August 20
I think I spend too much time tidying and not enough time cleaning.
1981
I’ve been having cramps for four days now, but no period. Is it possible? A due date in mid- May really would be a bit early. On the other hand, it would give me three months at home with the baby. Unlikely, anyway.
Comment 2023
Oh, it’s possible!
1985
How much time am I willing to send on housework? An hour a day? What could I get done in that time? I think I spend too much time tidying and not enough time cleaning.
Comment 2023
How about 15 minutes, if I feel like it?
1986
Work is cranking up again, slowly. The Smithsonian chapter is in its final stages and should be done by this weekend. Amazing. So far August has been damp, but not too hot, which means a little bit more comfortable. My energy level has hit bottom, though. There’s lots to do around the house and I have been working hard at ignoring it.We’ve also been gone a lot lately. I keep telling myself that when it gets cooler and drier, I’ll feel different. Of course, I’ll also be 7 or 8 months pregnant. The sciatica has hit, mostly in my left hip, which makes me pretty creaky.
The amnio results now in, I am quickly finding new things to worry about. C-sections, premature labor, SIDS. Prepartum paranoia is developing normally.
Kiddo 2: It will so good to have you here! I’m really looking forward to our housemate moving out, so we can paint your room and get things ready.
1988
My heavens, Kiddo 2 is 21 months old today! He is certainly hitting the heights of negativity. But generally, he’s a cheerful sort of kid, who has a good time chasing around and playing. Kiddo 1 is heavily into “Little House on the Prairie”, even to inviting Laura and Mary to stay the night. She gave them tour of the house and lay in bed talking to them. What an imagination!
This was one of those blissful domestic days you long for before you become a parent. Fun with both kids, lots of unspoken affection and laughing glances between me and Jim. Life is really so good right now!
1989
Vacation is half over. We had a nice week at Belvedere Lake, in our funny octagonal cabin overlooking the water. There was too much chasing around for my taste, though. I would have been happy being in the cabin two days or more, instead of just one, but overall it was enjoyable. The countryside was beautiful and the weather was perfect: warm, sunny days and cool nights. Yay, upstate New York!
It made me realize how much I needed to catch up with the changes in my life. I’ve barely adjusted to having Kiddo 2, being tenured, much less being a dean. It’s as if I keep thinking, “I’ll think about it later”, but suddenly Kiddo 2 is almost three! So perhaps my best bet is to try for a few minutes in the journal here and there.
2003
Whoosh. Fourteen days later and we are back in the haze and heat of August in Washington. Our AFS “son”, Jannik arrived 8/8, the day the kiddos and I returned from Canada. This is going to be a fun year. Also an expensive year. That boy EATS. Of course, at 6’9” and still growing, he would. I am feeling more fear and trepidation about PTSA this year. Don’t know why. I guess that I am afraid that I will be in burnout and drop out mode too early. But I won’t, will I?
Lots to do! Time to get moving!
Comment 2023
Yes, 6’9, and 6’10” by the time he went back to Germany. Helped the local high school win the state championship (along with future professional Jeff Greene) and then had a long career in professional hoops in Germany.
Hosting an AFS student had been a dream of mine since I was in high school, thanks in part to my life-changing experience in Mexico the summer of 1966. (Not Juan, the other stuff.) Absolutely no regrets: being an AFS host was awesome.
2019 (Chautauqua, NY)
This is an amazing place, and being here when Wynton Marsalis is the artist in residence is beyond excellent. Last night I played pub trivia and got back to the house rather late. For some reason, I could not unlock the guest house door, so I ended up sleeping on the porch swing. Locks hate me.
Comment 2023
Also at Chautauqua: two concerts by Gina Chavez, and one by Alex Harris. And so much Marsalis!
And here is Alex Harris:
2024
Gina Chavez performed at the DNC last night (of course, I didn’t see her thanks to the chattering class). And she will be at the Kennedy Center on Friday on the Millennium Stage (FREE!!) . It is a sign of age that I looked at the time (6 pm) and thought, “no way”.