianoforte beautifully. To boot, your singing voice is captivating. You feel deeply, and love passionately."

Well, I would like it if I played the piano well. I might have had I had lessons, and grown up in a world where I wasn't allowed to climb trees and catch frogs. I used to play the piano by ear as a child. I would record a song off the TV, and play it over and over until I had it worked out, like the theme from The Increible Hulk.

My husband likes my singing voice, but I don't think it's "captivating."

Also, I am not brutallly honest. Rather, I'm very diplomatic.

They call me Mello Cello

Noah took his first Suzuki cello lesson today. He was rather bratty for his very patient teacher. I think it was because he was so excited. Still, I did have to talk with him about behaving better next time, or he'd be missing out on a lot of TV time...

The first step to learning the cello, Suzuki-style, at age six, is responsive singing about the parts of the cello. His teacher laid the cello down face up, and sang, "Where are the F holes?" and Noah was to sing back, "Here are the left holes!" as he pointed at one with his dimpled hand. And on to the other parts. It was just too cute. As I watched him (when he wasn't be bratty), he reminded me of Christopher Robin.

I will have to be Noah's teacher at home. There are many little exercises we'll go over together. Also, I'm to bring a posterboard in next time, so that his teacher can trace aroud his feet, so he'll know just where to place his feet in relation to his cello.

Noah plays a 1/4 size cello. It's just too cute! He can even carry it on his back in its back pack case. His teacher called the case its "jacket," and showed Noah how to take it off and put it back on.

Noah didn't get to play yet, for all the pre-playing exercises his teacher wanted to introduce us to. Nonetheless, he wanted a picture of himself with his cello, the day it arrived. He was so excited! I'm so glad. Enjoying a musical instrument is a life-long joy.