This has been a stressful 24 hours for me. I'm staying at my dad's this weekend because they are out of town, and my brother is at home. Last night my brother and I got in a "fight" (which means I called him out on his characteristically disrespectful behavior and bad judgment and he then proceeded to call me "egotistical," "holier than thou," and "not my sister" in a series of attacking text messages.)
So I've been in kind of a crappy mood all day today, and was surprised that his angry and thoughtless words got to me so much, particularly since my whole career is based on conflict, and it seems like something I ought to be able to just let roll off my shoulder.
Just moments ago, I was able to put my finger on this feeling, this restlessness and worry combined with nausea- it's the same feeling I used to get when I was a kid and there would be intense anger and lashing out that tends to happen in a divorced/blended family home. I hated that aspect of my growing up, and it is something I have not really experienced in many many years.
The reminder of the ways that sort of discord and anger affect me makes me very grateful that my home life now involves mainly disagreements about MSNBC vs. ESPN and only on the very rarest of occasions ever escalates to true anger.
The pit in my stomach has started to shrink--my dad will be home tomorrow, and Sarah and Charlie arrive in Minneapolis in a matter of hours. And Johan is snuggling up to me right now, so the peace of my life emerges once again.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Political Developments
OH-bama. Holy smokes, Michelle Obama was was incredible last night. As she finished speaking and the daughters joined her on stage, I got another intuitive feeling that I was staring at the next First Family.
Hillary's speaking right now. It's the perfect speech, really, at least so far. It's what she needed to do- she's mentioned all the issues that are important to her and contrasted McCain's values and positions to her own and the Democratic platform. She's now quoting Harriet Tubman-- the Keep Going words. And Michelle Obama is giving her a standing ovation.
Man, I love this stuff.
On a side note, at the Minnesota State Fair today, we walked by the Republican booth and when they offered Johan a balloon, I shouted "GO-BAMA!" and Johan scowled at those balloon-offering fascists.
Hillary's speaking right now. It's the perfect speech, really, at least so far. It's what she needed to do- she's mentioned all the issues that are important to her and contrasted McCain's values and positions to her own and the Democratic platform. She's now quoting Harriet Tubman-- the Keep Going words. And Michelle Obama is giving her a standing ovation.
Man, I love this stuff.
On a side note, at the Minnesota State Fair today, we walked by the Republican booth and when they offered Johan a balloon, I shouted "GO-BAMA!" and Johan scowled at those balloon-offering fascists.
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
3/4
Johan was 9 months old on August 15. While there was much fanfare and celebration, my interest (read: obsession) with the Olympics kept me from posting some 9 month photos. Probably most people have seen them on facebook anyway, but whatevs. He's darling enough to look at twice, don't you think?
Also, a disclaimer. These photos are actually from when he was 8 months old. See above for why I haven't gotten around to downloading pictures for a few weeks. In any case, it's incredible to me that in 12 short weeks, Johan will be one year old.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
NWA can take a flying...
leap.
Last night Eduardo and I bought our tickets to the DR for Christmas. It will be my first trip there since 2004, which is insane since I used to spend all my school holidays and summers there. Before we bought our tickets on American Airlines, I checked around with some other airlines, just to see if they had any better deals.
Northwest Airlines is the predominant airline out of Minneapolis airport, so I wondered what they might have to offer, especially in light of the recent merger with Delta, which has a strong presence in Latin America.
The tickets from MSP - Santo Domingo costs $7000.00. That's seven THOUSAND. For coach. And food for purchase. Even more ridiculous is the proposed route: Fly from Minneapolis to Amsterdam; Amsterdam to Paris; and Paris to Santo Domingo. w. t. f. Northwest clearly does not want to sell tickets from Minneapolis to Santo Domingo. Why don't they just say so instead of proposing inane routes?
I checked Delta and they actually had some reasonable flights with only one stop in Atlanta. We ended up buying our tickets on American. Eduardo should have enough miles for a free trip after this one.
While I generally am not a big fan of large corporate mergers, last night I decided I welcome Delta eating up Northwest. First, Delta is going to have to offer lots of cheap flights from Minneapolis to Atlanta as a gateway to Latin America and Europe to fill the gap left by Northwest's demise. Second, having an airline that has enough presence in Latin America to offer Minnesotans another choice besides American Airlines will hopefully drive prices down and not make it prohibitively expensive for Johan to spend time with his Domo family.
As a side note, Johan, Evelyn and I spent the afternoon at an Ecuadorian festival today. Choclos con queso; volibol on a cement court; sancocho and chicharron; dust all over my feet from the dirt path leading to the festival-- it was pretty much like going to Ecuador (or how I imagine it). And it was way less than $7000.00.
Last night Eduardo and I bought our tickets to the DR for Christmas. It will be my first trip there since 2004, which is insane since I used to spend all my school holidays and summers there. Before we bought our tickets on American Airlines, I checked around with some other airlines, just to see if they had any better deals.
Northwest Airlines is the predominant airline out of Minneapolis airport, so I wondered what they might have to offer, especially in light of the recent merger with Delta, which has a strong presence in Latin America.
The tickets from MSP - Santo Domingo costs $7000.00. That's seven THOUSAND. For coach. And food for purchase. Even more ridiculous is the proposed route: Fly from Minneapolis to Amsterdam; Amsterdam to Paris; and Paris to Santo Domingo. w. t. f. Northwest clearly does not want to sell tickets from Minneapolis to Santo Domingo. Why don't they just say so instead of proposing inane routes?
I checked Delta and they actually had some reasonable flights with only one stop in Atlanta. We ended up buying our tickets on American. Eduardo should have enough miles for a free trip after this one.
While I generally am not a big fan of large corporate mergers, last night I decided I welcome Delta eating up Northwest. First, Delta is going to have to offer lots of cheap flights from Minneapolis to Atlanta as a gateway to Latin America and Europe to fill the gap left by Northwest's demise. Second, having an airline that has enough presence in Latin America to offer Minnesotans another choice besides American Airlines will hopefully drive prices down and not make it prohibitively expensive for Johan to spend time with his Domo family.
As a side note, Johan, Evelyn and I spent the afternoon at an Ecuadorian festival today. Choclos con queso; volibol on a cement court; sancocho and chicharron; dust all over my feet from the dirt path leading to the festival-- it was pretty much like going to Ecuador (or how I imagine it). And it was way less than $7000.00.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Funny
Speaking of sports, this is a story my friend Angelo told me last night.
Angelo and his 4-year-old son Dominick watching TV.
Angelo: Dom, who's that on the TV?
Dominick: Brett Favre.
Angelo: No, Dom! That's Adrian Peterson!
Dominick: Oh, I thought it was Brett Favre when he used to be black.
Angelo and his 4-year-old son Dominick watching TV.
Angelo: Dom, who's that on the TV?
Dominick: Brett Favre.
Angelo: No, Dom! That's Adrian Peterson!
Dominick: Oh, I thought it was Brett Favre when he used to be black.
8.8.08
I meant to write about the summer Olympics on opening day which was 8.8.08, but time got away from me. The title of the post is staying the same so get over it.
I love the summer Olympics. Swimming, diving, sprinting, gymnastics, even putting the shot. There's something about the summer Olympics that seems like an equalizer. Whereas to compete in winter Olympics, you definitely need equipment like skates, skis, snowboards, bobsleds, boots, etc., if you really want to kick ass at the summer Olympics, you really just need feet. Sure, gymnastics, bicycling, and swimming are still sort of elitist sports--renting gym or pool time and buying a high-quality bike and related equipment are expensive. But there are plenty of sports in the summer Olympics that aren't inherently expensive. This is probably why more than double the number of countries are represented at summer Olympic games that at the winter games.
At the 2004 summer games, there was some break-out Dominican kid named Felix who won a bunch of the track events. It was awesome because no one ever heard of him and he was just fast as hell. One of the reasons I love watching the Olympics is for the great unknown athletes that come and kick the American, Chinese, and Russian asses. This is a phenomenon that will henceforth be called the "Felix Phenomenon." You heard it here first.
I love the summer Olympics. Swimming, diving, sprinting, gymnastics, even putting the shot. There's something about the summer Olympics that seems like an equalizer. Whereas to compete in winter Olympics, you definitely need equipment like skates, skis, snowboards, bobsleds, boots, etc., if you really want to kick ass at the summer Olympics, you really just need feet. Sure, gymnastics, bicycling, and swimming are still sort of elitist sports--renting gym or pool time and buying a high-quality bike and related equipment are expensive. But there are plenty of sports in the summer Olympics that aren't inherently expensive. This is probably why more than double the number of countries are represented at summer Olympic games that at the winter games.
At the 2004 summer games, there was some break-out Dominican kid named Felix who won a bunch of the track events. It was awesome because no one ever heard of him and he was just fast as hell. One of the reasons I love watching the Olympics is for the great unknown athletes that come and kick the American, Chinese, and Russian asses. This is a phenomenon that will henceforth be called the "Felix Phenomenon." You heard it here first.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
The Baby with Changing Faces
Our sweet, easy-going, go-with-the-flow Johan seems to be morphing into a different baby. More demanding, less willing to sit nicely and play with toys so that mom or dad or grandma can take a shower or clean the kitchen floor. I've read that around this time (Johan is 8.5 months), babies get clingier. Fortunately, we have not descended into a hell of Johan refusing to be held or attended to by anyone but me. That's the good news. What he is doing, though, is intermittently demanding to only be held and attended to by a single person-- if he wants to be with me, he screams at Eduardo. And vice versa. He also has a strong attachment to Evelyn and apparently the receptionist at my office. Yesterday when I picked Johan up, he only wanted to stay with Evelyn. Greeaat.
My dad seems to think that this new behavior is because we co-sleep at night with Johan. I don't agree, because he takes naps in his crib without much protest, both at home and at grandparents house.
I'm hoping this is just a phase of neediness and that chill Johan re-emerges in the next few weeks.
My dad seems to think that this new behavior is because we co-sleep at night with Johan. I don't agree, because he takes naps in his crib without much protest, both at home and at grandparents house.
I'm hoping this is just a phase of neediness and that chill Johan re-emerges in the next few weeks.
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