Moonlight Once More

I didn't exactly hate this tree, but I began resenting it...a lot. It blocked the sun in the morning, in the afternoon and even the moonlight. I would spend the day at work, anxious to come home and enjoy the sun, only to wind up freezing in our backyard. (Where we live, there are only a handful of days where shade feels good.) At first, M. & I talked about limbing it up, we didn't want to be rash and cut it down. But day after day, I watched the tree, it's long limbs reaching over our roof, stretching to the fenceline while our yard stayed deep in it's shadow. The idea grew in my mind...silently, guiltily. When a friend doing a backyard design for us asked, "How attached are you to that tree?", I nearly kissed him. So as the day approached, I felt some guilt, but I was excited. Finally, some sun! But I never expected it to be such a carnage. I have to admit, as I watched the poor tree denuded and it's limbs fed into the grinding maw of the chipper I wondered if we made the right decision.



Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see the kids’ reaction when they came home, but M. did. They were shocked and upset. They wondered why the 'tree broke'. So, in the tradition of parenthood, I made up a story about how the tree was old so we had to take it down. Then I told them about all the flowers and veggies we'll grow in our garden next year while I watched the twilight moon rise through the window. It's so nice to have moonlight again.

Transition to Normal

8:59 p.m. Six minutes since I left my kids room and Bear is still crying. Ugh. I shouldn't even be posting right now. I really need to be ordering electricity for our booth at an upcoming trade show next week. But here I am.

9:08 p.m. Went up, soothed him, but now he's at it again.

We've had three weeks of houseguests, beloved houseguests, but nonetheless we're feeling the transition back to our regular routine. We've all gotten used to staying up & sleeping a bit later, but now it's back to work. Our ten year old granddaughter came up, so I was able to hear the newest Black Eyed Peas cd (20 times), see the third Twilight movie, Eclipse at the drive in, hear all about Jacob (lovesick werewolf in aforementioned vampire movie) and see way too much of the Disney channel (the scariest of all). M & I also enjoyed the wonderful treat of spending four days together alone at the ocean, thanks to my sister, who watched the kids for us. It's amazing how much your kids change just after four days. Bear is talking in sentences, and can add a forlorn "Mommmmmmyyyyyy" to his cries, like right now. Boo has increased her already large vocab by giving answers like "of course" and "not quite yet, Mommy".

9:30 p.m. OK, I went up again, calmed him down by standing at the door for a few minutes. I hate hearing him cry.

Summer is winding down so quickly, I suppose it's so much more bittersweet since the real summer heat is just starting to kick in. If we're lucky it will last for a few days. As much as I hate to admit it, I'm rather excited for Fall. The kids will attend a brand new Montessori school (started by our wonderful caregiver)and we'll have a whole new schedule. If only the summer weather would stay for a bit longer, and my son would stop crying.

9:39 p.m. It's finally quiet. Whew.

Some Days, You Just Need a Tutu

Hi!

A few days ago, M & I were at the playground with the kids, when Bear walked up to a big boy of five and said his usual "Hi". Bear's not shy at all, he loves to walk up to groups of kids, no matter what age and greet them, but this boy was having none of it.

"DON'T say hi to me!!", he yelled in Bear's face.

M & I glanced at each other but purposedly kept quiet, waiting to see what Bear would do. Bear grew quiet, lowered his head towards the ground and his bottom lip grew larger & larger. Suddenly I was aware of how much we can't protect them, how much they'll have to learn on their own, when he let out a shriek and smile. About twenty feet away, an even bigger boy of ten, did a stunt jump off the swing, much to Bear's delight. We went on to have a great play session, the earlier episode totally forgotten. A great lesson on being in the moment and not to dwell on things.

Choices

Hmmm, should I wash the dishes, or have a bowl of ice cream? It's not a ton of dishes, and I will do them in the morning...Down guilt, down! Ok, that's much better, now where was I? Wow, crushed Oreo's are really good on vanilla ice cream! Sorry, I'm getting distracted.

I enjoyed dinner last Friday with three friends from high school, it's so nice to NOT be the oldest person at the table! We've done this once or twice a year for the past five years or so and I've noticed how our conversations have evolved. We spend about 5 minutes reminiscing about high school, and now words like 'menopause', 'liposuction', 'botox' & 'spanx' are thrown in between sips of wine and bites of salad & fish. Interspersed with debates on the merits of Facebook, and whose friend requests we're ignoring. We're all at different stages in our life...two of us have grown children, one has just become a grandma, one has a five year old adopted child, and there's me, toddler twin mom. Maybe this is a sign of the times, but I can't help but think that fifty years ago, we would not have had the freedom in our lives to be at such different places. It's great to be in a place where we have so many choices.

Sucked In

I purchased this book as a gift, after hearing NPR's positive review of "another vampire story", and an 800 page one to boot ($15 at Costco). I was curious and thought "I'll just read a chapter and if I like it, I'll get a copy".

Five hundred pages later, that book isn't going anywhere. I'm not a total cad, I did buy another copy for my gift. I had to. I wasn't about to give a book that I've had cracked open every spare minute since that first chapter (a thick one pounder, hello carpal tunnel). A book Boo & Bear have mauled & yanked my bookmark out of countless times (eerily, I go right to my place within a couple pages.)

Meanwhile, milestones are happening all around me: a baby crow is learning to fly in our yard, my Dad just turned 70, Bear goes 'pee pee' in the toilet nearly every time, Boo is entering her princess phase (I guess it was bound to happen), and Mommy has developed has a serious fear of the dark.

Wish Me Luck!

Everytime I see my home page (my blog) I'm reminded that I need to post. And post again. And again. It's neverending, like homework. And now it's been a few weeks since my last one, so here goes...

Tomorrow morning I'm going to a Design seminar in downtown Seattle. I'm looking forward to attending a professional event, but a little nervous about the morning: getting two potty training toddlers ready, getting mom Seattle seminar ready, dropping them off at the sitters (on time for once!) and actually making my ferry. Oh, did I mention that I'll be doing this all by myself since M. isn't here? Sure, I'll get up earlier to do it all, but Bear has been waking up these days around 5:00 a.m.

Doesn't innovation happen when life gets interesting? One can hope.