By The Skin of His...

Whew...as a follow up to the last post Cam's last grade came in for the 2nd quarter and he got 1 A, 2 Bs and a C = 3.0. We're very happy with that.

As far as we know he's in North Carolina. They left at midnight last night (before which, it turns out, he went skiing for the first time this year. I can picture it now; he probably wore shorts, no winter coat [just his North Face jacket] and no helmet [maybe he did wear a helmet, I don't know for sure]). Oh well, as I always tell everyone, it's a mother's job to worry.

I hope he has a great time this week and bonds with his crew buddies!

Just Us Four

Tonight we're having a delicious dinner at home (Grandma Pat's Christmas gift of bacon-wrapped filet mignon and other good stuff) before taking Annalisse to work and Cam back to RIT to get ready for his long trip to North Carolina for a week of training for crew. They leave by bus at midnight tonight amid all the storms in in the Mid- and Southeast. Cam is between terms and I'm anxiously awaiting his grades for this quarter as he indicates school is very tough. We get the sense he's struggling a bit academically but, of course, he doesn't say much. So far, though, he has an "A" in his computer science course, but it's the biology and calculus that are were a real challenge. We'll see.

Anyway, I'm taking a moment to enjoy a nice dinner with all at home before we scatter to the four winds again.

Make it Count!

The Fabulous B@ker Blog has hit a milestone as we celebrate our SECOND Leap Year. In case you missed it, here is the post from February 29, 2008. Make your extra day a good one - make it count! We're making it count by paying for Cam's last quarter (bill due today). So, let me get this straight: if there was no February 29, which is the bill's due date, does that mean we wouldn't have to pay the bill? Wishful thinking...

Speaking of wacky dates, the other day on NPR I heard a piece about George Washington's birthday, and how he was born on February 11, 1731 but due to a change from the Julian calendar ("Old Style") to the Gregorian calendar ("New Style") in 1752 his birthday became February 22, 1732, which he opted to observe. However the nation continues to celebrate his special day on February 11, even though that's the "Old Style" date. Some other fascinating tidbits about the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar (source: Wikipedia):

• The new year used to start on March 25
• For a period of 170 years (1582–1752), both dating systems were in concurrent use in different parts of Western Europe and its colonies. The Julian calendar had drifted by 11 days from the solar calendar (due to its excess of leap years), so dates differ between the systems.

Here's a chart of the correction that occurred due to the calendar change from Julian to Gregorian:

Time period (from 1 March of first year to 28 February of last year)	Сorrection, days
1–100	−2
100–200	−1
200–300	0
300–500	+1
500–600	+2
600–700	+3
700–900	+4
900–1000	+5
1000–1100	+6
1100–1300	+7
1300–1400	+8
1400–1500	+9
1500–1700	+10
1700–1800	+11
1800–1900	+12
1900–2100	+13
2100–2200	+14

It's just confusing enough, isn't it? Why do people have to screw with the calendar? Or time for that matter? 

Sentimental Fool

Annalisse and I took a quick trip up north on Wednesday to Mary's house, where we stayed overnight and went to Massena on Thursday to see Mom. I was long overdue since I had not been up to visit since September.

Now that Mom is living with Carol (who is doing an awesome job taking care of her - I am eternally grateful), Mom's house sits empty with regular check-ins by Carol and her companion, Paul. This last trip I decided to take the family photo albums home with me for safe keeping. If I were to choose anything to take out of the house it would be those photo albums. My personal effects are long gone (since I moved out away 1984) so there's really no trace of me left in the house anymore, but I wanted to be sure the albums were kept safe.

Sure, it's interesting enough to look at the endless pictures of trips my parents took, parties, picnics, and, of course, THE ZILLION PICTURES of my niece, Nicole (love you, Nic!), but what I was mostly interested in were the old old pictures. Out of the 10 albums I brought home, I really hit the jackpot with one album in particular, which yielded this gem, taken in Nonnie's living room on Martin Street:

Judy, cousin Jeannie, Mary holding cousin Rosanne, and Carol

I still remember those orange and yellow pants. Weren't we all cute? Sisters and cousins beware: there are many more where this came from!

Night Sky

Over the last couple of days (and a couple to come) the sky has put on a great show with the the bright crescent moon, Jupiter and Venus clearly in view. While not lined up (last night at least), it's still pretty cool and a great reminder that there is so much more beyond our Earth. The picture at right depicts how it looked to us last night, although the moon was a larger sliver and very bright. According to this article, Mercury should be visible (under the Moon) as well. I'll have to check tonight at dusk to see if I can find it.

It's a times like this that I wish I had a telescope.

Seamstress

For some reason I was thinking about the lost art of sewing this week. I think it might be because I was at a street party with my neighbor, Wendy, who is a professional seamstress, and I am simply in awe of the cool things she sews and creates. In particular, we were at a baby shower for our neighbor Stephanie a couple of weeks ago and Wendy  made the mom-to-be a really cute long john onesie sleeper. It might sound like nothing much but when you're used to buying baby clothes from stores it really is a novelty to see something that was actually created by hand.

I feel like I can really appreciate this handiwork because I come from a family of seamstresses. My Mémère Moquin (my material grandmother) was a seamstress who took in sewing to help support the family. She made my mother's wedding dress and many dresses and other articles of clothing while I was growing up. On Sundays when we would visit her we would always be toting a bag of things to mend or shorten. Then, her daughter, my Aunt Jackie, took up where she left off, making her daughter brenda's, as well as my sister's, wedding dress and most of her own clothing. Her daughter, Brenda, took over from there and has made clothes for years. 

Obviously Aline's (my mother!) daughter's did not inherit Mémère's grand sewing skills, and unfortunately for our family, I think the legacy of sewing will end with cousin Brenda. (EXCEPT for my mother-in-law Pat who has sewn for years and took up quilting just 10 years ago, and has since made hundreds of quilts and other amazing and beautiful home accent items such as runners, wall hangings, purses, placemats...you name it.)

Still, it seems like not too many young people sew these days, and with all the school budget cuts I wonder if it's even offered in schools anymore. What a shame. It's such a cool skill to have and a true dying art.

Hey 19!

At a debate last fall.

Today is my "big boy" Cam's 19th birthday. As I probably say in every year's birthday post, I cannot even fathom how 19 years have gone by so quickly. I'm so proud of him and his bright prospects for the future!!

Yesterday my coworkers and I were chatting about how we can remember every detail leading up to the days before and after the births of our kids (in particular, Lynne's daughter Maggie was born the day before Cam, same year). I don't think kids understand how deeply their births affect their mothers, and probably won't understand it until they have children.

Every year I relive the days before Cam was born; how he was 2 1/2 weeks early (his original due date being they awesomely numerically cool 3/9/93), the events of the day before (I left work not knowing if I'd be back the next day; Mark had bowling that Wednesday night; my friend Heather called and we chatted for a while), my water breaking at 2am, Mark having to go into work in the middle of the night to "deliver" the software that was due the next day; then us heading to the hospital for a good day's work (my labor started in earnest at 9am and Cam was born - after much trouble which ended in a vacuum extraction - at 5pm). Too much detail? See, I told you that I relive it every year.

This will be me in 20 years:

Because I think I will relive that wonderful day until I take my last breath!

Happy Birthday, Cameron! (I guess you weren't a girl after all!)