FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2010 - Been away WAY too long ... can I get back into this?

I can't even believe how long it's been since I felt underwhelmed enough to pause and write things down. It's crazy. Occasionally, Rhett and I have mentioned things happening in our lives on Facebook, so I'll paste a few updates below from that source below. In big changes, since I last blogged (or at least, in any meaningful way, We've moved to Siler City, NC. We bought a big historic home for a tremendous price - because the economy here is awful. We've both kept working at Carolina Outreach, until I resigned about a month ago. I am starting up a private practice now. Our sweet Gomer died too young, and Rexie died at age 12; and Dinah wouldn't stop peeing on everything, so she was banished to the outdoors. I have FINALLY finished law school, but still don't see law playing into my livelihood. We shall see. 9/12/10 I shot a little video of Daniel reading to himself on the way back from a trip to see his paternal grandparents in Bishopville, SC. . My dad posted it on FB, and I will paste the responses, but not their writers, unless I know them and know they would consent: # Genius is hereditary, so this comes as no surprise to me. He already has better comprehension that most politicians. # Two books at a time...good pattern of behavior!! :D Potential! # What a cute little guy - and smart, too! # Cousin Linda: Of course he is a genius! He looks so much like Em when she was little. Mandi's newest accomplishment is giving "high fives". # My daughter read Moby Dick while in Kindergarten. Looks like your grandson is headed in that direction... # Me: The two books at a time thing is definitely inherited from his grandpa. You have been doing that forever. # My Dad: A long time but not forever. Daniel-sahn is starting much earlier than I did. I told Daniel-sahn's bishop today about how he told his mother to "Breath in. Breathe out" after urinating on her feet. He was so amused I went on to descibe the processions with the cross while singing knick knack paddy whack. 9/16/10 This morning, before breakfast, naked (pre-potty training strategy) Daniel PEED ALL OVER MY BARE FEET!!!!!! And when he got finished laughing and laughing and laughing (see photo), he looked at me with a perfectly straight face and said "Breath in; Breathe out, Mama." Feedback on that post went .... # Lettie: oh. my. goodness. i love him!!! not so much the pee thing.. # Charlotte: haha you have taught him so well!! except for the peeing part. his teachers need to GET ON THAT! # Stephanie: Maybe you should sleep-in again?? # Michael: Yeah I think you should go back to sleeping until noon. # My Dad: They used to say children were great zen teachers. I was not so sure, but I probably was not a good zen student. Daniel definitely sounds like one of the early masters of the Tibetan Kagyu lineage. Naropa would have peed on his student's feet, laughed, and told him to breathe in, breathe out. # Me: I was an okay zen student, I think. I took his picture and savored the moment, warm and wet as it was. # My Cousin Amy: How can you be mad when your child tells you to breathe in, breathe out? That's great! I need more people in my life reminding me to do that!  # Me: Spending a lot of "naked time" is theoretically supposed to help most toward potty training, so as shocked as I was, anger would have been completely out of line. # My Dad: Today I told Daniel-san's bishop (Curry) about his Breathe in. Breathe out to a recently peed on mom. He was so amused I had to tell him about the processions with the cross while singing knick knack paddy whack. # Me: D routinely talks to crosses now. Like, all the time. And he has his very own special language for the cross. (When speaking to us humans, it's usually English or Spanish). He bathes with the cross and sleeps with the cross; occasionally accidentally clobbers me or Rhett with the cross. (He has several, the one you gave him is his favorite). When driving home, he asks "Go see cross?" He's your grandson in a beyond obvious way. Today (9/17/10) I hired a housekeeper/cook on grounds of having absolutely no domestic skills; and she came today. She's great, she's nice, and she speaks almost no English. So, I bumble around in Spanish, and she's timidly trying out English. Today, she asked me if the clothes on the floor were nasty. How to reply...? But, she's still working, and I love how clean the house already is, and dinner is starting to smell fantastic! POSTED BY EMILIE BROWN AT 1:49 PM