This just in. Finally, at two days short of 9 months old, Galen has sprouted one front, right tooth. The left is almost through, and the top two fronts look uncomfortably ready to burst. There is a lot of crying and fussing going on at all hours of the day and night. This too shall pass.

In and out of the hood

Yesterday we found a chalk board by the dumpster.  We took it home and washed it, and then Reya and I played while Galen slept.  So much fun! 

Today I walked North toward my favorite thrift store.

  My walk took me out of the more attractive surroundings of my immediate neighborhood, into the less beautiful W. 7'th and Garfield area.  The kids and I had a stroller full of thrifted goods. 

Here's what we saw.  This place is right next to the Salvation Army store. 

The sight of it made me hungry.  I'd like to try it sometime.  There's no money to eat out, but maybe someday.  Then, on the way home: 

Hmmm...That will probably bring a few shady folks nearby.  Then, a few blocks further. 

Yum.  I've always had a weakness for donuts.  In the same shopping center, I saw

Here is where I can take my sick sewing machine, if and when, again, I have any money to spare.  Another few blocks,

and this place is somewhere that Reya's grandparents would probably like to go, if they visit us, one day.  Soon we began to get into the neighborhood.  Someone down the block from me has some interesting bottle sculpture going on in their front yard- Eugene is so quirky.

Here is the creek, looking at it from the bridge. 

The places to the left are the condos I live in.  To the right is the path that people bike and walk on.
The leaves are BEAUTIOUS right now! 

Reya loves these-- what are they?  Rhododendrons, maybe?  And, this was the other day, actually, but I just have to show off the beautiful rain! Tonight I opened my window a few inches, while laying down with the kids, and the sounds are musical to my ears.  I have loved rain my entire life, probably because I grew up here.

When we returned from the walk, both children were miraculously asleep, so I got a tiny bit of unpacking done.  I got out a few nick-nacks and started my alter space on the top of a bookshelf in my bedroom.  It made such a difference for me.  This place is starting to feel like home!  The nap did wonders, and the children had a nice evening.  They are starting to play now, a little, since Galen is getting older.  He laughs, and thinks his sister is hilarious. She eats it up and gets sillier.  It is fun to watch!  The poor little guy is teething like crazy right now.  He has learned to grab things and get them into his mouth.  It is nice that he is starting to like toys.  Reya still has to get in the limelight.  She'll duck in front of him to get in the pictures I take.  He has revenge.  He knows how to pull hair!

Taking a LONG Break,, nuts, peppers, and... The better to bite you with my dear

What a relief. I have been able to speak to the folks that I emailed last week, and everyone has been understanding and supportive. I am so thankful that the parents of the children in my preschool have become friends and that we mutually care about each other. They say you shouldn't mix business with relationships, and yet, if I have my heart in my work, and I love what I do and do it in integrity, then of course I will form friendships out of it. That is just the nature of doing what one loves. It turns out that right now, what I love most is being a mother, and that calling is all consuming, leaving no room for other business. I think it is a beautiful thing, really. So here is the news- the letter of resignation that I was so nervous to send (with all names hidden for privacy of course):

It is hard for me to write this letter to you, because I feel such great responsibility toward your children and so honored to be able to care for them. It is my sincere desire for them to have a positive experience of consistent, relationship-based preschool. I am sad and sorry to tell you that I will be closing the Lilac Moon PreSchool at the end of April for a temporary, but unknown and extended period of time. I feel that this is necessary so that I may be completely dedicated to my baby daughter. I had high hopes when I began teaching again in December, that [baby] would grow accustomed to the routine of sharing her mother with older playmates a few times each week. While she cries less than she used to, it is still more than I like, and I feel a nagging sense that she needs for me to be more sensitive to her and available for her, with less divided attention. She is often very unhappy during preschool time, and her napping and feeding routines become very disturbed. In all of my effort to provide children with predictable, healthy and safe daily and weekly rhythms and rituals, I have not been respecting my own child's needs by allowing her to follow her natural rhythms. Being disconnected in this way from [baby] by my effort to be professional, make ends meet financially, and put my heart and soul into the quality of my student's care has caused me stress and motherly guilt. After much discussion with [Mystery Man], and weeks of mulling over how to balance my responsibilities to preschool families with my responsibilities to my own children, I have come to this decision. With some material sacrifices, we have calculated that we will be able to make do without my income for a while. I urge all of you to find other preschool programs that are more ready for your precious children at this time. Although I do not know when [baby] and I will be ready again, I suspect that it will be closer to her 2'nd birthday, when she will be more able to participate as a preschool student herself. She will then be able to interact with the other children as peers. Again, I am so sorry for all of the disruption that this may cause in you and your children's lives. I thank you deeply for your friendship and for trusting me and enrolling your children with me.

Sincerely,


me

And to completely change topics- I must introduce my favorite recently found domestic product.
The best laundry soap I have ever used. Really, I mean it! This stuff gets my clothes so clean and bright, and smelling fresh, and I never have to recycle an empty plastic bottle that was created using valuable resources and scarce petroleum when it's empty. Too bad I don't live in India where I can pick the soap nuts off of trees and use them for free without some trucker taking them across the world in a box for me. But, I love them and think it is fun to do laundry, now. They come with a little cloth bag to use over and over, and the nuts go inside and into the washing machine. Add water, agitate, and they get all sudsy. I use them for more than one load, and they are still soapy, so they last me a long time. Completely natural and unprocessed. Isn't Mama Gaia amazing? Who knew that soap comes pre-made without human invention?! Lucky me, that I live with someone who orders groceries at the local co-op, so he'll carry just about anything that I ask for on the shelf in his department. For those who do not find them at the store, they are available for direct order from the company on-line.
They come with a pair of soap nut earrings that I really like, too, as an added bonus.

As I have mentioned in a prior post, I think, my garden last year seemed to be slow to take off. Some starts took so long, that they were just getting to a transplantable size around the time that it was turning to Autumn. I brought the bell pepper starts indoors to my sunny, utility room window, and was thrilled that they lived all winter. They got infested with white fly, and I researched how to get rid of them. All Internet sources said it's impossible without chemicals, but I didn't believe them. I tried strong, natural detergent from a Fort Collins local company called Queen of the Meadow(I use it in a spray bottle for kitchen table and counter top cleaning), and they are vacating! I have to reapply it often, but it seems to be working. And now----Ta-Da!
---the plant is growing a little bell pepper! I can't wait to see if it will thrive inside until June, when I can harden it off to transplant it outside. Maybe early peppers this year :) .

Here is my final news and subject change.

Baby's got teeth!

Tooth #1 showed up during 6AM screaming while in Georgia about three weeks ago. After much discomfort, mournful crying and inability to nap worth a darn both yesterday and the day before, we have a second tooth.



I am not sure how well it can be seen in photos, since it is just barely out of the gums, but it is there.








The other day she took a bite out of a piece of plum, right through the skin and everything. Amazing.