7.10.21 - Joy status: RAIN

Absolutely loving all the rain we're getting. It's rained more in the month we've been here than probably the last 18 months in California. Looooving it.

7.4.20 - Joy status: FOR-EV-ER

We've had a wonderful 4th (pictures forthcoming), and now we're watching The Sandlot, which is the first time our children and Henry have seen it. And Jack and I haven't seen it in years, and we're loving it. FOR-EV-ER!

7.31.19 - July joy statuses

7.13.19 - Renata's day visit

Even though Renata lives much closer now (San Francisco), our schedules are such that we rarely see each other, so a few weeks ago we picked a date to stick to, and that was today.

I got some work done in the morning and then Jack helped me clean the apartment relatively thoroughly. Amazing how much we can get done when (1) Jane is asleep and Clara is watching a video and (2) we are kind of hurrying because we have company coming over. This might be the cleanest my desk has been since I assembled it.

Jack left to study for the NCLEX and Jane woke up shortly before Renata arrived. Renata came bearing gifts: gluten free pizza, rotisserie chicken, mashed potatoes, watermelons and cantaloupes, and toys. She brought this adorable mermaid-themed tea set and a Melissa & Doug set of fake food. She also brought some very cute baby boy clothes for Calvin.

At first Jane was being very shy and just laying against me on the couch not looking at Renata, but Clara was excited to see her and very excited about the toys. They started playing with the tea set right away (which Clara informed us was actually hot chocolate) while Renata and I visited. Of course eventually Jane warmed up and started also pouring hot chocolate and putting pieces of food on plates to hand to Renata and me. Clara also handed food to her stuffed elephant, Fawn, and stuffed puppy, Jelly.

It was wonderful having Renata here. I'm in the last month of pregnancy and I am very easily tired and irritable. I'm struggling to be home with the girls by myself because it inherently requires getting up and down so much. Renata took care of a million little things so I could stay seated on the couch (getting Jane her cup, getting the girls food, helping the girls wipe off their faces, etc etc) and it really does make a huge difference. Besides that, she kept me very awake and alert because we were animatedly visiting the whole time. She briefly had to leave in the middle to pick up Mia from the groomer's, and while she was gone I was struggling to stay awake while the girls watched a movie. As soon as she returned it was easy.

And it was great catching up with her! I've been thinking recently about Renata, actually, and how she is one of my female friends who I resonate with specifically in terms of how direct she is and how readily she advocates for herself. These are qualities I've always liked about her and have come to appreciate more as time goes on.

The girls were fairly excited to see Mia, who is a smaller dog and very even-tempered and relaxed. Clara very carefully would pet Mia and Renata let Clara give some dog treats. Jane mostly observed. At one point Mia barked a few times--not that aggressively in my opinion, but it frightened Jane. But I held her for a bit and she recovered quickly. We took the girls and Mia around the complex for a walk. I loved the summery outfits they ended up wearing--Jane so cool in her sunglasses (which she specifically requested), and Clara looking a little "punk rock" (so I told her) in a frilly tulle pink skirt with bright green and red ninja turtle boots. It had been a hot day and even then at past 6 pm it was pretty warm, but at least a lot of the complex was in shade and it was a tolerable warm. Mia can be off leash and totally fine, even when other dogs are around. It was pretty impressive.

We went back to the apartment and had some of the tangerine popsicles Renata had brought for us. We ate them on the front porch/balcony so the inevitable drips wouldn't get all over the apartment complex. Amazingly we couldn't get Jane to try one, but she happily brought the tea set out to us--one piece at a time--while we ate. Clara enjoyed her popsicle very much until it started melting on her hand, so Renata showed her how to wrap a paper towel around the stick to hold it. Ultimately Renata ended up holding it for Clara while she ate, and then we put the rest in a bowl and let her eat it with a spoon.

She stayed and visited with me until it was time to put the girls to bed, and even then she helped clean up the apartment while I got them ready. When she and Mia left the girls ran to the nursery and watched them out the window as they went to their car, waving and saying bye. Renata turned what would have been a long, tiring, slightly boring, difficult day into a really fun summer-themed visit, and I am so glad she came up!

7.4.19 - Sacramento 4th of July

Today was excellent.

Day started off rough as I was bummed that we had no specific plans. We spend too many days when the girls are home just hanging around the apartment and I think Clara is more than old enough now to get excited about holidays. There were no kids events at the local park that often has holiday stuff (e.g. they had an Easter egg hunt in April). We weren't sure if fireworks would work out as they don't start until 9:30pm and the girls are usually asleep by 8:30 at the latest. We had invited some friends to visit but it fell through. Etc.

But then I decided if nothing else we could at least do our own family picnic. Both Jack and I were off work, which is rare. So I ran to Safeway and got gluten free Kettle chips, hot dogs, and nectarines. We already had gluten free strawberry ice cream at home. We got the girls dressed (in red and blue, of course) and went to the rose garden in McKinley park.

Jane kept asking me to fix her sunglasses and then immediately pulling them back down.

We got there before 11am, meaning it was not even hot out yet, actually quite nice. We sat in the shade of one of the giant palm trees and enjoyed the food. I even bought $1 plates and napkins with American flags on them.

When the girls were done eating, they started running around the garden chasing each other or Jack or having him chase them. There was almost no one else there except, we later learned, the all-volunteer gardeners who keep the roses blooming. So there was plenty of space for the girls to run around, and Jack was good sport keeping up with them. In my 8th month of pregnancy, I'm not doing a lot of running. I was happy to just watch over our picnic supplies.

L: watching trash truck; R: back to eating ice cream cone with a spoon

We took the girls home and Jane went down for a nap pretty easily. I took the opportunity to nap too while Jack half dozed on the couch and Clara watched DinoTrucks (or something) on Netflix. Once I woke up (not long after Jane), Jack took a turn taking a real nap and I hung out with the girls while we watched Super Simple Songs and ate more of the picnic food. We also danced a bit, per Jane's request, which was pretty sweet. Actually I kind of stood in one spot snapping my fingers and the girls ran excitedly in circles around me. But that works.

After Jack woke up he went out and bought gluten free popcorn and seasoning, came home and made a huge paper shopping bag full of popcorn. Meanwhile we watched the Incredibles in the background, which is such a great movie. Jack and I were enjoying it probably at least as much as the girls.

Then we headed out again, this time to CalExpo because apparently admission is free to see their fireworks. We parked a bit away, next to a Hobby Lobby, and put the girls in the stroller to walk over to the Expo. We actually got surprisingly good spots: the fireworks are shot from a race track and while the stands were pretty fully, the actual dirt race track had more room, presumably because most people don't want to sit in the dirt. But we'd brought a blanket so it was fine. We spread out, ate our popcorn, listened to live music, and waited for the show to start.

This wait was one of the best parts of the day as Jane and Clara were so excited. I don't think they were even totally sure what they were excited about, especially not Jane, but there were so many people around and the music was so lively and everyone seemed in a good mood, so they were just dancing and stomping and, best of all, every now and then Clara would stop, pump both her fists in the air, and yell "YEEESSSS!" I started letting her know when there was less than 15 minutes until fireworks and updated her every few minutes, and her excitement only mounted.

I was pretty tired and it's increasingly difficult staying comfortable as the pregnancy winds down, but Jack sat behind me and let me lean against him and that was nice too. I also enjoyed seeing all the festive outfits of the people around us, especially the kids too little to even know what's happening, along for the ride.

By the time the fireworks actually started, Jane was pretty tired, and she laid peacefully against me in my lap for the entire fireworks show. Clara was dazzled by the fireworks, and kept pointing them out to Jack as if he might not otherwise notice.

After awhile she seemed to notice the considerable number of people taking pics and videos of the fireworks with their phones, and she asked if she could hold my phone too. I opened the camera and even though she doesn't really know how to take pictures on it, she held it up and viewed the fireworks both live and in the camera and seemed very happy about it.

Watching her and Jane, but especially Clara, get so into it was actually quite moving. She was so happy I almost felt like tearing up. In any case it was great to share the show with my family. When it was done and everyone cheered and applauded, both girls also clapped enthusiastically.

We walked out of CalExpo with the mass exodus of spectators. Jane seemed repeatedly concerned about where I was if she couldn't see me from the stroller, so after a while I just held her hand as I walked alongside them and she was fine. She and Clara pointed out dogs and tiny personal fireworks along the route, and actually just as we got to a fire station it opened up and a fire truck exited, so they got front row seats to that show, which was kind of cool. They ate more popcorn in the car as we listened to "Gloria" and waited to get out of a packed parking log, and of course they both passed out during the relatively short ride home, and stayed passed out when we put them straight to bed.

7.10.18 - Favorite parts of the Field Day trip

Dad: the balloon fight and karaoke with Julie

Sola: Egg toss and three-legged race.

(Because she crushed it.)

Jill: My favorite part of Field Day was Harrison singing.

(I don't have a pic of Harrison singing but here he is playing hot potato.)

Everett: Henry telling me he's going to give me his super awesome phone come October because he's going to get a new one then.

Henry: water balloon fight

Henry cleans his glasses while Dad takes the fight up a notch with the hose.

Me: Everett singing Led Zeppelin

Neil: I'd say it's tie between the Betrayal game with Ellen where Dad became stupid Ox and bringing Clara in from the car while she was passed out. Beating Everett in chess is a close second. Clara being excited about the plane taking off was also great.

Bryan: My ultimate victory in Munchkin.

Me: I love how much Clara enjoyed the bubble machines and four wheeler and everyone singing karaoke.

Ellen: Dad being dumb Ox was soooo funny. I also really enjoyed day 2 of just hanging around talking.

Julie: Not in any particular order: driving the jeep at the ranch, karaoke, watching my kids run around the ranch, meeting Emily, the five united.

7.4.18 - Kale's wedding

First of all, traveling yesterday by myself (read: without children) was ridiculously easy. I love Sacramento airport with its bright spacious setup, self check-in, automatic water bottle fillers, outlets everywhere, etc. It was so easy going through security by myself without a whole slew of baggage. It was even easier hanging out at the gate by myself sitting on my laptop. Time flew. Then our plane arrived - a newer plane and they did dual boarding, so while I had the chance I tried rear boarding and it sure was faster. The new plane also had a setup where the safety card and in flight magazines and all that are in a holder at the top of the chair and the rear seat mesh pocket is totally empty. I like it. I also like that the part of the chair your eyes naturally fall on is just some literature instead of a TV screen (as other airlines have).

Cinnamon cookies shaped like airplanes!

There were 55 free seats on the flight, and I had the row to myself. I put my things underneath the middle seat and enjoyed looking out the window and getting a few things done on my laptop. There's not much I can get done without internet, though, so I went ahead and did something I very rarely do: watched a movie while doing nothing else. I watched Baby Driver, and I really enjoyed it. Kind of over-the-top action but it was filmed like a comic book, sort of, and I liked the cast and the soundtrack a lot.

It was strange landing in STL when I'm not actually visiting there. I met Henry at the gate for our flight to Raleigh and our layover was very nicely short. Then we chatted the entire next flight (about work and politics) and it went by quickly. Grabbed our rental car, started the 2 hour ish drive to Wilmington, but we couldn't get Bluetooth to work with my phone while the car was in motion, so we pulled over to fix it and to grab North Carolina's equivalent of In & Out: Cook Out. I got a bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a Reece's Cup milkshake. Henry got similar but vanilla (hates chocolate). Then we got Bluetooth working out and started talking about our music and how neither of us really gets why everyone hates Nickelback. So then we started listening to Nickleback, which was fun.

I slept a good hour of the drive while he listened to my playlist, and not long after I woke up we made it to our Air B&B, which is basically a two bedroom apartment and pretty nice. I video chatted with Jack and the kids briefly and I really wished I could cuddle them, but it was still good to see them. We didn't talk long because Jane was getting angry she couldn't touch the laptop. So I finished that and then Henry showed me his Chromecast and we watched some Firefly and the rest of Baby Driver and chatted about politics more. Finally went to bed looking forward to the second night of uninterrupted sleep I've had since Jane was born.

It was nice having nowhere to have to be in the morning. I slept in as long as I could and eventually Henry and I got up and walked a block or two to a charming albeit incredibly overpriced Farmer’s market. We got grapes, bananas, white bread, cheese spread, and a couple croissants, and then we went back and ate while half watching Firefly and half doing other things. Very leisurely.

Eventually I did lie down for a brief nap before we actually got ready and headed over to the Magnolia House, a large Southern-style house and backyard that Kale & Fitzy had rented for their wedding. They had actually rented it for an entire week and their bridal party arrived days earlier for game nights and other visiting time. 

Anyway, we found parking with zero trouble  and then went around the back to an almost fully shaded yard with a picket fence and stone walkway. There were maybe a half dozen round top tables with red and blue tablecloths (holiday themed), citronella candles, and complimentary sunscreen and bug spray (though I didn’t ultimately really need either). The guests were wearing “garden party” attire which mostly means the women have colorful printed dresses and fancy sunhats and then men might be wearing slacks and ties or simply khaki pants and button up shirts. But it was very colorful and felt like an old fashioned party.

Kale's mom and her friends

We found Kale pretty quickly and he seemed really happy to see us, which was nice. He’s so easy to talk to. We started chatting immediately but soon he had to go mingle with other guests. So Henry and I went to the buffet where they were serving mac and cheese, green beans, po’ boys, fried chicken, peach cobbler, and sweet tea. We found a table and started chatting with Rob, Sarah, and John, all of whom were from Portland and were friends of Fitzy’s. They were easy enough to talk to and we talked a lot about the different styles of weddings we’ve seen and which ideas we thought were the coolest.

Eventually the dual officiators—a close college friend of Fitzy’s and close high school friend of Kale’s—began the ceremony with some sweet and amusing stories of how they met the bride and groom. Fitzy and Kale walked down their aisle, as it were, and two more friends read poems about love and marriage. I know there was one by Neil Gaiman and one by EE Cummings, and both readers did a great job. Kale and Fitzy shared brief vows and exchanged rings, and like that it was done. Very sweet and simple.

Shortly after they unveiled the wedding cake, which Kale had created himself. It was three tiers of chocolate with white icing and red and blue berries for the 4^th of July. It looked great. As people ate cake Fitzy’s dad and Kale’s mom and dad each made a toast, all of which were also brief and sweet. And not long after that people started migrating inside the house for air conditioning and more games.

While the group we had been sitting with played Sorry (which was fun to listen to), Henry and I chatted with other guests about how our parents came up with our names, varying standards for driver’s tests around the country, and other random topics that flowed pretty easily. I really wanted to talk more to Kale, though, but he of course was busy catching up with all sorts of people. Eventually when I walked by him he just said “Hey!” and I came over and we started chatting nonstop, for quite a while actually, and it was great. I love talking to that guy. He introduced me to his high school friend Becca, who works in a book shop in Boston and has her first book being sold starting next year. That was pretty cool. We also caught up a lot about his research and my kids, etc. We would’ve kept talking longer, as we often do, but someone let us know it was already 8pm and people we’re going to start leaving to walk to the riverfront for fireworks.

Henry and I instead drove back to our Air BnB, which was very much in the same direction as the fireworks launch anyway. We walked from there to the riverfront and the others were only just arriving. Despite massive crowds we actually got a pretty good spot, and while we were waiting for it to get dark enough and for the show to start, Kale told Henry and me about his and Fitzy’s preparation for marriage: various books they read and advice they got. It was pretty impressive actually. As an aside Kale’s mom and her friends were there in blue sparkly hats and gave everyone glow stick bracelets, which I thought was awesome.

Anyway the fireworks show was great. It went on for a long time which gave me a chance to kind of zone out and enjoy it. When it was over people cleared out pretty quickly but our group stayed to light sparklers they had brought, and that was fun and nostalgic too.

Afterward Henry and I went back to the Air BnB briefly so I could chat with my kids before they went to bed.

Then we drove back over to Magnolia House to enjoy chocolate mousse and fruit and play some games. Henry played Euker at one table and I joined Kale, Fitzy, Ed, and his gf (whose name I've forgotten) to play Mysterium at another. It's basically like Clue plus Dixit. It involves a lot of art interpretation, and it was pretty fun. 

By the time we finished the game it was near midnight and Henry and I had to get up pretty early to get to the airport in Raleigh on time. So we said our goodbyes and headed out. But it was a wonderful day.

7.4.18 - July joys