Doodle Does . . . Brooklyn!

Yes, folks, she is getting to be SUCH A BIG GIRL!  I'm doing some studying right now (back into classes!) but wanted to get something up for your viewing pleasure :)  This is Eddy (and Daddy) at Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY enjoying the dragon fountain!

Sebago Trip 2011

Summer is in full swing here in The House at Fellows.  One of our favorite trips so far was our trek up to Frye Island, Maine.  Frye Island is on Sebago Lake - and accessible only by ferry (and only from May to November at that)!  Unfortunately Jesse had to work summer school so Eddy and I were a whole week with ONLY family, pets, good food, ice cream, nature walks, ice cream, puzzles, the lake, books, games, ice cream to keep us company ;)  Oh, and L.L.Beans - which no family trip to Maine would be without.  We look forward to a year when we can all go up together!!

As you might expect, Edylene was pretty starved for attention up at the lake (as Liz Lemon would say "Opposite!").  She hung out with grandparents and GREAT grandparents and aunts and GREAT-aunts and uncles.  She tried ice cream for the first time, and as soon as she got into the proper ice cream-enthusiast spirit, Great Grandpa Steeves agreed to be her dining partner for the rest of the week. 

Eddy was great in the water - we brought a little blow-up inner tube for her to float around in and she was pretty content to do just that.  A water baby in the making!

During the week we took a trip off-island to visit some extended relatives - and we saw the old school where Edylene's Great Great Great Grandpa (Sharen, correct me if I've got too many/too few "Greats" in there!) coached track and baseball. 

We had a great time with family up in Maine and we even got back to Syracuse in time to do some berry picking - gooseberries, currants, and raspberries - oh my!

Doodle Does . . . The Rose Garden!

Here are some lovely photos from our trip to the Rose Garden at Thornden Park.  We attended "Rose Day" hosted by the Syracuse Rose Society.  We missed getting to pick our own bouquet, but it inspired us to get some rose bushes of our own!  More info on that in the future . . .

Doodle Does . . . Baby Sign!

We're not bragging, but this is kind of awesome.

 


Ok, so maybe we are bragging :)

A Little Lean is All It Takes

After a 2 month long hiatus from any form of roller skating (and pretty much any exercise for that matter) due to illness and LIFE in general, last night I broke back into the world of derby :) 

I've decided to start skating with the Crown City Rollerz Royal Pains down in Cortland.  It is a 40 minute trek but it makes the most sense for me right now: instead of trying to commit to 3+ practices a week with ACRD here in Syracuse (if I had even made the team) I can skate with CCR once a week.  Plus I have a gaggle of friends from my original Fresh Meat class who are making the trek down there as well.  Plus it seems that everyone at CCR is SUPER nice.  I had barely walked in the door when people started walking up (or skating up!) to introduce themselves to the newbie.  I was starting to get pleasantly confused that word of my arrival seemed to be spreading around the track (Caitlin is here, make haste, make haste!) - AAAAND then I realized that I still had my name scrawled in big letters across the back of my helmet . . . .   haha :)  It is a good thing it was on there - my normal MO in a new place is to keep my head down and my unwitting signage forced me to interact with some big tuff impressive roller girls. 

It was a little intimidating walking into the sports complex - "The Mac" - where CCR practices.  This was not an intimate Fresh Meat class of 12 newbie skaters - this was a real honest to goodness league - about 50 women zooming around a gi-normous track.  For a good portion of the 2 hour practice the Fresh Meat were separated from the veteran skaters (but I am told that every practice is different so it may not be that way next time!).  Being back on skates, it felt as though my body remembered what it was supposed to be doing, but my brain was racing saying "Wait! What are we doing? We have to think this through!".  So the first 5 minutes were scary when I was debating with myself whether or not to jump into the fray or to keep skating large circles around the perimeter in a perpetual warm-up!  Once I  convinced my brain to calm down, I was able to join in with the other Fresh Meat.  In no time I was sweating and smiling, huffing and puffing a bit, definitely feeling that my hamstrings were going to be barking at me the next day.

All in all, I am so grateful to be sticking with derby (thanks to encouragement from numerous sources).  Skating with CCR was great - I even learned a few new skills - whips and hits!  Well, "hit" may be exaggerating it a bit.  We practiced leaning into each other to push the other girl out of bounds and then we practiced giving our partner a little butt "bump".  Apparently I have to rediscover how to use my hips, because there was something essential not happening in order to get my tush from A to B.  I'm not too worried though - I'm looking forward to next week's practice already :)   

Ode to the Common Weed

May I be like the common weed:

Where ever I may find myself, 

In soil rich and loamy, barren, rocky

Sandy, salty

Organic

Toxic

May I put down roots just the same

May I exploit every crack

Grab any opportunity

To fling myself skyward

May I accept the rain, the sun

Alert and open

Nonresistance

And turn it all into something

Fresh and green and fierce

May I hold my own amongst the flowers

May my life be one of ever-reachingness

Ever openess

Spreading, spreading

Though it may not always be pretty

I may even let loose

With a few flowers myself

Every now and then.

Back to Basics: the List

• "morning papers"
• meditation
• tea
• the gym
• dark chocolate
• family
• paperback books
• board games
• spirit and vibration
• outdoors

Will you help me make this happen??