goddess mother

we had a blast with our friend (and tashi's goddess mother) mara! the days were packed. there were drives, walks, picnics, outdoor concerts, markets, a photography exhibit, a few films, some delicious meals and much conversation.








it was great fun sharing our world with a san francisco comrade!



mara also shared her world of raw and vegan eating, and i must say, sliced fresh vegetables with some avocado spread or zucchini hummus wrapped in a gluten free tortilla is a terrific way to start a day!



tashi and tristan had a lot of fun with our visiting poet.





the full on photo documentation of mara's visit is of course posted.

today is tristan's three month birthday. on monday i return to my part job, working from home and the office, tristan in tow all the while. tashi, who has been begging to babysit, is going to help out over the summer by coming with us to the office and entertaining tristan. he soooo loves his sister, especially when she sings to him her pretty songs. wish us luck!

days of summer

sorry for the long delay in blog updates. our days have been full. i should at least post a photo a day. . . a small poem. three lines. something.

below are some photos from last weekend. we went to fridays after five where we had a delicious picnic of vegetable biryani and samosas. we had to spread out our blanket on the concrete under the pavilion since the grassy hillside was saturated. i just can't believe how much rain we've been getting. the band was called forro in the dark and they were very, very fun. we're pretty sure tristan was digging it. our big girl tashi was in virginia beach at a friend's cottage.





and what is a weekend without the lovely farmer's market?







tonight mara is arriving! we have been anticipating her visit for some time now. we can't wait to show her what life in ol' virginie is like! hopefully there will be several drives, some picnics, and certainly some downtown jaunts.

happy solstice weekend to all!

rose petal jam, monsoon, and insomnia

i had every opportunity to be well rested today. but after waking at 4:30am to nurse the baby, i couldn't get back to sleep. what does a mom do? wash her hair of course! then tinker around the house a bit. try to go back to sleep. fail. waste time on facebook. eat some toast with delicious rose petal jam. drink chai. try to go back to sleep. fail. upload photos. make a blog entry.

well, hello.

it's been rather monsoon like around here lately: seriously humid with spells of torrential rain. i'm quite enjoying it, though it makes taking a walk outdoors very challenging. it's either oppressively hot or there is thunder rumbling down the road.





the big fun around here: tristan's smiles. it's hard to capture a photo that is not blurry, because he is always moving while he's smiling and i hate to zap him with the flash.





last weekend we visited humpback rocks for their sunday bluegrass series. humpback rocks is an old homestead in the blue ridge with a view of a granite outcropping in the mountain. it was good fun.









this weekend tashi gets to go to virginia beach with a friend (i already miss her), while the three of us remain landlocked at home. we will probably take advantage of some local weekend events: the festival of the photograph, fridays after five, the farmer's market and perhaps another drive in the blue ridge. along with all the little chores around the house, of course. if you have many chores to accomplish over the weekend, don't forget to take a breather and have some fun in between!

to be handed glam on a spoon

the very gifted tina witherspoon, creatress of the glam.spoon fashion line, had the mother of all giveaways recently and i was a runner up! as runner up, is still received a halter dress, and in a color that i adore. i feel very lucky indeed. please check out ms. witherspoon's etsy shop as well.

this morning my talented daughter put her eye to the camera for a fashion shoot.





i accessorized the dress with an amber necklace from dan, some amber drop earrings from my mother, and a bracelet from my godmother.



the shoes i've had for ages. i wore them to the barbecue the evening before our wedding, and maybe a half dozen times since.



i'm also sporting the lovely vietnamese hair stick my friend mara ann gifted me with.

pretty nice for a girl who lately has been walking around with leaky breasts and spit up stains! thanks for reminding me of what it's like to feel glamerous, tina!

hello june

witness some of tristan's first little smiles in the above video! he shares more of them with us each day. yesterday he was even smiling at some of the photographs we have hanging on the walls. he seems to have passed a threshold in cognition. now if only he would stop being so alert between 8pm and 1am (or 2am, as it was last night).

life is spinning into summer. tomorrow is tashi's last day of school. it's hard to believe our first baby is a rising sixth grader. here she is as the golden nymph in her class production of king midas and the golden touch.



nanna and grandpa haig came to visit recently and fun was had by all. they got to see tashi's class play and attend her little league picinic. we ate some great food at monsoon and beer run. they got to see surfzilla play an acoustic set at beer run. there were several games of parcheesi, the construction of a small teddy bear, and a viewing of hidalgo. and of course, they got to meet their ninth grandchild.



here are some shots from beer run:

family

pasta

surfzilla


thanks for all the nice comments on my whiny post about going back to work. i know that really i have the best of situations at hand, and part-time is a great way to go. there once was a time when, working full time, i dreamt of having a great part time job that wasn't in retail. and now i have it. so really i have a lot to celebrate. i just have to jump the first few hurdles and hopefully land on a smooth path, baby securely in my arms, daughter by my side and husband relieved of some pressure.

it will be an interesting summer for us all.


tashi's class made the origami cranes on the day of tristan's birth and then fashioned them into a mobile.

a good way to start a day

* * * bf * * *


* * * bb * * *

it's only 90 minutes

today is tristan's two month birthday. it's wild to think that if he'd waited until his due date, he'd be only three weeks old, but about the same size. last thursday he was 12lbs 7oz. he is thriving.

i'm a little shy writing about this, shy that i will be judged. shy about whining. shy that it's dull subject matter for most, and perhaps not blog appropriate. but it's been on my mind since the day tristan was born, and this morning, it is what i find falling from my fingertips at the keyboard--

--in a month i will return to work.

on the bright side: i work part time, my hours are extremely flexible, i can work some of my hours from home, i can bring the baby to my workplace and i work with a bunch of awesome people at a place with an awesome mission. on the dark side: is the feeling of dread. i am a barefoot earth mama at heart, and would be perfectly happy staying at home with my kids, squeezing in time to write and sew and collage and photograph and garden, while bringing in some money doing doula work. but in this economy, at the age of 41, with significant rent and a kid in private school, staying at home won't cut it. at least not in the immediate future.

i know we will adjust and it will simply become the new normal. dan's hours are flexible for when i'm finding it challenging having to drag a baby and a 'tween into my workplace. my mother has said that she would move to virginia should i need alternate child care. but i will first see how well i can juggle it on my own: the baby, the work, the wish to craft, the young daughter on the brink of adolescence.

i worry about how it will be when tristan is crawling and then walking. i worry about being preoccupied with work matters, when i'd rather that energy be spent mothering. i worry about being overwhelmed, about not having any time to pursue my creative interests, about the doula work possibly falling aside in favor of the guaranteed paycheck.

but i know that really, i am extremely fortunate.

i have already started clocking some hours working from home. and today i am attending a work related seminar. it's only 90 minutes. dan will take that time away from his work, meet me in the parking lot, take off in the car with the baby, pick up tashi from school, come back and meet me with the children when i'm done, and work a little later to make up for the time he was away. surely tristan will make it for 90 minutes without needing to nurse. he will probably be asleep in the car seat the whole time. but will i remain alert through the seminar? will i even manage to make it there on time, showered and well fed? will my mushy mommy brain be able to wrap itself around the subject matter while my breast milk lets down and the sound of tristan's sweet coo fills my ears? it's only 90 minutes.

these are the thoughts on my mind this steamy, rainy morning, as i sit next to my sweet little boy, who dreams under the ceiling fan, and with each new day, grows and changes.

official member of the fan club

five minute post

i say that because the baby has been waking up every five minutes today. more daytime wakefulness is probably a good thing, so that he doesn't continue to stay up until 1am every night. but it sure makes it hard to eat lunch, clean the spit up off the floor, do the necessary load of laundry so that there will be diaper wraps, brush my own teeth, etc!

yet i am going to sneak in a blog entry, because i need to. i just need to check in.

oh and, we've learned something very special. the baby will fall asleep by himself if placed on the bed directly under the ceiling fan. last night i placed him there because i had to go to the bathroom (even taking a pee involves strategy). who needs baby mobiles when you have ceiling fans. anyway, when i came back from the bathroom, he was asleep!!!! i didn't sing to him, rock him, walk him or nurse him. the ceiling fan did it all. today, with his lack of settling, i did the same thing, and he fell right asleep, under the comfort of the ceiling fan! crazy, i say.

the weather is lovely, though i feel the impending virginia humidity making it's way.



yesterday i visited the barn swallow. a lovely place that i worked at when i first moved to virginia.



a place of reflections, wood grain and the colors of earth & sea.



a place of fragile beauty, amazing light and pleasing juxtapositions.



i always feel very much at peace there. except for all the things i wish i could buy but can't afford. . .

tonight we are going to a birthday party for a very special one year old whose birth i witnessed. i offered to make guacamole. and since i've exceeded my five minutes already, i better get on with it! wishing you all a lovely holiday weekend full of the tastes of summer.