Monday, September 12, 2011

Music

Ever since we started putting Jackson in his crib, we've had a little music aquarium attached to the side. It plays nice, soft music, though in the past year or so, he's figured out all the buttons, including the volume. Still, he likes it and it's not a bad thing...

...except at 5am. For as long as I can remember, Jackson has pushed that music button in the middle of the night. Not every night, but many and sometimes at all hours, and I'm usually jolted awake to the sound of Brahms (or whoever it is on there).

The interesting part is, I can't remember the last time Jackson actually cried out in the middle of the night. He never does---he just hits the music button and eventually goes back to sleep. We have a video monitor and I've watched him toss and turn, but we never hear a peep out of him.

There's talk these days about abolishing the aquarium. It's disturbing at times, and I'm a VERY light sleeper (of course, Paul rarely hears it!), so I might be awakened 3-4 time a night from that damn music.

But I just can't bring myself to do away with it completely. The batteries are winding down right now, and maybe we'll replace them, but probably not. Then I wonder if we will start to hear him cry out in the middle of the night. And if we do, I'll replace the batteries, and I'll just forgo sleep for a while. At least until he's in a big-boy bed...then it's a whole other ballgame!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Ten

What were you doing 10 years ago today?

I was at work at UIC, sitting at my desk. I got online and saw that one plane had crashed into one tower, then saw headlines that it happened a short time later. When that happened, we all knew something bad was happening. There was a TV in the break room that we watched and saw the 2 towers fall. It was horrific, to say the least.

I remember how crowded the trains were that day as I headed home (to my apartment in the city). I went to school the next day to teach (it was a new position at the time), and everyone was in shock. Some students didn't come to class for a week.

When I look at how different my life is now, it's amazing to me. None of it was the result of what happened that day...or maybe it was. I think the events of that day are burned into the memory of everyone in my generation, and it's become to me what the Kennedy assassination was to the generation before.

May we never forget...