a secret

I have to confess that I've been keeping something from you.

Please meet Smudge.
Smudge has been with us, in one form or another, since early June. It complicated my eye situation, but did not cause it. And now Smudge is growing like crazy, and looking somewhat human. This scan was taken about 3 weeks ago. I'm sure it looks much different now... oh, they grow up so fast!

We expect to Smudge to join us, and hopefully get a more traditional name, sometime in mid-February. In the meantime, I'm eating lots of spicy carbs, growing out of my wardrobe, and taking naps (though my energy seems to be returning).This is me last week, showing off my new baby belly. I know, it's really hard to see. But you'll have to trust me that it is different than before.

I hope that this blog won't turn into the Smudge blog, but I might share something here and there about how it's going, if you don't mind.

true vacation

We went to Maine again. That's how long it's been! We went to Maine and had a lovely week doing just about nothing. I took naps. Christopher did some writing. I read a little. Christopher wrote some more. We made pasta from scratch. I started a blanket. It wasn't enough time. I feel terrible saying that, since this was the fifth week I've taken off this summer, but it was the first of those weeks that I really felt able to relax. Italy was good until my eye fell apart. And my trip to Haystack was overshadowed by bad weather and my cold. Next summer we are thinking that a month might in Maine be nice. Maybe we can sublet our apartment, and not worry about the lack of income, and we can settle in and just be.