adventures in home-making

Halloween pumpkin carving.

Max drew and cut the shapes he chose for our pumpkin's face, while Micah enjoyed scooping out the seeds and getting her hands all sticky. Grand Bunicu, of course, watched and provided tips on everything. Milla also watched, and we couldn't tell if she was providing tips or appreciation.

Max falls asleep while writing to the tooth fairy.

Tougher than the rest.

I found this old post from last weekend and chose to post rather than purge.

This was always one of my favorite Bruce Springsteen songs. Committed love is "tougher than the rest" because it engages and requires more of you, and my commitments to love are slightly overwhelming this weekend. Patrick and Max have gone on a two-night Tiger Cub camping trip, and I am so happy for them but also longing to be sleeping outside under the beautiful moon with the scent of fall filling my nostrils. 

Instead, I am home with two sick, sniffly little ones and a grandfather who cannot walk. Of course, I could "find some way" to go outside and enjoy the weather by forcing my grandfather, who twisted his tendon and has to wear a boot, to stay outside. And I could take my sick little ones outside with all sorts of rationalizations that "they will be fine" and "it's not big deal", which would be easier if Micah hadn't been coughing for almost 3 weeks. The truth is that I only have one set of arms and that ties me to the house. Sometimes that is so hard for me; nothing is harder. Patrick and I used to joke, when we were dating, that we tended to get restless with relationships and wondered who would get restless first.....

Well, I am restless. Restless. Without rest, literally, but without peace actually. I want just one night with my husband that isn't cut into little pieces by Micah's night terrors or sleepwalking. I want to sleep under the moon. I want to feel the fall, to let it seep through my bones, in a way I never got to feel the summer. I am paralyzed by longing.... and still strangely enamored with this cage of my own making. 

The glitter and grime of tiny fingerprints on this heart.

Car keys in hand, put Milla in her car seat. Max piles in next to her; then Micah gets strapped in along with her baby doll, bottle, the book of the day, and whatever other object she has chosen to need madly. Next comes my grandfather, or Grand Bunicu, whose ambles up with his walker and boot. Then I hop in the little Honda Fit with is full past its stated capacity. Because sometimes the overflow, though daunting, is beautiful and I thank God for the moments when I cherish more than I complain.

In Romanian, a nap is referred to as "un puiu de somn", which is literally translated as "a baby chick of sleep". 

The past few days, we have been taking drives to put Micah to sleep at nap-time. She still fights the nap while needing the sleep-- her night terrors wake us up about twice a night and I feel like more sleep means fewer tantrums. This desperate search for sleep has led us down many small roads into unspoken parts of Alabama, where the autumn trees speak only florescent and the leaves beckon us to dance behind them in their demure, golden skirts. Grand Bunicu, who cannot walk everywhere he wishes anymore, provides a running commentary on the elegance of pine trees as the little ones tumble into sleepscapes. I am of love, soothed by the beauty of yet another season which I can enjoy with my children and my aging grandfather. Nothing precious is ever easy.

This Thursday, meet those who stood against segregation.

The University of Alabama will pay tribute to Autherine Lucy Foster, James Hood and the late Vivian Malone Jones, the three African-American students whose enrollment represented the University's first steps toward desegregation, at the dedication of the Autherine Lucy Clock Tower and the Malone-Hood Plaza at Foster Auditorium on Wednesday, Nov. 3. The formal dedication will be held at 1 p.m. and will be carried live via webcast here.  

A 2 p.m. community celebration at the Plaza, hosted by the University's Black Faculty and Staff Association, will feature music by the Alabama Brass Quintet and the Afro-American Gospel Choir.

The day also includes a 9 a.m. panel discussion with Foster, Hood and relatives of Jones for students, faculty and staff in Ferguson Center ballroom. The discussion about the events leading to desegregation of UA, will be moderated by Dr. E. Culpepper Clark, former dean of UA's College of Communication and Information Sciences and author of the book "The Schoolhouse Door: Segregation's Last Stand at the University of Alabama." A ticket is required for admission to the discussion. Free tickets are available online at crimsonartstickets.com.

For more information, please visit the Malone Hood Plaza webpage.