Four years ago today, Nik surprised me with a ring and a question.
I’m so glad he did!
Part of the evening was getting and decorating a Christmas tree for Nik’s (now our) house. The tree branches didn’t cooperate though so we watched The Office instead.* We ended up calling this our love tree because it stayed looking beautiful until we took it down in March even though we’d stopped watering it long before.
I love you Nik! This girl is glad you asked me to marry you too.
*Fairly ironic that TV has a part in our engagement story because we now have banished our TV to the basement and never watch it. We did love The Office though!
This set of pictures used to live on the wall in our office.
Featured prominently in the center of the collage (which is from Nik’s 2003 cross-country Bus Trip), is Brody with Bob Barker.
That’s right, Brody was on The Price is Right. And here’s the video to prove it (make sure to watch for Nik, Drew, Dan, and Ryan going crazy in the 2nd row.)
But, there’s someone new in town (that person being Ellie) and I asked Nik if the Bus Trip could be dethroned for something more baby-like – and frankly something that made me happy when I looked at it every day. This fit the bill perfectly.
My fellow Sewing Club friends Anne and Heather (who happens to be married to Ryan, of the video above) made this incredible appliqued quilt for Ellie. They even “canceled” sewing club one night this summer and then reinstated it, without me, so they could finish it! Sneaky! As I told them, this was clearly made by teachers for teachers. They brought in our love of vegetables and gardening, combined it with math, and did it beautifully.
I especially love “5” because of the 5 peas in each pod and because I love sugar snap peas, fresh off the vine in the spring.
Thank you Heather and Anne for making us such an amazing gift that brings me pleasure every day when I look at it! (And Brody, don’t worry, we still love you even if you’re not on our wall anymore. But if you’re upset about this, don’t blame us. Blame her.)
1. I think that I, at the age of 34, may have finally reached pie crust competence. I’ve now made two pie crusts in a row (last week’s pumpkin pie and quiche for dinner today) where I’ve managed to get it in the pan and even crimp the edges so that they look pretty good, even to this perfectionist. Not, of course, anywhere close to Mom’s glorious crusts but good enough. It’s about time.
2. Gerber designers must have been smoking something illegal when they sized their Onesies. Granted, Ellie is wearing 3-6 month clothes at 2 months but seriously – she has already outgrown their “3-9” month onesies and the 12-month onesies aren’t that big on her at all. The Carter onesies fit her just fine. (And for the record, that’s with disposable not cloth so the diapers are not the issue. I think it’s the illegal drugs.)
3. I love our mechanic. I had to take our good car in today for what turned out only to be a dying battery, thankfully. I’ve been going to this place since I moved to Baltimore in 2002 and so I know not only the owner, Randy but some of the other mechanics too including Ta and Randy’s son Chris – who definitely wasn’t old enough to be working in the family business when I started going there. I was there in September to get something else fixed and so they saw me very pregnant. And today they got to meet Ellie! It was so cool to see all these mechanics going ga-ga over a sweet baby girl. They were so excited to meet her! Immensely better than going to a big impersonal shop/dealer. Anyone in Baltimore – if you need a mechanic, I highly recommend Mid-Atlantic Muffler and Brake, without hesitation. (And they do more than mufflers and brakes!)
“She would wake up hungry in the night where she slept in her basket by my bed. I would turn on the light, change her diaper, and then turn the light off. The rest I did in the dark, by feeling. I took her into bed with me and propped myself up with pillows against the headboard to let her nurse. As she nursed and the milk came, she began a little low contented sort of singing. I would feel milk and love flowing from me to her as once it had flowed to me. It emptied me. As the baby fed, I seemed slowly to grow empty of myself as if in the presence of that long flow of love even grief could not stand. And the next thing I knew, I would be waking up to daylight in the room and Little Margaret would be still sleeping in my arms.”
Hannah Coulter by Wendell Berry, p. 56-57
(Emphasis mine. Thanks to Nik for finding this passage for us.)
(For a discussion of this incredible book, see last week’s Readers’ Review show from the Diane Rehm show. If you haven’t read it yet, you should.)
isn’t the curve of her cheek the sweetest thing you ever saw?
And on a related note (related to Ellie that is), it is amazing how much more laundry I’m doing these days. And she can’t even run around and get her clothes dirty yet! It’s just that she’s acquired this habit of spitting up (really spewing) what seems to be gallons at a time, all over both of us and sometimes the bed or the couch. Our pediatrician says it’s mostly likely just an immature sphincter at the bottom of her esophagus and it will mature anywere between 6 and 12 months. We’re hoping for SIX.
Last Tuesday night/Wednesday morning (a week and a half ago), a tornado hit NE Baltimore. at around 1:00 am We were just blocks from where it touched down and pretty much directly in its path. This is highly unusual for Baltimore. Although the tornado did not touch down in our neighborhood, we did have some really ferocious straight-line winds. Thankfully, our house was fine but sadly, our neighbors on the opposite corner from us had a giant oak tree fall in their back yard. It was actually ripped out at the roots.
Someone asked me if we had gone into our basement when the storm hit. And I said, “No – we don’t have tornados in Baltimore!” It never occurred to me that something like that could be happening. The storm did wake me up, and I remember thinking, “I don’t want to know what is happening outside,” but then I just went back to sleep.
Here’s the root ball.
The base of the trunk
The contractor sitting on the tree next to Mark and Carol’s porch, discussing the mammoth removal job with Mark.
The top of the tree. (This picture makes me think of that tree in Harry Potter, outside of Hogwarts, that tries to catch you with its branches if you get too close to it!)
And our house, from Mark and Carol’s yard.
The oak basically only had one place to fall where it wouldn’t have crushed a house, and that’s where it fell. We’re so grateful for that. Mark and Carol’s deck is ruined but it could have been so much worse.
It’s amazing how big a tree becomes when it’s not up in the sky.
Nik’s uncle has been here visiting from Greece for about a week. He flies out today. It was fun for Ellie to meet one of her great-uncles! I also enjoyed seeing Theo Nik again. The last time we saw him was on our trip to Greece.
Salmon and Souvlaki 