Christmastime!

As I was formulating this post in my mind, I realized that I write a lot of lists on this blog. I write down lists of things I accomplished, lists of things that I want to accomplish, lists of awesome things that I like, etc. Huh. I guess that's indicative of my personality. What can I say? I like lists and organization. And I suppose I measure the passing of my life through lists and accomplishments. In some ways, I guess my life is one big "To Do" list.

That being said, gear yourselves up for a list of the things that our little family has done this holiday season. Although we didn't feed reindeer or go to a Messiah sing-in this year, we still got to do a lot of fun things. And I think that we are finally ready for Christmas to come.

We kicked off our Christmas festivities this year at the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI). We watched the Christmas ship parade outside the museum with our friends Meka and John. It was at this event that Sam got to meet Santa Claus (and where Sam also learned the non-committal response that the "mall Santa Claus" figures give to little children who ask for specific toys: "Well, I'll see what I can do!").

We went to Snowflake Lane a few weeks ago. It was fun, although we were standing by a self-conscious high school drummer who seemed a little inhibited. The drummers across the street seemed much more energetic and lively. Sam especially liked getting a peppermint Tootsie Pop from one of the drum line helpers (he was eating it when I took this photo).

We have gotten to visit with dear friends. This picture was taken on our recent trip to Texas. We visited some art museums (including an art exhibition on Caravaggio) and also visited my dear friend Katie.

Sam had a great time playing with Katie's little girl, Haylie. I'm vying for an arranged marriage between these two, but that might not even be necessary. Love is in the air, don't you think?

Last week we went to the Garden d'Lights at a nearby botanical garden (which we have visited before). However, this is the first time that we have seen a smoking dragon in the Japanese garden. Sam was pretty excited about this new feature.

On Monday J and I got to see the Northwest Boychoir perform in Saint Mark's Cathedral. It was a fantastic concert, and the acoustics were great. I especially liked hearing the boy sopranos - what a clear, beautiful sound! You can see a video clip of their performance last year on YouTube.

We decorated a gingerbread house last night. My Grandma S mailed Sam a cute little gingerbread kit that includes characters from Rudolph the Reindeer. I especially love the gumdrop Abominable Snowman!

As you can see, we've gotten to do a lot of fun things. I also wrote a family Christmas newsletter this year (for the first time!). Sam has written his letter to Santa, too. Yesterday I even made treats for some of our neighbors: peanut butter blossoms (notice how the linked recipe says that the cookies are a "beginner" skill level) and my friend Kelly's amazing fudge.

I don't think that there's too much more to do, in terms of Christmas activities. (We have plenty of other things to do around here, but that's a story for another day.) The presents have been bought and our visiting family members will begin to arrive tomorrow. I think Christmas can officially arrive. Merry Christmas, friends and family!

letter to Santa

Sam wrote (well, dictated) his first letter to Santa this past weekend. I though I'd copy the letter contents here, just in case Santa follows my blog:

December 2011

Dear Santa,

I want a green flashlight for Christmas, too. Merry Christmas to Santa. The blue Lightning McQueen for Sam. Green scissors for Sam (that I can cut by myself).

Thank you and please.

Sam

Christmas music

Keeping up with the theme of Christmas entertainment, I thought that I would also jot down some of the Christmas music that I especially love during this time of year.

I know that there are more songs to add to this list, but these are all of the ones I can think of at present. I’ll continually add to this list as I remember other wonderful Christmas songs (or become familiar with ones!).

• "White Christmas" sung by Bing Crosby (both the recorded version or the version from the beginning of the film).

• "Jingle Bells" sung by Bing Crosby and the Andrews Sisters

• "The Christmas Song" (also called “Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire”) sung by Mel Tormé. (In 1963, the Judy Garland Christmas Show featured a fun duet for this song with Garland and Tormé).

• "Baby It’s Cold Outside" sung by Dean Martin (although I really love the new version that was recently released by American Idol contestants Casey Abrahms and Haley Reinhardt).

• "Christmas Blues" sung by Dean Martin (I'm guessing that the linked video is from a Colgate Comedy Hour episode.)

• "Let it Snow" sung by Dean Martin

• "Zat You, Santy Claus?" sung by Louis Armstrong

• "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" sung by Judy Garland (as performed in "Meet Me in Saint Louis")

• "Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town," specifically a jazzy arrangement by Kirby Shaw (This is a nostalgic song for me, since I sang this song in high school with my two close friends, Katie and Heather.)

•"Happy Xmas: The War is Over" by John Lennon (The music video for this song seems especially relevant this year, with all of the troops coming home.)

• "Wonderful Christmas Time" by Paul McCartney & Wings

I also love traditional,

sacred Christmas music

that has been written

over the centuries.

Choral performances

are some of my favorites.

• Handel’s "Messiah" (One of my favorite soprano soloists for the Messiah is Emma Kirby. I love listening to her agile, clear voice sing "For He is Like a Refiner's Fire.")

• "Lo How a Rose Ere Blooming," especially when sung by Frederica von Stade in the Carnegie Christmas concert (see below).

• "Coventry Carol" ("Lullay, Lullay, Thou Little Tiny Child")

• "O Come, O Come Emmanuel"

• "The Angel Gabriel" (sometimes called "Gabriel's Message")

• Benjamin Britten’s "A Ceremony of Carols" (Some of my favorites are "Procession," "Wolcum Yole," "Spring Carol," "Balulalow," "Deo Gracias," and "There is No Rose.")

• "Whence is that Goodly Fragrance Flowing?" (or in French: "Quelle est cette odeur agréable?")

• Music from the 1991 Carnegie Christmas Concert with Frederica von Stade, Kathleen Battle, and Wynton Marsallis (I included a photo of Frederica and Kathleen at the top of this post). "The Twelve Days of Christmas" performance is one of my favorites. And I love "Gesu Bambino." And the "Christmas Songs" medley.

•I also love listening to fantastic Christmas music sung by boy choirs.

There are some great YouTube clips of the King's College Cambridge

choir singing, "Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day," "Sussex Carol,"

"Maria Sitzt am Rosenhag," "Coventry Carol,"

and "In the Bleak Mid Winter."

Okay. Now it’s your turn. What Christmas songs do you enjoy?

Image above: Giotto's Nativity from the Scrovegni Chapel (1305-1306).

Christmas movies

This Christmas season has been especially fun with Sam this year. Now he’s old enough to appreciate a lot of the Christmas movies that Jeremy and I enjoyed when we were young. J and I have a lot of fun showing him different Christmas shows, books, and holiday-related activities that enjoyed when we were younger. We’ve also tried some new activities too, like going to the “Snowflake Lane” presentation (with a drum line dressed up like toy soldiers).

Here are the children’s Christmas shows that we have introduced to Sam this year:

• The claymation Christmas movies, including Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town.

• A Charlie Brown Christmas

• How Grinch Who Stole Christmas (see here and here)

• ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas (I don’t think I ever watched this show as a kid, but J watched it quite often.)

Sam especially loves How the Grinch Stole Christmas. We showed him the movie about the same time that we borrowed the Dr. Seuss book from J’s parents. Sam likes to reenact the Grinch’s movements while J reads the story. He especially likes to repeatedly pull down on an imaginary Max (see 5:32 of this clip), when the Grinch says, “It came without ribbons! It came without tags! It came without packages, boxes, or bags!” Oh, and he also likes to slither and slink around the Christmas tree like the Grinch (see 4:19 of this clip).

We also have had many-a-conversation about how the Grinch was able to lift the sleigh after his heart grew three sizes. I think Sam interprets the Grinch to be some kind of superhero.

I’ve enjoyed revisiting these children’s Christmas movies with Sam this year. It will be fun to introduce him to my own favorite Christmas shows, as he gets older. Two of my favorite Christmas shows are It’s a Wonderful Life and White Christmas. J grew up watching the musical Scrooge with his family; he always wants to watch that show before Christmas. (I know – it’s a shocker that my husband actually likes a musical.) He also likes to watch Edward Scissorhands sometime around the holiday season. So, I guess for us, Christmas isn’t complete unless we can celebrate with Jimmy Stewart, Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, Albert Finney, and Johnny Depp.

What are your favorite Christmas movies (for the young and/or old)?

on aging

Marble statue of an old woman, 1st century AD (Roman). Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Over the past several weeks, I have gotten up early just about every weekday morning. I wake up between 6:00 and 6:30 (or "in the sixes," as my sister-in-law would say). And as I rush around and drive to work at such an unhuman hour (at least, an unhuman hour for me), I have felt the effects of gravity. My face seems to sag that early in the morning. My eyes look tired and droopy. I feel like I have jowls on my face (which, luckily, I really don't). Sometimes I wonder if wrinkles are sprouting on my face the moment that I look away from the mirror. I just feel old. And my body feels old. Sometimes I feel like I've aged four years in the past four months.

With my thirtieth birthday approaching next year, I can't help but think about aging. I've never really thought much about being old (or being middle aged), because, well, I've always been young. And now I've started to realize that I care about being young (and looking young), at least a little bit. Since when did I care about that kind of stuff? This is an interesting realization for me, especially since I feel like I'm rather casual when it comes to my appearance. Sure, I wear a little makeup, but I can't remember the last time I wore something like a mud mask.

I'm psychologically adjusting to the fact that I'm not that young anymore. Maybe I'm just youngish? Or maybe I'm not even that?

feedback to buoy me up

Sometimes I feel like I'm working my brains and heart out this quarter, all to no avail. Even though I have had a lot of frustrating and difficult moments this quarter (especially with my online class and plagiarists), this afternoon I felt like all of the anxiety and stress was worth it. In my inbox, I found this email from a student:

"I just wanted to let you know how much I like the online class. It is one of the most fascinating classes that I have ever taken. I think you are a great professor. You have not just taught me about the art itself, but also to appreciate the artwork even more. . . Honestly, if I would have had you as a professor earlier in my college life, I probably would have been an art major...Thank you for teaching me so much about the history of art, I will never look at artwork the same way."

This email means a lot to me. After all of the stress, drama, and anxiety that has surrounded the past few weeks - I feel like I've made a difference.

happy halloween!

This past month has been one of the busiest and most stressful periods that I've had in a long time. I've kept on thinking, "If I can just get through October, then I'll be alright until the end of the school quarter." I've pulled several sixty-hour work weeks, which has been rather taxing on top of parenting, day-to-day errands, etc. But now, after grading about 50 essays and 115 essay exams over the past three weeks (in addition to lecture prep and teaching), I can say that I have survived October. Phew! I'm not sure how it happened. Somehow I even ended up writing an eight page paper, which I'll be delivering at a conference later this week. The worst is over. I've made it through October, and this Halloween seems especially celebratory.

About two weeks ago, J's work hosted a Halloween costume party (which replaced the "holiday party" that the company typically throws in December). J's co-workers decided to dress up in "holiday sweaters," as a witty reference to the fact that we were attending a holiday party. So, here we are in holiday sweaters, courtesy of J's parents. We had a fun time, but I think I look a little stressed and tired in the picture. My smile also says, "I have ten more essays to grade after I get home tonight."

Doctor Sam!

This year Sam has been so excited about the Halloween season, since this really is the first year that he understands about the holiday and the concept of trick-o'-treating. I even purchased some decorations for the house (which is uncharacteristic for me), just because Sam was so excited to see decorations around the neighborhood.

fall is here!

After teaching my class this morning, Sam and I headed out to a pumpkin patch with some friends. It was nice to be in the crisp autumn air and feel a little bit more in-touch with the season. Sometimes I feel like I am so focused on work projects (this quarter is crazy!) and taking care of Sam, that I forget to appreciate the slow, subtle changes that take place in the fall.

I've noticed that the leaves have started to change colors around our house. In just about a week, we'll have a menagerie of vibrant, roaring color around here. I can't wait.

here we go...

I did an extra-deep clean of the house this morning. I went grocery shopping today with Sam. We stopped by the post office to mail a package. Sam and I returned library books this afternoon. The laundry is done. I've tried to think of all of the errands and household chores that need to happen, in an effort to make the next few days a little easier. Come tomorrow morning, I will be responsible for 122 art history students until mid-December. (I felt the stress mounting as I typed that last sentence!)

For the past two weeks I've been reflecting on this past summer. I had so many plans for things that I wanted to do - one of the main ones being that I wanted to be completely prepared for my upcoming Brazilian art class. And, well, I'm not nearly as prepared as I had hoped to be. I'm wrestling with the disappointment of not meeting my personal goal, and also trying to battle the urge to feel stressed or anxious about this class. I know it will be fun and interesting to teach, but I'm nervous to teach a full course on such an obscure topic. I feel like I need to look at five, six, or seven different sources to compile the information I need for each lecture. And finding/scanning/preparing about 40-60 images for each PowerPoint presentation is going to take lots of time. Argh! There is so much to do!

Where did the summer go? What did I do with my time? Why didn't I get more done for this class? I feel like I was really busy - and I was - but I ended up doing things that I didn't anticipate:

• I taught an intensive six week course online (just a basic introduction to art)
• I wrote a proposal (along with a colleague in Mississippi) for a 2013 CAA conference panel
• I wrote an abstract for an upcoming Women's Studies conference this November
• We went to Disneyland with my family
• I recorded 13 lectures (each one about 2.5 hours long) for the online class that I'll be teaching this Fall
• I've blogged (10 posts on this site and 23 art history posts)
• I've read at least twenty art history articles and books
• I've started about six lectures on Brazilian art (with a smattering of scanned images)
• I've scanned about 20 pictures on Brazilian art
• I've prepared some PDF files on Brazilian art for students to read
• I moved my art history blog to a new site (with a lot of help from J)
• I spent every day with Sammy Sam.

And, there you have it. That's what I've done this summer. And looking back at this list, I realize that I'm really glad about the things that I did - even though I didn't accomplish everything that I had hoped to do.

Even though I'm not 100% prepared for this Brazilian class, I do feel ready to get in the classroom and start teaching at least something. I've thought and stewed about this class for so long - I'd like to stop thinking and start doing.

maryhill museum of art

A few weeks ago we went to visit the Maryhill Museum of Art near Goldendale, Washington. This museum has quite an interesting history. It is located in a mansion that belonged to Samuel Hill in the mid-20th century. The museum was created when Hill collaborated with an eclectic group of three friends: Loïe Fuller, a famous modern dancer in Paris; Queen Marie of Romania, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria; and Alma Bretteville Spreckels, wife of San Francisco sugar magnate Adolf Spreckels.

This summer I've been thinking about museums that were set up by private collectors. When someone told me that the Maryhill was a "collection museum" located in Washington State, we decided to take a day trip and check it out.

View of the museum from the highway. The grounds sit like a lush oasis in the middle of brown, dry Washington/Oregon hills.

You can really see the contrast of the grounds and landscape in this image. There were gigantic, massive white windmills that lined this whole area. The highway went directly underneath some of them; they were fun to see up-close.

This isn't a spectacular view with all of the fence and construction materials (the museum is currently building an extension), but I wanted to show a view of the Columbia River from the museum terrace.

The sculpture garden on the museum grounds was really fantastic. We all loved this sculpture by Matt Cartwright, Malabar Bombax (2009). I especially liked what Cartwright wrote for the text label: "This flower of the Red Silk Cotton tree - with its blooming shape - is a colorful, luscious inspiration to me. . . And perhaps this sculpture can evoke the viewer's inner insect as they buzz from sculpture to sculpture within the Maryhill Sculpture Garden."

Upon entering the museum, the viewer is confronted with a whole gallery full of imperial Romanian art. It's such a bizarre thing to encounter in middle-of-nowhere-Washington! The museum also boasts an extensive Rodin collection among other things. Granted, the Rodin pieces are mostly plaster casts and studies, but it still is fun to see.

One of the most unusual, unexpected features of Maryhill Museum is the full-scale replica of Stonehenge, which is just located about 4 miles south of the museum grounds. When Samuel Hill visited Stonehenge in England, he was told that the Neolithic monument was used for human sacrifices to pagan gods. (Side note: that theory is no longer accepted by most scholars.) After WWI, Hill returned to the US and built a war memorial to commemorate the soldiers who sacrificed their own lives. Granted, Hill's concrete memorial is quite different from the megaliths of in England, but it is still an impressive structure. It's also cool to stand here and get an actual sense of Stonehenge's original scale (since today so many stones are missing from the English monument).

A view of the Columbia River from the Stonehenge replica. What a juxtaposition!

If any Washingtonians are interested in checking out the Maryhill Museum of Art, let me know! I'd love to go again.

random Brazil facts

I realize that this post won't be terribly interesting to many people, but I want to create a list of random facts about Brazil that can readily be accessible to me. I am teaching a course on Brazilian art that starts next week; I think students might appreciate learning a few random facts about this country. I feel like a lot of people don't know about Brazilian culture and history, apart from things like soccer and Carnival. I certainly didn't know much about Brazil before I lived there for a year and a half.

Here are some of the facts that I compiled, many of them drawn from this documentary (so I suppose there is a chance that a few of these facts are outdated since the documentary came out in 2006, but I doubt it).

• Brazil is the 5th largest country in the world.
• Brazil borders all of the other countries in South America except Chile and Ecuador.
• The distance of Brazil (from one side to the other) is greater than the distance between Brazil and Africa.
• Much of the land in Brazil is inaccessible. About 1/3 of Brazil is covered in dense jungle.
• When the Portuguese arrived in Brazil in 1500, there were more than 6 million indigenous people and 2,000 distinct tribes. Today, there are only 350,000 indigenous people.
• There still are a few elusive indigenous tribes who have not made contact with the outside world.
• The city of Manaus was founded in 1669 to protect slave traders along the river.
• For a brief time during the "rubber boom," Manaus was the richest city in the world. Residents allegedly had their clothes sent to Europe to be laundered. An opera house was constructed in Manaus during this economic heyday.
• The "Christ the Redeemer" (Cristo Redentor) statue in Rio de Janeiro is 125' tall. The arm span of the sculpture is 90'.
• Brazil is the world's capital for plastic surgery. A quarter of a million plastic surgeries are performed each year. One year, during Carnival, it is reported that in 2000 so many women wanted breast implants that the country briefly ran out of a certain type of silicone.
• Pelourinho (the historic center of the city Salvador, Bahia) was built around the whipping posts where slaves were punished.
• Bahia is the most African state in Brazil. Blacks comprise 80% of the people in Bahia.
• Brazil has the 2nd largest African population in the world (second only to Nigeria).
• About 3.5 million slaves (other sources say 4 million slaves) were brought to Brazil during the 16th and 17th centuries.
• 40% of all of the slaves that crossed the Atlantic went to Brazil. This means that Brazil received about seven times more slaves than the United States of America.
• Capoeira was not legalized until the 1930s. (I think I knew this fact when I wrote my thesis, but I thought I'd re-remember it here.)
• Brazil is the largest Catholic nation on earth, with 145 million believers.
• The interior of the church Nossa Senhora do Pilar (Ouro Preto) is decorated with almost 1,000 pounds of gold.
• Rio de Janeiro was the capital of Brazil from 1763 to 1960.
• Brasilia was built in the late 1950s. Lúcio Costa won the contest to become the urban planner of the city. Oscar Niemeyer was the chief architect for many of the public buildings.
• Brasilia became the capital of Brazil (instead of Rio de Janeiro) in 1960. The idea of having a centrally-located capital had been proposed at the end of the 19th century, but the proposal was not realized for several decades.

emma watson and modesty

Last week, a friend and I were discussing the concept of modesty. Who really has the authority to determine whether something is modest or not? Is it the person who wears the clothing? Or is it the viewer of the person who is wearing the clothing in question? Or perhaps both? As we talked about this idea, I suggested that the person who wears clothing should have the authority to determine whether his or her clothing is modest. If someone is wearing something with the intent of being sexy or suggestive, then such clothing should not be considered modest.

I began thinking about this conversation today, when I noticed someone post this image of Emma Watson on Facebook (see above), which includes an excerpt from this quote by Watson: "What's sexy about saying, 'I'm here with my boobs and a short skirt, have a look at everything I've got?' My idea of sexy is that less is more. The less you reveal the more people can wonder."

I've seen this image and quote before - it seems to get circulated intermittently in LDS circles. I have to admit, I think that such circulation is a little ironic. Yes, it makes sense that LDS people would want to promote Watson's idea of modesty covering up your body. But if you read the quote, Watson is still promoting sexiness and self-objectification. I don't think this constitutes modesty from an LDS perspective. In theory, Mormons promote modesty as a way to avoid provoking sexual (lustful) thoughts in others. (But perhaps the popularity of this image and quote among Mormons suggests that they actually want to be sexy, too?)

So, yes, Emma Watson does want to cover up her body. But she still wants others to think about her body. (It is actually this self-objectification that bothers me more than anything, mostly from a feminist standpoint. Argh!)

Thoughts, anyone?

house pictures

Per Phin's request, I'm finally posting a few pictures of our new-ish house. We really like this house, but that doesn't stop J from obsessively following the housing market. He wants to make sure that there isn't a better house (or a house that has the potential to be better) that is located in the area. Personally, I think we have it really good in our current place; I secretly hope that we won't end up moving again.

Living Room

My office.

It seems like I rush to this place whenever I have a spare moment.

There's so much work to be done for the upcoming school quarter!

dahlia explosion

Compare, if you will, the difference between these two photos of our yard. The first photo was taken at the beginning of June (used in this earlier post), and the second was taken today.

June 2011

August 2011

Notice any major difference? (Okay, I know that our lawn isn't as green as it used to be. And you may notice that currently our bushes are nicely sculpted. Yesterday I woke up from a nap, only to find that J had turned into Edward Scissorhands. He went around our yard for a few hours, trimming everything in sight. The hedges and bushes look great. But those differences between these photos aren't what I have in mind.)

If you look in the back of the photos, in the garden bed by our trellis and rosebush, you'll notice a teeny-tiny green bush on the right side (next to the stepping stones). That bush has exploded over the past few months, recently revealing that it is a dahlia bush:

This plant is huge and it has caught us completely by surprise. It has overpowered some of my little zinnias, and now is starting to infringe upon our stepping-stone rocks. I'm curious to see how big this bush gets by the end of the summer. If dahlias weren't such a gorgeous flower, I would have thought that the owners planted the dahlia starter bush as a practical joke on their unsuspecting tenants.

Don't be surprised if our front door is completely covered in the next few weeks!

On a side note, it's been fun to compare our current flower beds to the picture that I took at the beginning of June. We have some really happy flowers in our yard right now:

"Smithsonian" magazine giveaway

Some of you may have noticed that I am having a little giveaway on my art history blog. If any of you are interested in getting a free 12-month subscription to Smithsonian magazine, feel free to enter the giveaway drawing! I will select two winners next Tuesday, August 9th.

By the way, this giveaway is to celebrate passing the "the 300th post mark" on my art history blog. And I just noticed that I this is my 307th post here at Scattered Apples. That means I have written over 600 blog posts since I started to blog in 2007. Oh my! Maybe I need to get out more...

mercer slough and pretzel tree trail

Sunshine is here! Okay, well, there still are some rainy days, but I feel less like complaining. We've taken advantage of the sun and gone on a few hiking trails recently.

I have to admit, this year is a little bit difficult for us in terms of hikes. Sam is too big to ride in a backpack, but he is too small to walk very far distances. This summer we're only able to go on extremely short, easy hikes. (That being said, do any locals have some good recommendations for such hikes? We know our options are extremely limited this summer.)

Admittedly, going on short, easy hikes isn't my favorite type of hiking. I hardly feel like I'm getting any exercise. And, obviously, easy hikes do not include great vistas or waterfalls, because the trails have hardly any elevation gain. Boo. But at the very least, I hope we're instilling a love of nature (and setting a hiking tradition for future summers) with Sam this year.

That being said, here are two new hikes (walks?) that we have done this summer.

A few weeks ago my friend and I went for a walk around Mercer Slough. We started our walk near the Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center, thinking that there would be some fun activities for kids in the Visitor's Center. There wasn't too much to see in the center right now, although there is a promise for some new interactive displays in the distant future.

The trails right next to the center aren't very long, so we walked down to the Bellefields Nature Park trails, since the trailhead is just down the street from the center. The trail is nice and fairly shaded, but there are lots of mosquitoes because of the nearby water (see picture above, on left). I don't think I would do this trail again without bug repellant.

Today we went on the perfect hike for Sam. I'd recommend the Pretzel Tree Trail (Squak Mountain State Park) for anyone with a 3-5 year old. This trail is an interactive trail with little signs that tell a story about a field mouse. Sam loved the story. He would excitedly look for the next sign down the trail so that we could "turn the page of the story" (his words). The trail has no elevation gain, but is in a really beautiful setting with gorgeous trees. You can see the "pretzel tree" behind Sam's head in the image on the right. I know we'll come back to hike this trail again.

There are some other trailheads at the same location as the Pretzel Tree Trail. Since the interactive trail only took about 20-30 minutes to complete with Sam, we decided to hike up the Center Peak trail (toward the summit) for a little while. It seemed like a really nice hike (although too long and steep for Sam). Hopefully we'll come back another time. Here is the trail map to Squak Mountain, for anyone who is interested.

I hope we go back and in this area again soon. The trails were well maintained and yet relatively isolated. We only met a few people on the trail this morning, which is surprising for a sunny Saturday. We passed the Poo Poo point trailhead on our drive out to Squak Mountain (down Issaquah-Hobart Road), and it was overflowing with cars. I'm glad we didn't go there today.

78 minutes of summer

I have to admit, I'm a wee bit jealous when I see Facebook friends commenting about their outdoor activities this summer. The summer here has been really cold so far, so much that a meteorologist decided to calculate how long Seattle has sustained a temperature of 80 degrees (or warmer) this whole year: a total of 78 minutes.

That's it, my friends. 78 minutes. And if you calculate how long Seattle has been at 75 degrees, it's not much of an improvement: 18 hours and 45 minutes (in other words, less than a day).

As you go to the beach and eat popsicles on your front lawn, I'm bundling up in sweatshirts. It's raining right now, as I type this post. I can't even count how many times I've been tempted to turn up the heat in our house, but have refrained out of sheer principle. One shouldn't have to turn on the heat in the middle of July!

Someone should have told me to lower my expectations for Seattle summers. When we moved up here, our first summer was hot enough to melt paint off of a canvas. But I have not been impressed with the summers we have experienced since then. Meh.

Here are pictures from two of the warm-ish days we experienced this summer, which both took place over the 4th of July weekend. We took advantage of the clear skies to hike the trails at Franklin Falls and Little Si. I'm posting these pictures for my own sake. I need to remind myself that the sun actually has the potential to appear around here.

Okay, so Sam and I did wear sweatshirts when we hiked to Franklin Falls. But we also wore shorts, which gives an indication of the "hot weather" we experienced that day.

Little Si on the 4th of July.
We look like we belong in a Gap ad with our solid color tees.

expectations: to have or not to have?

Over the past few weeks I have been developing a theory about expectations (expectations that are met, failed expectations, etc.). It seems like I am a much happier person when I go into situations (or approach life in general) without certain expectations for what will take place. Obviously, when those expectations are met, I feel a sense of fulfillment and pride. And I like that. But when my expectations aren't met for whatever reason, I end up feeling frustrated. I even get frustrated if small expectations are not met - silly expectations that have no real consequence, like finishing a book by the end of the day. I've noticed that sometimes I even get frustrated when something exceeds my expectations - not because I'm upset with results or outcome per se, but I'm irked at the fact that I had mentally prepared for something else.

Case in point: I had anticipated that J, Sam and I would have a fun and adventurous weekend together. But because of various things, it didn't end up being the weekend that I hoped. And even though we had a nice weekend and did get to do a few very fun things that I didn't anticipate at all (like the American Idol concert!), I still feel a little irked and unfulfilled - merely because my original expectations were not met.

So, what to do? In theory, I think that I would be a happier person if I went about without any expectations of how events/projects/work/life would occur. But is that even possible? It seems like part of human nature to expect and anticipate things. And in a way, I know that my own personality also thrives on expectations; I love feeling the sense of accomplishment that comes after expectations are fulfilled.

What do you think about expectations? Do you think that expectations give you a greater sense of happiness or frustration?

Happy Sam Day!

Our little guy turned three years old! He's been looking forward to his birthday for, oh, about a year. So his birthday was an especially exciting day.

We let Sam dictate the decorations and events of his special day. He picked the balloons, decorations, games, and dinner menu (macaroni and cheese). He even specified the type of birthday cake (Rainbow Chip, with star sprinkles and vanilla frosting). He also told me that he wanted the cake to be "round," like the toy cake from his dinosaur birthday parties. We happily obliged every request.

The day was a big success, even though I came down with a nasty, nasty cold the day before. I didn't feel well enough to join in on all of the festivities (much to my sincere disappointment), but J made sure that Sam had a fantastic time. And I participated whenever I could. Here are some pictures from the day:

As could be expected, Sam woke up especially early on his birthday morning. Here he is at 5:45 am, wide awake and ready to open his first present.

Excited about his knight costume, which included a shield (foreground), helmet, sword, sheath, and breastplate.

We've started a mini-tradition of buying a large mylar (somewhat cheesy) balloon for the birthday person in our family. We let Sam pick out his own balloon: a large T-Rex.

Here Sam is wearing part of his new knight costume while reading a book on castles (another present) with Gram. Note the "Pin the Tail on the Donkey" game in the background. Sam also insisted that we play that game (although he had never played it before - I think he had heard of the game in a book). It was cute to see Sam try to pin his donkey tail, especially since he didn't really understand the concept of "no peeking" from under the blindfold.

The cake! Sam helped me put on the sprinkles and candles.

Happy birthday, Sam!

flowery yard

We have been happily surprised to discover how many flowering bushes are located in the yard of our new house. So far we've enjoyed brilliant red, pink, purple, and yellow flowers - several of them being rhododendrons. It's fun because each bush has flowered at different times, so we constantly have different colors in our yard.

We also have a lilac bush on the side of the house; the flowers smell really nice. The bush reminds me of my mom, since she liked lilacs so much. The rose bush that climbs the trellis near our front door has just started to sport yellow blooms, and we've just seen some purple irises open in our back yard. Our purple rhododendron bush is just about to open its flowery buds as well.

Although there are plenty of flowers already in our yard, I still wanted to grow some of my own. A few weeks ago I planted some foxglove, columbine and daisies (among other smaller flowers) in a little circular area underneath our lamppost. This is the first year that I've been able to grow a happy foxglove plant - hooray for mild Northwest weather!

This is the bush that is outside the window of our dining area.

sam the knight

Sam has become rather interested in knights, ever since we showed him "Bedknobs and Broomsticks" a few months ago. But unfortunately the end of the movie (see a clip here) really affected Sam's definition of what constitutes a "knight." For a few weeks after seeing that show, Sam kept telling me that "knights don't have heads." Oh dear!

We've finally been able to convince Sam that knights can have heads, but he still thinks that "knights can't see." This actually is a pretty logical thought on his end; Sam thinks knights aren't able to see because their helmets have visors. So whenever Sam pretends to be a knight, he keeps his eyes shut very tight. I suppose that J and I should work harder to clarify this misconception, but it's really cute to see him squeeze his eyes shut.

Here's a recent clip of our little knight: