4.30.16 - April joy statuses

The Piano Guys

Was really enjoying these guys while working today. Especially enjoyed there Star Wars medley, and covers of 1000 years and Without You.

4.20.16 - Internship

I really enjoy my internship at the crime lab. We have ID badges that we scan to get into the parking lot and into the lab itself. Every morning when I scan to get access I feel glad to be a part of the lab, even if only as an intern.

I’d already applied for two different full time positions and had two interviews for one of those before getting the internship position, so I’d already had a taste of unsuccessfully trying to “get in” to the lab. Now I’m here and I’m getting to know the analysts, and it’s great. First of all I am seeing more and more what the job entails and feeling more confident all the time that I could handle this job well. Second I get to know the analysts beyond their job positions and see them as regular people I could be friends with. Being in the lab makes the whole idea of becoming a DNA analyst seem that much more attainable, both in terms of what the job actually requires and in terms of how, if others can do it, I can do it.

I also like the project I’m working on for my internship. For now it’s mostly data entry, which is simple enough, but what I’m analyzing is interesting and it’s also helping me learn more about Excel, which I really enjoy. Makes me want to make Excel tables for everything.

And it’s nice to have somewhere I need to be that’s out of the apartment. I overall enjoy the work I do for Charter, but when that was my only job I spent basically all of my time either in the apartment or at Starbucks, and that can get tedious. Now my day is nicely split between being at lab and doing Charter work, such that I don’t have enough time to get really tired of either one of the jobs. 

Break Up Songs!

List includes:

--Gives You Hell, All American Rejects

--Love Me Dead, Ludo
--Momma Sed, Puscifier
--Lollipop, Mika 
--She Hates Me, Puddle of Mudd
--Why Don't You Get A Job?, Offspring
--We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, Taylor Swift
--Somebody That I Used To Know, Gotye

--257 Weeks, Nine Days (this applies only with a very loose interpretation of the lyrics, but it's very energetic)
--Ain't It Funny, Ja Rule
--Alfie, Lily Allen (she's singing about her brother but I've seen relationships like this)
--Barely Breathing, Duncan Sheik
--Black Horse & The Cherry Tree, KT Tunstall
--Fairytale, Sara Bareilles
--Here's A Quarter, Call Someone Who Cares, Travis Tritt
--I Saw The Sign, Ace of Bass
--Kiss This, Aaron Tippin
--Knock Em Out, Lily Allen
--Leavin', Jesse McCartney
--Little Black Backpack, Stroke 9
--Love Song, Sara Bareilles
--Never There, Cake
--Run Around Sue, Dion
--Shadow Boxer, Fiona Apple
--Smile, Lily Allen
--String of Pearls, Jimmie's Chicken Shack
--Vegas, Sara Bareilles
--What Goes Around Comes Around, Justin Timberlake
--What's My Age Again?, Blink 182
--Irreplaceable, Beyonce
--You Don't Know Me, Ben Folds
--Settle Down, Kimbra
--You Don't Know, Reel Big Fish
--Hate You, Reel Big Fish
--Where In The Hell Did You Go With My Toothbrush?, Reverend Horton Heat
--Take Me Or Leave Me, RENT
--50 Ways To Say Goodbye, Train
--If You're Gonna Straighten Up, Travis Tritt
--Love Yourself, Justin Bieber
--Forget You, Cee Lo Green

4.16.16 - Clara update

Now over 13 months, Clara is more interactive all the time. She's started making this goofy face, this cheesy smile, at me sometimes, and I love it.

She tends to do it more when we are looking in the bathroom mirror together.

She's taking a few steps at a time several times a day now. I'd forgotten to tell the nanny this had started, so when Clara suddenly started walking at the nanny's house nanny was very surprised/excited. She's sent me a few videos of it since, so cute. Clara doesn't bend her knees quite enough yet, so she hobbles on her straight legs until they're too far apart and then she falls over. She doesn't seem to mind though, she's clearly very proud.

She babble plenty but she's just starting to have recognizable speech patterns. Sometimes it's pretty clear she's trying to imitate the specific words we're saying. So far her most consistent pattern is saying "doh!" every time we say "no." She's also said "doh" when I repeat the teddy bear's name: BoBo.

It really is amazing both to realize how much she already understands and how much you can interact with someone so little, and to see her understanding increase and our opportunities to connect increase alongside it. I enjoy it so much every time she imitates my facial expressions or words, and while it's bittersweet continually seeing how she's not as little as she used to be, it's so much fun watching her grow.

Last night Jack was very tired and was going to go to bed early and I was going to get Clara ready for bed. Jack was already in bed, though still awake, winding down. I went into our room to get my own pajamas, and Clara quickly knee-walked in after me and, with great effort, pulled herself onto the bed. (Oh, that's another thing she can do now--she clutches the bedsheet with her tiny fists, lays her big hed flat on the surface, and grunts a lot as she slowly pulls herself up to the mattress.) She seemed excited to play with Daddy so instead of taking her in the nursery to get ready, I took off her day clothes while she was crawling all over Jack. Then for several minutes, just in a diaper, she just kept crawling over his chest and stomach, knee walking around his legs, and just flopping all over him, all while babbling away. She had a lot to say but didn't seem to care whether we were listening or responding. She was in her own world climbing Dad Mountain. Fun Friday night.

4.13.16 - Anniversary actual day

We already celebrated in full last weekend, but on the actual day of we had a mini celebration. We already had an unopened bottle of Merlot, and Jack went and bought Reese's, sea salt caramel ice cream, and salt and pepper kettle chips (for me) and jalapeno kettle chips (for him).

Then we set up the pilot episode of Turn on the desktop computer and just lounged around watching it and eating junk food. I'm already on the second season and really enjoying it, enough so that I don't mind rewatching the first season with Jack.

I think for the entire first episode Clara was up and about with us, just hanging out in the living room. She wasn't paying hardly any attention to the show, though, and just looking at her board books and examining her toys. Soon she got sleepy so I went through her bed time routine while Jack kept watching (since I've already seen the first season).

After I put her to bed, at one point some really epic thing happened in the show and Jack got excited and yelled "This is sick!"...which woke Clara up. So I went in and sat with her but she was back down in just a minute. Then, as if as an anniversary gift to us, she stayed asleep all night for the first time in a week and a half or so. So that was fantastic. 

Jack and I watched the full 2nd episode before going to bed. It was reminiscent of our pre-child days when we used to watch several episodes of a show together while working on our laptops or just hanging out. Very enjoyable.

4.13.16 - Mom's visit

Mom came out for a spring visit to see us (especially Clara). She was very helpful. She watched Clara not only every weekday she was here, but also all afternoon and evening on the Saturday she was here so Jack and I could go down to San Francisco to celebrate our anniversary.

Because Mom babysat they got a lot of one-on-one time together, which I think is good for both of them.  She helped Clara practice balancing by holding Clara’s hands while she bounced up and down on our bed. She also held just one of Clara’s hands and helped her walk all over the place. By the time Mom left Clara was taking 2-4 steps by herself at least once daily but usually more than that.

Jack and I were pretty busy for most of the visit, but it was still nice to get to visit with Mom when I got home from lab in between Charter work and stuff. One night she bought us all In & Out (her first time having it). Another night she took us to an Italian restaurant in downtown Sacramento, where we had some really delicious pizza and I ordered an Angry Orchard in my newfound effort to like beer because it would make Jack so happy. (Not sure if Angry Orchard counts as beer, but it was not bad.)

The whole visit had really nice weather. Mom took Clara on walks outside a few times. One time Mom, Clara, and I all went to the park where Clara knee-walked through the grass and explored the playground (once the “big” 3- to 6-year olds had vacated). 

On the last evening Mom was in town we walked Clara around the apartment complex—not in her stroller, just holding onto Mom’s hand and practicing toddling around. Mom held her near some of the big tress and she examined the bark and the leaves moving in the breeze. At one point she was looking up at a very tall tree and said, twice, what sounded distinctly like “Whoaaaa.” She was also pretty happy about touching all the mailboxes and various bushes. It was a sweet and peaceful time.

Also throughout the visit I couldn’t help but notice (again) how Mom laughs so easily at all my jokes. It makes me laugh too. She makes me feel hilarious. Also funny is how once she starts laughing hard enough she starts wheezing, which reminds us both of Everett making fun of her wheezing, which is funny in itself. That happened several times.

JaMa photobooth.

On her last full day in town, I decided not to bother with Charter work and just spend the afternoon with her and Clara instead. We went to Ross and I picked up a few things for the apartment (including, at long last, a welcome mat). We went to Once Upon a Child and Mom got Clara a bunch of sleeveless tops for impending summer. Mom seems to really like getting Clara clothes and always seems happy when she sees Clara wearing the clothes Mom bought for her. Fortunately Mom and I have similar taste in what is cute on Clara, so that works out well.

For example, I love this summer shirt Mom got Clara for her birthday.

Jack was working that entire afternoon and evening, so Mom and I had a lot of one-on-one visiting time. Later in the evening after I got Clara down for bed, I went and picked up some Panda Express and Mom and I ate at the dining room and had really good talks about past relationships and how awesome Jack is and who knows what else. I’m glad we Skype so often throughout the year when we’re long distance, but it’s still hard to replace in person talks because there isn’t the technical disruption. I was glad we fit in some quality time despite a busy visit.

The next afternoon I drove her to the airport and we brought Clara with us. Mom sat in the back with her to spend more time with her before leaving. Parting ways isn’t nearly as hard now, as adults (and in a world with Skype, Facebook, and free long-distance phone calls) as it was when I was younger, but I still thought bittersweetly about how many times my family has said goodbye at airports.

We decided to park and walk in. It was really nice weather still. We stood with Mom while she checked in and went up the escalators with her to the train area (after which only ticketed passengers can go). Mom said goodbye to Clara very sweetly. Clara was mostly distracted by all the people and other things to look at. And then Mom got on a train and we went back down the escalators. <3 Hopefully Clara will go out with Jack this summer so they can have another visit in June.

4.12.16 - Mom's laughs

4.9.16 - Anniversary cruise

The summer after we got married a friend of ours, Nick, gave us a gift card to go on a Hornblower cruise in San Francisco. It was a very generous gift, and very thoughtful. He said he remembered how much I love SF and he knew we weren't going to have a honeymoon so he thought it would be a nice, small replacement.

He didn't know at the time that we were already trying to get pregnant so I wasn't drinking. For that reason we opted to save the gift card for a later date. After we had Clara I wondered if we would ever get a chance to use it, since doing so would require a babysitter for like 8 hours.

Then this year Mom happened to be coming out to visit the weekend before our anniversary, which was perfect. We booked tickets for Saturday and Mom agreed she could watch Clara while we went down to SF.

We listened to Epic Rap Battles the entire way there, re-remembering older battles we forgot we loved. Jack was trying to pick his top three but kept having to adjust his answers as we heard more battles. If I remember right, he was trying to decide between these ones:

I took a nap for part of the drive but woke up in time to go through the newly-named Robin Williams tunnel and over the Golden Gate Bridge. Since we don't have reason or opportunity to visit SF regularly anymore, every time we do make it down I feel very bittersweet wondering if I'll see it again and, if so, how many more times before it's over? I've spent a lot of my life either living in SF or daydreaming about SF, and I can sense that era is pretty much wrapping up. So it's always nice to be down there and enjoy it a little more.

We got to the piers and were prepared to pay for garage or lot parking, since few meters will let you buy more than 1.5 hours at a time and we'd need more time than that. But we forgot that many meters stop charging at 6pm. It was near that time already, so we found street parking near the pier and relaxed in the car until 6. Then we just walked over to the piers without having to pay any parking! Yesss.

Jack was already hungry and we still had an hour before we'd be boarding and Don and Merlene had sent us some cash as an anniversary gift, so we walked around the piers looking for a place to get a quick bite and drink. While we were looking we found a window display of large old photographs of the area from decades past. There was even a photo from before there were cars, showing a bunch of horses tied to posts in front of docked ships. Jack and I joked about how someday people will look at photos from this time period and marvel at how far technology has advanced. "Look, they were still using cars. Can you imagine getting around before teleporters?"

We found a cafe very near the pier for our cruise. It was an overpriced organic place, but the nice thing about that was it was pretty empty, even at dinner time on a Saturday. We got a corner table and ordered drinks and a cheese plate, which was completely delicious. It included foccacia and honey and walnuts too. The restaurant had bare bulbs hanging from the high ceiling, big bright windows, and mason-jar type jugs for water. It was a bit hipster but it was clean and pretty, and I got a little buzz off my cocktail and we had a good time just chatting. And we didn't really have to worry about the bill thanks to Jack's parents. That was really nice.

We finished up right around 7pm, so we just walked straight to the boarding area. It was a little rainy, but they had a canopy. It was also a little chilly. I was really glad I'd brought my winter coat. Some women were dressed up in strapless, backless, or short dresses and while they looked great, I felt cold just seeing them. They were letting people onto the walkway to the boat in groups of a dozen or so at a time, and it felt like the anticipation of waiting for a roller coaster.

We were maybe the fourth bunch to get onto the ramp, and then we saw the delay. A professional photographer was taking pictures of each couple or group in front of the boat. We knew we wouldn't be buying our picture later, so we tried to hurriedly take a selfie in front of the boat ourselves, as our own souveneir.

We got on the first deck and checked in to get our reserved table. There were three decks: first one was largest and they got smaller from there. The second deck had a dance floor in the center. When we first walked onto it there was a bar and a lot of tables for groups of 6 or more. Then there was the dance floor, and then the front was lined with windows and tables for two all around it. All the tables had white linen tablecloths and were already set with the fist course, a wedge salad. 

We had got the anniversary package, so our table included a chilled bottle of champagne, Ghirardelli chocolates, and a wrapped gift and card. The gift was two complimentary champagne flutes with the Hornblower's logo. 

We hadn't even left the docks yet and the view was already gorgeous. The Bay Bridge stretched across the many windows lining the dining area, and then to the right we could see downtown SF.

Our server asked us whether we'd like to take the champagne home or open now. I answered quickly "Oh, we're opening it now" and Jack laughed. So the server opened and poured and we sat and sipped and enjoyed the view waiting for everyone else to board. At first they had a DJ picking songs in the background, but then they switched to a live piano player and accompanying singer, and they were very good. Very old-school swing-ish lounge-ish Peggy Lee type thing.

We felt the boat's engines rev up and Jack looked at me excitedly, and then we were off. Jack pointed out that we should go up and outside on the top deck while there was still light out, and I'm so glad he said that. I was going to wait until later but the best pictures and video we got was definitely at dusk before it was too dark to see.

Also the other passengers hadn't really noticed the deck yet, so we were the only ones out there. It was so beautiful because San Francisco is such a beautiful city!

When we got back to our table we decided to go ahead and order the charcuterie plate since Jack was still pretty hungry. While we waited for it we evaluated the set of Ghirardelli chocolates and picked our favorites and split them to taste test. There was milk chocolate or dark chocolate with mint or caramel or raspberry and more. It was fun to munch on with the champagne.

Sailing away from the Bay Bridge.

Side note: I wanted to sip champagne slowly so it would last all night. Well turns out there was more than enough, and even with sipping all night we didn't finish the bottle. It was a nice mellow buzz the whole time, I loved it.

The music was loud enough that it was hard to hear each other across the table, so Jack moved to sit next to me on the cushioned bench. When he did, the guy at the table next to us joked about how Jack has the right idea (the guy was also sitting next to his date on the cushioned bench). 

At some point the DJ played "Let's Get It On" and us and a lot of other couples got up and started dancing. The couple at the table next to us was up there too. The song was just slow enough that I was having a hard time keeping the beat and Jack and I were laughing pretty hard about it by the end.

After the song Jack went to use the restroom and I sat back down at our table. The guy next to us told me he was prepared to reprimand Jack for not getting up and dancing with me but then he saw we were already on the dance floor (and doing some of our swing moves) so kudos to us. I chatted with them a little bit. They looked to be in their early 60s, a little rough around the edges, ordering a lot of beers, very friendly. Apparently they were from Seattle and I found out later they had just gotten engaged.

Jack got back and we sat side-by-side and enjoyed more champagne. The rest of the night is a blur of delicious food and drink, getting up to dance, going outside to see the view, and repeating it all over again.

Every song we found worth dancing to so did plenty of other people, but at just the right level that the dance floor was occupied but not crowded. We slow danced to "When a Man Loves a Woman" but I spent the whole time talking about how terrible the song lyrics actually are. But then they played "Die a Happy Man" by Thomas Rhett, and that was actually really sweet. I think it's the most "real" slow dance Jack and I have ever done, holding each other close and singing it to each other. And it was surreal because at that point we were turning slowly in circles but the boat was turning around too, so everything was slowly double spinning. It was fun though.

After those slow songs all of the sudden they put on "Apple Bottom Jeans"! Way earlier they had already played "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz and I had texted Renata to say I was thinking of her. Then they played this and it was actually nostalgic. I texted her again and she and I joked that this should have been our friendship anniversary cruise, haha. She said it would've just ended in blue tongues (AMFs).

Anyway, we stepped outside a few other times. First because we thought we were nearly to the Golden Gate Bridge, but it turned out we were only to Sausalito. It was pretty chilly by then but if we stood at the right place on the steps in front of the...steam outlets...? It actually wasn't that cold. We stepped outside again when we were nearing the Golden Gate, and it actually was that cold, so we went back in and enjoyed our dinners (I had filet mignon medium rare, excellent, and he had pan roasted chicken) as we went under the bridge and then back again. No matter how many times I see it or drive across it or, in this case, sail under it, I'm in love with that bridge and that whole area. So beautiful.

Behind me: the underside of the GGB.

Other small notes: one of the other passengers looked like Oberyn Martell of Game of Thrones, happily wining and dining his date. One of the servers looked like a shorter Eliot Stabler. Jack said he still wouldn't mess with the guy.

I thought we were heading back to the docks but the boat passed right by them and went under the Bay Bridge, something I've never done before. It was like a bonus 45 minutes. It was great. We danced more. At some point they played "Uptown Funk" and we tried to do the dance to it but we don't really know it, so we just laughed and continued on. I know there was also "Twist & Shout" (which Jack didn't realize is sung by John Lennon, but he still likes it) and Ed Sheerhan's "Thinking Out Loud." I really like that song too.

We ended the night with chocolate truffle cake and a fresh fruit tart, but actually I was so full I couldn't even finish. 

They put candles in our desserts in honor of our anniversary.

It was getting warm inside so we took our things and waited outside, watching the downtown SF skyline get closer. It's such a lovely city. I really loved the whole thing.

We deboarded and only then was it really starting to rain. Luckily we had brought our umbrella. We walked the few blocks in the rainy downtown SF night to our car, and Jack took us out of the city while I passed out. I even slept over the Golden Gate, unfortunately. About halfway home we switched, and I listened to my iPod and sang along while driving us the rest of the way home.

Then I told mom all about everything before she went home to her hotel. And she told me about the fun and peaceful time she had with Clara all evening, for which I was glad. And thennn I passed out.

It was a fantastic day.