Well, we celebrated my birthday in Denver. I went to the
AIGA ISO conference.
I have to say, usually I can have my cake and eat it too, at least partially. I can be a serious worker-bee and also a mom. Breast-feeding helps, it means I can't just go away, but Calliope (and so everyone) has to come with me. And while I have to take breaks to see Clementine and Calliope, thanks to Ryan I can also spend a reasonable amount of time working or conferencing or whatever, so I don't get all of either but some of both. I might have to deal with sitting next to a CEO in a meeting breast-feeding Calliope (and he has to deal with it too!) or missing cocktails and networking, but... Well, this was a great example of trying to have both and getting neither. Firstly, I missed the opening reception on Thursday night because we had to drive ($400 per ticket to Denver!). Turns out this is where all information was disseminated and if you weren't there, you were mostly out of luck. (I'll leave out the part where I took a wrong turn and Ryan wasn't watching because we were reading Harry Potter aloud as we drove and it took us 9, instead of 6, hours to get to Denver in spite of a rental car that can actually go the speed limit, uphill even.) Then, I was late each day because every morning we tried to get it together for everyone to drop me off, but failed. and I would give up too late and by the time a cab got to the hotel, etc. etc. Then, on Friday evening I tried to go to the meet-and-greet at
Knoll, which I was especially anxious to go to as this is one of the main reasons to hit a conference, and Hugh was there and I really wanted to visit with him. Well, everyone headed straight there from the conference, but there was theoretically an hour in between and I'd been gone all day so we hit Whole Foods, took the food back to the hotel and had a reasonably yummy dinner. An hour after cocktails had started (reasonable compromise, right?). Clementine did not feel that this was reasonable and was very upset, which she rarely is these days, at my leaving, but I couldn't miss the whole thing, right? I headed out, only to get lost, hopelessly lost (in my defense, there was construction, roads were closed, and the map was lousy) and when I finally, finally found it, 15 minutes before it was supposed to end, I discovered it's right next to the
ball park, and there was a game on. As in, you've-gotta-be-crazy-to-get-a-car-within-10-miles-of-here no parking, anywhere, ever. Of course there were people in there, I could see 'em, but why, why, WHY didn't I just take a freakin' cab this time? ARGH. Finally I gave up, only to find out when I finally gave up and just randomly drove away from the chaos, that I was actually 5 minutes' drive from our bloomin' hotel. Breakfast with Dad and Tricia on Saturday morning, dinner with Mom, John, Allen, Susan, Wednesday and Igby Saturday night (at
Casa Bonita!) was lovely, I really did have a great time. It insured, though, that I was not around to help my conference workgroup as they struggled until midnight and then at 6 am the next day with what was supposed to be a group project. Of course I'd lost their cell number when the post-it evidently fell unnoticed on the ground when I dug my phone out of my pocket as I fed Calliope. You'd think I'd feel good that they at least had my laptop and could use it, except that I forgot to give them the password. So I watched helplessly on Sunday morning as they presented and tried to deflect congratulations that I hadn't earned. And saw Hugh a total of 15 minutes the whole time. No cake. No eating.
But the good news this weekend is that Calliope suddenly and completely started crawling! It seems like she'd been nearly there for a while, and suddenly, in the grass as they waited for me to get done with something-or-other, she completely put it together and is absolutely crawling now. Such a sweet, clever baby! Of course whether it's good news depends on your perspective a bit, and whether you'll be the one spending all your time chasing two children as they take off in opposite directions. :)
Also, Clementine got to hang out with her Grammie, Grandpa John, Uncle Allen, Aunt Susan, and cousins Wednesday and Igby. They went to the Children's Museum, where Clementine got to be a squirrel, dance, and grocery shop. Evidently the grocery shopping was worth hours of entertainment.
And I had a fabulous cake, and got to see so much of my family, in a case of perfect timing, I am the proud owner of
Chocolate and Zucchini (we've already cooked form it 5 times!), and Ryan found me the
fabulous droog birdfeeder that I can't wait to hang up!
