Welcome Elodie!

Elodie Grace Markley was born at 7:53 on Monday, February 23rd. She was 8 pounds, 5 ounces and 21 inches long. Kelly had her water broken by the doctor at about 8:30 am, she began labor naturally at around 2, and things went smoothly, quickly, and drug free. She is recovering well, she said it's much different (and better, I'm sure!) than recovering from the c-section. Elodie was greeted by both sets of grandparents and one uncle. Another aunt (Kate) will meet her today, while her other aunties are anxiously wishing they could be there. Bennett went to meet his sister this morning, and was enthralled. If they feel ready and the doctor gives the ok, they may go home tonight, or they may stay over one more night and go home in the morning. Elodie was up a lot during the night, Kelly said, and is likely to sleep most of today. Hopefully soon she will be able to flip flop her schedule! We are all so happy that she's here, and I can't wait to meet her next week! Here are some pictures I received on my phone, the first taken in her first hour or so of life, and then 3 from this morning:

This Time Last Year...

... I got a tattoo! Well around this time last year, anyway. Some of you have seen the pics, some of you have not. Let's face it, I just like strolling down memory lane with you guys. I plan to do it on a regular basis, since there isn't always a whole heck of a lot going on in the present. This is the experience:

On the way:


Brittany was excited too:


Denise was my tattoo buddy:


Brittany got me a corsage for the occasion:


The adorable puppy in the shop:


Krissy was there for moral support:


My scared face:

(Denise brought me a lollipop - apparently it's good to keep your blood sugar up)

This was the tattoo artist:

(Not a dainty flower)

Within the first moments:

It's not so bad!


Ok, it's a bit irritating.

At the end:

I wish she would stop doing that now.


Yay, all done!


"I belong to the Lord"

Denise is an old pro:



Paz y Amor (Peace and Love) - and pretty flowers!

The end.

I Heart Modern Technology

Today my roommate dropped her cell phone in the toilet. That's right, friends. Cellular telephone. Toilet. Not a good combo. When she got home, there were actually tears in her eyes as she discussed this event. Let me tell you, she is not an emotional girl. I have learned a fair amount about her in these few weeks, and she's pretty much a tough cookie. (She credits this to her gymastic instructors, who were basically militant drill sergeants who took no issue with making little girls cry - and for every spilled tear, they could add more onto their exercise for the day. Thus, she learned not to cry.) She, meanwhile, has probably seen me cry fifteen times since we've lived together, since all it takes for me these days is a commercial about something like a lost puppy. Definitely any show where anyone: a) reunites with anyone else, b) gets something they deserve, or c) discovers something meaningful in their life, is guaranteed to push me over the edge. I haven't dared to watch Extreme Home Makeover in Erin's presence yet. Anyway, the point of all this is to say that, Erin's emotion over her injured cell phone made me ponder (yet again) how much we all rely on technology. And this made me remember a blog entry I wrote on myspace (the only one, in fact), so I thought I would include it here, since people actually read this blog (well, at least a few do.) It was almost exactly 3 years ago that I wrote it, but a lot of it (sadly) is still true in my life. If you happened to have read it before, feel free to stop reading now. :)

***

"I Heart Modern Technology"
February 8, 2006
I realized today just how ridiculous is my relationship with my cell phone. (Whose name, by the way, is Atticus Steptoe.) And yes, it is a relationship. There is love, trust, not to mention ringtones. About halfway through my 9am class this morning, I checked in my backpack in fear that I had forgotten to put Atticus on silent. Then... to my great horror and chagrin... Atticus was nowhere to be found! So what did I do? I spent my hour break between class and work (when I should have been eating breakfast and studying) driving home to get Attie. I spent 20 minutes looking for parking, because there is next to none at this school, got to work 20 minutes late, running on very low blood sugar, only to discover the 2-year-olds that I work with akin to bumble bees on crack. Who's brilliant idea must it have been to remodel the structure in the yard, so that every day at the children's center is like a rainy day (because all the kids are stuck inside and have nowhere to run around)? So I spent four hours saying in my loudest indoor voice "Stop smacking Suzie upside the head!" and "Put down the razor blade!" (Ok, I'm exaggerating a little bit, but I do have bite marks on my arm as evidence of the horror of it all.) After all this, I had to trek up to the ends of the universe where I illegally parked my car in the freshman dorm lot, (thankfully discovering it without a ticket) and moved it across campus to a different lot, luckily making it in time to grab a snack before my 3:00 class. All this, because I could not go 12 hours without my cell phone. If I am ever as needy toward a person as I am toward my cell phone, somebody kill me please.

***

Yep, good times. And for the record, I do believe there is such a thing as healthy dependency, with technology and with other humans. I also think if there is something or someone that you can't get through 12 hours without, it just might be cause for concern.

Speaking of 12 hours... that was how long I worked today. Not fun! I wish I could share funny stories about the kids I work with now, but the events and quotes that stick out in my mind at the end of the day aren't necessarily appropriate for all audiences. Ha. I'm still enjoying it though. Just preferably in smaller chunks than 12 hours. I'll leave you with a quote from my professor: "If life gives you lemons, it gives you lemons. No one said anything about sugar, so how are you supposed to make lemonade? I say, if life gives you lemons, just don't squeeze them in your eyes." :)

Roommie

I promised that I would write more about my roommate, so I will stick to my word. Her name is Erin, she's 23, from small town Wisconsin, and she's a pretty cool girl. She did a combined program and got her Bachelor's and her Master's at the same time, I think the program was called Rehabilitation Services. Something like that. Now she is doing an internship in Milwuakie (a suburb of Portland) in preparation for her career, which involves helping people with disabilities (mostly developmental and mental health related) to gain employment. I think that's pretty cool. Obviously we have some similar interests. It's been fun having a roommate again. I was a bit surprised, to be honest, because I got used to the luxury of living alone for 2 and a half years. I know some people don't think of it as a luxury, but roommate situations can often be sticky, and I enjoy having my own space. With that said, things have been incredibly easy and smooth. I actually find myself disappointed when I get home and she's gone or asleep. It's nice to have someone around. She likes the dogs a lot, which is awesome, because they aren't the most mellow or behaved dogs you'll ever meet. ;) She's not a neat freak, a gourmet chef, or a big health nut, so she doesn't judge me for my sloppiness or my simple tastes. We like to watch reality tv together, and make fun of the silly people. I'm learning a bit about Wisconsin (she was raised on a farm) and she's learning about Portland (and California too). When she arrived with her boyfriend, it was 30 degrees outside, and snowing, and he said, "is it always this warm here?" I looked at him strangely. She is not used to the diversity, or to homeless people, she had never heard of In & Out, Baja Fresh, or Trader Joe's, and she asked me after about a week whether I thought she had an accent (which I noticed in the first five minutes.) She seems to be dealing really well with the big change though. It was never really awkward between us - we've just been getting to know each other naturally. She was raised Catholic, but is not particularly religious herself. She's not strongly political, but very open minded and accepting of all kinds of people. We have easy and interesting conversations about politics, religion, and psychology, which is not always possible with people. So far, our only problems have been that she's not used to manual heaters, so she sometimes leaves the heat on all day, and her long curly hair is clogging the shower drain already. Ha ha. But I think we can hurdle those issues. :) We're both pretty easy going people, so things are good.



Oh also... she's a gymnast. She stands on her hands a lot. But as I have a best friend who does that kind of thing on a regular basis, it doesn't seem that strange. :)