And her name shall be....

Amaiya Lucia. (ah-MY-uh loo-SEE-uh)
Amaiya means "night rain falling in a high place" and follows the family naming patterns. So far all of their names have 6 letters. The boys start with J and end with N. The girls start and end with A. The children's middle names start with J, K, and L. Come to think of it, their dad's middle name starts with I, so tahts I, J, K, L. Poor mom, her middle name starts with a P. I'm rpetty sure they aren't planning to have enough kids to catch up to her!
Lucia is one of the names my mother was considering when she legally changed her name. She wound up going with Naseem. Lucia means light, which is what my mother's (also legally changed) last name meant. So it's a kind of sneaky way of naming Amaiya after my mother too.

One week til I move to Charlotte!

Perfect

Baby Girl was born today at 8:19 am. I was lucky to be in town for it and get to be one of the first people to meet her. Kids in this family don't get names right away, so I'll be back with you on that as soon as I know!
She was 8 pounds and her proud daddy caught her during a home delivery. Mom is doing great, but exhausted of course.
Her 4 year old (actually he turned 4 today, so they share a birthday!) big brother is very excited about having another little sister and says she's special and cool.
Her 2 year old big sister thinks she's cute and loves her belly button.
I think she's perfect.

Charlotte

So today I signed a lease for an apartment in Charlotte. You can see the roof of my building from my brother-and-family's front porch. I'm very excited. There is a family nearby with a son who has autism who I will be meeting once I get moved (I'm moving June 4 or 5 or something like that) and probably working with. That mom knows another family or two she thinks will be interested in hiring me. So things are looking good. I have plans to do a regular weekly babysitting for my nieces and nephew, and something with them individually maybe once a month or so. Special auntie time. I'm considering doing a Baha'i children's Feast, or plugging into the children's classes my brother's kids go to, or hosting a devotional gathering at my home. Not all three at once, don't worry. Or if I do all 3, the devotions will be monthly. Or something. Who knows, these are all just kinda ideas percolating around. Except the weekly babysitting and the monthly-ish auntie time. I'm definitely doing those.
My brother is building a raised-bed garden, which I'm thinking about trading working time in for some produce (ie I work an hour a week in the garden and in return get 3 cucumbers a week, or whatever).
Where I will be living is a great neighborhood for walking, there's gorgeous trees and sidewalks all over, so I will definitely keep up my 2-miles a day, and continue gradually increasing that. I can also walk to (within a mile or so) several parks, 2 or 3 grocery stores with health/organic things available, several restaurants, a Target, a library... it's a great location for me. Near the interstates as well, so I can get pretty much anywhere easily when I start working with families.
AND... I will have internet and a computer again!!!

Good Deed of the Day

Not my good deed. A very sweet old man's.
So I'm sitting at Shoney's (not my first choice but my options were limited. I was driving from Asheville to Charlotte and it's race weekend so things are pretty busy) looking pretty tired and eating a sandwich and fries (I know, I know, so not on the allergen-free diet plan. Hush). The waitress had set my check on my table pretty much as soon as the food came, but then kinda stealthily moved it to the table in front of me, where a very cute bent over old man, his disabled wife, and a younger woman I'm guessing was their daughter, were eating (the seafood buffet, I think). So I figure she gave me the wrong check and continue reading my book and dreading getting back in the car (I've been driving a LOT the past couple of weeks!). The guy gets up and pays and on his way back to his table slides a couple bucks under my plate and I realize... he's just paid my check! I thanked him a lot and he said, in a very cute old man way, "now don't you even worry about it, it's just my good deed for the day." I smiled all the way down Interstate 85.
Random acts of kindness really will make someone's day! Go for it!

Blah

I'm tired. Not in a good way; in a kinda depressed sickish way. I think I just did too much a couple weeks ago. Now I kinda don't wanna do anything. I'm still walking, but not every day (I had been walking 2 miles a day). It's harder to keep on my allergen-free diet. Meh. I just need to be really careful not to overdo things still, apparently. I wonder if that will be true my whole life; if I'll always always always be prone to depressions.
Things that would help:
-walking every day
-getting moving-to-Charlotte plans in place
-not eating things that are bad for me
-hanging out with grown-ups (who don't bite me)
-getting a computer (I feel so darn cut off!)
-getting the things of mom's that are still in my corner appraised, photographed, and otherwise taken care of

I'm kinda working on these things... but see above sentiments about being tired and unmotivated and et cetera.

Blah.

Mother's Day

I so appreciate it when people remember me on Mother's Day. Thank you, you people who know who you are.

Allergies and Estates and Charlotte

The Florida vacation was great. My family rocks. While I was there, though, I pretty much paid no attention to the foods I'm allergic to. As in, I ate them. A lot of wheat and, while not lots, more sugar than I'm used to. Some dairy. The day after I got home I had a dance class (I'm taking clogging) and my ability to focus and concentrate and even just think was frighteningly bad. One more reason (aside from better sleep, less congestion, fewer illnesses, and improved energy) I need to be very mindful of what i'm putting into my body! If any of you see me eating something I shouldn't, please ask me if I'm being mindful of what I'm eating.
We had a humongous yard sale of Mom's stuff yesterday. For about 12 hours (ending at midnight) on Friday we priced things and then loaded up a 14 foot UHaul truck. Then got up at 5am on Saturday to get stuff set up by 7. Seven to 2pm was the sale, and then we had to pack up everything left. Made one run to Salvation Army to donate the leftovers, dropped off the UHaul, and filled my brother's van with boxes that we are keeping. Today (Sunday) there are 3 or maybe 4 more vanloads to go to Salvation Army. Thursday I'm back in town to get the furniture to a consignment store and collect one small load of boxes we are keeping. So... I'm tired. Its good to be getting rid of all this stuff we've had stored in a relative's basement for 6 months now. Its kind of nice to be moving on from Mom being materially here; its good to settle further into her living totally in the spiritual reality now. But its also a little sad to take steps further away from her being in this world with us. I got a little teary a couple of times at the yardsale as items that I had strong memory associations to were sold. But we've kept everything important to us and the rest we just don't need any more.
So. Exhausted but getting lots done.
Also thinking of moving back to Charlotte. I'd like to be able to do more with my niece and nephew; spend-the-nights, maybe a regular time each week to hang out with each of them. Charlotte also has a bigger population, with generally more money. Career-wise, in terms of working with autistic kids, that can be a good thing. The only advantage Asheville has over Charlotte there is that Asheville residents tend to be more alternative so might be more open to alternative methods of working with autism. But I can commute to Asheville, too, if that's the only place I can find clients. I would miss the beauty of the mountains, but again, thats not a long drive. I think my biggest yearning for Charlotte (vying with being more involved with family) comes from wanting to be part of a thriving, spirited Baha'i community. I think I want time to rest and heal in the spiritual environment of a community like Charlotte. In Asheville I've bene thinking of starting a Children's Class and a Devotional Gathering, but I just don't feel like the support is there and I'm too tired (in the deep down sense, not in the taking-a-nap sense) to pull anything off entirely on my own. II i'm in Charlotte I get to relax some in my personal life (lots of support from Baha'is, family, and friends) while I work on my business life. I think that if I choose a kind of self-contained neighborhood or live in a smaller suburb of Charlotte I will be OK with living in The Big City. Not forever, I don't think, but for a time. I'm still a small town mountains girl at heart, I believe.
I'm enjoying being a bigger aprt of my niece and nephew's life, and there's another niece due at the end of the month. I want to be a mother, but I don't know if that will happen. So to have a hand in raising my niece and nephew (no, not like another parent, but still, teaching skills and values and et cetera) is, I think, fulfilling that kind of need in my life to pass things on to another generation. My sister-in-law and I talk quite a bit about parenting and discipline and such, and we have very very similar ideas, so its nice for be to be able to help out. It's fun for me to be with the kids, and fun for their parents to get a break!
So maybe Charlotte. Dunno. Need to pray on that one and research the autism program market in Charlotte.
I think that's all for now.
I hope to have a new computer and be able to post more regularly again in the next few weeks!