...mothering by trial and error

Consolation Prize?

2012-01-25T22:58:00.005-07:00

I can't be there for him in the same way I was there for her. I can't spend hours in bed counting his toes, memorizing his face, reading out loud, and listening and responding to each coo and smile. But for any attention he has lost from me, it has been made up 100 fold with the attention he gets from her. The adoration is completely mutual.

Barefeet....in January

2012-01-19T14:46:00.002-07:00

I don't think kids have the same physical experience of cold.

Rainy Day Fishing

2012-01-16T10:16:00.002-07:00

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

A Coffee Break

2012-01-12T23:15:00.002-07:00

"I don't know how people live without coffee, I really don't." - Martha Quinn

Portrait of a Camera

2012-01-11T21:35:00.000-07:00

Back in business. In fact, we are now in a much better business.

First Dance Class

2012-01-07T13:43:00.004-07:00

My camera broke. I am relying on a cell phone camera. Not even my own cell phone camera.

"There's just something about dance." - Patrick Swayze

The Barbaloot Suit

2012-01-05T13:50:00.003-07:00

"But I'm also in charge of the brown Barbaloots,

who played in the shade in their Barbaloot suits

and happily lived eating truffula fruits." - The Lorax, Dr. Suess

Self Portrait

2012-01-04T17:38:00.001-07:00

In comparison to something similair from a little over three years ago.

Small Worlds

2012-01-03T20:54:00.002-07:00

"You can't depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." - Mark Twain

Matching Eyes

2012-01-02T20:25:00.002-07:00

"Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?" - Henry David Thoreau

2012

2012-01-01T14:50:00.002-07:00

The slate is never clean. You can never start over.

The process is ongoing, cumulative.

I like where I am. I like where I'm going.

2011

2011-12-29T21:28:00.003-07:00

I am grateful for 2011. It was a busy, eventful year. Not much is as it was at this time last year. But I'll try to get you all up to date

(and I'll try to finish that damn quilt).

I'm going to try again to remind myself (via this blog) to be grateful each day, to be mindful of the moment, and to take pictures.

2011

2011-01-05T09:09:00.004-07:00

New year, clean slate: So they say.

The Christmas tree is down, and all the sweet little affects of the holiday are bubble wrapped away till next time. I plan to have all the pine needles vacuumed up before Thanksgiving.

Resolution? I will quilt together the quilt I pieced together in 2009. (Maybe it just takes writing it down, huh?)

Snow Days

2010-12-17T10:50:00.002-07:00

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Dear Blog,
Sorry I have been neglectful. I will work on that.
Sincerely, The MNGMT

The last of the fall color

2010-11-16T21:45:00.003-07:00

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"Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns." - George Eliot

A book for Amelie

2010-11-12T20:53:00.003-07:00

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Three Years

2010-11-02T21:43:00.001-06:00

I am grateful for every single moment of the last three years.

Happy Birthday, Bug.

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One Man's Masterpiece

2010-10-10T21:44:00.001-06:00

“Mestizaje" - Frederico Vigil

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Balloon Fiesta

2010-10-09T14:27:00.000-06:00

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"The best way of travel, however, if you aren't in any hurry at all, if you don't care where you are going, if you don't like to use your legs, if you don't want to be annoyed at all by any choice of directions, is in a balloon. In a balloon, you can decide only when to start, and usually when to stop. The rest is left entirely to nature." — William Pene du Bois

This Damn Stray

2010-10-08T20:25:00.001-06:00

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"The dog was created specially for children. He is the god of frolic." - Henry Ward Beecher

Autumn (Albuquerque Specific)

2010-10-04T20:18:00.000-06:00

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Autumn

2010-10-01T23:30:00.001-06:00

...well, September just got away from me. We've been busy. We've been grateful, and we're pointing home.

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"All things on earth point home in old October: sailors to sea, travellers to walls and fences, hunters to field and hollow and the long voice of the hounds, the lover to the love he has forsaken."
- Thomas Wolfe

Her Sense of Adventure

2010-08-29T20:54:00.002-06:00

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“The bold adventurer succeeds the best.” - Ovid

Cooler Mornings

2010-08-26T13:57:00.001-06:00

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I kept it together...

2010-08-23T13:24:00.002-06:00

...until I was alone in the car.

In her backpack, she packed: Three large buttons, two polished rocks, a photograph of her with her teachers, binoculars, and her lunch box.
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"Audaces fortuna iuvat." - Virgil

Tomatoes!

2010-08-19T10:49:00.003-06:00

Wait, have I already said that? Well, count me doubly grateful.

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Tomatoes!

2010-08-04T08:04:00.002-06:00

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"The greatest delight the fields and woods minister is the suggestion of an occult relation between man and the vegetable. I am not alone and unacknowledged. They nod to me and I to them." - Ralph Waldo

This Strange Umbrella

2010-07-28T21:31:00.000-06:00

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Rain

2010-07-25T23:30:00.000-06:00

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"Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet." - Roger Miller

A Bit of Respite from the Heat

2010-07-23T19:39:00.001-06:00

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Bell Peppers

2010-07-22T15:36:00.001-06:00

Here is our first bell pepper, eaten like an apple.

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Pollinators

2010-07-21T13:52:00.002-06:00

Camera's back.

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How doth the little busy bee
Improve each shining hour,
And gather honey all the day
From every opening flower.
- Isaac Watts (via Lewis Carroll)

Zucchini

2010-07-16T21:37:00.003-06:00

We are still without camera. Although it has been located, and now must be retrieved. But We have zucchini! And we still have a cellphone camera.

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"Shall I not have intelligence with the earth?
Am I not partly leaves and vegetable mould myself?"
- Henry David Thoreau

Our Life Aquatic

2010-07-06T21:01:00.002-06:00

Photo Credit: JPOGrady
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"If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water." - Loran Eisley

Personal Traditions

2010-07-04T23:30:00.001-06:00

Freedom Nectarine 2010

2009

2008

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"Freedom is nothing but a chance to be better." - Albert Camus

Happy 4th of July!

Consuming what we're growing

2010-06-30T14:15:00.003-06:00

The camera is lost - hopefully at a reasonably accessible residence in Santa Fe.

But we got greens (and a cellphone camera).

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"So he grows a little garden in the back yard by the fence
He's consuming what he's growing nowadays in self defense." - Bellamy Brothers

How it all just works

2010-06-23T18:27:00.002-06:00

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"Methinks my own soul must be a bright invisible green." - Henry David Thoreau

Summer

2010-06-21T20:55:00.001-06:00

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This Hair

2010-06-18T08:43:00.002-06:00

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These Freckles

2010-06-17T21:51:00.001-06:00

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"A girl without freckles is like a night without stars."

Dusk

2010-06-04T21:00:00.001-06:00

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“Home is the wallpaper above the bed, the family dinner table, the church bells in the morning, the bruised shins of the playground, the small fears that come with dusk, the streets and squares and monuments and shops that constitute one's first universe.” - Henry Anatole Grunwald

The Unofficial Return

2010-05-30T16:52:00.000-06:00

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Sprouts!

2010-05-29T20:25:00.002-06:00

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“For there is hope of a tree, if it be cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender branch thereof will not cease.” - Job 14:7

She can still be my baby...sometimes

2010-05-27T21:48:00.002-06:00

...and sometimes, she'll ask to ride in the sling; if only for a few minutes.

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Planting

2010-05-24T22:11:00.002-06:00

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"I was determined to know beans." - Henry David Thoreau

Olive-Capped Fingers

2010-05-21T20:38:00.001-06:00

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She calls her 'little sister'

2010-05-16T22:03:00.002-06:00

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Stumbling Upon Photo Booths

2010-05-14T16:42:00.001-06:00

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Being Mama

2010-05-09T19:14:00.002-06:00

Happy Mother's Day

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May Day

2010-05-01T15:19:00.000-06:00

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A Decent Sunhat

2010-04-30T15:09:00.002-06:00

You wouldn't think it would be so difficult to come by, but when in straits internet shop....

Photo Credit: JPOG
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Bamboo Seclusion

2010-04-19T11:40:00.000-06:00

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Wisteria

2010-04-18T21:30:00.000-06:00

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Roots

2010-04-17T20:56:00.001-06:00

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Spring Gardens

2010-04-10T22:17:00.002-06:00

This could also be labled "Other People's Hard Work."

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Poppies

2010-04-09T12:30:00.000-06:00

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A Nice Presentation

2010-04-05T16:37:00.001-06:00

The trade off I get for springtime allergies.

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Neighbors that Dye, Decorate, and Hide Eggs

2010-04-04T18:18:00.002-06:00

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My Super Hero

2010-04-03T12:00:00.000-06:00

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Running Barefoot

2010-04-01T12:00:00.000-06:00

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Gabby

2010-03-24T12:00:00.000-06:00

Happy 4th Birthday, Sweet Girl!

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Her Aesthetic

2010-03-22T16:00:00.000-06:00

Photographed by request of Amelie:

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Balance Beams

2010-03-21T14:30:00.000-06:00

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Spring

2010-03-20T12:00:00.000-06:00

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What seems to be a beautiful design flaw

2010-03-13T14:43:00.000-07:00

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Ladies Night

2010-03-12T21:06:00.000-07:00

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Wishes

2010-03-11T21:04:00.000-07:00

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Access to the Art Room

2010-03-10T21:03:00.000-07:00

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Our CSA

2010-03-09T21:00:00.000-07:00

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CSA you ask? Los Poblanos

Wings

2010-03-08T20:44:00.000-07:00

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Midnight Thunderstorms

2010-03-07T23:38:00.002-07:00

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The Promise of Impending Spring

2010-03-06T15:23:00.002-07:00

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Her Sacrifices for Style

2010-03-05T13:25:00.003-07:00

Springtime is edging nearer, but it is still in the 40's, and god forbid anything should cover up her ballet outfit.

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Baking Bread

2010-03-04T18:03:00.001-07:00

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My (uncharacteristic) Foresight

2010-03-03T11:56:00.000-07:00

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Indulgence

2010-03-02T20:55:00.000-07:00

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Ducks

2010-02-28T21:54:00.002-07:00

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Water Ripples

2010-02-27T22:05:00.002-07:00

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Sought Out Sunlight

2010-01-28T22:02:00.000-07:00

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Her (possibly misplaced) Trust

2010-01-27T18:06:00.000-07:00

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Kitchen Help

2010-01-26T18:04:00.000-07:00

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The Details

2010-01-25T17:57:00.000-07:00

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Snow on Our Boots

2010-01-24T17:23:00.000-07:00

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Lazy Mornings

2010-01-23T11:25:00.000-07:00

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Snow on the Mountain

2010-01-22T20:10:00.000-07:00

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"The snow doesn't give a soft white damn whom it touches." - e.e. cummings

Her Desire to Personalize

2010-01-21T13:46:00.002-07:00

What good is having your own stool if you couldn't pick out of a line-up?

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Marshmallows in Hot Chocolate

2010-01-20T22:33:00.001-07:00

In the matters of hot chocolate, Amelie would assuredly agree with Mr. Jefferson.

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“The superiority of chocolate (hot chocolate), both for health and nourishment, will soon give it the same preference over tea and coffee in America which it has in Spain..."
Thomas Jefferson (in a letter to John Adams)

Just a little more sunlight

2010-01-19T22:58:00.001-07:00

Just enough extra daylight for a little pre-dinner park time.

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The Dreamers

2010-01-18T12:17:00.002-07:00

Library Of Congress

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I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

Our Sleeping Arrangement

2010-01-17T22:28:00.003-07:00

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"It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men." - Frederick Douglass

Chicken Soup

2010-01-16T19:31:00.002-07:00

More specifically the vat of chicken soup that I prepared yesterday with some sort of blind psychic knowledge that I'd wake up today with an earache, sore throat, low-grade fever, and a need for chicken soup. And chamomile tea, with lots of honey.

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The River

2010-01-15T19:46:00.002-07:00

I am not desert people. I prefer lusher landscapes, wet concrete, to the barren vistas and the million shades of brown. I prefer Earth's contours hidden beneath a thick, spongy layer of moss; but the River cutting it's path through sunburned landscapes makes the desert a bit more vulnerable, a bit more tolerable.

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Winter Sunshine

2010-01-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

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“I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show.” - Andrew Wyeth

Skunk Girl, too

2010-01-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

The other toddler in our home received a look-alike doll for Christmas, and aptly christened her Skunk Girl. Amelie in turn name her doll Skunk Girl; a doll I asked a sweet friend of mine to make Amelie for her birthday. So now we have two Skunk Girls, and to my surprise found out yesterday was both of their birthdays. We made a pink & green cake, thus incorporating each of Skunk Girls' (real girls'?) favorite colors.

Happy Birthday Skunk Girls.

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A Healthy Smile

2010-01-12T09:43:00.001-07:00

A trip to the dentist confirmed that Amelie and I both have healthy smiles. She happily showed off her 16 teeth and was duly rewarded with bubbles (which I can only assume is what she was grateful for today) .

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Reinstated ability to check-out books under my own name

2010-01-11T17:19:00.002-07:00

After a 15 year standoff, I am victorious over the Bernalillo County Public Library System. My children, and my children's children, shall look back on this day with the awe and pride reserved for David's triumph over Goliath.

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Wintering Cranes

2010-01-10T20:27:00.002-07:00

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Weekend Reading

2010-01-09T09:05:00.000-07:00

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A daughter that requests sweet potatoes for breakfast

2010-01-08T10:24:00.002-07:00

I opted for the more traditional cold cereal and coffee, but I think I may just follow suit tomorrow.

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Our Matching Hoot Jams

2010-01-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

Make that our matching owl pajamas.

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