Jul
8
July 8, 2006
Here are some things I learned over the last week:
• It’s probably not necessary to pack every single article of clothing the boy owns for a weeklong trip. I mean, the snow parka? The novelty letterman jacket? The “I (Heart) Daddy” onesie that hasn’t fit in three months? WTF, self.
• However, next time: Bring. More. Diapers. “Bob’s Market” does NOT carry Stage 3 Cruisers.
• A suitcase full of hot-weather clothing is a sorrowful thing on a cool, rainy day. Especially when there are several cool, rainy days in a row.
• If you can’t count worth a damn, it’s kind of embarrassing to have someone try and teach you how to play cribbage.
• Cherry juice will stain the everlasting shit out of your favorite Unionbay capri pants.
Hi! I missed you. Are you doing something different with your ass? Because it looks fabulous. I’m just saying.
We’re back from Oregon, and man am I glad to be home, because home is where the 1) heart, 2) king-sized bed, and 3) 2-ply toilet paper is. We did have a great time, though – so onward! To the photos!
JB and Riley, hanging out in JB’s brother’s backyard in Eugene. That there would be the fence, from the Manly Weekend of Fence Building. Do you smell the testosterone? Mmmm, bacony.
This is JB’s brother’s bunny rabbit. (Well now, that took the manliness down a notch.) When Joe rubs its head, it freezes on its back, legs all stiff and unmoving. I never thought a rabbit would be a interesting pet until I saw this. I’m sure it’s in some terror-provoked state, probably caused by some primal urge to escape detection from predators, but hey – frozen rabbit. Cool.
When did my baby all of a sudden turn into some kind of little boy?
I bought this floatie deal for Riley not having any idea how he could react to being in water. Turns out he loooooves it.
I think he could have spent the whole day in the river, really.
JB was extremely proud. “He’s a waterdog like his dad,” he kept saying. I was just glad Riley didn’t seem to have inherited my deep fear of both algae and fish.
Speaking of waterdogs, Dog had a wonderful time. Dog heaven!
JB and his brother put on their annual display of illegally obtained fireworks, which to my great amazement did not wake up Riley, although later the sound of us quietly opening a door did.
Now, this? Is a bear. A fucking HUGE ASS bear that was, like, INCHES from me.
Seriously. Inches.
…
OKAY FINE, it was kind of more like feet. Or, well, yards.
But if that thing had been several hundred feet closer, and we had not been driving JB’s truck, and…uh, it was pissed? Or something? Things could have gotten OUT OF HAND.
A neighbor let us visit his enormous Sunset-magazine-worthy garden and pick the most outstandingly good cherries I’ve ever had the privilege of eating. My god, they were good.
So. Good.
This is a view of the Umpqua and surrounding hills. Pretty part of the world, don’t you think?
The family, walking a country road near the cabin.
Foxgloves and fog.
:::
Thanks for all those comments on the last entry, by the way. You guys are awesome and interesting and very cool, even if some of you are a teeny, tiny bit weird, what with your inexplicable hatred of melons (…oh, you just haven’t had a good honeydew) and all.
Jun
30
June 30, 2006
Well, it’s official. Everything is on Wikipedia now.
Elkton is the area we’re traveling to on Saturday. I say “area” because we won’t even be in Elkton, with its population of 147 and disturbingly homogenized racial makeup, we’ll be several miles down the road at a curve in the Umpqua River where JB’s family cabin is.
So for all of next week, here’s where I’ll be:
JB loves that summer cabin, and I imagine Riley will grow to enjoy it just as much. Me…I wish it weren’t quite so far away, because after Hour Six crawls by on that slog down I-5 the whole ‘get away from it all’ aspect starts losing its appeal.
I always have a good time once I’m there, though. And lord knows I need a suntan. I look like something raised in a mushroom farm.
In my absence, I have posts scheduled to go up each weekday at Purple Is a Fruit. My bright idea was to write somewhat new-somewhat recycled entries about pregnancy, so if by chance you want to read about my constipation and water retention AGAIN…uh, awesome. You’re very kind. They’ll be over here.
Also, I wanted to steal an idea from my friend Kristin. I have four questions for you:
1. Who do you live with?
2. What are some of the things you do at work (“work” includes managing households and raising children, of course)?
3. What are you proud of?
4. What are five things you love, and five things you hate?
If you are up for it, I’d love to read your answers in the comments section. I had so much fun spying on Kristin’s readers; hearing from you guys would just tickle me Elmo. Er, pink.
In the spirit of quid-pro-quoism, here are my answers:
1. I live with my husband JB, my 10-month old son Riley, a perpetually pissed off Cat and a water-loving, fur-shedding Dog.
2. At my office job I write blog entries (for Workplace’s blog), press releases, advertising copy, website content, and lots of cranky emails about the development process of our software. At home I play peekaboo, retrieve dropped toys, say “that’s the doggie!” a lot, and attempt to meet Riley’s various nutritional, sleep, and grooming needs.
3. I’m proud of the mother I am becoming. I’m proud of having found ways to spend as much time writing as I do. I’m proud of my ability to find things on Google.
4. I love my family (pets included), taking photos and tinkering with them digitally, trashy celebrity magazines, the smell of autumn, and most things that contain sugar. I hate spiders, having contractors in my house, the bumpy skin on my upper arms, people who refuse to let me merge from the Montlake eastbound onramp onto 520, and tentatively waving back to someone who is actually waving at someone behind me.
No pressure or anything, it’s just that I’ll look forward to reading your answers all week long. It’s just that I’ll be completely crushed and disappointed if I don’t hear from you. But, you know, NO BIG.
Okay! Off to Oregon, then. You people have a wonderful week, a fantastic holiday – if you’re celebrating – and I’ll talk to you when I get back.
:::
(P.S. I just left this in the comments, but I am AMAZED and totally enjoying reading about you guys. Seriously, this is awesome and I will read every single thing you post. This is now what I’m doing instead of PACKING, so if I forget the sunscreen it’s alllllll your fault.)
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