The Big Trip

We had a lovely time in California. Here are a few pics that Smaifeld sent me. One is at the speakeasy ("anti-saloon league"). The other is of the morning after. We look surprisingly bright eyed after a night at the speakeasy. Once I finally upload photos of wine country, I'll post those too with more details of the fantastic trip!

Happy News!

Luke and Aman are getting married! Hurray! Happy news, indeed.

(Luke is my brother and Aman is his lovely fiancee, obviously.)

CELEBRATE!

In about 12 hours, Nate and I will be taking off on our first adult-only trip since Benny was born (probably since he was conceived!). We are heading to San Francisco to spend some time with friends and to experience Sonoma wine country in all of its glory.

We have a lot to celebrate this week: I finished my dissertation and graduated, Nate passed the professional engineering test and is now an official P.E., and I got a job. And on top of all of that, we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary in May (in September we celebrated being together for EIGHT years)! We have a beautiful, amazing son and a house that will be beautiful and amazing some day.

So, while Nana and Papa spoil Benny all week, we'll be spoiling ourselves. On the itinerary: Staying at a B & B in Healdsburg so we can bike around to different wineries and taste without risk of driving after too many tastings. Spending Friday and Saturday in the city, one of my favorite cities. We'll cap the trip off with an evening at a speakeasy with four friends. It's going to be great!

New Season, New Goals

Fall is officially in full swing. I haven't checked my list of things to accomplish in awhile. I checked it today (at work, bad me) and realized that the list has been a good motivator for me to do things. For example:

#23. Make bed every morning. I've been almost 100 percent here. Whenever I'm home in the morning, I make the bed. It's become routine. Granted, that's only three days a week. But Nate has also started making the bed when I leave early (not often, but sometimes). He also makes a point to tell me when he's made the bed.

#17. Attend at least three book readings. I love to hear how authors craft their stories. It's fascinating to me! I'm attending a book reading and signing this weekend of one of my favorite authors: Margaret Atwood. I had to buy the hard copy of her new book to get a ticket, but this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity chance to see a prolific writer talk about her craft. I'm very excited!

#66. Grow bangs out. I would have done this regardless of the list. But, it's been nice to document my progress. And remind myself why bangs are a BAD idea in the first place. Too bad a new girl started and has super cute bangs. Makes me think...

#58. Sweep and mop kitchen every week for three months. I've delegated this chore to Nate. One way to be productive is to delegate. I'll take the credit!

Now I'm going to focus on the easier items to complete: writing friends and family, surprising my mom with little gifts, going on family bike rides. Gotta start making that stuff happen!