The Nuptial Spot

Had a lovely picnic on Frida;y with coworkers, who are the nicest people you'll ever meet.

The picnic happened to be at the very place where Ryan and I got married, so we got to take pictures of Clementine at the very spot we said, "I do." Far out.

We also attended the Wood Family Reunion in Bloomfied, New Mexico on Saturday. It's lovely to start seeing the grandparents so soon after we arrived; after all, that's part of why we're here. More photos on Flicker.

Some of our stuff arrived on Friday, but not all of it, which evidently didn't fit on the 18-wheeler with 4 other families' things. >sigh< We are missing pieces to both our bed and Clementine's crib. But we made good progress unpacking, possibly made easier by not having all that other stuff in the way. Of course, we have no idea where it is or when it's coming, but why should we be worried, right?

Still dealing with culture shock both at work and outside of it, but so far not one single person has stood outside our window and shouted, "WOOoooooooooooooooo!!!" Not one person. Can you believe it?

New job and more talking

I started my new job yesterday. Everyone seems incredibly nice, which I knew, but it's reassuring when things are so crazy. It feels a lot like starting a new project, except where oh where is Greg!

Now the movers are supposed to arrive tomorrow. Our stuff ended up weighing more than they estimated, so now the final cost will be 41% more than the original estimate. Aarrggghh. Mayflower, don't use 'em. Combined with loosing any maternity leave benefits (employer contribution, short-term disability or state-funded), it's hard not to think about how much money the move cost. Of course, everything will be fine, so we'll just try to enjoy some hikes and family time to remember why we're here!

Clementine seems to be doing fine. In fact, she's been putting sentences together for the first time this week. She wanted a jar of marbles up on a shelf and said (and signed), "Ball me catch." And offered some chocolate milk, "No, mama's milk." (We're still working on the whole weaning thing.) She's having a great time with the rain, and loving the train whistle. She asks all day for, "Mas choo-choo". Sooo cute!

Who? What? Where?

Well, still having some ups and downs here.

Continuing to enjoy thunderstorms every afternoon, the cheese 'aisle' at the natural foods store was depressing enough to bring tears to the eye, and groceries waaay expensive there too. Whole Foods has nothing on them! Took Ryan to see the house yesterday and we were excited (and a bit nervous) to find 5 large bucks in the back yard, enjoying apples and chilling out. Frankly, we could use the help dealing with the apples. No kosher section in the grocery store, so no fox's u-bet chocoloate syrup. But had quite a nice dinner at Carvers. Quite a roller-coaster...

Will post photos when the cable shows up along with the rest of our stuff, now supposedly Thursday.

Shell-Shock

Clementine and I arrived safely (though just barely sanely) in Durango last night.

We had two connections, and she melted down in Denver (after 2 flights already, what more can you ask of a girl). She ran past the boarding-pass taker half naked while I was trying to change her clothes, having dumped chocolate milk on herself. I was chasing her with hands full of dirty diaper, banana peel, chocolate milk bottle and nearly succeeded in corralling her with one hand when a man turned and accidentally bumped her, sending her unhurt but sprawling and SCREAMING. Yikes. I threw my trash on the ground and snatched her up but things were starting to go from bad to worse when a lovely young mom-of-two and her mother scooped up all our stuff and escorted us, our bags, and the stroller right up to the plane. Yay mommie kharma.

Anyway, we are both exhausted, she seems very clingy, and I nearly called Ryan yesterday to tell him to turn the car around. Why on earth would anyone leave San Francisco? Geez. Ridiculous!! We had a lovely thunderstorm tonight, which I've really missed, and I saw the house, which is fabulously kitchy except for the parts that were added on or remodeled in the 70's or 80's. >sigh< But mostly it's as wonderful as I'd imagined, and the back yard is so big it's embarassing. It's certainly larger than the footprint of my (old) office at DDO. It's HUGE. After the storm and the house, I'm ready to settle in for a nice extended vacation, but not to live. Turn over my urban identity? Never!

Last post from SF

I'd meant to post a lot before this, about our "last suppers" at Fleur de Lys, Delfina and Chaya, saying goodbye to friends and coworkers, the fiasco of twisting my ankle the day before the movers show up, the extra $800 they charged us over the estimate because the alley was too narrow, our last trips to Louis', Pacific Cafe, the Monet exhibit at Palace of the Legion of Honor, feeding the birds at the zoo, dinner last night at the Embarcadero and seeing the sun set...

Laying awake last night with every fiber screaming, "Nooooooooooo!!!!!" (in chorus with the bar patio patrons' screaming "Woooooooo!").

But, I ran out of time, so I won't. So sad.

Next post from Durango.