What's Our Generation Doing?

Don & I were having a conversation with my brother Steev Richter, and he was lamenting the fact that our generation hadn't really done much or wasn't known for something. Like the baby boomers, or gen-Xers, etc. I was thinking about this and feeling like we must have done or be doing something and if not, then we need to.

As I thought more on this, I started to think about the fight against AIDS and how in the last 20 years there's been a dramatic shift from AIDS being a taboo subject to one that's discussed openly. In the last 10 years, more medicines have been developed and placed on the market and more support organizations begun to remove the idea of AIDS being a death sentence and instead calling it for what it is - a beatable adversary. In the last 5 years we've seen the use of antiretrovirals and how they can help an HIV-positive pregnant woman have a better chance of not passing the virus on to her unborn child.

Now in the last year, President Bush created the President's Emergency Response for AIDS Relief. This has pushed AIDS initiatives to the forefront of the American consciousness and will send money to countries in Africa and elsewhere for the global fight against AIDS. Even Gap has gotten in to the fight by partnering with Bono and the The Global Fund to create Product(RED) - clothing apparel with a higher purpose (gap.com/RED). Half of the profits of every Product(RED) purchase goes toward the Global Fund.

This is a great beginning I think, and I believe our generation has been a big part of the AIDS fight. World AIDS Day was December 1, but I think that every day we can be doing something to help - buying products that support the people, contributing time and energy, being educated about the matter, writing to your local congressperson/representative, and especially praying for the people living through the AIDS pandemic. It's the doing that matters now, then we'll be known for it later.

$4,000 Is a LOT of Money!

So I'm wandering around in Williams Sonoma the other day. I like this store and the many fun kitchen gadgets and gizmos that are happily placed on the shelves. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I see a glint of shiny metal. I turn around and there it is - in all it's glory sitting atop a perch in the front display window - the espresso machine.

Wow, I think what a nice machine. I say this aloud and my friend comments on how expensive it is. Well, surely, it can't be that expensive - maybe $200/$300 - and that would be a lot in my book. Oh no, the price tag was an egregious $4,000! HA! $4,000 for a machine that gurgles out the amount of coffee akin to a what Brennan used to barf up (which was not a lot).

I am astounded that someone would pay that much when they'll get the equivalent of 5 full cups of coffee for the rest of their lives. I mean I like coffee, but really a down payment on a car (or purchasing a pretty good used one) or two inches of java? Such a tough decision! Better yet, I was reading an article in Newsweek about how Las Vegas and Orlando have passed laws that don't allow for feeding homeless persons in parks anymore (as if that will make homelessness disappear). I wonder if those lawmakers have a $4,000 espresso machine sitting in their kitchen. Maybe if all the espresso machine buyers in the world pooled together their money a work program for the homeless could be initiated or money sent to refugees in Darfur or for the AIDS pandemic in Africa. Maybe even for impoverished villagers in Columbia to give access to better social services...I hear the coffee there is pretty good.

Missing My Brain

Oh, am I missing my brain lately. I've heard it said that after you have a baby your memory really isn't the same for while, I think partly because you're packing it with all this new baby information, due to hormones still settling. Whatever the reason, I feel a little loopy and I don't like it. Case in point, I used to be really great at remembering people's birthdays - friends and family members - and I enjoy celebrating with people on their respective days.

Lately, however, I've been forgetting to make phone calls and do the traditional Coleman birthday rendition (I know everyone loves this) or send out cards/packages on time. And that's the funny thing, I'll remember that morning that it's someone's birthday, but then the thought completely goes out of my mind until about 10:00pm at night (coincidental the times are before Brennan gets up and after he's in bed? I think not!). This irks me greatly. So I hope that the friends and family who have not yet received a card or phone call will understand that they are still prayed for and thought of on their day. I will try and do better next year and hopefully, I won't forget January 11, 2007 :0)

Uncle Steev - The Rock Star

**Warning - this is repeat information from the Coleman Photo Blog**



Not only can Brennan boast about knowing someone cool and famous (notice I left out the rich?), but he can say he's actually related to someone cool and famous. For those of you who don't know, Steev Richter is one talented and formidable musician. You may not hear his name on the radio (yet), but trust me when I say he's a pretty well-known and respected musician in his circle and the circles that permeate those circles. Brennan and Uncle Steev finally met for the first time at the end of August when we visited him while he was in New Hope, PA. It was great to see Steev and I'm so blessed to call him brother. If you'd like to hear some fun, soul-infused music then check him out at www.myspace.com/steevrichter.

Frustrations with Technology

Aurgh! It has been too long since my last post, I know. We've been running around doing a myriad of things and I would show you the pictures, but unfortunately, blogger is giving me an error every time I try to upload one. It makes me realize that for all of the great things technology gives us, just like everything else, it is not perfect. We strive for perfection and think in many ways we've obtained it, but truly nothing is perfect...in this life anyway.

So stay tuned for another more thought-out post soon enough (I keep looking at my friend Kitty's blog and get inspired) hopefully with pictures of the cutest baby ever!

The Cat Ate My Baby's Hair!

So there are a myriad of things I've had on my mind to write about: the state of affairs in the Middle East, the issue of "designer babies," being stewards of what we're given. But all of that will come a little later as I gather my thoughts. In the meantime, my discovery this morning leads me to the above.

We gave Brennan his first hair cut yesterday - a big milestone, at least as far as Mommy's concerned. To me, it signifies a step toward big-boyness. Only older kids and adults get haircuts, right? Well, not when your baby is often mistaken for having a little toupee on top of his sweet head. So we had his 6-month photos scheduled for yesterday and thought, "this is as good a time as any." Plus with the 97 degree weather and humidity, we thought it would help to cool him off if he didn't have curls hanging on his neck. And really a couple people said "Oh, what a cute little girl" and that pretty much sealed it for Don.

So, as any good parents would, we documented this momentous event with pictures of each of us attempting to evenly cut a baby bobble head. It's definitely not even, but he immediately looked like a "little boy" from the back. We didn't cut too much from the front though - baby steps, y'know. So, again as good parents, we gathered the lovely little locks and placed them in a ziplock baggie for safe keeping until they go in his baby book. The bag was set atop his armoire - safe and inconspicuous - or so we thought.

This morning I walk into the living room to be greeted by a long dark spot on the rug. In my bleary-eyed semi-wakefulness, I immediately groaned thinking Snickers had thrown up. Well then, to my chagrin, I noticed a little ripped ziplock bag next to the brown pile and realized in a flash that it was my precious baby boy's hair that my cat was attempting to feast on! I stomped toward Snickers, who knew that he was in trouble for something, and put his face down by the hair telling him, "no."

Now I know that you have to catch cats in the act, or else they really won't understand that what they've done is wrong, but I think Snickers had a clue. Not only had he jumped on top of the armoire (no-no), he'd gotten something that was, for some reason, very important to me. Why on earth did I really need to save Brennan's hair? Who knows. I guess for me, it's just another part of my baby growing. In any event, it made me realize that sometimes when I think something is safe, it really is ripe pickings for a crazy cat who has a fetish for paper bags.

The miraculous thing is that it looks like he didn't actually eat too much, if any, of the hair. So other than having cat slobber on it, I think the hair will still be nicely placed in Brennan's baby book with a little blue bow tied around it. Maybe with a picture of Snickers beside it...

Worth A Thousand Words...

Carol and Brennan hanging out
"Petting" Snickers for the first time.
Our own little Popeye
"I'm five-months-old today!"
Carol and Dan cuddling with Brennan

My Two Guys

Look at them! If they are not the most handsome two guys I know, then I am crazy...okay, I am crazy. Crazy about my husband and my son. This picture was from Father's Day - a day that we celebrate many of the men in our lives: fathers, grandfathers, brother, uncles, and so on. My celebration with Don & Brennan consisted of a couple cards, a fun gift (a golf bag!), and this picture. The picture is my gift. The two guys are my gifts. I am truly blessed to have such a man to stand by my side. To be my partner and soulmate in this life. God knew exactly what, or should I say whom, I needed. And what a father he is already. I always knew he'd be a great father, but these past five months have shown me just what kind of heart Don has. When he looks at our son, when he holds him, plays with him; it steals my heart - it takes my breath away.

Then there's my son. My other "little man." Oh what a happy baby he is and how happy he makes us. I hear him making his little vocal noises every day now and I wonder how I ever lived without hearing it before. When he smiles, his whole face lights up - truly it does! I am excited for him to have such a great role model in his father. I am excited to see how he will be like Don, what traits he'll have of mine, but also to see his own personality emerge, as it does more and more each day. Yes, these are my two guys...

The Amazing Brennan Boy!

My son is amazing! I'm sure you'll here this from a lot of moms and every time it's true. A baby in general is an amazing thing to behold. Watch them and they will do feats of wonder - last night I saw Brennan roll over for the first time (belly to back). My husband saw him roll over from back to belly earlier in the day. Two milestones in one day - it was so exciting! It's a simple thing, rolling over, for you and me to do, but to see for the first time this little person throwing his legs to the side or putting his head down and turning the top part of his body was really momentous.

All the time Brennan is looking around and taking more stimuli in; I can just imagine the little cogs at work in his rapidly developing brain. Every day he learns to do more and I feel blessed to be a part of his journey. To watch him do his wonders and find my own sense of wonder renewed.

So I'm Now a "Blogger"...

"You should get a blog of your own." These were the words of my husband, Don, to me a while back. Well, I finally did. But what was my biggest stumbling block to creating one? Thinking of a title for it. As a copywriter, I was taught that if you don't catch a potential customer in about 7 seconds, you can loose them for good. And so an eye-catching, thought-provoking, or just plain zinger of a title was essential. That being said, the title you see above came to mind. Although at this point, I can't give you an explanation yet of why or what it may mean to me. Is it to take a pause from our "normal programming" to listen to or see some things we wouldn't normally care about? Is it so we can see the support structure of a group? Something deep? Something trivial? I don't know, but I thought it was catchy.