Just One More

I just wanted to add this picture of baby Thomas, as I feel it nicely captures his soft golden little hair swirls. He is perfect.

A sneak peek

Aunt Beth took this picture of Thomas Field Falter last evening when he was about 14 hours old! Welcome to the world, little grandbaby! Is he adorable or what??

Baby Thomas the turtle

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Where is the new Falter baby? Well, he has decided to be fashionably late, so my understanding is that if he doesn't make his debut by tomorrow, August 16, he will be pushed onstage.

Even though due dates are approximations, the waiting seems doubly hard once that date has passed. And if it's difficult for me, think about Mama Laurie and Papa Mitch! Not to mention his Auntie Beth.

Anyway, in the meantime, this is how I imagine my new grandson: the slow, little turtle, swimming happily inside his protective environment, waiting offstage until just the right moment to grace the world with his presence.

We're all your lords- and ladies-in-waiting, baby boy.

An Ode to my Three Weeks of CTYI

Everyon asks: What is CTYI? Why go? School in the summer? The easy answer is that it is the Irish Center for Talented youth at Dublin City University. But is that what it really is? Why do people pend three of their precious summer weeks going to classes away from home? I feel like there are different reasons to go. Sometimes it could be for the classes, sometimes for the people. But the real answer, the one everyone is looking for, the universal reason for people coming to CTYI is the feeling while you are there. When I walk onto that campus Iam in my element. A sort of frenzied peace comes over you, one that cannot be disturbed. When you are at CTYI you are not just your true self, you are living your true life.
You enter CTYI as a scared little newbie with no clue what to do when instinct tells you to run away from the guy with the lip piercing and bathrobe. You quickly become accustomed to lying on the floor of the canteen durng Stree Spirit or jumping into the conga line during 500 miles. It is normal for your entire class to burst out into song with no reason and for boys to dress like girls on Tuesday. They are just your regular occurences, and you can't imagine anything different. There are the girls you stay up with and giggle and chat for ages with, the ones you get dressed for discos and 'study' with. There are the boys who give incredible hugs, the ones you want and know you won't get, although there is an occasional guy or two do do get three weeks with.
The reason we go to CTYI is that it is normal for bread rolls to be thrown and snide remarks made abnout the sportalians. Then thereare, at the heart of the three weeks, the people, you friends. Some of them end up being your best friends. For me it is an eclectric group of us, the ones I care about the most. There is the stubborn girl with long hair who hates protection, the guy with long hair that is often green or purple, and the fake lip ring and cains on his jeans who frequently screeches "Gaybar" There is the slightly bigger, preppier boys whoes nickname, Tuppy (half bear half puppy) says all. The beautiful long haired sweetheart with great converse and high energy. There is the tall ginger who is bouncy and constantly smiling and squeeling. And then there is me. it quieter one, the smiley one, the glue between the people.
See though, these descriptions don't begin to makes there people real to you. They don't even start to describe Annie, or Jayme, or Mike, or Nella, or Laura, or even, in someways, me. These people are bigger than anything I can produce with some blue ink and a good vocabulary. These are my best friends, they have been and still will be. I can depend on all of them; every single on of them every single day. It doesn't matter that nearly all of them are across the ocean. There are my people, and I am one of their's.
Then there are the people you meet year to year. The ones you haven't known nearly as long but love just as much. There was my little sister, Gracie with the glasses and the grin, Sinaed with the hugs and similes as big as the ocean, and the converse and a mind as dirty as mine. There is Maurice who likes to cause trouble but is one of the most honest and innocent people you could find. There is little Anne-Marie with unstoppable energy and the higest sucess rate as a hug monster. There is Bobby, Annie's brother. Not new to me, but no longer scared of me. More commonly known as Stalin, he is the sweetest, most goodhearted kid I've ever met.
There is the other spekrum from the newbies. We are the nevermores. Nevermore is not the right term though. Because never is too long a time to stay away. But also, CTYI isn't just in Dublin, it is here on the plane with Keller and me or in LA with Katie and Sonnie. It is wherever Jayme and Sinaed are. We are CTYI. We are my CTYI. So maybe we've left the DCU campus forever, mayber (hopefully) we'll never eat canteen food again. Bu I will only be a nevermore when not a single person I met there is in my life anymore. I will be a nevermore when there is no more. and, as far as I'm considered there will always be more. We are nver finished. Never Ever.

The apple doesn't fall far.....

If it's true that our genes determine a lot about who we are and what we will become, then Rita knows a lot more about us than we might guess.

Her extensive research into our family tree, our ancestry, makes her the keeper of the kingdom.

When I visited with Rita and Don last week-end, I was astonished at the volumes of information she has amassed about all of us and our forbears. Did you know, for example, that a young woman married to a Glenn Simpkins died at her home at the age of just 33 after sustaining a blow to the head -- and that her death was ruled a homicide? Now Glenn seems the likely suspect to me, but Rita hasn't found court papers yet to verify that.

And her latest foray into the Falter family reveals that Grandpa Falter had a sister who was all of 29 years older than he was! We know also that the mild-mannered Shafer side of the family had a not-so-well-kept secret in that Pa Wilson, my great-grandfather and Grandma's grandfather, was born "illegitimate" and that his mother remarried but had several other children born out of wedlock.

Rita can also tell you that we appear to be a family with longevity on our side. With several exceptions, our relatives have lived long lives. And it will probably surprise none of you to know that we don't seem to be related to any famous people nor that we have had an abundance of men named James in the family.

Practically anything you ever wanted to know about our family is on Rita's "Simpkins Family of Ohio" ancestry site, including pictures of many of you, newspaper articles and public records. If you're curious about where you come from and what you might have inherited, give Rita a call. She's got the goods on all of us. Woudn't it be fun if we looked a little something like this?

missed me?

i have, of late, not been a very active member here, simply because i have not been around enough to be active. but here i am with, for the first time in weeks, a few spare moments. laurie, glad to hear that the baby is still safely inside you...he isn't allowed to come out for a little bit longer, okay? anywho, i'm here in ireland, taking globablization which i love, strangely enough, and enjoying life here as usual. my class is great and it is so nice to see all my friends as well as make so many new ones along the way. i have no roomate this year which means i am sleeping at night (which is terribly sad. we only have one week left, which means that i have been away for three and as lovely as getting away was, i'm kind of missing home for the first time ever. i think there is something to do with the fact that i like it there, i have friends there. lots of them and i enjoy living where i do now, whereas in the past there hasn't been much insentive to come back. (kevin isn't bad insentive, either.)
i have to go but i'm going to leave you with one image....me with about three inches of hair!!!!
love you all, cecilia

Ready...Set...Keep Waiting!

Since this will be my blogging debut (although there are several blogs that I visit on a daily basis), please forgive me if my performance is not up to par. I shall do my best!

With the due date of the newest member of our clan just over 2 weeks away, I have officially entered the pregnancy doldrums. I have been fortunate to have experienced a very easy pregnancy thus far, but I am now quite ready to be finished with my gravidity. Perhaps it is nature's plan to fill the last weeks with aches, awkwardness, and insomnia so that we will actually looked forward to the labor and delivery. I know that prior to the last few weeks, I felt apprehensive about this whole "giving birth" process, but now I just can't wait to get this baby out!

The good news is that our OB/GYN has confirmed that the baby is in proper position for take-off: head down and back facing out. The bad news? The little guy has not begun to drop, and (avert your eyes, squeamish readers) I have not begun dilating or effacing. So I was a little disappointed about that. Keep your fingers crossed for more action at next week's appointment.

Here's a question for you experienced moms. Did you notice any connection between your child's activity levels in utero and it's energy level later in life? Because I am starting to be concerned that this kid is going to be hyperactive with all of the action going on in there!

Hope...

Mr. Nicolas Nobis will be 1 year old on Aug. 1st, and then following shortly we have two more family members of the best type following right behind him! :) Thomas Falter and yet-to-be-named baby girl Kovaleski will both arrive in August, too! (I'm rooting for "Annie" because it seems like a Stephanie and a Sarah ought to have a little sister named Annie, and Ann is such a nice family name from Rita Ann, Debra Ann Libby is over course Elizabeth Ann, and our family could do a lot worse in girls' names than Ann which also go with Kovaleski! ;)

So yea for August! I gladly relinquish what I've always thought was MY special birthday month to these 3 Leos! Of course we've also got Grandpa/Uncle Don K a Leo, and our August Virgo, Don, Jr, and of course Mom/Grandma/Greatgrandma and Dad/Grandad/Greatgrandad were August Virgos. So let's here it for August bringing in and bringing up some badly needed fresh blood in this family!! :)

It's lonely at the top

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Not that kind of top.

Ajax Rock. It's kinda' lonely here.

There's plenty of room for you. Do you want to read? Play make-believe? Orate? Have a picnic? Talk or nap?

In the beginning, it was two sisters who hoped they weren't too big to fit on an old rock they used to play on. We wanted to remember our childhood, reflect on our family, and mourn the loss of our parents. Remember?

Sometimes it got kind of crowded, but we always scooched over to make room for more. There was always room for one more in our house, growing up. One more chair at the table or one more bed that could be made up on the couch.

Now Ajax Rock is more of a one-woman journal, not a family gathering hole. It's not so much fun, playing all alone. I've tried imaginary playmates, but since I always had Lois, I'm not too good at that.

Guess I'll let the summer dwindle down and see if anyone comes out to play before it's over. All these grown-ups must be too busy doing important things. Too bad. Maybe I'll make a lemonade stand. Wonder if anyone's thirsty out there?

An argument for youth over wisdom

Photos courtesy of flickr.com

The age-old struggle of youthful optimism and ancient wisdom is an interesting one, and it's being played out in our presidential politics, as well as in every walk of life.

Hopefully, we do gain wisdom as we age, though certainly we're not all so lucky. And there are plenty of kids who seem wise beyond their years from day one. Cecilia was one of those children. I remember getting the odd feeling that she was "in charge" when she was still crawling. She always seemed calmly responsible, and she got the joke, long before she could speak.

Am I really wiser than I once was -- or is it an illusion? It's certain that I'm more cynical, but that's not a good thing. Is it possible to grow in wisdom and not need to be right? Isn't a big part of wisdom knowing when to be still, when to listen and wait?

When I hear the voices of my children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews, it occurs to me that it's time to applaud the younger generation, to realize that they have more of a grip on what's going on than I do and to trust them to use their expensive educations and connected knowledge to lead us out of the no-man's land we've left for them. Maybe it's time to retreat to the sidelines and cheer them on, just like we did when they were kids playing weekly soccer games. What the heck did I know about soccer? They are our greatest natural resource, so they should have at it. I can't do cartwheels any longer, and I don't know many people who can.

It also feels like the time to hand over the nation's top leadership to someone who is not a baby boomer -- and who is neither a Bush nor a Clinton. We had our chance and failed to get it right.

That's a big part of the appeal of Barack Obama, for me and for a lot of his supporters. I don't dislike John McCain, but he is too well-seasoned for the job, too resistant to change, too likely to do the same-old-same-old. (And he is entirely too much at-home with war.)

I still want to sit on the sidelines and add my two cents' worth, but it's time to scoot off stage and bring on a whole new cast of characters. Same is true for Ajax Rock, by the way. We need new energy, new ideas, new perspectives, new voices.


Maybe the most important question of the day really is, "Got hope?"