The past few days have been beautiful. Cool, crisp mornings with the windows open, pleasant afternoons with the windows still open.... I'm beginning to feel quite spoiled. This weekend will mark a return to 80-degree temps for us, and I must say, I don't want it to come. I've changed the background of my blog to fall already because I have already felt that it is here. I don't want to anticipate that summer will make a resurgence before it's pushed out the door by autumn by the late portion of this next month.
Every season, there comes a point where I get a small whiff, a breath, a barely perceptible change in atmosphere the bodes the coming of the next season. It's hard to explain, but I can do no more than say every now and then I get a brief whiff of air that has an indefinable quality of "other" from the air I am used to walking around in. And I think, "Ah, there it is. The next season is coming." A few week's ago, I thought maybe I'd had autumn's. It wasn't a particularly hot day, but it was unbearably muggy, and for a brief second, I smelled a chill briskness in the air, and then it was gone. I hope it forebodes the coming of an early fall, though I don't think I would necessarily relish my husband's prediction of snow in September!
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
To bother or not to bother?
Photos. I keep thinking I need to upload pics. However, I still haven't figured out how to post pictures in a nice layout, and I don't feel a great deal of motivation at this point to get that done. I do feel the spareness of this page without them, the lack of personal touch. But... why try when I have little to post.
Truth to tell, we really don't take pictures around this place. We are always smacking our foreheads when we go to family gatherings because we failed to bring our camera. Even though it sits on the ledge between the kitchen and the living room, we never whip it out and take a photo. My latest belly shot was taken by my sister on her phone and uploaded to Facebook, so I don't even have a digital copy of it to post here! Perhaps we will be better once Eliza is born (no guarantees, though). For now, I just look at the sad, lonely state of my picture-less blog and do little more than twist my lips wryly.
I've promised myself that when September hits (maybe closer to mid-September) I am changing my layout theme to a fall one, whether it is Fall or not, or cool or not. I'm that ready for fall! Maybe by then I will have it figured out and will have some pictures to post.
Truth to tell, we really don't take pictures around this place. We are always smacking our foreheads when we go to family gatherings because we failed to bring our camera. Even though it sits on the ledge between the kitchen and the living room, we never whip it out and take a photo. My latest belly shot was taken by my sister on her phone and uploaded to Facebook, so I don't even have a digital copy of it to post here! Perhaps we will be better once Eliza is born (no guarantees, though). For now, I just look at the sad, lonely state of my picture-less blog and do little more than twist my lips wryly.
I've promised myself that when September hits (maybe closer to mid-September) I am changing my layout theme to a fall one, whether it is Fall or not, or cool or not. I'm that ready for fall! Maybe by then I will have it figured out and will have some pictures to post.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Not much to tell
Life hasn't been too busy or too interesting in the Kemper household the past few weeks. We're still on a slow crusade to prepare the condo for listing, and I'm almost of a mind to ask Nick that we put a for-sale sign out this weekend whether we're really ready or no. There's nothing like a call on the place to motivate that last push of preparedness. But perhaps using that sort of "reverse psychology" is more like using a crutch. Regardless, I continue to work on the kitchen, decluttering and reorganizing and try my darnedest to pretend I like to clean so that everything is "spick and span".
This first part of this week, however, did give me the opportunity to celebrate my birthday. I turned 30 on Monday. Many people have asked me how I felt on the occasion. To be honest, it hasn't seemed any different from any other birthday. I don't really feel any older, and it doesn't bother me in the least that I've left the 20's behind. It was bound to happen. I guess I'm no longer a "young adult" in any sense of the word, just an adult. Fitting, since I'm due to take on a child in less than three months! Still, I don't look that old and I don't necessarily feel whether I'm that old one or the other. It was a very nice birthday, though, with time spent with friends and family.
On Monday, besides celebrate my birthday, my mom and I took a trip to KC to pick up Eliza's crib. Sadly, it's in the basement of my parents' house until we have such time and place to put it up! But it's nice to know it's there, ready and waiting for Nick to pour over the diagrams and the parts, to disregard it all and simply put it up! We had to go over to help Dad get it out of the truck; how the man at the store loaded it on his own, I'll never know! It was a bit of a harrowing ride back from Kansas City: the air-conditiong wasn't working on one of the hottest days of the week, and the tail-gate wouldn't come back up and latch. We took the highways instead of the Interstate all the way back to Topeka hoping that the weight of the crib would keep it lodged in the truck bed. The Lord answered our prayers! And now, it is safely ensconced in the basement until we're ready to put it up.
Beyond that, there is little to share. Week by week goes slowly by as I wait for cooler weather and hopefully a relief to my swollen feet. I do admit, the temperatures haven't been all that terrible, for the most part, these past few weeks, but the humidity has killed all enjoyment of them. I am waiting for the crisp cool days of fall. At the moment I am heartily and happily immersed in L.M. Montgomery's Anne books and relish over every reference to the changing of the seasons. Just this morning I was reading Anne of Windy Poplars and enjoyed a letter in which she writes to Gilber the coming cold and thrilled at the date at the top of the epistle: November 10th. Of course, my November 10th will be quite different from Anne's: perhaps just as chilly but rather than be fussing with a new wood stove I'll be waiting for any sign of labor discomfort. It seems such a long way's away.
This first part of this week, however, did give me the opportunity to celebrate my birthday. I turned 30 on Monday. Many people have asked me how I felt on the occasion. To be honest, it hasn't seemed any different from any other birthday. I don't really feel any older, and it doesn't bother me in the least that I've left the 20's behind. It was bound to happen. I guess I'm no longer a "young adult" in any sense of the word, just an adult. Fitting, since I'm due to take on a child in less than three months! Still, I don't look that old and I don't necessarily feel whether I'm that old one or the other. It was a very nice birthday, though, with time spent with friends and family.
On Monday, besides celebrate my birthday, my mom and I took a trip to KC to pick up Eliza's crib. Sadly, it's in the basement of my parents' house until we have such time and place to put it up! But it's nice to know it's there, ready and waiting for Nick to pour over the diagrams and the parts, to disregard it all and simply put it up! We had to go over to help Dad get it out of the truck; how the man at the store loaded it on his own, I'll never know! It was a bit of a harrowing ride back from Kansas City: the air-conditiong wasn't working on one of the hottest days of the week, and the tail-gate wouldn't come back up and latch. We took the highways instead of the Interstate all the way back to Topeka hoping that the weight of the crib would keep it lodged in the truck bed. The Lord answered our prayers! And now, it is safely ensconced in the basement until we're ready to put it up.
Beyond that, there is little to share. Week by week goes slowly by as I wait for cooler weather and hopefully a relief to my swollen feet. I do admit, the temperatures haven't been all that terrible, for the most part, these past few weeks, but the humidity has killed all enjoyment of them. I am waiting for the crisp cool days of fall. At the moment I am heartily and happily immersed in L.M. Montgomery's Anne books and relish over every reference to the changing of the seasons. Just this morning I was reading Anne of Windy Poplars and enjoyed a letter in which she writes to Gilber the coming cold and thrilled at the date at the top of the epistle: November 10th. Of course, my November 10th will be quite different from Anne's: perhaps just as chilly but rather than be fussing with a new wood stove I'll be waiting for any sign of labor discomfort. It seems such a long way's away.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Ruminations
Truth: I love to color. I'm not entirely sure what it is: the nostalgia of the smell of a box of waxy crayons, the satisfaction of taking a black-and-white image to full color, the opportunity to experiment with colors... I don't know. But, still, even as a nearly-30 adult, I love to color.
However, that does not mean I get to indulge in the past-time frequently. Not for lack of time: I could easily sit and color while I watch TV at some point of my day. No, it's lack of material. Has anyone been down the coloring book aisle? I spot two major problems every time I go in.
Problem No. 1: there are more activity books than coloring books. So many books today are filled with connect-the-dots, circle-the-one-that's-different... It's almost like a Highlights Magazine without the reading material! Seriously, just give me a blank image to color. I do enough "connecting the dots," shall we say, on a daily basis on a slightly higher cognitive scale that I don't feel the need to connect the dots to see that the dog is carrying a bone in its mouth. (I can see the correlation between connect-the-dots and decision-making, don't you?) Perhaps it's part of the trend that every toy and activity must stimulate the brain in some educationally-viable manner. But I miss picking up a fat coloring book full of pictures for me to color and no other demands upon my time, where I'm paying for exactly what I want and not numerous pages I'm going to skip.
Problem No. 2: Almost every book in the aisle is based upon a popular animated tv show or franchise. Dora the Explorer? Diego? Transformers? Pixar Films? Sponge Bob?? There are only so many different ways you can color Dora's shirts and shorts before you get bored. I couldn't even find a Fancy Nancy coloring book for to accompany some books for my niece's birthday (which, Happy Birthday, Mady!).
I know that, mostly, in order to sell, coloring books do better if they are connected to some franchise. So what would I like to see instead of Dora and Sponge Bob? How about... literary characters? Jane Austen coloring books! Fantastic. Little Women? Yes! Pull from the Bronte sisters, Elizabeth Gaskell, even Dickens, if necessary. They have paper dolls for them now, why not coloring books? Even Shakespeare's plays would be a lark. Certainly better than repetitive Dora...
However, that does not mean I get to indulge in the past-time frequently. Not for lack of time: I could easily sit and color while I watch TV at some point of my day. No, it's lack of material. Has anyone been down the coloring book aisle? I spot two major problems every time I go in.
Problem No. 1: there are more activity books than coloring books. So many books today are filled with connect-the-dots, circle-the-one-that's-different... It's almost like a Highlights Magazine without the reading material! Seriously, just give me a blank image to color. I do enough "connecting the dots," shall we say, on a daily basis on a slightly higher cognitive scale that I don't feel the need to connect the dots to see that the dog is carrying a bone in its mouth. (I can see the correlation between connect-the-dots and decision-making, don't you?) Perhaps it's part of the trend that every toy and activity must stimulate the brain in some educationally-viable manner. But I miss picking up a fat coloring book full of pictures for me to color and no other demands upon my time, where I'm paying for exactly what I want and not numerous pages I'm going to skip.
Problem No. 2: Almost every book in the aisle is based upon a popular animated tv show or franchise. Dora the Explorer? Diego? Transformers? Pixar Films? Sponge Bob?? There are only so many different ways you can color Dora's shirts and shorts before you get bored. I couldn't even find a Fancy Nancy coloring book for to accompany some books for my niece's birthday (which, Happy Birthday, Mady!).
I know that, mostly, in order to sell, coloring books do better if they are connected to some franchise. So what would I like to see instead of Dora and Sponge Bob? How about... literary characters? Jane Austen coloring books! Fantastic. Little Women? Yes! Pull from the Bronte sisters, Elizabeth Gaskell, even Dickens, if necessary. They have paper dolls for them now, why not coloring books? Even Shakespeare's plays would be a lark. Certainly better than repetitive Dora...
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
3 months to go...
It is both a long time and no time at all. Only three months until the arrival of baby Elizabeth... I don't know if I should put a happy exclamation on the end or a freaked-out question mark!
I'm sure that this is no new feeling to first-time expectant mothers. It seems, at least among my pool of child-bearing friends, that with the second, it is more an anticipation for the arrival and the end of pregnancy than any concerns about another little life coming into the world. Lucky, blessed "old-timers." They've done this all before. But for me, this is new, this is first, and I'm not sure I'm ready for it. (Are we ever really ready for it? We all know the answer.)
So, yes, mid-November seems so very far away. Especially as I'm aching for the fall more and more as August progresses and the cooler weather and crisp happy days of October seem to take longer to get here. Please, do not mention cider or cider doughnuts around this pregnant woman. I may not in actuality crave them (though, cider, yes, I very likely do...), but I crave everything they represent, my favorite time of year. Is it time for harvest pies yet? What about the time when hot chocolate or hot chai is comforting and warming rather than causing a sweat? If October seems so very far away, then surely November stretches even further beyond my reach. Will it ever get here? And the ache for fall is also combined with a burning curiosity to see my child. What will she look like? Will she have Nick's eyes? My nose? Whose cheeks will she inherit (because we must admit mine, even as an adult, are rather round)? Will she have Nick's long frame or my stumpy one? (I apologize, but I can find no other word that so well sums up my short and big-boned stature.) Will she be a quiet baby? Will she be fussy or stubborn or hot-tempered? More and more of these questions pop up in my brain as the day approaches.
But then... we're not ready. I have no bed for her to sleep in. I have no bottles, no binkies, no diapers. No baby shampoo, no baby nail clippers, no high chair, no play pen. The poor child will be naked until sometime closer to March as we have no newborn clothes. Granted, many of these things will be easily rectified in the next month or so. There's a crib shortly to be on order and the family cradle needs only to be pulled out of storage and dusted off by my sister. A baby shower and loving family will provide many of the needs we have. But the state of not having them, of not even having a nursery yet in which to put them, makes me feel very under-prepared. And I wonder if three months will be sufficient to get ready. I'd like to think we'll be in a new home by the time Elizabeth arrives, but who knows what the Lord's will is in that? There just seems to be a long list of things to do before her arrival: sell the condo, attend a child-birthing class, packing lists, check lists, prenatal appointments now every other week... the list goes on, but putting it "all down on paper" seems a little daunting.
And so, rather than getting my to-do list done this morning, I am yet again ruminating on the time we have left. It's been a mantra in my mind since my prenatal appointment yesterday. Three months left, three months left.... Both, where has the time gone? And, how much longer is this going to take?
I'm sure that this is no new feeling to first-time expectant mothers. It seems, at least among my pool of child-bearing friends, that with the second, it is more an anticipation for the arrival and the end of pregnancy than any concerns about another little life coming into the world. Lucky, blessed "old-timers." They've done this all before. But for me, this is new, this is first, and I'm not sure I'm ready for it. (Are we ever really ready for it? We all know the answer.)
So, yes, mid-November seems so very far away. Especially as I'm aching for the fall more and more as August progresses and the cooler weather and crisp happy days of October seem to take longer to get here. Please, do not mention cider or cider doughnuts around this pregnant woman. I may not in actuality crave them (though, cider, yes, I very likely do...), but I crave everything they represent, my favorite time of year. Is it time for harvest pies yet? What about the time when hot chocolate or hot chai is comforting and warming rather than causing a sweat? If October seems so very far away, then surely November stretches even further beyond my reach. Will it ever get here? And the ache for fall is also combined with a burning curiosity to see my child. What will she look like? Will she have Nick's eyes? My nose? Whose cheeks will she inherit (because we must admit mine, even as an adult, are rather round)? Will she have Nick's long frame or my stumpy one? (I apologize, but I can find no other word that so well sums up my short and big-boned stature.) Will she be a quiet baby? Will she be fussy or stubborn or hot-tempered? More and more of these questions pop up in my brain as the day approaches.
But then... we're not ready. I have no bed for her to sleep in. I have no bottles, no binkies, no diapers. No baby shampoo, no baby nail clippers, no high chair, no play pen. The poor child will be naked until sometime closer to March as we have no newborn clothes. Granted, many of these things will be easily rectified in the next month or so. There's a crib shortly to be on order and the family cradle needs only to be pulled out of storage and dusted off by my sister. A baby shower and loving family will provide many of the needs we have. But the state of not having them, of not even having a nursery yet in which to put them, makes me feel very under-prepared. And I wonder if three months will be sufficient to get ready. I'd like to think we'll be in a new home by the time Elizabeth arrives, but who knows what the Lord's will is in that? There just seems to be a long list of things to do before her arrival: sell the condo, attend a child-birthing class, packing lists, check lists, prenatal appointments now every other week... the list goes on, but putting it "all down on paper" seems a little daunting.
And so, rather than getting my to-do list done this morning, I am yet again ruminating on the time we have left. It's been a mantra in my mind since my prenatal appointment yesterday. Three months left, three months left.... Both, where has the time gone? And, how much longer is this going to take?
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Busy, busy, busy, and so ready for the fall!
The days are fairly busy right now, which is nice. Nick and I are chipping away at the list of things to be done so we can put the condo up for sale. We are praying that it will be a quick sale, but I think we may need to settle in to wait awhile. We shall have to see how the Lord provides.
The place looks really good, actually! It's nice not having boxes and things sitting around. Nick has some very minor repairs and touch-ups to do. If I could just tame the clutter on my desk and hang some pictures in the office, that room would look very nice. It's wonderful having a dining room again! Nick has cleared away all his computer parts that he's had spread around and we've reclaimed that room for it's purpose! Every night now we have dinner together at the table. I'm really looking forward to the time that it won't just be the two of us. :)
Speaking of Eliza, her Aunt Melissa and her Grammy have been doing quite a bit to contribute to her wardrobe! I really don't want to consider how much my sister may have spent already. Mom found a gorgeous little ribboned dress for Easter next year. I'd like to find a little cardigan sweater or even a shrug (do they make such things for babies?) to go with it. I think this young lady is going to be spending her warmer months in skirts and dresses with all the sundresses and things we have for her! It's hard to believe that a year from now she will be close to 9 mo. old and possibly crawling, when she's still kicking round in the womb right now. But that's me: always looking into the future. I have a few patterns and things I'd like make up for her: a few crocheted sweaters. We shall see if I have the time and money to indulge on some nice yarn! The patterns also come out of books from the library, so I will either have to copy them off or continuously check them out (hoping no one else will want to!). The nesting bug is beginning to hit and I'm really wishing we had things lined up for our next abode so I could go in and prepare a room for her. I'd love to order the crib and a crib set, paint the walls, pick out curtains... I have an old chest of drawers from my grandparents that I'm trying to decide if I'd like to paint it or not. But, there's no place to put any of this stuff as of yet, so it's all on hold.
And indeed, I'm ready for the fall! We've had a mild summer (until this week) and another month and a half of it to go before it will cool down, but I'm so ready for it. Not for any discomfort reasons: I just love the fall. The older I get the more it becomes my favorite season. I love the change of colors, the cooler, crisper air, the harvest time with apples and pumpkins and all kinds of baking recipes in the magazines... (Sorry, I just don't enjoy the salad-grill fest the magazines feature every summer!) I especially love the run up to the holidays and those first days of winter right before Christmas! That is my favorite time of year. Already Hobby Lobby has Christmas items out and I'm salivating! I'm hoping that somehow there will be a way for us to put up a Christmas tree this year and I can start to break out ornaments and decorations. But that will all depend on where we are living...
So please, if you read this blog, say a little prayer for us that our condo will sell quickly. I don't know exactly how fast things are moving on the real estate market. It's a nice little place, just not quite right for us as a growing family. I know the Lord could have this wrapped up in a matter of days, if He chooses to move in that direction. The Lord's will be done above all! But if He sees fit, I'd like to put this chapter to rest and move on to the next. I almost feel a holding pattern is on until we do.
The place looks really good, actually! It's nice not having boxes and things sitting around. Nick has some very minor repairs and touch-ups to do. If I could just tame the clutter on my desk and hang some pictures in the office, that room would look very nice. It's wonderful having a dining room again! Nick has cleared away all his computer parts that he's had spread around and we've reclaimed that room for it's purpose! Every night now we have dinner together at the table. I'm really looking forward to the time that it won't just be the two of us. :)
Speaking of Eliza, her Aunt Melissa and her Grammy have been doing quite a bit to contribute to her wardrobe! I really don't want to consider how much my sister may have spent already. Mom found a gorgeous little ribboned dress for Easter next year. I'd like to find a little cardigan sweater or even a shrug (do they make such things for babies?) to go with it. I think this young lady is going to be spending her warmer months in skirts and dresses with all the sundresses and things we have for her! It's hard to believe that a year from now she will be close to 9 mo. old and possibly crawling, when she's still kicking round in the womb right now. But that's me: always looking into the future. I have a few patterns and things I'd like make up for her: a few crocheted sweaters. We shall see if I have the time and money to indulge on some nice yarn! The patterns also come out of books from the library, so I will either have to copy them off or continuously check them out (hoping no one else will want to!). The nesting bug is beginning to hit and I'm really wishing we had things lined up for our next abode so I could go in and prepare a room for her. I'd love to order the crib and a crib set, paint the walls, pick out curtains... I have an old chest of drawers from my grandparents that I'm trying to decide if I'd like to paint it or not. But, there's no place to put any of this stuff as of yet, so it's all on hold.
And indeed, I'm ready for the fall! We've had a mild summer (until this week) and another month and a half of it to go before it will cool down, but I'm so ready for it. Not for any discomfort reasons: I just love the fall. The older I get the more it becomes my favorite season. I love the change of colors, the cooler, crisper air, the harvest time with apples and pumpkins and all kinds of baking recipes in the magazines... (Sorry, I just don't enjoy the salad-grill fest the magazines feature every summer!) I especially love the run up to the holidays and those first days of winter right before Christmas! That is my favorite time of year. Already Hobby Lobby has Christmas items out and I'm salivating! I'm hoping that somehow there will be a way for us to put up a Christmas tree this year and I can start to break out ornaments and decorations. But that will all depend on where we are living...
So please, if you read this blog, say a little prayer for us that our condo will sell quickly. I don't know exactly how fast things are moving on the real estate market. It's a nice little place, just not quite right for us as a growing family. I know the Lord could have this wrapped up in a matter of days, if He chooses to move in that direction. The Lord's will be done above all! But if He sees fit, I'd like to put this chapter to rest and move on to the next. I almost feel a holding pattern is on until we do.
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