January 30, 2014

Harry has taken to getting up on Grandma's step stool to announce his presence to his audience. That audience, for now, consists of me and his Grandmother. "Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls..." his voice booming and his arms outstretched. This kid has performance in his genes.

After seeing President Obama the other night take the podium, Harry announced, "Mommy, look, it's the president!" Excited to see him, he watched carefully, as the president entered the room, was greeted by well-wishers present for the joint session of Congress, and then began speaking.

Last night, Harry picked up his step stool, placed it in the center of the living room. Then he slowly moved from empty chair to empty chair in the living room, with an outstretched hand, gesturing in a movement as if he were shaking someone's hand in a greeting. He looked at me and said, "Everyone wants to meet the president." 

Delivering the State of the ... well, the living room.

Our blow-up bed has ceased to stay blown up.  It was only about a week into our stay at Mom’s when it first struck a leak.  Harry loves to go bounding into the room and fly (arms outstretched) onto the bed, unfortunately sending the mattress flying into the exposed heating elements along the wall (forced water heat.)  There was a stray piece of protruding metal, meant to hold a panel covering over the heating element that pierced the mattress as it went soaring into the wall. I patched the holes (yes, more than one) with electrician’s tape and it seemed to take care of it for several weeks. When we went to bed the other night, the mattress was severely deflated and squishy. I have examined it closely, looked for new leaks and listened intently for the sound of hissing air as it is squeezed from the mattress, but I’m unable to find the current leak/s. Four nights, now, I’ve gone up the stairs to the room before Harry and re-inflated the bed. (Harry hates the sound of the inflating motor, so he stays behind – downstairs - with Grandma until the bed is fully fluffed.) We close our eyes, and go to sleep on a fully inflated, firm bed, but wake squished into the middle, in a sort of deep cavern, Harry mostly sound asleep on top of me in one way or another.  I haven’t slept those 4 nights, much at all, so it’s off to Farm & Fleet this afternoon to buy another one. They (Farm & Fleet, that is), are coincidentally having a sale on inflatable beds, almost 50% off. Mom said she would buy this one for us, sainted woman that she is.  And hopefully, it will mean a decent night’s sleep tonight for both Harry and I.

I glanced out the library window to see that it’s snowing like crazy outside. I knew more snow was coming today, but didn’t expect it to look so near “white out” conditions. It is, however, a balmy 27 degrees above zero, a welcome change to the bitter, frigid temperatures of the polar vortex.

Lady Justice at the Public Library.

I got a car wash this morning, trying to erase the salt and sand from my 15-year- old gem of a 4Runner.  I’ve been advised a few times by my brother (a long-time resident of the cold) that it’s important to wash all that stuff off when the temperature climbs to the low 20s. And that would be today, after a long time hovering well below that mark. This has been THE best truck ever and I have managed, over the years, to take good care of it. It has taken me 116,000 plus miles in the last 15 years and I hope it will be taking Harry and I to our new home soon.

What came with my oil change.

I’m following up, today, on several leads sent to me from friends in the business.  The New York Times ran a story about a major expansion by The Washington Post, the newspaper where my former boss is the Editor. That expansion did specifically include the photography staff, although I couldn’t find anything on their careers page that gave a more specific description of actual open positions. I sent an email to the Director of Photography there today; asking whether she thought my skills and experience might match something opening on her team. The Wall Street Journal is also looking for a Senior Picture Editing candidate. It seems that the industry is loosening up a little and investing in expansion instead of contraction. I’m still actually hoping something will come from one of the two other applications I’ve made – both promising positions in a bit of a different direction for me.

Things are beginning to look up and I’m confident that I will be re-employed in the next couple of months. We’ll need to be careful with expenses and make smart choices.  Harry and I will be in our new home and we’ll be beginning that next page of our journey together again very soon. I can feel it.