Seeking balance

On Monday I officially begin my PhD... for whatever reason it was not a reality to me until last Wednesday when I spent the day back on the University of Arizona campus at a graduate student orientation. All this week I've been having nightmares where I am at work and I've accidentally missed a whole week of class or in class when I was supposed to be at a meeting, or, the worst, I am in class and forgot to pick up Genevieve from school... clearly I have some anxiety about balancing the whole thing. Luckily for me I have just about the best support a girl could have with my parents and Patrick to help me take care of Evie when I have class and Evie herself who seems to be at the very least pretty intrigued about the idea of her mom at school "just like her."

As the orientation day finished and I walked back to my car across the big grass mall I suddenly felt a moment of honest panic, an oh my gawd what have I done. Then as I crossed the mall and walked past the library, where I spent so many hours totally engrossed in cave ecology or transportation planning (random I know) during my master's degree, I got over my panic and got really truly excited. Here goes nothing... or rather here goes something...

Fairy Princess

Last Halloween's fairy costume had an exciting resurgence last weekend when we all went to a gathering at Valley of the Moon. On Wednesday I found out about it and asked Evie if she wanted to go... being that Valley of the Moon is just about her favorite place in Tucson she eagerly agreed and then proceeded to ask me every single morning until Saturday when we were going.

For those of you who aren't in the know, Valley of the Moon is a random little park-type place in the middle of Tucson that was created in the 1920s as a magical land for kids. It has all sorts of little fairy houses, big and small, as well as little grottoes and other random stone structures. In the past year it has also acquired a number of structures from a now defunct goofy golf place that was a Tucson icon in the early 70s and 80s. Valley of the Moon is run today as a non-profit by volunteers so it is only open every now and again. On Saturday it was open to celebrate Tucson's birthday and there was live music, punch and general fun to be had. People were supposed to come dressed as fairies and later in the evening there was a contest for the best fairy. Evie and I (or really mostly me... I'll be honest) took the contest very seriously. We went out to target and picked up some glitter for her face and body, glittery shoes and some bobbles for her hair. She got all dolled up and was very excited to go.


Well let me tell you there were some pretty fabulous fairies there but just about nothing beats the cute 3 year old in pigtails wearing the costume her Mina made. Evie walked away with second place in the fairy contest and was beat only by the round about 7 year old girl on stilts (gotta love Tucson). Her prize was a Valley of the Moon shirt which is only about 5 sizes too big and as a result makes an awesome nightshirt.... which she has insisted on wearing every night for the past week.

Abstract art and other beauty

You just never know where in life you will find a little bit of art. Genevieve found it in her snacks last weekend and made this:


This was Evie's first week back at preschool and she was so very excited about it. She has a new classroom and got to see all of her friends that were off and about this summer. She was so excited that apparently it was nigh impossible to get her to nap on Monday and Tuesday. By Wednesday of course she was so exhausted that she reported to me on the ride home that she was still asleep when the lights came back on. In an attempt to get her relaxed and ready for bed we have started nightly bubble baths and Evie quickly discovered the beauty of the bubble beard.


Last night during her overly bubbled bathing experience Patrick called us outside for the most lovely rainbow... Evie was so excited she jumped out of the bath and slipped out the door totally naked (good thing we don't live on a busy street) before I could even get a towel on her....