Cold Spaghetti

I posted earlier about the saga with our stolen water meter cover, seeing them selling on ebay, and the events that followed. A new twist was added last Friday afternoon, when we discovered that the gapping hole in our garden was covered… by an original water meter cover. It is very rusty; so much so that it takes a little bit of work to recognize that it is an original. We bet that it must have come from a flooded area. But how did it get to us? The sewage and water board does not have a reputation for speedy service for these types of fixes and when they do, the cover is replaced with a plain model. Could it be that someone in the office found this one and decided to send it our way as a thank-you? We have no idea. What we do know is that we intend on cleaning it up, scrubbing off the rust, and enlisting the help of a neighbor talented at welding to help us attach a chain to keep it from walking away. We are really touched and our spirits raised. An anonymous good dead can inspire magic in the heart.

Thank you, water meter fairies!

Yesterday, we got some mail. An even bigger surprise: it contained something that isn’t a first class mailer… a magazine! September’s Consumer Reports (sent to us for the past few years by the in-laws). This is a sign that the pre-Katrina mail backlog may finally be getting sorted out of Texas?

In my “freeze state” waiting for my committee chair to get back from parts beyond, I’ve made some headway in the house. (Note: This is not nesting; I’m much crazier when nesting actually happens.) Acheivements include: getting the area rugs cleaned, securing an estimate for refinishing one of our clawfoot tubs, using Craig’s List to find a friendly local willing to share his table saw, learning how to sew/hem sheers for our front doors, finishing and hanging said curtains on one of the doors, scrubbing the stove to fine detail, finding early b-day presents for Mom and Mom-in-law, and creating a stack of paintings with Will.

Paul, despite working an astounding 17 hours over the weekend to bail out others’ lack of planning, managed to get his study moved into Will’s old room, install recessed lights in the old study (he’s done over 30 in the house now), organize the outbuilding and install the cabinets that we found in the house at closing, install lights to the outbuilding to facilitate working out there in the evenings, discover and start to unearth a lost patio, start a planting bed retention wall, and build a little levee to prevent next door’s runoff from compromising our foundation piers.

Way to go, us!

While working to fix the drainage problem and unsightly fence construction from our neighbor’s yard, he happened upon an ancient patio. (Okay, maybe “ancient” is stretching it, but it’s purty darn old.) We know it has been there at least as long as the house (100+ years) but have no idea what purpose it served. The bricks are in two patterns with a drainage channel between them. Was it part of a service road that may have possibly existed behind the houses? A driveway to an old house that we’ve been told used to exist in the backs of these properties and burned down sometime before 1950? We haven’t a clue. Paul has more pictures and discussion of his ongoing excavation on his blog (no, really, he does!)

We have noticed that Will routinely skips the number “four” when he counts. What is most interesting about this is that he does it in both languages (english and spanish) counting “one, two, three, five” and “uno, dos, tres, cinco.”

And so we wonder, what does the kid have against the number four?

Paul is singing silly songs to Will while dressing him for bed.

And Will says, “Daddy music bad.”

After a great french-toast-and-eggs breakfast, Paul, Will and I headed out to City Park to the Mid City Art Market.
It could not have been a more perfectly beautiful day… clear skies, wonderful temps, light breeze, flowers everywhere. City Park, which was flooded in the post-Katrina 17th Street Levee breech, is beautiful. Volunteer clean-up crews and local non-profits have been instrumental in putting several of the park’s amentities back up and running, including the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Botanical Gardens, and Storyland. The market was held in the Botanical Gardens, which were just re-opened on March 4th. The gardens lost virtually all of their collections; it is amazing how wonderful it looks considering the devistation. We browsed the Market, met Heather Elizabeth of Heather Elizabeth Designs (and her sister, Holly!) — where Paul bought a bracelet and earrings to “surprise” me with as a Birthday gift… not my birthday, but Kate’s! We also splurged on a fleur de lis stained glass piece to hang in a kitchen window, something we’ve been talking about getting for a long while. After strolling the artists booths, we ran into our friend Leigh Ann, who joined us for a walk through the plant sale and for a Juan’s Flying Burrito lunch. The end of our morning was spent in Storyland, which is a park full of child-sized scenes from classic children’s tales. Among other adventures, Will climbed aboard Captain Hook’s boat, visited Ole King Cole’s castle, sat in Cinderella’s Pumpkin Carriage, and went into the dark recesses of the belly of Monstro, the blue whale. He had a *blast*. I took a ton of pictures… so many that it seemed appropriate to put up a photostream in the old Flickr account. Feel free to browse!

Friends Andrea and Leigh Ann are hosting a baby shower for Kate and I! So I’ve gotten official and made a small registry with Babies-R-Us (#95872878) and have a list of things linked below for those who are looking for gift ideas. I am so excited, touched, and grateful!

Some information:
– My “official” due date is May 7th (although we say it’s May 5th — Paul’s birthday)
– It’s a girl! We’re naming her Katherine and will call her “Kate”
– Will and Kate are sharing a room
– My Mom has gifted us a crib (Will’s crib grew with him into a bed)
– Mom also gifted us a crib bumper and quilt in the Pottery Barn “Happy Daisy” pattern, which has light blues, greens, pinks, and yellows and is garden themed

~ OUR WISH LIST ~

NURSERY
– 2 crib sheets in white or light pink
– Crib dust ruffle in green gingham to match the “Happy Daisy” pattern
– Attractive storage bins for the shelving Paul is building(!)
– Hanging diapering supplies storage
– Protect-a-bed waterproof mattress cover

GEAR
– Car seat protector/undermat
– Tandem stroller
– Stepping stool
– Body support for stroller and car seat
– Kids table and chair set

HEALTH/FEEDING/BATHING
– Ear thermometer
– Medela breast pads
– Lansinoh breast/nursing lotion
– Milk storage bags
– Baby washcloths are always welcome… we use those like crazy

DIAPERING
– A set of thick cloth diapers (Chinese pre-fold/”service quality”)
– Disposable Diapers
– Wipes
– Butt paste

CLOTHES
Because almost all of Will’s clothes were bought after he was born, we pretty much only have baby clothes in blue! Anything “girl colored” is welcome! We’d like to stock her drawers with:
– 3 Layettes (“sacks”) in 0-3 month size
– 3 Rompers in 0-3 month size
– Onesies in 0-3 and 3-6 month sizes
– Summer rompers in 3-6 month sizes
– Summer outfits in 3-6 month sizes
– One pair of Robeez in 6 months size
– Socks in 0-6 months size
– 3 light blankets

Alex went out in search of a newspaper last night and came back to announce the presence of fire trucks, news crews, and police along our stretch of Magazine Street (about 1 1/2 blocks from our house.) We walked out to the street in front of the house and sure enough — something was afoot! It was chilly and I was in my pjs, so Paul and Alex went out with camera in hand.

The apartments above two of our local stores (Jean Therapy and Earthsavers) caught fire and were spreading quickly: into a three-alarm blaze! Paul took some pictures, although things had calmed down by the time he got there with firefighters inside the building putting out the smoldering embers and things. (Other neighbors on the scene filled us in… a ton of fire trucks, people everywhere, etc.) It is a relief to see that city fire emergency services are so responsive and effective!