Aunthood

I am now the proud aunt of this 10 lb 10 oz (!) baby boy!

Baby LJ

Mother, baby, and father are all doing well. Grandma has been her usual distant self.

My dad and I are going up to visit on Sunday and I can't wait to hold the little guy :-).

Happy Sunday

Not getting out of bed until well past noon even though you've been up for hours talking and cuddling. Walking through the Fan, hand in hand, on a warm, sunny February Sunday. Getting unexpectedly kissed on the cheek while browsing through books and buying an old art book for your dad's birthday. Eating an incredibly late brunch at a delicious, cramped, buzzing restaurant that he's never been to before but instantly loves. Spending the rest of your evening writing about AACR2.

Almost perfect.

By golly

"You're absolutely beautiful and I've always wanted to tell you that."

I think hearing that alone makes my severe sleep deprivation today worth it.

Rainy days

My mom and I used to go on epic bargain shopping trips once every couple of months. We'd dedicate a whole Saturday to making the rounds to see what kind of deals we could get. One time we took such a trip and got back home after dark. It was cold and rainy and we were exhausted from being on our feet all day. My mom pulled the car into the parking spot in front of our house and turned the engine off. Neither of us made a move to leave the car. We had forgotten our umbrellas. We waited for a few minutes to see if the rain would let up, but it showed no sign of stopping, so we continued to sit there, stewing in our exhaustion. The windows started fogging up from our breath and our tiredness made us silly. We began to draw funny shapes in the condensation on the windshield, giggling uncontrollably as we made up stories to go along with the images. I'm not sure how long we continued sitting in the car before finally making a run for it into the house and letting the cold air erase our creations from the glass. Time seemed to have stood still.

Smooch

I have two bits by ee cummings to share with you today, which I think are rather telling of how the second date went last night.


"And the coolness of your smile is
stirringofbirds between my arms;but
i should rather than anything
have(almost when hugeness will shut
quietly)almost,
your kiss"



"up into the silence the green
silence with a white earth in it

you will(kiss me)go

out into the morning the young
morning with a warm world in it

(kiss me)you will go

on into the sunlight the fine
sunlight with a firm day in it

you will go(kiss me

down into your memory and
a memory and memory

i)kiss me,(will go)"


I'm quite tired, but happy this morning. My first class of the semester starts tonight and even that cannot stop me from smiling.

Charity

Every year, my place of work has a charitable giving campaign. They make donation super easy by allowing us to have a certain amount automatically deducted from our paychecks and sent to our designated charities. Ever since I started working here, I have donated money to charities through this campaign. The decision to give was not a difficult one to make; deciding which charities to give my donations to was the agonizing part. There are so many worthy organization out there, I could easily give away my entire paycheck and more to help their causes. I know the importance of and life changing affects charity has firsthand, so it is incredibly difficult for me to say no. I feel pangs of guilt for all the causes that I am unable to support that I wholeheartedly believe in. I am but one person, so all I can do is what I am able to. The first year, I gave money to the Central Virginia Food Bank and the Richmond SPCA. Last year, I gave to the Humane Society and the Natural Resources Defense Council. This year, I decided to once again donate to the Natural Resources Defense Council and chose Water for People as my second organization.

The NRDC speaks to my many concerns for the environment. They are incredibly effective as they have lawyers and scientists working for them and advocating for the environment. Water for People is one of many clean water organizations that assist impoverished countries obtain safe water and create sustainable ways to maintain a clean water supply. This cause is a new one on my radar, thanks in large part to a friend of mine who listened to the following talk at TEDx and shared it with me:







I was astounded at how much of a crisis we have on our hands concerning water. I feel as though we have little hope of truly helping these countries in both the long and short terms if we don't start at the very basics: clean water.

Donating to charities is just one of the many ways I am striving to make my actions match my values. I am not able to give much, but what I am able to give is a hell of a lot better than nothing at all.