And so they did.
And here we are - 2019! But how on earth did we get all the way from partying 1999 style to 20 years later and chomping down the very last of our wedding-doll-cake in order to unplug the standaone freezer once and for all?
... doll cake...
long story...
2013 style.
If I partied like it was 2013 in my current condition, I'd probably pull every muscle in my body and a few spares to boot. So let's get back to 2019.
Where we've been
After some uncertainty, we've resettled our expectations for remaining in Mt Vernon for at lest another 5 or 6 months. So we've been here. Preschool continues to rock and we finished off Chaya's 2018 with a concert that included Jingle Bells, Baby Shark and barely contained anomie.
I finally got my long awaited endoscopy (that would be the one i had to wait 4 months for, then another several for scheduling and which then was rescheduled not once but twice...). Andrew stayed home with Chaya and the whole thing was actually quite tidy and quick. Other than not being allowed to eat all morning, I found the experience nearly pleasant.
Ultimately it revealed.... DRUM ROLL PLEASE... absolutely nothing. That's the normal positive and negative of course. I do now actually have a GI who seems to feel proactive about figuring things out At least I like that she was coordinating her notes with my neurologist's notes. Coordinated care is a rarity. We tested for celiac yet again (I was confused when she asked if I'd been tested for gluten allergy and said no) and I'm under orders to avoid any variety of foods I'd mostly stopped eating anyways. Soon I get to fast again for an abdominal ultrasound to rule out gallbladder issues that she really doesn't think can be the problem but have to be checked We carry on.
Chaya celebrated Christmas at a slow burn. Disgorging her Mamma Dog (her name) stocking gradually over the morning and then repacking all of the contents into the puppy. Occasionally pawing at a gift. Sometimes hiding them, still wrapped, in a various corners and drawers. Eventually opening or or two at a time.
We celebrated Christmas Eve Eve with Gooble goodies with my dad. Christmas Eve with Chinese takeout. And Christmas day with heart-shaped cookie cutter pancakes and latkes (I'm too proud of these). I also tried a flower cookie cutter and a dinosaur cookie cutter. The flowers worked pretty well. The dinosaur was a touch complicated.
And we had some shenanigans with home repair nonsense on the 26th. Both of the heaters in the mainroom work now, we're stil married, AND we have a functioning microwave, so despite any bumps along the way, I'd call it a win.
Where we went
San Francisco. Holiday redux!
Both ways our plane had some kind of issue that delayed takeoff by a hefty chunk. The second time we actually had to get off the plane and reboard later.
Andrew claims this wasn't stressful to him. May be true. He did get a nap, and honestly Chaya was a super traveler most of the way. However, I'm pretty sure that some of the prolonged grimaces and loudly muttering "OH FOR F*** SAKE" as Chaya started running away when he was attempting to read the departures and arrivals board was not actually his most mellow moment ever.
Chaya was a champ except when she couldn't get on the plane when she wanted. Or when she really really wanted some part of Andrew's lunch but we could NOT figure out what and it got kind of ugly as we proffered any variety of evermore infuriating alternatives that needed to remain in her bag, until eventually she was distracted by cars and continued the flight without eating a darned thing. Or when she sat in the seats ahead of our ticketed seats and did not want to move seats. Or when she decided that she wanted to lay down on the airport floor and/or run away from our hands during a busy off-boarding and maybe tried repeatedly to run away while we were waiting for daddy to get out of the bathroom until finally she finally agreed to the stroller.
Ultimately this may have been one of our most successful trips over all.Family. Food. Andrew's oldest friend and his cute kiddo were also in town. Chaya got a visit to the carousel and went down the slides in Golden Gate Park roughly a million times. Plenty of walking (which DIDN'T trigger the arch or knee injury I've been nursing the last month, phew!)
Chaya had an amazing time with her grandfather on Saturday evening, while Andrew and I actually got to go out (at the same time!) and be grown-ups with the rest of the family. We went to the Nutcracker and then to an obscenely nice restaurant. The kind where you have to put down a deposit with your reservation. That kind. The kind that serves tapas-sized entrees over several courses and which is inhabited by thoughtful wait staff who actually may hide under the table to pop out unobsequiously in order to answer a stray question before withdrawing into the ether, having replaced your silver setting for the fifteenth time that evening. The food was just shy of heaven.
Kiddo extended her love-fear relationship with Betty the dog (who is very excitable and somewhat large and who thus both excites and terrifies Chaya with her love).
It was good. So glad it all worked out so beautifully.
Where we are
Back in Mt Vernon in 2019. Chaya's almost three and a half. She draws like a dervish. She sings. She dances. She kicks mommy in the face and finds it hilarious.
Andrew's still working. I'm still not officially employed. We're still expecting to move within the year, but there are some things Andrew really wants to wrap up before we take on that behemoth of a life decision.
In the meantime, I've settled back down into a little bit of a holding pattern. I'll be renewing my WSBA license to practice law. And then I'll be waiting to do so in favor of some Guardian ad Litem trainings later on in 2019. In the meantime, I've decided to try to acquire some small smattering of Spanish.
I mean I can barely speak in English, so why not try another language? But it does seem like it would be helpful in a number of potential career trajectories.
I'm not setting huge goals. Mostly doing Duolingo through the day, plus a few other programs. And gaming my compulsive internet habit by turning all my settings to spanish language.
For the most part I've stopped listening to the news, once an engrained morning ritual. Andrew and I no longer watch Late Night as part of our evening unwind (because, She-ra, duh! And someday our next chunk of The Good Place, Kimmy Schmidt, Disenchanted and Arrested Development will come to Netflix). That's surprisingly pleasant despite my deep enjoyment of their humor. Hearing about current events is just well... not great bedtime exposure. I'm even wearying of the SNL bits. I am not bubbling myself out of being informed. Facebook and Google News are far too compelling.The effort involved in understanding the Spanish reports of said news tend to mellow out any emotional reactions quite handily.
I hope all is well in the internet ether. Here's hoping for a fabulous new year. Or at least one with lots of gentle lessons and gradual growth. Let's not pull anything here!
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