vacation.

well, we are back & i have my druthers about me enough to make a video of the parent vacation (aka: last vacation with harold). enjoy!



so what did we do? we putzed around ypsilanti saturday afternoon & evening (found a GREAT thrift/resale shop that's only open two days a week...a good find). we walked nearly everywhere in ypsi (as the local-yocals call it) & if i had known it was a walking town, i would've brought my tennies for further adventures around town. then we went to ikea to round out our bedroom re-do & find some birthday gifts for the girls (we were successful at both). plus we ate lunch there & i love their mac n cheese & meatballs! wes loves their salmon & their juice...so we were both happy. then we found our way to 'depot town' in ypsi for sunday night. it's sort of a more 'artsy-hippie' area of town, but they had great beer & a train went through the town, about 40 feet away from our table! that was crazy & cool. then monday was my birthday! so wes lined up an hour long massage for me in ann arbor & after that we walked around looking for a recommendation by the bed & breakfast owner: zingerman's. they have amazing cheeses, breads, meats, & really anything that you need to make a wonderful sandwich or mediterranean dish (olives, olive oil, sauces, etc). it was amazing (once we found it...we had to call my dad to look it up on google earth/maps b/c we were hungry & tired & we had been walking for quite awhile by then). so we found mecca aka zingerman's & then went back to the b&b so i could finish my book ('escape'...thank you hillary, who sent me an entire box of books to read while dealing with harold. this was about that lady who escaped the fundamentalist latter day saints cult. i couldn't put it down until it was finished...). anyway, then we went back to ann arbor (not that long of a drive) for dinner & some walking. we went to the melting pot, a fondue restaurant, which is a tradition for my birthday. did i ever mention that i am in love with cheese (& chocolate?). i am. we even ordered some champagne (okay, only half a bottle, b/c we're cheap). tuesday we went back to ikea to pick up the large items & then headed home to westerville. i went on to cinnamon lake to pick up the girls & wes stayed here to unpack, put together the stuff we got (a large mirror thing & two glass dresser things...so not stuff we could leave laying around with the girls. crazy crawling baby + curious preschooler + sheets of glass & mirror (could) = disaster & trip to ER.

that's our trip, in a nutshell! we had a lot of fun, slept in, joked around with each other & wes even agreed to go into some art galleries! good times (for me). the funny thing is that we also went to a bike shop b/c that's my bday gift (in addition to the massage), a bike with a trailer. i originally asked for this before we found out about harold...then i sort of put it off as a not so good idea b/c of the whole balance-issue thing. but dr welling said i should be able to ride a bike again by spring! so we looked at different bikes & options (we have decided to buy a new bike & attempt to find an used trailer for the girls). thing is: i'm a bit afraid to get on a bike & ride one b/c i've been having issues with keeping my balance while on two feet lately...throw in a few wheels & handlebars & i may just be in trouble. so there we were at a bike shop, trying to explain (without just saying 'i have a brain tumor that affects my balance' which would shock the dude so much that i was afraid he wouldn't answer my questions...??) anyway, the great debate is on: townie bike or the usual (uh, i don't remember what the usual is called, but something with more gears & the ability to be in a more 'pump-able' position as i will be riding to uptown westerville, which includes a very steep hill. i just don't think a townie could pull that off).

anyway. what great thoughts did i come away with, from my time off? a few things:

• i really like my husband & am so glad we're married. we are able to have a lot of fun just bumming around a small college town. he even doesn't mind when i go off to a corner to read a book for a few hours! he had me cracking up with his quirks & tenderness towards me.
• people were surprised that we weren't in ypsilanti for the elvisfest. seriously?! although, we had no choice but to hear a few elvis-impostors singing away b/c our b&b was so close to the festival. those old folks can go late into the night...much later than we wanted them to. a few 'tell elvis to shut the hell up' flew around. then when the impostors started to sing elton john & the righteous brothers...we knew chances of sleeping before midnight was gone.
• others (by others, i mean the b&b owner, guests, strangers, etc) are interested in talking to me until the question "so what do you do?" & then my answer of i'm a stay at home mom is given & every.single.person. stopped talking to me. some didn't even give me a reply, they just moved on to wes & talked with him about his work. why the hell is this?! talk about hurtful & odd. i guess my life at home with kids sounds so utterly boring or devastating that it's not even worth talking about. ??? then i would be mostly ignored by the questioner....which leads me to my next thought....
• wow is racism an odd thing to talk about at breakfast at a b&b! b/c no one was directly talking to me, i was able to just listen in on the conversation (except when wes talked to me) & was struck by what was being said about the south vs. north, parts of town being for blacks (or "them") & the differences between an educated & uneducated black person. wes was just sort of trying to wiggle his way out of these conversations, but these folks persisted. i felt a warm glow in my heart knowing that these things are untrue & racist & sterotypical of those who don't think before they speak, etc etc. then they kept talking. & talking. so i then said something along the lines of 'i went to school for social work &...' off it went from there. i just couldn't take it anymore. so some dude from kentucky or tennessee who was in ypsi for business got an earful (a polite earful, but still). it astounds me when i talk to people who are not in the same thought-process as i am, not meaning 'white, college etc' but those who see race differently & social justice differently & have different values. i kept my anger in check, which is very good b/c if unleashed, it's just never a good thing when discussing social issues. anyway. just an observation: racism is still pervasive, sadly. we have come so far as a nation, but not far enough.
• i miss my kids even when on a vacation that is specifically not kid-involved. wes & i said things back & forth imitating the girls & how they would respond to something we saw or heard. for instance, a siren would be heard & we would look at each other & give our best WOOOO WOOO noises like addy. or commenting how much amelia would love to eat the mulch & dirt at the b&b gardens. that sort of thing.
• i like taking vacations without kids, even when i miss them. i am hoping wes & i can do this again in february or march. NO KIDS! just for a few days, at least.

***

we have our first ripe tomato! yes, indeed. it has begun, the great tomato times are upon us. just in time b/c tonight i plan on making fried green tomatoes. yum yum yum.

we are still here!

i know we usually blog much more than this...but it's been a crazy week. i won't go into details. just imagine all of these elements combined: whiny preschooler, sick & teething baby, nicer weather, yumminy cookies, amazingly adorable preschooler, & house cleaning/sanitizing; that was our week. adeline tore down with gusto the last paper snowflake on the window on saturday. spring is officially here...but is it really here, in ohio? only time will tell.

adeline is ready to send me to the moon with her whining this week. i think it has a lot to do with her wanting to be outside & then not being able to express what she is thinking/wanting/needing/feeling b/c of her lack of vocab...we do have an appointment on tuesday with the pediatrician to talk about a possible speech delay. & if we find out she doesn't have one? no free preschool!

amelia now has her first tooth fully cut & is over about her 4th cold/sinus infection. she actually did pretty good considering she was going through both teething & a cold at the same time. but i have to say my arm & shoulder muscles have to be bulging from holding her so much...ouch ouch.

so, did this week really happen? i don't really remember.

but in this video i've made up of pics from the past week, there's a song: joy to the world. if soundtracks could really be playing while life or memories were going on, that song would be for the summer in between 8th & 9th grade...my BFF at the time, missy temple, & i were together probably at least once a week. we did some really odd & fun things that summer: rode rollerblades in 90 degree heat on a chip & tar road (creating a total mess on the rollerblades & that really pissed my sister off as one pair were hers); stayed up all night for the first time (maybe the last time?!) & fell asleep as the sun came up on the side porch at my house; drove her mom's car around her grandpa's YARD; rode a horse through woods behind her grandpa's house & then i fell off the horse; drove our volleyball coach's car in the high school parking lot; bandcamp sucked together; we both had long hair going down to our buttox that we liked to braid & then bead...on & on. missy's family moved out of the school district at the end of the year & i was very very sad & didn't have another close friend like that until my freshman year of college & i saw christine mcqueary walking across the indiana wesleyan university campus with her crazy ripped up jeans, crying her eyes out b/c her mom was leaving. anyway, this song was our (missy & i) song, we sang this song constantly for some reason. maybe b/c it annoyed her sister? that sounds very plausible. anyway, i hope that adeline & amelia find their best friends sooner than 8th grade & that it lasts longer than 2 years. (although i did have a bff in preschool, but then her family moved to north carolina). odd thing is that i ran into missy at wes' cousin's wedding last fall. some people never change & that's a very good thing.