Just Powers

Emma’s birthday party was last weekend. It was wonderful. Lots and lots of people, lots of food (ok WAY too much food) and at the center of it, a little girl who managed to charm everyone and stay charming until after the guests left.

While we were missing a lot of our out of town family and friends, some were able to make it (big shout out to Poppy, Lexi and Emily!) and a lot of our local family and friends were there. There aren’t many times in life when you are surrounded by a big group of people who love you. A wedding is one time, but at a wedding you are just a couple. The thing that was so amazing and surprising about this party was feeling the love of all those people, and watching them all love Emma as well.

As her mom, I am deeply moved when other people love Emma. It reminds me that I am not alone in parenting her, in guiding her and in helping her grow. It reminds me that Mike’s and my love is just the beginning of the love she can expect to feel throughout her life. Seeing other people love Emma makes me feel that my little family is connected - connected to our community of family and friends and to the larger world community.

Initially, this birthday party was to celebrate the last year and our ability to get through it. Now I realize it was more of a celebration of the future and of my family’s place in the world.

I love football. I grew up going to RFK Stadium with my dad to watch Joe Theismann, John Riggins and the rest of the Redskins make history in the 80’s. Their name and mascot appall me now, but it doesn’t temper the deep seated passion I have for my team. As a teenager, other girls I knew had posters of Shaun Cassidy or Duran Duran on their walls. I had a poster of the Hogs.

When September rolls around I am always reminded of those games with my dad and the Redskins’ heyday. As an adult I have never enjoyed football season quite as much as I did back then. Until recently. Last year Mike and I were invited by our friends Jim and Kate to join a fantasy football league, and I fell back in love with football. (To be fair, our final-big-purchase-before-the-baby-comes HD TV has helped a little too.) Just a few weeks after Emma was born we won our league’s championship. You can’t even imagine how excited I was - first a baby and now THIS?!?

Like everyone else, our fantasy season started this week. We drafted Tony Romo and Vince Young, Willie Parker and Laurence Maroney, and I even grabbed the Skins’ Santana Moss. Like the Redskins, we will be working hard to recreate the Championships of prior seasons - maybe Mike and I can even get our own little dynasty going. I wonder if we should rename our team The Hogs…

Update: I noted above that I drafted Tony Romo. As I watched his first game of the season tonight, I got upset. Like on the verge of tears. Why? Because he is a Dallas Cowboy. And I am a Redskins fan. When I drafted him I forgot how important it is to like the players on your team — let alone not hate them — since you are going to have root for them all season. It’s in my blood to hate the Cowboys with every fiber of my being, so how the hell can I enjoy my fantasy season if I cry every time he makes a touchdown? Cheering for the Cowboys makes me throw up a little in my mouth. I think I’ll have to figure out a trade, even if I have to beg someone to take him.

Update to the update: Romo got 52 points for me tonight. Ahem. I guess I’ll be hanging on to him for now.

So Skye has been here almost 24 hours. In that time, I have come to the conclusion that life is just better with dogs, lots of dogs, of all colors, sizes and kinds. Skye is a true joy. He is gentle, good natured and affectionate, if a little shy upon first meeting someone new. When Moose met him, both dogs wagged their tails. For those of you who know Moose, you will understand the miracle that represents.

The only slight challenge has been the cats. Skye doesn’t understand why they don’t just come up and say hi like Moose did, and they don’t understand why he won’t just leave them the hell alone. They have established a mutual understanding though – they won’t hiss if he won’t bark, so all is well.

My New Year’s resolution this year was to “get my house in order”. It seemed like an appropriate goal to share with the entire family when asked at Christmas dinner, and yet is just amorphous enough that I won’t feel guilty at the end of the year if I don’t quite hit the target. Not like, say, “lose 70 pounds” or “remember every birthday of everyone I know”, both completely unreasonable although nice to daydream about.

So here is my first attempt at getting my house in order — keeping everyone here up to date on what has been happening in my life recently. In no particular order, here goes (oh yeah, and you have to read to the end to find out what this photo is all about):

• Mike and I went on an amazing vacation a few weeks ago to the Virgin Islands. We stayed at Maho Bay on St. John for most of the trip and can’t recommend it enough. It was gorgeous and peaceful and everything you would want in a vacation. Some of our photos are here and here.
• My last day of work at EchoDitto was last Tuesday. Also, coincidentally, the same day Chris Bell won the Democratic primary in Texas and became the nominee in the race for Governor in November. The Bell campaign was my favorite client while I worked at EchoDitto, so I guess it is fitting that their win should come on my last day there.
• It looks like I will be starting a new job next week as the Domestic Program Administrator at Adoptions Together, an adoption agency in Silver Spring. I will be responsible, in part, for the domestic program’s database of birth mothers and adoptive families, working with foster families and maybe even the occasional infant discharge from the hospital. No, Mom, this doesn’t mean I am adopting a baby — just because I work there, doesn’t mean I get to take one home. Besides being part of a great team of people and doing work that really makes a difference in people’s lives, the thing I am probably the most excited about is working closely with my friend Kate, who is the social worker there.
• Mike is at the incomparable South by Southwest Interactive festival in Austin until tomorrow. He seems to be mostly staying away from the grackles, eating lots of migas and burning the candle at both ends.
• As spring arrives in DC (82 degrees yesterday — insane for March) I am overcome with the desire to garden my little heart out. I will let you know how that turns out. The first year in a new garden is always challenging, since you are never quite sure what greenery will pop up next. It has been so warm here the last couple days that I have been tempted to start planting, but I know it is just a fluke and we will probably get at least one more cold snap before it is safe to expose new buds to the elements.
• And finally — I clearly have too much idle time on my hands — last week I came across a dog named Skye (see photo above) who spoke to me through the internets saying “Foster me! I can’t stand the kennel for one more second!”. Who am I to ignore such messages? So of course I contacted Homeward Trails, the rescue league working with him, had a home visit on Sunday and it looks as though Skye will arrive this Thursday. We really really have no intention of adopting him, but would like to help him find a permanent home, so let me know if you might be interested. I will let you know what Moose thinks after Skye arrives.