Baltimore marathon - done!

Whew, after months of getting up at 6am to run, Jimmy finished a quarter of a marathon (as part of 4-man relay) this past weekend in Baltimore to benefit the lukemia and lymphoma society!! K could not have been happier - she thinks she's at disneyworld with all the mouse ears floating around.

Ack, what happened to summer 2008?

Ever since I got pregnant with #2, my desire to blog or do anything remotely productive instantly evaporated. But 6 months without having made a single entry - I'm mortified by how lazy I've been...

...And how lazy I'm going to be by just posting pictures to sum up these past 6 months. Though I think these pictures do incomparably more than words to show how much K has grown over this summer.

The ultimate thing that inspires

The last post was an expression of just one tiny moment I experience during any given day. A more accurate picture of what lies within my universe of inspirations must, by definition, include my daughter, K. All that she says and creates, a flash of a genuine smile and the grip of her hand around my finger, it is the kind of inspiration that drives one to reach beyond one's grasp - to be a kinder, more hopeful, more patient...are we not all inspired to be better people as a result of our children? And what better reason to be inspired?

The things that inspire

Inspiration is one of those things that, unless it pertains to your craft (as an artist), you are not actively seeking. It is also one of those things that when I entered full-time motherhood, I desperately craved in my everyday life, most of the time unwittingly. It is wildly different for everyone, I am sure, but the daily routines of being a stay-at-home mom has the potential to numb your senses and your spirit. Breakfast, clean-up, play-time, clean-up, reading-time, snack, lunch, outdoor activity, fighting naps, a brief interlude of peace where i debate housework vs. sitting down in front of the computer, wake-up, entertain, perpare dinner, more clean-up, etc. How does one counteract the effects of predictable, daily routine? Of course there is sheer joy and awe in just being in the presence of your growing child. But when you are making the second breakast of the day because she refuses to eat anything that hints of nutritional value that morning, it is a muted joy indeed.

So imagine how great was my glee when I stumbled upon Maira Kalman last night. Never heard of Maira Kalman? Same here. But how happy to have discovered her late, than never. Words fail and can only get in the way of describing this lady. You will have to read her for yourself:

http://kalman.blogs.nytimes.com/index.php

Now I cannot get enough of her and am trying to dig up all her writings, interviews, etc. She not only inspires me, but those that inspire her inspire me! As her sources of inspiration, she lists J. Austen, Nabakov, and Sebald. Austen is my supreme source of inspiration for all things witty and strong + feminine. Nabakov - such poetry, such humor, always appropriate with a cup of tea! Sebald I have yet to discover but one of his books is now in my amazon cart.

I know there are entire blogs dedicated to those things that inspire and understandably so. What is our daily existence if it is not filled with a certain amount of whimsy, otherworldniess, sense of awe, impulsiveness driven by intuition, hungry learning, and lots and lots of wild uncontainable laughter?

One more link - her interview:
http://inspirationboards.blogspot.com/2008/03/maira-kalman.html

Daddy and daughter time

What do fathers do with their daughter when the mother takes the entire day to plan/attend a baby shower? It's terrifying to contemplate but I imagine it normally involves consecutive hours of Nick Jr. (if the kid is lucky and the dad actually locates a child-related network), round the clock snacking on whatever is sitting in the pantry closet, too much juice, juice-stained clothes and of course, no nap.

I'm not sure what really happened when I had to leave to prepare for my friend's baby shower a couple weekends ago, but J provided evidence that it was not all chips and TV for the day...

Home-made sailboats! Wow, if I can't reach the heights of martha, at least J's got a shot.

How to raise the perfect child: move to the city

Pastor T. Keller of Redeemer church (oh how I miss his weekly shards of brilliance on how to live the Christian life) gives his thoughts on why raising a child in the city has greater advantages than raising a child in the burbs. I nearly started packing my bags. You can find the free sermon here:
http://sermons.redeemer.com/store/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_id=26
Click on "it takes a city to raise a child".

His opinion on the matter holds a great deal of weight for me since he uprooted his children from the burbs to NYC and has witnessed what difference this has made in the quality of life for his children. Keller sketches the profile of the type of adult your child would likely become (all thing being equal) and honestly, that's the kind of person I myself would want to be, or befriend, or just admire from afar. Anyway, I really enjoyed listening to the city vs. burbs argument via Keller because he emphasized how living in the city can actually aid in the child's respecting a parent's Christian beliefs and adopting it themselves. Now if he could give explicit instructions on how to juggle a 20 lb. stroller and fidgety toddler down a subway stairwell and how to manage more than 1 child in a 600 sq. feet of living space, we'd be all set.

Why I never bothered to paint my walls

This is Blik's new addition to their wee gallary collection. Look at those colors! And dragonflys - how can you go wrong with those happy critters on your child's walls.

I have the "sea creatures" in K's bathroom and the "sheep" in the bedroom, next to the bed. K and I both equally adore them and luckily, she hasn't shown any desire to tear them off and reposition them every day (although since they are a party of Blik's re-stick collection, no tears will be shed by me if she does).

The quality of decals really do vary. I recently bought decals from Ikea and they refused to stay on the walls, even after repeated applications of double-sided tape!! One of the happiest design developments of late is the tremendous explosion in the variety of decals out there and the widespread use of them. I would love to work with wall paper, but decals are offering me instant gratification without the commitment issues.