The summer is almost over and while it was fun I’m enjoying
the cooler evenings and the shorter days.
It’s a lot easier to get that kid to bed when it’s not sunny
outside. We were busy all summer with
everything, and nothing monumental, just life, a happy little life.
We invested in our tiny yard and built a raised garden bed
along the back fence and extended the retention wall along the right side of
the house. We gained some much needed
extra footage for our bocce tournaments.
Actually, due to the need for good drainage, the field, while nicely
sized, is sloped in such a way that there is an unfortunate dip at one end. If only we didn’t care about the foundation
of our house so much…
The raised flower bed is the perfect size for
the amount of effort I want to put into gardening. I love it, but don’t have the time or
patience to get out there every night and weed, prune, dead head and all those
wonderfully “relaxing” tasks that a garden is supposed to yield. We planted some fun perennials, some of
which got much larger than the expert at Molbaks said they would, and some
annuals for color. The gerberas (those
remind me of you too) did remarkably well and I am happy to invite them back
for next year too. Sadly, the yard is
too minute for fruit trees, so you’ll have to harvest from your orchard and
know that I am envious.
We took time off in August and went to Denver. Visiting family is not really the kind of
vacation that I prefer, but dragging a 2 year old to Spain is probably not
wise. Plus, she doesn’t have a passport
yet and it would be horrific if we couldn’t get her back into the country. I think the grandparents would revolt.
While in Colorado, we took advantage of the grandparents and
Jason and I escaped to Vail for a few days.
We dined in real restaurants, slept in past 6:30 am, and hiked on the
mountain. It was a mini-vacation within
a vacation.
Looking ahead we’ll probably go on an extended camping trip
next year and save our pennies for a lengthy trip in 2015. We’re thinking about a couple weeks in
Hawaii. I get a 4 week sabbatical in my 5th
year of employment, and I want to do something memorable. I’d love to pack it up and go to Europe for
three weeks, but we’ll see what finances, the kid and family stuff does to that
dream. Part of the allure of Hawaii is
the ability to invite the grandparents to come for a week. I will return to Italy, but I don’t want to
pass up opportunities for grandparent/Lucy events. If we were younger it would be a different
story, but I think it’s safe and polite to say that they might not be up for,
or fun on trips forever.
Work is going well. I’m
far more engaged than I was a year ago and while I’m still working at home I’m
more productive and feel like I’m really contributing. For a while there I was very distracted. I do miss the office thing from time to
time. Yesterday I took the bus into
Seattle for an all-day meeting, and it really was fun to be “in it”. However, I hated how early we all had to get
up and how rushed our morning was, so I’m acutely aware of how lucky I am to
work at home. Lucy and I have time to
cuddle and play in the morning and I’m still “at work” before many of the folks
in San Jose.
As for Lucy, she’s so great.
What a crazy ride this parenting thing is. It’s amazing and frustrating and exhausting and
fun all in the same day, sometimes within minutes.
I love her school, and can tell that they really are
teaching her things. Last night we were
reading a book before bed and usually she tells me who the characters are “that’s
a teacher mama” but last night, she points to the teacher and says “that’s a
zebra mommy”. We’ve been to the zoo a
few times, but they recently spent a week talking about animals and it just
sunk in. I’m not saying she’s a genius
or anything, she seems to be of average kid brightness, but it is fun to see
her world expand. My mom thinks she’s
the smartest kid on earth, but I think every kid knows how to work grandma for
treats – Lucy just knows her audience.
She’s quite the chatterbox too. I am the most fluent in Lucyese, but there
are times when things just simply don’t compute. When we’re at home I can ask her to show me
what she’s talking about, but when we’re in the car visual references can be
gone in a flash. She’s got some kid
words that I love, but I know they’ll be gone before too long. We already lost “lala” for Banana and “I You
You“ for “I love you” and “milp” for milk.
Yesterday, Jason corrected her on “pee-pop” for lollipop and I asked him
to let it be. It’s not like she’s not
going to get into kindergarten or Yale because she doesn’t know how to ask for
a lollipop correctly. I think pee-pop is
CUTE, and we can have it for another month or more.
I am sad to report that my child is a nudist. She was naked in the back yard from May until
the rain started just recently. I’m
thankful that we have a good fence and that the Lee’s next door don’t allow
their children outside. No one needs to
see that much bum. Even with religious
sunscreen application, combining back yard nudity and swim lessons Lucy changed
ethnicity sometime in July. Come October, she’ll fade back to pasty and rejoin
the rest of us vitamin D deficient north westerners.
In the world of Renton, SMLC is undergoing big change. Kirby was elected Bishop for the ELCA and has
left St. Matts. We’re on the hunt for a
new head and associate pastor. Pastor Maynard signed on for a 2 year stint
to get us through it and I was relieved to see him. As much as some of the more conservative
congregations are worried that Kirby is going to race in and breathe ‘grace,
love and acceptance’ all over them, I’m equally worried that we’re going to end
up with one of those “Christians are better than everyone, especially gays,
democrats and women” type pastors. Not
that I really think that guy would get past the committee, but there’s still
fear of change. If they are looking for
that guy, I did go to high school
with him and he is a Lutheran pastor. I
don’t get his point of view on many (most) things.
So, what else… in other worlds, my parents are good. Not perfect, but their bouts of getting along
seem to be more frequent than the times when they are in their separate
corners. They put their house up for
sale after investing in some needed maintenance. They put on a new roof, painted and put new
flooring in the entire house. It’s a
TINY house, but cute. If they sell,
they will move to a townhouse with two bathrooms which I hear is a must when
living with a grumpy grandpa.
You can find the house on Zillow. The only really sad thing is that in the last
picture by the barn you can see the burned chicken coup, site of the 2012
Inferno where eight of the best chickens lost their lives to a faulty heat
lamp. “Gee, it’s getting kind of hot in
here.” “Oooh, does someone smell bbq?”
I hope they are able to sell. The yard and adjacent property
are a bit too much for them to handle. Plus, all those chicken ghosts can be really
noisy at night.
Jason and I just celebrated our 4th wedding
anniversary. It was a no gifts year, so
I of course violated the agreement and bought us tickets to see Michael Buble’
in November. He bought me 2 gift cards
to el Gaucho and we’re going tomorrow to dine on some MEAT. Happy continued love, but now that the gays
can marry in Washington, I’m worried about our family. I’m not sure how long we’ll be able to hold
out. So far, we’re hunkered down and
watching shows like the Walking Dead to learn how to protect ourselves should the
hordes of gay people decide to come around to hurt our marriage. Actually, I’m pretty ticked that my one close
set of gay friends haven’t set a date. I
mean, come on, they’ve been together for 15 years, I need a wedding. Wait… not about me. That’s right, I keep forgetting.
I hope you both are happy, busy and good. I hope your mom is in good health and
spending time with her friends. Call and
let us know when you’re in town next, we’d love to see you and catch up. I know it’s hard because you want to see
everyone and we’re saddled with this small person who is no fun at a pub, but I
do miss you.
