A Mom's Life

Something strange and rare happened in upstate yesterday. The sun came out and warmed our corner of the world to the point that we could comfortably go outside without down coats, mittens and snow pants. For the last five months or so, we have been trapped inside our little house-cave, recycling each others' germs. Yesterday, finally, we donned our fleeces and skipped gaily into the big beyond of our yard. That's where things went a little down hill, at least for me. Spring in upstate is a double edged sword. Nothing makes me happier than sunshine, birds chirping, and the chance to walk from the house to my car without tucking my neck into my shoulders like a turtle, protecting myself from the elements and other winter dangers. However, with spring comes a few things I don't like at all- like dirt. There's dirt all over the lawn, all over the deck, and therefore, all over the bottoms of our feet and my hard wood floors. In the spring, it rains a bit, or a lot. This m...

When Andy and I were in graduate school we visited Philadelphia. While I was taking photos from the steps of the art museum, Andy threw a mantantrum because I wasn't including him in any of the shots. If you sift through my albums from that period you see lots of photos of pouty Andy in various historic locations. Occassionally you might see a photo of pouty Andy beside me, if I was lucky enough to find a stranger willing to capture the moment for me. In the photos, Andy is always standing with his arms at his sides, stoically, staring through the camera in annoyance while I have my arms wrapped tightly around him. For a change of pace, we do have a few from grad school parties,where he is a little drunk, and he is leaning his head on mine for balance. Last week, amidst all of the requests I'm asked to take care of and can barely manage, Charlotte's daycare asked me to supply a photo of the two of us for a project about the book, Are You My Mother . Three minutes before ...