South Meets East

Some Winter Wonder

2012-01-12T23:30:00.005-05:00

While I have mush less time to blog than I used to, the Minute Man still gets cuter and cuter every day. And yes, I should post more photos, but a) I take precious few these days, and b) I am so busy at my new job (yes, another one. I took this one in October) I do not know if I am coming or going!!)

As for news, other than my new job - which is FANTASTIC - I sign the Dude up for kindergarten (gasp!) next week. Is anyone else absolutely blown away by this??????? We have to choose from 5 local schools, and will not find out what school we are assigned to for another 6 weeks. It is as bad as when I was doing college applications - although since I am sending him to public school we do not have to take out a second mortgage to send him to school.

Anyway, here are a few photos of MISTER WONDERFUL himself. Enjoy!

(I call this photo the "Birthday Hug Monkey". Do not fear the birthday hug monkey!)

Hand-sanitizer addicted? Read this article!

2011-11-01T10:04:00.003-04:00

Many of you may be THIS PERSON : read this article from Scientific American to find out more.

Scientists-discover-that-antimicrobial-wipes-and-soaps-may-be-making-you-and-society-sick

And now for you rmoment of Zen...

2011-09-07T11:49:00.001-04:00

The Little guy started pre-school yesterday. Next time he heads to school in the Fall, it will be for Kindergarten!! Holy cats!

Birthday Pics (about a 2 months late, of course)

2011-08-25T23:15:00.002-04:00

My son is SUCH A BOY. I have to say that I am really very liberal minded and the Minute Man could have been anything he wanted; he could have worn pink tu-tu's with purple crocks and a green bandanna (and in fact, he probably would do so if he had that tu-tu), and I would be totally fine with it. What I did not bargain for was a little boy that was, well, SUCH A BOY! If it is a truck, tractor, makes horrible loud noises, shoots something, or blows something up, my son LOVES it. He's REALLY into the Civil War books. Why? Well, the rifles and canons of course! For his birthday he got TWO plastic "star wars" guns that shoot little foam projectiles. He loves them. I think that is obvious in the photos below - the only way he'd let me take his picture is if he could pose with them.... Oh well. Better the cute face with toys than without.

ice cream and cake face!

Running Errands with a Kiddo who is NOT afraid to BE HIMSELF

2011-07-25T15:53:00.006-04:00

I read this wonderful magazine article while traveling recently. It was a one page "tips for parents" on raising "great kids". One of the tips or pieces of advice was this:

"Never be embarrassed by your children. Let them express themselves as they feel they need to, and try to encourage them to be individuals and comfortable with who they are. "

This was in the context of how they dress, or what color they color their hair, etc. It was advice that I have tried to live by, even before I saw it on paper. Case and point below: (Minute Man chose this whole outfit himself so that we could go grocery shopping. I actually go off light this day. Usually he wears one blue croc and one black croc too!)

Can you tell I'm working 4 jobs? Sub-titled: -MM is STILL WONDERFUL

2011-07-25T15:48:00.004-04:00

Sorry, I thought I had posted new photos more recently. I'm doing WAY too much these days, but then, what's new??

Here are some new ones of my MISTER WONDERFUL!!! Here he is "hunting with his bow and arrow". (He's hunting bad Monster Trucks, just in case you were wondering. and yes, hunting in ones underpants IS THE BEST way to hunt bad monster trucks!!

Raleigh has got bugs - BED BUGS !

2011-05-27T16:36:00.003-04:00

Bed bugs are all the rage now. For anyone who travels a lot it is good to be in tune to what is becoming an epidemic of itchy proportions. For anyone interested Orkin did a "Top 50 Bed Bug Cities" recently and Raleigh just about made the top 25 (fortunately I do not care about Raleigh, since, well, I do not sleep in hotels in Raleigh!). However, I do visit Washington, D.C. quite a bit and it made it on the list at #6 in the country.

Here is the list: Orkin's Top 50 Bed Bug Cities

There is a lot of information (and mis-information) out there on bed bugs. If you are interested in a good website with some practical information (recommended by a really smart pest management specialist!!) check this one out: NCSU Entomology Urban Pests = bed bugs.

Mr. Wonderful

2011-05-24T11:29:00.001-04:00

Yes, I have more photos. No, I have not uploaded them yet.

But I will soon!

When did it become okay to not simply say "I was wrong"?** updared

2011-05-24T11:28:00.002-04:00

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/05/24/harold-camping-judgment-day-did-actually-happen-saturday/

Do I need to say more?

(ok,ok. I have to at least say THIS GUY IS A FREAKING IDIOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

For another look, an article from Slate. This one is actually pretty well written.

Better late than never. Right?

2011-05-16T22:35:00.004-04:00

Ok, I am not good about updates, so you will have to enjoy the old photos here. But I bet, even though these are 4 weeks old, you will still LOVE 'em!!

Hugs for EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!

2011-04-13T12:49:00.001-04:00

The Dude is wonderful. 'Nough said!

I will take some pictures this weekend and post them soon!!

We are still here... We are busy busy busy

2011-04-13T12:46:00.000-04:00

Bio-terroism and Potential Agricultural threats to Food Crops Meeting

2011-03-07T18:18:00.005-05:00

I know, I know. Y'all come to see photos of The Dude, but I am at a meeting in Texas on potential bio-terrorism threats to agriculture (specifically Plant Diseases and Insect-vectors) - although we are also discussing inadvertent introductions as well, but that's FAR less interesting - and as a result of one of the MANY discussions here I had a reason to check this website out:

Foreign Agricultural Trade of the United States

I find this type of information really fascinating. The US grows TONS of cotton, corn, soybeans, wheat... you name it, but then we turn around and import tons of it as well. Long story short, the more we import, the more likely we are to introduce a nasty pest. (Plus, we should buy local anyway!!).

Oh, and because this is why you come, here's a photo of my VERY FAVORITE LITTLE FELLOW:

I took MM to a toddler birthday party... and I survived

2011-03-01T11:35:00.003-05:00

MM attended a birthday party at the local Child's Museum this past weekend. He had a BLAST (me, not so much, but hey, it's all about the kiddos!)

Here are a few (not so good) pictures of The Dude from Saturday.....

It is now officially official

2011-02-25T14:38:00.005-05:00

To Whom It May Concern:

We are DW Parent # 1 and DH Parent # 2. Our Log in Date was June 15, 2006. At this time we wish to close our file because when we originally chose to adopt our child from China the wait time was around 1 year. All the reports about the process were that it was straight forward and there was a need for adoptive parents and welcoming homes for orphaned girls from this country. Now, almost 5 years later we have decided to close our file. We have been disappointed with the process, the lack of information, and the incredibly painful lengthening wait times. As a family, we have moved on. We adopted a little boy three years ago and we are more than thrilled with our son, and are not willing to continue the painful process of a China adoption. Thank you for your cooperation in terms of this matter.

Sincerely,

Lucky parents to a WONDERFUL little fellow from Vietnam and not-realized parents to what I am sure is a beautiful baby girl whom we have always called Baby Magic, where ever you are.

========================================================

I got ANOTHER call from our (former) China agency today. We are LITERALLY the next match group for LID June 2006 for China. It is a day that so many years ago I dreamed of, hoped for, and wished on. Now all it does is remind me of all the things wrong with the whole damned adoption system. I am not interested in going into it here, and I don't care if you are reading this and you do not agree or understand (it's my blog, either enjoy it or go away). A process that should have brought joy and happiness has only brought pain and a HUGE debt. Although, to be perfectly fair, without the painful and VERY LONG wait for the China adoption, there would have been no Vietnam adoption. Without the Vietnam adoption there would be no "Mr. Wonderful". And he really really really really is WONDERFUL.

Reading to the Cat

2011-02-25T10:45:00.002-05:00

My little Dude LOVES to read. (Remember the pictures of the MM on the can?) Well, so no one gets the wrong impression; the Dude likes to read EVERYWHERE. Here he's sharing his new book with our cat (who is actually blind, so, you know, she can't read at all...).

Safety FIRST!

2011-02-13T21:46:00.004-05:00

Anyone who knows the Minute Man will believe this story, and those of you who don't know him, well, this is just how he is!

So, we were having movie night (again) and as per the routine, we get our 'jammies on and then we make popcorn. MM is sensitive to loud noises (leaf blowers, my sewing machine, the juicer... you get it) and I guess he felt that the popcorn maker was also too loud. Without warning, as soon as we plugged the popcorn popper in, he darted off to his toy room. THIS is how he came back:

My child is SERIOUSLY safety conscience. (And Big Mama, aren't you PROUD?!)

and now, for your moment of Zen...

2011-01-27T18:50:00.003-05:00

CHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESE.

Do not drink and dress

2011-01-27T18:38:00.007-05:00

You know, when you have kids you want them to be their own little people. You want to encourage them to make their own choices (what to eat, what book to read, what to play, what to wear...). However, sometimes there are days you want your kid to choose NOT to go out of the house...

Quilting with my Dude

2011-01-27T18:14:00.004-05:00

So, over the Holiday break, I worked and worked and worked to get this (kind of ugly) quilt done. I used to be an avid quilter (and sew-er), but anyone who has had kids understnads how difficult it is to do anything other than simply survive... BUT, now that the Minute Man is 3.5 (can you believe it??!!), I have found that it is easier to get back to doing things I used to love doing. One of those things is reading, and of course, another is sewing/quilting.

Naturally, anything I'm doing, the Dude wants to do, so here he is quilting! He actually helped me make the entire quilt: he helped pick out the material, he ran the presser-foot when I sewed, and he cut much of the threads at the end. Now, he is helping me finish the quilt by actually quilting! (The other jobs he did a really good job. However, he is not as good at the quilting part, but hey, he's happy, so I'm happy!)

Ok, OK! I know it's been FOREVER....

2011-01-27T13:51:00.002-05:00

Ok, so, for those of you following the blog, first off, many 1,000s of apologies for the time lag. First off, this was a difficult decision, and until we told the people in our lives closest to this decision (my parents, close friends and family), I did not want to blog about it.

Then, I didn't want to blog about it because it was such a difficult thing to talk about. So, I'm not going to. I'm just going to tell you.

No. We are not completing the China adoption.

And yes, MM is WONDERFUL, and I will post pictures SOON!!!

Making Popcorn - Movie Night!

2010-12-14T11:16:00.002-05:00

MM and I do movie nights on some special nights or on a weekend night sometimes. We get out the air mattress, get in our PJs,move all the pillows and blankets we can find to the "nest", make popcorn and just hang out watching movies, eating popcorn, and having a great time. HEre's a recent pop-corn making photo series:

Just trying to...

2010-12-10T11:49:00.000-05:00

Information Gathering

2010-12-09T11:59:00.011-05:00

Well, I hope my boss isn't reading my blog today; I have not done a LICK of work. yup. I've been gathering information. ON CHINA.

Check this out: I have been lurking on my own Blog. Going back through the "China adoption" posts. And while it does make me sad (I spend SO MUCH TIME thinking about Baby M, Dreaming about Baby M.... WANTING Baby M....), it has allowed me to get back in touch with the ol' China adoption world. (See, information!!)

I remember posting EONS ago about what our predicted MATCH DATE was: 2010-06-26.

Well, that clearly didn't happen. Here's our new prediction:

Our prediction for LID 2006-06-01

China has 9 days of dossiers to be processed before they get to your dossier. China currently processes about 5.1 days of dossiers each month.

Our best guess: 2011-01-11

Since China generally sends out referrals in a batch about once per month, your referral date could easily vary +/- one month depending on whether you just get included or just get missed in a particular batch.

Obviously - it would be more like 2012.

Now, that makes it REAL.

Or, REAL-ER, anyway.

Actual NEWS = OMG, WE GOT the CALL....well, the call BEFORE the call *updated.

2010-12-09T09:48:00.010-05:00

I am preparing to blog on something I have not blogged on for many many months; maybe years. Baby Magic and the China Adoption.

And I labeled/titled this post something that ALL adoptive parents want to say "We got the call". And before anyone gets too excited, we didn't get THAT call, but the one that comes BEFORE THAT call.

Last night our China Agency called us to tell us our LID batch was next up for referrals.

Knock me the F-over!

I DREAMED of this day for YEARS. Anyone adopting does. You hope, you pray, you cry, you beg... you cry some more. You CAN.NOT.WAIT.TO.GET.THE.CALL.

And when I got it last night I was so damn angry over the whole process, and I wasn't particularly nice to our "contact" at our agency. (She had an attitude too, however, and I might add that I have been logged in longer than she has even WORKED there...she should cut us parents some slack!) I could barely understand what she was telling me.

Her (very perky): Hello! I am calling to tell you that your Log-In-Date batch is next up for referral! We need you to file (a thousand more pieces of paper and pay a zillion more dollars) so that you are ready on Match Day!!!

Me: Um. Wow. Didn't you call me a year ago and tell me the same thing? If we had done the paper work then we'd have paid (a ZILLION and 3 more dollars) and still had to have to do our paperwork all over again this year. Is it for real this time?

Her (much LESS perky): Well, my records indicate I spoke to you in March of '09, and you indicated you were unsure of your status.

Me: No kidding.

Her (with no perky to speak of): Well, the most recent batch of dossiers with LIDs through May 23rd 2006 was just referred to families. Your LID is expected to be next. Now is the time to get all your paperwork up to date.

Me: And when do you expect our referral to go through?

Her (testy now): well. In the next 9-12 months.

Me: And if we re-do our Home Study and our ICE paperwork, will that last through the next year, or will we have to re-do it AGAIN?

Her (obviously annoyed with me for some reason): Probably not. Shall I send you the paperwork or do you want to get back to me on this?

Me: Send me the paperwork. It's electronic, right? It can't hurt to send it. Then I have it and I can look at it and DH and I can make the decision. But obviously we have some time, right?

Her: I guess you do.

Me: Thanks and I have your number.

Ok, well, that's about how it went. Maybe I wasn't terribly pleasant, but for those of you not familiar with our story, or China adoption, we have been waiting for FIVE YEARS. FIVE LONG YEARS. When we started, referrals were taking about 9 months from Log In to Match, and you traveled a few months later... for a total wait time of about 14 months. Then immediately after we got ready, the whole machine ground to a screeching halt.

Now, after 5 years, and another whole (completed) adoption later, we are NEXT UP FOR REFERRAL. Only about 2 years ago I decided I don't have any interest in another kid. (My first one is perfect, how can another one be better??) DH pretty much agreed; until yesterday.
"Maybe we should do it." he says. And of course, MM thinks it would be WONDERFUL to be a big brother (although he is lobbying for a litter sister who is a boy...).

The issue now is that it is no longer a random issue; we actually have to make the decision. Do we go through with it or not?

*As an quick update: I started trying to find some of the old China sites I used to spend HOURS reading - you know the sites: the China blogs, the chat groups, the "what to expect" groups, the LID groups...

I SPENT HOURS on those sites back when we were paper-chasing, and after we were LID. They were a life-saver to help keep me sane. Now, I can't find a single one! I am SOOOO far out of the loop! I do not know a THING about China adoptions anymore.

(Those of you who know me are laughing. Yes, I am a type-A person; information is like GOLD! The more information I can gather, the calmer I become....

Now, I need INFO!

oh, and coffee......

Working with Uncle Jude

2010-12-07T14:42:00.001-05:00

Just a few shots to keep you happy. No, they aren't great. But they are cute!

More "oldies"

2010-11-29T15:26:00.007-05:00

Some gems from the old days...

I was procrastinating at work today (which admittedly happens a lot, but I almost always do MORE work when I am procrastinating, rather than spending time on other ways like Fbook or whatever, but alas, I digress...) and ran across some very old photos of The Dude. All the way back to the days when we fist picked up our Minute Man. These are some of my FAVS. Enjoy:

If you don't feed me I will eat this onesie... then what? Huh?!

Do not even THINK of removing this from my hand. I do not yet know what it is for, but I assume it holds power.... and now I HAVE IT!

Ok, these are old but hey, they are new (to you!)

2010-11-29T15:16:00.001-05:00

These are from May a year and some months ago, but hey, they are new to you!!

Our Minh Man!!

2010-10-27T12:30:00.005-04:00

The Dude spent time at the Farm last week. He had a BLAST as usual. Here are a few quick pix that I was able to grab last weekend.

And no. I know. They are not very good.

The little minor celebrity has taken a sincere dislike to the paparazzi (read: Mom and her camera) these days. He goes as far as to put the rake up in front of his face WHILE RAKING!!! so that I can't snap a photo. These are a few of the ones that you can at least TELL what a beautiful face he has... or that he even HAS a face!! I especially enjoyed when he attempted to hide behind the fox-tail grass. At least THAT was easy to see around.

Leaf jumping, a requirement in the Fall.

Let's do that AGAIN!

MMMMMwwwwaaahhhh-hhhaaa-hhhaaa...

What's this fuzzy grass, Mommy?

Hi, Mom. Yes, I'm CUTE!

These never get old

2010-10-11T09:56:00.001-04:00

This post could also be called: Reading is FUN (or maybe Reading is RELAXING)...

ah-HA, MORE NEW PHOTOS!

2010-10-04T23:33:00.005-04:00

Can you STAND it?! More MM wonderful-ness. And this little dude truly is wonderful. I had a killer day the other day; no lunch-break, interview from hell (I'm hiring a post-doc, so I was doing the interviewing at least! But both candidates I interviewed were nearly 10 years my senior. I'll be their "boss"...WEIRD), spilled my coffee on my new pants, and had to drag some dead weight around to get a MAJOR report done... and that was just my morning! Anyway, I finally get home that evening, and I'm so tired and grumpy I can barely stand up, and the Dude runs into the bedroom, grabs his "B" (his quilt), and walks me by the hand into the TV room, sat me in his favorite chair, and then covered me in his "B".

"Here, Mommy. this will make you feel better.".

Then, just for good measure, he gave me a BIIIGGGGGGGGG hug.

And you know what? I felt better immediately. What a great guy!

Finally feels like Fall

2010-10-03T19:15:00.003-04:00

Well, I have been working tons (duh!), but this weekend we spent a lot of time doing those "around the house" things that you have to do a few times a year (or, realistically, once every few years) - Clean out the attic, get rid of old - "fat" - clothes, Clean the windows, and cabinets... that sort of thing.

The Dude is a great help with these things; he LOVES to put things away, and in their rightful place (if only I could teach my husband that!). We've been having a great time these days. MM is truly a fantastic little person. As you can see!

New pix!

2010-09-28T13:30:00.002-04:00

Ok, well, I am a bad blogger these days. I have so little time to simply do the basics (eat, sleep, shower, brush hair) that things like "blogging" take a WAY back seat. But, maybe I can get something up more than once a month, but don't hold your breath.

The Dude goes golfing... sort of.

2010-08-16T17:44:00.003-04:00

MM and I like to hang at the ol' Golf Course. We actually spend a lot of time out there. He has clubs, I have clubs; we both like to whack the little white balls around. I even enjoy it... but what he REALLY likes to do is drive the cart and rake bunkers. Oh, and order me around.

Looks like I may have a little superintendent in the making! (after he wins his first 6 or 8 PGA events of course.)

Making Popcorn

2010-08-09T07:47:00.002-04:00

Cup runnith over

2010-07-16T16:25:00.002-04:00

Sure sure. The only way I could get you to look at my "artsy fartsy" photos (which plenty of other blogs seem to require) is to add the Dude in here as a teaser.

I have a garden full of tomatoes, cucumbers, pumpkins, peppers, flowers..... but not a drop of rain. Hot hot hot and dry these days, but things are growing pretty well, even so. (Especially the Minute man!)

Goofin off around the house

2010-07-15T11:14:00.001-04:00

Beating the heat by driving the "motor cycle" around the living room

All Aboard........................

2010-07-15T11:07:00.004-04:00

Over the 4th of July weekend I got the family together to take the Minute Man to ride on an honest - to -goodness Steam Engine-driven train. Here are a few photos from the trip.
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Here's the fam... an odd crew, but a good one!

MM turns 3!

2010-06-30T15:36:00.003-04:00

Oh yeah, I'm baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack

2010-06-28T20:41:00.004-04:00

Other than I am working like mad, and trying not to lose my mind, I have nothing to say. No one wants to hear how hard it is to be a working Mom, and how little sleep I get a night. I think I only cooked once last week. Awful. Oh well, thank god my kid LOVES fresh corn and tomatoes!

Anyway, here are new photos, and that's the only reason y'all come by! (Ain't he a CUTIE??!)

I am still here! And MM is still WONDERFUL

2010-06-04T18:11:00.001-04:00

Too busy to write / blog / breath / eat..... but it's all good.

And, anyway, look how big my little Dude is getting!

LATE Easter Photos

2010-04-21T14:44:00.002-04:00

These are late / a little old. Big deal. You get the idea. MM and UP had a BLAST (well, MM did, anyway!) finding Easter eggs at the house a few weeks ago. Thought they were nice enough to share.

The Dude now golfs...

2010-04-21T12:12:00.004-04:00

I've taken up golf. I know, I know. I should go sip dry martinis, discuss the possible impacts of Tourre's testimony in next weeks' Senate hearings, and agonize over which new BMW I want Daddy to buy me with all my bourgeois (or is it bou-joy, Phil?) Country Club friends...

But you know what? I am going to tell you something. I love it. So there. (And, Daddy, I want the 335is Convertible in Space Gray Metallic).

And now, the Dude has gotten into it. In fact, he's pretty good (no, you can't tell that from the photos!). I've had him out on the course since before he could walk. I used to tell him he could be the next Tiger Woods. (Now I tell him he can be the next Tiger Woods but he has to keep his pants locked on.)

I am never going to be that parent that forces my kid into something just so I can say "hey, my kid went to the Olympics at age 12". But if he likes it, and he's good at it, I'll make sure he can do it! And you know what else? Tiger started at 18 months; The Minute Man is not too far off! Look out PGA Tour (in about 15 years!!)

Some recent favorite Minute Man Photos

2010-04-14T15:33:00.002-04:00

A fancy SLR camera: $900

A new haircut: $7

A WONDERFUL little-dude from Vietnam: Priceless

When you encourage "individualism" ...

2010-04-14T15:29:00.001-04:00

...sometimes you just go with what you got.

Managing Motherhood and Tenure

2010-04-05T09:57:00.002-04:00

This article was just brought to my attention, and I thought I'd add it here. It is actually something I deal with daily, and frankly, here in NC, things are not very progressive. I got NO paid leave when I left to adopt Minh, and no paid leave to stay home with him....

From: Diverse: Issues in Higher Education; 11/13/2008, Vol. 25 Issue 20, p16-18, 3p

Colleges are attempting to close the numerical gap between tenure-track male and female faculty, but some schools, particularly larger institutions, are having more success than others at accommodating women's needs.

"I had mentors who told me not to have children before going up for tenure," says Dr. Catherine Squires, now the John and Elizabeth Bates Cowles Professor of Journalism, Diversity and Equality at the University of Minnesota and mother of 6-year-old twins.

In another case, in an irony that is more than semantic, Dr. Elise Bartosik-Velez went into labor the day she deposited her dissertation. Completing her doctoral studies in comparative literature at the University of Illinois coincided with a whirlwind of interviews for a tenure-track job, which she landed at Dickenson College in Carlisle, Pa. She interviewed in one city on a Friday, in another on the following Monday and then defended her thesis the following day.

"The committee told me I looked tired," says Bartosik-Velez. "I kind of divide my life up into three parts: scholarship, teaching and my family. The fourth part is me and that just doesn't happen."

Tenure or baby? Motherhood or Dr. Mom? Many women in higher education still view family and career as an either/or proposition, while the institutions they work in profess to be making strides that would lessen their burden.

Time and biology are the uncontrollable culprits. The average age of a Ph.D. recipient is 33 years old, and most tenure clocks run for six years. That means women who wait until tenure to have a family will carry their babies during childbearing years considered "high risk," and they are likely to have fewer children than they would otherwise intend, according to one study.

While many thirtysomethings -- including those with master's degrees and professional jobs -- spend evenings and weekends piling into minivans for play dates and trips to the park, postdocs are expected to ply their tenure committees with research, get published, teach undergrads and advise graduate students expertly and often.

Help Is Coming

The nation's colleges and universities are addressing the situation with programs that allow women, and sometimes men who are primary caregivers, to have a semester out of the classroom and the option of stopping their tenure clock. Institutions are adding more on-campus daycare facilities and keeping meetings from running well into the evenings. A number of women who are on the tenure track or have achieved it say they are thankful for the help, but they report uneven results among institutions. Bigger, more prominent universities have more generous policies, while many smaller institutions are just as caring, but less likely to have robust or uniform policies.

All this is happening as colleges and universities struggle to close numerical gaps between men and women among their tenured faculty ranks. According to a National Science Foundation study of doctoral recipients, women with babies are 28 percent less likely than women without babies to enter a tenure-track position, 27 percent less likely to become an associate professor, and 20 percent less likely to become a full professor within 16 years of earning their Ph.D.

Squires credits the family friendly policies at the University of Michigan, where she initially earned tenure. Michigan's policy gives tenure-track faculty with new children one semester out of the classroom with full pay and one year's cessation of their tenure dock.

"I don't think I would have been able to reach tenure if I hadn't been able to take time off," Squires says. Because she had twins, Squires got two semesters out of the classroom. She used the first to adjust to and recover from having the new babies, but she kept up her responsibilities for advising graduate students.

"I don't think I had an independent thought during my first semester of pregnancy leave," says Squires. "I was lucky if I had enough energy to read someone else's paper, much less to write my own."

The writing came during the second semester she was able to take off, when her twins were a year old. That gave her the time to finish her first book, propelling her over the tenure hurdle.

"Family friendly policies are among our highest priorities," says Dr. Loft J. Pierce, executive vice president of academic affairs in Michigan's provost's office. "We don't want to selectively disadvantage women."

Pierce says women who are reviewed for tenure receive it at approximately the same rate as men at Michigan. The university is also considering making it possible for faculty to lengthen their tenure clock to 10 years, a measure intended to help women who want to have more than one or two children.

A 'Bitter' Problem

Not every higher education institution has such generous family centered policies.

Dr. Birgit Jensen, an associate professor of German at East Carolina University, reports a "bitter experience" in having a child while chasing tenure.

"At the time I had my child (in 2004), there was no institution-wide policy for faculty members who were about to have a baby. The Family Medical Leave Act existed for faculty and staff, as did the option for faculty to stop the tenure dock, but I was warned that an extended maternity leave would be negatively viewed. East Carolina employees have only the FMLA benefits to rely on, which provides 12 weeks off without pay,' said Jensen in an e-mail.

Because the paychecks are spread over 12 months, missing nearly all of one semester caused Jensen to forego nearly half a year of salary.

Married women with children leave tenure-track jobs more frequently than any other group -- 59 percent, versus 39 percent for married men with children, says Dr. Mary Ann Mason, co-author of Mothers on the Fast Track, a book about mothers in academe.

Mason, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate Division and codirector of the Berkeley Center on Health, Economic & Family Security, says higher education could be at the beginning of a sea change sweeping women away from tenure-track jobs. Women are opting for academe's second-tier posts, filling in the part-time, adjunct and lecturer ranks, becoming what Mason calls the "gypsy scholars" of the university world.

Women are choosing nontenure-track jobs for child care, according to a study of work family balance and academic advancement, co-authored by Dr. Gerry Fox of the University of Illinois College of Medicine.

Why Not Both?

But plenty are trying to do both. Ask a woman why she opted to have a baby while pursuing tenure and frequently the answer is, "why not?"

That is how Melissa Murray, an assistant professor of law at UC-Berkeley, handled the question. "The decision to have a child on the tenure track was not a decision at all," Murray says. "For me the bigger question was how was I going to make the tenure track work around my decision to have a family."

Being at Berkeley, Murray is one of the luckier ones because the institution provides paid childbirth leave, time off the tenure clock, a breastfeeding support program, two large complexes of student-family housing, and a graduate student parent grant of up to $8,000. Murray says she is grateful for UC-Berkeley's generous policies and believes that the university is trying to keep pace with the increasing number of young parents in its ranks. Sometimes, however, the demand for family friendly services outstrips the available supply. For example, the university has childcare facilities, but they are often oversubscribed.

What's needed is more support in public policy for young families. It will always be difficult being a mother, a scholar and a teacher at once, but having a family and being in the work force makes for a broader academic experience, too, she says.

Along with the rigors of work comes the inescapable socializing of academe, which cannot be skipped by anyone looking for promotion. "A lot of things happen in the late afternoon and early evening," Murray says. "I juggle things at home so that I can attend talks and other events from time to time."

The pressure and desire higher education institutions feel to increase the number of women tenured professors is even more so in the hard sciences, where women's progress has been slower. The Georgia Institute of Technology, the school that awards more doctoral degrees in engineering than any other, according to the American Society of Engineering Education's latest data, used part of a five-year grant from the National Science Foundation to promote the advancement of women in the sciences to pay for time out of the class for postdoctoral faculty who became new parents -- and to pay for a lactation room.

They opened their first on-campus childcare center in 2003 and are working to open a second badly needed facility by 2010. Since Georgia doesn't allow state colleges and universities to provide maternity benefits beyond the federal FMLA, Georgia Tech had to be creative in devising solutions, says Dr. Jane Ammons, associate dean of engineering for faculty affairs and a professor of industrial and system engineering.

The new program allows women to telecommute during the semester they have their babies, freeing them from the classroom and from committee assignments.

"For us to recruit and retain the best faculty, we've got to help them when the hits come in life," Ammons says. She speaks from experience -- she's the second woman ever hired and the first to have children in the faculty of the college of engineering. She also pursued a legal case with the institution's board of regents to ensure her right to take time off with the birth of her children, who are now 22 and 25 years old.

"It's like a different world now," Ammons says. "We all work together to help faculty members get through this."

Full-time Faculty, by Rank and Gender: 2006

                       Women         Men

Tenured                32.8%        67.2%

Instructor or          52.7%        47.3%
Lecturer

Assistant              46.0%        54.0%
Professor

Associate              38.8%        61.2%
Professor

Full                   25.1%        74.9%
Professor

SOURCE: "MINORITIES IN HIGHER EDUCATION 2008," AMERICAN
COUNCIL ON EDUCATION

~~~~~~~~

By Gregory A. Patterson

What the...?! (NOT a Minute Man post!)

2010-04-01T13:16:00.006-04:00

So, today it's in the upper 70's here; the birds are singing (I just saw two purple finches!), the flowers are flowering their hearts out, the pines are getting ready to drop yucky yellow pollen everywhere, the bugs are bugging all about... spring has really sprung. I've been trapped in the office most of the day, but am looking forward to an activity I have planned for this afternoon.

I am taking ten 8th grade science students on a Nature Amble this afternoon. I was developing my "cheat sheet" so that I had some ideas about activities we can do while on our walk, and some things I may want to focus on - just in case the amble itself doesn't prove to be educational or interesting enough. Armed with some of my own ideas, I jumped on the handy-dandy internet to gather some more tid-bits of wisdom in case I had over-looked a really fun activity. I came up with a few good ideas, including a way to trick my students into writing nature poetry (which I think could be really fun, and would be a nice thing for me to read over and maybe even use when I do PR for my program later in the month). Anyway, while I was poking around I stumbled across this "environmental education idea":

"Students visit a Web site that gives information about nature trails at Bubbly Spring State Park in Missouri. They use the information to complete an activity sheet on the fractions and their applications."

So, let me get this right... students get a WORKSHEET (tree killers), that they then can sit at a COMPUTER (using energy and increasing their carbon footprint) to LOOK UP INFORMATION (no actual thought involved here, just web-surfing) about NATURE TRAILS (hello, they are going to look at PICTURES of a NATURE trail. Wow. Doesn't THAT sound fun??!) to learn about fractions... It seems to me that they might reconsider this; and modify it in a variety of ways, the number 1 being: TAKE THE KIDS OUTSIDE!!!!!!!!!!!! Even if they can't get to the nature trails (which would be a shame), they could at least use the concepts while out in the woods behind the school, or at a neighborhood park, or at the very least, on the playground!

Anyway, when I get back from my Nature Amble, I'll update the post with photos and maybe some poetry! We'll see how it goes.

"I am goin' to get YOUUUUUUUUUUUU..."

2010-03-30T12:02:00.003-04:00

This was from a few weeks ago - notice how brown my bermuda grass is! But I think the pictures are still cute, esp the last one where the Dude is coming to tackle me!

Potty humor

2010-03-24T11:54:00.001-04:00

I can't help myself... I LOVE pictures of The Dude reading on the potty. I realize that someday he will be SOOOOOO embarassed, but hey, it's worth it!

Isn't he a cutie?

Springtime photos; flowers and wildlife

2010-03-23T16:20:00.010-04:00

I was poking around the yard the other day and just playing with my camera. I had an entourage - as you may see in some of the photos here. My yard went from dull, dull, dull, to WOW in about 3 days. Here a few of my photos...along with some photos of the "wildlife".

The Dude REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to be in EVERY shot this time. Go figure. It was only 6 weeks ago I couldn't get him to stand still for a photo. He'd yell, and throw his hand over his face (I think he was practicing to be someone very famous). Now, every time I bring out the camera he is mugging for it.

Yes, this flower IS as big as MM's head!! or at least very very close. It's beautiful, isn't it? this was a gift from my In-Laws, and it is the first year I have had it - and as such, this is the first bloom I've seen on it. It's really magnificent!

And yes, I have since fixed the hair cut!!!

Some days I hate my (old) job

2010-03-11T09:34:00.002-05:00

Total drama associated with my old job popping up this week. It's been a real drag. Makes me appreciate my new job - it's laid back, it's quiet, it's predictable, it's boring. It doesn't make me CRAZY.

Can you stand it?

2010-03-10T11:51:00.005-05:00

Look at me BLOGGING again!! (my job is REALLY slow...but it's my lunch break, so I'm allowed to blog. So there!).

I don't have any new news posts, but I have recently thought about maybe possibly beginning to cook again (something I used to LOVE to do!!). So, I've been checking out cooking blogs, and here's my favorite today - eCurry. It is a beautifully done blog, with pretty photos, good vegetarian (and non-vegetarian!) recipes, and well, it makes me want to cook again.

Enjoy!

Lovin' the Farm, More dispatches from K'ville

2010-03-08T11:58:00.003-05:00

This lamb was only a few days old. What a treat!

MM calls roosters "Cockle-dos". I think that's ADORABLE. (And so are these kiddos.)

You can't hear it, but he's making "tractor" noises - to be fair, I think they sound a lot like motorcycle noises, too.

BFFs!

File this under: She doesn't have enough work to do....

2010-03-05T16:09:00.003-05:00

Just read it (you know you want to!!) -

Go Go Gadget Beard! Do spies and assassins really wear fake beards?

Snow...again

2010-03-05T09:58:00.000-05:00

This is from last week. We got snow. Again.

Farmer Minute Man!

2010-03-05T09:27:00.009-05:00

See, as promised: photos!!

These are from our trip to Knoxville. We visited some good friends who have a farm, and MM took right over helping on the farm.

The tractor was a HUGE hit with MM. He knew all the right gears to move, and all the right sounds to make.

He knew exactly how to feed the chickens!

We had a pretty good time. (Sorry, Britta, the only thing keeping it from having been a GREAT time was the lousy weather!!). But The Dude and the girls had a TON of fun. And while the big girls (that's me and Britta!) didn't have as much time to hang out as I would have liked, the kids had a real BLAST and they got along great.

And I got lots of pictures. YEAH!

Scanning the news

2010-03-04T12:49:00.006-05:00

Look at this! Another post (and still no pictures, I know I know!!).

My new job has me scanning the news for interesting science items which we are to blog upon. So, as a result, I am reading more news than I ever did; I'm strictly an NPR news gal and have been pretty much my entire life. BUT, as wonderful as NPR is, they don't always have what I need, so I check out other news sources looking for appropriate articles. For the kinds of stuff I am looking for, you can check out my work blog (which I do not write, TG, but help with. Check it out! Maybe even leave a nice comment!).

Now, for the purpose of this post... I've decided to start adding a few items here that I run across that I think are worth sharing. Here's my first one - and as a disclaimer, I've never seen this particular news source before, so I can't claim ANY validity. Only IRONY.

And on a TOTALLY different note, here's a nice one on "toddler-friendly gardening" I recently discovered (and helped me begin thinking about my garden this year!):

How to teach your child to tend the land without losing your mind.

DENTIST?!

2010-03-04T11:28:00.003-05:00

I lied. No pictures yet. But I will!!

So, I will try to start actually BLOGGING again, since there are still a few people out there who care... so today's post is DENTIST. Not for me, but for The Minute Man. That's right. We have been brushing MM's teeth (or he has been!) since we got home from Vietnam, but it was obvious early on that he would have "bad teeth".

The enamel on The Dude's teeth never filled in, and some of his teeth are not properly formed. Now I'm HORRIFIED to find he actually has two cavities! Poor guy!!!! The kicker is that he has a REALLY healthy diet with lots of fruits and vegges (I mean, VERY little sweets, and the Dude even eats brussel sprouts!! and he LOVES apples!!). However, he does drink a lot of soy milk, and he drinks it all night (well, he DID. We've backed off recently, but it is too late for two little baby teeth!) which I am sure contributed to the problem.

Anyway, everything else in his life is fantastic. the little guy is truly a joy, and makes me smile every day. Lots.

And, pictures will come soon. Honest!

Heading to Knoxville

2010-02-27T09:49:00.001-05:00

We are heading back to VOL country today!! We are visiting with some wonderful friends, and hanging out in Knoxville a bit. I have a "work thing" on Tuesday, so this is a perfect opportunity to spend some quality time with some of our favorite people.

I WILL post pictures soon.

Hanging around with Uncle Jude

2010-02-14T20:00:00.002-05:00

My Little Bro' has been coming down and visiting a lot lately (YAY!) and here is a photo from when he and the Dude ground coffee beans until we ran out of beans!!! And just one of the Dude just hangin' (before his hair cut).

Lazy Lazy sundays

2010-02-01T23:26:00.007-05:00

My FAVORITE thing (or one of them, anyway) is to hang out in bed on a Sunday morning. I consider it one of life's great pleasures. In fact, I was a regular church* goer for years until I finally accepted the fact that I FAR prefer being lazy in bed with a cup of coffee over going and getting in touch with any form of so-called "higher being" (fortunately for Quakers we are allowed to feel that way and it's still okay).

Anyway, I digress.

BM (that's Before Minute) it used to be that on weekends I would hang out reading a good book and drink coffee in my 'jammies in bed.Then the Dude came along and hijacked my life, and I no longer had that luxury. Well, NOW that the Dude is a little older, he too has become a lazy Sunday type. Now, we hang out in bed, we read books (although the content isn't what it used to be!! No more murder mysteries for me; it's all "Big Truck book, Mommy" and "Read Tractor Book, Mommy"), we tell stories, and we sing silly songs. This Sunday MM wanted his picture taken while he hammed it up between books. These photos are the result.

As an aside, I have been taking tons of photos of MM, but he does this really creepy smile now when the camera comes out, and well, it is akin to the look my cat gets when she sees a grasshopper....It basically looks like he's going to attack me. Needless to say, NOT the best photos to share with y'all!

*we Quakers call it "Meeting", not church, FYI

Snow! Really this time!

2010-01-30T11:46:00.005-05:00

Well, what usually occurs in the winter down here in the South, we get a "snow scare" that causes perfectly sane people to lose their minds. Grocery stores run out of milk, bread, and pork rinds. Everyone buys a snow shovel, or snow-blower. Everyone starts planning to miss work/school/parties/church/etc. And then the snow DOESN'T come!

However, lastnight, it really snowed. MM saw it and wanted to go out and play in it immediately! Even before we'd had breakfast!!!!

The roads are in bad shape, but there really isn't much accumulation on the ground - well, it is a lot for the South - I'd say maybe two inches. There is enough to cover everything in snow, and make it look like there really IS SNOW out there! It must have snowed a good deal last night because it started around 8:00 pm, but wasn't snowing when I got up at 7:00 this morning. It did, however, start sleeting at about 8:30am and hasn't stopped yet (that's 4 hours straight) although that doesn't seem to be adding any accumulation.

The Dude is loving it. He even had appropriate clothes this year, which probably made him enjoy it a lot more than he did last year at this time!!

King Minute Man and his "Robe"

2010-01-24T20:24:00.002-05:00

My son has the most amazing sense of what he wants to wear and how he wants to wear it... you have seen some interesting outfits on this very blog. However, today, the Dude wanted his "B" - his blanket/quilt - put onto him as a cape or robe and then he just strolled around. Very royally, I might add!

goofy in red

2010-01-17T12:15:00.002-05:00

Not MM's best photo, but he was given this little garage for X-mas, and he LOVES it.

MM Tie-Died to the MAX

2010-01-17T12:08:00.002-05:00

My little Dude... sports the tie-dye all the way.

Relaxin'

2010-01-14T09:43:00.000-05:00

playing guitar?

2010-01-11T19:36:00.002-05:00

Here is MM playing his guitar..... And yes, he came up with this on his own!

Now We're Cooking

2010-01-10T16:56:00.001-05:00

Talking on Mom's phone

2010-01-10T16:43:00.002-05:00

The little Dude is as cute as EVER! He talks up a storm, is funny funny funny, and is STILL receiving holiday gifts (better than any holiday I ever had!!). The only down side? Little Dude has decided to STOP napping.

Oy-vay. WOW are weekends long these days....

New Years Weekend...

2010-01-02T17:38:00.004-05:00

The Dude and I are hanging out this weekend. ... I'm STILL not prepared for my new job that begins on Monday, and needless to say it is hard to pack stuff, set-up new furniture, un-pack stuff, move already set up-furniture to a new formation, move same furniture back to original spot, un-pack AGAIN, ... all with a 2.5 yr old "helping".

On the up side, it's been fun hanging out with the Minute Man for the last week. I'll be ready to hit the ground running on Monday, how ever messed up my office is. In fact, I have to get it together fast since I'll be in D.C Thursday meeting the new "important people" at the USDA. I leave before daylight, and fly back the same day - trey Washington!

All is well, as long as I have my....

2010-01-01T10:08:00.003-05:00

...new tractor/bulldozer/excavator. And the tie-dye sweatshirt. And the hard hat. With his new radio controlled car in the bucket of the TBE.

Just don't try to take anything away, or hey, you might get cement shoes!

Santa Aftermath

2009-12-31T09:07:00.008-05:00

Minute's second Christmas with us. What a good time we all had!! And I have no idea how Santa managed to bring so much loot for the Dude. I also have no idea where we are going to put everything. I guess we'll have to do a sweep of all the old stuff and send a bunch to Good Will. Or else rent another house!

We had a nice Holiday. Lots of company, LOTS of good food and good times. I have even taken time off work! MM and I have been have been doing a lot of hanging out. We worked on my golf course (wow was it cold!!), worked at my new office, done some post-xmas clothes shopping, grocery shopping, baked some cookies, and watched some TV (mostly Gilmore Girls). I'm even finishing a quilt I began 4 years ago, and made it to the gym. Stuff that I usually do not have time for. It's been fun, and while I still have anxiety about beginning the new job, I'm starting in a good place, and looking forward to having more time to do "stuff". Not just work!

Anyway, Happy new Year, and All that to You and Yours.

Just Hanging Out Waiting on Santa

2009-12-24T17:47:00.003-05:00

The next James Dean?

2009-12-12T18:19:00.002-05:00

Minh told me he was "riding Motorcycle. Pick up pizza". But before he could leave, he needed his sunglasses. Here's the result. What you can't see: the rolled up pack of candy cigarettes in his left sleeve.

Still no pictures....

2009-12-06T14:28:00.002-05:00

Well, in true two-year-old fashion, the Minute Man has deemed that there be no pictures of him taken EVER. So I have to sneak up on him to snap any photos to speak of. Here are a few. not the best, and I'm sure not going to win any photo contests, but at least it helps those of you who like to see new a ADORABLE pictures of The Dude, AKA Master Cute, AKA the Minh-ja, AKA, Mr. Minh-tastic.

He is too, you know; adorable, cute, and minh-tastic!

Reading in bed

2009-12-03T19:07:00.001-05:00

...one of life's great joys.

Thanksgiving on the Farm

2009-11-27T09:13:00.004-05:00

Minute Man helps Mom get ready for work

2009-11-22T16:31:00.003-05:00

You see how helpful MM is? He not only picked out my shoes, but he tried them out for me. Then took them for a nice bike ride....

Thanks Mom-Mom!!!

2009-11-13T19:31:00.004-05:00

MM's Great Grandmother sent MM a Halloween card. He LOVED the card so much he ran around all night with it saying "Mine card. No touch". In fact, he even slept with it! (yes, he got it in plenty of time for Halloween, I'm just behind posting the photo!!). Minute says "Thanks, Mom-Mom!".

Its bad when you are UPSET that its Friday because you have so much work to do that a Saturday hinders the process. Don't get me wrong, I am both very happy and very stressed that it's friday. I do have an incredible amount of work to do - although I am rapidly checking things off my "to do list" but with about one month left in my current position, I am FRANTIC to complete projects and make progress on others.

I have very little energy right now, and don't even have the energy to read! Maybe I'll just crawl in bed and spend some time with my kiddo. He's AWESOME.

Give me the Keys, Mom!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-11-05T20:20:00.001-05:00

Happy Trash Day - or is it Halloween?

2009-11-05T19:58:00.008-05:00

In my haste to get these photos up, I put them up out of order. But, you get the idea how great this is....

("oh, look what I found in that last garbage can!!") ... just kidding! This is Minh's first candy bar!

Big Orange WasTe ManagmenT - "We are NOT associated with the Mob". GO VOLS.

MM's light saber..... I mean flashlight (for safety of course!)

Getting ready with Big Mamma.

Minute Man out on Halloween. He's an Italian Garbage Man. duh!

Braving the State Fair

2009-10-26T20:06:00.004-04:00

MM hangs with the tractors.

At the petting zoo, which MM really enjoyed.

MM doing yoga to pass the time while we waited for a train to go past.

MM sitting by his FAVORITE thing - a tractor.

We even went together. Some guy even offered to take our picture to prove it.

I got a wild hair and decided to take the Dude to the State Fair this year. I always go but always ask myself why I've subjected myself to such a thing as soon as I get there. this year was no exception. It was also poor timing - "get-in-free-with-a-canned-good night". You can imagine the derth (and quality) of the people that were there. Plus the weather was nice. Plus it was right at dinner time, so it was like the perfect storm. It was INSANE. MM did really well, for the most part. We took him to see all the animals: chickens, pigs, sheep, ducks, cows, goats, etc. and he enjoyed them for the most part. He really liked the petting zoo (which I did not like), but his favorite thing in the world, AND at the fair, was/were the tractors. This child LOVES LOVES LOVES tractors. That GIANT grin I finally got of him up-above was because he got to hang out with the tractors.

We ate some junk food too - french fries, and icecream. There was so much fried junk we just couldn't commit. And it all looked gross, frankly. Deep fried oreos, deep fried snickers, deep fried cheese cake, deep fried icecream, deep fried twinkies... the list goes on. There was even deep fried Coke-a-Cola. Go figure. But we tried not to indulge too much. Just being there was hard enough - fighting the throngs of people... I have a whole new definition of ugly now. Not very nice, I know, but oh so true.

Anyway, the Dude enjoyed it a lot. He was vibrating by the time we got to the car to go home. Next year I think I'll take him again, of course, but only if it rains!

"Working" in the kitchen

2009-10-21T15:58:00.002-04:00

A favorite pass-time activity for Minute Man and his Momma - baking!! MM LOVES to work in the kitchen and wants to be a part of ANYTHING that goes on there - but most especially the taste-testing part!

(I think here we were making waffles, actually, but I have many pictures like this making cookies too!)

Our "nest"

2009-10-20T20:19:00.003-04:00

MM and his Momma are "nesting". I was having a rough day, and the Minute Man came to my rescue...he laid me on the floor next to the diaper pail, with my head on my bluejeans, then he put my blanket on me. And then he laid down with his bottle and his blanket.

Somehow, I did indeed feel better!

Hanging out (hee hee) around the House

2009-10-17T13:37:00.004-04:00

Cold and damp around the 'hood today. MM and his Momma are cooling our heels by doing some shoppin', laundry, dishes, and reading (it's not just for the toilet anymore!).

(yes, this has been edited for your protection.)

My new job!!!!!

2009-10-16T12:11:00.004-04:00

My new job will be working with this group, as well as the Feds. My "home office" is with this group, however.

Here's the website: http://www.sripmc.org/

Here's the overview for the Center:
The Southern Region Integrated Pest Management Center (SRIPMC) fosters the development and adoption of Integrated Pest Management (IPM), a science-based approach to managing pests in ways that generate economic, environmental and human health benefits. We work in partnership with stakeholders from agricultural, urban and rural settings to identify and address regional priorities for research, education and outreach.

MM sez: "go check out My Mom's new job-website!! Do it. Do it NOW!"

The "no more pictures" pose....

2009-10-16T09:32:00.003-04:00

yes, he picked this outfit out himself....

For Bfly and BPGF (and all the other MM followers!)

2009-10-14T13:56:00.004-04:00

Some more pictures of my Minute Man. Getting cuter every day!

'cause Big Mama told me to....

2009-10-11T14:03:00.006-04:00

I've been busy (as I keep saying!) and it's hard to find time to upload pix to the ol' blog. However, my son has also suddenly developed an aversion to the camera. He'll see me pull it out and immediately pitch a fit. It often goes something like this:
"No, Mommy!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. No pictures. Camera AWAY, Mommy. No pictures." And I definitely do NOT get a smile out of him. I get "goofy", but no smiles.

If I don't immediately comply, I get the hand over the face, and more "no. No, Mommy. No, no nononooooooooooooooooooooooo". If necessary, he'll run away and hide his face against something! Soooooo very dramatic, my son!

So, when I DO manage a few pictures, it's hard to find time to even put them up. but, here are a few. This is the Minute Man reading a few of my books. His favorite letter is H. He LOVES to point to the H on the cover of a book. He was especially fascinated by one of these (see the second and third pictures from the bottom) because it had 2 H's on the cover, each was a different color!

Too busy to breath

2009-09-28T13:22:00.003-04:00

MM on my golf course!!! Click to enlarge!!

My new boss just emailed me today. The email went like this:

When would you like to come over this week to discuss schedule? J and I are pretty flexible, S teaches Tue & Thur morning, and I am out Wed PM and Friday. We are ready to move in getting job description and other stuff done – maybe start Oct 1????

OMG. Can we say NOT READY???!!!!!!!!!!! I haven't shared this little gem with my current boss - who is going to have a cow (can I use that expression? It's better than the scatological alternative I was considering using!!). He was expecting me to leave around the first of the year..... Which is what I'd been told when I accepted the position. Um, in who's world is October 1 the first of the year??

More wonderful-ness

2009-09-24T10:02:00.000-04:00

Goofin off

2009-09-22T09:37:00.004-04:00

Mr. ADORABLE returns

2009-09-21T10:00:00.002-04:00

My mother (MM's Big Mama) always tells me to post pictures of The Minute Man withOUT food on his face. Which puts me in quite a bind; MM is either always a) eatting - and therefore always has food on his face, or b) naked. Now, the naked pix are ADORABLE but I can't post them for obvious reasons.

Here are a few news ones of Mr. Cute. food and all!!!!!!!!!!!

Go 'EERS

2009-09-18T10:48:00.002-04:00

Kids Museum

2009-09-16T16:22:00.003-04:00

Took MM to the kids' museum Saturday with a good friend. He loved it. Lots to do, and lots to see. Wore me out however!

September Beach Trip

2009-09-12T13:36:00.006-04:00

I'm sooooooo behind. Behind on blogging, behind at the office, behind on house work, behind in my life. I don't know if anyone even has time to chack my blog anymore, but at least every so often I put up a few teasers!! For today, here's a small sampling of the beach trip pix. Other than there was no sun, and therefore VERY little actual BEACH time, it was a good trip. MM of COURSE was the star of the show and loved every minute of every day at the "BEEEG WATER".

(yes, most of these shots aren't MM's best. He's suddenly become camera shy. Or more like, he acts like a celebrity when you pull the camera out: "no. no pictures". And he coveres his face with his hands. Honest to god! He's a born star!!)

My Vietnamese Kiddo!

2009-08-28T14:00:00.004-04:00

He put this hat on himself - he took it off one of his stuffed animals. I just couldn't help but take his picture!!

For Uncle Phil

2009-08-28T13:48:00.005-04:00

My chickens (or at least, half of them. Elvira, Thelma, and Louise. Or maybe that's Elvira, Louise, and Thelma. I can't tell.)

MM rides the train (feet BEWARE!). This actually comes complete with train noises.... Toot-toot.

An outfit he picked out himself.... and is now threatening to show off to the neighbors.

The picture UP demanded I put up. MM and UP together.

I've been so busy these days, I haven't been blogging (as you already know, since you are STILL reading my blog!!). But I have been told to update this thing, so here it is. An update!! My son is still awesome; not exactly news, is it??!! And there you go!!

We leave for tomorrow for the beach. I'll try to remember to add new pictures from the beach; which should be wonderful since the whole fam is going. (Except UP. He's made some lame excuse about how he doesn't want to drive all the way there....)

Summer Days

2009-08-24T11:32:00.001-04:00

More from the "Minute Man with Food" series. Oh, and the one with MM and his VERY proud Mommy!!

Low Rider

2009-08-17T10:20:00.001-04:00