Is anyone else still hooked on this show? The premiere last week found me a little glossy-eyed. I’m not sure I was ready for two hours of new teams running the race since the last show ended only three weeks earlier. And yet, I’m strangely and utterly addicted to this program. It’s not your average reality program (trust me, I would know)—it’s far better.

Contestants I’m rooting for: Rob and Amber. Well, so far I’m cheering them on. I tend to support teams that are fun, friendly and honest, and Rob could be pushing the envelope on the honesty ticket. I know that tons of people hated him all through Survivor, but I loved the guy. And even though he kinda lied to fellow racers last week, he charmingly winked at the camera, so all is forgiven in my book.

There are a lot of new shows on tv right now. But is any of it really worth watching? Let me know if some new gem has escaped my notice. After 8pm (baby bedtime) I’m a free woman.

Sunday was one of those amazing it’s almost spring in Nebraska days where the outdoor thermometer hit 70-something degrees and the sky was an incredible shade of blue. It was just what I needed! Jeremy and I spent a little time in the afternoon raking leaves off our front lawn, then later I went over to my parents’ house where I snapped this picture. My folks moved to a house on Spring Lake several months ago. So far the chilly winter temps have kept us indoors, but on Sunday we were able to enjoy the lake a little more. The beauty of that day is keeping my soul content as we experience highs in the 40’s this week. Ah, Nebraska! The state of rapid temperature change. One day you could be luxuriating in 70 degrees and the next your yard could be blanketed in snow. To quote one of our fight songs:

There is no place like Nebraska,
Where they’re all true blue.
We’ll all stick together,
In all kinds of weather,
For Dear old Nebraska U!

I have never heard of anyone *tasting* music. This story simply fascinates me.

I think I’ve posted this photograph before, but it speaks to me today of everything I love about spring and warm weather. Green grass, warm sunshine, going for walks in beautiful locations…. Mmmm. Sounds lovely! Fortunately, we’re having nice weather today. I intend to get outside a bit and rake up those pesky winter leaves on our lawn. But still, I can’t wait for the warmth of spring. I’m envious of my fellow bloggers from Chattanooga and New Orleans!

When a woman says she’s a “stay-at-home” mom or a fulltime homemaker, what automatic judgments do you make? If you’re anything like me, you think soccer mom, homemade cookies and frumpy clothes. It sounds ridiculous for a homemaker like myself to admit such things. But truthfully, it’s what I think. Or rather, it’s what I used to think.

My previous notions about women and motherhood are being twisted and turned in their definitions. It’s not that I ever consciously thought negatively about this position; in fact, I have wanted to become a mother for my entire life and I greatly valued the things mothers accomplished. Well, sometimes I valued them. Other times I assumed (and we know what assuming does right?) that stay-at-home moms had easy lives. After all, how hard can measly chores like washing the laundry and the dishes be? And really, we all know that moms drop the kids off at school, then eat ice cream and watch television all day long. Right?

Um, no. Big N-O. Life as a homemaker is nothing like that.

I am far from a financial planner. It takes all my strength and energy to plan a budget and figure out savings accounts. However, all the talk recently about the future of Social Security made me realize that I am foregoing my Social Security benefits by being a stay-at-home mom. As in, I’m building up NOTHING for my future retirement (for a moment, forget the possible perils of future benefits for everyone, not just me) while working at home to raise children. Somehow this doesn’t seem fair!

If I paid someone else to watch my daughter during the day, then worked as an early childhood teacher in a daycare or as a housekeeper for a cleaning service or as a professional drycleaner or as a lawn care worker for a yard service, then I’d be deemed worthy of Social Security. If money exchanged hands, I could show that I was contributing to society in a measurable fashion. If I hired someone to do the tasks I’m expected to complete by being at home (feeding, bathing, diapering, teaching my child; doing the laundry; cleaning the house; caring for the yard; shoveling walkways), then the paid worker would receive Social Security. But wait…! Isn’t the rearing of children, those responsible for paying for the future retirement of us all, isn’t that something important on a national level?

Food for thought. Chew it over. Respond with your ideas.

I’ve been taking pictures for an upcoming capital campaign project for Zion. Most of my photos should be trashed as they turned out quite grainy and without great focal points. My excuse is that I have never taken a photography class and that I haven’t even read through the owner’s manual for my camera. Nonetheless, I love taking pictures and plan to improve my skills as time goes by. My favorite subjects are children (especially the ones that belong to me and my friends!), which explains this photo here. I tried to be impartial while snapping shots of our three year olds Sunday School class, but I couldn’t help but take extra photos of my favorite boys, Nathan and Andrew. And though this photograph is by no means extraordinary, the subject is! Nathan is captured at his mischievous best, proudly displaying his work for the camera.

It’s the end of an era. No more Horn Creek for PYA.

v. en·joyed, en·joy·ing, en·joys

1. To receive pleasure or satisfaction from.
2. To have the use or benefit of

• Online Read: Upon This Rock
• On DVD: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: The Complete Third Season (Slim Set)
• During spare moments: The Price of Motherhood: Why the Most Important Job in the World Is Still the Least Valued
• For V-Day: Date Night

She’s asleep. Under the pastel crocheted baby blanket I made several years ago. It may not make it through these teething days, where she vigorously pulls its threads over her shiny new baby tiger teeth. But for now it’s doing its job, keeping her warm as she drifts off to Dreamland for her afternoon nap.

He’s asleep, too. Under the queen-size sheet from Penneys, under the navy blue down comforter, under another crocheted blanket, made many moons ago. I really haven’t made that many blankets. It just so happens that my two favorite people are being covered by them now. (What a nice feeling.) Poor guy—he’s sick. Recovering actually, from two days of fever and body aches.

And I wonder, why am I not sleeping?

Before long she’ll be awake again and our familiar cycle, sleep/wake/eat/play, will continue and I’ll curse the precious moments I wiled away in the face of the iMac. No fever, few body aches, but I’ve got a cold raising cain in my sinuses. At 3:30am I thought someone had the bones of my face in a vise-grip, threatening me with a long painful death-by-congestion. Three pillows, two Sudafed, one extra-strength Tylenol and one hour later I was sleeping like a log, awakened only by the baby voice across the hall at 7:45.

It’s been an interesting experiment, caring for a baby while feeling sick—and caring for an even sicker husband. And that’s why I’m still staring down the computer screen, luxuriating in personal emails and random articles. In an hour I may be hanging my head in exhaustion while pushing bitefuls of chicken and peas in Livia’s direction, but at least I will have had this. This me-time. This exposure to the outside world. I will have had you and you will have had me and I will have felt like a part of society again.

God bless the internet.

The Many Faces of Andrew, 2004-2005