tulips and food and friendship

It was a lovely vacation with my dear friend and her family. La Primera enjoyed it a lot, especially hanging out with my friend’s two sons. The older one loved her as well. The younger one struggled a bit that he was suddenly not the little one anymore but La Primera.

We went to Keukenhof which was beautiful.

Besides that we just talked and talked and talked. I miss having her living two blocks away like in the good ol’ times of my graduate studies. I am glad that she lives on this side of the big pond again, but unfortunately they will leave again next year.

I am wondering why I do not travel to see her more often, or at least call her on a regular basis. Our friendship, however, has never been based much on calling each other regularly, it is more about seeing each other, spending time together.

Unfortunately and as alwaysTime went by way too quickly, and if traveling by train with a toddler and luggage would not be so troublesome I would go there again next weekend.

 

longing for vacation…

It is funny how quickly one turns into the cliché of a teacher: just waiting for the vacation to start. And I do not even have that many classes to teach.

I am looking forward to go to the Netherlands for a couple of days and visit friends of mine. Luckily I have no exams to grade. A couple of days before this trip I will attend a conference and present a paper.This feels a little bit weired. I wrote the paper some months ago, while i was still a SAH mom, and felt more like an ABD than a teacher. This has changed. I sort of feel home at school, feel most of the time comfortable teaching (and thus have only received positive feedback from my advisors) – and academia is so so so far away. I will read the paper again on the trip to the conference. It will be interesting to read it with so much distance.

 

# 354

And suddenly it is the end of March. I had thought that starting the Referendariat would make me finally become a more regular writer again, but quite the contrary. Orientation week was hellish – suddenly I was away from home for 12, 13 hours. I was relieved that La Primera (lets name The New Cohabitant this way and see if that fits) adjusted so well – she and Mi Marido (ah well, how about a new name for The Husband as well) had a good time.

Teaching is fun and work. Some classes are more fun than others.  I am constantly thinking about the next teaching unit. And I am like a cliché teacher – I long for the vacation. I long for sorting papers. The files on my desk grow and grow and grow each time In turn around.

 

And suddenly

I am a working mom. Orientation week starts tomorrow and I am excited and wondering how everything will turn out. I enjoyed the last month home with our baby who in a couple of days will turn into a toddler, and infant and no longer be a baby anymore.

Wow. The last 12 months just flew by so quickly it is hard to find words that can describe my thoughts.

 

2010 in review

Gained or lost weight?
Lost. A lot

Longer or shorter hair?
Shorter. Much shorter.

More nearsighted or farsighted?
Has not changed noticeably.

More or less money?
About the same.

Spent more or less?
More as we are three now.

Moved more or less?
More.

The most crack-brained plan?
Quoting last year:
“Finishing my thesis through staring at the screen?
Finishing my thesis while being online?”
adding
“Finishing my thesis with the New Cohabitant?”

The most dangerous action/adventure?
None.

The best sex?
Oh well…

The most expensive purchase?
The New Cohabitant.

The most delicious meal?
Easter and Christmas dinner with the parents and siblings in OurCity.
Lots of our cooking throughout the year was very delicious as well.

The most impressive book?
Did not read much.

The most moving/touching/best movie?
The best CD?
The most beautiful concert?

Spent the most time with …?
The New Cohabitant.

Spent the loveliest time with …?
The New Cohabitant.

Prevailing emotion in 2010?
Quoting last year:
“Is it already again February March April May June July August September October November December – what, already 2011? I though we are still in January, January 2010 that is.”

Did for the first time in 2010?
Given birth.

After a longer pause did … again in 2010?

Three things I would have done without?
Physical problems. Procrastination and laziness. An uninterested thesis advisor.

The most important thing I wanted someone to convince of?

The most beautiful present I made someone?
Love, friendship, support, trust, kindness.

The most beautiful present I received?
Love, friendship, support, trust, kindness.

The most beautiful sentence someone said to me?
I am so happy to be married to you.

The most beautiful sentence someone I said to someone?
I am so happy to be married to you.

2010 was – expressed in one word …?
Wonderful.

And another Meme:

What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?
Given birth.

Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I do not make New Year’s resolutions – I switched to New-Months resolutions some years ago: each month a goal like going swimming for x times or so. But this year was so full of events that I did not stick to that and stopped after some months. However, I will start again and already know my resolution for next month.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
S. gave birth to a daughter, after a miscarriage last year, and everything is fine.

Did anyone close to you die?
This year luckily not.

What countries did you visit?
None.

What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
A finished thesis.

What date from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
The day the New Cohabitant arrived and moved in with us.

What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Enjoying the moment, not planning too much in advance.

What was your biggest failure?
Taking so much energy to let go that I did not finish the thesis and probably never will.

Did you suffer illness or injury?
Sort of.

What was the best thing you bought?
A dryer.

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
My aunt’s.

Whose behavior merited celebration? Why?
My parents. They are so supportive.

What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The New Cohabitant.

What songs/artists will always remind you of 2010?
“Wir lagen vor Madagaskar” – the New Cohabitant LOVES this song and falls asleep immeditaley.

Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? Happier.
ii. thinner or fatter? Thinner.
iii. richer or poorer? About the same.

What do you wish you’d done more of?
Napping.

What do you wish you’d done less of?
Worrying. Regretting.

How did you spend Christmas?
24th: cooking with The Husband and The New Cohabitant.
25th: cooking pumpkin soup, goose with potatoes and red cabbage, and dessert for our parents and siblings
26th: getting sick.

Did you fall in love in 2010?
Yes. Every day over and over again.

What was your favorite TV program?
Political news magazines and political cabaret

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
I do not hate. Luckily.

What was the best book you read?
Did not read that much…

What was your greatest musical discovery?

What did you want and get?
A New Cohabitant

What was your favorite film of this year?

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Enjoyed the company of The Husand

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Finished thesis.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
Comfortable.

What kept you sane?
My parents, two or three mothers from the birth preparation class.

Whom did you miss?
K, A, all my friends abroad.

Who was the best new person you met?
R.

 

December 31st

The year ends not as planned, with me sick first and then the New Cohabitant our traveling plans have to be changed.
Thanks to the help of my parents we finished the book project, sent in the document, and can enjoy the evening with a glass of champagne.

 

Read: “Dreams From My Father. A Story of Race and Inheritance”

“Dreams From My Father. A Story of Race and Inheritance”  by Barack Obama.
Published in 2007 by Canongate Books, 442 pages

This year can be labeled as the year that I read the least since being able to read (I do not count literature about babies and supplementary food).

I finally finally finished Obama’s biography – I had started it in February and it was in my purse the day I suddenly was told to go to the hospital immediately to have The New Cohabitant. When I picked it up again it felt so foreign to me, like a keepsake from the past – and coincidentally I had stopped  around chapter 19 – where Granny starts telling Barack the life story of is father.

It is an interesting read indeed, and I enjoyed the book.

Not from the preface and not from the introduction but chapter one, the first three sentences:

“A few months after my twenty-first birthday, a stranger called to give me the news. I was living in New York at the time, on Ninety-fourth between Second and First, part of that unnamed, shifting border between East Harlem and the rest of Manhattan. It was an uninviting block, treeless and barren, lined with soot-colored walk-ups that cast heavy shadows for most of the day.”