I'm so thankful that it's Monday again. We had a wonderful holiday long weekend, and it's likely that Thanksgiving might take Halloween's top spot in the holiday hierarchy, but four days at home (read: no preschool) can have its difficult moments. I've been trying to write about these moments all weekend, but I've found myself in a bit of writer's block. I write and write and then I read back and realize that I sound a bit like a twit, as though I'm the first person struggling with an almost three year-old who will "DO IT MYSELF." Writing about whining and meltdowns just didn't feel right this weekend, so instead I'll share my favourite moments of the long weekend:
Pie. Specifically my new favourite pie: Raspberry Peach Almond.
Alyce and Shira in their turkey hats.
Making challah for the first time with Alyce. She was a most excellent kneader. (I added an 1/2 cup of honey since I didn't put in the raisins.)
A world-class foot rub, courtesy of Matt.
Bundling up the girls and walking downtown for a slice of pizza.
My Sunday NYT that threatened not to arrive, but in the end came through. Modern Love is quickly becoming what I turn to second, after first checking out the real estate section (you know, since I'd hate to miss my opportunity to find the perfect co-op at the bargain price of one trillion dollars).
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip cookies.
The Lottery. As a Canadian, I'm new to the charter school debate, but I'm becoming quickly engrossed in it. Listening to school officials and parents trying to negotiate the terms of education, with a heavy dose of union politics, had me in the first five minutes.
Have a great week everyone! I've super busy preparing for my mum's arrival on Thursday, followed by Alyce's third birthday on Saturday. Oh, and then throw Hanukkah into the mix, and we've got a full week. But not a bad way to start of the month, no?
Monday, November 29, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
The Week on my iPhone
It's been a good week and I have photos to prove it.
First, Shira enjoyed her first swing!
And then it got cold.
Finally, Alyce and I made challah together for the first time. It was wonderful afternoon.
First, Shira enjoyed her first swing!
And then it got cold.
Finally, Alyce and I made challah together for the first time. It was wonderful afternoon.
Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Not Yet Available in Stores
Alyce modeling the traditional turkey hat. Unfortunately they are not for sale at this time.I hope everyone has a full belly, a warm seat on the couch, and sleeps well tonight. Happy Thanksgiving, my new American friends!
The Thanksgiving Salmon
Good morning! Happy Thanksgiving!
I'm still pretty new in these parts, so it doesn't intuitively feel like a holiday today. But I'm loving all the excitement. Canadians like thanksgiving but they like it a lot less energetically. It's always on a quiet Monday, though many people have their big dinner on the Sunday. Families get together if they don't live too far apart (maybe drive an hour or two). There are pumpkins and turkeys and pies, for sure, but the preparations are low-key. It's a nice afternoon.
There is very little that is quiet or subtle about American Thanksgiving. It's placement on a Thursday changes everything right from the start. If Thursday is Thanksgiving, then we might as well take Friday off too and make it a nice long weekend. And since Thursday and Friday are now a holiday, we should probably take most of Wednesday off, in preparation. I've heard, though not experienced first-hand, that airports are at their busiest on Thanksgiving, with people traveling across many states to spend the day with their family. And the internet? Completely filled with recipes, preparation schedules, craft projects and table settings! I follow a lot of food and cooking blogs already, but it seems that everyone, foodie or not, is contributing to the Thanksgiving excitement. I love the giddiness that comes through all these posts. If this holiday isn't intuitive for me yet, I'm still pretty excited. If we end up staying in the U.S. I think this will quickly become my favourite holiday.
So in honour of new traditions (but not in honor, that's just weird), we will watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade on TV and decorate our turkey hats (you'll want to come back tomorrow for the full hat details), and eat pie with friends. Since we don't eat meat in our house, I will be preparing the traditional Thanksgiving salmon. I'm still deciding between this recipe or that one.
Have a great day everyone!
I'm still pretty new in these parts, so it doesn't intuitively feel like a holiday today. But I'm loving all the excitement. Canadians like thanksgiving but they like it a lot less energetically. It's always on a quiet Monday, though many people have their big dinner on the Sunday. Families get together if they don't live too far apart (maybe drive an hour or two). There are pumpkins and turkeys and pies, for sure, but the preparations are low-key. It's a nice afternoon.
There is very little that is quiet or subtle about American Thanksgiving. It's placement on a Thursday changes everything right from the start. If Thursday is Thanksgiving, then we might as well take Friday off too and make it a nice long weekend. And since Thursday and Friday are now a holiday, we should probably take most of Wednesday off, in preparation. I've heard, though not experienced first-hand, that airports are at their busiest on Thanksgiving, with people traveling across many states to spend the day with their family. And the internet? Completely filled with recipes, preparation schedules, craft projects and table settings! I follow a lot of food and cooking blogs already, but it seems that everyone, foodie or not, is contributing to the Thanksgiving excitement. I love the giddiness that comes through all these posts. If this holiday isn't intuitive for me yet, I'm still pretty excited. If we end up staying in the U.S. I think this will quickly become my favourite holiday.
So in honour of new traditions (but not in honor, that's just weird), we will watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade on TV and decorate our turkey hats (you'll want to come back tomorrow for the full hat details), and eat pie with friends. Since we don't eat meat in our house, I will be preparing the traditional Thanksgiving salmon. I'm still deciding between this recipe or that one.
Have a great day everyone!
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Dear Adviser: It's Not you. It's Me.
It's been two days since I emailed* my thesis adviser and told her that I was leaving my Phd. To be honest, I didn't say "I quit." It was more of an "I'm going to take a year and pursue other opportunities and then reassess" kind of an email. Should I feel a bit weaselly about not just coming out with it? I don't, after all, have any intention of returning to my dissertation. I don't think I do, at least.
No, I don't want to return to my PhD. I don't enjoy it and I want to move forward. But I'm learning that it is really difficult to turn away from it and not look back and try to grab hold of one little piece, just in case. This shouldn't come as much of a shock, especially since I started this quitting process months and months ago and here I am still going on about it. To you. On my blog. No one could ever accuse me of making a snap decision here. Some days I wish I had been a bit snappier about this whole thing.
I hold on to these little bits and pieces in case I've made the wrong decision, which makes all of this about the scariness of trying something new. If I tell my adviser that I'm leaving and never turning back, then my choices today become awfully real. But I think there is more to it than simply needing a back-up plan. This is about pride again. (and, of course, shame). I've spent years attached to my identity as an academic, as a soon-to-be Dr. Professor. I research and write and publish and go to conferences. I am a specialist. These last two years that we've been here in the U.S, even though I wanted to quit, even though I've often been very unhappy, I still held on to that piece of myself. If I could stay connected, even just a little, to that part of my identity wrapped up in a PhD, then I could maintain some semblance of order.
The important people in my life know where I stand now (though there are still some friends I haven't had the chance to talk to yet), and they have all been so incredibly supportive. I haven't written much about it, but my parents really took me by surprise with their reactions. They both seemed genuinely happy for me. And where I expected my friends to judge me, they instead asked me excited questions about what I might do next. And Matt, he's been listening to this for years (bless him). As much as I look up to my adviser, we have always had a distance between us, even when I lived full-time in Toronto. We've never had that student/mentor relationship that you see in all those ivy-covered movies. Telling her is difficult, but not scary. What made writing that email so difficult was the finality of it all. I was a graduate student, and she was my teacher. Seven years ago I asked her to work with me on a project, and now I'm severing that relationship in an unnatural sort of way. Until I sent that email I could still rely on that relationship to hold together what felt like a vital part of myself.
It's final. Alright self, on to something else.
*I realize it seems incredibly lame to give this message over email, but we live in two different countries right now. I don't think I've ever called her on the phone in seven years. But, it still is kind of lame. I'm owning the lameness.
No, I don't want to return to my PhD. I don't enjoy it and I want to move forward. But I'm learning that it is really difficult to turn away from it and not look back and try to grab hold of one little piece, just in case. This shouldn't come as much of a shock, especially since I started this quitting process months and months ago and here I am still going on about it. To you. On my blog. No one could ever accuse me of making a snap decision here. Some days I wish I had been a bit snappier about this whole thing.
I hold on to these little bits and pieces in case I've made the wrong decision, which makes all of this about the scariness of trying something new. If I tell my adviser that I'm leaving and never turning back, then my choices today become awfully real. But I think there is more to it than simply needing a back-up plan. This is about pride again. (and, of course, shame). I've spent years attached to my identity as an academic, as a soon-to-be Dr. Professor. I research and write and publish and go to conferences. I am a specialist. These last two years that we've been here in the U.S, even though I wanted to quit, even though I've often been very unhappy, I still held on to that piece of myself. If I could stay connected, even just a little, to that part of my identity wrapped up in a PhD, then I could maintain some semblance of order.
The important people in my life know where I stand now (though there are still some friends I haven't had the chance to talk to yet), and they have all been so incredibly supportive. I haven't written much about it, but my parents really took me by surprise with their reactions. They both seemed genuinely happy for me. And where I expected my friends to judge me, they instead asked me excited questions about what I might do next. And Matt, he's been listening to this for years (bless him). As much as I look up to my adviser, we have always had a distance between us, even when I lived full-time in Toronto. We've never had that student/mentor relationship that you see in all those ivy-covered movies. Telling her is difficult, but not scary. What made writing that email so difficult was the finality of it all. I was a graduate student, and she was my teacher. Seven years ago I asked her to work with me on a project, and now I'm severing that relationship in an unnatural sort of way. Until I sent that email I could still rely on that relationship to hold together what felt like a vital part of myself.
It's final. Alright self, on to something else.
*I realize it seems incredibly lame to give this message over email, but we live in two different countries right now. I don't think I've ever called her on the phone in seven years. But, it still is kind of lame. I'm owning the lameness.
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
I'm Too Sleepy and Neurotic to Post Today
I've spent the night trying to write about how I finally sent an email to my thesis adviser to let her know that I'm leaving my PhD. But I haven't been able to focus, with one eye watching When Harry Met Sally, and the other eye on my email to see if she's replied (not yet, by the way). I've decided to give in to my urges and just sleep on it.
Sweet dreams everyone! May everyone wake up in the morning to an email they've been waiting for.
Sweet dreams everyone! May everyone wake up in the morning to an email they've been waiting for.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Oh Yes I Did
Last night I was telling Matt how my friend Sheena, waiting for her baby to arrive, was going to see the new Harry Potter. I guess he could hear the longing in my voice, especially after a trying day, because the next thing he was offering me an entire Sunday afternoon to see Harry Potter and do whatever else might make me happy. Even if he wanted to rescind, I don't think I would have heard him, seeing as my grin was taking over my entire head, threatening the reliability of my hearing. I was kind of excited.
So after a morning with my girls, and a trip to the very last farmer's market of the season, I headed out the door for my afternoon date with Harry Potter. I was leaving quite early in order to get a ticket, and between the thirty minute driving time to and from the theater, I was going to be gone for five hours. This was slightly monumental.
Alyce never took a bottle, and so I was tied very closely to her during that first year (she was so stubborn about her preference for boobs that when she started daycare at thirteen months, she wouldn't take a single sip of anything all day, waiting instead for me and my personal milk supply to pick her up). I loved breastfeeding Alyce and so I never actually minded not being able to spend much time away from her, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't have enjoyed an afternoon to myself some days.
With Shira our situation is a bit different and I needed to work away from the office a few mornings a week. Matt stays home with her most mornings, and at first he and Shira would head over to my office and I'd try to nurse her, but it was difficult to get the timing right. So Matt tried giving her some expressed milk and after a couple of weeks we had success. As much as there are times when I don't love sharing her, I know Matt loves being able to feed her sometimes. And I'm not going to bad-talk some of the freedom this allows me.
So back to me and my afternoon, shall we? I bought my ticket, bought some lunch that I ate while reading a book, ran a few errands, and watched Harry Potter from the inside of a vat of popcorn. This was a day for the history books. Thank you, Matty.
p.s. Harry Potter was fantastic. It was beautifully shot and just flew by. But there was such a sadness about the story this time, and some very realistic violence, that I can't imagine taking a little one to see it. All day I've been trying to figure out what the best age is to introduce Harry Potter to Alyce (the books, not the movies). Any thoughts?
So after a morning with my girls, and a trip to the very last farmer's market of the season, I headed out the door for my afternoon date with Harry Potter. I was leaving quite early in order to get a ticket, and between the thirty minute driving time to and from the theater, I was going to be gone for five hours. This was slightly monumental.
Alyce never took a bottle, and so I was tied very closely to her during that first year (she was so stubborn about her preference for boobs that when she started daycare at thirteen months, she wouldn't take a single sip of anything all day, waiting instead for me and my personal milk supply to pick her up). I loved breastfeeding Alyce and so I never actually minded not being able to spend much time away from her, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't have enjoyed an afternoon to myself some days.
With Shira our situation is a bit different and I needed to work away from the office a few mornings a week. Matt stays home with her most mornings, and at first he and Shira would head over to my office and I'd try to nurse her, but it was difficult to get the timing right. So Matt tried giving her some expressed milk and after a couple of weeks we had success. As much as there are times when I don't love sharing her, I know Matt loves being able to feed her sometimes. And I'm not going to bad-talk some of the freedom this allows me.
So back to me and my afternoon, shall we? I bought my ticket, bought some lunch that I ate while reading a book, ran a few errands, and watched Harry Potter from the inside of a vat of popcorn. This was a day for the history books. Thank you, Matty.
p.s. Harry Potter was fantastic. It was beautifully shot and just flew by. But there was such a sadness about the story this time, and some very realistic violence, that I can't imagine taking a little one to see it. All day I've been trying to figure out what the best age is to introduce Harry Potter to Alyce (the books, not the movies). Any thoughts?
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