Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Launched
Joseph has flown. It was a long weekend with many visits from his entourage--various friends coming and going (when I nudged them out the door for some family time). The family room is looking awfully empty. He left with two suitcases full of torn jeans and tattered Harry Potter t-shirts (maybe 2 kilograms) and books and video games (about 40 kilograms). Emily and I took him to the airport, where he disappeared into the security gate and we loitered forlornly for a few minutes, then drove back home, hoping he would get on the plane all right. He got there. He is in the Bay Area for a few days, then on to Kansas and Indianapolis (some esoteric game convention), back to Kansas and to Seattle on the 25th.
I am most grateful to all the people who are mothering him in my stead. Joan, picking him up at the airport as he returns to the motherland. Lea, driving to Kansas City in the middle of the night, and no doubt miles of other errands. John and Sue and Mark, ensuring that Joseph has a pillow and sheets and finds his way to his new apartment in Seattle. I wish I could be there, but I have not yet perfected this being-in-two-places-at-once, even in one country.
Here on the underside of the world, it is winter, and a mild one, except for the volcano that erupted last night, I suppose. It was Mount Tongariro, where Emily did her heroic crossing in March--about three hours southeast of here. Just a small eruption, so far--some ash, some flames at midnight, but apparently no one hurt. Emily is at rehearsal for "Annie get your gun". Hiccup is going to have his first birthday on Friday. If I find the camera cable, I will post some pictures of Joseph's farewell party, which involved such seemingly innocent pasttimes as Pictionary, Boggle, and chess, juxtaposed with lots of alcohol (the drinking age is 18 here, so it was all legal, and he assures me well-considered, but still a bit disconcerting to the mother).
farewell, baby boy.
Thursday, July 12, 2012
Wintertime
It feels a little less strange to shiver in July, now, but I still have trouble knowing intuitively what month it is. We had a Fourth of July party (on the fifth here, fourth there) last week, hosted by our friend Joy Rising, with some other Americans, as well as several Kiwis, one Japanese, and one South African friend. It was convenient that it was dark by 6:00, so we could see the sparklers (hoarded from Guy Fawkes day).
I have been very slack as a blogger, and time has been slipping by. Joseph leaves in three weeks. He is going to Digipen Institute of Technology, outside Seattle, to study video game design. It became clear in talking with him, as he tried to agonise over the decision, that he has had his heart set on this for years. I was comforted by the fact that they now have some student housing, so he is going to a furnished apartment wiht several other new students. Before he goes to school at the end of August, he will be visiting friends in Kansas and going to some game conference in Indianapolis.
In the interim, he has had a life apprenticeship as our house boy, picking up Emily from school, shopping, cooking, and doing laundry. He is getting good at stir fry and baking something that is oddly called "homemade pop tarts".
Emily is in her last year at Southwell School, thinking about high school next year, which I find hard to think about. She is on the young side, and will be 12 when she starts (most are 13 here, and have five years of high school). Emily and I went to Queenstown, a tourist mecca in the South Island, last month, and she went snow boarding. It was beautiful, and genuinely cold.
This week I was trying hard to track down my half-sister, Kay, and finally signed up for Facebook, thinking I might find her there. I didn't (my nephew, Ross, found her with serious detective work, and LinkedIn), but I did find an bewildering array of old friends all over the world. We'll see if this is a good thing as I see if I can resist distraction and get things done when the computer is turned on.
Stay cool, or warm, depending on where you are.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Thursday, Feb 9
The biggest news around here is that Joseph has started getting college acceptance letters--much sooner than I had expected! He got an e-mail (not surprisingly) from Digipen Institute last week, and got a packet in the mail today. And yesterday he got a very nice, personal letter from Earlham (making reference to Harry Potter, and Quaker camps) accepting him and offering two merit scholarships--one President's scholarship, and someone else's...it all adds up to less than a quarter of the total cost, but that isn't anything to sneeze at.
Four more to go, and he is to make a decision by the first of May. He is very much enjoying his summer, with lots of friends still around before they go off to various universities, mostly over the next couple of weeks. He has made spaghetti for a gang of them tonight, as they play some game that isn't quite Dungeons and Dragons, but like that.
Joseph got his full driver's license two weeks ago, just in time for Emily to start school, and for him to start picking her up from school, which is very helpful. Emily likes her new, young and energetic male teacher. She is in Year 8, the top of the school, with lots of emphasis on leadership and independence and setting a good example. In two weeks, they will go to school camp for a week, and hers involves going on the Tongariro Crossing--supposed to be the best one-day tramp in New Zealand, some 12 kilometers over a mountain...I'm just as glad someone else gets to coax her onward...
Hiccup and Charlie are still getting along swimmingly. Hiccup starts adolescent puppy class in two weeks. He is still the cutest thing on four legs.
Four more to go, and he is to make a decision by the first of May. He is very much enjoying his summer, with lots of friends still around before they go off to various universities, mostly over the next couple of weeks. He has made spaghetti for a gang of them tonight, as they play some game that isn't quite Dungeons and Dragons, but like that.
Joseph got his full driver's license two weeks ago, just in time for Emily to start school, and for him to start picking her up from school, which is very helpful. Emily likes her new, young and energetic male teacher. She is in Year 8, the top of the school, with lots of emphasis on leadership and independence and setting a good example. In two weeks, they will go to school camp for a week, and hers involves going on the Tongariro Crossing--supposed to be the best one-day tramp in New Zealand, some 12 kilometers over a mountain...I'm just as glad someone else gets to coax her onward...
Hiccup and Charlie are still getting along swimmingly. Hiccup starts adolescent puppy class in two weeks. He is still the cutest thing on four legs.
Friday, January 6, 2012
A new year
I am sorry for being so very delinquent in my blogging. It is not that nothing is happening...the last semester was a very busy one, and it kept on going after classes ended, right up until the middle of December, when the university closed up and we went home.
Highlights of the last six months:
In July, Joseph went off to Greece and Italy with his classics class (under the pretext of looking at vases and old stone buildings). My sister Sarah came for two weeks, and had some quality time with Emily, since my between-semester break did not correspond at all to Emily's between-term break, thanks to the biggest media event of the year (you may not have noticed), the Rugby World Cup.
In October, Emily and I went on a cruise! It was a small one (four days), to try out the concept--big boat, thousands of people (well, 2000). I wasn't sure how it would be, but we enjoyed it--Emily liked the kids' programme, and I liked reading my book on the balcony and not being able to do dishes even if I wanted to. We might try it again in a more exotic location (like Asia or Pacific Islands) sometime.
In November, my college roommate, Marian, and her friend, Pam, came to visit. They explored some local attractions on their own (Rotorua, The Shire, where they had just finished filming the Hobbit) and we went to Taupo and Napier over a long weekend. Highlights were the Art Deco walking tour (Napier was destroyed by an earthquake in 1930-something, and rebuilt very prettily) and the gannet colony, where we saw gannets hatching.
Joseph finished his last exam in November, and became a "high school leaver". This doesn't sound like much of an accomplishment...but we tried to celebrate, in spite of minimal cultural support.
The BIG EVENT, however, was Christmas, and its aftermath...Emily got a puppy. Ok, we all got a puppy, but he is Emily's, officially, and Charlie's friend. He wasn't actually under the tree--just a package of puppy accessories that very, very slowly dawned on Emily as she opened them up. It included a picture of the puppy, on a dog tag necklace, which she wore for the next 10 days, while we went to the Quaker Summer Gathering, and then picked him up on January 3. Emily has named him Hiccup. He is a Tibetan Spaniel, five months old.
So the anniversary of Manford's leaving was marked also by a new beginning. We did have some words about him in Meeting that morning, and the yearly meeting gave us a fern to plant in his garden.
Hiccup and Charlie started off slightly leery of each other (Hiccup barked, which scared Charlie, who is about 8 times his size), but they have quickly become friends, and started romping in the yard within two days. I will post pictures.
And by the way, Joseph turned 18 on the 30th, and (I'm not supposed to know this) had a date with a girl on Boxing Day (the 26th). The mother grapevine is strong. And I got myself a car for Christmas--a Honda Jazz, which is called a Fit in the US, I think. It will replace the minivan, as we downsize. Still plenty of room for us and the dogs.
Highlights of the last six months:
In July, Joseph went off to Greece and Italy with his classics class (under the pretext of looking at vases and old stone buildings). My sister Sarah came for two weeks, and had some quality time with Emily, since my between-semester break did not correspond at all to Emily's between-term break, thanks to the biggest media event of the year (you may not have noticed), the Rugby World Cup.
In October, Emily and I went on a cruise! It was a small one (four days), to try out the concept--big boat, thousands of people (well, 2000). I wasn't sure how it would be, but we enjoyed it--Emily liked the kids' programme, and I liked reading my book on the balcony and not being able to do dishes even if I wanted to. We might try it again in a more exotic location (like Asia or Pacific Islands) sometime.
In November, my college roommate, Marian, and her friend, Pam, came to visit. They explored some local attractions on their own (Rotorua, The Shire, where they had just finished filming the Hobbit) and we went to Taupo and Napier over a long weekend. Highlights were the Art Deco walking tour (Napier was destroyed by an earthquake in 1930-something, and rebuilt very prettily) and the gannet colony, where we saw gannets hatching.
Joseph finished his last exam in November, and became a "high school leaver". This doesn't sound like much of an accomplishment...but we tried to celebrate, in spite of minimal cultural support.
The BIG EVENT, however, was Christmas, and its aftermath...Emily got a puppy. Ok, we all got a puppy, but he is Emily's, officially, and Charlie's friend. He wasn't actually under the tree--just a package of puppy accessories that very, very slowly dawned on Emily as she opened them up. It included a picture of the puppy, on a dog tag necklace, which she wore for the next 10 days, while we went to the Quaker Summer Gathering, and then picked him up on January 3. Emily has named him Hiccup. He is a Tibetan Spaniel, five months old.
So the anniversary of Manford's leaving was marked also by a new beginning. We did have some words about him in Meeting that morning, and the yearly meeting gave us a fern to plant in his garden.
Hiccup and Charlie started off slightly leery of each other (Hiccup barked, which scared Charlie, who is about 8 times his size), but they have quickly become friends, and started romping in the yard within two days. I will post pictures.
And by the way, Joseph turned 18 on the 30th, and (I'm not supposed to know this) had a date with a girl on Boxing Day (the 26th). The mother grapevine is strong. And I got myself a car for Christmas--a Honda Jazz, which is called a Fit in the US, I think. It will replace the minivan, as we downsize. Still plenty of room for us and the dogs.
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