Dining out

Reed is very expressionate. At a family reunion recently, Caleb's Aunt Debbie, said "he's quite melodramatic, isn't he?" When he's upset, his little face will crumple up and he'll wail in despair. When he's proud, he'll clap his hands together and shout "I did it!" while jumping up and down. When I bring him home from preschool, he'll often run into the house with his hands up in the air shouting "Daddy, where are you?" Except that his speech isn't perfect yet, so it's more like "Daddy, ERE ARE U?"

I think his melodrama might be slightly compensatory. When his hearing was impaired due to chronic ear infections, Caleb and I would use lots of expressions and hand gestures to try and make our points. So as a result, he talks that way now, and I really love it. He's an awfully cute little performer.

Last night, we went to eat at Madeleines. We like Madeleines because the walls are purple, and it's filled with vintage furniture, but they also have a kid's menu and crayons. So we can feel like we're on a date, but we get to have Reed with us. Still, while Madeleines is child-friendly, it is no Chucke Cheese, so I expect Reed to be well-behaved when we're there, which usually isn't a problem because he's very good in restaurants.

This night, when Reed saw food being delivered to another table, he turned towards the swinging doors of the kitchen and yelled (loudly) across the restaurant with his hands quizically raised in the air

"GRILLED CHEESE, ERE ARE U?"

The moment was both mortifying and wonderfully priceless at the same time. I guess that's just life with a two and a half year old.

Life in the Fast Lane

Well, I've been gently prodded by Ab to update our blog, so here I am. I've been thinking about writing something for a while, but as a general rule, I assume that people are not interested in either:

A: Kelly's blood pressure or

B: Reed's potty training

(the two might be closely related, and are about the most interesting things happening in our household right now.)

So what else is happening with the Sundberg-Winters? Well, Caleb has received his contract, and is now an official Lecturer of Humanities with WVU rather than an adjunct instructor. At the same time, I'm receiving lots of information on graduate programs and salivating over the thought of the Monterey Institute in California or New York University, while knowing fully well that we can't move now that Caleb has his first real faculty position. I feel pretty confident about my chances of receiving a Teaching Assistantship for an MA in Tesol here at WVU. However, I was just informed by a Linguistics professor that the Foreign Languages program here is a mess and possibly in danger of losing it's accreditation. This has thrown me into quite the tizz since my attending graduate school here has been our plan all along. I'm trying not to panic and come up with other options, but since my options aren't likely to include relocating across the country again, I'm really hoping that those linguists get their act together.

I've also just started volunteering with Literacy Volunteers, a United Way partner that focuses on ESL (English as a Second Language) and basic literacy. I'm completing a self-paced training, and when I'm finished, I'll be paired with an ESL student who I'll meet with every week. It's a really exciting program, and they'll give me a lot of freedom to come up with lesson plans and a structure that fits both of our needs. I'm looking forward to interacting weekly with someone from a different culture. Right now, I interact mostly with my husband and 2 year old, and I love it, but I could use something new.

Besides that, nothing in our household has changed much. My parents came to Morgantown for 10 days, and that was really nice. We relaxed, and my mom did a lot of cleaning, which is pretty normal when she visits. We also went for plenty of walks and shopping. It was a great visit, and we were all sad to see them go. My dad had some pictures on his laptop from our trip to southern West Virginia last Fall, so I'll post them here even though I'm about 9 months too late.

Caleb and I went canoeing in Seneca State Forest.

This is a funny picture of Caleb. Our cabin didn't have electricity.

Here's my Dad with Reed. I guess I just think headlamps are funny.

This picture is from the latest visit with my parents. My dad and I were enjoying the Belgian beer that Caleb brewed himself. At some point, Caleb will probably post a blog about brewing beer. I hope you're interested in pH levels, because that's all I've been hearing about for weeks.

Here is Reed playing in the car that his grandpa and grandma Winters gave him. I posted this picture even though it shows the sorry state that our siding is in right now. I fully expect to pressure wash that moss off this week. I promise that we're not slobs. We live in a very wet climate--it's the kind of climate where moss grows on the walls.

A few days ago, Caleb tried to post a blog on our trip to Greece, but he got so frustrated with the picture posting that he gave up. He promises to try again, so hopefully, I won't be the only blogger in our household soon.