Thoughts and Words Ill-Sorted

Yesterday evening Erin heard some rattling sounds from the birdfeeder area just outside our front door that made her think there was something more outside than just lots of wind. There was, in fact, though we didn’t get a chance to see the visitor. Here are the clues to the visitor’s identity:

1. The metal post on which we hang our feeders was bent over all the way to the ground.

2. The top of our metal feeder was bent seriously out of shape.

3. We didn’t see the visitor but we did hear it for a good while as it made its leisurely way through the brush near our house (whatever it was didn’t think it needed to leave in a hurry just because there were a couple of humans around). I’ve never heard a wild animal make this much sound before merely by walking. Many a branch and twig got broken along the way.

4. This morning I found a few tracks in the area from which I heard the sounds. The tracks, unfortunately, were in a grassy area so I wasn’t able to get any details about the foot shape and so forth. But I did get some idea about size: roughly 5″ in diameter.

What do you think it was?

Sydney

Poor Katherine.  The back half of her is ready to crawl.  She’s got the legs pumping, the toes dug in, and those sturdy little legs are ready to push off.  Unfortunately, the equally sturdy little arms are locked straight and she seems to have no idea that she needs to bend them in order to move.  So the legs dig in and push forward and her little rear goes higher and higher–until she falls over, having made herself into a steeple shape.  This kid needs a helmet.

The consequence of all that frustrated exercise?  She moves backwards.  Today, having gotten fed up with the failure to move forward, she did some frustrated scooting backwards–the full width of our living room.  I came to get her when she finally got herself backed against the bathroom door.  This house is going to seem a bit small unless she learns to steer!

Erin

Tomorrow we’re going to make a quick trip to Lancaster, PA, to see our friend Hans get married.  Don’t worry, we won’t try to talk him out of it 🙂  The wedding is incredibly close to Longwood Gardens, one of our favorite destinations, but current work pressures will have us heading home at a pretty early hour on Sunday.  We will, however, make sure we stick around for the celebrations after the ceremony tomorrow afternoon.  The invitation said “dinner and hymn sing to follow.”  Food and singing: what more could one ask for?  Never too early to introduce Katherine to the good things in life.

Erin

Busy.  Busy busy busy.  Our classes are extra full due to budget cuts, job applications all need to be in before November (some much earlier than that), and there are lots of conference papers, conferences, and travel plans to prepare for before then.  Gah!

Katherine is sailing along smoothly, refusing to acknowledge that her parents are looking a bit worn.  And that’s wonderful.  Always good to come home and dig into play time with her.  God was brilliant in giving people children just when they might begin to push themselves too hard in other ways.  Kids force you to play, to stop everything else, and that’s a great thing.  Plus, when I hear all sorts of scary job advice, like how essential it is to have a hotel room completely to myself when preparing for job interviews, I can laugh; if and when I get any interviews, I’m likely to have a bouncing baby girl in that room with me!

Erin

We toured campus and the farmer’s market yesterday, and then we headed to Buttermilk Falls for a nice hike.  Then Sydney suggested we visit another park, so we headed up to Taughannock Falls for another–if more level–hike.  I’ll admit, carrying Katherine gave my calves a bit of a workout, and none of us is used to all of that up and down.  So we hope we all slept well!

Erin

I only got the briefest look at the job openings (more on that when I get back to it) before it was time to switch gears.  Sydney’s parents are making their first-ever visit to Ithaca, and we’re intending to spend the weekend enjoying some lovely fall weather and all of the beautiful views and good food Ithaca has to offer.

Erin

The job listings came out for my field yesterday.  The numbers are definitely down, but there are some, enough to make a real attempt at the job market worthwhile (especially since another year of graduate funding is looking less likely with every budget cut).  Although I scrutinized a few hundred listings that elicited reactions like, “Hmm, maybe in some world I could be what they’re looking for?” “Wait, they make Ph.D.’s in my field that do that sort of work?” “Is there any literature anywhere in this job?” and other such positive remarks, I did find a few that seemed like they’d be a good fit.  Unfortunately, I’m sure there are roughly 10,000 people in my area of specialty for all those, say, seven jobs.  But it’s early in the game and I am going to seize the chance to dream about moving to x, y, or z.  A couple are close to my family in the midwest, a few are in dream places I’ve always considered living in, and one or two are close to here.  So I spent my walk with Katherine yesterday fielding imaginary interview questions along the lines of “We have a lot of candidates who don’t like cold, rural climates.  Can you address our concern?”

You betcha!

Erin

Katherine is now strong enough to cause some real damage if she gets a good grip on your face, your hair, or the underside of your arm.  But she’s not old enough to understand “No!”  If you try it, she gives you either a concerned look or a big smile–and then goes back to kicking, biting, launching herself off your lap, or digging a hole in your gut.  I’m glad we have a strong kid, but let’s hope this “Destruction!  Major Destruction!” thing is just temporary.

Erin

After several weeks of revision (my first real work as Sydney and I begin switching off childcare duties) I submitted my first chapter to my advising committee.  Since I’d written and rewritten it over the course of a couple of years, reworking it was a bit of a bear.  Despite all of the preparations for the job hunt that I have yet to complete, I’m feeling a sense of accomplishment at getting that sent off.

And today, one day after emailing my chapter in, I got hit with a monstrous cold.  I’m not sure whether to be grateful that the cold held off until now or annoyed that it’s interfering with the celebration plans I had laid out.

Erin

Two days ago Katherine finally mustered the strength to roll from her back to her stomach.  She did it right in front of me, while lying on the counter in the kitchen–and while I was making zucchini pizza.  I promptly scooped her up, whooped and hollered, and got zucchini pieces in her hair and jalapeno in my eye.  She’s since made that her new hobby, promptly flipping over as soon as she can–and then scooting backward on her stomach an inch or two at a time.  She reminds me a bit of the knight in chess: only very limited, complicated movement is allowed, but boy, it can cover the board with that move!

Erin