Vintage facial hair

Jason's off to work to train clients, rockin' the Dr. Benton Quest facial hair from the Jonny Quest cartoon. Maybe I'll dress Dylan like Hajji. Where does one find a size 4T nehru jacket?

 

 

On the mend

2am ER visit, 2 hours, 2 throat swabs, 2 nurses to help hold him down, 2 meds, 3 stickers, 1 popsicle. Diagnosis: something viral. But meds clearly working: he tried to push every elevator button on our way out of hospital.

Milestone: big boy bed

I've finally grown tired of trying to curl up with Dylan on the crib mattress on the floor to put him to sleep at night. That would be from the crib that he refused to sleep in. Ever. Even though the people at his daycare put him in one and report that he quickly drops off to sleep. Grrrr.

Mere weeks after we bought it at a consignment shop, drop side cribs were outlawed anyway. So he's alternated between our bed and the mattress for months. First in our room on the floor, then in the room he now shares with Ava.

So we found a great deal on a twin bed and mattress on Craigslist and picked it up this morning. The afternoon was spent getting bedding and a new boxspring.

His favorite part of the new bed? The squishy football & baseball pillows that he picked.

My favorite part? If I fall asleep in his bed now, I won't wake up with a crick in my neck that last for days. Winning!

Like Norman Rockwell

Some fathers and sons fish, some hunt, some do tandem technology.

Snail mail under seige: USPS looks to cut service

The New York Times has a story about how the "Increasing Postal Deficits Intensify Talks on Solution." One option? Cut delivery service to five days per week, eliminating Saturday mail and potentially saving more than $3 billion a year.

As a person who loves writing, fountain pens, and handwritten letters, this makes me sad. In fact, it's renewed my fervor for letter writing and journaling, which has almost completely fallen by the wayside since I became a working mom. There just do not seem to be enough hours in the day to feed the beast at work, feed and spend time with my family at night, and carve out "me time" for things like writing letters to friends and chronicling life's weekly ebbs and flows.

But you make time for the things that matter, right? So now that Ava's getting bigger, more verbal (latest words? "Sometimes" and "I guess"), I'm sharing my love of writing with her.

I don't use pencils, so she's learning how to use a fountain pen, ink pens and markers without stabbing herself or anyone else in the eyeball, or ruining nearby clothing or furniture. Only a couple times have I had to explain, "Pens are for paper, not tables or walls or couches, right?" Given that boundary, an unlimited supply of legal size sheets or left over scratch paper from me and her dad, she's been fine and is content to happily scribble away at my side or while sitting on our laps as we read or catch up at the end of the day.

"Dear Santa, I know it's July but..."

Ava making edits on my letter.

I was also poking around online and realized I'm not the only one who loves writing, pens and snail mail. I found the following pen and snail-mail-centric blogs. How cool is that?! I'll be adding these to my feed reader pronto.

Just Letter Rip - http://justletterrip.blogspot.com/2009/07/never-buy-another-envelope.html

We Love Snail Mail - http://welovesnailmail.webs.com/apps/blog/

Good Pens - http://goodpens.blogspot.com/

365 Letters - http://365lettersblog.blogspot.com/

Letter Lover - http://letterlover.net/

Barack's Pen - http://www.barackspen.com/#

I also just refilled a pen and pulled out some paper I've been saving for when inspiration hits. Today's as good a day as any. And sure, e-mail and Twitter and blogging are faster, but really, have you ever opened your e-mail with the same sense of anticipation that you have opening an unexpected letter from a friend? I think not.

So why not sit down tonight before the USPS goes under or stamps go up again and jot off a few lines on a piece of paper or a card to a friend just to say, "Hey, I thought about you today and hope you're enjoying the summer or life finally free of that deadweight or the Mariners this season" or whatever. As one writer said, "I hate writing, but love having written." I would add, I love having received a written letter.