Summer in New Mexico

When I think of summer I may look back in the future and think of this incredibly hot summer in Wyoming. For now though I still think of being a teenager in New Mexico.

My family moved from Montana to New Mexico right when I turned 14. I spent the last few weeks of my 8th grade year at school in Alamogordo. I met Eric then, more on that another day, but I made a few lady friends as well. My parent's plan had been for me to make a few friends so I could hang out with them over the summer.

So, that summer the hanging out began. That was the first year that I recall inviting friends over to "hang out" instead of to "play". My family lived a few blocks from the park where the cool kids would gather. Most days my friend Camille would come over and we'd hide out in my room until we thought others might be at the park.

We would venture out into the unholy heat, our hands on our hips to ensure that we didn't have sweaty underarms when we arrived, ahh the worries of a teenage girl. Usually we'd "hang out" at the park until we could stand the oppressive heat no longer. Retreating to the cool air conditioning of my house, we'd wait for the sun to set.

That is when summer in NM really becomes something to enjoy. The smell of mesquite would fill the air, the kids would all come out and play. It was as though the desert just came to life at night. Birds would sing, Latin music would play from passing car stereos, and you could just sense that everyone was climbing out of whatever hiding place they'd found for themselves.

The sunset was spectacular, all gold and pink and full of awe inspiring beauty. Different than the kind of beauty I'd known in Montana.

Then there were the stars. The sky at night in NM is phenomenal. The town I lived in had low lights because there was a nearby observatory. The result was less light pollution, so you could see the sky as it really was, spectacular.

So, that is what I think of when I think of summer--New Mexico and avoiding pit stains on my t-shirts.

What do you think of when you think of summer?

Whoa!

Today she is 9 months old...

A Few Things

Magpie in Bozeman

We returned from our trip to Montana to discover that Al Roker from the Today show was visiting Bozeman only a few days later. That would've been newscaster gold I tell you! In case you're just joining us I am obsessed with newscaster sightings (see here, here, and here for just a few examples). Instead we passed Al Roker like ships in the night. Eric was fortunate enough to spot four newscasters the other night when he was at a game with my dad and brother. Oh and I should mention that we had a newscaster sighting while we were in Missoula, we spotted their Queen Bee. Maybe we should start a newscaster scrapbook...OK I'm totally kidding, that would be creepy...or am I kidding?

It's been hot here, kind of like the surface of the sun if you are wanting a mental picture. In the evenings Eric, Cordelia and I sort of melt into little human puddles. Last night, in an effort to make sure the animals were cool enough (we don't have a/c) I dribbled water down onto them from a soaking wet washrag. Bumblebee was thrilled about it and began joyfully rubbing her face in the carpet with her rear in the air, that's just her way. The cats reacted in horror, how could I possibly do something so undignified. They ran from me and regrouped in a little cat conference, comforting each other.

The other day Eric was on a musical journey through youtube and he stumbled upon a video. Have you seen The Neverending Story? If you haven't then you might find this interesting, but if you have seen it then you MUST watch the video, it's HILARIOUS! I can't embed the video in my blog so click this link and you can see it. Did you know that the song was written by Limahl? Neither did I, because I didn't know Limahl existed until just now, but he is special I tell you. How could he not be special he goes by one name, like Oprah? I would love it if people who can go by one name had an annual conference, that would just be awesome. Imagine that conference, Sir Elton, Beyonce, Barack, Kylie, Rhianna, Tiger, Donovan, Madonna, Yoko, Princess Di, Basquiat. I wonder if there would be an opposite conference for people who can go only by their last names...just spit balling here.

Cordelia is so close to walking. We've both seen her take a tentative step or two, but nothing consistent. I mean thisclose. I am encouraging it, but kind of hoping that it stays away for a little bit longer, this crawling thing already is wearing me out and we know what comes after walking...running. The Cordelia stats are as follows: crawling in a crablike fashion, standing, creeping, some climbing, one actual word and several sounds with meaning that aren't actually words, no teeth, big cheeks, little hair, favorite toy is currently the dog leash.

What's going on with you?

Response to a Bad Joke

My family is pretty notorious for telling ridiculous jokes and puns, often the teller of the joke is the one most amused by his/her own ingenuity. Recently I had the good fortune to capture the delivery and reaction of a joke. The teller is my father and the unfortunate recipient of the dumb joke was my mother.

Step One: The dumb joke is told

Step Two: Dad is pleased with himself. My mother looks to Eric, just outside of the frame, for an answer. I think her question may have been, "Why did he tell such a dumb joke, WHY?"

Step Three: Dad looks to Eric (just out of the frame) for props. Mom may be trying to tear out her own hair...probably she was just really horrified that Eric and my dad were laughing at such a stupid joke. I may or may not have been laughing so hard that I was crying a little bit.

Step Four: My mother seems to painfully resign to the fact that she cannot un-hear that ridiculous joke. She is awash in emotion and what might be actual pain caused by the joke.

Art Festival

Last night we decided to brave the heat and go out in public. I am beginning to feel a bit like a yeti because I am unintentionally reclusive, the whole stay at home mom thing coupled with the avoidance of heat over 90 degrees (who are we kidding 80 degrees). Anyway, there is an art festival going on right now and we decided to go to the opening night party. There were booths and bands and lots of people.

We met up with our new friend Zhanna. She's Russian and it seems as though she manages to fit in a lot more z's and hard h's into conversation. Her eight year old son joined us as well, he has an American accent and I am told often corrects his mother's pronunciation.

We strolled around the art museum looking over the new exhibits and then we walked around outside. While we were wandering it hit me that we know a lot more people than we did a year ago. We could hardly walk two feet before running into friends or friendly faces.

Finally we settled in the grass and listened to some local music. I will say that the highlight was a young boy, maybe 7 years old, he had a buzz cut and was only wearing shorts. He got up right in front of the band and rocked out on air guitar and head banging. Then he ran over to his dad and gave him a high five.

It was a wonderful evening out, the kind of night that made us feel part of the community we are living in. What did you do last night?

One of Those Days...Or Was it?

The day started off normally enough. I usually have an inkling when it's going to be one of those kind of days. You know what I'm talking about.

Usually the first clue is when my clothes don't fit properly, just sets me off on the wrong foot. This has been a serious omen from childhood when I would obsess over the seams in my socks. In case you are wondering the seam had to go over the top of my toes, not under the toenail line (never there!) and the seam couldn't be too thick. I was very serious about this and there are several childhood meltdown stories centered around this. Anyway, yesterday my clothes fit just fine, cute even, so I couldn't have possibly seen it coming.

Then things started to go wrong...

First I forgot to put sunblock on my left arm and it was sunburned.

The day quickly became sticky hot.

Cordelia discovered the dog water bowl...I think you can guess where that ended (or continues).

Cordelia was pretty much on a mission to hurt herself and I was just pleased to avoid serious injury.

There was other stuff too.

Then Eric was side swiped in our car. He was just fine, but it doesn't look good for Empress Shasta, our car.

Now before you think I am complaining just hold yer horses (FYI: I live in Wyoming, I can say that).

You see it was one of those kind of days, but it just didn't really matter...at all. Maybe our car is totaled. Maybe I will get skin cancer from my sunburn (hopefully not), but there were so many good things about yesterday.

My right arm was not sunburned.

We have fans so the heat was easily controlled, plus it was just another excuse to have pink lemonade.

Cordelia was so happy to play in the pond of dog water on the floor. I was a little grossed out by the water to Bumblebee drool ratio, but she just loved it.

Cordelia wasn't hurt and I am quickly honing my protective mother skills.

The other stuff doesn't matter.

Eric was not hurt at all in the car accident and that is the most important part of all!

So you see it's all about perspective and it was a great day to have some perspective, thank goodness.

Day Trip

Yesterday morning I opened my eyes and saw the sun streaming in through the blinds and leaving a pattern of light and shadow waving on the wall. I lay there quietly recalling the strange dream I'd had. Soon the house was awake, baby sounds, dog whines, a sweet good morning from the love of my life, cats meowed. I am sometimes amazed at how much life we can pack into our little home. I made breakfast, had my morning juice...and a cookie for good measure (what?! I'm a grown up).

My mom soon texted me that she was on her way over. I hustled to finish getting Cordelia and I ready; we were headed for a day trip out of town. I am one of those people who gets ready in 15 minutes or less (25 when I factor in showering). So I was ready as my mother arrived. We loaded our car with food for a picnic in north-eastern Wyoming. Eric had to work and couldn't join us, so it was a ladies only type of day.

We left town a little after 9am and headed into the rolling green hills of Wyoming. We had only a couple of hours to drive until we arrived at our destination. My mother told me stories about her youth and I listened. I chatted about whatever nonsense was on my mind and she listened. Cordelia slept and then happily played by herself in the car seat. Thank goodness she is a good traveler.

We arrived around lunch time. My grandmother Grace, aunt Tina, cousin Stephen, and uncle Mike all met us for sandwiches in the park. Incidentally the park was flooded...second picnic in a flooded park within one week. We take picnicking to the extreme in my family. I mean, what's a picnic without an element of danger (OK not really danger)? I am sorry not to show any real photos of my extended family, but I forgot to ask their permission...

Meeting her great uncle for the 1st time

After lunch we went to visit my great grandmother Rose for a while. Cordelia put on the cute show, going through her skill set (So Big, clapping, crawling, giggling, etc). Finally we headed for one more stop at my grandmother's house. Cordelia was hysterically tired, but instead of crying she laughed and laughed at my grandmother's Pomeranian Sophie.

At my grandma Grace's home


Grandma Grace's newest in progress paintings

We headed back home and there was more talking with my mother as sweet Cordelia slept quietly the entire way home.

When we got back to the house there again was all of the life. Cordelia was wide awake, Bumblebee was wild with joy and there was that guy that I love. Another day to be thankful for.

On Traditions

Tradition has been a big part of my life. I feel as though, in many ways, tradition is where my family home is. We moved a lot growing up and there was never a specific place that felt like it was home, no real permanent location. Tradition was really the glue that strung everything-- locations, times, family, etc.---all together. We have the tradition of opening one gift on Christmas Eve, going out for Chinese before Christmas service...not really sure why that one began. On birthdays we would all gather on my parent's bed first thing in the morning and open gifts, artfully wrapped in plastic bags.

All of these types of things have little details, tiny "rules" that become almost sacred. For instance I always hang this red finger weaving at Christmas, wrapping something as though it were a candy cane.

Anyway, Eric and I were recently talking about different traditions. We are a family now and it's our time to start our own little history as a family unit, things that we do which will always be sacred to Cordelia, that she will carry on into her adulthood. Of course we will continue many family traditions, but we also want to start a few newbies.

I am tempted to have 4am flapjacks on the third Tuesday in March as a tradition. I would really love to come up with some more ummm meaningful traditions, centered around holidays or birthdays.

Do you have traditions for your family? Any that are particularly wonderful? Maybe we could share?

Pun Masters and Ben

We have a loose tradition of going over to my parent's house on Sunday evenings. I say loose because sometimes we don't do it if someone has something else planned. We hang out for a few hours. Mostly we just spend the time watching Cordelia as my dad and Eric make bad jokes and puns, laughing at themselves like they are hilarious (please pronounce that in your mind as hee-lair-eee-us). Usually they try and drag me into it because I laugh at really stupid things and it makes them feel good about their bad jokes. After we've all been through the new parade of puns and jokes, often building on puns of the past, when my mother, brother Sam and I are all exhausted from the eye rolling and knee slapping (Eric likes to slap his own knee for emphasis) we sit down for dinner.

Growing up we never had family dinner on Sunday night. My mom would throw in the towel one meal a week and we were forced to fend for ourselves. Weird things happened (the maple syrup and peanut butter in a cup kind of weird) and that was how it went for many years. Now, it's all different. We cook food, we eat it, the puns continue.

For father's day we decided to take the pun show on the road. We went out for a picnic in the park. However, this is Wyoming and nothing is ever simple, that's part of the fun. The park was flooded. The wind was blowing. We all weighted down our plates and napkins and ate our meal. The jokes and puns continued as anticipated, possibly with greater force, a force that I think I will blame on father's day.

Bench in the flooded park


The pun masters?


Feeding time


Checking out the flooded river


My mom and daughter

Finally it is my brother Ben's birthday!

Ben in his younger days
A brother is a friend given by Nature. ~Jean Baptiste Legouve

Happy birthday Ben! Why don't you come up here and let us celebrate your birth. I love you!
Love,Maria

Pickle Vampire

I have posted on more than one occasion about my love/love relationship with pickles (read here). I always have a jar of baby kosher dills on hand. When we go out to restaurants I often will just order a plate of pickles, because they are crazy delicious.

I never really gave much thought to the pickle phenomenon and whether or not it was hereditary, but it is. Cordelia is crazy about them, but she has taken her own creative twist to the pickle process. She is a pickle vampire.

Pickle in process

Celebrating her own technique

You see I cut the ends off of the pickle because they are disgusting and I would never let them touch her innocent lips. She takes this as an opportunity to drain the pickles of their juices without ever taking a bite.

The victim

She can take a robust pickle and defeat it, leaving it a hollow shell of its former self. That's my girl!

Happy Father's Day

I have always known that I had a really great father. Since my memory begins I can recall my dad playing with me (Barbies even). He knows how to make a kid feel special and important. He never skimped on the love and encouragement. I have seen him be a father to my brothers and a father-in-law to my husband. I can't really express how truly amazing he is. He has been there to talk with me as I find my way as an adult. He encourages and gently guides, helping us to reach our potential. We always know that right behind us he is there to support and love.

Now I get to watch him be an amazing grandfather to Cordelia. She knows that Grandpa means fun! They already have little rituals and routines and I can see such a special relationship developing. Since I didn't get to have my own grandfathers around it is an extra special treat to see these two together!

Then there is the father of my daughter. I have always known he would be a good father, but to see it in action is such a gift.

Cordelia and her dad have such a sweet relationship. She loves to give him hugs, to play, and he always makes her scream with laughter.

It's still been less than a year, but seeing Eric transform into a full fledged father has been a special gift to us all. He is tender, funny, loving and playful. I watch as the two of them play and develop their own unique way of relating to each other and I am so excited to see their love grow over a lifetime, just as my relationship has grown with my own father.

Happy Father's Day!

Back Home Again

Yesterday was the last leg of our first family vacation. We laughed, we cried (or at least one of us did), we had a great time.

On the road somewhere in Montana

We left Billings mid-morning. Cordelia was asleep within minutes. We planned much of our travel around nap times. The result was that we only had one crying outburst of less than 15 minutes for the entire trip! She as a little whiney a few times, but overall we really can't complain with how well she has done with travel-- thank goodness. Bumblebee was a real trooper too. She only whined as we pulled into cities because she knew that it meant she'd get a play break.

I got the car crazies

Eric and I chatted for the drive, which was probably the best thing about the entire trip, lots of time to talk. We had uninterrupted conversation, which is something we truly cherish.

About to return to Wyoming


Picnic


Lunch from The Good Food Store


My crew

We stopped at a rest stop in Sheridan and had some lunch. We had baked tofu wraps with spicy edamame sauce and a salad from The Good Food Store in Missoula. YUMMMMM. Also in the cooler we packed several vegan essentials, but most importantly the baked tofu from The Good Food Store.

Just outside of Sheridan, WY

We walked into our house sometime yesterday afternoon. The house smelled stuffy and there were a few chunks of cat hair laying around, but all was in good order (thanks mom!). Eric and I got things put away pretty quickly. Bumblebee wandered around whining and investigating all of the cat business that must have gone on. She then passed out completely, enough that I checked her breathing several times. Apparently she was exhausted. Cordelia took a nap, we had some food and fell right back into life in Wyoming. Happy to be home and bursting with new ideas and motivations!

This Side of the Divide

Well, we are just about to head home. Yesterday we crossed back over the Continental Divide.

Mountains in Montana

Bracelet made by my friend Robin

My dear friend Robin lives here in Billings. I have known Robin since I was 8 years old, a rare thing for someone like me who has moved so many times. She has a blog and an esty shop. Robin wouldn't let me take a photo of her (boo), but I can show you her beautiful jewelry. Anyway, we had dinner at her beautiful home and got to meet her sweet little son. She made a yummy meal of pasta, perfect for road weary (ok we aren't really weary) travelers. More on Robin soon...

Passed out

After dinner we retired to our hotel and went to sleep.

Today we are back on the road. Home in a short while.

A Day in Missoula

We spent a wonderful (and rainy) day in Missoula. We met up with friends, revisited some old haunts and filled our hearts with Montana love. We also bought an I Love Missoula t-shirt, my all time favorite tea Evening in Missoula (click here), and a sticker that reads I love Montana (because we do). The time has passed all too quickly. We'll be back and maybe next time it will be forever.

We drove on what we call the Blue Mountain Drive. When Eric and I were having a day where we just needed a little taste of beauty, nature, escape we could take this drive and feel like we'd left civilization, even though it's only a few minutes from the city. It felt like home as we re-took the drive.

Next we went to Finnegan's, the restaurant sits OVER a river. We used to go there every single day. We got to know the staff, they often gifted us with free coffees, meals and once even gave us (poor college students at the time) unsolicited money to visit our family on a trip out of town. When we stopped in we only half expected to see anyone we knew, it has been 5 years, but there were many familiar faces. It was great to see our friends again.

After Finnegan's we visited Jacob's Island, an off leash dog park. Before we adopted Bumblebee I was weirdly obsessed with dogs and I would visit this park and just watch dogs being dogs (creepy I know). This trip I triumphantly went with my own dog and Bumblebee enjoyed herself thoroughly.

He's so dreamy.


Cordelia and I enjoyed our time in the park as well.


The M on the mountain is probably for Maria right?

Missoula has this great summer program called Out to Lunch. Every Wednesday in the summer there is a band and tons of local restaurants that have a little party of sorts. Kids, adults, hippies, transients, business men, and dogs all let their freak flags fly.

My hubby and my lady

We went to a few of the must visit places and of course had to tour our old campus. We spent the first half of our 20s there.

We will Miss(oula) this beautiful city. Ahhh, my heart is full. I love my home state. Today we are starting the return trip home. First another stop at the Good Food Store (we brought a cooler), maybe a look at Rockin Rudy's and one more tour of the town. Of course we will take our sweet time, visit a few more friends and soak up every last morsel of Montana that we can. I hope you, my dear reader, are enjoying a trip to my Montana.