Hark Was that an Idea for Art I Heard?

Today, I was driving home from school with Jacob in the car. We have our first heat wave (argh!) already and it was 33 degrees + 1000 degrees humidity, and Jacob was tired and sick. He didn't have a drink so the was cranky, hot and thirsty in the heat. It's about a 10 minute drive home, and he was very sad. In desparation I gave him his father's stereo cords to chew and investigate because he'd already thrown the water bottle and cellphone (even that!) away, and started singing him his current favourite song (from me) "I've Been Workin' on the Railroad", while rubbing my end of the cords on the back of the front seat to make an entertaining noise.

I sang it about 30 times, with this funny percussion from the cords and I thought "I should record this - it's the true sound of parenting. Ridiculous things you never thought you'd do, say, rattle, rub - all to keep your child happy. I remember when Jacob was first born I was too shy to sing to him, I felt so silly. I think it's because I had no idea what it was really like.

So I thought I could collect sounds from parents of their lives and create a soundscape installation and install it in a big, dark, cool room, so that people could walk through the room and explore the inside of parenting in a way that I think is very novel. Like the real parenting.

What'dya think? I'm looking for volunteers to send me off-key singing, rattling of keys, banging on pots, anything. Who knows if I'll do anything, but atleast I have an idea. Yeah!

Where's the Art?

Ok, some of you may be reading my headline-y thingy at the top and thinking "What about the art school?". Indeed. What about the art school. When I decided to quit my career in insurance adjusting and go to art school, it was hard to do. But, I hoped to have a family soon and starting a job just to go off on maternity leave seemed like no fun. And after all the deaths we'd recently experienced, doing something fun seemed imperative. So, I took a great big leap of faith in the world, and decided to go see if I could transfer my ancient credits from McGill and go to art school at Western. I was overjoyed, and shocked, when all my credits were accepted, and off I went to sign up for classes.

Then I realized that the school also has a linguistics program, which I love, so I decided to do a double major and took courses in both areas. Now this year I could only take one course, and no art courses fit, so it was more linguistics. And I'm taking a spring course now, also linguistics. And I find myself thinking - what about art?

The thing is I love art, I love making it, I loved making it last year. In fact, it was probably the biggest thing that allowed me to cope with losing my first baby in an early miscarriage, and then having an unstable pregnancy with the second one. I made art about it, and about my life. But I'm loving the linguistics too. I used to miss my job for its intellectual challenges. Now I could care less, because I'm much more interested in linguistic theory than insurance case law and I get the same mental stimulation from it.

So, I am anxiously awaiting my course calender for September, and hoping I can manage to squeeze at least one art course, and a linguistics course and who knows what else into next year. I want to keep with the art - it's the main thing that I want to be doing. But the linguistics keeps sucking me in, like a cheap novel or a good dessert.

So there. That's where the art is. In my head I guess. I had some huge art ideas just after Jacob was born (like making human prints with Gentian Violet), but they seem to be fading away now. Perhaps while I'm waiting for September, this blog will jog them in my memory.

For Grandma

Ok, still no full-on vacation pics, but here's a picture for my mom. Jacob first started giving her this look, which she calls his 'fluttery eyes' look before he did it to me or anyone else. It seems to be a blissful, loving look, and we've never been able to capture it on 'film' or pixels in this case. So here it is, post sand-eating, for Grandma.

Birthday!

Well, ok, still no pictures of South Carolina, but here are two fuzzy pics from today's birthday party that we had for Bubba. I will add more when Dana so kindly gives me the pictures she took with a digital camera that actually works.

The cake, well, let's say the cake is architectural, as in the Leaning Tower of Pisa! Anyways I like the cake, but it's not perfect. It was so fun to make my son his birthday cake! I feel like a real mom! We had a good time today - I was thrilled to see my kitchen full of people. As I said I'm just glad that we know enough people in London to fill our kitchen.

So that's it for now - enjoy the pictures!

Question: camp or sing?

Hello blogosphere, we're back, back from Charles-towne and the beach nearby, back to real life, and for me, back to school. I'm taking a course on the History of the English Language, which, really, sounds like it should be booorrrrinngg, but in fact, I love it. It's intense, because it's a full year course packed into 6 weeks, I go 2 1/2 hours a day, everyday, and Bubba (as we affectionately call Jacob these days) is in daycare 4 days a week just for these 6 weeks, hopefully only 1/2 days a lot of that time. It's great for me, and I hope he keeps enjoying daycare and stays well, or it will all fall apart (our plan).

But this is not the subject of my post. While we were driving home we came up through West Virginia and I was reflecting on how I LOVE it there. For no particular reason, I just do. I've not spent much time there, but I always feel good when I'm there. And I was remembering how 3 years ago (how fast life goes by!) I had a set-in-stone plan to fly out to West Virginia and attend vocal week at the Augusta Heritage Centre (seen here www.augustaheritage.com), and spend what was likely to be the best week of my life, singing. Somehow with a dying mother-in-law, a dying grandmother-in-law and a shaken newlywed marriage because of all the death, I decided that was not the year to go. I honestly cannot remember now why I thought that, because anything I could have done to make me happy I really, really needed to be doing in those dark days. Anyways, I didn't go. Then the year after I had just miscarried and that was very much not a time when I could do anything other than be totally, totally crushed. Then last year, **joy** **joy** I had a new baby to care for, and **shock** **shock** I was totally exhausted and blown over by the experience. And somehow I've been thinking since then that since I have a baby I can't go to the workshop. Which is dumb. I can. I have a fabulous, helpful, handsome husband, who loves to take care of our baby, and who is pretty free in summers.

In fact, as we drove through the West Virginia hills and I lamented silently that I couldn't take the vocal workshop it hit me I can take it. And I'm telling you, I breathed in as if I was a new person. I really, really want to go. And I asked Martin if he'd be willing to come down with Bubba and take on the role of primary caregiver for a week, and just jam if there was a good chance and let me run around and sing all night. And you know what? HE said YES. He's amazing, I know. So I'm pretty sure they still have room. But.... (isn't there always a but if you look hard enough?)we happen to have been very lucky to book a campsite, at the BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD to canoe, Killarney Provincial Park http://friendsofkillarneypark.ca/photogallery, for the week before the workshop.

Now, there are two things I love in the world, other than my family, my friends and food: Singing, and Canoing. The question is how to pick between them? I shouldn't have to pick, but given that Augusta (the singing) and Killarney (the canoing) are each 8 hours in the opposite direction, I think I can't dislocate our family for so much time, in so many directions. Killarney has many draws for me, including that it's so difficult to get a campsite (in fact I'm tempted to tell you that Killarney is a big dump in the middle of nowhere, full of blackflies and swamps, just to keep you all away, because it is so overbooked - as some residents of Seattle did years ago in a book). Also, it's where I was when I miscarried 2 years ago, and I haven't been back since. It's a bitter pill to swallow, to have been in the most beautiful place in the world, and experience the worst pain in the world at the same time. I could have seen it like a gift from God, as a kind of solace, or I could have seen it as an insult and further devastation that such loss could happen there. As it happens, I haven't decided how I see it. But I felt like I was 'getting back on the horse' by going back there. So canceling the trip is not so simple either.

Well, if there is actually anyone reading this blog, let me know what you think. I'd appreciate your advice. And soon, I'll post pictures from the beach.

Greetings from Charles Town

Hello! We've made it - believe it or not we took an almost one year old on a 1800+ km road trip over 2 days! We're crazy and he's an angel. He cried a bit yesterday, mostly because he was overtired by the time we left because we were trying to put off his nap until we left. We had shitty luck at the boarder and got selected for a 'random secondary assessment'. Luckily it was only that we had to go in and sign a card. But still we had to wake Jacob up from his nap and then he couldn't sleep forever, and we were in rush hour traffic in Detroit so we couldn't stop. In the end it was ok. We drove until 3am, and considered driving straight here (in Charleston), but realized we were nuts and pulled in in Virginia instead, near the famous Galax actually.

We booked in for one night in Charleston itself, at a cute 'Inn' called the Anchorage Inn (weird name in the south). It's a bit of a pain, as it's set up for adults not kids, so all the charming things like the 4 poster bed are actually really inconvenient. And, it's grossly unclean. I had a bath just now and thought I can't tell my mom about this place or she'd flip. The things we think! And we're letting Jacob crawl around on the floor in there - I had to get them to vacuum under the fancy bed, because the frilly dust thing on the edge of the bed doesn't get lifted up and I found a PILL under there. So the vacuumed, and when I checked again THE PILL WAS STILL THERE! Anyways we're supervising Jacob closely but geesh!

Well tomorrow it's off to Edisto, which is awesome because all I want to do is lay around and get a bit of a tan and swim. It's hot here, like 29 degrees C with 100% humidity. I kind of hate it, but it'll be nice on the beach.

Ok, now I'm really gone swimmun' because I'm sure I'll have no internet access.

Goodbye.

Gone Swimmun'

Well I just typed and then lost a charming post all about how we're leaving tomorrow for Charleston, South Carolina. This will be the short version. We're going to Edisto Island, south of Charleston, because we had the best vacation of our lives there a few years ago, in spite of the fact we had just learned Martin's mom was dying of cancer. We're hoping that we can have an equally lovely time there, under much better circumstances. I'll tell all when we come back.
We're staying at the bizarrely named rental house 'Matthew 14:31', which you can see here http://www.edistorealty.com/rental/detail.asp?recno=471&Search=Search

Bye!

ps. We are reeling with the tragic news that my cousin Julie's husband Russ has a brain tumour which was the cause of a seizure a few days ago. I am praying really hard for them both, if you have the inclination good thoughts and prayers are appreciated.

The Sod Has Landed

On the right side is OUR NEW LAWN! Very exciting. Unfortunately we didn't clue in until last night that although we garden 'organically', since we've laid sod, it will be full of whatever the grower used on it. So, we'll be giving it a few weeks atleast, until Jacob can crawl around on it.

On the left top are a couple of English Daisies, which came from my grandmother's house way back when, via my mom. Very hardy - they're from the BC coast originally but they were the first thing to flower in our garden! Below front is our front yard. Yeah! I love tulips! in the foreground is our **redbud** tree, which I love.

Happy Spring!

Garden pictures

Ok, so I'll put some before pictures of our garden - it was overgrown and a nightmare before we moved in. And I'll attach some after pictures now, and add more once I get the most up-to-date ones.

Before: This is where Martin & my dad put in a patio last year 5 weeks after Jacob was born.

After: Isn't it gorgeous? We're having sod laid tomorrow to make it complete!

Above both: at the side of our house - this is after we started putting in a flower bed there - the old gnarly shrub is a trumpet vine, and in the foreground is the first of 6 tree stumps that were along there, which we dug and cut out. It's now a fabulous flower bed and I'll post a picture of it once I take a good one.

I LOVE to Garden

Yesterday I spent a whole day (or most of it) in the garden!!! It's the first time since I had Jacob. And it's very restorative for me. Last year Jacob was due to be born on 12 June, and on 5 May I went to a big plant sale and bought some lovely perennials to finish our garden. Our plan was that I would slowly plant them over the next month as a way to prepare for childbirth (all the bending, squatting etc). Then we realized we better get off our butts and buy a carseat so I spent a day buying the stroller, carseat, changetable/bassinet etc that we had picked out. Then we had Martin's boss over for dessert one day, and the next day I went shopping for comfy underwear and a few cloths to wear in the last month of pregnancy (read: BIG clothes). That night Martin's colleague and his wife and daughter came over for dinner. I was a hostess, running around doing things (we barbecued!). We had a lovely night and I think I might even have had a 1/2 glass of wine. We went to bed and I woke up at midnight and my water had broken!!! There went the gardening plans.

In the end, Martin & my mom planted the plants. They did a perfectly good job. But somehow I haven't gotten over the heartbreak of my spring plans. Taking care of a baby was more totally consuming than I had thought. I think I did plant a few plants quickly at one point but it wasn't exactly comfortable. So anyways, this year gardening has taken on NEW IMPORTANCE for me. We've brought out our playpen and Jacob actually quite happy in there for about an hour, practicing standing and cruising around the edges. He hung out in there and I got a flower bed ready in the back, and planted a few perennials in there, then Martin brought Jacob in and I spent another 3 hours!!! It was so awesome. I've planted sweet peas for the 3rd year in a row - hoping that this year's a charm as the last 2 years they did really poorly (I think they didn't have enough sun). The first time I can make a little posy of sweet pea flowers, I might cry!

Sleep

So do you know what night terrors are? Apparently Jacob has them - he's been screaming out at night, literally screaming, flailing about in bed. Last night he did it about 50 times! We're sleeping with him right now, as it seems to help him. We've tried sleeping with him before, but it was impossible as he didn't sleep well, but now it seems to help him. I love it too (although I WISH we had a king sized bed), and I'm usually getting more sleep for it. But, last night not so much.

Presumably this is all related to his recent pneumonia (aka leumonia), and he's working out his bad feelings about being in the hospital and being sick, having a hard time breathing and all the horror of more than 25 IV attempts. Anyways, I'm really hoping he'll go back to his 'normal' 2-3 times a night, and even more, I'm praying that he'll start to only wake up 1 time per night.