Summer Break Update

I must be candid: Since having the baby (yes, he's here!...more on that later) I have relapsed somewhat regarding my habits with internet land.

But not entirely.

Just enough that I know that there are Russian spies infiltrating the U.S. disguised as regular people with kids, and hey, that is exciting stuff! Russian! Spies! I mean, the Cold War is over, but not over enough, you know? I know!

But here's what I've learned so far: It was hard not to tweet a bit for the first few days. There is just something about sending out a little note to the universe about one's life that is strangely comforting. But then I got over that.

I have missed the NYTimes. (Hey, Russian Spies!) But I did avoid it until chillin' with my baby during the first post-partum week.

I have not missed local news. Except for some sports news about conferences and switching teams etc. I caught up on that in the hospital. But for the most part I find local news simply reporting on local doom and gloom.

I have missed blogging. In fact, I have, in my head, composed many a post-partum post. And maybe you're glad I've been on haitus, unless you have gone through childbirth and the aftermath yourself, in which case you may have thought I was quite funny. But so much for that.

I have been more discriminating in the blog posts of others that I have chosen to read, so I haven't gone completely cold turkey on that internet front. (Does the internet have fronts?) But I have given myself limits.

This past week I have enjoyed keeping tabs on the World Cup, the longest tennis match in history, and today watching the new Harry Potter trailer over and over again. (I will not provide links to any of those things. You'll just have to find them yourselves. Sorry. Just trying to stay minimalist here...)

SO.

A reformatting of the goals a little bit:

So long, once more, New York Times. (So long, Russian Spies. Just try to deny it, Mr. Putin.) And especially so long, other news. Still no twitter. No surfing (I just don't have enough sunscreen). Limited blog reading, BUT a little more blog posting. I think it's helpful sometimes to compose a little ditty one can put out there just because. I do like blogging, just for its own sake.

And about the baby: I'll get to the details with another post, but here are the essentials:

7 lbs 11.6 oz / 19 inches / June 17th @ 2:25 a.m. / all natural, baby / cute as a button

His name is Caleb.

And like I said, more information coming soon.

So Long, New York Times: A Summer Experiment

It's June. I've been anticipating June for about 9 months now.

The kids are currently in the back yard searching for roly-poly bugs (the friendly insects of the ubiquitous names--pill bug being one, but roly-poly is better). It is not yet 9 a.m.

And so we come to Summer Resolutions:

My children obviously have a goal to capture every single unsuspecting (and suspecting, for that matter) roly-poly in our yard. I have a goal to compile a job list, make a job chart, and get my children happily (or not) cleaning. We have plans for running through sprinklers, keeping an eye on our small garden and (hopefully) being generally pleasant to one another.

And I have my own goals.

Essentially they can be distilled into one sentence: Taking time to Be. {Oh the loaded philosophical implications. We shan't take time to discuss them.}

But more specifically it involves stepping away from the internet towards my family, some reading, some painting, some quiet time. It sounds restful, fulfilling, and terrifying. And let's not forget, a new arrival in just a few weeks, which by nature of life, takes up a lot of living and being time. And happily so.

There are (of course there are) caveats. I will have a designated time to check my email. Probably in the evening. I will still do my banking online because I still need to manage the money. I may occasionally post on the blog. Like when baby number 5 shows up, that kind of thing. Or maybe letting you in on how the experiment is going. I won't promise anything, though.

I list these things and I hear you saying: Um. That doesn't really sound like stepping back from things. But I am. So long Twitter, surfing in general, and Google news. So long, New York Times (Gail Collins, you are my favorite opinion writer not because I always agree with you, but because you are funny; see you later).

Things start to rev up for Fall a few weeks into August and I'll be back around then. In the meantime the kids have brought in what they term a caterpillar and I think it looks a little less cuddly than that, so now I go to usher out the suspicious creature and rally the kids around the job chart.

In the meantime I wish you a lovely summer, and a farewell for just a little while! So long!

Image from here.