i did it.

I am officially a Connecticut resident.

I went down and got my CT driver's license today. Sarah has had hers for a while, but I had a hard time giving up my California license. Yes, I still had a CA license--even though I haven't really lived there since the day after my high school graduation. Nothing against Utah, but, well, I really like my home state.

Preachers should try to work the DMV into their description of what awaits sinners in the fiery pits of hell. Imagine enduring a two-hour line while being serenaded by a squeaky child singing "Three Blind Mice" at the top of her lungs over and over and over and over....

ladybug eggs?

As Juma and I were exploring in our courtyard, we discovered (what I'm pretty sure are) ladybug eggs. I snapped pictures of the eggs, then got a picture after some of them hatched. In the second picture, the upper left larva have left, but there are little dark brown larva in the lower set of eggs. Can you see them?

two more videos

I put up a couple more videos of Juma from last week. Click here to see them.

wet, wet, wet

Humidity sucks.

Could you say no to this face?

Yeah, neither can we. This is going to be one very spoiled kid....

neighborhood party

We spent a great Saturday at a park by the river. We started out the day with some ultimate frisby and then noticed people setting up a barbeque. We went over to check it out and found out it was a party being thrown by a local business to say thanks to the community.

So we ate burgers, hotdogs, fruit and chips. Juma jumped in a bounce house, got a dolphin painted on his face and had an all around great time.

Sarah went home at around one o'clock to get some work done for her job. Juma and I stayed at the park and played for another five hours. We watched people playing an intense game of whiffle ball (yes, surprisingly it can get intense), played basketball, football, soccer, baseball, hunted for bugs, played by the river and chilled in the shade. Great day. And since it's summer there's still hours and hours of daylight left!

Oh, can't forget to mention the b-ball playoff game tonight--should be a good one. I hope Shaq and Wade get shut down.

silly Juma

This morning when Juma didn't eat much breakfast, I asked him why he didn't eat more. He answered matter-of-factly:

But I'm full enough already!

After we went grocery shopping, I wanted to thank Juma for being well behaved.

Sarah: Thanks for not crying or whining at the store, Juma.
Juma: But I did whine!

which language next?

I'm almost resigned to the fact that my next language will be French.

Unfortunately, after living in Germany for two years, I've found that the anti-French bias has rubbed off on me. Actually, thinking back, I have never, ever wanted to learn the language.

"Why learn a language you don't like," you ask? Well, a lot of scholarship on Africa is in French. French is a second language in much of West, Central and North Africa. It really would be valuable for my career and in my desire to be able to communicate with Africans all over the continent.

But then I think, "is it really possible to master a language you have a strong aversion to?" We'll see, I guess.

Any advice from you Francophiles? I need someone to persuade me that French is, in fact, a rich, beautiful language and not the nasal, stuffy, stuck-up language I hear.

pee on a tree

Just minutes after I snapped the picture below, Juma started dancing around in the ancient choreography recognized by parents everywhere as the "I really have to go, but I don't want to stop playing" dance.

Sarah took him over to a tree and pulled down his pants. Having no experience with the mechanics of the process (it really is more complicated than it looks), she was soon frustrated and called me to take over. I then helped Juma with his very first tree-watering.

Afterwards he smiled very big and said, "I wanna pee on 'nother tree!"

mad river, vermont

Sarah and Juma on a hike