The Arrival

An article on CNN.com was posted today that suggests doctors will be able to detect and assess the progression of Alzheimer's using eye tests.   In a study they were able to detect beta-amyloid, a key marker of Alzheimer’s disease in the participants. The hope is that they'll be able to create a test that will help them determine the onset of Alzheimer's before the cognitive symptoms arrive, which would give folks more time to take preventative measures and take or make medical interventions that will delay the devastating effects.

Of course I care about this from the standpoint of an empathetic human as advances in health care is great for everyone.  However, I find myself in a family that has a history with this disease.  Jason's grandmother passed from this when he was young, and his uncle Tom was diagnosed a little over ten years ago.  We are in a constant state of worry and watching over his mom.  She is aware of minor memory issues but cognitive tests don't indicate an active diagnosis is eminent.  

Tom passed away last week.   He had been in full time care for years, and he had stopped recognizing his family a long time ago.  His passing is sad, but also there's some relief in that he's free of his non-functioning body and his family can move on to a daily schedule that doesn't involve his care.   

Jason and Susie will be attending Tom's funeral.  We decided that we all didn't need to make the last minute trip to Kentucky.  Lucy is so very empathetic that she cried for Tom, whom she's never met.   This kid is so lovely.  We explained the complexity of someone passing who, unlike Papa took years and years to go but stopped being themselves a long time ago.   

I'm glad that Jason is going with his mom. I don't think we'd be comfortable with her traveling alone and this trip is one that Susie would have certainly made with John is fraught with some emotional land mines for her.  

This all hits home.  We know that we will be Susie's support system in the event that her forgetfulness turns into a legitimate diagnosis - we're here for it.  What frightens me is that Tom's daughter who is my age has also been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's.   

The Alzheimer's association says that having this in the family is not a guarantee that all in that family will have it.  But, having a parent or a sibling that is diagnosed increased the likelihood of a diagnosis.  Susie has a third sibling and to our knowledge their family seems to be free of it.  Finger's crossed that remains true. 

It's not lost on me that this genetic connection is very close to my own household.  Is it coming for Jason?  Lucy?  Obviously, anything could hit us at anytime.  I am infinitely grateful for dodging the myriad of horrors that could have come for our small kid, but as a parent I worry about EVERYTHING. It's not a crippling fear, I don't need a counselor but the list of things that could be coming for us is long.  This one is just a bit more realistic.  

I really love these humans and want our golden luck to continue.   

A new season

 The weather finally turned.  The rains came and cleared all the smoke that had settled in and eliminated our ability to enjoy fall evenings on the deck.

It rained and rained and then rained some more, the plants are happy and the trees took a while to pop into their fall glory, but as I look out my office window I see the reds, greens, yellows and oranges of fall.  It dropped to 34 last night, so I expect the trees that are holding onto to their green leaves will give up the ghost soon.

Last week marked one month since we lost Jason's dad, and six years since my dad passed.  Soon those milestones won't be intertwined, but in this moment they are.  The shock of John's passing hasn't lifted much.  There is less to do regarding the passing and the work has shifted to ensuring that Susie is comfortable, the finances are organized and that she's doing well emotionally.

Christmas is looming like an unwanted visit from someone that you like but aren't in the mood to see.  I'm looking forward to all the trimmings and making the house festive with sounds and smells.  But, just as when my dad died, putting up the stockings will be hard.  Now there are two that are missing and while one is fresher than the other, the impact is the same.  

After Halloween this year, I organized the storage boxes and cleaned out a bunch of stuff that we no longer use, and I hope to have the energy to do it with the Christmas items as well.   I know there are a lot of things in those tubs that we simply do not use or have never used.   Maybe if I can organize it better, then I can have a special place for the grandpa stockings.  

We had a fun Halloween, the weather cleared up for the night and we set out a table on the driveway and took our party outside.  Lucy and Sophie had a grand time collecting candy from the neighbors.  Jason & Zack enjoyed their walkabout.  They pretend to escort the gals, but in reality, they are having a nice chat, a walking adult beverage and chatting with the other neighbors who have patio parties as well.  The gals are no longer in need of a parent during Halloween, but if they'll let the dads go - the dads will go.

Halloween was Monday, and Tuesday morning I drove over to Yakima to be with mom as she headed to a scary doctor's appointment.  Well, it was "just" an MRI, but I was happy to be able to take her.  I was also able to stand in for Jason and reconnect all of mom's electronic devices to her new Wi-Fi, and clean up her password manager.  

Healthwise, she has a couple things going on, one of which sounds like cancer, but our Internet Dr. degree is not on the same level as the actual doctor, who informed her yesterday that our research was very wrong.  So, good!  The other issue will be significant but isn't life threatening.  Dealing with it will be a short-term pain in the ass (or intestines) and should result in her feeling better in the long run. When that procedure is scheduled, I'll pop back over and hang out as long as she and I can stand it.  

This week in the life of the family three is a doozy.  Today and yesterday, Jason had to go into the office, which now is unusual and puts a kink in our daily activities.  I'm thankful for the time alone in the house but miss his noises.  Today, when the power blinked off for a minute, I had to reset all the clocks on my own.  I mean...whine.

I'm getting my hair done this afternoon, so Lucy will come home to an empty house - which brings up mom guilt.  But the kid is almost 12 and as long as they know someone is on the way, they are fine with being alone.

Tomorrow, is Lucy's first middle school band concert.  It could be great, or it could be excruciating.  To be honest, even though the 6th grade band has only been playing since September I have a lot of faith in their progress.  Lucy was practicing last night - like they do every day and it sounded wonderful.  

Thursday night is my book group and I have finished the main book, but the book of short stories is probably not going to happen between now and then.

Friday we'll work a half day and then head to Monroe to participate in the rehearsal dinner for Cousin Rachel - who is getting married on Saturday.  We have been looking forward to this for ages.  I really love a wedding and this one has all the promises of a wonderful event. 

I'm sure it will be bittersweet for Susie as she and John made it a priority to attend the weddings of everyone in the family.  Not having John with us physically will be sad, but I know in my heart that he will be in that room.  He won't miss it. 

We get a bit of a break, and then it's Thanksgiving.  We'll be in Monroe again for dinner and the next day we have an appointment for John's internment at the cemetery on Friday.  I'm hopeful for decent weather and a small gathering of folks.  I'll research before then if it's allowed or appropriate to have anything prepared to say.    The official catholic service only allowed for 1 speaker and those remarks had to be less than 10 minutes.  Not very personal in my opinion.  Don't get me wrong, it was a lovely service, but not personal.

 After the internment we will turn the Christmas season up to 11.

Fast Forward

Here we are at the end of September, and summer is over.

Beach camp was a huge success, bunking with the older cabin was the perfect set up and all worries were for nothing.  Lucy is excited to go back next year.  The crew were plotting how to ensure they could all be together next year, but that won't happen. Luckily, some of the cabinmates will still be eligible for that age group and ideally they can coordinate their weeks. 

Our trip to Las Vegas was fun, lots of sun, lots of pool time and lots and lots of walking.   I suppose it was even worth the second bout of covid that Jason & I experienced upon return home.   Lucy avoided us and didn't get sick this round.    

We did have to cancel our trip to the lake (again) which was disappointing, but we used that time to get things done around the house, so it wasn't a total loss.

The real thing we are dealing with is that Jason's dad hadn't been feeling well and ended up getting a CT amongst the other tests and they found melanomas on his lung and something on the lower intestine that they can't remove without doing major surgery.  So technically, this is stage 4 cancer, but if it doesn't move to the brain there are options.  They removed the item in the lung and discussed options about the path forward.

At 83, John doesn't want to do anything that is going to make him feel sick all the time.  I believe he has seen too many friends and family that have done chemotherapy and felt worse than they did before, but for the rest of their time.  It's a fair and reasonable desire to want to simply enjoy life.

His oncologist wanted to try immunotherapy, which is supposed to strip the cancer of the shell, if you will, that makes the body think that it's supposed to be there.  The theory is, that once the body recognizes the cancer as a threat it will start to try to heal itself, like it does when you're sick with the flu.   This therapy was supposed to have fewer side effects than a traditional chemotherapy, but that's not what happened.

The immunotherapy threw is body into a medical freefall with everything hurting, zero energy, no desire to eat, his heart rate was wacky and the oncologist told him to get himself to the ER. They drew blood for a myriad of tests, did another CT and finally sent him home.  That was a Friday, and on Monday the Oncologist called once she had the blood results and told him to come to the hospital (in downtown Seattle) to check himself in.   That was 10 days ago.  

There are better days and bad days, but so far, never two good days in a row. They've tried a couple things to get his systems back on track, but in discouraging news they stopped the latest and last best plan that the oncologist and the neurologist had proposed.  

John has moved from one room to another in the hospital, first it was the cardiac floor, then the regular hospital, then the neuro wing, and now he's currently in the critical care unit.  We don't know if this is different than the ICU, but we do know that the care he's getting is top notch.  He certainly likes the nurses in the CCU better than the "regular" hospital floor. 

Jason and I are taking turns taking Susie to the hospital every day, and on Jason's days he goes and stays and tries to work while waiting for the doctor's rounds. On the days that I take her, Jason goes later in the afternoon to visit and then pick her up.  They are both going to be experts in getting around the hospital.  

We are all weary and worried and hopeful. We are also extremely thankful that John & Susie live here now, as we would still be supporting them on this journey if they were in Denver, but we wouldn't be able to do it as a team.   Jason would be basically living in Denver while I would be here with Lucy. As it stands, we can split up the things that need to be done based on our schedules, and still have dinner as a team. Sometimes Susie stays, sometimes she heads back to Merrill Gardens and dines with their friends. It's good that she has that outlet.

We knew that we wanted them here to help in the event that someone got sick, but we were honestly thinking it would be Susie and her memory issues - and in years of their arrival.  

The family is standing by ready to help, but John wants no visitors and there isn't really much they can do at this point. Sometimes, the daily text about John's status is almost too much for Jason, but he finally put me on the text thread so that I could help with that. 

The crazy thing is that the recovery from the immunotherapy has been so all encompassing that we aren't even talking about the cancer anymore.  I have my doubts that John will be interested in trying something new after all this craziness is over.   So, for now it is one day at a time. 

We are researching skilled nursing/rehab places for John for when he's released. He's going to have to work back up to walking and to get his strength back before he can return to their apartment.  Hopefully, we can get him into one that has good food.  He hates the hospital food worse than he hates the food at Merrill Gardens - and that is really saying something.  

Thursday, January whatever 2022

 BLAH.

Ok, it's not that bad.  We had our first direct Covid exposure the first week back to school after the holiday break.  School was closed the 4th, for bad roads.  They needed a day to plow parking lots.  The following day just our school was closed because there was no water.  No water, no toilets, no hand washing - big problems.  

The peanut mentioned that a friend's family had tested positive, but the friend had not using a home test so was going to school Wednesday.  hmmm....ok.  Naturally, we were not at all surprised to find that the friend tested positive when the test was conducted by professionals.  As a "close contact" Lucy was required to "Test to Stay" at school.   This involves meeting Lucy at the school's Covid Center (a portable on campus) and the schools "Covid Coordinator" also known as the Vice Principal.  He did all the paperwork and prepped the test, but a parent had to do the nasal swab.  Four times around the left and then a reverse swish around the right.  NEGATIVE.

We cancelled all weekend plans and decided to wait out the 10 day period.  10 days or 5 days with no symptoms and a negative test...the CDC changed their recommendation during our isolation but go to school window.  Anyway, to be safe we closed ranks and limited our time with others.  Lucy tested again on Monday - NEGATIVE and then we waited to hear about when the third test would be required.   The answer is never, but we were not informed until we arrived at the school to conduct test #3.   I love our school, but information like "she doesn't need the third test we talked about last week" could have been conveyed to us on the day we were there for the second test.  Yes, we live close to the school, but we also have these things called jobs. Grrr

Setting aside my complaints about efficiency, we were thankful that not only did Lucy never test positive but the pal has since returned to school and seems pretty healthy.  I'm sure it was a scary time for their family and we hoped for the best.

The news reports that Omicron is everywhere and is scary, but it also peaking in the northwest but still be diligent... wear masks, get vaccinated, stay distant, but go spend money in shops, don't breathe on anyone, wash your hands, but don't go anywhere.  I jest - it's still a pretty gloomy spread of information.  

The delay of services at the hospitals is the most worrisome.  Our friend had a much needed surgery scheduled for the 31st of December but due to the spikes in positive cases all non-emergent surgeries were postponed.  He is hopeful to get it done next week, but we will see.   

On the 🐀front - we may have won the war.  It has been days and days and days since we've heard any scratches.  It's raining at the moment and the sound on the window behind me makes me nervous, but I'm 98.44% sure it's just a water sound.  But, once you have the threat of pests your mind goes to the crazy place with each little tip tap....

Happy New Year 2022 - more of the same

It's a new year, we're headed into year three of this pandemic - which is possibly here to stay.  A new normal is the hope.  It seems like every time we relax and think we've got it managed but not eradicated, but have learned to navigate the ins and outs things change again.

Our May 2020 Mexican cruise has been rescheduled twice and we put a final payment on the May 2022 Miami-Grand Cayman-Disney Private Island cruise.  But now, the Center for Disease control is once again saying "don't cruise".  We are in a holding pattern, but with few options - we can reschedule again, but haven't talked about that.  We can't cancel outright and get our money back.  We just have to see what the spring brings.  My hope is that things calm down and we can go.

The COVID-Omicron variant is spreading very easily and we thus far we haven't been infected. We are told that with the vaccines that if we get it the likelihood of needing hospitalization is reduced by 81%.  Ok...but I still don't want it.  Masks and distancing it is - and what will be.

Schools in some areas are back online, but the politicians in Washington made some requirements that came with the funding to schools that they would offer in person education to every student.  Um... you shouldn't politic with our kids lives but here we are.

On the other topic - vermin.  We were confident that we had the upper hand, but we found evidence (mouse pooh) in the pantry and under the kitchen sink.   

Yesterday, Jason and I removed all open food items (half eaten bags of chips, munchies, crackers) from the pantry, washed all the surfaces and gave it a good cleaning.   It feels pretty good in there now, but I will not be confident that we don't have a friend until the rodent people come back.

Mom is still in Arizona and while it's not the warm oasis she thought it was going to be she's having a good time.   I wonder how long she'll last; I think the joy of doing nothing is starting to wane.  She updated all of her passwords this week and put them in the password safe.   That's a tedious task which to me indicates a bit of boredom.  She has a new man friend at home, and they are talking everyday - my guess is when he comes to visit in February that that will be the end of this "wintering in Arizona" business.  However, I get the impression that her co-traveler won't be on the same timeline and Nancy needs mom to help navigate the trip back home.  So...time will tell.

It snowed here on Christmas day and we've had 10 days of cold weather.  It's been beautiful and a perfect time to have the roads challenging.  But, school was supposed to start back up yesterday, but the kids got an extra day off, and this morning was a two hour delay to allow the roads to thaw out a bit.  So far, it's still cold outside and I'm not confident that the two hours will do anything to improve the situation.

It's back to work for me today, so I'd better get to it.  I'm here at my desk ready to engage, but maybe I should actually do it.  

Not a creature was stirring...wait, what was that?

Living on the greenbelt has it's perks.  No humans live behind us, we have privacy, and our urban back yard seems a lot bigger than it actually is.  That's the good news.  The bad news... vermin. 

We discovered the day after Thanksgiving that the walls in our basement storage closet were wet.  Thankfully none of the boxes of holiday ornaments nor the wedding dress storage box were impacted but it set off a journey involving emergency plumbers, water removal specialists, emergency plumbers, appointments with pest control people and third emergency plumber visit.  

We are extremely disgusted and horrified by the idea of "friends" in the crawl space and now, almost a month later feel like we might be on the winning side of this eviction.  That's not the right word for what is happening in the down under - it's murder, but the idea of living together peacefully ends when the hobos eat the plumbing lines. 

We found two newly departed mice in the basement bathroom early in the week and as we can't burn down the house had to remove their little bodies.  Congratulating ourselves on our bravery, and acknowledging that there are parts of this process that one or the other of us do better than the other, but that we need each other, we felt superior.   Well, you know that is the moment at which karma slaps you in the face.  A third little fury mouse found its way upstairs into MY OFFICE.

I saw something out of the corner of my eye and I talked myself out of thinking what I was worried about, so the "friend" got braver and scurried across the floor in plain sight.  It was "just" a mouse, but still.  SO GROSS.

What is a girl to do?  Trap that little bastard in the room, set up glue traps and remove as much stuff from the floor as possible. Again, I'd burn the room down to the studs if I could contain it, but that isn't possible and our insurance company has already said that this whole event isn't covered.  "Vermin exclusion, sorry.  No judgement."  

I'm the judgement. Per the pest people, who must be very tired of telling people that they aren't gross, the warmth of our crawl space is too much of a draw and the small framing error and water cleanout that wasn't meshed in was enough for the little family of rats to ignore.  So, we have rats AND mice.  Great.  

My new office mate did not survive the night and has moved on to the Waste Management dump in the sky, or Skyway - where ever that stuff goes when it leaves the bins.  We haven't heard anything in the walls in two days.  

The pest man just pulled into the driveway for the disgusting job of going under the house, clearing and resetting all the traps.  There's no hiding it from the neighbors... his truck is emblazoned with GotaRat.com in HUGE bright red letters.

Let's hope that by Christmas eve, not a creature will be stirring. 

2021 - The year we waited

 I am impatient.  While I like to plan and anticipate a vacation, I really don't' like waiting on things that don't seem to have a planned conclusion.  

We have a number of things just hanging out in the world waiting to conclude. None of these are life threatening, but all are annoying in their own way.  

The first is the saga with the deck furniture.  In 2020 when we had to cancel our New York and Canadian Cruise trip we turned that vacation money into quality furniture for our deck.  If we couldn't leave home, at least we could be cozy in our yard.  We were quickly the owners of a teak couch and two side chairs that were teak and mesh.  (We wanted the matching chairs to the couch, but were trying to be reasonable with our spending.)

Unfortunately, the mesh chairs had a flaw.  At the back and bottom of the seat the mesh was secured to the frame with screws, but the depth of the screw wasn't really big enough to maintain it's grip.  Moving the chairs, or sitting in them was enough jiggling for the screws to simply drop out.  We replaced one of the chairs but continued to have troubles.  Finally, in May we went back to the retailer who agreed to return the chairs and apply the original purchase price to a new purchase.  (High regards to Summerhouse Furniture for their professionalism.).    We ordered the chair that we originally wanted but couldn't stomach the price.  Somehow splitting the cost over two years made it better.  

So, the order was placed May 12th.  We get monthly phone calls from Summerhouse regarding the delays and at last check-in the chairs are set to arrive by November 15th.    The summer season is obviously over, but the good news is that we didn't have to worry about what to do with the chairs while the deck was being worked on.  See Deck Saga below.

The better, but missing chair

The mesh chair

The Deck Saga

Our house is still really new and we don't need major improvements.  However, the deck that the builder installed at the back of our house was questionable, and we're sure it was to code, we think it barely met the minimum requirements.  After 4 years the stairs were extremely wobbly and didn't feel safe.   So, with a bit of planning we decided to have the deck resurfaced and have the stairs rebuilt. 

We engaged the contactor on March 30, paid a deposit and waited.  We waited some more, and then when we got done with that, we waited again.   The crew finally arrived to start work on July 6th.  They made quick work of removing and replacing the old deck boards.   Of course, the moment the work started our deck and back yard became completely unusable.   We underestimated the amount of time it would take, which is something I blame on HGTV.   I should know better, as the two-week home makeover is just as unrealistic as the dog walker and a yoga mat designer finding a two bedroom apartment in Paris.

The main deck work has been done since early August, but we opted to install a custom metal railing.  As we are NEVER going to stain the deck again. It was supposed to be a three week fabrication and a week or so to schedule the installation.  But, here we are on October 7th with no railing.   Contractor Chris emailed last month and said that they were expecting installation on 10/13.  We haven't heard anything about that since then, so if it happens it will be a pleasant surprise.  

Sadly for Contractor Chris, he doesn't get paid until the job is done.  Our deck payment is sitting in the money market account growing month by month. We offered to make a partial payment, but he never responded. 

The resurfaced deck, still dangerous without a railing.

The deck without boards - super dangerous!

Clothing Saga Canada vs the US

Ok, this one is stupid, but is really irritating.   On September 21 I ordered some items from J.Jill a national retailer in the US.  On September 25th I ordered some clothing from a small shop I found in Victoria British Columbia, Canada.

The international delivery arrived yesterday.  

The package from J.Jill was shipped on the 24th and made it's way from New Hampshire to Chicago by the 27th.  It took it three days to get to the FedEx facility in Kent, which is a 23 minute drive from our house (12 miles).

It has been sitting in the FedEx facility for seven days with no movement.  Eventually, the package will be transferred to the US Postal Service for the "final mile", but who knows when that will be.   It has been so long, that the charge to my credit card for the purchase has already been paid.

I wish I didn't like their clothing so much, because the delay is aggravating.

Finally, 2020 Taxes

Usually I prepare our family taxes but this year when I completed the returns the amount of money that I showed we had to pay was triple the amount that we've ever had to write a check for.  (It's good news, bad news - if you have to pay, you're probably doing pretty good financially.)  So, we decided to find an accountant to check our numbers.   She filed an extension with the IRS to allow the time for her to complete our taxes.

I scanned all the information she wanted, and then... you know it.  WAITING.

July --- wait

August - wait

September - come on... reaching out, any word?  A reply, "just finishing up corporate quarterly returns and then I'll get yours done and we can go over them."

October 7th... these damn things are DUE 10/15!   I pinged her today to see if we can schedule time next week.   The lack of communication is beyond frustrating, and unless she comes back and says "you only owe $3,000"  I'm pretty sure this will be the end of our business relationship.   I'll spend the remainder of the year searching for a new accountant.

One year of dinner ideas

 

 Today officially marks one year since the Center for Disease Control identified Covid-19 a pandemic.

We've been home, distanced, careful and cautious, and we will continue to do so.

We haven't had a cold, didn't get the flu, haven't been sick.  Our mental health seems good, no urges to take out frustration on others or ourselves.

We've watched a LOT of tv, I've put together at least 2 puzzles per month, lego sets have been built.  

We've had this dreaded conversation every day:

"What should we make for dinner?"  

Sometimes the question comes before I can finish making lunch...When I don't have an answer it just looms out there like a future failure.  I'm not sure which is worse, having no idea, or having an idea and the other people in this house go "nah..."   

• Tacos? nah
• Lasagna?  nah
• Burgers? nah
• Salad? nah
• Chicken!? nah
• Pork!? nah
• Grilled Cheese? 

WINNER!!!  GC is always a winner with the kid.  I think it's a better lunch than dinner.

I found a recipe for enchiladas, so tonight's meal is managed.  There was a minor tussle over who got to go to the grocery store today, but since I got to leave the house yesterday, to sit in the car while the kid had tap lessons, he gets to go to the grocery store today.  Yes, that is really how it goes.

We don't have a timeline for when we might get vaccinated, but we are hopeful for spring.  We agree that we will probably still wear masks when out in public as  it has been nice not being sick from the regular communicable ailments.  I imagine that they will be required at medical appointments and in large gatherings.   

We have tickets to see John Legend at the Chateau St. Michelle winery (outdoors).  This show has been postponed for a year and is still on the calendar for September.   I'm hopeful that they figure a way to let it happen.  If he were willing to do two shows, they could offer half the people a seat at the second show and let the audience be 50% full.   Or, maybe just not resell the tickets that they refunded.  

When things are 'back to normal" I think I will miss the space between people that we have now.  Sometimes the extra space is downright awesome.  

So, it's been a year, somethings are different in a bad way, some are different in a good way.  All in all, we're ok.

Christmas 2020

 Well, that was a different Christmas.  We enjoyed the break and it feels like we had a vacation.

We did lots of post Christmas organizing, including my office, which at the moment feels spacious and tidy.  

Visiting with our families over the Internet is certainly not the same as being in person, but we managed to make it a festive time. Jason was very proud of his prime rib and I thought we produced a great dinner. 

As per usual, we had too many gifts, but at least we did our part to stimulate the economy.  

Favorite gift... bamboo sheets!  

Elfie is Covid ready

Zooming with Grandma Susie & Papa

Jason gets gifts

Happy Christmas

Visiting with Grandma G!

Health...mental and otherwise

So it turns out that this pandemic thing is wearing on me.  I am go grateful for our home, these people who are here and a solid steady job.  My experience is really nothing compared to folks who have lost jobs, businesses and family.  I have this perspective - I am lucky, I am ok.  However, I am tired.

It is no secret that I enjoy traveling for pleasure and for work.  Those little jaunts to San Jose are good for my career and my well being.   I haven't been since January and I honestly don't expect to go at all in 2021.

We cancelled multiple vacation plans in 2020 - the first being a spring break cruise to Mexico, which for a brief moment was a week in San Diego hanging out at a luxury hotel.  We cancelled the cruise (before the cruise line cancelled the sailing) and booked ourselves on a Western Caribbean cruise out of Miami 1 year later.  That sailing is scheduled to leave Miami on April 3rd, 2021, but as of last week, the cruise line has cancelled all sailings thru February 28th.   Realistically, a cruise the following month is not wise, even if it did happen.   Ships sailing from other ports are being turned around after a single person tests positive.  No one wants a repeat of the initial ships that were stranded with people getting sick.  Especially not for something as optional as a pleasure cruise.

With the window of likelihood for sailing in April dwindling, I found a similar sailing in 2022 and moved our reservation.  Oddly, the cabin was the same (a balcony) but it's in the "Concierge Class" which comes with lots of perks.  The fair was actually cheaper, and do I love perks.   Unfortunately, our travel companions didn't book within the same haste as us, and while on the ship are not in the special category.   To be honest, I think their original fare was much less than ours and the move to the CC wasn't practical.   Provided the sailing occurs, we'll use the CC perks to reserve the activities we had little hope of being able to book as lowly new customers.    We could get our money back at this point, but I am looking forward to this cruise.  And, technically, our travel companions could book into the CC class, but they don't seem too interested in adding an extra $4000 to their vacation costs.  Sheesh, some people.

We are trying for an alternate activity to replace the now moved cruise.  We have two - two bedroom villas reserved in Palm Springs for the week of spring break this year.   I've never been to PS, but I love sunshine, a pool and not washing my own sheets.  It's been fun researching a new location for things to do, but I just looked at the travel restrictions in Palm Springs and unless things get better it looks like we won't be going there either.   

A lot can happen between now and April, I hope that people do their part and stay home for Christmas - like they didn't do for Thanksgiving, and that this vaccine works (and that it doesn't have long term ill effects that we can't foresee).   

Our summer travel plans have shifted quite a bit.  Instead of using my sabbatical to  go to New York as planned last summer, the rescheduled time off will include a 1 week house rental at Seabrook in July.  Fingers crossed for good weather.  Our good neighbors will come join us for some or all of the week which will be fun.  The rest of the time off will be spent doing other things - maybe time at the lake with Marty & Lynne or if Lucy can go to summer camp a few days that's just Jason and I somewhere.   

The sabbatical program is wonderful, but it is hard when your partner doesn't get the same time off.   I expect that I'll take the peanut to go camping with Grandma G.

The other activity I am mulling is to change the flooring in my office.  I was thinking a fabulous tile floor would be great, but Jason would be more comfortable extending the hard wood floors.  I agreed that if we can find the same exact flooring that I would agree to using it, but if not - I get to mix it up!  Tile or a different (darker) carpet.    It will be a big job - obviously we will hire out the actual floor material removal and replacement, but there is a LOT of stuff in this office.  (Especially at Christmas)  Some of it may be time to part with, but other stuff I love.  I do think better storage could make a difference.  So, the planning for that has begun to form in my head.  

Anyway..here we are, all plans and nowhere to go.

It's my turn to cook... again

I guess I didn't realize how much we chose to eat the fast way, by rotating thru our favorite restaurants in our area.  Af the workday winds down I think, what's for dinner and for the last eight nights it's been home-cooked. 

When this isolation thing is all done I hope we find a better balance between a dinner out at Casa Durango for amazing authentic Mexican food and the kitchen cuisine I've been cobbling together.

Tonight we will eat a South African Chicken Chutney that is very tasty and actually easy.  The hardest part was remembering to thaw the chicken.   That planning ahead thing will get you every time.

It would be nice to have staff around to plan, prepare and clean up meals, but I suppose I needed a different life for that to happen. 

Homeschool

School Schedule

Today is Wednesday, March 18th

School Activities

• Math pages 8,9,10
• Soduko P 11-14
• Crosswords #6, 9
• Spelling: Page 10&11 
• Writing:  O465 Topic:  The best thing about being home is...
• Computer time: 1 hour (your choice from Mrs. Henry's page)
• Reading:  30 minutes Alice

iPad time after completing the above.

Special Activity

LEGO CHALLENGE

Build a bridge

• The road must be 6 inches from the floor and 1 foot long
• Doesn't have to be beautiful, but we will test to see how much weight it can hold
• NO GLUE

Information

Mom has meetings (on the phone)9:30-noon1:30-4pm

Dad has meetings
8:30-9:00
2:30-3:00

If office doors are shut, please only come in for an emergency

SNACK TIME @ 11am (tv ok during snack)

LUNCH Chicken Noodle Soup & Grilled Cheese (I'll get more tomato soup the next time we go to the store)   Fruit

School gets out at 4pm today

A new world

Covid-19 has impacted our daily life.   School is closed, so we are making a daily list of homeschool activities to keep the Peanut engaged and in a school state of mind.   She loves Soduku and is having fun with the crosswords.  Spelling continues to be a struggle.

J's employer made the decision that they too can work from home when special circumstances are present.   The closing of school was the ticket for him to be allowed to do something that he has been able to successfully do for the last few years.   Sometimes it's management that needs to change.

For me, I've been working at home for the last 11 years, so the real disruption is all these people in the house 24/7.  I have always loved my quiet alone time, so this is truly an adjustment.

Thankfully, the weather has been spectacular for the last 5 days, so we have been able to get out and go to the park, get some vitamin D in the chilly sunshine.

I feel for the mom's in the neighborhood with younger kids.  Keeping the littles busy for days and days on end can be exhausting.  L is at the age where she can entertain herself, and reach out via facetime to hang with friends who we can't see in person.    She has one friend that they facetime and then login to a game called Roblox and they play together in that virtual world.   Thank goodness for out high volume Internet.  L isn't able to play or talk with strangers online, and I hope to leave it that way for the next 200 years.

Emotionally, this is rough.  The news is scary, and staying off social media is critical to not getting so much information that it feels like the virus is knocking on our door (but, honestly isn't it?)

We are lucky in that the closure of restaurants and other venus only impacts us as an inconvenience, rather than our livelihood.  It's hard to know how to help folks that are impacted.

Dear you,

From a recent letter I sent to a friend who still does snail mail:

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 5^th 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 4^th 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.

Date Night

To celebrate our 4 years of wedded bliss (and those few moments of "we had better work this out") Jason and I planned to have an adult only dinner at el Gaucho.  We lined up a very reliable and fun babysitter for Lucy and made our reservations.  Friday night around 8pm, a text came in from said babysitter informing us that she had a fever of 102 and wouldn't be coming Saturday.

I must say that as disappointing as it is to have a babysitter cancel at the last minute, I really appreciate that she didn't want to bring whatever plague she was exposed to into our home.   I made a series of phonecalls to the primary babysitter - voicemail, "Aunt Ninny" - voicemail, and finally Cousin JoJo's go-to emergency caregiver - voicemail.

Then we pulled out the big guns and called "Bama" (grandma) .  It is a lot to ask to have her drive over from Yakima to hang out with the kid while we get dressed up and go on a date with each other.  We were resigned to having to reschedule our date - after all, we do live together, it's not as though it was a life or death once in a lifetime event.  However lucky us, Bama came through for us and drove over the next morning.

Bama arrived during Lucy's nap.  Lucy squealed with delight when Bama opened the door to rescue Lucy from the dreaded nap.  Normally, after naps Lucy likes to sit and snuggle with me, but not when Bama is in the house.

With Lucy safely entertained, we proceeded with our date night plans.  We hit happy hour at Pearl, then went over to dinner.  Dinner was, as expected spectacular.  We were there from 7pm until well after 10.   There are times when I worry that we'll run out of stuff to talk about, but I think that worry is misplaced.

We talked about the evolution of the last four years, established the thing that is causing the most stress in our lives (we refinanced the house into a 15 year mortgage - which we can totally afford, but in doing so sucked up about 85% of our disposable income, so now we're having to focus more on what we spend) and then we moved on to other things that interest us.  We talked about the kid, vacations we want to take, work, current events, popular culture stuff and everything in between.  I guess, it's safe to say that we'll continue this marriage thing for another year.

Oh and we did establish that he's not really very serious about an 80" tv.  Whew.

This morning we got up and made breakfast while Lucy and Bama colored and then went for a walk.  Today has that lazy Sunday kind of feel to it.  There will be football on downstairs at 1:30, and at the moment, I'm catching up on laundry while Lucy watches her weekend movie.

I"m off to San Jose in the morning, so in addition to hanging out, football and laundry I have to pack.

Last night was great, but we're back to real life and that's good too!

Life, shoes and hap-PEE-ness

hello love!

 What's been going on around here?  Not much and everything.  Yes, nothing and everything.

Let's get the big news out of the way so we can focus on other things.  Lucy is semi-regularly using the loo to make a tinkie.  She's covered in temporary tattoos and for the most part is waking up in the morning semi-dry.  Of course, having said that I have to state for the record that she did have a tiny pee blow out in the bed this morning, but accidents are part of the process.  By no means is she spending any significant time without the diaper.  

She has worked out a #2 or two at school, but we have not seen any of that action at home.  I look forward to it and dread it all at the same time.  There is a lot of convenience in just being able to zip around town and know that potty breaks are contained.  I'm sure we'll adapt to having to use every public restroom in the state of Washington.  

Our girl also just attended her first official Sunday School class.  I was trying to dump her into the nursery and she wasn't having it, but she saw a gaggle of kids her size in the room next door and asked to go in.  She had a grand time making arts and crafts, singing and of course snacks.  I'm sure there was a church message in there somewhere too.  I was surprised that she wanted to go because she didn't know the teacher or the kids (except one.)  Sadly, we got an email from the coordinator yesterday to kindly say that Lucy needs to be 3 to be in the class.  Sure, that is the rule and I can't blame the coordinator for doing what she needed to to keep her volunteer teacher happy, but I feel badly for Lucy.  She has been talking about Sunday School ever since.  It made a huge impact and she can't wait to go back.  This morning, I told her that we were lucky to get to visit the class early and that she could go back the day after her birthday.    Jason told me it was wrong to tell her that Jesus won't want her until she's 3.  I guess I understand that sarcasm might be lost on a 2 year old.  Whatevs.

Guess what we just did?

In other news, Thursday is the 4th anniversary for these wacky people.  To celebrate they will be cooking a take and bake pizza and giving thoughtful cards to each other.  They have a strict 'no fart joke' anniversary card policy that will be enforced.   Just so you know, fart joke cards are allowed for non-marquee birthdays.

I keep sending Jason a hint for the 5 year anniversary (Round Brilliant Diamond Double Strand Eternity Necklace) but he keeps saying the link opens to an 80" tv.  Strange.  I tried to tell him that for the price of the 80" tv he could buy the necklace and a 32" tv and have $500 in cash in his pocket.  I don't think my argument is going over well.  I think we're both being silly.  Everyone knows that next year we're going to finish the retention wall in the front.  Yup, there's my diamond necklace.  It will look a lot like 12 feet of concrete blocks and dirt fill.   Hang that around your neck.

But, lest you think that I'm free of the shopping bug.  I found a stunning red dress for a party in October and it will be used quite heavily during the holidays.  I can think of at least three other outings for it already.  I love it so.

Speaking of love. I found a supplier for boots made especially for the "wide calved" ladies.  I ordered a pair and I am filled with hope that I will love how they look.  I am also filled with worry that I will love how they look.  If they are nice, that is the end of my shoe (or any shopping) budget for the rest of the year...and then some.  Ouch, but aren't they pretty?  Now I just have to tell Jason, as they do eclipse the agreed upon spending limits for our little organization.  However, so far they are just on loan and can be returned if we don't love them.

Ok, on that bit of "how TP helps the economy" information, I'm going to sign off. 

just...

Raaar!

That's all, thank you.

Little Girl, Big Bed

There are times when we are fortunate to transfer a tired girl from the car to her bed for a nap. Sunday, I brought her upstairs hoping to extend the much needed nap but found that her toddler bed was unmade. We had experienced a minor accident and all the sheets, protective covers and blankets were in the washing machine, I was thankful that we have the queen sized bed in her room. The bed is there because I was (am) too cheap to get rid of a relatively new bed, and it's nice to have options for more than one set of adults to sleep over at the same time. (Christmas?)

Because of the state of the toddler bed I decided to put Lucy on the queen. She rolled over, grabbed a friend (stuffed animal) and resumed the nap. The nap was a success, in fact we had to wake her up for dinner. Tired girl! She liked the big bed. Now, she won't sleep in the toddler bed. I asked her if she was going to want to sleep in that bed again and she replied, "Lucy in the big bed."

We'll keep the toddler bed around a while in case this is a phase, but based on all of our other developmental milestones, once a transition is made she does not revert. We have rails on the big bed and today I'll be remaking the bed with the moisture resistant cover in the event of accidents. Later if we need to use her room for guests (Christmas?) we can boot her out. Kids all over the earth have given up their beds when the grandparents come to visit. Lucy should enjoy this tradition too. When I asked Lucy where Grandma should sleep when she comes to visit Lucy said "Grandma with Lucy." This sounds sweet, but I wouldn't want to sleep with that kid unless she was already in deep deep REM when I went to bed.

Ah....days gone by.

Room to play

The old shelves

In an effort to get our adult stuff into a storage solution that:

• holds more stuff
• holds more stuff out of sight
• takes up a lot of room
• encourage the kid to play upstairs

We picked white wardrobe units from Ikea and the saga of re-configuring the loft area began.  I packed all the items that were on the lean-to shelves from the single girl condo and moved them out.  They will flank the tv at the front of the room.  They will again hold our family photos, but now also kid toys.

The wardrobes will hold our table cloths, music, games,  and other random things including my stealthy box of Christmas gifts that I gather throughout the year.  The fact that I need a ladder to reach the top shelf gives me comfort that I can hide things from Lucy for a while.  I don't hide things from Jason, and can't shop too far in advance for him.  He's tricky.

Building the massive wardrobes was a Herculean task that required multiple trips to Ikea due to a faulty designer selection and a break-fix.  These units are 93 inches tall and 80 inches wide - they are now part of our lives permanently.  When we die, we can be stowed on the bottom shelf with room to spare.

After they were expertly assembled (I LOVE YOU JASON!), the next task was to stow all the music CDs into binders.  This allowed us to eliminate an entire bookshelf of cd's.  Sounds easy, but it was a tedious task and the desire for alphabetization was strong, but mostly the music grouped in alphabetical sections - not order.

Once that one shelf of music was moved we were able to bring one of the lean shelves back in and then start the move of the DVD library into the office.

  This 'small' project has thus far impacted the loft, the living room downstairs, the office, the guest bedroom and the closets in our bedroom and the hall.   Oh, and about 6 weekends and no less than 16 nap-work sessions.

This past Sunday, we made amazing progress and managed to move all the big furniture pieces that will be impacted.

Yesterday during my lunch break, I decided that the room needed more color and so I pulled out the wool carpet that we had been storing behind Lucy's bed and dragged it into the room.

When you see movies and some schlub rolls up a dead body into a carpet and then puts it in the back of their car to dump somewhere you should know that it is made-up bullshit.  The carpet alone is hardly manageable by one person, let alone adding the weight of a lifeless thug.    My plans of disposing of unwanted house guests in this manner are dead and require retooling.  Oooh..tools.  There's an idea.

Anywhooo.... I restocked the lean shelves with our trinkets and loaded the bottom levels with things like the lego bin, a tub of stuffed animals and when Lucy came home she ran into the room, stopped looked around and immediately understood that this was a zone to play in.  My heart soared when she grabbed the legos and the dolls and plopped herself on the floor.  

I hoped that if we got rid of the towering shelves of dvds and cd's that she knew she wasn't supposed to touch that she would feel like this was her space.  Mission accomplished.

We still have a few tasks left.  We'll be installing a wire curtain rod along the blank wall (at a safe height) to hang current art work and colorful play things and I'm still moving things around from packed drawers to the wardrobe.  We need to move some of the downstairs toys "up".

like this!

The toy kitchen will remain downstairs, but the bins of dolls and trains will come to the upper play room.   Lucy is welcome in every corner of the house (not the home office), but her toys need containment.  And if I'm too lazy to pick up everything at nights end, I don't want it in the downstairs area.

Our office actually looks more polished with the removal of the frilly Pottery Barn desk and the addition of the DVD towers, as well as the console piece that was behind our couch fits very nicely under the window and I've managed to clear out some drawers to give Jason more storage.

I'm delighted with our work.

Changes

In a fit of non-productivity, I reviewed the posts on the baby blog that I kept leading up to the arrival of our girl.  I wish there was a way to archive the blog to keep it offline - perhaps I shall call the folks at shutterfly and talk about the need for this service.

It's fun to go back and get into my own head during the exciting time of waiting for the reality of where we're at today.  I scan those pictures from the ultrasound and try to make the leap to the face of the little girl who begged me to stay in bed this morning and drink more pretend juice and eat more pretend beans (M&M's).

There was such a level of the unknown during that time.  Anticipation and longing to know if this kid would bring the joys of parenting that people talk about.  We knew there would be agony and frustration, but people imply that it's all worth it.  Turns out - our girl is willful and tests us a lot, but she is happy in our home and we are happy with her in it.

Then

Now

Things have changed a lot since those early days.  Lucy jokes around with us, sure it's little kid humor but it's great.  This morning she climbed on Jason's back and we "lost her".  We looked all over the bedroom, under the bed for her.  She giggled and laughed as we searched.  I hope I never for get the sound of her little voice "I'm here Mommy, I'm right here."  When we found her I gave her a big hug and told her that I had missed her.  She hugged back and said "me too."  Come on... how awesome is that?

Lucy has 'things' now.  She loves her bike and thanks to bike days at school is getting quite proficient.  We take the tricycle to the park and she zips around.  She accepts the helmet and is happy to wear it.     She is also starting to want money - change really.  She likes it and asks for it.  Today she unzipped my wallet and found all the coins.  I explained that they were mine and that if she wanted money we could work out some chores for her to do to earn her own money.  Cleaning her room and picking up her toys shouldn't be earning activities, but we'll come up with something.

We were in Long Beach last weekend and while it was far from sunny and warm we had a nice time.  We abandoned the port-a-crib and took a small cot for Lucy.  It started out as a major failure, but ended up working out marginally well.  Once we moved the cot into the big closet in the room we were in she had her own room and was able to shut out all distraction and fall asleep.  For naps it was a lot like locking her in a closet, but when she fell asleep it was on the cot.  Night time was a lot easier.

The biggest thing it did for us was to confirm that it was time to convert her crib to the toddler bed.  We did it the day we came home and we hope that by Saturday nap time that she'll be so use to it that she WILL nap in it.   So far, it's been three nights and there have been no incidents of falling out although last night she woke up around 12:45 and seemed lost in the bed.  I went in and laid her back down and she was fine.    She was super tired as it was the final night of swim lessons and we got home LATE.  This is not a kid who regularly goes to bed at 9pm...that extra hour matters.

The 'new' bed!

We're about to leave for vacation and while we're only going to visit the Denver grandparents there is a lot of prep work to do.  I have a business trip earlier in the week and when I get back we leave less than 12 hours later.  This weekend will be a mush of packing, and planning.

I'm looking forward to vacation (even though I'm not being a very good employee right this second.)  The bookclub ladies were kind of surprised when I said that the trip was going to be fun.  It's reasonable to think that a vacation to the in-laws is more of an obligation than a vacation, but as I've said before the in-laws are good people who are relaxing and enjoyable to be around.

Let's do all keep our fingers crossed that Miss Lucy naps while there.  She was a bad napper when we were there last Summer, but I think we'll be able to wear her out more this time.

Oh, and because this is MY blog I can proclaim for the world (5 readers) that my big girl told me this morning that she needed to pee, and actually did it on the potty!  It's the 3rd time and it's not a huge trend, but today was the first time she took off her diaper to do it.  The other times it occurred at bath time so she was diaper free.

For the vacation, instead of hauling a stroller and a port-a-crib we'll be bringing a bicycle helmet and a toddler potty insert.  See... life changes quickly.