My parents have a pool and in the summer, everyone spends a lot of time in and around it. They keep buying different versions of floatation devices to put on Clark so that one can at least pull a weed or have a conversation and remove your eyes from his body for a second or two now and then. Each version has failed, however. He has been too skinny or too small or not a good enough swimmer for each thing they’ve tried. The latest seems to be a success and it has the added bonus of being hilarious:
(disclaimer for internets: OF COURSE he is very well supervised around the pool. It’s more for peace of mind than anything else)
Isn’t that the cutest thing ever? He looks like an old man to me, which is fitting because lately, he has been exhibiting some really funny old man tastes. His favorite things to eat these days are salami and olives. He also likes figs. Crazy, right?
Hello friends! I realize that those outside the lovely Pacific Northwest have been experiencing summer for quite some time now, but around here, we were beginning to wonder if it was ever going to be safe to make outdoor plans. Seriously, it’s JULY and we hadn’t entirely de-winterfied our patio yet and I wasn’t even shaving regularly. But huzzah! There is a solid week of proper summer temperatures and sunshine in the forecast so we finally got busy.
As impetus, we had an impromptu 4th of July gathering. Apparently, almost no one had plans for the 4th, and what started out as two families turned into a good sized crowd. So obviously, we had to get the yard spruced up. I finally got all my pots planted, and we put up our garden lights and what not. Usually these tasks would have been completed much earlier in the year, but the aforementioned never-ending winter prevented this.
We were able to offer our guests a possible view of the fireworks. Possible, because we haven’t lived here over a 4th yet. I’m pleased to report that our house is even more awesome than we already knew! We have a kick-ass view of the airshow and fireworks over Tacoma’s Freedom Fair. Woot! The airshow was actually pretty mindblowing. It seemed like those jets were only a couple of hundred yards outside my window doing all their Top Gun flips and shit.
Anywho, just a small post to say, HOORAY FOR SUMMER!!!
Now I’ll confess that the longest I had ever run before Saturday was definitely less than 5 miles. I’ve TRIED to cultivate myself into a runner, I really have. But whenever I set out with big plans for great distances, I ALWAYS get bored, decide this sucks and tell myself, “I’m just not a runner”. I’m good with the 30-45 minute three to four miles, but that’s all I’ve ever had any success with.
I registered myself for this half marathon back in February when I was just starting to feel good about my new running habit, and had visions of becoming one of those running type people. As my lack of distance running ability became clear, and then I got my new job, I started to find the prospect of running 13.1 miles REALLY FUNNY. Ha. Three times further than I regularly run? Riiiiiiiiight.
I decided to not stress about it, though, and just run as far as I could, walk whenever I felt like it, and just consider it a fun morning of exercise.
You guys, it was so fun. I think I smiled the whole time. It’s quite a thing to see, running with 40,000 people. You may recall, the last time I attempted a major race, I was 30 weeks pregnant (Totally insane. I know this now.) and last. LAA-AAAST. Last. So I was pretty much alone the whole time. I kept waiting for the people to thin out on Saturday, but they never did. I was almost stepping on other runners most of the time, but it was so cool to have all that energy around you.
So I just started out, all pumped up of course, and just kept running. When I passed the 6 mile sign and I still felt pretty good, one of the voices in my head started freaking out. “Six miles? SIX MILES! OMG!” and then of course I had to remind that voice to calm the heck down, as there was still a long way to go.
So, obviously, the key to my running success, is 40,000 running partners, a band every mile, cute families sitting on their lawns with their coffee cheering me on, little kids giving high fives, cheerleading squads chanting Go Runners Go, and frequent water and goo stations manned by volunteers who hold it out to you, so you can grab it as you run by and feel like some sort of Olympian.
Around mile 11 or so, I started to feel like maybe I would like to stop soon, please. Luckily, that was right when we came out of the I-90 tunnel and into the city. It was so cool! There were tons of people lining the route with signs and noise makers, and lots of cops and lights and sirens, and the music was reverberating off all the buildings. It kept me going!
When I saw the 13 mile sign, I kind of couldn’t believe it. I actually started to get a little emotional. I couldn’t then, and I still can’t now, believe I did it. I. DID. IT. I didn’t die, I didn’t hurt myself, I didn’t even get a blister. I even finished in a really respectable time, 2:33. This is crazy kick-ass for a non-running person who didn’t exactly train so much.
When I crossed the finish line and got my medal, I felt this huge wave of emotion about to turn me into a blubbering mess, but I was also out of breath. My chest started tightening up and I had to be all, dude, get a hold of yourself. Breathing is very good and necessary at this juncture.
I’m so proud of myself, and so very amazed at what my body can do. I had SUCH a wonderful time. So if you are reading this and want to know if I want to do a race with you, the answer is yes. Yes! Definitely. (Except for you, Rachel, and that swimming to Alcatraz shit you mentioned. Hell. No.)
It took me two hours and forty minutes to get home from work on friday. I managed to stay in fairly good spirits, though. I was even able to get a few things done. For instance, I plucked my eyebrows. Oh, calm down. It was like, pluck…pluck…pluck….move ahead one car length, come to a complete stop…pluck…pluck…pluck… etc. I was also able to give my hands a thorough lotioning and extensive nail file, while listening to two and a half episodes of This American Life. When it had already been an hour and I’d gone less than a mile, I decided to get off and hit the Whole Foods that is just off the highway for some quality treats. It was taking forever, my weekend was getting shorter by the minute, but at least I had snacks.
A friend of ours rented a screening room at a pub downtown over the weekend for his birthday and we watched Top Gun. It reminded me of the first time I saw it, in the theater, WITH MY DAD. I had chosen it for a dad/daughter outing because it seemed like a guy movie that he might enjoy, you know, plus cute boys. And thus, I was SCARRED FOR LIFE by the longest, most painful sex scene in the history of film. I swear to god, that thing lasts a half an hour. “….take my breath aaaa-waaaaay…,” tongues in silhouette… GAH. I’m all squirmy just thinking about it. I was recounting this charming tale to the nice couple sitting next to me that night, and I started to notice they were both smiling politely but with no hint of common experience. Then I remembered that the birthday boy was only turning 27, and these two looked kinda young. My story started trailing off as I said, “Are you guys too young to have seen this in the theater?”
“We were born in 1984,” they answered. Top Gun came out in 1986.
So! This weekend I’m doing a half marathon. Did you read that in a confident voice in your head? Good. I don’t want to set myself up for a poor result, but let’s just say I’m not quite as prepared as I would like to be. Before I went back to work, I was following a training schedule and totally rocking it, but um, not so much since. So, my goal is to finish. That’s all. I feel kind of funny about it all of a sudden. It’s not like me to be facing such a huge undertaking without having visualized every moment and planned for every outcome. I just downloaded race information today! I haven’t even thought about what I’ll wear. If any of you have any advice, as far as what to wear/pack/eat or anything else, let me know. I looked at three different forecasts until I found one I liked, which was partly cloudy. The others had the straight line rain. (cue sad trombone)
Get out! Two posts this week! I suppose since I’m once again sitting in front of a computer all day, I could blog more often. Here are a few Things that have been making me happy lately.
1. MAC Fast Response Eye Cream You guys, this stuff RULES. I’ve never seen any results from any of the miracle creams I’ve tried. I just assumed that they’re all bunk, and I may as well stick to my generic Olay. But a couple of weeks ago, upon the overly exuberant recommendation of a friend, I decided to give this a try. I was super shocked to feel a difference within minutes. The skin around my eyes REALLY IS softer, less line-y and less saggy/papery. I just read some reviews of this product, however, and it seems not everyone agrees with me, so your mileage may vary. I’m just sayin’, I’ve never used anything that I would bother recommending to anyone, and I kind of want to start buying this as a gift for birthdays and holidays. It’s that good.
2. Hyperbole and a Half After recommending a $30 tube of girly lotion to you, I’m pleased to bring you something even more delightful and absolutely free. This blog is the funniest thing I’ve ever seen on the internet. Really. If this post doesn’t make you cry from laughter, I’m not sure we can be friends. If it does, I also recommend this one and this one.
3. I am admittedly not one of those Music People who always know about bands you’ve never heard of, so please don’t take this recommendation as though from a Music Person, but I’m super digging The Broken Bells lately. They’re a good summer soundtrack. A Music Person would tell you that they include members of Danger Mouse and The Shins, but a Music Person probably would have recommended this band to you at least 6 months ago.
4. The This American Life iPhone ap. When I grow tired of the news at about hour 2.5 of my commute, I listen to a few stories, and all is right with the world. I freaking LOVE people’s stories, you know? Should you be in the mood for some good radio right now, that most recent episode about Recordings for Someone Else is really good.
UPDATED TO ADD:
Not really related to this post, but last night Clark *almost* figured out the dog door and I got this cute video. Enjoy!
I can’t quite believe how this parenting thing just keeps getting better and better. He is the light of my life and I crave time with him like I crave sunshine. When I get home from work and I squat down, spread my arms wide, and he comes running full force, hurling his little body at me, the joy I feel is something indescribable.
He does so many hilarious and adorable things lately. It seems like every few days he has a new trick or a new word. Last night I said, do you want to go look out the window for a bus? (He loves to do this. Bus! he announces, then Bye Bus!) “Yeah”, he said. “Are you saying yeah, now?” I asked. “Yeah!” he answered.
I hope I can always remember how utterly delightful he is at this moment. To facilitate my increasingly seive-like memory, I shall list some of his current features.
He really likes to accentuate certain consonants. We found a mint patch in our new yard, and we’ve been making lots of mojitos. He loves to go help his Daddy pick mint, as in the photo above. MmmmmminT, he says. Long M, stong T. This cuteness is also present when greeting our friend MmmmmmaTT, or when you’re at the store, walking past the butcher, MmmmmeaT.
He loves Freya. She tolerates him.
He wants to be outside all the time. When forced to be indoors, he’s constantly pulling on you going, “Outside? OK?” with his little eyebrows raised so hard, you think he might break his forehead.
For months now, thanks to his Grandfather, he has been obsessed with pretending to drive our cars. That’s pretty much all he wants to do. Sometimes the first words out of his mouth in the morning are, “Vroom Vroom?” At first he was happy just to stand on the seat and push buttons, but now he says, “Keys? Keys?” He wants things to light up and for the radio to be on.
For some reason he loves to throw things down the stairs. We call it experimenting with gravity.
I know that writing this down will make it change, but for the last month or so, he’s been sleeping through the night most nights. (I guess that virgin I sacrificed did the trick!) It took 17 months, but I think this is about average in the grand scheme of things. I know people whose alien pod children reportedly slept through the night at 3 months or whatever, but I also know folks whose 3 year olds still aren’t. He’s going to bed around 8pm every night, but he still wakes up at inconsistent times, anywhere from 5am-7:30am. I still marvel when I wake up in the morning and realize I got to sleep the whole night.
His number one best feature has got to be the unsolicited love. He will out of the blue plant a big kiss on your cheek, and you just want to fall over and die from the cuteness of it all. The best case of this is when we’re riding my bike together. He has a super cool seat that sits on the handlebars like this. Sometimes we’ll just be riding along, pointing out kitties and arf arfs and trucks, and he’ll reach up and grab the strap of my helmet under my chin, pull my face down and lay one on me. Bwah!
I could go on all day, but I’ll leave you with some super cute pictures of his first haircut. Prepare yourself.
My friend Tiana checks this blog every day and as you know, dear reader, I let her down most days. Last evening, we were having dinner at her house and I was rambling on about something as I do, and she said, “That sounds like a blog post!” So, for my dear Tiana, I’m here to ramble on a bit about some Tiana related things.
Firstly, let me tell you about something cool we’re doing that is due in part to Tiana. We’ve got a farm share! We’re sharing a share with Tiana’s family, which is ideal. A whole share is a LOT of vegetables. I’ve wanted to do this for many years, but I knew that if we had a whole share, a lot of the yummines would go to waste. In similar Green Team news, we split a pig with Tiana’s family, as well! She’s a teacher in a fairly rural area and she bought a pig from one of her students. We bought one third of it. So, yay us! Yay for locally grown, healthy, sustainable agriculture and all that jazz. Last night’s dinner was a celebration feast of all of this yumminess. A couple of other friends were there as well, who also have shares, and we cooked yummy things together while the children played. Are we hippies or what? (Please say hippie in your head in your best Cartman voice, as it is intended.) Thanks for the lovely evening, as always, dear friend.
Part of the point of this blog was originally to get down all my stories, and one of last evening’s guests was a newer friend who had not heard the tale of what I was doing the day Tiana and her dear husband were married. Tragically, I was NOT THERE. This was so very, very, sad to me, because the two of them were some of our bestest friends and after a fairly dramatic courtship that’s funny to even remember now, they were finally getting married! Huzzah! Well. I was on the other side of the planet. Alone. It was while we were living in England, but Aaron was actually in New York for a showcase, so I was all by my lonesome, just me and my self pitty. Not only was I not at home attending the party of the decade, I was also not in NYC visiting friends and lounging about in beer gardens like SB. It was a Saturday and I had to work. I moped through my whole day, ate a depressing dinner alone, and even though I knew I was 8 hours ahead and things weren’t happenning at the same time, I imagined all the fun all of my friends were having, dancing the night away at the wedding. So, at a super early and depressing hour, I decided to go to bed. I snuggled up, preparing myself for a good cry, when I realized I could hear laughing and singing in the garden next door. I peaked out my window and looked down upon what looked like a really great party. There were lots of cool looking people laughing and drinking and carrying on. There was even a guy playing the gutiar while folks gathered round, singing along. (You KNOW how I love a good sing along. I’d never realized what good sing along song is Wonderwall) I watched them for a while, feeling more and more sorry for myself, if that was EVEN possible. Finally, I had seen enough and was ready for my cry. Woe! Terrible, woe. As I was finishing up, lamenting the fact that I wasn’t tired since it was only about 9pm, I saw some flashes on the wall of my bedroom. What the heck? I peeked back out my window at the party to see that now, not only was it full of drinking and singing and carrying on, there were FIRE JUGGLERS. People Juggling. Fire. That’s all there is to this story, but I think it’s pretty funny. Not so much then, but I can definitely see now, that the gods have a sense of humor and don’t approve of self pity.
All of this to say, I love my friend Tiana. Any party she’s at, I wanna be, too. I’m so very thankful for her in my life!
Hello friends! As I mentioned in my goal post, I’m working full time again. This is, understandably, a big transition for our family, since I’ve been off work since I was 8 months pregnant. All that time, I was Clark’s main care taker, I kept groceries in the fridge and the house mostly tidy, and now, all that is no longer true.
I am not Clark’s main care taker.
I do not do the grocery shopping.
There has been a pile of laundry on my couch since Monday.
I don’t want to get too bogged down in how SAD I am about this. There are definitely some good things, which I’ll get to. But I’m seeing Clark an average of an hour and a half per day and it’s KILLING me. Kill. Ling. Me. He’s being raised by his village at the moment, not his mama. I leave the house at 6:30am and I get home at 6:30pm, and he goes to bed at 8.
SB and I are both IT contract workers and there was about a month there where neither of us were working. I’m glad to be contributing financially to our household again. I was basically offered my old job back and we were not in a position to turn that down, no matter how much I’d rather make a better quality of life or mothering decision. So, a paycheck! A paycheck is good.
Good things list:
1. The aforementioned paycheck
2. Getting dressed and showering and whatnot every day
3. My commute is terrible, (2 hours each way) but I’m now taking a train and a bus instead of driving, and as I’m a big dork for public transit, that’s kind of cool.
4. I enjoy getting to eat ample snacks and a proper lunch every day, which hardly ever happened as a mom.
5. Workplace’s kitchen. All the freshly brewed quality coffee and sparkling water I can drink.
6. I like my boss and my coworkers a lot.
7. It’s nice to use my brain again.
I’m hoping that this is just a difficult transition period and that we will all be fine. I know I’m not the only working parent in the world, and the fact is, I got to stay home with my baby MUCH longer than most. This contract will be 6 months to a year, so this isn’t forever. And I know already that I’m never doing this again. I’ll just have to find something closer to home next time, and take the pay cut. Any advice from the mamas among you would be appreciated!
Clark, at 17months old, did the following cute/hilarious/brilliant things within the last few days:
1. I was driving along and he started chirping, “Park! Park!” from the backseat. He recognized the park that we’ve only walked or ridden our bikes to, out the car window, driving by all fast.
2. Later, I was loading him into his car seat and a nearby car honked. “Beep!’, he announced.
3. I locked myself out of the house and huffed, “Aw, Jeez!” You know what he did, right? Ahhjeezz! Ahhjeezz! Ahhjeezz!
4. His grandmother drives a light blue Volkswagon Bug. On walks, he’s started to notice Bugs of many other colors, pointing and saying “Nanny!”
5. But a Bug is a very distinctive car, you say. Well, today on a walk, he pointed at a blue Prius (mine is black) and said, “Mama!” Get out of town, right? A Prius looks roughly like a million other hatchbacks. When does he have time to notice what my car looks like? How does he understand that the Prius is *my* car?
6. He picked a dandelion and brought it to me, unprompted.
I think I mentioned that we participated once again in The Grand Cinema’s 72 Hour Film Festival? Well, we did! And our movie kicks ass! It was even Honorably Mentioned at the big screening.
I stole this bit from Erik’s blog. Am too lazy to type.
The requirements for the film include:
* a map
* something breaking
* the line of dialog “Should I know what that means?”
* and in the first minute, someone has to find a bag that contains something important to the film
These things all prove that you made your movie in the allotted time. We came up with our idea on Thursday night, secured locations and costumes on Friday, filmed on Saturday, and edited on Sunday. It all went really smoothly! Due of course, to my TacomaFunPals and their awesomeness.
It’s a hoot, and it’s only 5 minutes long! Oh, and BTW, that foxy lady at the end? Marilyn Strickland, the Mayor of Tacoma.
I'm Jenny. I'm in my 30's, I live
in Tacoma, Wa, and I've been married
to SB since we were children. We added baby Clark to the family in December of 08. This
blog really has no point, it's just
about me trying to live as zestily
as possible while sharing observations
and rants with you all. Speaking of
which, you should start a blog.
Blogging kicks ass.
