random things

Just a few random things . . .

First, my good friend Abbie, otherwise known as the Farmer’s Daughter, just welcomed her baby boy Joshua Daniel!  Both baby and mama look beautiful and healthy.  I am so happy for their whole family, including Grandma Ruth, over at Musings of an Everyday Woman.   I am so looking forward to all the cuteness and stories that baby Joshua will bring.  I can’t wait!

Second, it’s been a rainy few days here outside of D.C.  Yesterday we headed into the city to visit one of my favorite museums, the National Gallery of Art to see this photography exhibit and the Chester Dale Collection, which includes this painting, a print of which is now hanging inside my house and which I know little about; anyone else know anything about La Coiffure (1901)?   The whole family ducked inside the museum from the pouring rain and we all stayed, together, for about 20 minutes or so.  Then my hubby, ever so politely, asked to duck back out with Annabelle and go see the trains and dinosaurs over at the Natural History museum.   Maybe there’s hope for Levi, I thought?  Maybe I can encourage an art lover in my little guy?  We pushed onward.  I stopped at painting after painting, pointing out the colors and style of art, noticing that others in the gallery would smile at me and at Levi.  I continued talking, checking now and again to make sure my little art lover was listening.  A man who passed me stopped, smiled and said, “Now that’s a true art lover.”  I laughed.  I walked a few steps and then leaned over to peak at my little guy.  He was in a deep sleep, :-)  Oh well, I guess I’ll have to be a solo lover of the arts.

Next, I’ve been reading and reading ever since you all made book suggestions so I could expand my horizons.  I just finished Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv, which opened my eyes to just how disconnected my generation and my daughter’s generation are from mother nature.  Growing up in an old manufacturing town in Connecticut, alongside a lake and surrounded by woods, farmland, and home to a state park and nature center, I thought that my childhood had been one that any Huck Finn could appreciate; Louv points out though, just how little yesterday and today’s children understand, play, and love nature (and thus the environment too).  What I found most helpful was a long and thorough appendix entitled “Field Notes.”  There, I read with excitement the simple and endless ways that I and my children can reconnect with nature.   I’ll be sure to make more of an effort to allow time for unstructured outdoor play and exploration of the woods behind our house.  And I can’t wait to read these articles, by Louv, too.

I also just wrapped up Growing Up Green by Deirdre Imus, one that I remember having read before but definitely learned a few new things the second time around.  Imus wrote this book as  part of her efforts to nurture a healthier environment for her family and for children with cancer; in her book she talks about her work as the founder and president of the Deirdre Imus Environmental Center for Pediatric Oncology(R), part of Hackensack University Medical Center (HUMC).  When I read about Imus’ dedication to helping children fight cancer and to helping families prevent against disease, I have to say I was in awe; I remember almost 3 years ago when I started blogging, I thought to myself, “This will be a great way to do something for the environment and for my new baby.”  Becoming a mother ignited my passion for the environment.  For Imus though, and this I think is admirable and outstanding, she not only decided to make a difference for her immediate family but cast her net wider by setting up a foundation.  Growing Up Green, is an awesome read too.  My favorite parts were those on baby nutrition, especially because this time around I am bottle feeding and because Levi is just getting started with solid foods.  I can’t wait to try a few of her recipes.

Which leads me to my last random note: I’m cooking!  Can you believe it?  After all these years of proclaiming myself the anti-chef, I am finding that I actually enjoy chopping up vegetables, tossing food into a skillet and putting together a healthy, yummy meal for my family.  Oh, yeah, and even more shocking . . . it has occurred to me that I no longer enjoy cleaning.  There is more to this story than I’ll share here, but what I will say is, thank you oh wonderful universe for giving me postpartum depression and helping me realize that I don’t have to have a spotless house.  No one is going to get me.  I joke, but seriously, I think there is something deeper to my wanting my house to look like a “showcase” as my girlfriend puts it.  What I like, what I really like about a clean house is a clean house . . . I just don’t like the cleaning part.

So, that’s it . . . hopefully I’ll get to do some photo work sometime soon.  Lots of reading, lots of playing, lots of being productive and learning about budgeting.  All good stuff but not photo stuff.  May the next time I post be photo stuff.

How was your week?