Thursday, October 9, 2008

Working my way back up



A long silence, huh? It took me a while to get over the stomach bug I had when I last posted--and an even longer time to catch up on my backlog of work. I'm just about done with the article revision that was supposed to be complete in mid-August....I don't think I've ever been so late with a piece of writing. Fortunately, the editor isn't quite done revising her piece yet, either. Elliot's birthday was on Friday, the 26th--and boy, were we in cupcake heaven (except me--I was sick). We made 48 cupcakes for Elliot's schoolmates and teachers, and there must have been a few kids missing, because he brought home about 10 of them. I like this picture because it looks like Elliot is growing out of Astrid's head.

Lots of anxious fall days, watching the economy implode. I heard people on NPR comparing the current panic to the terrible uncertainty following the 9/11/01 attacks, and while it seemed like an outrageous idea at the time, I confess I've had some moments since then when I could see what they were talking about.

Onto a more pleasant subject: Astrid's been taking her Saturday morning art class for a few weeks now, and she's really enjoying it. I don't think it's providing the level of challenge that her Montessori teachers urged us to try to find for her, and, to be honest, I don't think she's doing anything with her teacher that she couldn't do with me--but it's very nice for her to have someone else to work with. She's quite strong-minded, and we do sometimes step on each other's feet when I'm teaching her. I have definitely enjoyed sitting outside the studio, in the fall sunshine, doing my class prep on Saturday mornings. I hope the weather will stay nice....

Last Friday, Astrid had her annual checkup--including three shots. In the waiting room before the appointment, she drew this picture of Frida Kahlo. (Yes, she is quite focused on Frida Kahlo.) In this drawing, Frida Kahlo is working in my office (all of the furniture and fixtures are pretty accurate), and she's using the computer to create a self-portrait. As you can see by her "Woo-Hoo!", Frida's pretty happy with how her self-portrait is coming out.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

She draws the human form so well!

BTW, I have been meaning to tell Elliot about the Tripods four-part set... it was a trilogy when I read it, and I can't vouch for the quality of the prequel ("When the Tripods Came"). If he's into young adult SF at all, I recommend that he begin with "The White Mountains." I really loved those three books.