It's puke day again!!! Whoooooo!!!
Chaya woke up covered in vomit this morning, which raises all kinds of questions. Mostly "when did you vomit and shouldn't my mom instincts have immediately kicked in so you didn't just marinate in your own bile for however long" with a side of "why and how did you fall back asleep whilst caked in vomit??" But there you go. I don't regret that nice morning block of ignorance.
So... Carebears all day all the time!!
Chaya seems to be on the mend fairly rapidly, but who am I to deny her the promised "all day of television." I have a pretty strong 24 hour rule about puking and doing much of anything else.
I'm amazed we lasted this long, though of course everyone's been some version of "sick" all winter. There was a flu like thing around MLK Day. Even Andrew got it, which is big time stuff. Fevers were involved. Coughing never really stopped. Asthma inhalers were located and put to use. I can't say that officially was vanquished before our trip. But no doubt it was time to catch something else. If you don't, then did you really travel?
We traveled oh absolutely.
Up up up into the mountains!
Family ski-trip in the Gelfand-Wright family Tahoe cabin! Of course Sugarbowl Ski Resort beckoning to daddy and daughter alike.
Chaya would have you know (even before this trip) that she is a GREAT skiier. And she loves skiing. And she and her Zooey are Easter Snow Bunnies. And her snake skis on its stomach. Incidentally it also has a magic xylophone that it played in her dreams to make the "snow thunder" less scary. So, kudos snake.
Daddy is also a GREAT skier and... his back... survived. He's strong. One time Chaya fell down and was having a tough time getting back up and he just one-armed her over his hip and climbed half the embankment with her dangling like a sack of wriggly potatoes.
She enjoyed skiing and will probably take to it, but there are limits to her patience and chill at this age. Going up the Magic Carpet, being one of those. Chaya screamed bloody murder every time she got on it, her shrieks echoing down the corrdor. By the time she reached the top, every time, she was fine and in good spirits. And very ready for Daddy to hold her hands and ski her down... not too quickly. With stops. It was sweet.
After her last fall she was pretty histrionic, so we all had a variety of pep talks involving doing one last run or not doing one last run. I brought Zooey into the equation and that seemed to cue the epic montage victory music for Chaya, but the heavy lifting remained all on hubby's back. And that day ended on a high note with Daddy, Gramma Lisa, Zooey,
Before that Chaya did also have a lesson with a pro and picked up some stuff. He said she did GREAT. So there we go. GREAT skier!
On average, she probably found more fun in tromping around in the snow, but give it time. Andrew will have his "partner in crime" and I'll have plenty of time wondering where the heck my snowbirds have gone and where did that odd thousand dollars end up.
I swear, skiing is fun. Or was fun to me when my body allowed me to do it without searing pain. But the cost just totally blows my mind. It's fun, but not like five times the price of anything else fun-fun. Tiny boxes of cereal at the lodge cost $6 a pop. A garden salad of light greens and a few carrot shreds cost $14. And then add back in the getting there and equipment and lift tickets and lessons.... But, well, with a season pass and a good home mountain it's almost economical... ish... better than sky diving and maybe track racing fancy cars?
I had fun bumming around the cabin and the lodge, and watching Chaya ski. I also was pretty totalled so I didn't mind playing it mellow.
I don't remember getting so hit by altitude before, but it probably didn't help that I was harboring the ick-bug's mucus in my lungs or that we were staying in a wood-stove cabin. Wood fire seems to be a particular Kryptonite of mine, because why wouldn't something comforting, beautiful, and beloved make me get crushing headaches, burning feelings everywhere, and lungs full of wheeze? At least, say, going to the ballet doesn't appear to make me gasp and feel faint.
Regardless, it was beautiful.
And full of very playable snow.
I stayed for half of the trip in Tahoe, which was about right. I really loved seeing everyone else and hanging out and watching Chaya get her snow legs. I also have been itching to see more of my buddies, and that has been hard with Andrew's limited vacation and our usual family vacation commitments. Since Chaya needs somebody to watch her, it means if I take a vacation, Andrew has to as well most of the time. Childcare is a tough one, though it gets easier as Chaya gets older. Anyways, to take advantage of "Andrew's already using vacation time," I scheduled the second part of our Tahoe trip with an escape to Arizona to visit one of my longest dearest friends, Stephanie, in Prescott.
Stephanie! Whom I've known since I was 17. First classmate at SJC to befriend me. A roommate in my late teens. A partner in all kinds of early twenties "learning-opportunities." And a person I still feel like I can share all the deep darks and funny swirly lights with.
And she has a new cat. Which was weird, because Blanche lived for about 19 years and had more or less become a part of my idea of Stephanie. But Gracie was a rad new thing. An older cat who owned the bedroom, she was soft and fluffy and cordial if not fervently friendly. And fairly hypoallergenic, because apparently that varies a lot by cat.
Arizona isn't exactly my land but it is also gorgeous in a less snowy and more red-dusty way than Tahoe. But while the California landscape looks mostly like a browner Washinton, Arizona's geology is a whole new gorgeous series of shapes and formations. And cacti, a bit.
Prescott (press-cutt, by the way) is a cool town full of hippies and gun nuts, I'm told. It has a sweet downtown that once apparently burned down leaving only one whiskey bar to be saved.
We went from there to Jerome, a haunted tourist-lure in the mountains to Sedona, beautiful and starnge place full of vortexes, UFO tours, and magic crystals. But also exquisite rocks.
And tourist shops. And pink themed everything (because the rocks are reddish pink I assume. The pink coffee isn't actually pink, I'm sad to say). And outdoor music for the people
And helicopters. SO, I got to ride in one of those.
Our helicoptermates were mostly "kids these days," teenie boppers who were NOT going to tell their moms about this until it was over. I'm told they spent the entire flight taking pictures of themselves and others. But i didn't see it, because I got to be the copilot!
A serious honor largely gleaned by being exactly the middle weight between the various passengers. I was strapped in a harness and told not to touch the foot pedals. I did great. Didn't crash the helicopter once!
Sure I can't touch them?? Sure???
After all the good reunions wound down, Igot back on a plane, flew to Seatac. Waited roughly an hour for a pick up to my car at the parking lot. Rushed home. Grabbed Chaya's fairy wings and rushed back to Seatac to meet Andrew and Chaya
She had been very upset to realize we had failed to pack them. I was only allowed to go to Arizona on the promise I'd meet her at the airport with them. So ... phew.
One good week of normalcy before the plague.
Not bad.
Andrew and I even got a date night in.
We painted.Andrew, me and 3 other women of a certain age. Why not.
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| I call it Rhythm and Browns and will be selling it at a local cafe for $1,204.98 |
We worked entirely on mixing colors and learning brush strokes.
I was high on the fumes of color creation. Giggling and smiling and laughing and talking to nobody in particular. Painting is cool. Though I gotta admit my wrist is still sore three days late so I'm either gonna need a brace or a bionic arm to do more with it.
I still got years to live up to Chaya's standard for sure. But the spirit is there.
And here we are.
Maybe not actually house hunting this weekend after all. Maybe not going to Chinese New Year tomorrow. But who knows. Maybe we'll do everything! Or maybe I'll start throwing up. The mystery and spontaneity of life. So fun!
And then hopefully we'll all be better for Valentine's Day. Because Chaya gets two preschool parties and holy crap she's been waiting for Chocolate Heart Day since shortly before Christmas. Don't tell her that candy is banned from school parties.
And then, bracing for the week that preschool has its mid-winter break.Which as always is also the week my mom won't be here for her date with Chaya. So Chaya is gonna get real bored with mommy real fast. Maybe she'll be sick then too! Then I can leave her in front of the tv all day and not feel terrible. It's so quiet with the tv on. So so quiet. Nothing's been broken or thrown in hours! Though Mommy's getting pretty restless here. If anyone's seen a small kindle recently, I could really use it back!
Happy February!
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