Shutterbug Mama

...we hosted our friends caleb and kathy for presidents’ day weekend when they were in town for a wedding. it gave me a chance to bestow on caleb my old gibson which has been sitting around unused for the most part. it is the ugliest guitar you’ve ever seen, but you should hear the sound caleb can get out of that old thing. i know that there is more love for that guitar in new haven, CT than here in chicago, so i felt that it was right to give it a loving home. besides, i’d always said that if i died, the guitar was gonna go to caleb, so why wait? that guitar’s hardly been played since pierre was driving through chicago. interesting tidbit about that guitar—caleb first played it in his friend ben’s living room back in the summer of 2002 (that’s him with the guitar in that photo up there), and i knew then that the guitar had found its rightful owner…and where would his first public performance as official “owner” of the guitar be but at that same ben’s wedding this month…so i guess it’s come full circle…

anyhoo, it was great to see caleb and kathy again…it also gave us an excuse to visit hyde park vineyard…the pastor there is our friend rand who officiated our wedding…rand and his wife aimee are expecting their first baby in april, so i was glad i got to congratulate them in person…aimee looks great pregnant, i think…some women really do glow when they’re prego…we also got to see our friends sam and jenny and their two toddlers, caleb and noah…sam was one of the first friends of mine who got to meet ted…he was actually with me at the last of the infamous 800 south leavitt new years eve parties that ted and his roommates threw…we were all carefree and single then…and now we’ve each got our own little families! it’s just amazing how quickly our lives can change…

...so cadence turned 17 months old last friday…she can be quite demanding and a handful these days, but it’s quite natural for her to be that way at this age…i think a lot of folks expect too much from little toddlers, who just don’t have the maturity to “behave” in ways that may seem to be more acceptable…i try to keep that in mind, and believe me, i have only compassion and empathy for other parents when i am witness to their child’s public meltdowns…

…nevertheless, cadence is a total delight, and it’s harder and harder for me to be away from her during the day, and i find myself daydreaming of family or home business ideas that would enable me to be with her everyday…

…so sunday was grandma day again…we trekked out to see grandma carol for lunch…this time, lauren and dave and dave’s new girlfriend becki joined us as well…then we headed to grandma sophie’s aka yiayia where we were joined by cousin vikki and her daughter mackenzie…

…we had dinner and played cards, while cadence, mackenzie and uncle dave played…like with all little kids, all it took to keep ‘em entertained all evening was a box that was big enough to turn into a boat, a car, a clubhouse, etc…

…and as you can see from these photos…

…cadence did not get out of that box all evening long!

...hope it's a good one!

...so we hosted the coffee hour after church on sunday, and we baked these cookies saturday night with ted's sister lauren...i have to admit that ted and lauren did almost all of the work...i was busy keeping cadence at bay...

...of course, ted and lauren weren't just decorating cookies...they were creating works of art!

...the cookies were definitely a hit on sunday morning...we only had a handful left to take home...

...i have to say that it felt really good to be able to serve our new church family even if it was in just a small way...i didn't think i would ever want to be part of an organized church again, after my disillusionment with some of the mainstream evangelical and fundamentalist experiences of my past life...i think i would have been content to sleep away my sunday mornings, especially after a late saturday night rock ‘n’ roll show, rather than sit in a church and try to stay awake…but then cadence came along, and well, you may as well forget about sleeping in…not only that, becoming a parent has really forced me to deal with my issues regarding christianity and the church…and what i’ve realized is that faith is in fact very important to me…i am who i am because of my faith and because of who i know jesus to be…and i realized that i do actually want my family to grow in a community of faith, to put down roots, have other folks watch our little cadence grow up as we watch theirs, to be encouraged and exhorted by others who share my convictions, esp. to love and to serve a broken world…

...i have just been informed by my beloved husband that i have left him stranded at home with baby, car and NO CAR KEYS...oops...he dropped the car off to have our brakes cleaned yesterday and took the train home, while i took the train to work and picked up the car on my way home from work, thereby ending up with both our car keys in my pocket, which i totally forgot about until he just reminded me a few minutes ago...and he had so much to do today...we're baking cookies tomorrow to take to church on sunday, and he was going to buy all the ingredients while i was at work today...and he was going to be nice enough to pick up my contacts at my eye doctor's...and he was maybe going to hang out with his buddy from work at a cafe and surf cross-country cyclists' blogs together...he was really looking forward to doing all these things, but due to my absentmindedness, he's stuck at home with nothing to do but the laundry...

...so we never set up either of ted's drum sets since we moved into the new place, but he has been giving cadence some lessons on the practice pad...here she is playing along to lungfish's 'love is love' album, which she really likes...now i know you all will probably think i'm just saying this cuz i'm her mother, but i really do think cadence is going to be a fab drummer someday if she so chooses...

...i think her uncle dave and his new girlfriend becki would agree with me on this one though...they watched her practice last saturday night when they came over for dinner and martinis, and they were duly impressesed...

...oh, i forgot to mention that we went to miss mia's birthday brunch last sunday at her beau's down in the fulton market district...i'd never been in that neighborhood, and i was quite impressed at the old warehouses and mill structures down there...

...i really dig water towers...and i've never seen one with a bird painted on it...(birds are so in these day...i really dig a t-shirt with birds on them...especially in pink and brown...now why is that? i'm sure it's due to advertisements of some sort...)

...i miss my days of street photography...oh, you never knew i took photos of subjects other than my daughter? well, lookie here and here...and *sigh* here *sigh*...

...i guess i got really spoiled in january when temperatures averaged in the 40s...now that february has hit us with below freezing temps and some lake effect snow (which really probably won't survive to the weekend), i have to admit i can't wait for spring...

i've become such a cold weather wuss...it's hard to believe that when i was a kid growing up in chicago, winter was my favorite season...maybe it's because my very first winter in the united states included the infamous chicago blizzard of '79...we didn't have snow days home from school...it was more like snow WEEKS...i guess when you're a kid you just love playing in the snow and are oblivious to the cold...i can't imagine what my parents must have thought...they must have wondered what strange land this was that they'd gotten themselves into...

...so last sunday we began the first installment of our monthly "grandma days"...that means visiting both of ted's grandmas out in the burbs on the same day...we first went to see cadence's great-grandma carol...she is quite a hoot to be around...we think cadence gets her laugh from her...and she always makes us bring a pizza when we go see her cuz they don't serve pizza at the retirement community she lives in...i guess it's not the best food for folks who are watching their cholesterol, sodium, fat, etc...

...after lunch with great-grandma carol, we drove to ted's other grandma's for dinner...grandma sophie is greek, so she's yia-yia (pronounced yah-yah) to all of us, which is great cuz that's easy for even cadence to say, although sometimes she says yia-yia-yia-yia-yia...we've opened up "grandma days" to all of ted's siblings and cousins, so his sister lauren and cousin vikki and vikki's daughter mackenzie also came out to yia-yia's, especially since she was recuperating from undergoing an angioplasty performed about a week and a half ago...we had told her not to bother cooking anything, but she still managed to whip up a couple cornish hens, veggie stew, herbed potatoes, and apple crumble...

...cadence had a blast with her cousin 'kenzie...it was so funny watching her try to copy everything mackenzie would do...it'll be fun to watch them grow up and play together over the years...

i think we were all pretty exhausted by the time we went home, but i'm glad we visited both of ted's grandmas and that this is something we're planning to do on a monthly basis...i know how healing it is for older people to be around little kids, so i think both grandmas will benefit from our visits...and us youngsters definitely have a lot to learn from them still...