Made Gifts
I made a few gifts for children this past Christmas: a mermaid and a dragon out of wool roving. Pictures are on my flickr.
Quote of the Day
"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers." —Charles W. Eliot
A New Year’s Eve Tribute to Armand …
… wherever he may be …
The Swindlers and Showgirls NYE party was a TON of fun! I played poker! I even won some hands, which is clearly what makes poker fun, I now know. Much thanks to the partymakers and partygoers for a fantastic time. Some year, I’ll get to stay past 12:30 a.m. Love you, darlings!
Aloha, and Mahalo!
This is just a quick post to let you know we’ve all arrived home safely. We got in to SF last night at 9:30 p.m., hungry and tired. After the baggage claim, a bus ride, and getting the car at the hotel where we left it, we finally stopped and ate at Denny’s in Emeryville at 11:30 or so. We were home in Fair Oaks by 2:30 a.m., relieved to be done with traveling but sad at the temperature of our freezing house.
Ian is back at work today. The boys and I are home and having a mellow day. Lucas slept until 9:30 a.m. for the First Time In His Life. I figured there would not be much benefit to sending them to school today, so we are taking it easy. It’s after 1 now and Lucas is still nekkid.
Hawaii was gorgeous and wonderful, as always. We all had a lovely time together. And now I’m pining to move there, just like I do after every trip to the islands.
Turns out, Lucas has become an accomplished snorkeler! Asher has learned to say "Shhh! Honu (sea turtles)" [are sleeping]." (The part of that sentence that is in brackets is the part he signs.) Ian and I got to go SCUBA diving a few times, and had shallow but very enjoyable, relaxing shore dives with my brother and his girlfriend, despite leaving our PADI dive cards at home (OOPS!). We hiked 5 miles up (and back down) Waihe’e Ridge trail, up to about 2,000 feet above sea level. Lucas hiked the whole way. Asher rode in the baby backpack on daddy’s back). We enjoyed the swimming pool and our oceanfront condo immensely. We watched humpback whales blowing and breaching in the sea and dozens of turtles in the small cove outside our door. They are beautiful when viewed in the water, either from the surface with snorkel gear or from below with SCUBA. Rainbows and beautiful sunsets abounded. We (mainly Ian and Jonathan) cooked many meals at home instead of eating out, although we did a bit of that too. Lahaina is still a cute, touristy town, with plenty of galleries sandwiched in between junky souvenir shops and restaurants. Papa didn’t get to dive because he is still recovering from surgery, but he did get some snorkeling in. Asher, Lucas, and Ian picked up a brief tummy bug that caused sickness and nausea for a day. Fortunately it didn’t last too long. It sounds like Grandma Syd may have it now. I am holding my breath and hoping I don’t end up with it, too.
We are feeling a little bittersweet about being home again, but are looking forward to seeing friends soon.
Maui Here We Come!
We’re leaving later today for our Family Vacation with my parents and my brother and Boo. Spending the night in SF and then flying out tomorrow. It takes a long time to pack four Wilsons for a week’s vacation! My parents have called four times already today:
1. "Remember to pack a jacket. It will rain."
Really? Oh. Great idea.
2. "What type of media does my camera take?"
CF.
"No what type?"
CF.
"What does it say on it?"
C. F. Compact Flash. CF!
3. "Can Asher ride on the shuttle btw the hotel and the airport without a car seat?"
Yes. We don’t have much choice. Buses don’t do car seats.
4. "Did you find your fins?"
They broke. I’m buying new ones.
"What do you mean, they broke?"
They broke.
Deep breaths.
Bye, lovelies! We’ll miss ya. Might post from Maui, might not.
Baby New Year Says …
"2009 Is Gonna ROCK!"
Happy New Year! May it be all that you need and desire it to be, with extra helpings of peace, sanity, good health, laughter, and abundant love for us all.
These Days
Thank you all so much for a wonderful Christmas party. The presence of our dear friends made the 14th annual Wilson holiday party a huge success! It was awesome seeing so many of you.
These recent post-Christmas days have been filled with drowsy mornings, playing with new toys, cleaning, laundry, textbook editing, and sifting through old belongings—some of which are going to GoodWill and some of which are going into the garage for another day. Ian was off Wednesday through Sunday and that was delightful. Lucas could hardly contain himself, and basically didn’t try. Instead, he did his best to monopolize his father’s attention with games, Legos, RC cars, building Erector set robots, etc.
Entirely too many tasty goodies are lying around in my kitchen, waiting to pounce on my hips and stay there. Today was my day to fix a meal for our friends whose 12-year-old son recently had spinal surgery. Fortunately, I don’t think the comedy of errors that took place during the making of that meal will be discernible by the family who partakes of it. Suffice it to say, the tip of my left thumb is still attached—let’s hope it stays that way. After much drama involving a kitchen knife, a fennel bulb, a couple of worrisome phone calls, a blood-soaked rag, two ruined steaks, and my mother’s uncertain determination that stitches probably aren’t necessary, I managed to finish the cooking meal and deliver it to the Nutting household. It was: roast curry chicken with lime jus; vegetarian risotto with chard, carrots, tomatoes, onions, fennel, and garlic; Caesar salad; homemade fudge and lemon bars. At least I managed to foist some goodies off on the Nuttings, and
I started making a list of all the presents we received for Christmas. Pretty OCD, no? Well, I haven’t finished and I have four pages of my college-ruled notebook filled. Honestly, our lives are so bountiful, so blessed, so abundant in every way. I’m grateful, humbled, and also kind of sickened by the excess of it all. Mostly, I feel tremendous wonderment and gratitude.
Tomorrow I get to buy a llama.
Dream Imagery + Wilson Family
Our darling friends
Thank you, T and E. We love the photos!
A Christmas Miracle
After having listened to my parents periodic freaking out about my missing ID and how we are going to have to board an airplane to Hawaii in a week,
Just after having checked the DMV website to find out how to get a replacement driver’s license,
Just after having called my credit card company to find out if new and bogus charges had been made on my credit card,
A Christmas miracle occurred.
Ian found my wallet.
In a drawer.
In the kitchen.
Which is the last place I saw it last week when tipping the gardeners.
Where I looked numerous times.
Poorly, apparently.
I had looked under couches.
On my desk.
In toy bins.
In craft bins.
In drawers.
Under laundry.
In couch cushions.
In my car.
In my coats.
In my pockets.
In my purses.
In Asher’s room.
On the bookshelves.
On top of the fridge.
And, last but not least,
In the week-old kitchen rubbish in the can!
Ian is my hero.
Rubbish!
I saw my step-sister-in-law (I actually have three) and I explained how my wallet has been missing since last Tuesday or Wednesday, whichever day it was that the gardeners were here and I took cash out of my wallet to tip them. My SSIL asked, “Does little Asher ever help you by throwing things in the garbage?”
Oh. God.
I have thought of little else since that conversation yesterday afternoon.
I think I have looked in all the places that make sense for my wallet to be. I think I have looked in many places that don’t make sense. Now I am mentally preparing to dumpster dive in an effort to find it.
I do not think it’s in the kitchen trash because I think if Asher got a hold of it, he would have taken every receipt, paper, card, and coin out and strewn them around the house.
But I don’t know where else to look.
Shit.
