I may be in the minority here, but I exhale deeply in summer. The way I describe it, summer in Tucson is like the quiet after a loud party when most everyone has gone home and you find yourself surrounded by the people you know and love the best.

What are your favorite summer-in-Tucson moments? I’ll start. There was a Calexico show way back before they were, you know, CALEXICO, but they were already kicking ass live. Amazing show at Congress, played until bar time, then moved into the lobby for more, and when the lobby closed, they brought it out to the parking lot till early morning, a few horns and a small crowd surrounding. It may have only been May when this happened, but it was surely summer, and it had that feel. Biking home afterward, no more responsibility than making sure I got up for work in the morning.

Bittersweet. I love the way that my kids tether me to the earth, and yet, and yet…part of me longs to ride in the dark without a helmet, assuming that the biggest potholes would reveal themselves in the modest yellow light of the West University streetlamps.

I am squarely in the demographic that Jill Lepore discusses and, to some degree, chastises in this article, yet I don’t feel defensive after reading it. She writes with a detached and historical take, refraining from excessive ridicule and condemnation, perhaps because she is a member of the group she is analyzing–new parents at the dawn of the 21st century. On first read, the article’s simply a backlash (disguised, initially, as a book review) to all the parenting books/blogs/magazines, to the cultural obsession with babies. But more significantly it’s a sly and valuable call for true political and social change for the benefit of modern families. Organize and make things happen, folks, she seems to say–don’t just confess, absolve, complain, exalt, and entertain.

All that aside, I do look forward to reading Ayelet Waldman’s new book, mentioned in the article, as I enjoy her writing (along with other controversial mother/writers like Caitlin Flanagan–say what you will about Flanagan, but she can write.)

Tell me about big kid beds. If your kid likes his crib and it hasn’t occurred to him to climb out, would there be a reason to move him to a bed?

I don’t want to move Linc to a bed, and he doesn’t want to move, but Clem is crawling all over and can pull herself out of the cosleeper, so it’s not safe to keep her in there any longer.

The plan was to move Linc to a bed when Clem was newborn, have her in the cosleeper and put the crib away, and then when she was 6 months old, get the crib out and put her in it.

The problem is that we’re about 6 months behind. Only in the last few weeks has Clem been in the cosleeper–before that she was in our bed. So she’s finally all content in there, and now she can crawl out. What the hell?!?

Linc doesn’t want to give up his crib, so we are considering getting or borrowing a second crib, but we don’t have room for one. The four of us are sleeping in a smallish area, and there’s not room for another crib.

There will be much rearranging of people and furniture in upcoming months, but that involves paint and spackle and whatnot and we are about 6 months behind on that as well.

What to do? Any tips on selling the grownup bed idea to the toddler? Of course this still doesn’t solve the problem of space, but somehow a small mattress on the floor seems more workable than another hulking crib.

Every woman deserves the right to choose how and when she is ready to be a mother. HB2564 mounts multiple ideologically-driven attacks on women’s right to choose safe, legal abortion and even access to contraception. Under the guise of protecting the health and safety of women seeking care, this bill creates numerous obstacles to women’s ability to access the full range of reproductive-health options. This bill does not solve any problems, these legislators want abortion care to be more expensive and less accessible, and as a result, it will be more dangerous.

Tell Governor Brewer to VETO HB2564!

TAKE ACTION NOW to Protect Women’s Health in Arizona!

Damn. Our neighborhood pool isn’t going to open this summer. It’s literally a block from our house, and is a totally dreamy place to go on hot, overcast afternoons.
Crap.

1) What the hell happened to Pollywog’s? I went last week with a bunch of stuff to trade, and there is nothing in the store. Vanished, as if it were never there to begin with.

2) Haagen Dazs brown sugar ice cream. Holy shit.

3) Some really nice furniture at St Vincent’s on 6th Ave right now.

4) Raspberries for $1/pint at Safeway, also 30 packs of Tecate for $18. Whoa.

A great article in Salon, about another article in the American Prospect. I’ve been thinking so much about socioeconomic issues of late-the confluence of events: economy collapsing, UA layoffs, me starting a new job, having a second baby…makes me think about work/money/family so much, thinking how good we still have it even when things are tough.

I’m feeling very sad about the fire in Hermosillo.
It’s so hard to leave our kids to go to work, even if we love where they go during the day (I love our kids’ preschool/day care and feel so lucky to have found such a wonderful little place).
Stories like this are so heartbreaking.
I am intentionally not linking to the story. I am not trying to be oblique; I just know that I try to avoid the news most of the time, so I don’t want to put it in anyone’s face.
I also don’t feel like leaving it undiscussed.

If you were to have one free night at any hotel/resort in Tucson, just for you and your honey (or just for you, if you are feelin’ that way), where would you stay and why?