tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55085842009-11-08T17:56:59.085-05:00The attempt to chronicle the life of an editor who needs to write more for himself and hopefully thereby find some new directions in life.T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.comBlogger103012538.95643-76.95282This is an XML content feed. It is intended to be viewed in a newsreader or syndicated to another site.tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-27003418084837797702009-09-29T20:22:00.001-04:002009-09-29T21:09:23.833-04:002009-09-29T21:09:23.833-04:00

Tonight, when Celeste started to wipe some Coritzone-10 on the Poäng in Quinn's room (Quinn had a patch of eczema on her knee and Celeste wanted to feel the cream), I said: "Thanks for wiping your hand on the chair."Without missing a beat, Celeste said: "You're being ironic."

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com1http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/09/shes-no-lelaina-pierce.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-77304417320986585012009-09-28T20:34:00.004-04:002009-09-29T06:42:50.128-04:002009-09-29T06:42:50.128-04:00

Many of the houses in our neighborhood have front porches. Some are well used, others underused. There are a few with couches on them, and one, up the street from us, used to have a piano on it. For the past few years, our porch has been more eyesore than retreat. We've needed to repair some of the boards and repaint, and it's been a parking place for kids' toys and our stroller

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com3http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/09/many-of-houses-in-our-neighborhood-have.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-32128491375417893992009-09-06T18:50:00.001-04:002009-09-06T18:52:46.708-04:002009-09-06T18:52:46.708-04:00

After dinner, as Quinn was running around outside, she ran over to the imaginary pet store to get a cocker spaniel. However, she was only calling it a "cocker" (which is the name of one of Celeste's toy dogs, a cocker spaniel).I said something about a "cocker spaniel" and she corrected me, "No, daddy. Cockers are dogs. Spaniels are people."It took me a few moments, but then I asked her if she

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com0http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/09/i-blame-princess-bride.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-67252104076951942482009-09-04T07:05:00.001-04:002009-09-04T07:05:07.861-04:002009-09-04T07:05:07.861-04:00

Birthday CerealOriginally uploaded by T CarterShe's not getting a candle on every bit of food, but for a five-year-old's first meal of the day ... why not!

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com0http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/09/lordy-lordy-look-who-five.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-12159161103006538442009-09-02T21:42:00.000-04:002009-09-02T21:43:22.148-04:002009-09-02T21:43:22.148-04:00

This morning Celeste noted that "ex-cit-ed" had three syllables, which meant two hyphens ... and I quote, "Hyphens. I love those guys."

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com1http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/09/editors-child.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-39674724424573705122009-08-31T21:16:00.002-04:002009-08-31T21:17:36.071-04:002009-08-31T21:17:36.071-04:00

The first coherent words out of Celeste's mouth when I woke her this morning: "The weekend isn't long enough."She is in the habit of staying up later than she should reading each night; we can go in and shut her light off and tell her to go to sleep, but unless we're watching under her door for the light to click back on she often will turn it back on to read for a little longer. This is great (

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com0http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/08/one-day-down.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-43995771555863540882009-08-31T06:26:00.003-04:002009-08-31T11:06:27.880-04:002009-08-31T11:06:27.880-04:00

Five years ago on Friday, Celeste was born, kicking off a lot of changes in every aspect of our lives.On the work front, Celeste meant Evelin cut back from full-time to half-time, part telecommute, part in the office; and I shifted around my hours so that I was able to be home two afternoons a week to cover Evelin's in-office hours. At first, I worked standard 9-hour days (with an hour for lunch)

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com0http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/08/five-years-ago-on-friday-celeste-was.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-257091797036481472009-08-30T08:11:00.002-04:002009-08-30T08:13:53.484-04:002009-08-30T08:13:53.484-04:00

Quinn and I were in the car. NPR is on the radio. The commentator or presenter says something about "member of Congress." Then I hear from the back seat: "Ha ha ha. He said 'member.'"

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com0http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/08/channeling-beavis.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-60923670324935210702009-08-28T19:11:00.001-04:002009-08-28T19:13:04.539-04:002009-08-28T19:13:04.539-04:00

This morning, I picked up one of Celeste's birthday presents -- her very own SmarTrip card. A while ago, we'd checked, and kids 4 and younger get to ride on Metrorail (and Metrobus) for free with a paying adult, but 5-year-olds have to pay the adult fare.She's been talking about being old enough for her own SmarTrip card ever since ...

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com0http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-every-5-year-old-wants.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-26639704515800905562009-08-23T09:05:00.004-04:002009-08-23T11:46:54.670-04:002009-08-23T11:46:54.670-04:00

This morning, Quinn asked if she could have candy for breakfast. I told her no, but reminded her that she'd been promised a post-breakfast dessert last night if she went to bed without crying.I asked if she wanted oatmeal or cereal or an egg and Quinn replied ... "Broccoli!" ... and she ended up with a broccoli-cheese omelet for breakfast.

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com0http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/08/doing-something-right.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-32959790422730827512009-08-06T20:29:00.002-04:002009-08-06T20:35:42.556-04:002009-08-06T20:35:42.556-04:00

Celeste needed me to sit with her a little bit before she fell asleep tonight. While we were talking about various things, the subject of humor and jokes came up.Celeste told me about her favorite way to play knock-knock jokes. "You say 'knock-knock.' Then I say 'Nothing!'"I decided to reach back in my memory to my old first-grade joke book and asked her, "What's red and goes up and down?"Celeste

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com1http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/08/jokes-and-4-almost-5-year-old.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-36629944675849819612009-07-09T21:39:00.002-04:002009-07-09T21:43:18.196-04:002009-07-09T21:43:18.196-04:00

Guilty pleasure confession: I like So You Think You Can Dance. Get over it.I've thought it for a while, but apparently I didn't say it to Evelin until last night, but choreographer and sometimes judge Tyce Diorio looks like a hobbit to me. (Hobbit or not, the man choreographs some of the best routines on the show, and always makes very insightful comments when he's sitting in as a judge.) Evelin

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com1http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/07/is-tyce-diorio-hobbit.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-52077049967812189102009-06-27T14:39:00.002-04:002009-06-27T14:44:04.773-04:002009-06-27T14:44:04.773-04:00

I need to see which CDs Quinn has nicked from my collection for her room.This afternoon, during "quiet time," she came downstairs. Evelin was napping on the couch; I was flipping back and forth between folding laundry and checking Facebook. At first she complained about an "owie" on her foot; I gave it a kiss and told her quiet time wasn't over yet. She then tried to argue that she needed to

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com0http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/06/radiohead-fan.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-80760721495893214122009-06-02T20:17:00.004-04:002009-06-02T20:22:49.288-04:002009-06-02T20:22:49.288-04:00

Actual complaint brought to me by three-year-old Quinlan this afternoon:"Daddy! Celeste is ALWAYS doing her e-mail when I want to do something on the computer. That's selfish!"

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com1http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/06/they-grow-up-so-fast.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-91176363621559922142009-05-26T21:46:00.002-04:002009-05-26T21:46:58.704-04:002009-05-26T21:46:58.704-04:00

Back on a cold winter day, I decided bowling might be a fun afternoon for Celeste and Quinn. One of our local lanes is a duckpin outfit (duckpins being a native Maryland variant* of traditional bowling), which I thought would be good for the girls given that the balls are smaller — about the size of a softball and easier to manage with little hands &mdash and the pins shorter and squatter.That

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com0http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/05/duckpin-fever-back-on-cold-winter-day-i.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-24888101435689123252009-05-18T20:59:00.000-04:002009-05-18T21:00:55.077-04:002009-05-18T21:00:55.077-04:00

About 10 minutes after I put her to bed tonight — read the books, talked about her day, played rock-a-bye baby pony, turned on her CD — Quinn ran out of her room to call after me: "Daddy, Daddy! This song is so beautiful! Come listen with me!"Naturally, I had to go hear what track got that response: Fabienne DelSol "I'm Gonna Catch Me A Rat."

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com0http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/05/it-is-nice-song.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-79276133869179486062009-05-14T21:32:00.003-04:002009-05-14T21:39:11.628-04:002009-05-14T21:39:11.628-04:00

The irises were in bloom this afternoon at Calvert Memorial Park, near our Thursday farmers market ...

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com0http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/05/girls-with-irises.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-77220890463464368102009-05-01T21:22:00.003-04:002009-05-01T21:23:44.351-04:002009-05-01T21:23:44.351-04:00

Scene I: The Park — Thursday afternoon, I took the girls to the park for some running around time and scooter practice. I brought along my skateboard to roll around with them while Celeste used her scooter and Quinn her Skuut, but they both were more interested in lying on their stomachs and pushing themselves around on my board.After a bit of that, however, we went about the normal sort of play.

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com0http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/05/word-problems.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-11687105054116139842009-04-26T19:05:00.001-04:002009-04-26T19:07:23.828-04:002009-04-26T19:07:23.828-04:00

Not to make it sound like I'm picking on Celeste here or anything, but she has a really bad habit of running her fingers through her hair. Not that that's a bad thing in and of itself, just she does it when she really needs a napkin instead.Everyday last week, she came home from nursery school with Cyndi Lauper-esque streaks of vivid color in her hair. Not such a big deal. During dinner, we try

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com2http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/04/alternative-napkins.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-25984460572895827472009-04-25T22:27:00.002-04:002009-04-25T22:29:41.641-04:002009-04-25T22:29:41.641-04:00

The girls were chalking on the sidewalk this morning, while I was pulling some weeds in the front yard when a few earthworms* and two grubs (Cyclocephala ?) came up with the clump of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea). After squishing the grubs, I picked up a worm and took it over to the girls.Celeste ran up on to the porch, which isn't really a surprise. Her first instinct is to move away quickly

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com1http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/04/worms-go-in-worms-go-out.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-85588762632474825682009-03-26T18:45:00.001-04:002009-03-26T18:46:53.323-04:002009-03-26T18:46:53.323-04:00

Quinn and Celeste both have pretty good senses of humor, but they haven't really reached the joke-telling stage of childhood yet. Except, this afternoon, Celeste came up with one that I think is pretty good, all things considered.The girls often discuss what sort of dog they are at the moment, and Quinn was in the midst of running through a list of what color Labrador retriever she was.Quinn: "

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com0http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/03/comedy-stylings.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-26769165936295209232009-03-22T11:16:00.003-04:002009-03-22T11:20:56.291-04:002009-03-22T11:20:56.291-04:00

Note the time: 11:15 a.m. on March 21st. Celeste just had her first senior moment.I have had plenty of times when I strode into another room full of purpose only to realize that I had no idea what I had intended to do.At this moment, the girls were both playing with Play-Doh and running around while Evelin and I both did a little work. Celeste ran upstairs, I heard her door open, and then "Now,

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com0http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/03/what-was-i-doing.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-83362252519079247732009-03-20T21:44:00.001-04:002009-03-20T21:45:44.435-04:002009-03-20T21:45:44.435-04:00

So after work, I headed to meet Evelin and the girls for the first iteration of Family Fun Night at Rhode Island Reds. We were the first ones there, and the girls had eaten before going, so Evelin had coffee, I had an Anchor Porter and the girls had a nice applely dessert.While we were sitting around and talking, Quinn burst out with her comedy stylings.Quinn: "Knock knock! Who dere?"Me: "Who's

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com0http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/03/whos-there.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-13772358242341067132009-02-24T19:19:00.002-05:002009-02-24T20:58:34.511-05:002009-02-24T20:58:34.511-05:00

Quinn doesn't quite have invisible friends, but she does have lots of invisible animals — cats named Milo (after the co-lead in Milo and Otis, dogs, rabbits, the occasional pony, etc. She will run after them, catch them, pet them, cuddle them, and want you to do the same. If she forgets one in the car or outside or something, she can get quite distressed.However, they have, upon occasion, proved

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com0http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/02/using-her-invisible-friends-against-her.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5508584.post-13772874891481384982009-02-04T19:51:00.000-05:002009-02-04T19:52:22.635-05:002009-02-04T19:52:22.635-05:00

Upon occasion, I get quite frustrated with myself and say unkind, self-abusive things. (Self-abusive in the "You idiot" or "I'm a frickin' moron" sense, not the other, clinical sense of self-abuse — I'm sorry, but some readers make such clarification necessary.) Anyway, Celeste was feeling ill this morning and had a bit of a regurgitative moment, so Evelin set her up in her bed for a while to

T. Carterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08456765743893065023noreply@blogger.com0http://lifechange.blogspot.com/2009/02/setting-example.html