Old Mom

Nothing could make one feel older than being a mom over forty at the Provo City Library's story time. I actually didn't spot anyone who looked to be over twenty five. It was an accidental story time-Cecily and I went to check out books and happened upon it--and geared towards toddlers, but Cecily loved it and wanted to stay, and so we did. And I realized that I was slightly depressed by looking at all of the pregnant moms with toddlers and preschoolers not because I am old now, but because it brought back difficult memories from that terrifying and isolating time for me. I was not a happy young mother. Is anyone a happy new mother, or was it because I was so young and our life was so economically and geographically unstable then? Or because I hadn't discovered a treatment for my depression?

It was fun to sit there with Cecily on my lap and feel wiser than the other mom's there, to know that I wasn't going home to deal with putting three young children down for naps or to watch Teletubbies again. I miss my older girls terribly, and our lives have narrowed in scope considerably since their leaving, but it's nice to know for sure that there's life to be lived again after babies.

Obama Blue

Today Kindra and I went out for a celebratory pedicure, choosing blue for our nails. Then a celebratory Costco run, then a celebratory Kneader's lunch. I couldn't sleep last night I was so psyched. Eva called last night from Harlem (maybe a post about it, E.?) in the midst of a parade or street party or something. It was so moving to hear John Lewis speak. I also finally got my Obama bumper sticker and yard sign today! I put them up. All the haters can talk to me directly about Obama now, instead of whispering about it behind my back.

xo!!!

Lara

Procrastination

No one truly knows the meaning of this word until they are in college, I think.

I have compsci homework to do, reading to be specific--and it is boring as hell. That is the problem with computer science and math and other kinds of sciences... Who wants to read about them?! No one.
Also, the learning curve in computer science has flattened considerably. We are spending a whole chapter on Arrays, which are essentially lists of objects. They are actually really important, but since we haven't gotten around to really programming with them, it's hard to see why they are worthy of an entire chapter/week of my life.
Also, next week will probably be the most challenging of my college career--I missed classes last week because I was sick, and I'm going to have to spend all week catching up. Good thing midterms are over, or I'd be dead meat.

What if I want to major in Russian Lit and marry a rich person and do charity work?
Or be a pilot?
Or develop a luxury airline with gourmet airplane food?
Or be a plastic surgeon?
Or be a curator at an art museum?
Or be a freelance writer?


It's a crazy world out here...

Red Leaves

I'll try to catch up today, unless Momo climbs on my lap and preempts the post again.  So. . . .

New York:

You can see photos of Eva's fabulous b-day dinner at the Noodle Bar with Julie Turley and family. We also shopped like crazy at Loehman's and found a great coat for Eva, with a quick but productive trip to H&M thrown in at the last minute.  We went to Cafe Sarbasky for lunch, DUMBO to see Black Watch  at St. Ann's Warehouse (Hot Scots!!!!!) and watched the lights of Manhattan turn on from the Manhattan Bridge Overpass Park (while eating Jacques Torres chocolates), The Frick (and I was so happy that Eva seemed to like it as much as I do.  I think it's one of my favorite places in the world.  One night we ordered chinese and watched a television series about a group of single Manhattanites and their love lives.  One night we went to see Eva's friend belly dance at a fundraiser put on by a pan-Asian sorority at Columbia.  It was very long so we went out in the middle and got caught in a rain storm and ducked into that famous Hungarian bakery across from St. John the Divine until the rain (sort of) stopped.  My favorite thing was just hanging out with Eva and seeing her life and getting to talk with her late into the night. She is a terrific companion.  On the downside, it really increased how much I miss her.

Ingrid:

We are sort of incommunicado these days.  We send her a once a week letter.  She has no internet and we've been told to phone her no more than once a week.  I'm hoping her family will eventually get her internet working and we'll get a little more information from her.  We did get a letter from her, and it sounds like she's doing quite well.  She's starting to volunteer for a nursing home on Tuesday through the church she's been attending, and she's excited to practiced her German with people she's not afraid of (i.e. the oldies).  She said she goes for long walks and does yoga.  She says nothing about school or her language, so we're in the dark on that topic.  It's hard to believe we're not going to see her for so many more months.  I feel like she's on a mission.

Little Kids:

For Halloween, Lula was a go-go girl, Cecily a spider queen, and Moses a bat.  Things went pretty smoothly this year.  No one had a melt-down about their costume at the last minute, which is my least favorite Halloween occurance.  Lula is doing well in piano and school and is a fantastic friend and helper for me.  Cecily is "adjusting" still at school.  I think she is doing better, but it's still a challenge.  Will I ever have a normal child who goes with the flow at school?  Maybe Moses will come through.  Momo just asked me "Why do skeletons not have ears?" and "Where is the button to turn off the rain?"  Last night for movie night, Lula and Cecy, Christian and I watched Kit Kittredge and ate popcorn and Halloween candy.  Curse that candy that's so disgusting and yet so irresistable.

Christian:

Viola CD release last week at Muse Music.  He played a beautiful show including prepared viola acoustic stuff, viola and harmonium, viola and wahwah and then the beautiful finale Joseph Smith death scene from The Open Curtain.  We had a little get together at our house afterwards which was fun.  He goes to Seattle with the CD on November 15th, so check it out, Seattle.  He's currently arranging a couple of primary songs for strings for our primary program on November 16th.

Lara:

I totally revised my poetry manuscript (Alburnum of the Green and Living Tree).  Not really totally.  I guess it was more of a clean-up, so now it's in really good shape.  Even though I hate it now.  I'm not touching it again unless it's being published.  I sent it off to some book contests, and hope to see it accepted somewhere by next fall.  It's such a long and competitive process.  I don't know if it's worth it.  I also wrote a grant proposal that asked for six essays.  It is a large award, but perhaps I shouldn't have spent so much time on something that is such a long shot.    It's hard to know what to spend time on, for me.  

We're on our way to Bam's for Sunday dinner, picking Eliza up on the way.  It's raining out and the mountains are red and gold.  This is my favorite time of year.  

Love you all and miss you.

xo

L

eva in ny

Momo is sitting on my lap, so this post may be less detailed than I would like, but I had to write about the fantastic time I had with Eva in NY.
one: dinner at a hip noodle house in the east village, cake from blackhound bakery, birthday song and candles from cute wD

ingy limerick

Here's the one we got in the mail. Feel free to post your own ingy limerick in comments:

Ode to the (Remaining) Asplunds

There once was a family of five
Who lived in the state of Beehive
There used to be more
But they pranced out the door
To seek fortunes, to learn, to survive.

Daddy Post-it

I was so proud of Daddy tonight. He performed a 25 minute piece called "Passage" (for piano and sax) he wrote a few years ago for his concerts in Istanbul. It was by turns startling, funny, moving, sweet, and odd in its periodicity--there were at least ten jumps in style, meter, tone, etc. without transition. Near the end, Daddy improvised a several minute long cannon/figured bass type thing. And when the piece ended, the audience stood and cheered. A well deserved standing ovation. Congrats, Daddy!

momo post-it

Good to know that my three-year-old son is learning his abc's, 123's and the basic tenets of the Bush Doctrine at 'benture Time. I guess we know who lives in a very pro-American community.

"Today we learned about soldiers and I taught them about my friend Harper, and how he helps us be "free" and Moses says, 'I'm three.' It was hilarious. We got it all worked out. He knows free and three now, I hope. :) Heart Miss Christy"

Ceci, Momo, and AZ Odds and Ends

A Ceci story:

This morning Cecily awoke late, about 10 am. She walked into the room where I was lying on the coach reading a mystery novel about Emily Dickinson when I should have been doing dishes with her adorable Christopher Robin-esque bob all disheveled atop her oversized t-shirt pajamas and she climbed on top of me and snuggled into my shoulder. Most of you know that Cecily is not always snuggly. This was a rare moment of intimacy with her.

"You slept for a long time last night, Cecily."
"Yeah. Actually, I was staring at the window thinking of stories."
"What stories were you thinking about?"
"I was thinking about the stories I told Lula last night. She told me to tell her three stories. Actually I tell her three stories every night."

I pondered that scene while Cecily decided we had snuggled enough and was off to play Littlest Petshop.


Two Momo Post-its:

"Moses is very much missed! Class is not the same without him. Heart Miss Kelsey"

"Moses is back. We sure missed him. He told me all about airplanes all day long. Too cute! Heart Miss Christy"


AZ highlights:

--Katie's new patio strung with lights and candles while being served delicious apple crisp

--Usury pass in the evening--jumping cactus, a miniature hike with babies, roasted marshmallows and cupcakes

--MiAmigo's salsa

--Phoenix Zoo--Pearl the Baboon with rocks in her food pouch (long story), turtles, bonding with Charlie, shady picnic with Mom and Katie while kids played in the Swiss Family Robinsonesque tree house

--Shopping with Val at Ross

--Pedis with Kristin (hot rocks, warm lotion, callous removal extraordinare)

--Marble Canyon

--Hogans

--Car trip sing-a-long/harmonizing with Bonnie/Momo and Ceci's long, improvised songs/Lula's gorgeous voice

--Bonding time with the small ones

She's Such a Big Girl Now!!!!!!

Eighteen years ago today my beautiful daughter Eva Snow Asplund was born. I have a few snapshots in my head of the night/day/night it took to bring her out (I was in labor for a protracted forty hours): 3 am at the corner supermarket on 4th Ave. and Geary in SF--I walked the aisles to try to keep the labor going. I wasn't experienced enough at giving birth to know I should have tried to rest instead of wearing myself out. Sitting in the tub in our outer Richmond district railroad flat singing and timing contractions on a hot pink plastic watch I bought just for that purpose. And then (many, many, many hours later), she's born, I'm out of it, and Christian follows her around shading her eyes from the bright lights, as he had read somewhere that bright lights would be traumatic for a new baby. He questioned every move the docs and nurses made, and protected her until I got her and could hold her.

She was then, as she is now, a great beauty, an intriguing femme fatale in the making, and Christian and I were endlessly fascinated by her every move and facial expression. She was an early fan of Hendrix, and an early sitter, walker, teether, crawler and pianist. My main recollection of her as an infant is of holding her in an upright position--she hated to not be able to see everything and could hold her head up from day one--she was always in a perfect posture looking over my shoulder. She has always been beyond her years. As a child, all of her teachers adored her. Her kindergarten teacher even teared up at Eva's conference and said, "If I had a daughter, I would want her to be just like Eva." Though she is so very gifted, she is humble about her gifts and embarrassed about attention she gets for them--she refuses to take credit for her accomplishments, so I sometimes have to do it for her (like right now.) As a daughter, she has been a fun, interesting, and very helpful companion. I rely heavily on her perspective about life, her siblings, politics, human nature, etc. As a sister, she has been a role model, a tutor, and a caretaker with a heavy burden of responsibility. Everyone who knows me knows that I am incredibly proud of her, and can't help bragging about her. She is my greatest accomplishment and joy in this life (along with her siblings, of course). I miss her more than I can say, and I'm sad I can't be with her today.

Happy Eighteenth Birthday, Eva!!!!!!

A to Z

Eva, this one's for you. Mark wrote down all of these quotes when he saw the Andrea Zittel show in Vancouver a few years ago, I think. Hey, maybe we could check out her studio while I'm in town?

Which one is y'all's favorite, and why? Or do you disagree with any of them and why?

Andrea Zittel: These things I know for sure:

1. It is a human trait to want to organize things into
categories. Inventing categories creates an illusion that there is an
overriding rationale in the way that the world works.

2. Surfaces that are "easy to clean" also show dirt
more. In reality a surface that camouflages dirt is much more practical
than one that is easy to clean.

3. Maintenance takes time and energy that can sometimes
impede other forms of progress such as learning about new things.

4. All materials ultimately deteriorate and show signs
of wear. It is therefore important to create designs that will look
better after years of distress.

5. A perfected filing system can sometimes decrease
efficiency. For instance, when letters and bills are filed away too
quickly, it is easy to forget to respond to them.

6. Many "progressive" designs actually hark back towards
a lost idea of nature or a more "original form."

7. Ambiguity in visual design ultimately leads to a
greater variety of functions than designs that are functionally fixed.

8. No matter how many options there are, it is human
nature to always narrow things down to two polar, yet inextricably
linked choices.

9. The creation of rules is more creative than the
destruction of them. Creation demands a higher level of reasoning and
draws connections between cause and effect. The best rules are never
stable or permanent,
but evolve naturally according to context or need.

10. What makes us feel liberated is not total freedom,
but rather living in a set of limitations that we have
created and prescribed for ourselves.

11. Things that we think are liberating can ultimately
become restrictive, and things that we initially think are
controlling can sometimes give us a sense of comfort and
security.

12. Ideas seem to gestate best in a void-when that void
is filled, it is more difficult to access them. In our
consumption-driven society, almost all voids are filled,
blocking moments of greater clarity and creativity.

Things that block voids are called "avoids."

13. Sometimes if you can't change a situation, you just
have to change the way that you think about the
situation.

14. People are most happy when they are moving forwards
towards something not quite yet attained. (I also wonder if this extends
as well to the sensation of physical motion in space. I believe that I
am happier
when I am in a plane or car because I am moving towards
an identifiable and attainable goal.)

-Andrea Zittel (as of Spring 2005)

saguaro

The littles and I are in Arizona for fall break. At this very moment, Moses is flying with Grandpa in his and Grandpa's plane. Are you proud of how brave I am? The sky is stunning and the air is clean and dry and sage-y. David has hosted us at some fantastic meals at MiAmigos, and the three new babies are beyond adorable. I always feel like crying when I hold Avery because of all she's been through. She's extra special. Eve has red hair and Beck has the coolest, hippest mop of black hair I've ever seen on a four week old. I do feel really sorry for the new Moms. They look tired and stressed out. And I do feel really, really happy that it's not me. Lula is a really great baby holder. She's also a good scooter tutor. I told her I'd pay her five bucks if she could teach Momo and Cecily to ride their scooters fast and without falling off. Cecily is all the way there and Momo is almost there. When he gets back to Utah he'll be able to keep up with his best pals Ruby, Danny and Emerson.

We're not able to hear much from Ingrid because her internet is down and her host mother doesn't want her talking to home too much. She went to Dresden yesterday to take her PSAT. I'm waiting to hear how it went. Her host mother is concerned about the strange man from the Mormon church who keeps calling Ingrid.

We're off right now to the Southwest Children's Museum, Lunch at Meegs, and shopping. Love and miss you all.

xxoo,

Mom

Katie Time!

I will try to be more specific on my personal blog, but here are some highlights of my week with Katie:
FOOD: Marchis (butter lettuce salad, fried lemon custard dough thing, veal and fish that literally melted, etc.), El Malecon (half chicken, excellent riceandbeans), Halal (you name it), the Best Indian Of My Life, Tapas (still don't know what that means, but boy were they good.), and I'm sure I've left somehting out.
OTHER THINGS: Boston (leaves, HeatherandHari, apple cider, chocolate croissants, secret non-coffee mocha freddes, late-night studying), Washington Heights (Katie got one of those necklaces with her name in gold, I got a sexy little jacket thing, we were harrassed, but sometimes flattered by it, we passed up a 6-dollar manicure and I got wax in my hair), Little Italy (Ray's Pizza (THIS is what I left out. SOGOOD. And what else was so good was the smell as we walked down RestauranteItaliano row, I got a yellow hat, Katie's friends, GELATO, is what else I forgot. And a scarf. And a back rub.)
Brooklyn and the youtube party... to sum it up in one abbreviation, lol.
I'm sure I left stuff out, my memory is, you know, not very good.

Going salsa dancing with a live band and a new bra on Friday for my birthday!
Send me presents, bitches!!!
(I mean that in the affectionate, non-sweary way.)

momo post-it

"Moses is SO FUNNY! The other day he was asking me about Gary, as stuffed animal I had previously brought. He asked where he was. I told him he was a home. He then asked why he was at home. I said it was because he was tired. He asked why he was tired, and this sort of question asking continued for quite some time. Moses is so much fun!

Heart,

Miss Kelsey"

momo post-it

"Oh how I love your cute child. I tell my sister cute stories about him all the time.

heart,

Miss Christy (hearts over both eyes)"

p.s.--I love that Miss Christy has good spelling and correct punctuation.

plague of grasshoppers

We have a multitude of grasshoppers in our lawn right now, and Moses and Cecily think it's HILarious that they are giving each other "piggyback rides."

momo post-it

Moses gets notes from his teachers at 'Benture Time on post-its:

Moses was doing show n' tell and he was saying "Hi, my name is Moses aaaaaaannnnnd heeeeeerrrrre isssssss mmmmmy show n' tell." He was really dragging out the words to keep us in suspense while he took off his back pack, unzipped it and pulled out his train. What a character! :)

Heart,

Miss Christy

potpourri

A potpourri is different from highlights. I sense that the highlights are not a hit, and the potpourri format allows for more flexibility than the hi-lite format. It goes like this: bam's bouef borguignon-conference/confrince-tamales thrice-ingy twice-eva thrice-grey target dress-cecy's front tooth exit-lula's stations of the cross in bam's basements-matt's waffles w/a quart of whipping cream-nap at matt's beneath the skylight-marni's truck w/extended cab-kindergarten poem recitation-enchanted-mozart's skull-charlotte's buttermilk cake with almond whipping cream-siri hustvedt-tomatoes (almost garden-gone)-Mark's itouch-fabric from india-emily's bacon/eggs with chives-grandpa noel's roasted chile salsa-sundance-mormon democrats-the book of mormon as a guide to social justice-david letterman/tina fey-80's photographs-dieter uchtdorf-mel torme-whoopi goldberg-paul newman-chatting (i just learnt how!)-momo's pj's-fall break-ny plane tix.

Sorry if this is overly long. Haven't posted for a while. Or have I? So great to see the rockin' Mom and Dad and Marni and Mark. So sad to be without Eva and Ingrid. Tell me how you like the potpourri.

clarification

What I MEANT to say about Women's Conference, but perhaps didn't convey clearly in a previous post, is that, although I am a HUGE Relief Society fan, I am a reluctant Women's Broadcast attender. In fact, I wasn't that excited about going, except that it meant having Mom all to myself (sorry Mesa Girls) for a few hours. But I really enjoyed it and was inspired by it and am determined to go every year from now on. And it was soooo great to go with Mom, just the two of us. Thanks, Mom!

All of the muffins at JavaCity are bad muffins. I am reading my cs textbook--"Big Java"--in Java City.
I think people here are obsessed with Java.
What is java, actually? Besides a place and a computer language?

I guess it's unimportant.
I have a hindi quiz tomorrow, though, which is important.
Everyone wish me luck!!!