the way things are
by abbienelson
funny: Cora these days. she watched Henry put in his contacts a few times and this is what she started doing every time she saw him for the next couple of days. It seems to have stopped now, but it caused a disproportionate amount of giggling around here while it lasted.
not so funny: Cora jumping out of her crib. Onto her head. (she’s fine. she had a good cry, a bowl of ice cream, a few toddles around the living room, and went back to bed, thus discovering the most effective pattern of coping with disaster I know of.)
also not so funny: the furnace going out due to our negligence to order more heating oil in a timely fashion. It’ll be fixed tomorrow, but I’m chilly, and trying to get warm by the fireplace where Henry is burning his EPPP study materials. Gleefully.
celebratory: Henry is now completely and fully legit. he took the state ethics exam, having passed the EPPP last November, and found out today that he passed. he celebrated by being hungover all day after a late night with a bottle of fancy bourbon I bought him yesterday in anticipation of getting licensed (and in an attempt to surprise him.) we ordered pizza for dinner and he is happily watching andy roddick beat the stuffing out of some good-looking brazilian at the australian open.
tragic: HAITI. My heart is broken. I don’t know what to say beyond that. I donated money to Mercy Corps, and feel guilty for not being able to watch the news, look at the paper, listen to the radio. I feel guilty for not being down there myself, saving lives that desperately need saving, that matter so much even though they are so poor. I feel wretched in my wealthy white american world… the brokenness of the world is just so overwhelming to me at times, and then my incapacity to face it bravely is even worse.
So I’m logging on to the internet for the first time in weeks and finally got caught up on blogs. I love the picture of you and Cora! You both look beautiful and seem so happy! I can’t believe it’s been so long since we’ve seen you all. I’m hoping we’ll get to see you soon. It seems like we are all emerging from the trenches and moving towards “normal” life. Maybe that means we’ll be able to get together sooner then later! Love and miss you!
Alysa! Sooo nice to hear from you. Miss you guys so much, glad life is normalizing… look for an email soon.
Right there with you on Haiti. I have not been the same since — feeling very powerless in my small world. Wish you lived closer — I think we would enjoy each other!
I agree, Alyson… too bad!
Yay Henry! I take my EPPP tomorrow (and I’m obviously not studying right now). You’re blog is lots of fun. Thanks for sharing!