Feb
14
Pathways
Filed Under Uncategorized | 419 Comments
TRAVEL UPDATE: my plane did not crash, I did not have to gnaw on my fellow passengers, and I had a fantastic time in DC. It was an amazing experience to walk the Mall and see the some of the sights firsthand, especially the Vietnam Memorial.
Also, my god, will you look at those blue skies? I left Seattle and it was snowing, I arrived in DC and it was like 70 degrees. Crazy.
The Boca Spa Night was super fun and I got to meet a bunch of really wonderful people and I don’t even think I gleeked on anyone or accidentally used the term “Dirty Sanchez” too much. (Aim low, that’s MY motto.) All in all, a great trip.
In my absence Dylan did not, sadly, manage to start sleeping through the night, but he did learn how to hold his bottle. He could sort of messily do it before but now he’s a milk-swigging pro — you just hand him the bottle and he takes care of the rest. I remember when we hit that stage with Riley and it was like, WHOO HOO! Best milestone ever! Plus, we’re officially off the break-the-bank, smelly-ass, pain-in-the-butt-to-mix formula and giving Dylan regular whole milk now, so clearly these are good times for lazy parents like myself.
Also, Dylan’s walking skills greatly improved from “Drunken Crippled Hobo” to “Drunken Yet Mostly Conscious Fraternity Student”. He can now stagger several feet at a time, mouth agape at the HOLY SHITTEDNESS of it all:
Speaking of momentous first steps, JB gave notice at Microsoft yesterday. He’s now working full time at a company he helped found with three other partners, developing a hardware product targeted towards healthcare facilities. They’ve been successful in gaining financing and their product has real potential, and while it’s a scary time to unhinge the golden handcuffs of the Borg, I couldn’t be more proud of him for pursuing his dream. Risk is a hard thing to manage, and he’s gone about this in the smartest way possible; I know he’ll be successful no matter what. On this Valentine’s Day, let it be known I love JB so very much for the amazing husband, father, and man he is. Congratulations, babe.
Feb
10
Travels
Filed Under Uncategorized | 54 Comments
When I was a kid I used to fly on my own from Virginia to Michigan to visit my grandparents. My mom would see me on the plane, my grandparents were waiting in the gate at my destination. Man, what a great feeling it was to step off that plane — usually with a plastic pair of wings pinned to my shirt, maybe accompanied by a friendly stewardess — and see my grandparents standing there, waving and beaming with happiness.
I loved airports back then, and everything about air travel, especially the thrilling stomach-dropping-away sensation as the plane transitions from its fullscale gallop down the runway into the air, everything on the ground tilt-shifting away into model-train-sized scenery. Then the windows filling with greyish-white before revealing the world above — the blue skies, the soft yet impenetrable-looking clouds — in all its alien beauty.
Now, of course, flying anywhere is mostly just a colossal pain in the ass. Bored security people shouting at you, lines of people, the scramble of pulling off your shoes and piling up laptop purse coat bag into trays. No one stands at gates waiting for loved ones any more. Those deliciously salty honey-roasted peanuts are a thing of the past, unless you want to buy the $15.99 version at the newsstand and, of course, risk sending your seat partner into anaphylactic shock the moment you rip open the bag. The newly-horrifying possibility of geese being sucked into the engines like single-brick Duplos crippling a Bissell.
It’s been a while since I’ve felt anything other than resigned irritation when it comes to traveling, but I am actually really looking forward to the trip I’m going on tomorrow, despite the ass-pains involved. I’m heading to DC for the first time in, well, let’s see . . . good lord, 25 years, and I’m excited about everything: seeing the area again, meeting new people, enjoying a spa night, and even sitting on a plane for several hours because holy god I might actually get to read a book or something, and unless I’m spectacularly unlucky I won’t get interrupted two pages in by having to wipe someone’s ass.
Also, I’ve informed JB that since I’ll be away from home for two nights, I expect that upon my return he’ll have trained Dylan to sleep through the night. Since it’s as simple as not going to him when he cries, I’m sure it’ll be NO PROBLEM WHATSOEVER.
(I mock, and yet during my last overnight trip Riley magically figured out how to poop in the toilet, so really, you never know.)
No matter what, I’m always just a little convinced that my plane is going to burst into flames and plummet into a remote mountainside where the survivors will be forced to eat the flesh of the dead in order to survive and despite overcoming great odds and enduring the likely unpleasant taste of human I will tragically perish moments before the rescue helicopter arrives, so if you don’t hear from me again, that’s probably what happened. Don’t judge me for the cannibalism, people, I had no choice. There weren’t even any PEANUTS.
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