My Plants Aren't Dead Yet

I wouldn't go so far as to say that I have a green thumb, but it just so happens that the geraniums in my window boxes are still alive and blooming, and the plants in my planters are still doing well. Who woulda thought?

This is my first year of success with the window boxes. I definitely have Edwin to thank, as he's watered them when he's watered the plants in the front yard, and just recently fertilized again. I think I'll just plant the same next year, but more. This year I put three plants in each box, next year I'll put four. In the planters I put two plants, next year I'll put three. Then it'll be perfect! ;)

My indoor plants are doing well, too. I inherited a couple plants from Edwin, and have added a few here and there. As a show of sympathy when my dad died, my employer sent an arrangement of different, small plants, most of which I kept and planted in pots. The majority of these have survived and have even been repotted due to their growth. I'm pleased, and even have a few plants at work. After years and years of killing everything green, I didn't think this was possible.

At this house we don't have a garden--there's no room--and the room we do have doesn't have the best quality sun or soil. Oh well. Edwin used to plant basil, peppers, tomatos, rosemary. We'd have to clear out some perennials in order to make room, and that's been a slow process to decide what to keep and what to dig up. But with this house we've gained a lilac bush, a vast array of perennials, hostas, and a nice sized birch tree in our front yard which I am happy to have.

I think my window boxes were greatly helped by the fact that we didn't travel anywhere for longer than a week at a time. Our neighbor Nicole has offered to water our plants in our absence, I will have to take her up on the offer if I'm as lucky with my boxes next year.

Chicago!

So, Anna and I did go to Chicago a couple weeks ago and had a great time. I've added photos to her blog, and hope to add more either there or here in the near future. Darn work gets in the way, though.

We left Minneapolis on Sunday morning the 15th, and for the most part it was smooth sailing into the city until we had to leave the train to the city and get on a bus for the remainder of the route. Uggh. Toddler, stroller, heavy bag and diaper bag all crushed on a city bus for a ride that seemed to take forever did not start out the trip so well. Edwin met us pretty quickly after we arrived downtown, then all was well. Once I got a good look at a map of downtown I realized we were close to almost everything I wanted to do. Yay!

It was mostly just Anna and I on the trip, which I knew from the beginning but still surprised at how early Edwin left the hotel room in the morning and how late he returned at night. I tried to call him from time to time, hoping for a free hour or half hour but was only successful in catching him to spend time with Anna once. Oh well. We were fine and I got to call all the shots ;)

Sunday evening I brought Anna to Buckingham Fountain, the fountain that was always shown at the beginning of "Married With Children". It was a beautiful evening and fun to be there. We also spent time at Millenium Park, which I also love but was quite disappointed that there was no music in the park that evening. Quite a pity because it was such a beautiful evening. Oh well again. We just walked around the area instead.

Monday we headed for Lincoln Park Zoo by bus, which was a pretty fun experience for Anna because she loves buses so much. Before, during, and now after the trip she enjoys pointing out buses and say "Buh! Buh!" so she loved being downtown. The zoo was great, everything was in pretty close proximity to each other and although it was warm it was still a nice day for the zoo. We saw monkeys, seals, otters, flamingos, etc., and I made sure we saw the giraffes. While we were there Anna rode on their carousel, and she loved it. She had ridden the carousel at Como Zoo but was too little at the time and cried during the ride, but this time it was a completely different experience and she cried when she had to get off.

That evening I decided we would go to Sears Tower, which was probably an 8-10 block walk from our hotel. Anna was fine, she was cozy in her stroller and was interested in all there was to see on the city streets, the noise didn't bother her at all.

We both loved Sears Tower. I wasn't surprised that I liked it as much as I did--I love to see big buildings and big bridges--Empire State Building, Golden Gate Bridge, St. Paul's Cathedral, Erasmus Bridge (Rotterdam). Edwin says he preferred the John Hancock tower, but I figured we might as well go for the tallest this time around. I am still sad that I never went to the World Trade Center all the times I was in New York. Anyway, Anna spent a great deal of time running around the observation floor and stood right against the glass to look out on the city and down below. It made me nervous.

Tuesday Anna and I met up with a mom I know from the MSN board which I'm a member--Michelle, and her son Chase. We met at Navy Pier and together went to the Children's Museum and then out to lunch. I think we were both relieved that neither of us were one of the weird or slightlly crazy members of the board, so we were fine. Anyway, Anna had fun running around the museum and she and Chase didn't interact too much, which is not a surprise given their ages. But if Michelle and I do keep in touch (which I think we will) maybe someday our paths will cross again.

We went back to Navy Pier later that day, and this time we were closer to the water and able to watch the boats and see a lot of people strolling along. Anna enjoyed chasing the birds and sea gulls and we were able to watch the sunset behind the Chicago skyline. Another full and exciting day.

By this point, I'd long ago resigned myself to being hot, sticky, and smelly due to all the walking. I've always felt that walking around a city is what gives you a true sense of what a city is all about, plus it's cheaper than taking a taxi, of course. I had brought some extra clothes, and had packed extra for Anna so a couple of the days we were able to change into something fresh midday. Plus you just figure nobody cares, I'll never see these people again anyway.

Wednesday morning Anna and I strolled down Miracle Mile and picked up some chocolate from the Ghiradelli shop. We didn't have a lot of time before we needed to meet Edwin, check out of our hotel room, and head to Wrigley Stadium for the Cubs game. We were a little frazzled by the time we got there, but once there and Anna had something to eat the game was fun and the Cubs easily beat the Giants. Yay! Then it was time for us to head for home.

The length of the trip was just right, I got to do many of things I wasn't able to do when Edwin and I went for a long weekend a couple years ago. Like Sears Tower, and shopping on Miracle Mile. Anna was fun, and so well behaved. At night I'd give her a bath and then we'd snuggle on the bed in the dark, flipping the channels on the tv and eating potato chips or some other treat.

Our flight had delays on the way home, so we got home much later than expected. Even later that night Edwin's parents and Marije returned from San Francisco, so things were hectic again.

More another time.

Busy Boo

At the Bandshell, marching to El Capitan with Papa and one of her babies:














Dancing in front of the stage:


















Looking so grown-up with her books.

Hanging in There

I'm home with Anna today (Friday). We unexpectedly did not have daycare, and Edwin's leaving this afternoon for Chicago. So here I am.

I had goals for today but they're falling by the wayside. I'm tired, and so is Anna from being up until 9 last night. Sigh! One task was to take Anna to visit some of my coworkers, but when it got to be 10:30 and she started being cranky I let that one go. Another task was to look at potties for Anna, which we did do at Baby Depot but didn't get anything. So far, all we've done successfully today is go to the library for a couple movies.

Work is still crazy, I went in for four additional hours Wednesday night. But I'm now seeing the end of our most urgent work, thank God. I lost all momentum about a week ago, and each day since then has been a struggle.

Edwin's parents and niece arrived last Friday for the first part of their visit. They came bearing gifts for all, which was fun. Saskia and Anna now have matching pajamas from Disneyland Paris, they're very cute and my suggestion is that we take a few pictures with them in the pajamas, together. You never know when that holiday-picture opportunity will present itself!

So last weekend we stayed with the whole crew in Lake City, on Lake Pepin just south of here. We were only there from Saturday to Monday, and come to think of it really didn't do much on the lake itself. We went to an art fair type of event on Saturday, and then split up to do some biking and tubing on Sunday. Driving back on Monday, we stopped in a couple small towns on the Wisconsin side of the lake. Anna was a trooper, considering her schedule was turned upside down. She enjoyed showing off a few of her tricks to a new audience.

Now I'm getting ready for the weekend--Anna and I are flying to Chicago on Sunday to join Edwin for a few days. We don't have daycare all next week, and Edwin has known about this trip for some time so we decided to make a mini-vacation of it. My current plans are to just walk around and hang out at Millenium Park on Sunday, go to Lincoln Park on Monday, and Navy Pier on Tuesday. At Navy Pier I'll be meeting up with a mom from my MSN board--it should be fun. Wednesday we have tickets to the Cubs game before returning to MN. Edwin will be busy with work during the days, but not at night so maybe I might have some free mommy time in there as well. Crazy, but hopefully fun.

We never got the bed for Anna that I saw on Craigslist, another buyer beat me to it. I'm disappointed, but at some point another one just as nice will come along. I did go ahead and buy the PB Kids bedding I'd found on eBay for Anna's upcoming bed. It's a mostly yellow floral with lots of green and pink, perfect for her room. I can't wait! I would guess that somewhere between age 2 and 2 1/2 Anna will be ready for a new bed.

I had a conversation about books with two of my coworkers yesterday, which reminded me how much I miss being in a book group. I didn't necessarily go every month, or like every book, but I could count on good conversations and good wine during those times I did go. My first book group disbanded quickly when the leader of the group moved away. From that group I read Jane Austin for the first time (Persuasion). My next book group was a spin-off of the MSN group I belonged to at the time. It was with that group that I read Life of Pi and the Kite Runner. I didn't care to belong to that group after a while, hard to describe but there didn't seem to be a commitment to the group or a respect for the efforts of some in the group (including me). Oh well. Those types of things seem to have a life span, so I don't take it personally, but when a book group is good it is really, really good, and I would love to be part of a good one again.

Surprising New Words Anna Has Said Recently

(not perfect, but close enough)

mirror
sitder (sit there)
'sside (outside)
zoe-a (zoey--from Sesame Street)
boy
doy (toy)
sando (sandles)

full sentence/three words?
Anna sitder? (when she wanted to sit in our neighbor's stroller)

Charmed Life?

About a week ago, a coworker (not on my team) smiled at me and said "T, you have a charmed life." For some reason, the way she said it bothered me and this has been on my mind quite a bit. So, I hope I can articulate my thoughts on this here. :)

I am happy and do feel fortunate with how some parts of my life have turned out. I really try not to complain, and always remember that there are people who certainly have things worse than me (or do they?) and get along just fine. Basically, I try not be a baby about how my life has turned out so far. I'm living with the decisions I've made--where I went to school, the risks I've taken and didn't take, the people I chose to associate and call my friends and those I did not, the jobs I've had and the ones that I would have taken had I gotten the opportunity. Add to this how I've spent my money (wisely or not) and the men that I have dated (wisely or not). But then again it bothers me that (? because I don't complain all the time?) people seem to think my life is perfect, that I don't have any worries, any regrets, or wish that I'd handled certain things differently. Don't we all?

Maybe that's it--I assume everyone has regrets, wishes unfulfilled, troubles big and/or small--just because they don't talk about them all the time doesn't mean that they aren't there. Just because I'm not complaining all the time doesn't mean I don't have complaints. We all have something. I don't appreciate my worries and concerns being brushed off as nothing, and in addition to that I don't appreciate being made to feel guilty about being happy in certain areas of my life when someone else is not. I'm not going to go around bragging, but I can't share that I took a nice vacation to Charleston? I have to pretend to not be happy about it to make others feel better?

There have been times in my life that I've gotten the distinct feeling that people would have been happy had I failed at risks I'd taken--going to law school being the biggest. It wasn't enough that I was going through the absolutely most difficult time and most insecure time of my life, but I wasn't entilted to feel successful in the end? I guess it's times like those that you realize who your friends really are, or are not.

Now, of course I don't think my coworker meant to bring up all of these emotions when she made her comment to me last week, but it did. I think for me it just indicates that she thinks she's familiar with me and my life and is not. I try not to presume to know how others feel about their lives and wish people would stop doing that with me. Because you don't know.

Lovely Weekend!

Ahh, yes, a nice weekend. How much I appreciate them, how quickly they pass.

Saskia was with us Friday night, after spending most of the week at an overnight horse camp, her very first overnight any camp. She had a great time and had a lot to share about the week. My guess is that once she's too old for Pershing (after next summer) she'll be attending more camps during the summer, so it was good she got this experience now. We started watching "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" together again, I just bought the movie. Since we enjoy the books so much I thought it would be a good one to own.

Saturday night Lucy came over to watch Anna so Edwin and I could go out to dinner--celebrating our anniversary a month+ late. Oh well. I had requested we wait, since just before our anniversary we'd just been on vacation. The initial plan was to go to Oceanaire, where we have a hefty gift certificate, but we couldn't get it so instead ate at the Chambers Kitchen. I'd heard of the hotel before, but not the Kitchen. The surroundings were modern, very crisp, the portions were controlled, the food excellent and the service perfect. It all came together nicely, and it was a gorgeous evening to be walking around downtown.

Sunday I was able to get away from the house to see the movie "Evening". It was good, but not astoundingly good. I'd gotten my expectations a bit high since there were so many accomplished actresses in the cast, but there wasn't really a big payoff like I thought there'd be. I really wanted to go to a movie at one of the Landmark theaters ... I bought movie passes a long time ago, and they expire in August. Of course they can only be used during matinees, so all the more trickier to make it work in my schedule.

Sunday evening Edwin packed a salad and drinks so we could have a picnic at the Bandshell and listen to the MN Pops Orchestra. I swear they play the same songs every year ... Appalachian Spring, El Capitan (which the kids can march along) and Stars and Stripes Forever at the end. I thought Anna would enjoy the concert more than she did, maybe we were too far away for her to get a sense of where the music was coming from. For the last song I moved us right in front of the stage, then she enjoyed running around in circles and clapping her hands.

Well, that's all I can think of for now. I'm still bringing work home most nights, so I'm adding about an extra hour of something to my work day. Sigh! If I can keep this up it'll be okay, but it's getting harder and harder to stay motivated when I know this workload will continue through August.

A Funny Thing That Anna Does (but I don't laugh)

Like other little ones, from time to time Anna will put something in her mouth that she shouldn't. A button, a paper clip, a rock she's found, that kind of thing. So, I get after her of course, tell her to take whatever it is out of her mouth, and if she puts it in her mouth again then I take it away from her. So now when I say this, Anna will take the object out of her mouth (good girl) and then quickly put it up to her ear, like she's going to put it in her ear instead. She also gives me a little smile as if to say "see, it's not in my mouth!!" Hard not to laugh but I say "fine, put it in your ear, just don't put it in your mouth!"