July-ish

So, I wish I had a good excuse for not posting since the end of June, but I can't really think of one. I think I've felt kind of boring lately - I go to work, I come home, ad infinitum...

Stuff has happened this month, though, which makes it even more ridiculous that I haven't posted. At the beginning of the month, we visited my sister and her family for the 4th of July. We had a blast, the kids got along well, and my pregnant sister wasn't TOO grumpy :) We went to the local rec center for fireworks - the, I'm not kidding you, "Firecracker Fest 2008!" - all the kids/babies (M was the oldest at 2 years) were totally cool with the fireworks... Pretty amazing that nobody freaked out - the odds were not in our favor.

Then my mom came to visit and while she was here, we went to her side of the family's family reunion. It was a cultural experience, to say the least. They are from the rural, eastern part of the state, and many are still farmers in the same area that my grandfather (one of 12 siblings) grew up. My great-grandfather was a circuit preacher and the church that he was associated with (and which one of his grandsons is the minister) was having its 100 year re-dedication. After an evangelical service, we ate tasty fried chicken, fried shrimp, and eastern NC style pork barbecue and then, the highlight of the day, the Guiding Lights sang.

The Guiding Lights are a gospel group made up of some of my mother's cousins and second cousins... they sing old style, close 4-part harmony, white gospel (stylistically different from black gospel singing - those of you in the south know what I mean). M and her cousin D were grooving, especially during the up-tempo songs. The Guiding Lights sing very traditionally within the style and don't really show the type of emotion associated with contemporary evangelical christian singing... you know, the hands in the air, crying, mass catharsis... But, they had one younger guy who sang with an off-shoot group and he starting singing "I Surrender All," putting his hand in the air and crying - M. starts putting her hand up like she's feeling the Spirit and K and I start getting cracked up... Presbyterians aren't exactly known for their emotional expression of their faith - we aren't called the "frozen chosen" for nothing...

In more recent news, M started at formal daycare today. Last school year she attended a 1/2 day preschool and then went home with a friend of ours... This year she's in a daycare that starts at age 2. When we visited she seemed to like it, but this morning she really got upset, crying, clinging (totally out of character for her), which made leaving difficult. But, true to form, when I went back in the building (not her classroom) 3 minutes after we left her to tell the lady at the front desk something I forgot, she said that M had already stopped crying and was playing with another kid. When we picked her up, the assistant teacher said that M had been the easiest new kid that they have had. I'm sure they tell a lot of parents that, but it was nice to hear anyway. M did so well using the potty (they have the miniaturized versions of real toilets - she LOVES them) that they would like to try underwear starting next Monday...Hey, if I can get someone else to take the final potty training leap with M, I am all for it!

Alright - I'm sure you are all thrilled to hear about my family reunions and my child's bathroom habits, but I've got to jet - I plomise* to post again before the end of August... Catch you on the flip side.


* An extra special gold star to those of you who get that totally lame reference