Resolutions and Goals, part 1

Yes, I make them on New Years. Lets see how I did. Just looking in my journal from last year at my goals for 2008.

1. Set up art table - studio corner - and have working projects going on.
I did pretty well with this one. I made some art I like for my design class. Drew Ivan a few times. Started crafting again this fall. I'll go ahead and be generous with myself and check this off.

2. Write some songs.
Nope. Not done. But I did start a new journal with the goal of getting more poetic. Let's see where it leads.

3. take a good crack at a garden.
Nope. Not even a bad crack at one.

4. Get Maxine a bike. Go to the park and ride a lot.
Check! We did this! And she's riding without training wheels. More biking goals to come for next year.

5. Go to Soulard on Saturdays. Renew effort to buy locally.
Check. Fell off the wagon post-partum, but got back on with the fall harvest.

6. Get involved in activist community. Check out CAMP free skool.
Nope. I think I joined the free skool mailing list, but nothing ever came of it.

7. Online less.
Nope. Hello, facecrack! I mean facebook!

8.Acquire/organize the baby stuff I will need for minimal money.
Check!

9. Get a sewing machine.
Gee, I wanted one a year ago, too? Still haven't done it.

10. Garage Sales.
uh, I think I went to one.

11.Get my artwork on a website.
Nope.

12. Homebirth
check!


Coming next, goals for 2009.

Happy Holiday!

Wishing you all peace and good cheer.

How J-L0 ended up on my ipod.

It's a long story involving at least five readers of this blog.
1. David and Ashley turn Brent and Lyndsay, Maxine's grandparents, on to So You Think You Can Dance when they visit them in LA.
2. We visit Brent and Lyndsay in Colorado, where Maxine sees the season finale of SYTYCD. She becomes obsessed with it, especially the hip-hop dancing. Brent makes us a video tape of it.
3. Maxine watches the video tape about 50 times once we get back to St. Louis.
4. Bonnie, Maxine's godmother, gives her a dance class for her birthday. We choose hip-hop at COCA!
5. Maxine practices her routine everywhere, including street corners and the bathtub.
6. And so that's how "Do It Well" ended up on my ipod, along with Jordin Sparks, Rihanna, The Pussycat Dolls, and Chris Brown. In fact, we are both loving top-40 radio now. Hey, I may even pick up a few moves myself.
The class was a great experience for her - she started out struggling to keep up, with no concept of beat, and ended up the best in her class.


Next semester she is going to change gears and take ballet. Hm, you know, I have no interest in ballet, so its hard for me to be as excited about it, but I guess if you are serious about dance you have to take ballet at some point. Get it, point?

Buck

That's the name Jason chose for our tree. According to Adam, my dear roommate in NYC, you have to name your tree so that you remember to water it. The year was 1996, and Adam's tree was named Evita.
So, here are the contenders:
Buck (from Jason)
The Spirit of Santa Clause (from Maxine)
Timmy Carlton (also from Maxine)
Personally I'm leaning toward Timmy the Tree, but to be honest I haven't called it by name when I remember to water it. So you still have time to enter suggestions, I'll be taking them up until December 24.


My favorite ornament, little round frog hiding in his lit pine cave. (There's a haiku there, I'm sure.)


Our lovely tree.


Ivan doesn't grab and pull it down, but gingerly touches with his fingers.

Q: Can a cute baby be creepy?

A:
with the right lighting, yes. Plus why does he look like he's hovering in space, coming to get you?

The New Kid

Sweet old iMac, you have served us well, but there's a new kid in town.
Its funny, we got the iMac when Maxine was a few months old. Now there's Ivan, and a few (well, six) months later, the macbook. You can see our pattern, have child, buy computer.
What can I say, after seven years, having a brand new fast computer is niiiiiiiiiice! Oh, and portability? I haven't even delved into that one too much, although I did make Maxine late for school by checking facebook at the breakfast table.
And in other news, Jason has an ipod now.

Dre Satu

That's Maxine spelling for "Dear Santa." Which she doesn't really believe in by the way, she pretty much knows its us, although she's holding on to some piece of magical thinking. Jason suggested that maybe Santa isn't real, but Satu is. Anyway, this is the first year that she's wrote out a list:

Dre Satu
I'm going to Tell what I want
a singing Brat
a Barbee fairee
Hana Montana close
and a coloring book
Love Maxine
is Sata real
PS
don't forget to bring my baby brudr something

It seemed like such a reasonable list, so I've gotten everything on it. Even the cheesy Hannah Montanah clothes.
Here's a picture of Xiney with her friend Miriam, at her school's Feast of Thanks.

1, 2, 3, 4.

"HEY, IVAN!"
one:

two:

three:

four:


(I sure don't do much deep thinking on here anymore. It's pretty much "post cute baby pictures and run." But then again,
I think Ivan's little mug is more popular than any of my philosophical musings.)