lxforever

“I have opinions. Good ones. And I think I owe it to other people to share those opinions. … I have a LOT of opinions.”

—Diana…this is one of many reasons we are friends

EVERY YEAR I forget that it’s not September but OCTOBER that I love. Every year. I should kind of remember that next time I think. Octubre, mi amor!

Anyway!

Well, now what?

^ you should read that post. Diana wrote it and it is hilarious. It also sort of sums up how I’m feeling which is, wow, welcome back to REAL LIFE! NO I have not been planning a wedding or anything extravagant (BY THE WAY, Diana’s wedding was WONDERFUL and exquisite), but ever since we (sort of?) decided to put the house on the market/sold+bought/moved/packed+unpacked/traveled all over for work/were in our BFF’s weddings + all that/had random sickness etc….back in APRIL….it’s been Go-Go-Go. When I got back from SF on Friday night/Sat AM, it was like…REST.

Now we can just LIVE.

In light of that I have little to report. We have been enjoying October sunshine, apples, apple orchards (1YO ADORES this, esp. pumpkins), spending time as a fam, etc., normal stuff. And it is GREAT.

I have a(nother) new nephew, did I say that?? I met him last week. He is a little gem and fits right in. I now have two new nephews for 2014. I am a lucky duck!

I miss Jenny!

Jeff is the best!

The end, for now. I just wanted to write something. Happy.

“…I know I’ll make it, love can last forever / graceful swans of never topple to the earth / And you can make it last / forever you / you / can make it last / forever you / And for a moment I lose myself / wrapped up in the pleasures of the world / I’ve journeyed here and there and back again / but in the same old haunts I still find my friends / mysteries not ready to reveal / sympathies I’m ready to return / I’ll make the effort, love can last forever / graceful swans of never topple to the earth / tomorrow’s just an excuse / And you / can make it last / forever you / you / can make it las / forever you”

—Smashing Pumpkins, 33…naturally

EOTD(ays):

Friday. I took Friday off to have a day with my dear daughter. Unfortunately due a combination of events the night(s) prior, I had slept very little and was not feeling up to the task without a nap or something. First we enjoyed waffles and yogurt together, just mommy and baby, then Grandma Sue to the rescue and I rested for a bit. Finally the fog cleared (though it was sunny sun sun at the park/in the sand!), 1YO went down for a nap, and I called MY mommy to cry. Sleep and other things had really escaped me and the week had been a struggle. I was filled with sadness that the day (and the next, which was MY BIRTHDAY) might not go According To Plan.

The cry and the call miraculously turned my day around completely and I am EXTREMELY grateful for that! Thank you Mom! So I ate some yogurt, watched Scandal(yesssss) and 1YO slept on. I did some chores and opened up a really wonderful present from Stephie, Mike and the kids (“have a fruity/sporty birthday!”) And amazingly…I felt calmer than I had in days. It just came over me. So thankful. Prepared some ‘lunch’ and woke up 1YO. We enjoyed grilled cheese and grapes together in the evening light. I was so happy and couldn’t have loved looking at her little face more. We played in the yard a bit in the sunny sun sun. Up and down the slide and on and off the swing and playing with the ball and laughing.

Then! Per her ‘request’ (I think?), off on the bike! It was completely beautiful out and around Lake Nokomis we went. There is a sort-of secret old-school park there and we checked it out. Down down down the big slide and lots of crazy swinging. Played in the sand and met a beagle named Apollo. Played with some other kids then went home. She only takes her helmet off when the bike stops per the agreement. Ha!

Jeff came home too and after some dinner(?), we put away groceries all together, then went on a little night walk to check out the carnival! It was a really happening event. Rides, vendors, beer tent, all of it. Pretty awesome. It was cool to be out at night. Bath and bed for 1YO and pizza and Mad Men for us. A great night!

Saturday. Sleep was better. But I was incredibly groggy. I got up first and hopped in the shower so I could be a clean 33-year-old. I saw there were some presents for me, wrapped in gold/pink and dark red/yellow, in the living room! They were GIANT. Jeff and 1YO got up too and 1YO tore open a corner of the gifts. Well… so I decided to open them. Jeff had put together a THEMED GIFT and it couldn’t have been better!!! What a guy!!! The pink/gold gift was a gorgeous framed Paris poster, and the red/yellow one was a beautiful framed Rome poster. Wonderful things for the lovely new house! WOW! AND…to go along with it…two gift certificates to our two favorite Italian/French restaurants. WOW!! With a lovely card. I am so, so lucky. The luckiest!

My mom had called at 8:31, my birth time!, so I called her quick, then we packed up and got out to the bagel shop for breakfast. Beat the rush! Yummy bagels, 1YO ate a lot of sausage. Good job her. Then off to the apple orchard! McDougall’s Apple Junction. We’ve been going there for YEARS, at least 4?, and it’s the best place in the area IMHO. Lots of good but small attractions, CHEAP, and they have amazing peanut butter and the GOOD apples. We got a peck of SweeTangoes, a tub of PB, some apple donuts and a coffee for me. 1YO LOVED the donuts. We trolled around the place…checked out the pumpkin house (“the house where adults can’t get their kids out” -some middle school boy) and patch, the lookout tower, the playground with its tiny barn, the goats/chickens and walked up and down the orchard. So much to explore! WAY different experience than last year. Really awesome. We’ll be back!

On the way home we stopped at Menard’s, Jeff’s old workplace. It was weirdly very fun. Tried on sunglasses(?), looked at Halloween and Christmas(!) stuff, and spent a lot of time in the plumbing aisle (the point of the visit). 1YO was fascinated. Perhaps she’ll be a plumber. OH YEAH and on the way to the orchard I talked to Jenny!! She was on her way to a girls’ day out. It sounded fun. It was great to talk to my other JJ!

Got home and prepared a little lunch. I was feeling pretty poor by that point due to aforementioned Insomniac Week 2014 so I went to lay down for awhile. Thank you Jeff! 1YO did not want to nap. I got up and discovered Jeff’s plumbing project success. GO JEFF! He is pretty amazing! Got 1YO and we went for a walk where I called Stephie and talked to her and Anna. Hilarious! Anna is great. I can’t wait to see her soon.

Home and got ready and off to swimming. 1YO had a GREAT class and did some new tricks. She’s becoming a real little fish. I love that pool. After we cleaned up we went to 5 Guys as is our tradition every!Saturday!after!swimming! for burgers, fries and cherry-vanilla Coke (I stuck with ginger ale this time due to Insomniac Tendencies). SO! GET THIS. We walk in and we are placing our order and something weird is happening…the order-takers are chatting, also note when we came in a couple workers said to us “hi, nice to see you again”…hahaha. ANYWAY. They had NO IDEA it was my birthday so this is not why this happened, it is just COINCIDENCE! The owner guy put our order on the house! Wow! What a guy! We felt very flattered and amused. Guess we are really regulars, huh!!! I still can’t believe that happened.

Home and played a lot. Played chase, Jeff hung my gifts, we did some chores. I opened the many sweet cards people had sent, read the many kind messages they had left on my wall, and opened a gift. People are so thoughtful. Chased 1YO on the couch. Called my mom and dad for some FaceTime which was hilarious! 1YO eats that up. Fed 1YO Dinner2 and then my Grandma called! How sweet is that! We chatted about stamps, babies, and her Sunday plans. It was really nice. Put 1YO to bed, she fell asleep in my arms, then Jeff got us Blizzards and we watched Mad Men while I texted Jenny about her weird night out, haha. Now Jeff is playing video games and I just finished my snack plate and this blog. Though it was kind of a challenging week, this was probably one of my favorite birthdays in history. None of this would have been possible without my mom, my daughter, my loving family/sisters/friends, and most importantly, Jeff. He made this ordinary day extraordinary just by being there for me and with me and being a dad to our darling. I love him so.

Happy 33 to me. Thank you Jeff.

I’m obviously having trouble getting a post going so I’ll just fall back on the good ol ‘ (wait does anyone do this anymore?!) Friday FIVE!

1. It’s fall all of a sudden. It’s like COLD, yo. And I don’t think I ever gave it enough credit but wow we did SO much great stuff this summer. I was ever-stressin’ about a lot of it/there was so Much To DO! to settle in to the house and now that we (mostly) have, I look back and see: we saw family, we saw friends, we went to the POOL!, I saw Katy + her son, I saw Andrea + her new baby, I saw my new nephew and new mom JENNY!, we sold/bought/moved to a really great new house, threw a shower/bachelorette for Diana (way fun!), had a b-day party for 1YO, etcetcetc I know there is more but yeah that’s what I wanted to say there.

2. I hate the new WordPress text editor.

3. Work is really overwhelming right now. Honestly…it’s mostly good…I’m mostly actually excited to go in to work every day (no, really…I know)…but…without going into it I’m just a liiiiitle worried about a super big project I’m working on and I’m not sure there’s a good solution. Guess I’ll just keep on truckin’. Somehow…it will get done! Everything else about the Job is still great though thank GOD.

4. TONIGHT: Pizza wine and a fire!!!

5. I LOVE having a 1YO even more than I loved having a baby. It just keeps getting better from here!

6. BONUS! I’m working in coffeeshops in St. Paul today. I feel like an impostor…or really cool. OK, both!

OK time to meet Kristin for some lunchy lunch.

Bitches (not “notches”, autocorrect)!! It’s just not right to not update. Esp when Jeff is away and I’m alone(ish, I mean besides Baby) like the old days…except I’m writing on a tiny phone THAT GETS INTERNET OVER THE AIR. CRAZY TECHNOLOGYYYYY!!!

Anyway. Well. The excitement is too great it’s time for s’mores and bed allll to my (lonesome!!) self. Adios. FOR NOW…

…hence VERY SHORT EOTW:

Friday – sick baby, but sometimes happy. Played with wood pieces and plastic box of weird drawing toys in basement. Walk in carrier. Dinner – late night homemade (ok, not really) pizza buffet.

Saturday – Up with the fam. blueberry pancakes, sausage and cold press! YUMMY. Yogurt mess. HUGE long BIKE RIDE in the sunny sunnnnnn!!! Baby in trailer and she passed out. So so good to finally get physical challenge in. Home, shared lunch, coconut water. Baby nap/me 20 min nap/then cooking. Short pool time in the gathering clouds. “Ha!” to all kids. Jeff saved a baby bird! Malt Shop and old photos and then first trip to Patina. Home and finish up bedroom! YEAH! Organized! Bed. So tired. Good book to read but so tired.

Sunday swim class! Making new baby friends. Then family brunch. Very very good to all get together. Home and nap? Then I went to the POOL all by myself!!! Read my book in the sun and swam around. SOOOOOOOO awesome! Home + snacks + hanging out + then FAMILY pool time. YAY!!! Then Jeff decides we should order a (Jeff creation!) pizza. Watch the very first episode of Mad Men. Awesome! Cook up dinner for the week then bed (too late but still).

Now it is Monday and I have a lot to do and I am sick but still. What an awesome weekend…first truly awesome weekend since the spring? YAY!!!!!

And now for the busy busy rest of the month. See ya’ll in Sept (or Oct…)…

OH MY GOSH YOU GUYS.

ONE of my sisters had her BABY BOY 2+ weeks ago and oh my God I never wrote about it!!!!!!!! WELCOME BABY AA!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 I promise to try and live up to some sort of example of an auntie/namesake and I canNOT wait to meet you, Mr. Fancy Hair Head!!! He is the CUTEST ever, for real ;). SOOOOOOOOOO happy for them. My sister is in heaven.

One of my friends is having a baby TODAY(!!!) and it is turning out to be much more challenging than anticipated for them to meet their new family member. Thinking of her + her husband + baby a lot today!

One of my friends wrote this hilarious and ACCURATE post about new mommyhood and I can’t stop reading it, she seriously nails it: Shout out to all the mommies out there. GOOD JOB.

Mommies…they’re mommies!!!

Babies…they’re BABIES!!! My baby is no longer such a baby, she is a Sort-Of Toddler. Who walks and walks and tries to talk! She is amazing. Something new every day and it’s so amazing that the person she is will keep changing and learning and growing every single day…incredible. What a gift it is to watch. I can’t even capture it adequately so…I won’t.

This time of year reminds me of high school summers and glow sticks and driving around and teaching gymnastics and lunch buffets and AM workouts and biking to practice and diving? sort of and hangouts and waterballoons and website making and craziness and no sleep. No sleep…it was so fun though.

This summer is probably one of my favorites ever though (even alongside Summer of Leave 2013, which was super awesome, but hard due to health news for my Dad at the end…). SO MUCH GREATNESS! Pool babies, seeing Katy + meeting Carter, get to meet baby AA soon!, baby AA born/other babies being born!, NEW HOUSE that is a mess but we adore, Baby-Turning-Sort-Of-Toddler delighting us, etc.etc.etc. I’m sure there is more.

Ummmmm I have to work now. Over + out!

Jenny:
it didn’t tell me much, just that they’re different
female pelvis is as wide as it can be to allow childbirth while still letting us walk
male is optimized for locomotion

Alexis:
wow
aren’t we lucky

Jenny:
i know
so we get eaten and they can run away

Alexis:
RIGHT!
omg

Jenny:
*we get eaten while giving birth

YO BITCHES!!! OK sorry I just…gave up blogging. I know I keep saying that because…it’s true. BUT NO THE BLOG WILL NEVER DIE THE BLOG WILL NEVER DIE NO NO! Until I do.

ANYway what’s up. I totally skipped April(right?? wait no not quite) and almost skipped May and skipitee do dah skipitee ay. It’s summer (what happened to spring??), we’re moving (a few blocks away), I’ve got two new nephews on the horizon (for real!) and a Dad who’swhose (who am I…can’t write?!) health continues to amaze. F YEAH!!!

It was Taco Tuesday!

“Wanna go to Taco Bell?”

“Did you ever play Mario Kart?” nope just 6 golden coins!

Movie night…fail! “We’re not teenagers anymore!”

Thank God for summer and long days, this is my most favorite time of year…it just gets better and better. I’m also on a quest for unlimited cold press in my life this summer…although getting a small carafe of decaf wouldn’t hurt.

WHATEVER! This is all boring and worthless. What is REALLY GOING ON???

Wait I think I covered that. Living amongst boxes. Keeping tabs on the fam. Cheerio mate?

OH yeah and the central DELIGHT of our lives, Baby who is soon to be the One Year Old…yesssssssss. Makes me smile just to think of her! 🙂

On that note…I’m out. Skedaddle. Thanks for stopping in champs (not chumps!)!

“away we go / fast not slow / go go go on the subway”

—Subway

Go go go…

so much emotion tied up in a house in a photo little bare feet kicking telltale red metal sign swinging hunks of snow gobs of green grow grow grow go go go… shimmering air above a heated skillet, oil rising, the interconnectedness of everything, liquid to steam to solid and back child to parent to baby and back growing growing growing going going going …a devotional, a baby shower, a baby lost and another on the way bowed heads bright paper quiet profound tearful celebration celebration day birth day mommy baby day moms arms snuggles in the dark, all growing going growing… a rush of air the car is there hop hop hop on the subway hop hop hop like a bunny hope hope hope so hard little hands little claws growing so fast racing so fast racing like a pro now pedaling sunlight streaming into eyesockets and lighting up every single cell with gold secrets spring swing fling swing batter swing air and emotion rush in as the cold goes out and here we go go go…

“All right, the way I see it, there’s only two possible outcomes: / Either I make it down there in one piece and I have one hell of a story to tell…or I burn up in the next ten minutes. / Either way, whichever way…no harm, no foul! / Because either way…it’ll be on helluva ride.”

—Dr. Ryan Stone in the movie Gravity

“Jenny: all my friends come over w/ the buckets and the kids just keep sleeping”

—3/4/14

March. March. March marched in pretty lion-y in my real life and is going out pretty lamb-y, that said, weatherwise, it is the opposite, as today is dark and stormy and awesomely spooky…ROAR!!! I’m starting this week off right by feeling super arrogant and great about EVERYTHING (other than this cold I am beating back). We had an awesome weekend and it totally deserves an…

EOTW.

Friday started with me taking the day off work since Baby got her first cold! 😮 Poor little gal. I just couldn’t leave her. She was pretty miserable but got better really fast, and we took a delightful 2-hour nap together for the first time in ages (and maybe the last…alas! they grow up, they just do!). Some errands and playing and pretty soon she was nearly back to her crazy moving self. YAY! After bedtime Jeff and I had dinner and watched some shows like the old days. Great evening! Early to bed…

Saturday …early to rise, up to play and I made us all cheesy eggs and blueberry pancakes (yogurt for baby, oh and super strong Starbucks instant coffee for me). We were all happy and feeling healthy, hurrah, hurrah! I got in a decent workout in the basement. Whew. Quick lunch then out for a stroll while Jeff worked out. Naptimes were fought and eventually won, then off to the new Saturday Evening Routine! Swim lesson followed by grocery store followed by 5 Guys. A new tradition, beloved by all! Swimming lesson was very fun, enjoyed by Baby and Mom alike, despite the very stereotypical Tiger Moms and the crybabies. Heh.

The grocery store is always a treat, Baby sat in the cart and laughed it up. So much to see! It’s an interesting Cub out in St. Louis Park, there are aisles and aisles of things devoted to Passover foods…not something we have in our Cub, no doubt. Then to dinner…we ate there and fed Baby too. Guy tried to upsell me on my little fries, I explained that Jeff would have his own. HA! Cherry-vanilla cokes, burgers, and fries…divine. We are obsessed…OBSESSED! Esp with the cherry-vanilla coke. OMG. Anyway, fun family dinner then home, where Baby went to bed, I did some cooking/chopping and Jeff watched the Gophers play hockey, and all of us were HAPPY! It was SO nice to be back in the kitchen, I guess I really missed it…eh? WTF. Then to bed…got some decent sleep in too thanks to JEFF!

Sunday I woke up sick. Just a cold but still. Gross. Now I get why Baby was mad! Lay in bed and eventually get up to play with Baby. Lots of cup stacking and giggles. THE BEST! “Breakfast first! / Then socks and shoes!” Down for a nap, out for a BIKE RIDE!!! It is GORGEOUS out. Finally 60 degrees. It was a messy and glorious bike ride to and around Lake Harriet. Lots of riff raff out and about but worth it, I was careful too. Windy and sunny and wonderful. Frozen lake and happy people. Great great ride! WE ARE NEVER LEAVING!!! Home, shower, then a quick lunch and out for a family walk! YAY!!! We get ice cream and have a good chat with the proprietor/trainee. Baby tries ice cream and LOVES it. Wants MORE! Uh oh!

Walk back home in the sunny sun sun. Do some chores during nap FAIL. Finally give up and pack Baby up where we head out for an afternoon of SOCIALIZING. First to drop off a dress, then to FROZEN-themed 5th birthday party. We got to see many many people at once, which is GREAT, so much family!, and Baby was a real charmer despite lack ‘o naps. She got scooped up by Mike’s mom and I almost didn’t get her back. LOL. The party was decorated to perfection with amazing Oreo truffles to boot. WITH SPARKLES!! The b-day gal even had sparkly nails. Anyway. We then had to scoot to our next gig and THANK GOD Laura reminded me to take the DVD. I seriously OWE HER MEGA BIG TIME OMG!!! (Seriously. I would be dead.)

Off to Roseville…GDHH with babies. Baby loves playing with friend’s 1.5-year-old and crawls around happily. So good to catch up with Ange/Heidi/Brigette and see Ange’s new HOUSE! Two hours fly by with puke, giggles, bruises and fun. (For once it is not one of the adults puking, lol, guess we sort of grew out of that…and INTO babies/kids who puke HA HA HA. Oops.) Finally realize we have to get going, and pack it up to take Baby home for a too-late bedtime. She falls asleep immediately, then I enjoy the fruits of my early-AM cooking in the form of CROCK POT CHILI. Sit down with that and a Limonata and watch end of Gophers/then Walking Dead with Jeff. Gophers: won. Zombies: SUPER mysterious and I may have to watch the show again. BOOM!

Decided before I even went to bed that I’d get myself a big ol’ COLD PRESS this AM (from Dunn Bros, FTR, with vanilla/cream) and that made me go to sleep and wake up happy. HAPPY MONDAY/MARCH/SPRING! 🙂