Mt Hermon

We enjoyed our weekend at the All-Church Conference at Mt Hermon.  Food was delicious, weather lovely, speaker challenging.  I was able to speak to some people I haven't seen in quite a while.  Last week I printed a few photos of es and ec to show if anyone asked about them.  Steve said how nice it was to have them in a book rather than on a phone; I agreed.  Peter Hatch played piano in the worship band, and I spoke with him Saturday evening.  He was warm and welcoming, asked about our daughters, mentioned his wife and how "we've all grown up!"  He played very well and told me a jazz class in high school had helped with his improvising.  I also spoke with Jessica Assink, who lives in Texas now, and saw Charlene Chong, Jenny Brooks Martinez, Kari Hamilton, all Network alumni.  A lot of young families attended, as well as people like Roland, for whom this was his 50th ACC.  Perhaps if I'm still working at Trinity next year, I will take off Memorial Day weekend so we can attend the conference again.

On his way

Yesterday we were at EK's for an HOA meeting to discuss the revised co-ownership agreement and saw ec turn over from tummy to back for the first time.  A milestone!

Just two and a half weeks till I begin watching both children as E returns to work.  I expect to be at their house every day.

Dusting

While I vacuum the house weekly, I am able to wait much longer than that between dustings.  Why?  I don't know.  Dust on tables shows up as clearly as bits of food or dirt on the carpet.  Less effort is required to wipe a cloth across a surface than to wield the vacuum cleaner.  For whatever reason I just don't dust unless company is coming.

Yesterday, though, I dusted our bedroom, thinking perhaps dusty surfaces contributed to our coughing.  I enjoyed clearing the top of my dresser, throwing away some things, storing others.  I emptied a box that had sat there since last summer when we made room for E and family.  Another box was moved to the green room, not dealt with yet but out of our room.  The tall chest was cleared of some things, leaving a couple of tins holding part of my collection of frogs.  Two or three months ago Randy placed some clothes he could no longer wear on the back of the love seat, waiting for me to make a trip to Salvation Army or Goodwill.  Friday he tried on the plaid suit from the stack, the one I made for him some thirty years ago.  I took some pictures so I had proof of my expertise at matching plaids.  Now the suit and some pants are ready to go, and I can dust the wood trim on the love seat and vacuum the seat and back.

Long ago Randy's mom told me she was learning the importance of a little piece of advice:  Don't put down, put away.  If you put down a piece of paper or clothing or whatever, intending to deal with it later, it is so easy for that item to become part of the background of the room and to be ignored.  And it collects dust!

More coughing

Thursday has been my day to have es.  We go to the park, visit the library, have lunch, read, play in the sand.  But yesterday E told me she hadn't mentioned it to es, thinking I might need to rest.  And I certainly did.  In the morning I went to the church to practice a bit, then to the bank, the big Safeway for a couple of things our smaller store doesn't stock, and the library.  I wanted to do some family history research using Ancestry.com, to which the library subscribes but patrons can only use at the library.  So I signed on, found a couple of things, then started coughing.  Major attack!  My eyes watered, coughing wouldn't stop, deep painful coughs.  I logged out and left, coughing all the way to the car and home.  Eventually things calmed down.  After lunch I just lay on the couch reading for awhile.

I don't seem to cough as much while on my morning walk.  I don't know if things haven't loosened up  yet, or if there is something in the house that irritates me.  But I have sure had enough of this!

Hacking

For a week now I've been coughing, deep coughs that hurt my sides. I tried to be careful at Dad's, catching my cough in my elbow because I know he doesn't need to be sick.  I think maybe I caught this from es, whose pediatrician said she had a cold.  K has been sick, too, and when I returned home Randy was coughing.  What a sorry pair we are, hacking away, talking in bass voices.  Sunday afternoon I had a fever of 101.3, a surprise.  After supper I lay down on the couch, and the next thing I knew it was 10:30.  Randy went up and down the stairs, cleaned the kitchen, did a load of wash, and I heard nothing.  I guess the poor sleep while traveling caught up to me.  I went upstairs, brushed my teeth and went to bed, only to wake up at 3:30 unable to sleep more.

Yesterday I felt better, though the cough is still a nuisance.  The Trinity choir presents its spring program Sunday; I hope my cough is gone by then, or at least doesn't interfere with my focus.

Friday and #300

When the alarm chirped at 3:30 I got up, dressed, brushed my teeth, finished packing and took my suitcase downstairs.  I had left my shoes by the refrigerator to remind me to get the sandwiches I'd made for us, so I took out the bag of food and put on my shoes, remembering to tie them loosely so they could be removed easily to pass through security.  E closed up her bag, we put a hoodie on es, who had slept in her tank top and leggings, carried the rest of our gear downstairs and loaded the car. Cynthia drove us through the darkness to the airport, where we unloaded our stuff.  The baby's car seat clicked into the caddy, es buckled into the umbrella stroller, her car seat strapped onto the little luggage carrier with my suitcase placed inside the seat.  E grabbed her roller bag and we were off!

Surprise!  The line of travelers waiting to check bags was much longer than expected at 4:40 in the morning, but the counter agents worked efficiently, and by 5 we were headed to the security lines.  While we quickly passed the TSA check-in, getting our gear through the X-ray scanners took maybe 20 minutes.  Perhaps the operator was new, I don't know, but it took forever.  And then E's diaper bag was pulled aside for hand inspection.  I kept looking at my watch, thinking about es needing a diaper change and me wanting to buy some water and iced tea before boarding.  Finally we were at our gate.  E took es to the restroom while I dealt with gate-checking the strollers.  When she returned I headed to the women's room then bought our drinks.  At last I could take a deep breath, which helped when the gate agent announced that maintenance was looking at something on the plane.  Isn't that often the way.  You hurry only to wait.  We were maybe thirty minutes late boarding.

Once again our plan worked for seatbelt extenders and sitting in the back of the plane.  E began sitting by sleeping ec, but soon we changed places and she helped es go to sleep.  Smooth flight to Las Vegas, where we did not have to change planes, then on to Oakland where Randy met us.  We placed car seats and children and baggage in the car and drove home.  One advantage of leaving so early in the morning and flying west is arriving home early in the day, in our case by 11.

This is post #300 on my blog.

Thursday

Thursday morning was cloudy and cooler, so we stayed inside reading, doing puzzles, talking.  Although she interacted with her grandpa-great, es did not want to sit on his lap.  We did get some pictures of the four generations together.  Claudia made delicious mac and cheese for lunch, followed by toasting marshmallows over a fire in the fireplace.  While es enjoyed the process, I don't think she ate any.  We were all too full to make and eat s'mores as Claudia had planned.  I realize I haven't said much about the baby.  He ate and slept and smiled happily.  Maybe on the next visit he will be more interactive!

We left about 3:30 to drive back to Cynthia's, so we could have supper then get to bed early since we had to leave the house the next morning by 4:15 to catch our 6:00 flight.  es hit her limit before our drive ended, crying and fussing.  So when we arrived and Cynthia asked if we'd like to go out for supper, E said no, it wouldn't be fun with a crabby girl.  We ate Hamburger Helper instead.  Later, although she said she wanted to talk with her daddy, when E reached him via FaceTime es refused to talk.  More tears and fussing.  After I got into bed I told her I missed Grandpa Randy and would be happy to see him the next day.  E repeated that to her a few times then she was calmer and ready to climb in next to me.  She snuggled up and repeated over and over, the way she does, that I missed Grandpa Randy and would see him the next day.  She fell asleep quickly, and we slept till the alarm rang at 3:30.

Wednesday

Tuesday night Cynthia had sandwich fixings for us, so we ate supper and visited a while.  Then, in an attempt to settle into the new time zone, we went to bed.  I slept with es in the brown room.  Since I wasn't sure how safe she was in the big bed I placed pillows along the edge on her side, which crowded us together a bit but we both slept well.  Cynthia had borrowed a Pack and Play for the baby; he and E were in the blue room.

Wednesday morning I woke up before anyone else, went downstairs and ate breakfast.  Eventually everyone was up, dressed, fed, and ready to be buckled in for the 90-minute drive to Dad's.  Cynthia and Bob lent us their CRV, which carried all of us and our accoutrements easily.  We arrived in time for lunch, a beef and vegetable soup followed by strawberries, white cake and ice cream.  After cleaning up the kitchen Claudia took es outside to help her in the garden.  She had little work gloves for es and a hat.  Then they watered little plants on the sun porch using an automotive radiator filler device; es really enjoyed pushing the button to release the water.  The two of them also used a long pole to take down bird feeders from the trees and fill them with fresh seed.  Claudia brought out puzzles, books and toys for es to use, a big hit.  We had chicken for supper, followed by carrot cake, though es asked for more ice cream and strawberries after eating a little cake.

Dad went to bed pretty early, and the rest of us followed by 8:30 or so.  E and ec were in the guest room, es and I took the sofabed in the living room.  Claudia had told me a thunderstorm was expected about 9, so I tried to explain to es what that meant.  She just cuddled up to me, put my arm over her, and said, "Grandma protect me."  I moved my arm down, thinking its weight would be easier on her hip, but she moved it back.  She slept through the storm.  I had a lot of trouble sleeping.  I got up once and read awhile.  I got up later and wrote a blog post.  I may have slept then, a couple of hours, before waking up in daylight about 6 or 6:30.  So I got some breakfast, trying to be quiet to let es sleep more.  She sleeps like a rock!

We made it!

Our plan worked!  We arrived at the airport, checked our two suitcases, and made it through security very smoothly.  A TSA agent opened a line for us, I guess like a family line so we didn't have to wait to approach the agent who examined our ID's and boarding passes.  E had forgotten to remove her liquids from her carry-on bag, but at least they were in the requisite quart size zipper bag, so she got a pass.  Perhaps having two little ones helped explain why she forgot. At the gate E had the strollers tagged for gate check, then es and I rode the moving walkway a few times.

Boarding also went as planned.  We entered after A group.  E asked the attendant at the front of the plane for two seatbelt extenders, then we headed to the back of the plane.  The two car seats had to be placed in window seats, so E sat with the baby in front of es and me.  E had several videos on her phone for es to watch after she tired of other things.  That helped a lot.  We deplaned at Denver after everyone else, found the strollers waiting in the jetway, then walked a short distance to our new gate, where we had the strollers tagged again for gate checking.  We ate lunch at a nearby restaurant.  E and I had sandwiches, es a plate of fries.  I'll spare you details about ec eating and diaper changes.  Then it was time to get on the next plane, where once again our plan worked.

At Indy we again left the plane after most people, and by the time we got down to baggage claim our bags were circling on the carousel.  We called Cynthia, who was waiting in the cell phone lot, and she drove up to meet us.  We loaded the car and drove to her house. All of us were glad to be unbuckled!

Packing

Today I will pack.  I will try to put everything in my smaller bag because it fits easily in the car seat.  Why does that matter?  E and I will have five things to push or pull but only four hands.  The plan is for e's car seat to be on a small luggage cart which I can pull through the airport to the plane.  So if my bag fits there it will be easier to get it to the check-in counter, since I also will be pushing es in the umbrella stroller.  E will have her roller bag and ec in his car seat on the stroller/caddy.  And, of course, we will each have a purse, and E will carry the diaper bag.  The strollers will both be gate-checked, and the luggage cart will collapse and fit under the seat.  Flying east we will change planes in Denver, with two hours between flights.  That should give us time to deplane leisurely, walk around a bit, find some lunch, change diapers, and get to the new gate.

This plan sounds good now; we'll see how it works tomorrow morning!

One down, two to go

"Fractured" is finished!  When I began my sixteen-week "maternity leave" in February, I had three quilt tops waiting to be finished.  Now, I have four and a half weeks left and have finished only one of the three.  Other activities have claimed priority over quilting, like going through things for recycling, visiting my dad, knitting socks, practicing organ.  But at least this quilt is done.  I love the color combination; I had been collecting turquoise/pink/purple fabrics for a long time.  By the way, a couple of the blocks look like they have red fabrics, but it's really a bright pink.  And that blue block second from the top on the right--there's not enough contrast between the two prints.  They look OK in person, but not in this picture.

Tuesday morning I head back to Illinois again, this time with E and the children.  We've discussed how to handle the carseats and such, but it is still rather daunting to think of traveling with them.