Georgie's swing

Hung a swing up for Baby Meat Fat...at first he was skeptical....


but it didn't take long....

...and with two sisters pushing him, he was absolutely thrilled!

Yay, Georgie Boy!
And then, since he was a sitting duck, the girls dressed him up like an Egyptian. The first of many, many times I am sure...

The Nomad Family's week in review 10-5-08

I sold these on craigslist. Is it just me or do the rockets on the shoes look a little....penis-y? I undersold myself and they sold in under an hour. Should have asked for more...Wouldshouldcoulda.

The liitle man is rearing to crawl. Much earlier than my other babies. He's been up on all fours for over a week now, it just a matter of time....

"I like big butts and I cannot lie..." In an effort to survive in a crumbling economy save some dough I have been doing cloth diapers-only for the last 4 days. Challenging as I only have 9 fitteds, 2 covers and some prefolds. But I am making it work (just not leaving the house until I get some more practice....)

You go, buddy!!!!!

The girls insisted the other day that they were twins. So I got silly with them and called Isadore "Mayan" and Mayan "Isadore"...they got a HUGE kick out of it.

In conjunction with my cloth-only challenge, I started putting the EC (Elimination Communication) I have studied into practice for the first time. Geo and I spent a good amount of time sitting on his little pot waiting....and waiting......Seriously, I've never spend so much time staring at the end of penis, waiting excitedly for something to happen. After a few days nothing had happened; he peed in the pot 2 times but of course when we'd been sitting there for a long time and I would start focusing on something else, like talking to the girls. Then I'd realize he'd already done it and didn't get to do the "Psssssss" sound to help him connect the two (if you are familiar with EC this makes sense, if not I apologize.) I think when I got excited he was making cues to pee/poo, I'd pick him up and hold him over something (the potty or sink) and that act would jostle him so much and make him not have to go. So finally on the 3rd day I sat him on his pot and after less than a minute he peed AND pooped. Oh my, how I celebrated! One diaper saved....many more to go...

Blake had a gig playing drums for The Red King who was headling the annual Dark Arts Festival. Poor thing--the show began at midnight. Here we are staying up when we'd rather be snuggled up watching Boston Legal. We laughed at how tragically un-goth we are--I made Blake some chocolate chip cookies while he waited to depart, we joked about about funny it would be if he wore his Sesame Street shirt to the show.

Is it time to go yet?

Okay, so today we helped my parents move from SE to Portland to The Dalles because they got a job managing an apartment complex, which is great. But, of course, today it was raining. And it so happens to be our anniversary (7 years since we were married in Mexico!) But whatever. We're just happy to help. I may not look jazzed but the baby slept from 11pm to 5am straight so I am actaully VERY well-rested and rearing to go!

Mayan reading T.S. Eliot's Book of Practical Cats

Isadore (who began READING this week) is all about writing words. Here she is writing "MEAN BAT."

The world's most perfect car traveler.

Oh, come on B! Here we are picking up the U-Haul (which Papa Nomad drove.)

The girls were a super great help (and looked really cute doing it, too.)

Hey, blog readers, be sure to "follow" me....add the blogs you like (like mine!) to your "blogs I read" list and it makes it SUPER easy to keep up. Cheers!

The Adventures of P and K

As many of you know, Blake has a dear uncle named Payson whom he has always been close with (an early blog post here). Pays has no children of his own and has always treated his nephew and niece (Phoo and Knees as he calls them) like a son and daughter. As a wonderful added bonus, he is married to a wonderful woman named Kamla, who is originally from India, so they split their time between the 2 countries--summers in the Kullu Valley of the Himalayas and winters in Del Mar, CA. He's an artist, environmentalist, geologist, writer, and entrepreneur; she is a well-known writer/poet and teacher. Both are extremely intelligent and focused, grounded and aware--they have been solid and positive influences in our lives.

Their interests and lifestyles of course lead them to exciting and often unpredicable adventures. About a week ago, I emailed them to ask when they would be returning to the states and when I got no reply I became slightly concerned....Yesterday, I found out why. Apparently, while visiting a Buddhist monastary built in 996 AD a freak snowstorm hit, and had left them and a few hundred tourists and citizens stranded in a 1000 year old village called Tabo, in the beautiful high desert region of Spiti in the Himalayas. They were trapped there for weeks with no electricity, poor water supply and little contact with the outside world. Naturally, many of the people were fearful and restless--some even tried to hike out on their own. In this attempt, 3 people died and another came close when a falling boulder struck her.

P and K, though? Like the great, zen-like people we know them to be, they decided to make the most of the situation. They spent hours marveling at the great murals painted by the monks hundreds of year ago. Aside from meditating with the monks daily and doing drawings of the landscape, art and people, they began volunteering at the monastary's school. They taught the 8th grade children, many of whom spoke English very well, geology lessons, English grammar, story-telling, and ethics. During an intense meditation session, Payson says he heard a "voice" tell him to document the region so he approached the head Abbott and he agreed, so P began filming from morning til night, gathering over 7 hours of footage which he hopes to edit down when he returns to the states. All the while, their 10th anniversay passed as they were living this, and both consider the experience a great blessing.

Attitude, people, its all about attitude.


From Paysons email:

K and I adapted quickly and had an amazing experience in Tabo. I sat twice daily (6am/1 hour and 3pm/30-45min) with the monks and their chanting was transcendent. It shifted my practice stilling it a bit more and I found myself just flowing with the whole situation. There were about 40 international tourists and many of them were very uncertain/agitated about what to do as the local and state officials offered little help. After about a week some trekked out on their own and one Chilean woman was hit by falling boulders but fortunately not too serious. That scared the rest and they waited longer for the roads to be cleared and slides to abate.

During all this I was pretty much focused on my daily sitting and the incredible temples (9) which had murals and sculpture with religious/Buddhist art from 1000AD thru 17^th century. Initially I did a lot of drawing of the art, the monks, the mts, etc. but then in one meditation a voice (sic!) said do a movie about this place. So a week into the stay I pulled out my new video DV (digital video) camera (which I haven't been too into) and asked the head Abbot, Gehseji (80 years old from Tibet) if they would like to have a documentary on the monastery. They were very receptive and gave me the go-ahead, especially to tape the chanting, the interiors of the temple and the artwork (where no photography is allowed. For the next five days I worked from around 6am until 6-7pm basically documenting the monastery, the activities of the monks, then the local people and environs, and the tourists who were there. I've got 7 hours of video footage from which I hope/think can be turned into a 20-30 min documentary. It's not broadcast quality and what I'd hope to do is edit it in India before leaving or in CA later to generate interest in a professional tech quality TV and DVD documentary. Though it was intense experience looking at their world thru the tiny lens, I really got into it! And you know me….work hard/push push!

Blake and I want to be like Payson and Kamla when we grow up! :)

Blake, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, and me

Blake introduced me to Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds' The Boatman's Call as soon as our courtship began. Well, technically it didn't begin as a courtship as much as a fling with my piercer, but I digress.

I entered this mysterious and private world of Blake, a heavily-modified man with penetrating blue eyes, living in a large house but only inhabiting a small corner of it. The soundtrack to this one-man planet was so much different from my own--slower, more intense, romantic, filled with a slew of instrumental sounds that were lacking in my own limited musical selection. I had been listening to simple, fast-paced skater anthems suited well for drinking beer in a can and playing video games. Nick Cave was better suited for slow dancing, making-out, or kicking back wearing silk and velvet with a cup of tea or a scotch. Later, as I was educated on the history of Nick, I learned his earlier music, from his band The Birthday Party, was also rowdy beer-drinking musical fare, but this was not what captured me. Our romance blossomed over the piano ballads of "People They Ain't No Good" and "Lime Tree Arbor." When we were married less than a year later, our friend played "Into my Arms" at our wedding, summing up our contrasting natures that Nick so often writes of: the unreligious man scorned by God and the sweet optimistic Jesus-loving girl he falls for.

I don't believe in an interventionist God
But I know, darling, that you do
But if I did I would kneel down and ask Him
Not to intervene when it came to you
Not to touch a hair on your head
To leave you as you are
And if He felt He had to direct you
Then direct you into my arms
....
And I believe in Love
And I know that you do too
And I believe in some kind of path
That we can walk down, me and you


During this year, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds released an album called No More Shall We Part which Blake and I listened to endlessly together, more melancholy songs of love and longing, and religious scrutiny. By this time I had laid the last of my Christian predispositions to rest, after struggling to fortify and justify the religion I was raised with when I went off to college and found that it could not in good conscience sit with me, so this side of the lyrical nature sat with me even more deeply. We caught the tour for this album in Portland when I was 6 months pregnant with Mayan. Apparently, they had not played in Portland for 14 years so this was an extra special treat, and completely sold out. The modest floor of the Crystal Ballroom was packed and cigarette smoke filled the massive space up to the ceiling. Besides the smoke, the red stage lights, and the image of Nick pounding away at the piano to most of our favorite songs from the new album such as "O Lord" and "15 Feet of Pure White Snow" with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, what sticks out the most was how terriblely painful my poor swollen pregnant feet felt squeezed into my adorable heels. I ended up asking someone near the back wall to move so I could sit down by pointing to my large belly with a pitiful look on my face among the noise. Just as we decided to creep out early to beat the rush, the encore song started and it was "Into My Arms" so we swayed together near the back to our (and I am sure MANY others) love anthem.

The years flew by. The music continues to grace our everyday lives. I will never forget how when I was in labor and I asked my body to "bring it on" so we could see our baby before morning, and within a few minutes the iPod shuffled to the song "Bring it On" from Nocturama. I leaned on the cedar walls and drank in the experience, letting all of my fears and desires about giving birth at home course through me and be purged out through the music.

This garden that I built for you
That you sit in now and yearn
I will never leave it, dear
I could not bear to return
And find it all untended
With the trees all bended low
This garden is our home, dear
And I got nowhere else to go
So bring it on
Bring it on
Every little tear
Bring it on
Every useless fear
Bring it on
All your shattered dreams
And I'll scatter them into the sea
Into the sea


George-Ephraim was born within four hours.

Imagine our excitement when we learned that 6 1/2 years, two more children, and 4 albums later Nick and his band would be returning to the Crystal Ballroom--this time promoting Dig, Lazarus, Dig and doing an all-ages show. I deliberated for months on what to do with the baby when the show came--I asked Breana months in advance to mark her calendar in case I wanted her to be a "car nanny" and watch a hopefully sleeping George a few blocks from the show. I ordered a pair of special infant headphones in case we decided to just bring him with us. But in the end, since it co-incided with the visit from D and G, I resigned myself to put the boy to sleep in his hammock and hope for the best. I even went out the day of the show and bought a natural rubber pacifier for them to pop in his mouth if he woke up prematurely. The timing could not have been better: we arrived, Blake dressing in all black and me in a vintage dress, heels, and lipstick, at the door of the Ballroom just as the first song began. Viewing was tricky since we were the last ones there but we ending up in the balcony with decent views of the whole band, and just a few yards from the upstairs bar that rarely has a line. The set list was heavy with the new material and alternated with some very old classics, many of which were played at the last show. It is hard to have any expectations of hearing certain songs when there are songs over 14 studio albums to choose from. I was just happy to see a jovial and charged Nick (the birthday boy we learned) gyrating and pointing and pounding away around his amazing band crowded together on the club's stage.

From the Oregonian review:
He might have preferred a place with a bigger stage. The concert showed the strengths (energy, intimate downtown setting) and weaknesses (small stage, very uneven sound) of the Crystal Ballroom. Cave and the Bad Seeds are a big deal worldwide, capable of filling arenas and concert halls in Europe and his native Australia. In an interview earlier Monday, Cave called touring the U.S. "an act of love" because bringing a full band to clubs is a break-even proposition, at best. Shoving six musicians as talented as the Bad Seeds into the corner of tiny stage makes it difficult for them to perform and get the sound separation they need.

My mind, of course, floated back and forth wondering if the sweet babe was at home screaming bloody murder, and as I deliberated over ordering another beer or just quitting while we were ahead and bailing early, I got the text: "All's well." We enjoyed the second half together feeling relaxed and happy and reconnected as married couple. Nick seems to alwasy do that for us.





For posterity's sake, the set list:

Night of the Lotus Eaters
Dig Lazarus Dig
Tupelo
Today's Lesson
Weeping Song
Nobody's Baby Now
Midnight Man
Mercy Seat
Deanna
Moonland
Red Right Hand
We Call Upon the Author
Papa Won't Leave You, Henry
More News From Nowhere

(encore)
Love Letter
Lyre of Orpheus
Get Ready For Love
Hard-on For Love
Stagger Lee

The visit

I'm a little sad. And a little drunk.


But I am a lot happy and grateful. Thank you, D and G.


Thanks for the sake.
The groceries.
The games.
The chopping.
For holding the baby while I cooked.
The compliments.
The cheerful "Good morning!"'s
The passing on of family heirloooms.
The books.
The ability to go with the flow.
The word play.
The hairspray sacrifices.
The late night.
And, finally, the invaluable and simple understanding, as only a family can offer.

Lukie-biotics

Bugs think Isadore is a tasty treat, and they always have. These bites at times get swollen and infected, but usually nothing a little ointment doesn't clear up. On one of last warm nights we had, we stupidly left the window open by her bed and the next morning she had a bunch of what looked like mosquito bites, two of which were on her hand and were causing some swelling. I spent the day icing it and using homeopathics and various ointments to no avail. that night she actually cried in pain unitl I finally gave her some ibuprofen to help her sleep. I though for sure a night of no scratching would cause the (assumed) allergic reaction to subside but nope, it looked awful. I brought her into the pediatrician that afternoon and the minute they saw it they exclaimed that it was not an allergic reaction but that her hand was infected. In addition to a course of antibiotics (they were worried about staph), she instucted me to do what I had to to keep her arm raised as much as possible. "Something you don't normally do...like let her watch some nature videos," the doctor said, which made me realize she must think we are uber-pure hippies with zero-tolerance for tv and media, which gave me an inner chuckle.

When I spoke to my sister (an ER nurse) later that day she told me that she frequently has to construct makeshift slings to keep peoples arms raised in cases like this. So I promptly got off the phone and looked around the house....I ended up using a camera tripod and an American Apparel scarf to hoist Lukies arm in the air. I plopped some puzzles and books in front of her and she patiently occupied herself until dinnertime. The swelling went down by the next morning and we'll be wrapping up the antibiotics next week.

Parenthood is such a trip, as these little experiences add themselves up, and we learn a little something each time. For one, I realized that I just sometimes really don't know if something is serious or not, because by the time I got to the ped's office I was sure I was wasting their time with a mere bug bite, but no, they had that medical "eye" and knew it was out of the realm of "normal." Second, it didn't occur to me that something as simple as building a sling out of common household items could be so helpful...once I knew there was a serious problem and my "alternative medicine" toolbox was cashed, I only saw the "big gun" medicines (over the counter drugs and antibiotics) which are so rarely used by our family. Finding a combination of different treatments is such a case by case balance.

You were a champ, Lukie-Lou!

what we read this summer

This summer we decided to cut back our cable and read more books. Blake and I both were readers once-upon-a-time but since we've been together (nearing 8 years) we've really only each read a handful of books. It was a wonderful experiment and a successful one at that. In classic Blake-style, he went at it in full-force...one of the many reasons I love this man is his determined and impassioned nature. I had to laugh when I saw the reoccurring theme of his final list--such an atheist! *chuckles and shakes head* Nearly half of his list are things he read in his late teens and early 20's that had profoundly influenced him and he very much enjoyed the greater depth the 2nd time around now that he is older (like the Miller stuff). I, myself, am proud of my own list which is well-rounded and done while caring for a newborn. Technically, I think we started reading in the spring and just finished our last book on the list a week ago. But whatevah.


B's books:
Tropic of Capricorn (Henry Miller)
Blackspring (Henry Miller)--possibly his fave H.M. book
Crazy Cock (Henry Miller)--not his favorite H.M book
The Will to Doubt (Bertrand Russel)
Why I Am Not a Christian (Bertrand Russel)
The Portable Atheist (Christopher Hitchens)
Me of Little Faith (Lewis Black)
Nothing Sacred (Lewis Black)
Beware of God (Shalom Auslander)--Blake's favorite new author, check out The Foreskin's Lament
Up Til Now (William Shatner)
Aku-Aku (Thor Heyerdahl)
Growing Up In New Guinea (Margaret Mead)
The Painted Bird (Jerzey Kosinski)--oy, Blake says, you should be forewarned for this one....VERY heavy--geezma jones....

Lou's books:
A Thousand Splendid Suns (Khaled Hosseini)
The Poisonwood Bible (Barbara Kingsolver)--best read of the summer for me, I am so unoriginal :)
The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home (Jessie and Susan Wise)
How to Grow More Vegetables (John Jeavons)
Animal Vegetable Mineral (Barbara Kingsolver)
Blink (Malcolm Gladwell)--author of The Tipping Point. A recommendation from Blake's dad.

Mayan's books:
The Tale of Despereaux (Kate Dicamillo)--we LOVED this, a tad intense, better for 6 and up. While googling this I found out that it is being made into a movie)
Charlotte's Web (E.B. White)
Where the Sidewalk Ends (Shel Silverstein)--Mayan first full poetry book
The Witches (Roald Dahl)--too freaky for Isadore


Did you have a favorite read this summer, bloggers?