The Second Annual Beach Vacation

Did I mention that Ian finished his academic year?
YAAAAAAAYYYYYYY!!!
That was a grueling 12 months.

The entire family was in desperate need of some R&R, so we rented a little cottage by the beach and went away for three days. We drove out to the coast on Thursday, went to the aquarium on Friday, did not much but play on the beach on Saturday, and then drove home on Sunday. It was just perfect.

For those unfamiliar with the Oregon Coast: The water is COLD, not for swimming, but Doran had a wonderful time dipping his feet in the waves and running like crazy along the beach. (He reminded me of a labrador retriever puppy!) We built a sand castle and then, just as fun, poured water on it and watched it melt. Doran threw his frisbee to himself and then chased it. Lots of silly nonsense like that . . . just perfect 4-year-old-boy play time. We went basically the same place we went last year, and again had the beach almost to ourselves. It was lovely and relaxing.

Ari spent most of the time in the backpack on my back, but seemed to enjoy himself. Maybe next year he’ll dip his toes in the ocean, we’ll have to see.

I will post some photos soon.

Goodbye Glasses

Ian just finished a wonderful 2-week break, a wonderful and much, MUCH needed vacation after finishing the 12 months of academic year. As a long-awaited present to himself, he got LASIK. We’ve been talking about this for years, so when a good opportunity finally came along (1/2-price for OHSU affiliates, at the Casey Eye Institute at OHSU) it was time to do it.

I drove Ian to & from his appointment. The whole procedure took about an hour. I got to watch (from a little waiting room) the actual machine laser procedure. Interesting! (The whole time, I was thinking: Hmm, how can we represent this on the website? A little bit compulsive about my work, maybe?)

So here it is: the last photo of Ian with glasses.

He will have his final follow-up appointment in a couple more weeks, but so far it seems that everything went exactly as planned and his vision is great.

Bubbie’s Birthday

I have some Blog catching-up to do!

On June 6th Ian’s grandmother (a.k.a. Bubbie) and Ian’s Uncle Jerry, and father and stepmother joined us for a weekend get-together in Portland. This was a postponed trip that had originally been planned for April, but the timing worked out just perfectly and we had the opportunity to celebrate Bubbie’s 84th birthday together. We had a cake and party hats and it was a delightful time.

Many Happy Returns!

Where the Money Goes

I just finished spending two hours reconciling our receipts and checkbook with Quicken, which Ian and have used since we were first married to try to keep track of where our money goes. For the first half of 2008, our top 5 expense categories by percentage were as follows:
Mortgage - 23%
Daycare - 19%
Auto - 17% (includes fuel & repairs, plus the purchase of the minivan which certainly skews things)
Groceries - 9%
Medical - 6%

I like at least to know where the money is going. Doing something about it is, of course, a different matter.

Making Time for Professional Time

Last weekend Ian spent four days in San Antonio, TX at the annual American Academy of Physician Assistants conference. By all accounts he had a wonderful time, and was both inspired by the conference sessions & opportunity to mingle with other PAs & students, and also refreshed by having a few days away from home & the hectic routine of life. As jealous as I was to receive reports of late lazy dinners on the terrace in the warm Texas sun, I was very, very happy for him that he had that opportunity. He was selected by lottery as a class representative, so much of the costs of the conference were covered.

Last Wednesday night I attended a seminar called LISA - Lessons in Social Advertising. The panel was very entertaining. Although on a much more modest scale than Ian’s recent travels, it had the same effect of making me feel re-energized by my career path. I realized that I haven’t felt this genuinely interested & engaged with my work since the dot-com days. Straight-up project management, which I did for years, was mentally challenging but not creative or innovative. I’m excited about the web again.

When you have a creative, professional job however, the job doesn’t stop when you leave the office, and that’s the challenge for a busy working couple. My mother has been doing heroic work to help out when one of us is out of the house or working late, and I’m not at all sure we could survive without that. I remember my aunt the immigration lawyer commenting on the time it takes to keep up with all the latest journals & rulings, and the same applies to my life as well. Over the past week I have spent hours reading others’ blogs on marketing, media, and healthcare issues, trying out new software (such as Splashcast), reading articles in hardcopy magazines (example: there’s an article on the CEO of Ning in April’s issue of FastCompany) etc. etc. etc. Is this work or pleasure? It’s both - I genuinely enjoy it, but it’s also what I have to do to keep up with my profession. And this is not work that I can do at the office, but have to find time for in the negative free time that I have at home.

Let It All Come to ME

Or, Time Is Money II

One needs either time or money. There is a fuzzy formula by which some of one can be substituted for some of the other, although of course not in a 1:1 ratio. The problem comes when there is neither.

But, between the two, I’ve decided that time is definitely my most serious shortage, because it causes me such stress which then radiates stress to the whole family. I’ve begun looking for all the ways in which I can trim the time-waste away from my life.

Today I ordered groceries for home delivery. This is the second time I’ve done it, and I love it. For an additional $10 I can place my order online, select a 2-hour delivery window, and voila! the food arrives. No kids to drag around, no impulse shopping.

Other things I’ve done to conserve time:
- Parking: Mentioned in a previous entry. Time saved: 20 min/day
- Lunch: I used to make lunches for Ian and myself every day, which I felt was healthier as well as cost-effective. But, for $6-7 I can get a really good meal (healthy, filling) and I enjoy the benefit of getting out of the office briefly and socializing with my work friends. Time saved: 20 min/night, not having to unpack & wash yesterday’s lunch stuff as well as make a new lunch.
- Housecleaning: Thanks to my Aunt Margot for the best baby gift, and to my father for helping keep it up, I have the bliss of having someone else clean my bathrooms and vacuum every week. No more dog-hair tumbleweed. Time saved: 3 hours/week

I’ve also started doing more online shopping. Everything from pants to diaper refills can be waiting on the doorstep when I get home. Thank you internet.

Ari - 7 Months

Ari is seven months old already! I really do feel like the time is just going by in a blur. He was always a very social baby, but he is even more interactive now. He is trying out consonant sounds like “teh”. He has been very stable sitting for a month now, but still can’t get into sitting position by himself, which is clearly frustrating. He is starting to push himself around on the floor, but still seems to be a ways from crawling. He love eating his baby oatmeal with apple or pear, but wasn’t a big fan of peach and peas were a big No. Carrots and winter squash also met with approval. This morning we tried quinoa with mashed banana, but it didn’t go over so well; I’ll give it another shot this afternoon.

Turning Over the Clothes

Babies grow so fast, it’s hard to keep up with their clothes. Add to that the fact that the weather has very suddenly turned hot, and it was time for a major turnover in both boys’ wardrobes.

Ari is still in his 9-month clothes, but barely. Today I put away all of the long-sleeved 9-month clothes, and some clothes that have gotten too tight, and washed all of the new onsies & creepers that my mother bought for him this weekend. Doran at this age was headed into Fall, and so I actually had very little in the way of summer attire for Ari. I think that within another month Ari will be moving into the 9-12 month clothes, anyway.

Doran is teetering on the brink between 3T and 4T. He was tall enough for the 4T pants, but now that we’re in shorts season he’s back to wearing 3T, because he is a skinny little guy and the bigger shorts will fall down!

Sorting & putting away all the retiring clothes is time-consuming. I’ve mostly got everything organized in clear plastic bins, which are gradually being migrated out of the eves and into my new storage shelves in the laundry room.

Doran’s Language: Hearing, Speaking, Comprehension

Doran loves to talk on the phone, and has been quite good at it since he was little. But those of you who have spoken with him know that sometimes it can be a struggle to understand him, as he does have a little-kid lisp.

Teachers & their students from the Speech & Hearing Services department at Portland State University recently came to Fruit & Flower and did a speech & hearing screening for a nominal fee, so I can reassure myself and everyone else that Doran is doing just fine. In addition to passing the hearing screening with no issues, they reported the following results for Doran’s speaking skills:

Receptive Language: 92nd percentile
Expressive Language: 79th percentile
Articulation: 25th percentile

The examiner noted: “We aren’t concerned about the lisp at his age.”

Ari at 6 Months

Earlier this week I took Ari for his 6-month checkup, and more shots. He’s doing great. He didn’t gain much weight, but he continues to grow well.

Weight: 17 lbs, 13 oz (50th %)
Height: 27.5″ (75-80th %) <– I have to say, he was squirming so much on the table that I have no idea how accurate or not that really is!

Also, I finally started Ari on some solid foods a week ago. He is now eating rice, oatmeal, and applesauce, with more foods to be added soon. He’s a great eater! I have high hopes for the future in this regard.