Nate has been here since last Wednesday and we are having a good time in Austin. I got out of work early on Friday and we spent a leisurely lunch at Shady Grove. It almost felt like the last seven years or so were rewound and we were back where we started, enjoying a meal a few blocks away from where we used to live on Robert E. Lee. We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out, running errands, and getting ready for the week and Nate’s first day at a new job.
Zoe got really clingy with him on Sunday night, crying if he walked out of the room and wanting him to hold her a lot. This might be giving a 14-month-old too much credit, but I wondered if she was sensing that it was the end of the weekend/Sunday evening and that is the time Nate normally leaves (or we do). Poor monkey. Good news is that no one is leaving after the weekend anymore.
Now all we have to do is sell the house in Dallas. Our realtor warned us that July is very slow and it has been. Not many showings compared to before. But we have found jobs in a bad market. I’m hoping we can sell a house in one. That’s all that’s left to do! (Other than hauling our stuff down here, but that’s easy compared to everything else.)
This coming weekend is our fifth anniversary. I guess I lied when I said there would be no more weekend leave-taking, since I think Zoe will spend one or two nights with her grandparents, cousins, and uncle and aunt while we celebrate by staying at the hotel where we got married. It really does feel like we are coming full circle in so many ways, and once we have a house here it will feel more permanent and less like a vacation, I think.
Monday
Tuesday
Memed
Katy tagged me, so here goes.
What I was Doing Ten Years Ago
I was working for a travel publisher in downtown Austin, unhappy because I wasn’t getting many writing or editing opportunities. I had had one assignment—a trip to Huatulco, Mexico—but was told there was little hope for anything else in the near or uncertain future. I applied for a job as a part-time copyeditor at citysearch around this time and would start in August 1998.
Five Snacks I Enjoy
1. crackers and cheese
2. popcorn
3. cereal
4. mac and cheese
5. chips
Five Things On My To-do List Today
1. try to rehome our cat
2. fill out cell phone rebate paperwork
3. pick up a few things at the store
4. freelance work
5. pay bills
Five Favorite Recipes
1. pasta salad
2. chicken and brown rice casserole
3. chicken corn chowder
4. spaghetti with butter, parmesan and red pepper flakes
5. lentil soup
Five Jobs I’ve Had
1. writer
2. editor
3. copyeditor
4. cashier
5. customer service rep
Five Bad Habits
1. procrastination
2. staying up too late
3. drinking too much caffeine
4. saying yes to too many things
5. restlessness
All The Places I’ve Lived
1. Sweetwater, TX
2. Midland, TX
3. Austin, TX
4. Guanajuato, Mexico
5. Miami, FL
6. Chicago, IL
7. Dallas, TX
Five Random Things About Me
1. I read fast and if I don’t have to do anything else can finish a book in a day, even long ones.
2. I like spicy food.
3. I used to be pretty good at basketball, despite my lack of height.
4. I like to garden now and miss having a yard.
5. I used to be afraid of dogs.
Five People I’m Tagging
Nobody. But if you feel like filling this out, send me a link!
What I was Doing Ten Years Ago
I was working for a travel publisher in downtown Austin, unhappy because I wasn’t getting many writing or editing opportunities. I had had one assignment—a trip to Huatulco, Mexico—but was told there was little hope for anything else in the near or uncertain future. I applied for a job as a part-time copyeditor at citysearch around this time and would start in August 1998.
Five Snacks I Enjoy
1. crackers and cheese
2. popcorn
3. cereal
4. mac and cheese
5. chips
Five Things On My To-do List Today
1. try to rehome our cat
2. fill out cell phone rebate paperwork
3. pick up a few things at the store
4. freelance work
5. pay bills
Five Favorite Recipes
1. pasta salad
2. chicken and brown rice casserole
3. chicken corn chowder
4. spaghetti with butter, parmesan and red pepper flakes
5. lentil soup
Five Jobs I’ve Had
1. writer
2. editor
3. copyeditor
4. cashier
5. customer service rep
Five Bad Habits
1. procrastination
2. staying up too late
3. drinking too much caffeine
4. saying yes to too many things
5. restlessness
All The Places I’ve Lived
1. Sweetwater, TX
2. Midland, TX
3. Austin, TX
4. Guanajuato, Mexico
5. Miami, FL
6. Chicago, IL
7. Dallas, TX
Five Random Things About Me
1. I read fast and if I don’t have to do anything else can finish a book in a day, even long ones.
2. I like spicy food.
3. I used to be pretty good at basketball, despite my lack of height.
4. I like to garden now and miss having a yard.
5. I used to be afraid of dogs.
Five People I’m Tagging
Nobody. But if you feel like filling this out, send me a link!
Sunday
Two Out of Three
I've been living in Austin for about a month. Zoe joined me one week into the stay and Nate and I have been taking turns traveling the Austin-Dallas route, except for last weekend. We had planned to continue this arrangment until he got a job or the house sold. He got a job first, so he'll be joining us in two weeks. Pretty exciting.
The house continues to have regular showings (in six weeks, we've had about 30) but no offers. Our price per square foot is average for the neighborhood and we have gotten very little feedback so we're not sure if there's anything we should change. So we keep on keeping on.
Zoe adjusted very well to her new daycare. She didn't cry the first week and the new daycare peeps said something along the lines of, "if only they all transitioned that easily!"
She is starting to be a little kid now. Her babbles are starting to sound more like words and sometimes it sounds as though she's trying to repeat what you've just said. She also "brushes" her teeth, including pretending to put paste on her brush and tapping it against the sink when she's done. Good stuff.
She also continues to be very friendly, which sometimes freaks me out a little as a mom. Yesterday Nate was visiting and we went to a sushi restaurant for lunch. Immediately our waitress was talking and cooing with Zoe and I got the definite vibe she had grandkids. She brought miso soup and rice over for Zoe, "free of charge!" she assured us, and she kept making funny noises and faces at Z. Zoe was smiling back and seemed to like her so I moved her over so she'd be closer to the waitress and the waitress was off. She picked up Zoe, walked off, and began taking her around the restaurant. This is the second time this has happened to us in a sushi restaurant (the first was in Dallas), so I'm wondering if this is a cultural thing. The good news: eventually the waitress brought our child back, along with this interesting cinnamon punch thing I've never had before.
Other Zoe funniness: she has started picking up my shirt to poke my belly button, which she finds very funny for some reason, and she tries to give me zerberts on my stomach, but hasn't quite figured out how.
A first is that she flew with me for the first time last weekend. The exception to our Austin/Dallas trips was a family reunion in Oklahoma City. Nate drove from Dallas and we flew from Austin to meet him there. I was really worried about the flight. Among other things, Zoe has started throwing the occasional tantrum and I thought it would be a huge pain to deal with while flying. To make things worse, both flights required a connecting flight/change in Dallas and the return flight had a 3.5 hour layover in DFW. So, I worried. And ... nothing happened. She slept during most of three of the four flights. First reaction upon looking out of the airplane once we we were airborn: laughter. I think total crying time for the entire trip was less than one minute. I was pretty amazed.
During that long layover, I happened upon a little play area in DFW and I let her get some of her energy out. She had a lot of fun playing with some bigger kids, but made a beeline for a little girl a couple of months younger. Almost immediately she began hugging the little girl and then "kissing" her cheek. Zoe's kisses involve her putting her open mouth on your face and that's about it. In her new daycare, it's almost all little boys in her class, so Zoe seems to glom onto little girls who come into her orbit.
The biggest compliment I got was during the final leg of the trip, from DFW to Austin. We were seated between two beefy UT college boys (Zoe traveled on my lap). They kind of had that, "oh, great, a baby," look on their faces when we sat down. Zoe started drinking her milk, the flight took off and she slept until the landing gear startled her awake. She gave a little cry, I gave her her paci, and that was that. When we had taxied to the gate, one of the college guys turned and said, "she's so good." Since he's part of demographic that is probably avoiding babies at this point in life, it seemed like a nice thing to say.
I guess I should stop bragging on the child but the only people who read this blog are her grandmas so I have to keep them up to date!
Everything else is going well. I'm really happy about being in Austin and looking forward to Nate joining us so we can really enjoy the city (esp. without one of us traveling every weekend). My job is going well and his new position sounds like it's a good step for him. All that's left now is selling the house.
A few friends, when hearing the news that we were both trying to find jobs and sell our house in this current market, said we were crazy for trying right now. Well, two out of three big tasks isn't too bad. Just one more to go.
The house continues to have regular showings (in six weeks, we've had about 30) but no offers. Our price per square foot is average for the neighborhood and we have gotten very little feedback so we're not sure if there's anything we should change. So we keep on keeping on.
Zoe adjusted very well to her new daycare. She didn't cry the first week and the new daycare peeps said something along the lines of, "if only they all transitioned that easily!"
She is starting to be a little kid now. Her babbles are starting to sound more like words and sometimes it sounds as though she's trying to repeat what you've just said. She also "brushes" her teeth, including pretending to put paste on her brush and tapping it against the sink when she's done. Good stuff.
She also continues to be very friendly, which sometimes freaks me out a little as a mom. Yesterday Nate was visiting and we went to a sushi restaurant for lunch. Immediately our waitress was talking and cooing with Zoe and I got the definite vibe she had grandkids. She brought miso soup and rice over for Zoe, "free of charge!" she assured us, and she kept making funny noises and faces at Z. Zoe was smiling back and seemed to like her so I moved her over so she'd be closer to the waitress and the waitress was off. She picked up Zoe, walked off, and began taking her around the restaurant. This is the second time this has happened to us in a sushi restaurant (the first was in Dallas), so I'm wondering if this is a cultural thing. The good news: eventually the waitress brought our child back, along with this interesting cinnamon punch thing I've never had before.
Other Zoe funniness: she has started picking up my shirt to poke my belly button, which she finds very funny for some reason, and she tries to give me zerberts on my stomach, but hasn't quite figured out how.
A first is that she flew with me for the first time last weekend. The exception to our Austin/Dallas trips was a family reunion in Oklahoma City. Nate drove from Dallas and we flew from Austin to meet him there. I was really worried about the flight. Among other things, Zoe has started throwing the occasional tantrum and I thought it would be a huge pain to deal with while flying. To make things worse, both flights required a connecting flight/change in Dallas and the return flight had a 3.5 hour layover in DFW. So, I worried. And ... nothing happened. She slept during most of three of the four flights. First reaction upon looking out of the airplane once we we were airborn: laughter. I think total crying time for the entire trip was less than one minute. I was pretty amazed.
During that long layover, I happened upon a little play area in DFW and I let her get some of her energy out. She had a lot of fun playing with some bigger kids, but made a beeline for a little girl a couple of months younger. Almost immediately she began hugging the little girl and then "kissing" her cheek. Zoe's kisses involve her putting her open mouth on your face and that's about it. In her new daycare, it's almost all little boys in her class, so Zoe seems to glom onto little girls who come into her orbit.
The biggest compliment I got was during the final leg of the trip, from DFW to Austin. We were seated between two beefy UT college boys (Zoe traveled on my lap). They kind of had that, "oh, great, a baby," look on their faces when we sat down. Zoe started drinking her milk, the flight took off and she slept until the landing gear startled her awake. She gave a little cry, I gave her her paci, and that was that. When we had taxied to the gate, one of the college guys turned and said, "she's so good." Since he's part of demographic that is probably avoiding babies at this point in life, it seemed like a nice thing to say.
I guess I should stop bragging on the child but the only people who read this blog are her grandmas so I have to keep them up to date!
Everything else is going well. I'm really happy about being in Austin and looking forward to Nate joining us so we can really enjoy the city (esp. without one of us traveling every weekend). My job is going well and his new position sounds like it's a good step for him. All that's left now is selling the house.
A few friends, when hearing the news that we were both trying to find jobs and sell our house in this current market, said we were crazy for trying right now. Well, two out of three big tasks isn't too bad. Just one more to go.
Thursday
Austin
I've been here since last Friday or so. Nate and Zoe came with me for the weekend. On Saturday, we decided to take Zoe to Deep Eddy, a natural, spring-fed pool (no chlorine). We walked up to the front desk and I asked the guy if they were cash only. Yes. Did he know if there was an ATM around? Yes; he directed us to a gas station up the street. "But don't worry about it," he said, waving us through, "just remember to bring cash next time."
So Austin. Then I saw a mom breastfeeding openly and no one even giving her a second look and tons of kids having a great time. I thought: yeah, even though this is tough, we're making the right decision.
The water is cold, 68 degrees year round. As soon as Zoe was in the pool, she started squeaking and giggling and having a great old time. She's in a very independent phase and doesn't want you to hold her hand or guide her, and sometimes she would lose her balance and fall. We usually caught her before she went in, but she did swallow water a couple of times and then would want to be carried. I've since bought her a little floatie thing she can sit in so she can explore the water more and not fall in.
In general, I'm very happy to be back in Austin, even though there are things about it that have been difficult. Zoe is home with Nate until tomorrow. She will start a new daycare here on Monday. And Nate will be in Dallas until the house sells, or at least until we get a bid. It's been very hard being away from my family. I don't recommend it.
The funny thing is, I fell back into my old bad habits immediately. My first night alone I stayed up until 5 a.m. reading a book. The next night, 2 a.m. I'm drinking too much coffee again. I'm sure next week when Zoe is with me, I will fall back into our typical, baby-centric schedule. You have to. You never know when she will get sick or have a bad night and not sleep well. It is painful if you've stayed up late and then have to get up several times during the night with a cranky baby.
This transition is tough, but I'm hoping it won't last too long. Periods like this feel very unsettling. You're waiting for various things to happen so your "real life" can begin. I hope our house sells. In about 2.5 weeks, it's been seen 13 times, so hopefully someone will make an offer soon.
So Austin. Then I saw a mom breastfeeding openly and no one even giving her a second look and tons of kids having a great time. I thought: yeah, even though this is tough, we're making the right decision.
The water is cold, 68 degrees year round. As soon as Zoe was in the pool, she started squeaking and giggling and having a great old time. She's in a very independent phase and doesn't want you to hold her hand or guide her, and sometimes she would lose her balance and fall. We usually caught her before she went in, but she did swallow water a couple of times and then would want to be carried. I've since bought her a little floatie thing she can sit in so she can explore the water more and not fall in.
In general, I'm very happy to be back in Austin, even though there are things about it that have been difficult. Zoe is home with Nate until tomorrow. She will start a new daycare here on Monday. And Nate will be in Dallas until the house sells, or at least until we get a bid. It's been very hard being away from my family. I don't recommend it.
The funny thing is, I fell back into my old bad habits immediately. My first night alone I stayed up until 5 a.m. reading a book. The next night, 2 a.m. I'm drinking too much coffee again. I'm sure next week when Zoe is with me, I will fall back into our typical, baby-centric schedule. You have to. You never know when she will get sick or have a bad night and not sleep well. It is painful if you've stayed up late and then have to get up several times during the night with a cranky baby.
This transition is tough, but I'm hoping it won't last too long. Periods like this feel very unsettling. You're waiting for various things to happen so your "real life" can begin. I hope our house sells. In about 2.5 weeks, it's been seen 13 times, so hopefully someone will make an offer soon.