asteroid B612

you know at the end of Gilmore Girls season 2 when Paris really, really wants to be student body president, but knows no one will vote for her, because she's scary? So she gets Rory to be her VP, because people like Rory?

Just came to mind for some reason....

Yesterday Ellis went to the dentist for the first time. Can I tell you how much I have been dreading this? Putting it off until the very last minute? It takes two of us to pin him down for a haircut; I could only imagine the horror of the first dentist visit. But, to my utter surprise, Ellis was PERFECT!!! No fussing, no big weepy eyes, no squirming. He just hopped right up there and did exactly what he was supposed to do!

Today marks his First Day of Preschool. He is an official preschooler. There's more to write on that. He's in a new classroom with new teachers, though many of the same students. He hopped on the bus (really, a van) with no problem this morning. I wasn't sure what to expect. And off he goes!

I kept tabs on weather.com all weekend watching Hurricane Gustav heading straight for Louisiana. I am relieved that it seemed to skirt the coast, downgrading, not wreaking havoc on a fragile city.

One of my many mom attributes is that I carry snacks around in my bag, usually just pretzels or goldfish. This was exaggerated a little bit when I was pregnant; I carried meals, add in a couple peanut butter sandwiches and some apples. At the end of my pregnancy, I started to run out of energy to maintain the level of the larder in my purse. So on Thursdays when we went into the city for speech therapy, we ended up going to the McDonalds at the hospital, um, a lot. They have big windows to entertain my little boy with city buses, taxis, ambulances, and trucks. And it was much more navigable than the cafeteria, which is desirable when you're huge.

We hadn't been back since I had the baby, but we went this Thursday before speech. Folks, the cash register lady recognized me! "Oh, you had your baby! He is so cute! *cooing* say hello to Miss Pam!" I'm not kidding. I didn't know whether to be pleased or embarrassed.

We remember what happened to the city we called home.

This was near our old church on the same street.

Near where we lived.

Our old building.

Lilian wrote about a book that is exactly what I have been looking for for years: Mama, Ph.D: Women Write About Motherhood and Academic Life (Rutgers University Press 2008), edited by Elrena Evans and Caroline Grant. (A university press, no less!)

The book also has a website:

Mama, Ph.D. is a literary anthology of deeply-felt personal narratives by women both in and out of the academy, writing about their experiences attempting to reconcile bodies with brains. This anthology voices stories of academic women choosing to have, not have, or delay children. The essays in this anthology will speak to and offer support for any woman attempting to combine work and family, and will make recommendations on how to make the academy a more family-friendly workplace.

And a blog on the Inside Higher Ed website!!!!

When I started grad school six years ago these kinds of conversations seemed to be happening in hushed tones on the few blogs that were out there. I sought out women to hear their stories of how they made it work. And all the while, isn't it ridiculous that having a family and a profession is such a big deal that it even requires a conversation? Academia used to be for the old men who did little else. Now it's for "real people." Which is exciting. Having a variety of people in academics will lead to a greater variety of scholarship. Where I see myself in all that in the future? I have no idea. One year at a time.

p.s. Lilian's post is pretty good, too!

Thank you for patience and loyalty in my grand switch to Asteroid B612 and Drupal.

Sorry about all the spam recently. We've been trying to work on that, introducing the Captcha thingy. I just changed it from Impossible Image to Decipher Captcha to Your Elementary Math Facts Captcha. Hopefully, that will a little bit more user-friendly. Sorry about the angst.

I (well, hubby did it) also added a feature where you can send me a note by filling out a form--see the header menus. Or you can just send me an old-fashioned email. I may remove my email address from the left sidebar eventually, but for now it's fine.

Now I have one question for you. I have noticed that I seem to be getting fewer comments on the whole than I was back at Moot Thoughts & Musings, and while that is totally your prerogative and I don't take it personally, I was wondering if there were something about my new blog that makes it more difficult/intimidating to leave a comment (aside from the recent Captcha issue). Is anyone having any trouble? Or do you have questions about the new format? I'm just curious, because we had a good thing going there, and I miss you a little. Could be just slow summer plus my boring blog. ha!

You will also be noticing some template changes around here. We'll be tweaking for awhile. I had to live with Plain and Minimalist for awhile. Needed to clear my head. Now that I've lived in this space for awhile, I'm starting to want to beautify it a bit. It's been a big adjustment switching to Drupal, but it's fun!

Thanks for your love.

All the best,
Diber

Ellis is basically potty trained IF both of the following conditions are met:

1) His bum is naked.
2) He is using a home toilet, either the potty chair or the seat on the big potty.

He takes himself no problem, number 1 AND 2, if those conditions are the case.

Not even cotton undies can sway him. Must be free to the air. The voluntary taking himself is way more than I ever expected at this point. I just have no idea how to communicate the need to clothe himself AND voluntarily take himself. But you know, minor details.

Has led to some humorous moments such as the prancing down the hallway wearing my black high heels wearing NOTHING but a Tshirt. Or stark naked climbing into a shelf in our wardrobe (he was sure to empty the shelf of all its clothes first). So thoughtful.

Yesterday Marlowe was baptized into the family of faith. A moment of great rejoicing in our family.

Do you acknowledge that, although our children are conceived and born in sin and therefore are subject to condemnation, they are holy in Christ, and as members of his church ought to be baptized?

Do you promise to instruct your child in the principles of our holy religion as revealed in the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, and as summarized in the Confession of Faith and Catechisms of this Church; and do you promise to pray with and for your child, to set an example of piety and godliness before him, and to endeavor by all the means of God's appointment to bring him up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?

Marlowe didn't cry at all. He didn't make a peep the whole time except for a tiny coo once while I was still holding him. He did, however, poop right before we were supposed to go up, so no chance to change him. (Sorry, Mark) Ellis also did really well. He kept waving to the grandparents (my ILs go to the same church and my parents came up from Lancaster--about an hour and a half--for church and dinner. and one of my sisters and one my brothers were there, too). I was glad he was well-behaved and didn't do something crazy like try to knock the cup of water over. He seemed really interested. He signed "eat". I think he thought it was the Lord's Supper (though nothing was set out for it). Signing is fun, because we could talk to Ellis the whole time and explain as best we could what was happening.

My family stayed for lunch. And some friends joined us.

In the afternoon, we had cake and invited church friends to celebrate with us. It was warm with a coolish breeze. Perfect late summer afternoon.

* * *

From the Book of Church Order
Baptism is a sacrament ordained by the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a sign and seal of the inclusion of the person who is baptized in the covenant of grace. Teaching that we and our children are conceived and born in sin, it witnesses and seals unto us the remission of sins and the bestowal of all the gifts of salvation through union with Christ. Baptism with water signifies and seals cleansing from sin by the blood and the Spirit of Christ, together with our death unto sin and our resurrection unto newness of life by virtue of the death and resurrection of Christ. Since these gifts of salvation are the gracious provision of the triune God, who is pleased to claim us as his very own, we are baptized into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. And since baptized persons are called upon to assume the obligations of the covenant, baptism summons us to renounce the devil, the world and the flesh and to walk humbly with our God in devotion to his commandments.

Although our young children do not yet understand these things, they are nevertheless to be baptized. For the promise of the covenant is made to believers and to their seed, as God declared unto Abraham: "And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee." In the new dispensation no less than in the old, the seed of the faithful, born within the church, have, by virtue of their birth, interest in the covenant and right to the seal of it and to the outward privileges of the church. For the covenant of grace is the same in substance under both dispensations, and the grace of God for the consolation of believers is even more fully manifested in the new dispensation. Moreover, our Saviour admitted little children into his presence, embracing and blessing them, and saying, "Of such is the kingdom of God." So the children of the covenant are by baptism distinguished from the world and solemnly received into the visible church.