We have had 3 cats for nearly 2 years now and I have to say that it is not as much work as you all think it is.  However, the group dynamics have been bizarre for the past year.  Mark and I have both blogged plenty about Hera and her mood swings which are not yet solved.  More recently though, as in 3 weeks after Will was born, Star started peeing.  After watching everything that happens around the house it is clear she does not like William and it isn’t getting better.  Considering she pees in his room though, we just can’t have this.  She needs a new home.  Our hope is that someone is willing to give her a shot at a happy life.  So let me tell you a little about her.

Star showed up at my Aunt’s house on the family farm, pawing at the door to get in the house.  We only had Purrball at the time and wanted to get him a friend.  For a while, we had planned on getting a young black british short hair, but when Star showed up, we had to rescue her.  My stepmom named her Star for the white spot on her chest, but since that was “too normal” for us, we created the fullname of Monstar and continued to call her Star.

Star is a bit of an odd duck and I can’t quite explain why.  She and Purrball became friends quickly, but she never really took to his rough playing tactics.  She likes to be very independent, except when you’re ready for bed.  Then she wants to lay on you for pets.  She likes to play by herself by batting a little white puffball around or swatting at a fleece string.  On rare occasions she feels freskie enough to jump in the air for the string.

Overall she is a fairly calm, independent, sweet, beautiful black cat.  (Declawed, spayed, and litter trained for the record - well with the above exception.)  We would really rather that she got to stay here and live with us, but we simply can’t have this behavior with a little one around now.  If you would like to adopt her, please contact us (in the comments below if you want).  Otherwise, please pray that someone wants to take her in so that she doesn’t meet the other fate that has been offered to us.

Last night, Mark and I had the honor of attending the Augustana Alumni dinner where my dad was given an Outstanding Service Award.  I may or may not have gone on endlessly to many of you about my dad’s produce farming.  He has been working with Augustana College to provide produce to them, take the compost back to the farm, and involve students from a class in learning about farming and stewardship of the land.  After all, we have to take care of the land in order for it to sustain us.  I’m very proud of all the work my dad has done.  You can read an article from one of the students working with him at the Radish Magazine.

On a more personal note (cause I’m not capable of talking without mentioning my son), Mark and I attended the dinner without William. My grandma and aunt were kind enough to take care of this needy little boy.  I say needy because he is rather difficult to soothe.  They got the stroller working for them great, but you can only walk so long.  Or at least they can.  Anyways, I was nervous most of the time and felt like I was missing something (it’s like going out without my glasses - he’s just a part of me), but I couldn’t have been happier with how well they took care of him.  It took a little while to get him to bed after that but then he slept a whole 7.5 hours!  (And yes humans do need that much sleep.  thank. you. very. much. j.c.)  It felt wonderful.

Last but not least a couple other milestones for the little one.  He figured out how to suck his thumb.  While I don’t look forward to getting him to not suck his thumb, this little man needs a little soothing aid and the pacifier is just too hard for him to pick up and put back in his mouth still.  He also got his first tractor “ride” today (pictures to follow).  He got his first belt buckle today (I know you’re all jealous).  He went to his first softball game and hurled all over his car seat for the first time on Friday.  I swear he did more new things, but they must not be that cool.  Oh yeah, he started sucking on shoulders when you hold him.  Hmm, yeah not that cool.

In less than 2 weeks, William will start daycare at least part time (full time will soon follow).  I have a mixed bag of emotions on the topic, but in the long run know it will be just fine.  He’s going through a growth spurt right now, so work is sounding like a breeze compared to the past couple days.  I will definitely miss him during the days though with his sweet little smile, coos, and ‘laughs.’

Will and I have gone into Mark’s work quite a bit these past several weeks.  Each time I drive past Brown Deer Golf Course right now, I see all the geese with their goslings.  All the parent geese congregate with their little goslings and while it probably is more similar to a play date, Mark and I have grown to call it the “goose daycare.”

Daycare or not though, I enjoy these moments a lot:

Authors formal apology for the length of this post.

I think most people that read this already know my history with ballet and specifically pointe work.  I’ve studied classical ballet since 1992 (not doing the best at getting to class in the past couple years).  My studies included 8 years of pointe work.  I still maintain that it was one of the hardest decisions in my life to stop studying pointe.  It was part of a bigger decision to also choose a profession outside of ballet - a decision that changed my life in a huge way.

In terms of profession and most recently relevant, was my desire to have a family.  For years, I wanted nothing more than to be a ballet teacher.  I had even been accepted into the OU ballet pedagogy program.  But I’m glad I didn’t go given my change in direction.  I knew that I could have a family and be a ballet teacher if I wanted.  I also knew that it would mean working nights and weekends - the time when my kids would be home.  I made the choice to find a profession that gave me a day job, so I could be home when my family was home.  I’m sure this is a long debated choice for many artists/parents.  Now that Will is here, it sinks in that this is why I made that decision.

Specific to pointe though, the arches in my feet weren’t going to sustain the level of work I was doing.  I developed tendinitis in my arches at the age of 16.  I continued pointe (taking 800mg of ibuprofen when the tendinitis flared up) and fought to find the ‘right’ pointe shoe.  While I studied at the Joffrey Ballet School, Edith d’Addario recommended I try Martin pointe shoes from Germany.  Even those were never quite right though.  They had such a hard box, that I couldn’t feel the floor even though the shank was hard enough that it kept my feet from over arching.  I eventually settled into a Bloch shoe, but by that time the damage was done.

BTW - Since when does Zappos sell pointe shoes?!  That’s awesome!!

So what exactly do I mean by “Missing Pointe?”  Right now I miss ballet since I haven’t been to class for a while, but I’m working on remedying that.  Staying in class reminds me that ballet is a passion of mine that I can never give up completely, but that I’m still comfortable with my professional decision.  However, it also reminds me that I do miss pointe.

People often ask me if pointe work hurts.  And it did the first few months, but then I built up a pain tolerance and calluses.  The pain disappeared and it became a brand new art form.  By going on to the tip of the toe, there is a single fluid line that a flat shoe can’t create.  It even feels cleaner to me to be on the tip of the toe instead of having my toes flexed against the floor.  I miss those clean lines, the incredible strength required to make them, and the pure awe of the art.

I have a few pairs of pointe shoes in my cedar chest and I used to keep every pair of shoes I ever wore.  I tried hanging them from the ceiling in my bedroom once, but it started pulling the ceiling tiles down.  I also got the idea to make a ring of them from the arts school I performed at in NYC.  I never had enough shoes to complete the circle though.  Eventually many of the pointe shoes got holes in them from bugs and they weren’t worth keeping anymore.  I still have my first pair (blood stains and all) and would love to bronze them someday.  I also have 1 completely new pair of the Martins.  They are in perfect condition.  I have a plan to saw one in half and show one half of the outside and one half of the inside in a shadowbox.  But I could easily sew ribbons and elastic on them tonight and dance around the house.  The past couple weeks, its taken me a lot of inner strength to not do just that.  To feel that hard box constrain my feet enough that I can stand on my toes and hold an arabesque or twirl a pirouette.

Ballet will always be deeply rooted in me (a brick in my foundation in the words of Q).  Pointe will always be deeply rooted in me as well, but in a way that I can never (or at least should never) truly experience again.

I have some random things about William I can post on here, but I’m going to make you all suffer through a post about ME.  I have 1 hour tonight and Thursday night to do whatever I want.  The first thing that came to my mind was a nap.  Not that it doesn’t sound great, but I want to want to do something for me too.  So a bath comes to mind.  But I’m just not in the mood tonight.  I got to thinking more long term, what do I want to continue to do just for me now that my “me time” is more limited?  J.C. has me thinking about my creative side from one of his latest posts.  I want to start dancing more (very slowly mind you - I still just had a baby here).  It’s hard to just dance around the house though and the place I was taking ballet classes at before made it so I don’t want to return.  So I guess long term I need to find a new ballet outlet.

For tonight, shall I do some css for some creative/coding-isque time?  No matter what I do, I’m not having to deal with what William just presented Mark with and *dang it* Mark just asked for help…