Finished Olive Kitteridge. I highly recommend it.
Also read Lance: The Making of the World's Greatest Champion by John Wilcockson (work) and Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert (fun).
In progress: Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramhansa Yogananda. It's interesting; I've had this book for more than a decade and this is the first time I've gotten really into it. Before I'd always start it, get distracted, and put it away. This time I'm finding it fascinating.
Tuesday
Thursday
Reading List 2009
Love Stories in This Town by Amanda Eyre Ward (book club)
Every Second Counts, by Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins (work)
Crazy Aunt Purl's Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair: The True-Life Misadventures of a 30-Something Who Learned to Knit After He Split by Laurie Perry. I read her blog so I wanted to check out her book.
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (book club). In progress. Really like the writing so far.
Every Second Counts, by Lance Armstrong with Sally Jenkins (work)
Crazy Aunt Purl's Drunk, Divorced, and Covered in Cat Hair: The True-Life Misadventures of a 30-Something Who Learned to Knit After He Split by Laurie Perry. I read her blog so I wanted to check out her book.
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (book club). In progress. Really like the writing so far.
Friday
I Saw the Signs (or Thought I Did)
This is going to be a hippy-dippy entry so if that sort of thing bothers you, you may just want to move along. I'm not sure if it's a combination of Catholicism, Mexicanness, Austin living, patchouli wearing, superstitious parents, whatever, I look for signs. And by that I mean, if bad things keep happening around something (a job, a living situation, a friend) I will analyze that situation to see if I'm doing something wrong or if it is just a wrong thing for me because I like love, happiness, unicorns and rainbows. Actually, into every life a little rain must fall (and apparently cliches) but I try to avoid pain and difficulty when possible because you know what? life throws plenty of that at you already.
I am one of those people who believes that when you start getting "signs" from "the universe/God/deity or belief system of choice including coincidence" if you heed them, then things will work out much better and easier than if you ignore them, because then the universe will have to really knock you upside the head to get you to pay attention. "Hey dummy, I'm talking to YOU. Sincerely, the universe."
Look, I'm not a philosopher but this approach to life has mostly worked for me. Until now.
In the past few years Nate and I have made some rash-ish decisions relating to our living situations and that has sometimes not worked out so well for us. Sometimes life/circumstance got in the way and unless we could have seen the future there wasn't much we could have done about it. (See: moving into a kickass apartment in Chicago, signing an 18-month lease, and Nate getting transferred to Dallas four months later. Doh.)
Our most recent crazy move took place back in spring 2008. After an interesting and great trip to Austin over Easter weekend, Nate and I decided to take the plunge and move back to Austin from Dallas. There were signs, let's say. I heeded them. We made this decision in March/April. By June I had a job and had moved to Austin and I found a space in a daycare near work for Zoe (doors opening). Nate joined us six weeks later. We stayed with generous friends. At a certain point, our house still hadn't sold and we realized we couldn't stay with generous friends forever so we found a cheap apartment in a good part of town for us (good as in we liked it and it was convenient to both of our jobs). Two weeks after moving in we got an offer on our house. At the time I was irritated because we could have bought a house if we hadn't signed a lease! But now looking back, I'm more or less glad what happened happened because it has forced us to live simply, not accumulate more crap, and we have almost halved our debt in a year (sweet!). In these crazy economic times I'm amazed we sold a house right around the time real estate was imploding, we are both still (knock wood) employed, we have paid off a nice amount of debt (but still have a ways to go), and now we have much better financial habits, which will be good in the long run.
But you know, one bedroom apartment with a toddler. Not much room. No yard. Not so great for the romance. Our dog is living with our bro and sis-in-law. And we were ready for more space and more than one bathroom and maybe the child having her own room. And we started looking way early, like two months before we needed a place, which in the rental world is about four weeks too early because most people are giving notice 30 days before they are getting the move on. But we found a place! And the place was in a hood convenient for both our jobs (not so easy when one of you works east and one of you works west); within walking distance to groceries, yoga, a park, and other goodness; and it was large! we would have space for bedrooms and guest room and workout room and an office! and it seemed perfect. Heeding signs, right? All going to work out.
And then...our landlord asked us to move in on 8/24 (we'd asked for 9/1). But he said he didn't want the house sitting empty. So fine, 8/24. We booked movers, made arrangements with the utility companies, etc. A few days before our scheduled move the landlord called to tell us that the tenants, who were buying a house, had some delays with their closing so they would be staying longer. And since he was putting in new kitchen cabinets and countertops, could we move in on 9/1? Kind of a pain having to reschedule all those things we'd recently set up but we'd wanted 9/1 anyway, so...once again, schedules are arranged.
On either the Friday or Monday before we were supposed to move (can't remember exactly because the boiling of my brain fried some details), landlord emails and says they are thinking of expanding the renovation. For the house's size the kitchen is quite small (probably the size of our current apartment kitchen and did I mention it's a one bedroom? not large) and he was considering knocking down some walls, losing a pantry and a coat closet to get more square footage in that room, and did he mention they had decided to order granite for the countertops? So...he writes that we can 1. move in as planned without any work; 2. move in while the reno is being done (no working kitchen with a toddler? sounds fun!); or 3. delay our move until 10/1 and we will have a new kitchen with new cabinets and granite countertops and oh, did he mention he will also be installing new carpet in the bedrooms?
Having been burned twice before we replied: can you guarantee this new date? What is the timeline of the work? How big is the crew? We need to revise the lease. And also, we are asking these questions because if we plan for a move on 10/1 we do not want you to email us on 9/21 and say, hey the work is done, move in now! We want a firm, guaranteed move-in date so we can plan our damn move. And then he went out of town for a week and we didn't hear from him.
In the normal sign-heeding world, you sign a lease, and you turn over your deposit, and you agree on a move-in date, and you hate moving and maybe at one point when you can't find your deodorant or your shoes you cry, and then you move and you are so happy you did it. We are still at the date part and I am confused because the signs--I'm trying to heed you! Why is my approach not working?
As it stands now, our landlord (is he a landlord if we haven't moved in?) wrote back and said that he'd gotten our message, was back in town, and was trying to get answers for us. And then...nothing. I should probably mention that we are communicating via email because he said that's easier for him than the phone. Only, not so hot with the communication! Sends us life-altering messages and then drops off the face of the earth for a while.
Here's the confusing part. I heeded the signs! Yet these most recent signs, in any other situation, would send me running in the opposite direction. I am wondering if my approache to life needs to be adjusted.
There's a similar situation going on with Zoe's potential Montessori school but after typing this novel I don't have the energy to write about it. But we can sum it up by saying: it seems like everything we are touching right now sounds and looks great until we say, yes, please! And then suddenly there are all these mysterious delays and obstacles popping up around it. Frustrating, confusing, tiring. Thank goodness I have a four-day weekend to recover.
I am one of those people who believes that when you start getting "signs" from "the universe/God/deity or belief system of choice including coincidence" if you heed them, then things will work out much better and easier than if you ignore them, because then the universe will have to really knock you upside the head to get you to pay attention. "Hey dummy, I'm talking to YOU. Sincerely, the universe."
Look, I'm not a philosopher but this approach to life has mostly worked for me. Until now.
In the past few years Nate and I have made some rash-ish decisions relating to our living situations and that has sometimes not worked out so well for us. Sometimes life/circumstance got in the way and unless we could have seen the future there wasn't much we could have done about it. (See: moving into a kickass apartment in Chicago, signing an 18-month lease, and Nate getting transferred to Dallas four months later. Doh.)
Our most recent crazy move took place back in spring 2008. After an interesting and great trip to Austin over Easter weekend, Nate and I decided to take the plunge and move back to Austin from Dallas. There were signs, let's say. I heeded them. We made this decision in March/April. By June I had a job and had moved to Austin and I found a space in a daycare near work for Zoe (doors opening). Nate joined us six weeks later. We stayed with generous friends. At a certain point, our house still hadn't sold and we realized we couldn't stay with generous friends forever so we found a cheap apartment in a good part of town for us (good as in we liked it and it was convenient to both of our jobs). Two weeks after moving in we got an offer on our house. At the time I was irritated because we could have bought a house if we hadn't signed a lease! But now looking back, I'm more or less glad what happened happened because it has forced us to live simply, not accumulate more crap, and we have almost halved our debt in a year (sweet!). In these crazy economic times I'm amazed we sold a house right around the time real estate was imploding, we are both still (knock wood) employed, we have paid off a nice amount of debt (but still have a ways to go), and now we have much better financial habits, which will be good in the long run.
But you know, one bedroom apartment with a toddler. Not much room. No yard. Not so great for the romance. Our dog is living with our bro and sis-in-law. And we were ready for more space and more than one bathroom and maybe the child having her own room. And we started looking way early, like two months before we needed a place, which in the rental world is about four weeks too early because most people are giving notice 30 days before they are getting the move on. But we found a place! And the place was in a hood convenient for both our jobs (not so easy when one of you works east and one of you works west); within walking distance to groceries, yoga, a park, and other goodness; and it was large! we would have space for bedrooms and guest room and workout room and an office! and it seemed perfect. Heeding signs, right? All going to work out.
And then...our landlord asked us to move in on 8/24 (we'd asked for 9/1). But he said he didn't want the house sitting empty. So fine, 8/24. We booked movers, made arrangements with the utility companies, etc. A few days before our scheduled move the landlord called to tell us that the tenants, who were buying a house, had some delays with their closing so they would be staying longer. And since he was putting in new kitchen cabinets and countertops, could we move in on 9/1? Kind of a pain having to reschedule all those things we'd recently set up but we'd wanted 9/1 anyway, so...once again, schedules are arranged.
On either the Friday or Monday before we were supposed to move (can't remember exactly because the boiling of my brain fried some details), landlord emails and says they are thinking of expanding the renovation. For the house's size the kitchen is quite small (probably the size of our current apartment kitchen and did I mention it's a one bedroom? not large) and he was considering knocking down some walls, losing a pantry and a coat closet to get more square footage in that room, and did he mention they had decided to order granite for the countertops? So...he writes that we can 1. move in as planned without any work; 2. move in while the reno is being done (no working kitchen with a toddler? sounds fun!); or 3. delay our move until 10/1 and we will have a new kitchen with new cabinets and granite countertops and oh, did he mention he will also be installing new carpet in the bedrooms?
Having been burned twice before we replied: can you guarantee this new date? What is the timeline of the work? How big is the crew? We need to revise the lease. And also, we are asking these questions because if we plan for a move on 10/1 we do not want you to email us on 9/21 and say, hey the work is done, move in now! We want a firm, guaranteed move-in date so we can plan our damn move. And then he went out of town for a week and we didn't hear from him.
In the normal sign-heeding world, you sign a lease, and you turn over your deposit, and you agree on a move-in date, and you hate moving and maybe at one point when you can't find your deodorant or your shoes you cry, and then you move and you are so happy you did it. We are still at the date part and I am confused because the signs--I'm trying to heed you! Why is my approach not working?
As it stands now, our landlord (is he a landlord if we haven't moved in?) wrote back and said that he'd gotten our message, was back in town, and was trying to get answers for us. And then...nothing. I should probably mention that we are communicating via email because he said that's easier for him than the phone. Only, not so hot with the communication! Sends us life-altering messages and then drops off the face of the earth for a while.
Here's the confusing part. I heeded the signs! Yet these most recent signs, in any other situation, would send me running in the opposite direction. I am wondering if my approache to life needs to be adjusted.
There's a similar situation going on with Zoe's potential Montessori school but after typing this novel I don't have the energy to write about it. But we can sum it up by saying: it seems like everything we are touching right now sounds and looks great until we say, yes, please! And then suddenly there are all these mysterious delays and obstacles popping up around it. Frustrating, confusing, tiring. Thank goodness I have a four-day weekend to recover.
Thursday
Summer Update
Man, where does the time go. Work has been crazy lately (for Nate too) and between that, trying to work out, and raising a toddler I don’t seem to have much time/energy for other stuff (like updating) lately, which is unfortunate. But these are some of the things that have been going on:
Tennis. For the past few months I’ve been taking a weekly class with Caswell Tennis. I played several sports growing up and now I feel kinda silly playing soccer, basketball, etc. so I was looking for another sport I could play as I age gracefully (cough). Tennis is so much fun, but I will confess that playing in the middle of the summer and a drought has been brutal at times. And unfortunately, I may have to put tennis on hold for a little while because of my other activities.
Crossfit. I also started taking Crossfit, a core strengthening/boot camp-type class. We’re lucky enough to have this at work and I do this two evenings a week. If you do the math, between Crossfit and tennis I’m busy three weekday evenings. This past week I had book club and next week I may go to a happy hour, which means I’ll be busy four out of five weekday evenings. This does not make for a happy husband or child so I think I need to cut back. I miss hanging out with my family and I just feel frazzled, like I’m running around all the time and that’s no fun. Right now I think getting my core stronger is a higher priority than playing tennis so for at least a little while I think I’ll just do Crossfit.
Running. I’m also running again, about three times a week, and loving it. I did a walk/run program and am currently up to running 28 minutes, which is great. I hadn’t been doing that since I was in my first trimester with Zoe.
Weight loss challenge. I did a weight loss/workout challenge with Joi and G. We’ve all had babies in the past two years and weren’t happy with where we were with our fitness. So we threw $5 into a pot each week for 12 weeks. Joi lost the most poundage so ended up winning; G also did great. I was a little frustrated because I kept losing/gaining the same 1-2 pounds, but I did go down a clothing size so that’s good. And my fitness is definitely a lot better now than when I started. I’m hoping to keep that progress going and hopefully will see more results. I also plan to start keeping a food log just to see what kind of stuff I’m eating. Nate has started doing the walk/run program too. We hope to run the LIVESTRONG Challenge 5k together in October.
Moving. We will be moving in two weeks! We are beyond ready to leave our small, one bedroom apartment and move into a (rental) house. We’re heading to the Western Trail neighborhood and will be within walking distance to Central Market, YogaYoga, Whole Earth, etc. so we we’re pretty excited about that. And we’ll have a ton of space. The house was listed as a 4/3 but it’s really more of a 5/3 (they enclosed the garage at some point and that added two extra rooms and a bathroom). Zoe will have a yard again and Walker (our dog) will be rejoining the family. I am so impatient for this to happen already.
Growing up. Zoe is firmly entrenched in the terrible twos, testing boundaries, trying to be more independent, asserting herself, etc. She’s definitely not the worst two year old I’ve experienced but she can be a handful when she wants to be. She talks up a storm and bosses “daddeeeee” around all the time. (She also goes through periods where she calls him “Nate.”) She’s become quite assertive when she wants you to sit down (she pats the floor emphatically while saying something like, “hab a seat”) or when she wants to play with her “doh” (play-doh). She’s a testy one. Her hair is halfway down her back but it looks shoulder length because of her curls. I’m thinking about getting her first haircut soon.
Checking out Montessori schools. We’ve also been touring some schools in our free time (haha). We’ll do more tours in September after classes have been in session long enough for the kids to be settled in. We went to an open house at one school that was great, but the commute might be a deal killer. Demonstrations at the school included a musician singing and playing guitar, he is there once a week with the kids, and capoeira, which the kids do once or twice a week. Ever since Zoe saw the people doing capoeira she will randomly bust out some moves at home. She was one of the few kids who went into the circle to give it a go during the demonstration, and definitely the youngest, though she didn’t do much once she was there. I think she wasn’t sure what to do but she’s been practicing ever since.
Falling in love. I’ve also fallen in love with a historic house near downtown. If any of you have a spare $785k you want to give me, just let me know. Zoe also seems to have an eye for our upstairs bachelor neighbor. He has quite a way with the ladies; hopefully this is not a sign of things to come with our child.
Tennis. For the past few months I’ve been taking a weekly class with Caswell Tennis. I played several sports growing up and now I feel kinda silly playing soccer, basketball, etc. so I was looking for another sport I could play as I age gracefully (cough). Tennis is so much fun, but I will confess that playing in the middle of the summer and a drought has been brutal at times. And unfortunately, I may have to put tennis on hold for a little while because of my other activities.
Crossfit. I also started taking Crossfit, a core strengthening/boot camp-type class. We’re lucky enough to have this at work and I do this two evenings a week. If you do the math, between Crossfit and tennis I’m busy three weekday evenings. This past week I had book club and next week I may go to a happy hour, which means I’ll be busy four out of five weekday evenings. This does not make for a happy husband or child so I think I need to cut back. I miss hanging out with my family and I just feel frazzled, like I’m running around all the time and that’s no fun. Right now I think getting my core stronger is a higher priority than playing tennis so for at least a little while I think I’ll just do Crossfit.
Running. I’m also running again, about three times a week, and loving it. I did a walk/run program and am currently up to running 28 minutes, which is great. I hadn’t been doing that since I was in my first trimester with Zoe.
Weight loss challenge. I did a weight loss/workout challenge with Joi and G. We’ve all had babies in the past two years and weren’t happy with where we were with our fitness. So we threw $5 into a pot each week for 12 weeks. Joi lost the most poundage so ended up winning; G also did great. I was a little frustrated because I kept losing/gaining the same 1-2 pounds, but I did go down a clothing size so that’s good. And my fitness is definitely a lot better now than when I started. I’m hoping to keep that progress going and hopefully will see more results. I also plan to start keeping a food log just to see what kind of stuff I’m eating. Nate has started doing the walk/run program too. We hope to run the LIVESTRONG Challenge 5k together in October.
Moving. We will be moving in two weeks! We are beyond ready to leave our small, one bedroom apartment and move into a (rental) house. We’re heading to the Western Trail neighborhood and will be within walking distance to Central Market, YogaYoga, Whole Earth, etc. so we we’re pretty excited about that. And we’ll have a ton of space. The house was listed as a 4/3 but it’s really more of a 5/3 (they enclosed the garage at some point and that added two extra rooms and a bathroom). Zoe will have a yard again and Walker (our dog) will be rejoining the family. I am so impatient for this to happen already.
Growing up. Zoe is firmly entrenched in the terrible twos, testing boundaries, trying to be more independent, asserting herself, etc. She’s definitely not the worst two year old I’ve experienced but she can be a handful when she wants to be. She talks up a storm and bosses “daddeeeee” around all the time. (She also goes through periods where she calls him “Nate.”) She’s become quite assertive when she wants you to sit down (she pats the floor emphatically while saying something like, “hab a seat”) or when she wants to play with her “doh” (play-doh). She’s a testy one. Her hair is halfway down her back but it looks shoulder length because of her curls. I’m thinking about getting her first haircut soon.
Checking out Montessori schools. We’ve also been touring some schools in our free time (haha). We’ll do more tours in September after classes have been in session long enough for the kids to be settled in. We went to an open house at one school that was great, but the commute might be a deal killer. Demonstrations at the school included a musician singing and playing guitar, he is there once a week with the kids, and capoeira, which the kids do once or twice a week. Ever since Zoe saw the people doing capoeira she will randomly bust out some moves at home. She was one of the few kids who went into the circle to give it a go during the demonstration, and definitely the youngest, though she didn’t do much once she was there. I think she wasn’t sure what to do but she’s been practicing ever since.
Falling in love. I’ve also fallen in love with a historic house near downtown. If any of you have a spare $785k you want to give me, just let me know. Zoe also seems to have an eye for our upstairs bachelor neighbor. He has quite a way with the ladies; hopefully this is not a sign of things to come with our child.