My childhood summers were all about gardening. My parents planted more than an acre full of vegetables, and I can’t begin to tell you how many summer nights I spent with my mom and dad dealing with the resulting produce. I’ll never forget the time they planted, oh, about 75 percent of the garden with limas, which meant my nights watching Dukes of Hazzard and Fame were interrupted by having to shell bushels upon bushels of limas. They’d literally cover the floor of our den with newspaper and I’d sit shelling the limas amid piles of the beans.

I don’t eat limas anymore. Or barely so, anyway.

Fast forward to today. I’m itching to plant stuff. I want to be outside and in the sunshine. Who doesn’t, really? But the common rule of gardening is to, of course, wait until all chance of frost has left, which around here isn’t until around Mother’s Day. And, it’s not Mother’s Day, now, is it?

But I’ve been playing around with what we’re going to plant in the two raised beds we’ve built in our backyard. We don’t have an acre here to plant, and I don’t have the time to tend it, even if we did. So I’m trying square-foot gardening this year, and I’ve spent lots of time constructing garden plans on Gardener’s Supply garden planning site.

I printed out plans and bought seeds and set about planting what has to be the most obsessive compulsive garden plots ever planted by anyone in the Newsome clan.

I measured out the squares, strung string across the bed to make sure I knew where the squares were, and set about planting. (Here are just a few of the strings…) Pat played with Iver as I dug miniature rows with a stick and carefully, carefully placed the seeds in and patted down the dirt. Good god, I said. My dad would be laughing his head off at me right about now. He used a tractor. I used a STICK. I felt truly ridiculous.

A few days later, up popped the arugula, the lettuce and cucumbers, the peas and beans, the beets and chard.  All in I decided I would wait on the corn (we’ll see how well Silver Queen does in such a small space) and watermelon. Then I planted the corn on Sunday.

I have no patience, obviously.

©2010 angie newsome. All Rights Reserved.

My mom even put together two baby books for me. This one is aptly named:

This one is more to the point (at least to the point of me as a baby):

I learned from the All About Me book that first impressions last (though that isn’t my mom’s handwriting! Who said that??).

I also learned, amid the awesome illustrations, that Iver and I are on nearly the same growth trajectory so far. And I learned that my first ride in the car was to the flea market in Courtney, N.C. That says so much about my childhood.

But the book and scrapbook have seen better days. The covers are dingy with dirt, even though they were kept in their original boxes. The tape my parents used to keep the photos in the scrapbook has long lost its adhesive, sending the photos tumbling out and scattered. The tape also made the photos brown in places.

I really want to preserve these. Does anyone know how I can repair them and clean them up? (And, for the future, does anyone have recommendations on how to make the albums and scrapbooks I’m making for Iver last past her 30th birthday?)

©2010 angie newsome. All Rights Reserved.

Play hopscotch in the park.

Smell the flowers.

Look at the sky. A lot.

Find treasures among the hellebores.

And among the growing lilies.

Go barefoot.

©2010 angie newsome. All Rights Reserved.

For example:

I’m working in that chair. On that desk, next to those shelves stacked with stuff freshly unpacked from dozens of boxes. You can see just a few of the, oh, 65 Nancy Drew books saved from my childhood. I have stacks of slides, old wooden stamps from my dad’s business, dozens of arrowheads collected from all over North Carolina. Jars of buttons my mother collected maybe 25 years ago. Notebooks filled with school reports and stories I wrote in school.

And these boxes? Office supplies, journals from elementary school on, letters from high school friends, files of notes from stories written five years ago, one marked “IDEAS,” which I haven’t even opened yet.

I’m a child of parents who grew up during the Depression. They saved everything. I mean everything. When my sister and I cleaned out the house after my dad passed away, we threw away cabinets full of jarred peaches and green beans that were, oh, at least 15 years old. At least. We filled a dumpster full of things my parents had squirreled away in the nooks an crannies of their house. It’s hard to watch your parents hard work (even work that had spoiled) tossed into the garbage. I took what I could.

My physical connection to my parents is through the stuff they’ve left behind. For Iver, it’s all she’ll know. The arrowheads. The metals from Senior Olympics. The slides and the scraps of paper with their handwriting. The horse show trophy from the 1957 North Davidson Easter Festival Horse Show. The “if you haven’t used it/worn it/read it/looked at it in a year, then it’s not that important and should be shed” advice doesn’t work on me.

I know. This is weird. Melodramatic, maybe. It’s hard for me to let this stuff go.

But we have to make room for Iver, while also sharing with her half of who she came from, right? How do I do that? I’m trying to figure it out.

And so the boxes are sitting. Have been sitting, in fact. I’m working around them, trying to make headway on ever-growing lists of things I need to do. Like try not to be a pack rat. Or something like that.

©2010 angie newsome. All Rights Reserved.

Blizzard ‘09. Proof.

Anyway, this snow is not as exciting, I suppose. No techno marathons. No ballerinas in the cafeteria with too-tight buns and only apples on their plates. No walking the streets of New York after cups of tea in cafes. Except now there’s a little girl sitting in my arms listening to me ramble on about these past adventures as we look out the window. She’s all who cares?? Uh, so true. It’s kinda irrelevant considering everything ahead, so, yes, this snow quiet is more intense, more exciting than anything I could have imagined, really.

This morning, our street.

So, to celebrate — I’m still doing the advent celebration, though amended way, way, way down — I spent the day holding Iver and listening to the radio as we sat under the Christmas tree lights. It was so simple. Precious, even, I’m not afraid to admit, because I felt peaceful in a way I haven’t in a while, partly due to sleep deprivation and partly due to finally relaxing that she’s here and OK. I can take a deep breath. Many deep ones. It’s been a sweet, sweet winter so far.

©2010 angie newsome. All Rights Reserved.

But I did want to let those of you who read this *roam and rove* that Iver’s out of her light suitcase — she got out last Thursday! Jaundice is gone! — and that we’ve been holding her non-stop since trying to make up for lost cuddle time. Only thing is, our sleep deprivation is getting worse. Woah. I knew it would be tough, but not sleeping for days on end is the worst kind of torture for me. And today marks the TWO WEEK point, people! What’s going to happen in a year? Or two? Or three? What? I want to know!

©2010 angie newsome. All Rights Reserved.

An update: We left the hospital Saturday, a day later than planned, because Iver had a touch of jaundice. At home, she’s living in a glowing suitcase, so say a little prayer that her bioluminescence is temporary!

©2010 angie newsome. All Rights Reserved.

Introducing Iver Caroline Hunt, 8 lbs., 3 ounces, 20 inches long.

Born Wednesday, Dec. 2 at 6:12 p.m.

We’re so happy. And tired. And happy.

We’re all getting to know one another. She’s a fresh baked little bird, with a full head of dark brown hair, a set of to-die-for dimples and lots of wiggles.  Pat and I are taking a crash course in true sleep deprivation and new parenthood. Surprises: Everything looks brighter! Tastes better! Is more interesting!

The other night, Pat and I fell into a fit of uncontrollable laughter for 10 minutes over a poopy diaper. I caught myself there, in the middle of the night in the dark, laughing until it hurt, and I thought WOW. Oh, wow!

We’re so excited! xoxoxoxo

Angie, Pat and Iver

©2010 angie newsome. All Rights Reserved.

A note, before we start: It occurred to me in the middle of the night last night that it’s a little more than slightly insane to publicly pledge to do this advent calendar/daily holiday celebration stuff when one is 37 weeks pregnant. So, if I disappear from here, you’ll know why, right? Because 1) Have a Baby and 2) Recover From Having Baby pretty much preempts every single bit of holiday spirit I could eek out within the next 24 days. OK? OK!

And another note: Sorry for the delay here. I got stuck dealing with car/truck problems (flat tires! broke coils! hooray!) most of the day, after taking a trip to the vet. Ugh. Happy holidays, neighborhood mechanic and overpriced veterinarian!

Now, onto the task at hand: Day 1 of our 2009 advent celebration! Let’s play!

Holiday memory: When I was a kid, our family kept the board games — along with coats and the vacuum cleaner and dusting rags — in the hallway closet of our creaky old house. On winter nights, my mom, sister and I used to go to the hallway and pull out the round tin of Chinese Checkers. Did you have those, too? The marbles swished around inside the tin, and we’d pull it open and dump out the reds and yellows and whites and greens and blues and put them on the corresponding color of the six-point star. Then we’d play. For hours. I loved it, and wish I still had that tin Chinese Checkers game.

I searched around today to find a replacement, but no luck, really. Luckily, the Internet always pulls through! Thank you, and goodnight!

But if you’re looking for more strictly holiday-themed games, how about Santa? He’s always fun. And these games are some of the best ones I’ve found recently:

• Santa Balls 2 (Your typical ball destruction game. Turn off the truly annoying music, but miss the crass Santa sayings. Your choice.)
• Kill Santa (WARNING: Not safe for work. You are killing Santa, after all. After some provocation, *ahem.*)
• Sling Shot Santa (Hilarious. To me.)
• Fat Santa (Oh, no. I feel the same about brussel sprouts.) And,
• Find Santa (Like Waldo, only better.)

Did you play games when you were a kid? If so, what kind, and have you found any fun winter/holiday online games you’d like to share, too?

©2010 angie newsome. All Rights Reserved.

Now that Thanksgiving festivities are over, I can declare my undying *LOVE* for this time of year. The lights! The trees! Vince Guaraldi! The gift-giving (and, OK, gift-getting, too. But after my mom gave me an Epilady one teenage Christmas, I don’t hold my breath anymore)! Christmas cookies! Oh, holy Christmas cookie!

So I’ve been on the lookout for some awesome ways to celebrate this momentous (for us) holiday season. Advent calendars are so awesome, especially the ones Leslie Harpold used to post online, which were filled with fun flash games and memories and things to do. She’s gone now (and unfortunately, it appears her calendars aren’t online anymore, but you can read about them some here), but they were amazing and really rekindled my love for small daily celebrations.

Today, I found another inspiration, this time by Jean at The Artful Parent. Hers are mainly — though not only — child- and family-focused daily activities, and they got me thinking. How am I going to celebrate this year? I’ve been so wrapped up in baby preparations and work that December has completely snuck up on me. But, with a grateful thanks to Leslie and Jean, I’ve decided that I’m at least going to attempt my own advent celebrations.

I’m going to aim to document it here, too. Time to get started! Want to play along?

©2010 angie newsome. All Rights Reserved.