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Decade in Review: 2010-2019
Dec. 31st, 2019 05:30 pm2010: Henry and I co-led a study-abroad class to London in March, which was adorable. That summer we also had our delayed honeymoon to Kauai, Hawaii, which was beautiful. I taught part time for Women's Studies and English at JMU (6 sections per semester just at JMU, 3 and 4 at Bridgewater, a 9/10 load, unconscionable in hindsight!). My beloved student Emily lost her life to suicide in July, shaking our network hugely and unforgettably. We hosted a 100th birthday party for our house. I audited a graduate class at my dream school, with my dream professor, and had my heart broken by not getting in to that program even though the math was always against me. I hosted monthly movie nights for English majors, and got my dad's piano, moved into our house, where it is a comfort to me every day of my life.
2011: Found out I was pregnant in Galway, Ireland on vacation. We had been TTC so it wasn't a complete shock but it was extremely exciting and also nerve-wracking. I taught a 10/10 load while pregnant since part-time adjunct teaching gave me no maternity leave. I felt the first baby kicks while I was teaching Keats poetry. We found out Wystan was a boy and I was COMPLETELY shocked by that. Now writing this in 2019, he is an artistic, funny, sensitive, hilarious 7 year old and not very much at all like the truck-smashing "boys will be boys" idea I was freaked out about. Henry was appointed to the city planning commission.
2012: Wystan was born February 20th. I was severely underemployed and found newborn life really hard. Exclusive pumping was a mistake, I think in hindsight, or at least pushing myself so hard to make it work was. Things got easier when he was a couple of months old, and then especially when he was six months old and fully on formula. I'm not particularly a baby person, but it was wonderful getting to know him, and has been better every year since. In the fall I started back to teaching only at JMU, with my job having changed quite a lot -- instead of teaching many small classes for very small bits of money, I began co-teaching just 2 very LARGE classes for much more money. There was an adjustment period, but having an actual living wage has made a huge difference for me ever since. I quit Bridgewater. I did start teaching just one class for computer science at this point, so I would have a small class all my own.
2013: We bought a minivan, had a second baby (October 1st), and took my mom on a 60th birthday gift trip -- we said anywhere in the world, but she picked England. We had the house painted to be tan/taupe with white trim and blue accents (door, porch ceiling) and I still think that was a great decision. Everything about Felix's birth and babyhood was easier than the first time around. Planned C-section, pumped but only for a couple months and only 3x per day so it didn't feel so hard, already understood so much about baby care and all the rest, already had all the baby gear in place... he was just much more of a delight. Also my JMU collaborating professor Marina effectively INVENTED maternity leave for me by how she scheduled the papers for our class that term. I will never in my life forget her kindness for that.
2014: Henry got tenure! Drove myself to the ER with acute appendicitis because 2 sleeping babies and not sure what was up with myself (great story for the ages, Henry said I should just drink a glass of water and go back to bed!). Got an IUD (thanks Obama), went to Italy and left the babies at home (still can't believe we did this but thanks Mom!), had a very responsible summer of writing wills, getting life insurance, and refinancing our house to pay it off sooner after reading some financial planning books and getting freaked out that we had 2 kids and not very much serious stuff lined up properly. I also got orthodontic braces at the end of this year after wanting to fix my teeth since I was a kid. Wystn ages 1/2 and Felix a baby, turned 1 in October.
2015: Bought a cello and started taking cello lessons, which was a lot of fun (I did this for 3 years and stopped only when I got into my PhD program). KonMari'ed our house and donated 23 car and van loads of stuff to charity. Helped my grandma Maxine pack up her Pennsylvania house where she had raised my dad and her other children, which was good but hard. Started therapy (not a coincidence!). Was obsessed with Hamilton. Wystan ages 2/3 and Felix 1/2.
2016: Busy kid times -- Wystan ages 3/4 and Felix 2/3 this year -- We went to Hong Kong -- watched Brexit returns live, horrified. I started working with our local elections, first as an officer of election checking in voters. We visited my sister in law in Yorkshire and Wystan started at Montessori preschool. Wystan ages 3/4 and Felix 2/3. I got my braces off, which was basically the only good thing about 2016. The November US election shook me hard, and was absolutely horrifying.
2017: Saw Hamilton on Broadway for our tenth anniversary, which was very wonderful. Henry became chair of the city planning commission and took on the new city comprehensive plan. Wystan was 4/5 and Felix 3/4. In summer, we took both kids to England, lots of good memories as they're getting old enough to have real adventures and they loved things like climbing on Hadrian's wall.
2018: Legally changed my last name without any change in marital status to be two words: my maiden name and Henry's last name. (No hyphen, two words.) Wystan was 5/6 and Felix 4/5. Met Joe Biden at the Gateway Arch completely by accident! Began a Ph.D. program, which has been an excellent decision and something I have really enjoyed. Became an aunt to my perfect baby niece Tilda Jane on October 11th.
2019: Took a cruise to the Bahamas with Henry in May – we were totally skeptical about cruises but we lucked into a room with a huge corner balcony and it was delightful. In summer Henry taught for a month in Australia and I scraped the last popcorn ceiling and terrible wallpaper left in our house (there is still some popcorn downstairs but it’s much less awful and in rooms that have normal walls). In June Felix left Valley Montessori as a super senior ready for kindergarten at age 5.5. Celia visited with baby Tilda. We joined the pool and had lots of nice summer lazy days that. The biggest event of the year was that my grandma Lucy died on July 13th at age 92. I was fortunate to spent the 12th visiting with her – she was very lucid when awake and very much herself, it was a very loving time. But also hard, participating in hospice decisions. In summer I attend my first doctoral institute at ODU, cramming 2 intensive PhD courses into 2 weeks on campus (really there are 2 weeks ahead of time reading and doing online stuff, and 2 more weeks afterward for the writing/research, but the 2 on campus weeks are intense). Wystan starts 2nd grade and Felix starts Kindergarten in August. It’s so nice having them at the same school, both in dual language, and not paying for nannies, daycare or preschool for the first time since 2012. We spent approximately $7,000 per year for each kid in that time, which is cheap compared to some places, but still totals out to about $70,000 of childcare expenses for which I am grateful to be (for now) done. Quit working for the computer science dept under frustrating circumstances. We traded in the minivan for a 2019 Honda Accord Hybrid Touring which is a really nice drive. We attended the big family reunion in Altoona in August. We took a mini family roadtrip in it to Niagara Falls (Canada and US sides), Seneca Falls, Harrisburg PA. I got a bike for the first time since living in Lawrence, KS in 2006. Had kind of a tough fall semester at JMU – team-teaching with a colleague that I have communication problems with, one of my favorite colleagues retiring, and some part-time ACA hours stress and drama. Bought a green wig and wore it to teach for Halloween. In November I presented at the MMLA conference in Chicago (with Hannah, enjoyed visiting the Art Institute). Spent much of the fall prepping a new class: research and writing for intelligence analysis. Attended and won at bar trivia. Took the kids to the ASC for A Christmas Carol for the first time. Had wrist surgery Dec 18th. Made a lot of cotton candy with the kids after they asked for a CC maker for Christmas. That's about it!
2011: Found out I was pregnant in Galway, Ireland on vacation. We had been TTC so it wasn't a complete shock but it was extremely exciting and also nerve-wracking. I taught a 10/10 load while pregnant since part-time adjunct teaching gave me no maternity leave. I felt the first baby kicks while I was teaching Keats poetry. We found out Wystan was a boy and I was COMPLETELY shocked by that. Now writing this in 2019, he is an artistic, funny, sensitive, hilarious 7 year old and not very much at all like the truck-smashing "boys will be boys" idea I was freaked out about. Henry was appointed to the city planning commission.
2012: Wystan was born February 20th. I was severely underemployed and found newborn life really hard. Exclusive pumping was a mistake, I think in hindsight, or at least pushing myself so hard to make it work was. Things got easier when he was a couple of months old, and then especially when he was six months old and fully on formula. I'm not particularly a baby person, but it was wonderful getting to know him, and has been better every year since. In the fall I started back to teaching only at JMU, with my job having changed quite a lot -- instead of teaching many small classes for very small bits of money, I began co-teaching just 2 very LARGE classes for much more money. There was an adjustment period, but having an actual living wage has made a huge difference for me ever since. I quit Bridgewater. I did start teaching just one class for computer science at this point, so I would have a small class all my own.
2013: We bought a minivan, had a second baby (October 1st), and took my mom on a 60th birthday gift trip -- we said anywhere in the world, but she picked England. We had the house painted to be tan/taupe with white trim and blue accents (door, porch ceiling) and I still think that was a great decision. Everything about Felix's birth and babyhood was easier than the first time around. Planned C-section, pumped but only for a couple months and only 3x per day so it didn't feel so hard, already understood so much about baby care and all the rest, already had all the baby gear in place... he was just much more of a delight. Also my JMU collaborating professor Marina effectively INVENTED maternity leave for me by how she scheduled the papers for our class that term. I will never in my life forget her kindness for that.
2014: Henry got tenure! Drove myself to the ER with acute appendicitis because 2 sleeping babies and not sure what was up with myself (great story for the ages, Henry said I should just drink a glass of water and go back to bed!). Got an IUD (thanks Obama), went to Italy and left the babies at home (still can't believe we did this but thanks Mom!), had a very responsible summer of writing wills, getting life insurance, and refinancing our house to pay it off sooner after reading some financial planning books and getting freaked out that we had 2 kids and not very much serious stuff lined up properly. I also got orthodontic braces at the end of this year after wanting to fix my teeth since I was a kid. Wystn ages 1/2 and Felix a baby, turned 1 in October.
2015: Bought a cello and started taking cello lessons, which was a lot of fun (I did this for 3 years and stopped only when I got into my PhD program). KonMari'ed our house and donated 23 car and van loads of stuff to charity. Helped my grandma Maxine pack up her Pennsylvania house where she had raised my dad and her other children, which was good but hard. Started therapy (not a coincidence!). Was obsessed with Hamilton. Wystan ages 2/3 and Felix 1/2.
2016: Busy kid times -- Wystan ages 3/4 and Felix 2/3 this year -- We went to Hong Kong -- watched Brexit returns live, horrified. I started working with our local elections, first as an officer of election checking in voters. We visited my sister in law in Yorkshire and Wystan started at Montessori preschool. Wystan ages 3/4 and Felix 2/3. I got my braces off, which was basically the only good thing about 2016. The November US election shook me hard, and was absolutely horrifying.
2017: Saw Hamilton on Broadway for our tenth anniversary, which was very wonderful. Henry became chair of the city planning commission and took on the new city comprehensive plan. Wystan was 4/5 and Felix 3/4. In summer, we took both kids to England, lots of good memories as they're getting old enough to have real adventures and they loved things like climbing on Hadrian's wall.
2018: Legally changed my last name without any change in marital status to be two words: my maiden name and Henry's last name. (No hyphen, two words.) Wystan was 5/6 and Felix 4/5. Met Joe Biden at the Gateway Arch completely by accident! Began a Ph.D. program, which has been an excellent decision and something I have really enjoyed. Became an aunt to my perfect baby niece Tilda Jane on October 11th.
2019: Took a cruise to the Bahamas with Henry in May – we were totally skeptical about cruises but we lucked into a room with a huge corner balcony and it was delightful. In summer Henry taught for a month in Australia and I scraped the last popcorn ceiling and terrible wallpaper left in our house (there is still some popcorn downstairs but it’s much less awful and in rooms that have normal walls). In June Felix left Valley Montessori as a super senior ready for kindergarten at age 5.5. Celia visited with baby Tilda. We joined the pool and had lots of nice summer lazy days that. The biggest event of the year was that my grandma Lucy died on July 13th at age 92. I was fortunate to spent the 12th visiting with her – she was very lucid when awake and very much herself, it was a very loving time. But also hard, participating in hospice decisions. In summer I attend my first doctoral institute at ODU, cramming 2 intensive PhD courses into 2 weeks on campus (really there are 2 weeks ahead of time reading and doing online stuff, and 2 more weeks afterward for the writing/research, but the 2 on campus weeks are intense). Wystan starts 2nd grade and Felix starts Kindergarten in August. It’s so nice having them at the same school, both in dual language, and not paying for nannies, daycare or preschool for the first time since 2012. We spent approximately $7,000 per year for each kid in that time, which is cheap compared to some places, but still totals out to about $70,000 of childcare expenses for which I am grateful to be (for now) done. Quit working for the computer science dept under frustrating circumstances. We traded in the minivan for a 2019 Honda Accord Hybrid Touring which is a really nice drive. We attended the big family reunion in Altoona in August. We took a mini family roadtrip in it to Niagara Falls (Canada and US sides), Seneca Falls, Harrisburg PA. I got a bike for the first time since living in Lawrence, KS in 2006. Had kind of a tough fall semester at JMU – team-teaching with a colleague that I have communication problems with, one of my favorite colleagues retiring, and some part-time ACA hours stress and drama. Bought a green wig and wore it to teach for Halloween. In November I presented at the MMLA conference in Chicago (with Hannah, enjoyed visiting the Art Institute). Spent much of the fall prepping a new class: research and writing for intelligence analysis. Attended and won at bar trivia. Took the kids to the ASC for A Christmas Carol for the first time. Had wrist surgery Dec 18th. Made a lot of cotton candy with the kids after they asked for a CC maker for Christmas. That's about it!
