Last Day of Summer Vacation

To celebrate my last day of summer vacation, Miguel made a carne asada and we had some of his family over for the mid-day meal. Miguel was a super host and the meal was wonderful. It was great for us to see our 3-month-old niece, Dana, as we hadn’t spent much time with her. You can see how Miguel's parents were smitten with her in these photos with Miguel's brother.

This will be my last post for my summer blog. I have enjoyed creating the blog and the way it encouraged me to look for simple beauty in each summer day and share that and I loved getting feedback from friends and family who checked in on the blog. I learned technical tricks along with things about documentation as well. I don't know how to remove a blog from the web so I plan to leave this up for a month or two and then try to figure out if it's possible to close it down.

Good-bye readers! I can be found at my email carstensen@megared.net.mx and I also receive comments left on this blog.

Last night there was a big storm that knocked out our electricity for most of today. The cat seems to have caught a bird as the house was filled with feathers and even the Chihuahua had feathers stuck to her nose. Lots of flies in the house and the mosquitoes are biting. Seems like summertime is getting rancid and telling me it's time to go back to work. One more day before I close this blog. We have a carne asada planned with Miguel's folks. Cooking on the grill seems like a proper way to end summer. Maybe ice cream cones...

Guest Photographer

Today I feature a photograph from our friend Jandra Torres who went out in our neighborhood this afternoon with Loretta and friend from forever, Marili. Jandra's a recent ASFG graduate and great photographer whose photos can be seen at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rishrishrish.

gardening

Today I spent the morning in our patio gardens. Replanted some violets in pottery my mom made and sent me home with, replanted the parsley in the kitchen garden, and started some sunflowers that promise to be huge.

Nostalgia for the summer already...

Today I went into work and saw how the school has been busy while I've been gone. The Early Childhood office has been beautifully remodeled. I loved seeing friends - so many were there working when we are officially "on vacation" that it reminds me how much we are drawn to the place and how lucky we are to have that place in order to have each other.

I feel torn - I'm looking forward to returning to work and excited about a new school year full of potential and yet I'm not quite ready to give up this feeling of summertime potential - the idea that I can stay up very late reading or talking with family - the way there is time to read old journals and correspond with old friends during the summer, the time I've found to be taking the pets out in the driveway to brush them and then give them treats, all that stuff. I want to find a way to have both - the rush of work with the calm of wearing the same jeans for days in a row. Meanwhile, I have a few more days of documenting summer before I head into work on Monday.

My Sister Laura's Book

Due to hit the bookstores any day, and already available on Amazon, I am enjoying my sister's book on aging and what we can look forward to as we grow older. I can highly recommend it!

old things in new places and a fat cat

Loretta, Emilio, and I are home in Guadalajara. It's wonderful to see Miguel and the pets and to eat Mexican food. We had such a great trip and this morning unpacking our bags brought up lots of fun stories for Miguel.


The dancing bear is from my days in New York City and now he's living up with the Huichol dear behind the volcano.


This little bear is probably from a trip my parents and I took to northern California to see my brothers when I was ten years old and the little sheep is from my father's home in Nebraska. The sheep sort of busted in the suitcase and her stuffing of sand broke loose but she's been around for so long that she still holds a shape even though she's hollow!

And speaking of hollow - I think Loretta's cat is pregnant. Look at that belly!! She wasn't like that when we left.

Loretta and I were downstairs in my parents' basement and she saw this old bottle of Cling Free and asked, "What's thaaaat?" Along with being a little scary - the way the can is corroding...it's also hip advertising. That got us noticing other products around the house whose beauty I’d taken for granted.

And the oddest one yet....

...a bottle of Russian (?) Champaign in the closet with the bedding and towels! Cheers!!!

Rochester

My mom has a beautiful stretch of black-eyed susans in her yard, which often oblige us by blooming during our summer visit.



This is an afghan that my mother made for Loretta to take to university.



Chris and Dave came over for tea this afternoon. They just moved to Rochester as Chris was offered a job here in town. It was fun to give them some postcards they’d sent me 23 years ago when I was living in NYC.

Yesterday was our last day at the lake and we said good-bye to my sister Dee and her daughter Ruby. We had a wonderful time with them swimming, dancing and singing and eating great food Dee made us.

My brother's son, Edwin, came to the lake to visit us. Thanks for making the trip out!

Splash!!

rainy day

Today was the kind of rainy day I dream of when it rains on a work day when you wish you could stay home. Today we slept late, late, late. Read and went back to sleep. Finished a book and read more old letters. Took a walk during a break in the rain and fell off the kayak just as I was putting it away so I took an unexpected swim in the lake in the rain. Ruby taught Emilio how to shuck corn. Today is the kind of day to remember when summertime feels far away and life seems like a list of errands.

My Parents

This morning I woke up to find my mom telling stories in the kitchen. I made it in time for this one entitled "I was a goody-goody."



I have been reading old letters from friends and family and they are wonderful, but the one I read tonight from my dad seemed the most romantic yet... "...savings account or no savings account you are still a wonderful girl". Who could ask for more?

Loretta is home and we zipped her off to the lake house.

This is my sister Dee and my brother, Allen. Thanks to Allen and Chris for coming out for the day. We LOVED seeing you guys.

My mom and me.

A beautiful summer day with wonderful company, wonderful food, a wonderful lake house. Thanks Mom and Dad for creating this place.

Country Road

Today Emilio, my niece Ruby, and I drove back from the lake to my parents' house in Rochester. The drive goes through amazingly beautiful country - it's very different from where I live now (which is also beautiful). Tomorrow we are headed back.

Loretta came back from her summer writing program tonight with lots of wonderful stories. Didn't mean that to be a pun but it is one. Maybe she'll let me share a poem another day.

Blogs

I don't know too much about blogging - this has been a fun learning experience for me. My friends have recently sent me links to their blogs. Marla McLean is an atelierista in DC, her new blog looks like it will be fun to keep up with.

My brother Allen's blogs are also here to the right hand side of this page if you click on his member's photo. My mom taught me how to access these.

My teacher friend, Norma Guinto, has also started a blog about daily things called "cosas de la vida". This blog is in Spanish.

Enjoying the Lake

Here's Emilio with one of his catfish. He's cleaning and filleting now which is a new skill.

Today was a lovely rainy day. I got to take walks in the rain, go into town with Emilio for worms, sit by the window and read old letters from friends that I'd saved in my parents' attic, and watch a movie on Dee's computer with Dee, Ruby and Emilio.




Yesterday we took one of the boats out for a short ride! Dee got some video before the boat went down....

ruby casting

I had been asking Ruby to dance for me on the dock and she was clearly uninspired but just a few seconds later I saw how she casts and I thought the way she holds up her outstretched hand after a cast was so beautiful.

what you can find at the mall in the US

Yesterday Emilio and I went to MarketPlace Mall and I came home with a new outfit!

Right now my Dad is busy cooking a delicious smelling chicken dish and my sister and I are packing to head off to the lake.

My folks house

My parents are amazing hosts. They have been feeding us from their garden and my mom is always making time to show me stuff and tell great stories. The swiss chard was accompanied by BBQ ribs that my dad cooked.

Michael, Dee and Ruby came in from the lake and we've been having great conversations and looking at old photos.

Pitaya and Wink video

This was taken in the fall when Wink was a little kitten but I just came across it again. Pitaya and Wink don't play this way anymore 'cause Wink went and grew up.

Tomorrow Emilio and I fly to Rochester where Loretta will meet us later. We'll see my folks and Dee, Michael, and Ruby. I'm hoping that I get to see my brother Allen, Chris, and Edwin too.

I went through old photo albums to find college photos to post on the Goddard Alumni page of Facebook. I also found this is me the summer I was 17, just graduated from high school, and spending the summer in Alaska before going to college. This summer Loretta is 17 so I sent it to her in Iowa.

I love summer.

These are the old Emilio drawings that I rescued from the trash pile after Emilio cleaned his room. I love these. Emilio was probably 10 or 11 years old when he drew them.

testing photo placement, fonts, etc...

Today I'm trying to put multiple photos on the blog entry... can't figure out how to manipulate these in a way i like. Maybe making sure they were all the same size?




Loretta is now in Iowa at the Young Writer's Studio for two weeks. I'm officially off work but go in almost everyday to finish up loose ends and I still have to finish packing my office because we'll get new flooring in the office this summer.

Today I'm taking the day off to attend to the house a bit - putting in grass out front and checking out my garden... Had a chile ready and the parsely & carrots are coming along.

Emilio has been cleaning out his bedroom and making stencils. He was going to throw away some old drawings he'd made but I salvaged some cool stuff I'll post later on.

Not too much happening these days. I'm finishing up at work this week. Today I looked at the writing samples from our students at the end of the year and this drawing by a nursery student struck me as wonderful. Something about the eyes - the the feet are pretty sweet too.

I'm happy my sister Laura's knee surgery went well. Sending her healing thoughts.

posting a video from my new flip video camera

This afternoon we had a small hailstorm just as Miguel was coming home from playing soccer.

Last week I was in Charlotte, North Carolinan at a NAEYC conference with Karla and while we were there we were able to see Janet, Fernando and little Miss M one evening for dinner!

here's emilio at school taken by a friend. both loretta and emilio are already on vacation even though i am still working for another week. just having them on vacation makes the house smell like summer and the night air sound different. i love it.

today was the last day of school for the early childhood students and as i said good-bye at dismissal i can see in many of their faces this look of "i'm not sure what will happen without school" some don't grasp the idea of summer vacation and look a little nervous.

learning how to post

My first entry - learning how to post a photo. Here's one of Loretta and me that Leo took at the NH induction in May. It felt strange to have forgotten to bring a camera.