11/25/12
After a visit with my Grandma this break, I have made an executive decision to recommit to this blog. If for nothing else than that she can read it and laugh at my mishaps as a stay at home dad (or commiserate, whatever the case may be).
This week definitely had its ups and downs like any good rollercoaster - we decided to leave the loving arms of our families, who have smothered us with love and kindness for the last 6 months since moving down here, to visit some well-missed friends in the Bay. We've found that the best way to travel with our kids, as well as maximize the time we get in a place is to leave around 4 AM, so the kids will sleep. Yeah, not so much this time. I finally finished packing up around 1 AM, slept til 4 and hit the road. Isla settled back into her carseat and immediately asked for Disney songs on the stereo - now, I'm not exactly a musical snob or anything, but princess songs at 4 in the morning are a little bit like rubbing broken glass mixed with lemon juice in your eyeballs. This unfortunately means that princess songs at 4 in the morning on three hours sleep is worse than that. We did OK, besides being tired as hell, and cruised into Oakland around 11:30 in the morning.
The first day was a really nice time, seeing friends and reconnecting. I do really miss the bay area and all of its diversity, cuisine and awesome people. I do not really miss the traffic, or the crowds AT ALL. In the early afternoon I had to pick up our awesome turkey at Whole Foods, so I drove down the block, lamenting how close everything is in Oakland, until I ran into the line of about 30 cars waiting to get into the parking lot. The market was Pre-Thanksgiving chaos. Around 20 security guards were directing traffic in the most aggressive way I've ever witnessed - I saw one burly dude screaming into an elderly woman's car, berating her for not moving fast enough out of her parking place. I was more than a little scared, wondering if my maneuvers were good enough for these monsters. I did finally get into the store, however, and while it was like being at a sold-out concert minus the music or fun, I got out with only minor cuts and bruises and a 17 pound turkey.
We decided to brine the turkey, which required wrestling it out of the package, washing it (upon which I discovered that the heart was still attached to the inside of the bird, and removed it with my hand, holding it aloft like some crazed caveman, then promptly grossing myself out so much I had to take a little break). Then, I had to wrestle the turkey into a brining bag, which is somewhat like trying to fetch a naked toddler out of the bath, and into the fridge.
This would have been the start to a beautiful Thanksgiving. Then, Tegan caught an overnight flu. My poor wife spent the entire day shivering with a fever on the couch, while we made the meal. At least she did get to eat.
Highlights of the rest of the trip include:
1) Leftover turkey, sweet potato curry put together by Janey
2) Our friends' kid who is precociously verbose, making a joke out of a nonsense word "Pite" then using it as an inside joke the rest of the trip
3) Seeing my old student, Christsna when we went out to eat.
4) Reconnecting with my old college roommate and his girlfriend for drinks.
5) Spending precious time with my grandma at her house in Walnut Creek
Lowlights:
1) Being sick
2) Missing out on seeing people - especially an old teaching partner I was excited to see
3) The drive back with insane children.
4) Snot.
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