Breakfast next Wednesday!

You are all welcome to my house this coming Wed. the 7th (which is also my Dad's 60th-- I need to remember a card...) from 9 to whenever. I'll make the muffins and coffee. Caron Easley (of lore) will be in attendance. If any of you work (outside the home) and would like to come, take an early lunch break-- I'm sure we'll still be hanging out!

here he is!

our new little fella, peter arant whealy!
born at 1:00 pm
he's 7 lbs. 7 oz.
20 inches long
and has dark (and curly?!) hair
can't wait to introduce him to all the other little whocares children.
love to all of you!

simpler times

i throw back a simpler times, toasting our dearest darby's impending child-extraction tomorrow at high noon. so much for playing "i wish my baby was born", huh? hopes are realized.

darby came to visit us when we were living in craptown, er, chatham, when i was newly pregnant with henry. we saw jolie holland play a show & sat around watching st. louis cardinals baseball and shot the breeze for hours upon hours upon hours upon hours. and she got her nose pierced, too. but anyhow, here's a picture from that weekend:

it is quite a pleasure to have so many years of history as friends with you crazy WC ladies. quite a special little thing we got goin' here, huh? mutual respect, love, care, kindness, & support. it's a pleasure to bear witness to the work of god in each of you....and to take special notice of milestones together. relocation, sabbatical, job change, birth of a child, marriage, graduation, personal accomplishment, triumph, acquisition of knowledge, reconciliation, etc (do i get carried away? very well then, i get carried away).

love love love to all...but especially to darby, andrew, & ben on the eve of such an exciting day. can't wait to meet your new little son!! may the incision be short, the extraction QUICK, and the bubbly satisfying. see you next week!

Confession

Nate knows this about me... I LOVE techno music and always have (in college I would sleep with it on in my headphones - not kidding)... today's laundry folding was to the sountrack by the ever-so-obnoxious German "DiscoCrew". Ha Ha Ha. I'm such a geek. If I'm not cooking to salsa music, I'm doing housework to music (I use the term loosely) like this. *If you can stand it, your kids will probably love it.

some new music

the avett brothers have a new cd coming out and you can listen to it for free on NPR.  click on the title for the link.  i haven't actually listened to it quite yet, but i've liked their stuff in the past.  and new music--for free--is hard to beat. so i thought i'd toss this out there. happy fall everybody!

the women's colony

As if I need another blog to read. As if I have the time. But I stumbled upon this one by way of this one, and immediately thought of you. Perhaps you've heard of it. Either way, forgive both the sentence structure in the above paragraph and the poor use of prepositions. It's Sunday night, and I'm dragging my feet into Monday. Happy reading.

Happy Birthday Darby

May this day be full of unexpected energy and empowerment for you. You are almost there. You are finishing this race well. If nothing else, I'm impressed. :-)
P.S. I am also praying for a good nights rest as your birthday gift today.

Happy Birthday Cheryl

Cheryl, May this next year be full of magical, fanciful, wonderful surprises, lots of new things and new inspiration for your creativity.
It is lovely knowing you.

old buddy old pal

happy birthday, ali! sending fond wishes, fireworks, eloquent and heartfelt toasts, friendly puffs of smoke, and best regards for a merry day. love you!

homeschool is so cool.

that's what i said to my sister-in-law today when we were riding through an apple orchard on a field trip with our co-op. it was exhilarating! and so, since you've all nursed me through my crazy times of "i'm going to pull my hair our with this educating crap!"...see a more exalted side of things. see the side that feels golden & illuminated, that shouts excitedly, "it's working!! it's working!!"

ps: vi reminds me of a cartoon character in this picture (she's far right kid) but i can't think of who...anyone anyone?

also, there are tons of wind energy farms in illinois!! how about near omaha? it's windier there than here, for sure!

if i could

i would fly to south carolina right now & sit around with ole ali mcdoogal & enjoy some brie on her birthday.

then i'd fly to omaha & go to mcdonalds with cheryl on her birthday (oh, ha ha ha).

then i'd sidestep on over to darby's for some easy mac & a big glass of water for her big day.

birthday row, oh oh oh....why i gots to be so far from home?

a friend's selling her house in mid-town...

a mom from my play-group, carey, has just put her 3-bedroom midtown house on the market. i thought maybe somebody on the blog might know of someone looking for just such a place...

Cast your Band-Head Vote...

Bank of the West is brining in bands for a big-bash this next summer. They are letting us decide.
Cast your votes HERE ladies.

learning styles

do you know your learning style? i've been doing little tests here & there to better hone in on my own learning style to maximize the 30 minutes/schoolday i have to myself...and to maximize teaching efforts for the little E's. so far we have two visual learner kids (one print/one pictures) & a visual learner ma.

the boys

The Perry's have been suffering from withdrawal. Isaac has been missing Linus terribly and I have been missing my regular reading club fix of Whocarsians, so Cheryl came to our rescue. The boys ran off to adventurous make-believe land upstairs and Cheryl and I had a lovely lunch and plenty of chances to pull things out of Ella's mouth. (Cheryl, again, I am sorry about the vase and the electronic equipment). Sigh.
I wish you all could understand the detail of the lego spread in the background of these photos. (I wish I could understand for that matter really). There is a rescue center of some sort (I'm assuming to rescue animals, like Diego, but I don't actually know that for sure) which also comes equip with something that shoots salami and cheese as a defense mechanism of some sort.

There is a lot going on in those little-men minds.

smoke 'em while you got 'em

bad news, rebel women. they're taking away one of our vices. word on the street is that the anti-smoking bill obama recently passed applies to cloves. tragedy. apparently the ban goes into effect on sept. 22nd, though i've heard different reports about this. so smoke 'em while you got 'em. and in homage, here's billy collins' "the best cigarette."

There are many that I miss
having sent my last one out a car window
sparking along the road one night, years ago.

The heralded one, of course:
after sex, the two glowing tips
now the lights of a single ship;
at the end of a long dinner
with more wine to come
and a smoke ring coasting into the chandelier;
or on a white beach,
holding one with fingers still wet from a swim.

How bittersweet these punctuations
of flame and gesture;
but the best were on those mornings
when I would have a little something going
in the typewriter,
the sun bright in the windows,
maybe some Berlioz on in the background.
I would go into the kitchen for coffee
and on the way back to the page,
curled in its roller,
I would light one up and feel
its dry rush mix with the dark taste of coffee.

Then I would be my own locomotive,
trailing behind me as I returned to work
little puffs of smoke,
indicators of progress,
signs of industry and thought,
the signal that told the nineteenth century
it was moving forward.
That was the best cigarette,
when I would steam into the study
full of vaporous hope
and stand there,
the big headlamp of my face
pointed down at all the words in parallel lines.


--Billy Collins

please advise

anyone know a good place to do water fitness classes or prenatal water aerobics? my creaky joints are killing me and i want to get in the pool! i'm thinking about the Y on maple...been there? been somewhere better? i'm not springing for a full-scale gym membership at the moment, just looking for somewhere i can go on the cheap.
and since i'm shameless, anyone have a maternity swimsuit they're not using and would be comfortable lending? i promise not to exercise so vigorously that any harm comes to the suit...

when's waldo?

well friends, i'm happy to announce that, thanks to modern technology, i already know my baby's soon-to-be birthday. monday, september 28, i get "sectioned" at high noon and baby waldo william whealy (or "wally willy whealy, not his real name") will enter the world, if the good lord's willing and the creek don't rise.

i've been pretty ambivalent about being c-sectioned again (although hopefully this time, it'll be free of the emergency-room drama). but i've come to feel good about it by meditating on the advantages (i can brush my teeth and wash my face beforehand, for instance) and praying about the risks when they bother me. and it's really exciting to think about meeting the newest member of our family! anyway, just wanted to put the word out, so you can pray for me in the last weeks of pregnancy and especially on 9/28. lawd, lawd, lawd, i'm feeling ready!

hello out there!

I have been a bad Who Caresian lately. Sorry! Blame it on sabbatical laze. I get the question quite often, "What do your days look like during sabbatical?" Well, some random things in no particular order.

Wednesday is gardening day for me and my housemate Sharne. We usually try to tackle bigger projects. Today's project: a chair out of grass for baby Ivy to grow up with. But we're not buying the kit, rather doing it completely DIY. We'll see if and how it actually happens!

I am going to ride my bike to the most beautiful library today. It's all light and modernity in there, with beautiful comfy chairs. As reading accountability and just so you don't get tooo comfortable, there is a security guard that will kick you out if you sleep. :)

Have grocery shopping to do. This is my favorite co-op here, there are many great ones. But it's expensive so I go to the ghetto Cub down the street for some stuff too.

Have a couple checks to deposit -- Caleb's been working hard. PTL for the work! This week he got a crazy job as a hand model. It's a Formica commercial and they needed someone who could draw for it. Job perk: a manicure. What?!

Are you all loving these great veggies of the season? Our CSA is keeping me happy. They deliver a box every Thursday morning, and it seems to get heavier each week. Wednesday is usually, "Oh crap let's finish the last of the XX, XX and XX before more food comes tomorrow" day. I've really been experimenting with making things that take more time, now that I have it. I love it! Saurkraut, ricotta cheese, yogurt, pickles, kombucha...

A new friend of mine is in the process of renovating a huge, old 3-story home. They are moving in this week. There is a lot and I mean a lot of work to do there. Yesterday I helped paint. Prolly will help a bit tomorrow too.

My sis-in-law Cora gets married this month in MN, and am so excited for that. Then I will be traveling almost the entire month of October! Not sure how that happened, but I am excited to see my parents, the Alleys and Sarah Lance. And I'm coming to Omaha for Jara and Kenley's wedding.

When I started this sabbatical it was with the focus of "Pursuing beauty in contemplation and action." I feel like the first three months of sabbatical was definitely heavy on the contemplation, which I needed. Lots of reading, writing, resting, being outside, being alone, processing, praying. I think the last three months will be a bit more "action" focused: interacting with artists and people that inspire me, developing some ideas, learning new things, and of course the aforementioned travel.

Speaking of travel...Jara's wedding is Oct 24 so I'll be in Omaha Oct. 19? - 25. Anyone up for a Who Cares breakfast?

Save the Date

I know this is a bit crazy... posting this so early, but today is the first day of September, the school semester is back in full swing, the calendars are being devised for this new season, so I thought maybe it would be best to drop this now and have ya'll keep it in the back of your minds. *Especially for those of you who travel here and there and everywhere for your holidays.



Whocares Christmas Party/Potluck/Gift Exchange
Wed. December 30th
7p-10p
Adults only.
*location to be determined ;-)

*Juls, I know this will be your birthday again... and I don't plan on scheduling on your birthday every year, it just happens to work that way again. We can plan something ridiculous on your behalf if that will entice you to come? :-)