Baby in flight

We returned on Saturday evening from a week in DC. I went there for orientation for my new job, and since I wasn't quite prepared to leave Callum for a whole week, Torsten and Callum came with me. We were really lucky that all the details just kind of fell into place and it turned out to be a pretty straightforward process to get it all booked and scheduled.

I was a little worried about how it would go, not just with the baby on the plane (although definitely also with the baby on the plane... my child is very loud in an exuberant, happy, but still definitely LOUD manner) but with Torsten staying with him in the hotel all day while I went off to work for the first time since he was born (as opposed to staying home to work), the intensive schedule we had planned, the humidity, etc. But it actually all came together quite seamlessly.

Callum slept big chunks of the flight, and was minimally fussy for the rest of it. He continued to rack up the compliments on his thighs, per usual. He waited patiently in his stroller in the late-night humidity while we spent over an hour picking up the rental car and wrestling with the unfamiliar car seat installation. He didn't nap much during the day, but he slept great at night and wasn't fussy despite the lack of naps, so we weren't complaining. He was a great sport about the back-to-back visits, dinners, and meetings that we set up. He was even better behaved on the flight home, sleeping for most of it and contentedly looking around and smiling at the other passengers for the rest of the time.

And we had fun too. My training was great and exceptionally useful, and I met a whole bunch of really interesting, smart coworkers. We spent a couple days with my sister and her family. Callum and Morgan got some more bonding time in, including their favorite activity, tag team crying:



We saw lots of friends, some of whom we hadn't seen since we moved away from DC two and a half years ago. We got in some business meetings with former and/or potential future coworkers. We stayed in a lovely hotel, and went swimming in the hotel pool. We added to the list of states Callum has visited. We did not sleep much, but it was totally worth it.

As with our trip to Santa Fe, it was different than our pre-baby trips, but not in a bad way. In fact, I would go so far as to say it was better. I continue to be impressed with how easily Callum fits into our lifestyle. He's just so easygoing, and it's so much fun to be with him. I know a lot of it has to do with his particular personality, but he never stops surprising me with how easily he adapts to everything we do with him.

Oh, and he has two teeth now. They aren't all the way up yet, but they are there, distinctly visible and startlingly white as soon as he opens his mouth. And those suckers are sharp! If I had been the one growing them, you can bet I would have been VERY grumpy about it. But Callum hardly seemed to notice, and was still a great travel companion.

And completely adorable, naturally. But that really goes without saying.

DC things

1. Yesterday was cold and windy, and rainy for part of the day. Walking to work sucked. Also, I made the mistake of wearing a lightweight skirt. I've lost my feel for appropriate work clothes for commuting, apparently. But today is sunny and it's already warmish and it's going to get positively warm this afternoon. I walked to work in the sunshine and admired all the blooming flowers in people's gardens. Lots of daffodils and crocuses and pops of color. My hotel is about ten minutes from my office and it is rather lovely to walk through some of the lovely rowhouses that make up DC's downtown residential areas.
2. Working in an office when you aren't normally in the office can become very distracting. People come by, or suddenly it seems ridiculous to call someone who's right down the hall so you walk down the hall to talk to them, and bump into three other people along the way, and then you remember why you should have called them to begin with. The office I'm sitting in doesn't have a phone, so I have to use Skype or my BlackBerry to call people if I need to talk to them, and it feels much more ridiculous than picking up a regular phone and dialing an internal extension would. I think that's why I'm so averse to doing it.
3. Speaking of my office not having a phone, it also doesn't have anything else except a desk. I'm using my own laptop (meaning I don't have printer access), I had to steal an ethernet cord from the cube of someone who recently left the company, and I'm still using my BlackBerry. Basically it's like I'm telecommuting from my own office. It feels very strange. But it's still very nice to be here and see everyone, and so far it's been very productive.
4. I do not miss being reliant on public transportation at all. It is great to have and it mostly works pretty well, though of course the system still has issues that need to be worked out. But I love that we now live in a place where having a car is affordable and convenient, and we can go wherever we want, whenever we want. I don't miss having to build in an extra 20 minutes to get wherever I was going, and being trapped in the city and unable to ever go to some of the gorgeous outdoorsy areas that surround DC.
5. The neighborhood that I'm staying in is very safe and nice, but I keep getting cat-called and talked at by random guys on the street. And no, before you say it, I don't think it's a compliment. I don't think it has anything to do with looks or attractiveness. The way it's done has to do with power. They are saying things to strange women on the street in ways that are designed to make them feel exposed and uncomfortable. They are not friendly little compliments. They are rude. And I don't like it.
   
6. DC is a great town. I'm glad I lived here. But I'm even more glad that I don't live here anymore.
   

Two-tone

Thank you so much for the input on the nursery painting. We are definitely going to go with the majority on this one and keep the chair rail (also, thanks to all of you for teaching me that term) white. Also, I was intrigued to see the suggestion of a darker turquoise below the chair rail. A lot of people said it but I was having trouble picturing it until Chris linked to an example. Of course, this is yellow and ours will be turquoise, but I love the concept:


I showed it to Torsten and he likes the idea too, so I think we're definitely going to go with that (minus the cheetah). We'll pick out a few possible paint colors for the top part, get samples and paint some squares on the wall to see what we think, pick a shade of turquoise for the top part of the wall, and then go with the color 2 to 3 shades darker on the same paint card for the wall below the chair rail. I am so excited to do this! And hopefully we won't hate the way it looks. I think the two-tone is a great way to inject a brighter color into the room while allowing it to be generally soothing instead of overwhelming.

So! That's the plan. Two-tone turquoise walls with white trim, probably white furniture (I don't think I want a yellow crib), and then yellow accents like bedding, curtains, art, and so on. But of course, since there's no baby to plan for yet, the only part of this concept that will be executed in the near future is the paint. The rest of it will have to wait, like me.

SO. Since the waiting game isn't fun for anyone, let's talk about something else! Like the fact that it's snowed more in DC than in Denver this winter, and DC is expecting another foot or so of snow tonight! How about that?

Seriously, Denver got a quick three inches yesterday, and schools weren't closed or anything. It was just like a flurry that kept on going. I spent 10 minutes shoveling and then I was done. But MAN, DC just got PUMMELED. And that city is not at all prepared. My sister sent me photos of plows that attempted to clear her street, but got stuck in the process. That doesn't happen in Denver, because we get snow a lot and we are equipped with vehicles that can handle the mess. But DC? My god, no wonder the federal government is closed today for the second day in a row.

We got out just in time, basically. I love snow, but it makes such a difference living in a city that is prepared to deal with it. I mean, I haven't even noticed lines at the grocery store before impending snowstorms here. (Though maybe that's just because we don't rush to the store ourselves before a storm? Who knows.)

Anyway, what about you? Have you had snow? If so, is it awesome or just a pain in the ass?

Why sometimes I think I might make a decent mom

The summer before my senior year of college, I lived in DC, doing two internships with literary agents. I also held two nannying jobs and a temp job with a nonprofit. So yes, I had five jobs that summer. It was a lot. There was a lot of driving. But it was also pretty awesome.

One of the nannying jobs was for two older kids--I believe they were 15 and 12 at the time. I wasn't really a nanny--more of a summer assistant/chauffeur/mentor/supervisor. I drove the 15-year-old (a girl) to art camp, drove them both to and from friends' houses, ran errands, took the kids on outings, and generally entertained them and prevented them from just hanging around the house all day watching TV.

In short, it was awesome. The kids were awesome and so was their mom, and that made all the difference. I totally bonded with both of them and we had such a good time together. They were hilarious and smart and fun and I actually really miss them.

Anyway, one of the episodes from that job that stands out most in my mind was on, I believe, my second day. The boy, Brad, had a doctor's appointment to get his camp medical forms completed, and his mom asked me to bring him. It was kind of a last-minute appointment as he was scheduled to head to camp the next week.

It seemed like it would not be a problem. Everything checked out fine at the doctor's office... until they got to his ears. One of them had a blockage. Flushing it out didn't fix it. Neither did flushing it again. Or flushing it a time after that.

Finally the doctor gave up and said he'd need to go to an Ear Nose and Throat doctor (ENT). Of course since he had to leave for camp the very next week this had to happen right away. The doctor made some calls and finally got us in with an ENT well out of the city in the suburbs. We got an appointment for that afternoon and headed up the highway.

There was hardly any waiting time with the ENT. In no time Brad was on the table having his ear thoroughly examined. The doctor wasn't exactly the best as far as bedside manner was concerned. Lots of throat-clearing and hemming and hawing, and grave looks. It didn't take him long to say that yes, there definitely was a blockage, it was fairly severe, and you know what? All that flushing out at the regular doctor's office probably made it worse. Tsk.

THEN, and this was the best part, the doctor turns to me and says, right in front of poor, quaking, 12-year-old Brad, "I think we're going to need to put him to sleep."

At first I thought he was kidding, you know? Like the way dogs are put to sleep? Like a misguided attempt at a joke, oh ha ha let's relax the kid by kidding about how the situation is so bad that the only way to fix it is to euthanize him? But no, he actually meant that he felt that we would need to put the kid under general anesthesia in order to remove the blockage from his ear.

My response was along the lines of: Excuse me? Why in the hell would you need general anesthesia to get something out of a kid's ear? You're not cutting anything open, you're not causing any pain... the ear canal is OPEN. That's how whatever this is got IN THERE IN THE FIRST PLACE.

The doctor was all dithering, like, oh, well, with younger kids they tend to move, and then I could stab them in the inner ear, and he's just at that borderline age...

After some back and forth I convinced him to at least TRY to get the thing out of Brad's ear. He could at least go in there and see if it came out easily. If he couldn't get it, and Brad seemed, I don't know, dangerously squirmy, I would call his mother and discuss the anesthesia.

(Even though, really? 12 years old and the doctor doesn't trust him to hold still for five seconds? And also, I've since undergone general anesthesia twice, and can I just say? Absolutely not an experience I would subject my child or a child in my care to for something as simple as an ear blockage.)

So, the doctor pulled out a pair of very alarming looking pincers, dourly warned Brad to hold still, lowered the pincers into his ear... and came out with the blockage, on the very first try.

And what was the blockage? Part of a pencil. A PENCIL. Covered with disgusting green goo. Luckily, Brad was allowed to take it home (wrapped in a napkin) to show his mom. Because what could be cooler than a slimy green pencil that has been residing in your ear for weeks on end, right?

During the car ride home, Brad was marveling about how well he could hear now that the PENCIL HAD BEEN REMOVED FROM HIS EAR. (Shocking, right?) I don't think his sister has ever felt so vindicated as when he announced, "You were totally right! I WAS shouting all the time when I thought I was just talking!"

Really, he was an awesome little brother. And she was a pretty great big sister.

Domesticity

Here's what I've learned about myself since moving to Denver: I'm very domestic. And I like it that way.

When I say "domestic" I don't mean that I like keeping house, per se. I'm not exactly a neat freak, and I only cook on rare occasions (Torsten has pretty much taken over the cooking duties since we moved into our house, and I like it that way).

No, what I mean is that I like staying in. I like being at home. And when I do go out, I like to do things that also feel fairly domestic.

For example: I like to go for walks and hikes. I like to go to the gym. I like doing the grocery shopping and other errands. I like going to the dog park. I like going to restaurants. In short, I like routine.

This weekend we ran some errands. We took the dog for a walk in a nearby park in the snow. We watched football. We went to the dog park. We cuddled in front of the fire. We slept. We cooked. And it was lovely and perfect.

I don't like going out to bars or clubs. I don't feel the need to hit up the latest festival or opening or museum exhibit. We subscribe to a local magazine, and I do peruse the calendar for listings of things we'd be interested in, but they tend to be more along the lines of a nearby farmer's market, and not so much with latest hip hangout spot. We hardly ever even bother going to the movies, even when there's something playing that we both want to see.

It's not that we never leave the house, or wish we didn't have to. We do get out and about. But our interests are in very specific things, like exploring the mountains and foothills and parks nearby.

This is part of why we didn't want to live in DC anymore. DC is a great city in a lot of ways, and it is priced accordingly. To me, it is absolutely worth paying the high cost of living in a big city if you love that city and take advantage of its unique offerings. We didn't. We didn't love DC and we never went to the museums or fairs or anything else that was going on. In fact, we tried to stay away from those things because we didn't like the hassle of the crowds.

So for us, the cost of living in DC wasn't worth the benefit. And there were several simple things missing--things like the ability to own a car without huge hassle, and having easy access to a Target and other suburban amenities, and affordable housing.

And yet, I still remember the comment a friend made when we told him we were moving to Denver. He said, "What a surprise. I always thought of you guys as more urban."

And at the time, you know what? I was offended by that. I thought we WERE urban. We handled living in DC. We even liked it. We weren't intimidated by the pace or the atmosphere or the people. We were at home there. And I was all like, we ARE urban. We're young urban professionals--the very definition of yuppie. And we like it. And Denver is a city too.

But now, I've realized that actually? We aren't urban. We like our house and our peaceful neighborhood. We like living in a dog-friendly area with lots of open spaces. We like having a car and driving to the mall if we need to run an errand, instead of spending an hour transferring on the Metro and the bus. We like having access to so many gorgeous hiking areas. We like Denver. And yeah, we like the downtown area too. But mostly just to have a nice meal and then take a nice walk.

And I like it this way. I'm domestic, I'm not urban, and I'm very happy with things the way they are. And it only took me 25 years to figure that out.

Business tripping

Last night was my first night in DC since we moved to Denver eight months ago. And can I say that it's a little weird to be staying in a hotel in a city I'm used to calling home? And even weirder to be here without Torsten?

Though I will say, if one of us is going to be on a business trip, I think I prefer it to be me. I don't like sleeping alone in our house. It starts feeling so cavernous and creaky. A hotel feels more secure.

But speaking of the hotel... well, it's conveniently located. And the room that I'm staying in was just remodeled, and is lovely. However, I have three complaints I'd like to file:

1. The price of the hotel is exorbitant, and yet breakfast is not included.
2. The price of the hotel is exorbitant, and yet they charge $12.95 a day for Internet access.
3. The price of the Internet is exorbitant, and yet it ISN'T EVEN WIRELESS. AND the hotel-provided wire (which cannot be switched out) is very short. So, no laptop in bed. Or even in the armchair. Only at the desk.

I think I would prefer a slightly shabbier room with free wi-fi. Right? Am I being unreasonable here?

It does suck to spend the week away from Torsten, and I'm still irritated because I was really hoping we'd be able to schedule our business trips simultaneously so that we could come to DC together, and that didn't work out. However, it's kind of nice to come in to my office and see everyone again. We have, I believe, nine people who were hired after I moved, so it was good to meet them, and great to catch up face-to-face with colleagues I've been working with for the last couple of years.

It feels a little funny to be in an office again, though. Plus, I've become a tad paranoid that I'm going to pick up germs and get sick. Working from home creates a nice little germ-free cocoon, you know?

Still, it's good to be here. I think a week will be just about the right length.

Also, luckily, we have Skype video chat, so we could watch each other and the Broncos game at the same time:

Year to date

It has now been almost exactly five months since Torsten and I loaded all of our stuff into our car and the moving van and embarked on a three-day drive to Denver. And you know how people say that things simultaneously feel like they happened yesterday and that they happened years ago? Well, this isn't like that. This just flat-out feels like it happens years ago. In the best possible way.

I don't miss DC. I miss living in the same city as my sister and I miss my friends there and I miss being within driving distance of my parents--but I don't miss living in DC. I don't miss our apartment, and I don't miss not having a car and relying on the bus and Metro to get everywhere, and I don't miss working in an office, and I don't miss being the incredibly hot, sticky summer and the cold, gray winter, and I don't miss the very businesslike attitude so many people had and the way nobody talked to strangers and nobody had pets. I just don't miss the city. I don't miss the feel of it.

The thing is that I loved DC while I was there, and before I was there, which is why I chose to move there. I am so glad I lived there, and not just because if I hadn't lived there I would never have met Torsten. It was a great place to move after college, and three years was the right amount of time to live there. And it was my choice to live in DC that got me involved in nonprofit work, which is how I learned that I could combine my love of editing with my desire to do something that felt meaningful to me.

I'm not trying to say that DC sucks, is my point. Because it doesn't, at all. It's a great city with lots to do (and a lot of it is free), and lots of culture and gorgeous architecture and interesting people and it's very multicultural and it has an excellent public transportation system and some really lovely parks. It has a vibe and a feeling and a culture all of its own, and that's fantastic.

But it wasn't the city for me, and so I don't miss it.

Also, five months in, I cannot possibly be more glad that I ended up keeping my job. I love working from home, absolutely love it, but it's more than that. And I love the excellent benefits I get (the perks of working for a nonprofit--they pay very little but they make up for it in benefits), but it's more than that, too.

I love my job itself. I love the work that I do and the people that I work with. I love that they value me as much as I value them. I love that I've been given the latitude to move in the direction I want with my work. I love that even from 1600 miles away, I feel very involved in my office and our work. I love that I'm good at what I do and that I have learned so much about public health in the past 3+ years that I've been working in the field.

I feel valuable. I feel like I'm contributing. I feel like the work I do is meaningful. I really ENJOY working. And I also enjoy that I work at a place that really values work-life balance, that does more than just pay lip service to it, that actively encourages it.

When I first got into public health after college, it was basically by accident. I was applying to every editing-related job I could find in DC, and the one I ended up with was in the nonprofit public health field, and it was a pretty good first job. And then a coworker from my first job left the company and a few months later gave me a call to tell me about a position that had opened up at her new company, and I ended up getting that job, and really liking it.

If I had taken the new job in Denver, things would be very different. I would be much more about online marketing and social media and not really at all about editing. I would be working in the private sector getting a higher salary but much worse benefits, and probably working much longer hours. The guy who offered me the job was great, and I'm sure I would have enjoyed working with him, but I don't think that ultimately I would have wanted to stay with that company, or in that field, forever.

Whereas with the job I have, I feel like it's really a CAREER. I could see staying with this job, moving up within the company but continuing to do the same type of work, indefinitely. And I think I'd be happy doing it. So I think it was the much better option for me. And I'm glad I figured that out in time to accept their offer. Even though I will always be grateful to the company whose job I turned down for opening up the opportunity for us to move to Denver, even though it turned out I didn't actually need that job to do it.

What about you guys? Are you happy with the city you live in and the job you work in? Or do you want to change one or the other, or both?

Things that are different here

• Edy's is called Dreyer's. But it's still just as yummy. OMG that Tagalong ice cream? I can NOT buy that again.
• There's no Kroger, but there is King Sooper's, and they appear to be owned by the same company. Also, there's no Trader Joe's. And no Ikea. I KNOW. But you can't expect to drastically reduce your cost of living without giving up ANYTHING. And in general there's actually a ton of great shopping here, more than in DC.
  
• People are so friendly. At the grocery store? The MANAGER helped me find cottage cheese, then personally bagged our stuff and offered to carry it out to the car for us. The thought of anyone at a grocery store in DC offering to carry our stuff to the car is hilarious.
• Prime time starts at 7 instead of 8, but they switch the order of the shows. On the East Coast on Monday nights, 24 is on at 8 and House is on at 9. Here, 24 is still on at 8, but House is on at 7. So we're watching House in real time with the rest of you, but we're two hours behind on 24. And on American Idol. This means I have to stay away from Twitter on results nights.
• Houses are affordable! As in, we can buy one sometime in the near future without bankrupting ourselves! Not a huge mansion, but a nice house. Certainly nicer than the shack 40 miles out of town that we would have been lucky to afford in DC. OK, that's an exaggeration, but still.
• The weather. I know that the weather here is unpredictable, but I'm loving what we've had for our first week. It's been sunny and in the 60s pretty much every day. One night it snowed, and that was pretty. And then the next day it was sunny and in the 60s again, and we didn't even have to scrape off our car because the snow all melted.
• There's no traffic to speak of. I mean, the highway gets crowded at rush hour, but in DC you could get on the Beltway at midnight and still not be sure if you'd be bumper to bumper. It was so bad that the GPS's estimate of when we'd arrive at a place was usually off by about 50%, and that's with a live traffic feed, because it just didn't understand the slow crawl and long lines of red lights that make up DC driving. Here the GPS's estimates are pretty much entirely accurate.
• The mountains are always there, always visible, and always beautiful. And you can orient yourself based on where they are.
• There appear to be no mailboxes on the street, anywhere. I drove around looking for one for like fifteen minutes, and finally gave up and drove the three miles to the post office so that our car payment wouldn't be late. Is this normal? In DC there was one on a street corner at least every couple blocks. Where the hell are they all around here? Have I gone blind?
  
• Dogs! Everywhere! I saw two people in Home Depot with their dogs. Tons of people walk dogs on the street all the time. It's amazing. And makes me extra sad that we weren't able to get an interview with the two dogs we're interested in adopting for a week and a half. How will we wait that long? I'm not sure it can be done.
  

Breaking up with DC.

When I first moved to DC, I loved it. I liked the majestic buildings downtown, the Metro system, the amount of trees everywhere. I liked Rock Creek Park and the way it's a real park, really natural, and the way it spreads all over the city. I liked that the buildings were low so you never felt closed in. I liked the people, the fact that so many people here are here for a cause, working for a nonprofit or the government or some other organization that has a mission other than pure profit. I liked that when you went to parties you would end up in conversations with complete strangers about real issues.

When I moved to DC I had no plans to stay here permanently or not to stay here permanently. I just didn't think about things that way. But it was a great first city in which to live on my own. Accessible, easy to get around, and while expensive, not over-the-top, prohibitively unaffordable. It's amazing how different everything is now, just three years later. I had my first job here. And my second job. I met my husband here. I got married here. I am totally comfortable here.

But while there are certain things that I will definitely miss about the city, I don't foresee myself missing it as a whole. Missing the people I love who live here, absolutely. But I don't feel much nostalgia about the city itself. It was perfect for me as a young single person and for us as a young couple. But it isn't what we want for ourselves as a young family and then as an older and bigger family.

Still, I look forward to telling our kids about how we met in DC, and got married there, and what we did while we were living here, the same way that I always liked hearing those stories about my parents and how they met in California. And I look forward to developing a life in Denver, to having real little native Coloradan children who aren't afraid of snow and who don't think of the East Coast as the only real place to live. Even if they end up there eventually.

So, this is it for us and DC. The relationship is over. And to commemorate that, I think I'm going to go change my Facebook regional network. After all, isn't that how you know that a change is real?

The hardest part

Last night my sister came over to pick up our keys because she's going to be checking our mail until we have a forwarding address. She only stopped by briefly, and then we stood in the hallway surrounded by boxes and trash, delaying the inevitable goodbye.

It wasn't poignant, it wasn't dramatic. I knew it was going to happen but I still wasn't expecting it. We hugged, we said we loved each other, we reminded ourselves that we'll see each other in June. Her eyes looked red but maybe I was imagining things. After she left, I cried. And I'm crying again, writing this.

I knew this part would be hard and I know I made this choice. And I'm still so happy about going to Denver and I know that there will be visits and calls and emails and lots of people only see their sisters a few times a year and they're all fine.

But I love her and I like knowing that she's nearby and I like getting to see her whenever and just getting dinner or going shopping or hanging out at her house. I like that we talk almost every day at work and that there's no pressure because we live near each other and it's all just casual and easy. It's just so weird that we're going to be so far apart.

Most people who move to settle down make a choice to be near their families. Maybe we're crazy for moving further away. I know that my family is close enough that geographical distance won't change anything, but a small part of me wonders what the hell I'm thinking, choosing not to live in the same city as my sister anymore when it would have been so easy to stay.

Moving to Denver is the right choice, I know that it is. But Jesus Christ, this part sucks.

I've always thought that we'd have two kids, and then recently I'd started to think that maybe just one kid would be nice too, and simpler. But now I don't think so. I'm really sad right now, but I still want this for my own kids. I want them to have a sibling, someone they care about enough to make them cry. Even if it means they end up like me, sitting in their offices using scratchy paper napkins to wipe their eyes.

Priorities in a limited time frame

I'm beginning to think that I misjudged this whole moving strategy thing just a tad. Torsten is steps ahead of me and says I definitely did. The packing is going well, for sure, and that should be pretty much done this weekend. It's not that. It's the social thing.

It's like, I've lived in DC for three years, plus a summer a year before that, and when we realized that we were moving it suddenly occurred to me just how many friends I have here. Which is great, and I'm sure we'll make friends in Denver, albeit slowly. But what happened was, our move that we had been thinking about in the abstract for so long suddenly became this concrete thing with a DEADLINE, and as soon as that happened I had the overwhelming need to see everybody one last time. And they don't all know each other and I want real quality time with them all so it's not the kind of thing where you have a big crowded happy hour sendoff and call it a day.

You know how you always say to various people, oh, let's do this or that sometime? And you both mean it and vaguely keep planning on it but somehow "sometime" never turns into concrete plans? Well, now that we're moving, that "sometime" has become now or never, and I choose now. So I booked our social calendar, specifically mine, pretty much full. Dinner and coffee and shopping and brunch and whatnot with one friend after another. And I'm still missing a lot of people who are very important to me in the process.

And I think that ultimately I won't regret this, and it's fine, but also I am just so busy and have plans like every night between now and when we leave, practically. I mean not exactly, but almost. And I while I'm remarkably unstressed given what's going on in my life right now, this stuff isn't helping. Well, the time with friends is. But the lack of time at home to unwind, or sleep... that's not helping.

I was super grumpy yesterday and all this stuff kept pissing me off, some of it legitimate and other stuff just stupidity that I normally take in stride. And I think part of it is that I am running on very close to empty and I have a long way left to go.

But what am I supposed to cut out? Plans with my sister? Shopping with one of my best friends from college? Dinner with our favorite local couple and their adorable baby? Really, I WANT to see these people and I'm going to miss them all terribly when we are gone, and there will be plenty of time for sleeping later especially when we are in Denver and know no one and therefore have no social life, but OMG SO MUCH TO DO.

I think it would be easier if it weren't for all the other last-minute stuff that has to get done, like the ridiculous car inspection fiasco, and one last haircut from my beloved stylist, and figuring out everything we both need to get our remote offices set up, and oh, I don't know, sorting through and packing up everything we own? I don't even need a to-do list because it's all so obvious that it can't be forgotten, but can I just say that I LIKE it when some of the stuff I need to do is trivial enough that I need to write it down to remember it? That kind of thing implies that if it doesn't get done, it's not the biggest deal. But in this case it would really be awesome if the movers didn't show up to a half-packed apartment, and if I didn't spend our entire road trip feeling sad because I didn't get to say goodbye to half my friends.

So, you know. Priorities. I think mine are in the right place. But this whole wanting to see everyone and do everything one last time thing... well, it's a factor that should be weighed quite heavily in the timeline of any future interstate moves. Of which there will hopefully be very few in our future. But, you know. Just in case.

Why do you live where you live?

First things first, in the excitement over the big news yesterday I forgot to pick a contest winner. So last night I went through all the comments. I was going to pick a winner based on which guess I liked best, but so many of them were awesome that I gave up and went back to my old friend the random integer generator. And the winner is Devan! For the record, she guessed that we are buying a house, a puppy, or both. She was wrong! Although we do hope to get a dog shortly after moving to Denver. But I did clearly state that the most accurate guess would not necessarily be the winning one. So, Devan, email me your info and at some point during the pre-moving frenzy I will get a prize out to you!

Now, moving on. A lot of people have expressed surprise or other strong reactions to the fact that we're not moving to Denver for a concrete REASON such as a job or to be near family or something.

When I gave my notice, the director of my department asked me why we were going to Denver. I think she more than most other people was open and understanding to our reasons for going--possibly because she knows that I'm happy in my current job and therefore it probably wasn't foremost in her mind that I would be moving across the country for the opportunity to leave my current position. And she's right. As I said yesterday, we decided to move to Denver, and then we looked for a way to make that happen.

Apparently that's not a very common thing to do? My own parents live in North Carolina because when they decided they didn't want to stay where they were (Massachusetts--too cold for them), NC was the best of my dad's transfer options with his company. It's not Kansas, but it isn't the place they would have chosen if they could have gone anywhere.

And that's the situation for a lot of people. I know there are tons of reasons why people move--jobs, family, school, convenience, money. But just deciding that you want to be somewhere does not seem to be a common reason to move. Or am I wrong?

I mean, the way we wound up in DC was a bit random for both of us. When I was in college, I wanted to move to Chicago after graduation, and during my junior year I arranged a summer internship there that fell through at the last minute. I was abroad at the time and my sister, who was already living in DC, helped me find a place to live there, so I found an eleventh-hour internship and spent the summer in DC.

I liked it, it was near family, there were job opportunities, and I liked the fact that there was so much nonprofit and government work here, leading to a lot of very idealistic, driven young residents. So after graduation, I didn't look anywhere else. I moved here to DC, I liked it fine, and I don't regret it at all. But I couldn't imagine settling here.

Torsten, on the other hand, sort of stumbled onto DC by accident. He was in grad school and wrote to a bunch of professors in search of a research position while he worked on his thesis. He wound up at the University of Maryland, and the professor he worked with (who is still a friend, and in fact was a groomsman in our wedding) wound up introducing him to the man who is now his boss.

So, here we are, for various reasons, which involve some measure of choice but a lot of measures of chance and circumstance as well. And this move to Denver is us thinking deliberately about the rest of our lives, and where and how we want to spend them. I know that we are very lucky to be in a position where we can make such a calculated decision and uproot ourselves like this. And it makes me wonder how many people have done similar things for similar reasons.

So tell me, why do you live where you live?

FINALLY I can spill the beans!

OK. You guys have been so patient with me and I'm so sorry it all took this long! And all the details still aren't worked out, but everyone who needs to be informed has been, so I can finally tell you the news.

Those of you who guessed that we are buying a car: You're right.

But that's not the big news. That's just a side effect of the big news.

The big news is: Torsten and I are moving to Denver. In three weeks.

I KNOW, right? That IS big, isn't it? It's not just me thinking that? We're going to pack up everything we own and let strange people put it into a truck and drive across the country with it and then live in a brand new town where we know basically nobody. That's a big deal, isn't it? And also, see? I told you I wasn't pregnant!

Now, I've told a fair few people about this, and they all seem to have similar questions. So let's do a little FAQ, shall we?

1. Why Denver?
Neither Torsten nor I loves DC, and we definitely don't love the high cost of living here. We're planning our lives, looking to settle down and get ready to start a family, and we don't want to do it here. The things that make DC expensive are things we don't take advantage of. We never go to museums or free cultural events or fun city things. All we really want is a nice-size city with good weather, a couple good restaurants, decent shopping, and a nice atmosphere. A place where would want to raise kids, basically. Denver is that place. It is gorgeous, with stuff to do, great parks and lots of outdoorsy stuff in general, a nice downtown, a very reasonable cost of living, and lovely weather. Plus, the people are supposed to be great (maybe it's all the sun they get).

2. But isn't it cold in Denver?
Sometimes, yes. Denver is very dry, which I am thrilled about as I hate humidity (and not just because of what it does to my hair). It has approximately 300 days of sun per year. It's cold in the winter, and it snows, but not as much as you would think because it's protected from a lot of the winter storms by the mountains. And the cold isn't nonstop. It'll be cold there for awhile and then it'll be sunny and mild. In fact, it is often colder in DC in the winter than it is in Denver.

3. What are you doing in Denver? How are you making this happen?
Torsten and I have been trying to make this happen for awhile, but were trying to figure out the job situation first so we could guarantee that we wouldn't wind up broke on the streets of Denver. Especially in this job market, it's a little scary to let go of a good, steady job, so we wanted to be as stable as possible when we did it. I got offered a job in Denver, and Torsten will be working remotely in the same job he has now.

4. Aren't you scared about picking up and moving across the country to a place where you don't know anyone?
Yes and no. Torsten will be with me, and with him as a constant nothing else is as scary. And while I don't have any friends there yet, I do know a couple of bloggers and friends of friends there, and I think that will be a great starting point for getting settled and making friends. Still, even though I don't want to stay in DC, it will be hard to pull up the roots that I've put down here over the past three years. I have friends here, and my sister is here, and the city has been the site of many important things to me--the first place I lived on my own, where I met Torsten, where I got married. I am certain that there will be tears when our apartment is empty and I have to say goodbye to people. But for now, I'm mostly excited.

5. Aren't your parents upset?
My parents, remarkably, are very excited about this. Well, maybe it isn't that remarkable, given that they tend to be very supportive of me, but it is remarkable given that I will be much further from them than I am now. But they think Denver is a great place and are looking forward to visiting, and know that I will still visit them. Torsten's parents are less thrilled, since we will be further from them and since they are the type to live in the same place and stay in the same job forever (a common German mindset, apparently), but they're trying.

6. Where will you live? Do you have an apartment?
We don't exactly know where we're going to live yet. The general plan (details yet to be confirmed) is to just go there, get there a few days before the moving truck, and stay in a hotel until we find an apartment. Is that insane? I will make some calls to make sure that some buildings have immediate availability, so that we aren't living too much on the edge. But it just isn't worth it to fly out there for a few days ahead of time just to look for a place. And hey, if we can't take a few risks when we're young and unencumbered, when can we?

7. You got a car! Cool! What kind?
It's a 2006 Honda Civic. Not exactly the most exciting car in existence, but practical and very good value. And yes, we are looking forward to driving it 1,700 miles across the country. On Valentine's Day. And the day after that. And the day after that. It's going to be awesome. I can't wait to get there.

The winds of change

I'm feeling a little restless. Not down, not blue, not depressed. I just want things to happen, I want to make them happen. And taking first steps toward that goal only whets my appetite. Browsing houses online just makes me want to apply for a mortgage, even though I know we're not there yet. Thinking about babies makes me want to purchase a tiny wardrobe and start picking names. Thinking about dogs makes me start viewing profiles on rescue group websites, and that can't lead anywhere pretty, at least not as long as we're living in a building that doesn't allow pets.

DC is feeling a little unsettled right now, too. The Obama family is moving in and inauguration preparation is well underway, and as a result there are more cops and secret service officers and motorcades around than usual. Apparently on inauguration day it is advised that nobody try to go anywhere; the crowds are expected to be astronomical, most bridges into the city will be closed to all but official traffic, and the lines for the metro are allegedly going to be hours long. Of course, we have a four-day weekend thanks to Martin Luther King Day and Inauguration Day being back to back. So, we have the option of braving the airports and getting the hell out of town (but going where?) or just holing ourselves up in the apartment for five days and pretending we're snowed in.

Perhaps it is easier to face, even embrace change because I have Torsten by my side. He is a constant, he is the most important thing, he means that nothing will ever utterly change because he will always be here and I will always be here with him. And so everything else isn't as scary because it isn't just me anymore, dealing with it all.

The city matches my mood. Restless, waiting for change, waiting for things to happen. The things aren't nameless, they are specific, but they aren't here yet. I want them to start. I am impatient. I want answers. I want movement. I am pushing and I want someone to push back.

These are the days.

When I first got engaged, I went on a search for blogs of engaged women, and I found quite a few. And now they're all married, and here I am, feeling like the last one but really not, because many other bloggers I read, and many of my readers, have gotten engaged in the last year, so really I'm just the next in the chain.

I can hardly believe that our wedding is THIS WEEK. If anyone asks me when the wedding is, my answer will be, "On Saturday." I've been watching the 10-day forecast, which has vacillated wildly but seems to be settling on mostly sunny with highs in the low 60s, which is the best we could hope for this time of year.

I didn't think about the wedding all weekend, because I was busy with my French family. On Saturday I took them to see the monuments and the White House, and yesterday I took them to the shopping mall. My feet are killing me, but it was nice to have a whole normal weekend with nothing wedding related whatsoever. And I did get lots of sleep.

Torsten did not come out with us, because he has tons of work to finish before we leave for our honeymoon (in a WEEK, when we are MARRIED), but he did find the time to go for a quick walk with the camera:



My work is also crazy--we have a huge deliverable due before a contract runs out on Thursday, and I'm managing the project, which is basically killing me, plus I have to get all my normal stuff done and in order before leaving for two weeks. The timing sucks, basically, and I haven't had time to breathe at work. Luckily I had the foresight to schedule a massage for this evening, because I think I'm really going to need it.

Here are things that aren't going to happen again until we are married:

• Our milk expiring.
• A staff meeting at my office.
• A credit card payment.
• Renewing my birth control.
• Sleeping in.
  
• Sunday.
  

We went walking.

This weekend was the first real fall weekend we've had all year. The leaves were changing color, the temperature never got above the low 60s (and down to 40 at night), the sky was clear, and the air was crisp. Plus, we just received a gorgeous DSLR as a wedding gift from Torsten's parents. So, interspersed with lunch with friends and meetings with our officiant and florist, Torsten insisted that we go for two walks, one on each weekend day--although one could more accurately be described as a hike.

As you can see, the weather and the camera were competing for first prize in the gorgeousness category. Full sets here and here. All photos by Torsten.

On the first walk, Torsten took photos of flowers:


And bark:


While I sat on the ground:


And lay in a field:


You can see which one of us is the more dedicated photographer and nature enthusiast. But perhaps things changed on Day 2? Torsten took photos of foliage:



And moss:


And bark, again:


And stumps:


I sat on a rock:


Yeah, no, nothing changed on Day 2. I still stick to my motto: Nature is what windows are for.

Little Germany

Last night Torsten and I went to a German restaurant with a friend. It was one of those hole-in-the-wall type places, one that looks like a deli/grocery store from the front--in fact, we didn't even know that it was a restaurant until our friend suggested that we go there for dinner.

Dinner was good--unassuming atmosphere to say the least, lots of traditional German fare, including schnitzel, bratwurst, spaetzle, and Oktoberfest beer, plus black forest cake for dessert. We had a nice meal with good conversation, and after dinner, Torsten spent forever admiring the German items for sale in the grocery section. There were jams and chocolates and prepared mixes for traditional German food. We were tempted by the mohrenkupf, but Torsten was afraid they wouldn't be fresh, so we passed. We did come away with some Kinder chocolate and a bar of marzipan, though. Along with many promises from Torsten to come back soon. He was thrilled.

The funny thing was that it was weird to me to see all that German stuff right there on a shelf for anyone to buy (at a high price, of course... I guess the exchange rate plus the shipping costs plus the import tax plus the need for profit explains that, but still). All those products were things that I had never heard of until the first time I went to Germany with Torsten, and that I associate very much with being in Germany.

It reminded me of the first time I went back to France to visit my host family after I spent a year there without any breaks. That year felt like a separate entity, like a whole different world--as though I had broken some sort of time-space continuum to get there. While I was there, when people asked me if I was going back to the U.S. for the holidays, I always felt shocked--like I couldn't leave in the middle and go home, even for a short trip, because I would never be able to get back there.

And then the year ended, and I went home, and I compartmentalized everything that had happened during my year abroad into a place in my mind where nobody else could be, a history that only I knew about. I kept in touch with my French friends and host family but it felt like getting letters from outer space.

But then I went back for a visit. And then another visit. And then I visited with my parents. And then my French host brother came to visit me, and met my sister. And my French host family will be here for my wedding. By now those two aspects of my life are wholly mixed, almost like they're... ONE LIFE or something ludicrous like that.

So I suppose I should have seen it coming. After all, I've been to Germany with Torsten twice, and his parents have been here, and met my family, and sat on our couch. So it's not so much them that I associate with a different world... it's Germany itself, and all the smells and sounds and the general atmosphere it has. And apparently, typically German groceries are a big part of that. And seeing them in a random deli in DC was like running into E.T. on the Metro.

Of course, both Germany and the U.S. are home to Torsten in different ways. I wonder if he felt the same way about seeing some of his favorite German things casually for sale in the middle of DC. I didn't ask. Maybe I should have.

Ben Folds let me down.

Last night Torsten and I went to a Ben Folds concert, the fifth time I've seen him live. It was held downtown in Constitutional Hall, which was great because most big concerts around here seem to be held out in the Maryland or Virginia suburbs, which are a giant pain to get to. I was the one who wanted to go and talked Torsten into it, but I think he wound up enjoying it more than I did. Although we both had our issues with it, at least Torsten wasn't really familiar with Ben Folds, so he didn't have all the complaints that I did.

I think part of my problem with the whole thing is that I've been a huge fan of Ben Folds since high school, and my favorite stuff of his is from the Rockin' the Suburbs era, and so that's all I really want to hear him play. And that must suck for musicians, because they move and evolve and their styles grow with them, and yet their fans are still stuck back in the glory years, screaming for them to play "Zak and Sara" just one more time.

So, he totally flouted us and played only new songs that nobody recognized. But that wasn't the whole problem. Part of it was the venue, which had a lot of reverb. And part of it was that it wasn't just Ben Folds up there--there were four other guys. And my preference when it comes to Ben Folds is just him and a piano up on the stage. Admittedly, two of the guys weren't doing much--but it was like a huge competition between the drums and the piano to see who could play louder. It was seriously an assault on the ears.

And it was just... a lot of it felt very experimental, very esoteric, very postmodern. Like they were just up there banging around on instruments and were as surprised as the rest of us at what sounds came out. And there were none of the fun, sarcastic stories that Ben Folds always used to tell during his concerts. And it was so loud during the songs that you couldn't hear the lyrics, which are usually clever and a very important part of his performances. And he didn't do any of the audience participation stuff that he usually does, like having people clap along and sing parts of the chorus and whatnot.

And I know I wasn't the only one who felt disappointed, because it was the first of the five Ben Folds shows I've been to where the majority of the audience wasn't standing up dancing. Everyone was just sitting there, not looking into it at all, with the exception of six college students in the very back row. They seemed to be having the time of their lives, and it made me wonder if maybe you have to be in college to enjoy a Ben Folds concert.

The best one I ever went to was my junior year of college, I think. He came to my campus and tickets were only $9 for students, and it was general admission so my friends and I camped out in line for about five hours and wound up in the second row. Everyone in the audience was a huge Ben Folds fan and knew all of his songs, and he was totally eating it up and playing to the audience. It was super interactive and he played one fantastic song after another. He even played some of the old Ben Folds Five stuff and since it was just him, he set up different sections of the audience to play the other instrumental parts. It was the best concert of my entire life and you could tell that he really loved it too. It was exceptional from start to finish. And afterward I ran into him on the lawn outside my dorm and we had a chat about the town we're both from and how he hoped that when his daughter grew up she would go to my school, and he autographed a dollar bill because that was all I had.

This was the opposite of that. Very weird, very removed. He did play a few old songs that people recognized during the encore, but only four of them and not even his best ones. I recognize that he wants to try out and promote his new material, but just mixing in a couple of songs that people could sing along to early on in the show would have really warmed them up for the new stuff. Instead I could tell we all felt alienated. It was like going to a Beatles show and hearing the White Album when what you really wanted was A Hard Day's Night.

All in all, a disappointment. The opening act was good, though. Her name was Missy Higgins and I had never heard of her, but she was great. Not worth the price of a Ben Folds ticket, though.

Belligerence on the bus

Yesterday after work, I got on the bus to go to Target (now that one is finally open in DC). About five minutes into the ride, we pulled over at a stop and a man who was probably about 40 years old and neatly dressed in slacks and a button-down shirt boarded. He walked right by the fare machine without paying and took a seat toward the front of the bus.

Nobody paid him much attention, except the bus driver, who was probably waiting to see if he was going to come back to pay his fare, which passengers sometimes do if they need to dig for change or whatever.

Right after he sat down, he said to seemingly nobody in particular, "I hate Jewish people."

He said it loudly, and aggressively, and the whole bus, which wasn't that full, heard. We all looked up, and for a minute nobody said anything, and then the woman sitting next to the guy said in an offended voice, "Excuse me. I'm Jewish."

It should be noted that I am technically Jewish as well, but I didn't say anything, nor would I have if the other woman hadn't spoken up. For one thing, I don't feel that my being Jewish makes the guy's comment much more offensive--I would have been equally offended if he had insulted a group of which I was not personally a part.

But more importantly, I am just not the type to engage with someone who is obviously spoiling for a conflict and who could potentially be dangerous. I do not consider it normal behavior to announce to a bus full of strangers that you hate Jewish people, and the comment immediately put me on the alert for other hateful and possibly more dangerous behavior. My instinct in such a situation is to put my head down and try to stay out of it.

In short, I would never have done what that girl did, for fear of escalating the situation. But I don't necessarily think that she shouldn't have done it. It did escalate the situation, though. The man leaned up close to her and repeated, more loudly, "I HATE JEWISH PEOPLE."

At this point, the bus driver got involved and said to the guy, "Where's your fare?" He responded that it was "right here," she asked him to pay it, and he didn't. She said to him, very firmly, that the next stop would be his stop. He said no.

She pulled the bus over and said, "This is your stop." He disagreed. He yelled that she was racist. He kept repeating, angrily, "I'm an American." The girl who had said she was Jewish responded, "So am I." He said, "No you aren't, you're Jewish." She said, "I'm still an American." The bus driver yelled, "Sir, get off the bus."

The guy yelled, "You're all racist. I'm an American. I hate Jewish people. I'm not getting off the bus."

The thing was that he didn't seem mentally disturbed. The way I'm telling it, he does sound like he had issues, and likely he did, but he seemed totally normal, totally aware of what he was saying, totally in the moment, and plenty intelligent. He was articulating himself and reacting to other people in a generally responsive way, the way you would assume that anyone would.

The bus driver screamed at the man that he had better get off the bus right then or she would call the transit authority. The man said, "I don't feel like it," and walked further toward the back of the bus. Other passengers, including the woman who had said she was Jewish, started yelling at him as well, shouting, "Get off the bus." One man got up out of his seat and moved toward the guy while telling him he needed to get off the bus.

The man yelled, "I hate Jewish people. You wanna fight, motherfucker? You wanna fight?" He moved menacingly toward the man who had stood. The other guy didn't move. The Jewish girl screamed, "Get off the bus right now or I'll call the police." The guy did not get off the bus. The girl got on her cell phone and called 911. She started reporting the situation. All the passengers on the bus, as well as the bus driver, were yelling and screaming at the guy to get off the bus, and he was yelling and screaming about how they were all racist motherfuckers.

Then, suddenly, he did get off the bus. He went through the back door, and then seemed to change his mind and walked back up to the front door as though he wanted to board again, but the bus driver closed the door before he got there. The guy pounded on the side of the bus and screamed, "I hate you Jewish motherfuckers." He almost looked like he was laughing as we drove away.

There was dead silence on the bus the rest of the way. The Jewish girl got off at the same stop that I did, and as she exited, she thanked the bus driver for dealing with the situation. The bus driver nodded and told us to have a nice day.

I've never seen such an episode on a bus before, or really anywhere else. I know it was tame, relatively speaking--the threatened fight didn't happen, nobody was hurt, and normal behavior resumed the second the belligerent guy got off the bus. But the experience was intense, and it rattled me quite a bit. I hope to never witness such a thing again.

Weekend with La

So, not that anyone will be shocked to hear this, but La is awesome. For real. I couldn't find her at the airport, so I called her, and we were on the phone when I walked around the corner and we saw each other. I saw her purple and she saw my pink and we said at the time, "Ooh, now I see you!" and then we both did a little excited bouncy thing. Because we rock.

So the first thing I noticed is that she is SO CUTE. Seriously, she is just adorable. She had on this totally coordinated but not excessively matchy-matchy outfit, and she was exactly like you would expect, in that she is chatty and outgoing and really easy to talk to. She has all that charisma that you could feel through her writing, only it's even more awesome in person. Seriously, we got along exactly the same in person that we did online, and we had a fabulous time.

On Saturday, it didn't feel like we had planned that intense of a day--but by the end of it, we were exhausted. It was because we walked a LOT and it was really hot and sunny and humid, and we both got a little sweaty, which was gross, but at least we were both that way, so it was a little more OK. We went down to the national mall and checked out the natural history museum and saw the Hope Diamond because, you know, you can't come to DC and not check out the Hope Diamond. It was fun but OMG, the kids everywhere? Saturday morning = not the smartest time to go trekking around kid-friendly museums. Lesson learned.

So we did what any normal women would do--we ditched the national mall in favor of the shopping mall. And we might have both overspent just a tad. But it was so worth it. La especially is the master of bargain shopping, and got the cutest stuff for super cheap. I am not quite as talented and wound up spending a bit more, but still. Fabulous stuff for both of us, and yes, I know I took her to Macy's when she could do that back home, but it was a girl bonding experience, OK?

Also, we got $18 pedicures and can I just say, you get what you pay for? I mean, the experience was fun, but yesterday La inspected her toes and realized that the paint job? Not so great. So then I checked mine out and realized the same thing. But still, my toenails are more or less purple and that was the main point.

Also, there was delicious brunch involving AMAZING doughnuts (that, sadly, La could not have because of that stupid gluten thing, but Torsten and I made up for her in the doughnut consumption department), yummy sushi, and drinks with this lady--although by that point, on Saturday night, we were so exhausted from our long day that I think we probably wound up being pretty dull company. Seriously, we were both seriously drooping, and after the drinks we both just went home and absolutely crashed.

Oh, and while we were at the mall, we went and got our makeup done at Sephora, and the guy who did it offered to do my wedding makeup (for a fee, of course). But I don't think we'll be using his services, because when La asked him to show her how to do a smoky eye, instead of doing a cool tutorial with grays and purples, he basically just painted her eyelids black. And when she expressed concern about the drama level of what he was doing, instead of toning it down, he just informed her that this wasn't even as dramatic as it got.

And on my makeup, he suggested green, and I said no, and then he covered my eyelids with green anyway. We took a photo for evidence, although it doesn't look nearly as over the top in the photo as it did in real life. Also consider this photo proof of the fact that this weekend really happened:


Really, it was a great weekend, and it went by REALLY fast. I suppose that's better than feeling like it was dragging and dying for it to be over? But wow, I can't believe that it's already Monday and that La has come and gone so quickly. But I am so glad she came, because wow, what a fantastic and darling person she is. Seriously, she is just so sweet and nice and hilariously funny and smart and understanding and, well, really everything you would assume she is from reading her blog, only times a million.

Although on our next visit I'm pretty sure we will plan nothing other than maybe a trip to the spa. And the consumption of gummi bears. Luckily those are gluten free.