Heart-broken

I just finished reading the WSJ's frontpage article, "Leap of Faith" published in their May 25, 2004 paper. The article spoke of the heroic acts of Jason Dunham who was killed by throwing his body on top of a grenade and saving two men in Iraq. Jason grew up in my home town Scio. I cried reading the article for him and his family, and for all the personal stories like his that are behind the generic headlines "One Marine killed in Fallujah".


Depressingly yours, EH

Mommy Wars?

I've read some recent commentary on "Mommy Wars", i.e. the war between stay at home and working mothers. As a new mom, I have tried to digest all the stories in the NY Times, Salon.com, etc. and try to figure out how I really feel. I've concluded that the folks that really drive me nuts are the sanctimonious ones on each side. The conservatives who lambast working mothers that put their kids in daycare when we don't have a choice and act like we are responsible for society's failings. (Well, I guess I do have a choice, and it is choosing to pay the rent.) The feminists equally piss me off when they downplay the awesome feeling of parental attachment to a child and the way parenting is so rewarding in its own way. If I had a choice I would stay at home! Time to read, see my kid, learn how to play the guitar...I'd love it. I count myself as a feminist, and this really bothers me.

Thoughts from other moms?

A day without Faith

Last night I picked up Faith after she spent a full 24 hours with her Grandmother. It was the first time since she was born that I haven't woken up to the sounds of her cries or babbles in the AM. I thought I'd revel in the chance to sleep in, but actually it was lonely and all day long I was kind of sad... Pretty amazing how much I acclimated to have a kid in my life. She didn't notice though that we were gone. According to reports she was happy go lucky and wasn't crying or fussing; she must not have much parental attachement at this point.

The start of something great

I am excited to have a new outlet for all the thoughts in my head. Is blogging a verb? If so, I am excited to blog as I've been too busy at home to write in my journal. I've kept a journal since approximately 2nd or 3rd grade, but since the advent of Faith (my daughter, not God) I've had few spare moments to really sit down and write. I'm not busy at work, so I can multi-task and write to my heart's content. My first major question: to tell other people about my blog or not? If I don't tell people about my blog, I can write about co-workers, friends, relatives, etc. in a less restricted way. This is tempting, but it seems that one of the major upsides to having a blog is the ability to share thoughts with those close to you; now that my life is wonderfully consumed with family life, I can have a one-sided communication with those I care about. Or I might be humbled because no one will read my blog. That will be OK too.
With that said, Yeahhhh