It's hard sometimes to get inside the mind of someone whom you respect but can't understand why they have a particular opinion, or why they do/fail to do something. Often this gets illustrated in those old male/female discussions, but these days it also comes up with Bush/Kerry voters--i.e., how can Person X be a Bush supporter when normally they are so sane? (For Bush supporters, just replace "Bush" with "Kerry" in that sentence
On the male/female side, I got to ask Dale a question last night. I've started putting the placemats on top of the water bottle when they're not in use; the table looks neater that way, and it's nice to see the pretty wood. When he sat down for dinner, he put his own placemat on the table--upside down. Now I have to admit that kind of thing bothers me and always has. I remember Paul, my college boyfriend, one time purposely turning around all the cans in the kitchen cabinets so they were upside down and not facing the front (I think Jennifer may have been there too?), because I was saying how I liked them all to be facing the right way. Anyway, I asked Dale if he didn't even notice that the placemat was upside down, or did he just not care. The answer was that he didn't notice, but even if he had he wouldn't have cared (although he probably would have made an effort if he was setting the table for a "nice" dinner).
Re the Bush/Kerry thing, there's a revealing article in the current issue of Texas Monthly--a back-and-forth exchange between William Broyles and Paul Burka, who taught one of my favorite Plan II classes and who was also the editor of my thesis. (If you log in and register with the site--you don't have to subscribe to the magazine--and use the access code "ENCHANTED", you can read the whole article.) Paul, who is one of the most rigorous thinkers I know and has made his career based on his ability to dissect a story and see past people's verbal artistry to their actions, is going to vote for Bush. !!! So I was fascinated to read the article and see why. Frankly, it was totally unconvincing and I was disappointed in his failure to make a good case for his stance. But I do understand a little better now what is going on in the heads of otherwise intelligent people who are going to vote for Bush.
On Sunday we had a family outing--Dale, Jonathan, Kayleigh, and I went to the Peter Pan mini-golf and then to Texpresso afterwards for a drink and a naughty treat of a chocolate muffin. I actually won the golf, but that was only because I had a handicap due to the fact that I played all 18 holes with a large baby hanging on me in her sling. It was lots of fun to play; the last time I'd seen Jonathan golf was when Daddy & I took him out the weekend before Kayleigh was born last May, and he has really gotten quite good since then. I bet within a year he'll be playing at the Butler Park course in town.
One thing that was funny about being at the golf course was seeing families with little girls there. I don't think it's really hit Dale or me yet that we have a daughter, because even just writing that, let alone saying it, sounds odd. Dale never expected to have a little girl given the prevalence of boys in the Churchett families, so he's been bowled over from the beginning. (He still slips every now and then and calls her "little fella", but he's getting better.) Anyway, there was a family playing behind us that had a girl about 6 and another about 3, as well as a boy about 1-1/2. I still just think of Kayleigh as a baby rather than a girl--funny to think that in a couple of years she'll be wearing a little skirt and looking girly on the golf course.
Oops--voting will have to wait--but I took care of it today--everyone vote!
Kayleigh is discovering the world more and more each day. She is reaching her hands out to our faces and spent quite a few minutes this evening caressing Dale's chin--and nearly falling asleep while doing so, staring in his eyes but blinking ever more slowly each time. She is giving us cuddles now--I'll look down at her in my arms only to find her looking straight in my eyes, and as soon as I look at her she grins hugely and then buries her face in my neck. It seems that any day she'll be crawling, although it could still be a few more weeks. She digs her toes into the ground to try to push herself forwards, and she's gets stronger each day; I put her down on her back, and she can flip herself onto her stomach immediately, and then she can turn herself around 360 degrees. I love just to sit and watch her move her body around. Her arms are getting so strong! It's so lovely to see her blossoming.
Jonathan's head is full of all the things he's learning at school--especially the no-nos. He comes home and practices his numbers and letters on a chalkboard that Tim & Felicia got him last year sometime, and I hear him saying--mimicking, really--what his teacher must say, "Now I don't to see any loopy-loopies", and other rhymes that help him remember how to write a letter or number. And he can get the best laughs out of Kayleigh, who smiles hugely but is hard to tip over the edge and get a laugh--unless you're Jonathan. I got some video of him actually getting her to giggle yesterday, and I'll send the link out to the movie once Dale gets a chance to make it and post it to the web. I have to say I love to watch the two of them together, and Dale and I have said to each other how we understand a little better now what his mum is feeling when she says how much she likes to see all her boys together in the same room. I'm very glad that we decided to have two children.
I am finding Meredith O'Reilly's blog very thought-provoking to read. When we started the karlhub.com site a couple of years ago and I agreed to start a blog, I fully expected to post entries that consisted of more than what I (or more often, my child/children) had done that day. Yet that is pretty much exactly what I have come to. So why is that? Am I more reserved than I thought I was? Do I wish to avoid confrontation with family members, since I have many years of experience in how that turns out (no one's mind ever changes)? Do I feel that what I'd write simply requires more editing, and I'm unwilling to show anything like that? Or am I just more boring than I think I am?
For the last couple of weeks, I've been helping the music teacher at the elementary school set up her parent volunteers. I had returned a sheet saying that I could do things at home (can't commit to classroom volunteering because of Kayleigh), and one day Jonathan came home with things to color for me. Not really my kind of thing, so I sent her an e-mail and said I was a little intimidated by the samples and wanted to make sure that using just one shade of green, for instance, would be okay. She responded by asking if I'd prefer to help her with organizing the volunteers (she'd asked the principal if she knew anyone, and for some reason Shelly suggested me--now how did she know I live for this stuff?). I have actually been having a good time figuring out how to approach it and set it up to run itself. It even made me long for my relational database designing days at Applied Materials.
Now that it's done, though, I can go back to my family history research. A friend of mine is allowing me to "practice" on her and see what I can find out for her about her own family; my long-term thought is that perhaps one day I'll be able to make some money out of this obsession. After all, frankly, most of it's all about organization! I've been finding that setting up her family information is helping me understand how I can better organize my own family data and be more efficient with my research, so I'm getting loads of benefits. And today I spoke to a lady (probably a relative of hers) who gave me my friend's great-grandfather's name! A nice result.
I miss Mom & Dad, who are off gallivanting around in the home country (Germany) right now. I get so used to picking up the phone to share the latest clever thing that one of their grandchildren has done, or just to have a chat, and I can't do that for a while. Boo! I'm looking forward to Mom's visit right before Thanksgiving; she's fitting in a weekend after visiting her Dallas site.
Since Kayleigh's been born I haven't been reading much, and I am starting to miss it. It's such a wonderful escape to another reality, which is nice when one is spending most of one's time on one's butt on the couch or in a chair. As mentioned on Meredith's blog, I have been watching a lot of television--reading and nursing a small child puts stress on both my neck and my wrist (holding the book). But she's not "in arms" nearly so much now, so hopefully I'll get back in the reading thing soon. I still don't have that much time available in big chunks, though--and what I do get I spend here at the computer. But I'll have to read over the weekend since bookgroup is next week; we're reading The Dogs of Babel.
Today Dale and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. I truly cannot believe we've been married that long! It seems like just last year that I was walking down the aisle, Meredith was singing, flowers were thrown, and then it was over. We had a lovely day today--Dale brought me breakfast in bed, along with a very sexy black velvet item . . . and also an elegant, beautiful three-stone diamond pendant that symbolizes our past, present, and future together. Later on in the day I received a dozen red roses, and we had a very special dinner together (along with Kayleigh, of course) at the Austin Land & Cattle Company, our favorite restaurant in town and where we go to celebrate just about anything. We received complementary champagne from the restaurant in honor of our anniversary, and lots of people around us said happy anniversary and also commented on what a beautiful little baby we had; twice women in the bathroom told me how nice I looked. Who could argue with that?
I presented Dale with a mandolin, which he was delighted with and immediately started playing and couldn't tear himself away. Much to my surprise, he said he's never laid hands on one before! I am pleased beyond words that I was able to make his eyes light up with my gift to him. These ten years have flown by and it has been wonderful to share them with him--I'm looking forward greatly to the next ten.
P.S. Thank you Auntie Rita and Grama Karl for looking after Jonathan so we could go out to dinner!
Just got to see the proud parents, Jennifer & Stepan, and their lovely baby daughter. They all look tired but beautiful. The baby seems so light next to Kayleigh--mine weighs about 15 pounds, and Baby Riha is only 6 lbs 12 oz--it felt like I was just picking up a blanket, not a baby in a blanket! We are so happy to finally meet the new family addition. Welcome, Baby Riha!