theparkerfamily.org

Naebody in Particular podcast cover: a collage of old family photographs, handwritten letters, a magnifying glass and a fountain pen

Naebody in Particular

You won't find them on a shortbread tin, but our ancestors live on so long as we keep telling their stories. Scots, Yanks, Canucks and the Auld Enemy. Newest posts are the ancestors, but scroll for the living.

  • staged

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    this is what our February looks like.all our spare time has been filled up by the 74 item punchlist standing between us and putting our place on the market — or, more exactly, it’s been filled up with my beloved wife babysitting sparklet 24/7 so i could work through said 74 item punchlist.

    but, it looks like we’re there — finally.

    a professional real estate photographer showed up today to take professional real estate photos (these aren’t them), i think our place actually goes on the market tomorrow or Wednesday, and the first open houses are this weekend. (UPDATE: it’s been listed!)

    we will be somewhere else while people march through our place, however — namely gram and grampa’s house for a little bit of “abandon our child to her grandparents while mommy and daddy make up for four weeks of no sleep” therapy.

    for what it’s worth, i absolutely don’t recognize the place now that all the work is done. if my key didn’t work on the door, i’d have no clue.

    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    photos: park road apartment, staged for sale

  • out: brunch with babs

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  • found: somebody else’s bed

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  • firsts: bounce

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    sparklet’s discovered one nice thing about moving — bouncing on the couch when mommy has the slip cover at the laundromat. awesome.

  • something’s got to give

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    we’re about ready to call “up” as sparklet’s first real word.she went through a three week period last August where she said “hi” to everything that moved — but not sure it counts considering she hasn’t used the word since.

    however, with “up” it seems to be a sustained usage, and in all the right contexts — daddy, pick me up; daddy, stand up and come here; daddy, help me get in the cabinet full of empty carbohydrates.

    what i don’t understand is how far we’ve come with everything else, and yet we’ve still got a vocabulary of one.

    for comparison (and, in no particular order):

    • she understands the concept of “cheers!” and will seek out people’s glasses to clink unprompted;
    • she can gracefully dismount from our gigantic 28″ tall sleigh bed, and invariably land on her feet;
    • she can climb a small step ladder, stand at the top with no hands, eat a sandwich, and descend the latter — all without falling;
    • she can both climb and descend stairs, unassisted;
    • she can open certain doors, and close them in our faces when she doesn’t want us to follow;
    • she can grab our hands, lead us over to the refrigerator, decide what she wants to eat, and hand them to us to prepare;
    • she can pause and un-pause the television, and has a clear understanding of when and why she’d want to;
    • she gets upset if the cat’s food bowl is empty, pick up the bowl, march into the kitchen, and wait at the food drawer for us to refill, returning it to the proper place once it’s full;
    • she will help load the washing machine, and start the cleaning cycle;
    • she’ll ask to do a somersault, put her hands and head on the floor, and wait for us to roll her over to her back;

    i guess she’s just been focused on other things.

  • out: bancroft’s new playground

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    out: bancroft playground

  • mtp

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  • out: lamont park

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    See Slideshow of the Photos on Flickr:
    out: lamont park

  • “i’ll be over here … by the crust.”

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  • wall photos: mount pleasant

    [Snow, Mount Pleasant, Washington, DC.]
    [Mount Pleasant, Washington, DC.]
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    Photo by Chambo25 (used detail of Heller’s and Pfieffer’s signs).
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    Photo by jajajav.
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    Photo by katmere (used detail of National Baptist Church on left).
    [View of Mount Pleasant street with the three churches of 16th street.]
    Photo by mindgutter.
    we’re adding some local flavor to our place, celebrating how awesome mount pleasant is.considering i’ve take over 9,000 photos since i’ve moved here, i figured it would be super easy — but it turns out exactly three photos of them depicted mount pleasant (well, and didn’t include either baby sparklet or snow).

    i need to get out into the neighborhood more.

    the photos we used are above — with special thanks to the photographers.