Funny Anna

I don't have a video of this yet but I hope to soon. Anna has started a new kind of dancing. She sits in her seat and wiggles her shoulders back and forth. It looks a lot like she is trying to shimmy. Naturally I have no idea where she got this from. It is hilarious!

Moving Tips

Personal packing tip: Put masking tape on the blades of knives to 'prevent him from hurting himself, and others' (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels).

Memorial Day

We had quite a full Memorial Day. It started at 5 am and not because Anna was crying but because we wanted to (sort of). Let me explain. On Saturday, we decided to have a yard sale as the best way to get rid of our smaller stuff. Unfortunately, we will be leaving next Saturday so Monday was really the only available option (other than Jason's idea of hanging out by the train station every day when people get home from work which my be very effective but I'm not so sure about it anyway). So since we decided this on Saturday, we didn't have much time to get ready for it. We thought about doing stuff on Sunday but decided that it wasn't the best Sunday activity and we needed the day of rest. That left Monday morning. So we got up early, got together the stuff we wanted to sell, priced it and carried it out to the sidewalk not far from our apartment.

Then we waited. Our place is more off, off the beaten path and in spite of a few well placed (we thought) posters, we didn't get many people. We did sell a few things and made a little bit of money. On the plus side, Anna got to spend the entire morning outside. She had a blast and not only while trying to run away from us or pull things off the shelves (although there was plenty of that). The best part for her was probably when the neighbors let us borrow their little scooter and she got to ride it with some help.

You can't really tell by that face but she is having a blast.

While she's not really quite big enough, we may need to get her something like it when we get to wherever we are going next.


Another good thing about the less than stellar yard sale is now we know what we want to get rid of and can easily take it all to Good Will this morning. It was funny, as we were getting it all together, Jason kept commenting that he felt like we weren't going to have anything left what with everything we were getting rid of. I assured him we have PLENTY of other stuff and we won't have a completely bare apartment after this. Isn't it amazing how attached we can get to our things. Even things we don't really use. But that is a discussion for another day.

After the yard sale was over and we brought everything back in, we collapsed for a few hours before going out again (amazing how exhausting it is to just sit out in the sun). Some friends of ours had a huge Memorial Day bar-be-que. There were a bunch of friends from church, even some people from a different ward that we didn't know but still had fun with, and lots of good food. The organizers provided the hamburgers and hot dogs and everyone else brought a side dish. I ate myself under the table and Anna had a lot of fun running around. Someone even brought a Frisbee so Jason was set. We were there for several hours and got home just in time to put Anna to bed.

It was a full day with beautiful weather and we are pumped to pack up and get ourselves moved out by the end of the week.

New Skill

On a lighter note, Anna is being cute as ever. It's really fun having Jason at home because he is re-realizing just how cute and fun she it. School had really cut into his baby appreciation time and he is making up for it. The new admiration has helped me see all the cuteness that I've kind of taken for granted.

One such adorable thing that she is doing is talking on my cell phone without any hands.


Of course I have no idea where she picked this up. I love how she holds her arm out when she does it and talks into the receiver (even if it is upside down).


In case I ever think she's not paying attention, she also pushes a bunch of buttons before putting the phone up to her face. I don't know who she thinks she's calling but she sure does it with focus. As far as I know, I don't think she has actually been calling people. Although a funny thing happened today. I noticed that the menu on my phone looks totally different. I fear she may have bought something on the Get it Now feature. Oops! I'll have to check my next bill.

Understandable But Still Unfortunate

Once again we are moving. We don't have a job yet but Jason is doing a lot of applying (not letting a little thing like not hiring get in the way of sending a portfolio) and we have to be out of our place before June 1st. In case you are wondering, we are going to be visiting with family for the month of June and hopefully by the end of that, we will have a job. Cross your fingers. I am so ready to be settled somewhere for longer than 6 months.

Moving is never fun but in this one, I'm noticing something new to it all. My friends here are kind of distancing themselves emotionally. I don't blame them. I totally get it. I need to focus on getting packed up and moved out, their lives go on. Plus, if you have a choice between a friend who is going to be around in a month and one who is leaving in two weeks, you can't blame them for choosing the latter. It's a kind of emotional self-preservation. Our church here is very transitory what with all the students and this year there seem to be a lot of us leaving. It's really hard on the people being left behind to see all their friends go.

I understand all of this, at least mentally. Emotionally, it's kind of sad. What is kind of strange is that I've never noticed this before. I was thinking about it and I think it's because I haven't really had friends that I hang out with before. I know this makes me sound so sad and friendless but that's not it. Before I had co-workers and people I would talk to at work but didn't really hang out with. Friends closer than that were long-distance ones left over from when I was single. Since having Anna, I now hang out with other moms and we have spent a fair amount of time with other couples so there is more to leave.

I might not mind so much except that I don't know where we are going yet. Usually when we have moved in the past, I can focus on being excited about where we are going instead of thinking about where we are leaving. I mean, sure we are going to visit with family but that is more like a vacation and not really a place to look forward to. Maybe if we had a job and a place to go, I wouldn't mind so much that my friends have moved on. As it is, it makes me a little bit sad.

Graduation

Today was Jason's graduation. It was Penn's 235th graduation. In spite of it being an exhausting, long day, it was kind of fun. It all stated with a kind of graduate parade down Locust Walk. (Side note, for some reason, people around here are all about showing off in a parade. For Prom, they have a parade type thing too to show off their dresses before the dance.)

We were waiting for a while so I let Anna walk around. She was having fun walking down the path and, of course, everyone loved her. We had a lot of comments about how great her dress was and that it will be her in a few years. She just lapped up the attention.

After bagpipes and the band, they had alumni walking with flags of the years they graduated. I think they were primarily faculty but I don't really know. The oldest was from 1934.

The year my dad graduated from Penn in front of his fraternity.

It was all pretty casual. I have to admit though that I got frustrated when people would stop to take pictures and hold up the line. I found myself thinking, "sheesh, undergrads". I must be getting old. After what felt like forever, Jason came.

Isn't he cute in his cap and gown?

From there they walked into the stadium and I joined them there. We were able to sit on the lower level under the awning so we could be in the shade. Unfortunately it was kind of chilly there. We also had some space for Anna to walk around so she was able to get through almost all of the ceremony before she started pulling stuff out of the diaper bag and I realized it was time to go.

From there we had a lunch with the School of Design then had the school graduation under some tents right outside their building. Again it was chilly in the shade but was warm in the sun. We sat in the shade again. Once things got started, Anna was out.

To add to that, she slept when Jason walked across the stage so I was able to go and take his picture.
This picture. We are so proud of Jason. Every time I saw him I had a little thrill of joy for him. He has worked so hard and done an amazing job and while I don't know where we are going next, I know that he will go on to do amazing things and it will be exciting to follow, watch and support.

They Start Getting Ideas, and Thinking

(Beauty and the Beast) It's funny but for some reason, I get surprised when I discover that my friends have different opinions from me. I'm sure it's a maturity thing but sometimes I find myself assuming that people think the same way I do about things and then am surprised when they don't. When Jason and I first got married, this happened all the time, particularly with food. I would make something that I loved and was surprised when he didn't like it.

Sometimes, the same thing happens with my friends. I tend to think that because we are all in similar places in our lives, that they will have come to the same conclusion as myself. We'll be talking about something and they'll express an opinion and I'll wonder because I totally do not agree. Since it's me, I just kind of nod and say something along the lines of, 'oh really?' and listen politely as they continue. Lately, this has happened with various child rearing things. Apparently not everyone thinks their children should be raised the same way as I do. Who knew?

New York City

On Tuesday, Jason had his final review for studio. So now he is done with his master's degree! Woo hoo! To celebrate we decided to take a day trip to New York. We haven't been since we got back and the weather was beautiful. Plus we found really cheap bus tickets. Through Facebook I found a friend that I knew in Middle School who is living up there now so we arranged to get together.

We started out our day in Bryant Park. I hadn't been there before and it's cool. There's a big grassy area with a walkway around the outside and is full of folding chairs and tables. We got there right about lunch time and it was packed with people in the chairs. So much so that I didn't realize there was grass at first. We joined them and had a really great sandwich from this place in the park.

Jason and Anna with the famous lions outside the library.

One of the few things we had planned (it was a fairly unplanned trip once we realized the timing wouldn't work for visiting the Statue of Liberty) was to visit the New York Public Library. They have a daily, hour long tour and we thought that sounded like fun. Our lunch ran over so we missed the start but we found the group right when we got inside. I don't recommend the tour. Our guide was hard to hear and the information was kind of interesting but it was nothing that I couldn't miss. Plus, Anna didn't think it was very fun (especially after running around in the sun and grass) so I spent most of the time walking around to keep her interested.

Anna getting up close and personal. She's not so sure about being up there.

Once we left that, we met up with my friend, Gita. It's funny how you can not see someone for 13 years, then when you do, you can totally tell it's them. We both mentioned how we look both the same but kind of different (more like an adult). Since it had been so long, Jason didn't feel awkward or left out. It was more like we were all getting to know each other.

Gita and I with the Lego Chewbacca. Ironically this is the only picture we ended up getting with her. Strange because I'm not that big of a Star Wars fan and I'm guessing she isn't either.

We went uptown visited FAO Schwartz. Unfortunately, Anna fell asleep just before we went in so she missed the whole thing. We had fun looking around. They have this place where you can make your own Muppet. I was tempted but didn't. They also had huge characters made out of Legos and other ones made out of jelly beans.

Except for the cape, that Darth Vader is all Legos.

After hanging out and chatting in the park, we went up to see the Guggenheim. It was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and somehow Jason hadn't seen it yet. Ironically Anna and I had been there but Jason hadn't. We got there just as they were closing so we only had time to walk in the lobby and look up. Fortunately, that was all that Jason wanted to do.


It turns out Gita lived near there so we stopped at her apartment then went to dinner at a really great German place. We loved it and Anna ate more than we were expecting including some of our sauerkraut. Unfortunately, dinner ran a little long and we had to scramble downtown to catch our bus which we missed. So we called the company and they said there was another bus that left at 9:45 from Penn Station. So we hiked back up and got on that bus. Unfortunately again, it got us back so late that we missed the last train to our place from where the bus dropped us off. So I had my first cab experience. The whole way home I thought of a Jerry Seinfeld routine where he talks about cab drivers and their crazy driving habits. We did make it home safely though and in good time. At which point we all fell into bed.

Fun in the Tub

Here is a little video of Anna showing off her knowledge of anatomy.


As you can see, we are still working on ears (they're tricky). She can do feet too but I thought that would have been hard to see and keep it modest. You may wonder why I chose to film this in the tub. Well, partly because she's cuter when she is naked with that big tummy sticking out and partly because then she couldn't run away. Nothing like a captive audience. Or in this case, a captive performer.

It's a Rainy Day

A little background. I don't like to get wet, especially wet clothes. I don't know why that is but it just isn't my thing. Which is why I was a little bit surprised when I was happily reading my book with Anna playing quasi-contentedly on the floor and I got the urge to take her out and play in the rain.


The storm had a pretty impressive start with some dang loud thunder. When it struck, Anna looked at me with the something-just-happened-how-should-I-react-to-it face. I went with a huge smile and tried to pass it off as fun. It seemed to work because she went back to playing.


While I was reading, it occurred to me that she had never played in the rain and we needed to go out and enjoy that rite of childhood. I put on my galoshes and what I thought was a rain jacket (turns out it was merely a wind breaker and hardly kept out the rain) and put Anna in her rain jacket and crocs (she doesn't have galoshes) and we headed out.


At first, she wasn't so sure and I was the only one splashing in the puddles. After a while, she was willing to walk around and bend down to splash the water. She never did get into splashing with her feet but that could have had something to do with the holes in the crocs.


We walked up the street a little bit. I decided it was time to come in when I started to get cold and her pants were completely soaked. Fortunately, her jacket blocked the rain quite well and her shirt was completely dry. Even so, I thought the best thing to warm her up after that would be a bath.


Too bad she wouldn't sit down in the tub. Oh well, her feet and calves were toasty when she got out.

Like a Sponge

I love being reminded how smart Anna is. Not that I don't think she's smart, it's just that I don't always know what she knows. Well, last night I discovered she's brilliant. We were reading Blue Hat, Green Hat (a Sandra Boynton classic) and talking through it. When we got to the 'Oops' part I would ask where the article of clothing actually goes or where that body part was. On the shirt page I asked where her arms were but didn't really expect her to know because we haven't been working on arms (we've been working on heads, tummies, feet, and various facial features but not arms). Well she surprised me by totally knowing where her arms were. I guess she just picked it up - maybe from the fact that I name the body part when I wash it in the tub.



On a quasi related note, she is really into our routines. When we shower, she plays on the floor (yeah for shower doors instead of a curtain) with some toys we bring in. Generally she does pretty well playing on the floor and seems to be lost in her own little world. Until we turn off the water. Then she gets up and goes straight for our towels. After we get the towels, she goes right to the door to indicate she is ready to leave the bathroom. She knows how this all works.

A Whole New Jason

One of the many things we left in India were our hair clippers. We got them for our wedding and I have always cut Jason's hair. It's not as impressive as it sounds, the curl hides a lot of mistakes. So while I don't always do it as often as he would like, apparently we are much worse as getting it done when we actually have to go somewhere and pay for it. The poor guy hadn't had a haircut since October. We found a set of clippers to borrow from a girl in our ward so he didn't have to wait for the trunks to come. Since it had been so long, we took pictures.

We did fluff it for the picture but this is the longest his hair has been in forever. As you can see, it doesn't really go down when it gets long, just out. Ironically, as it was driving him crazy (he hates it when it curls into his ears) people starting commenting on how they liked it.

As it gets longer, the curl gets more pronounced. There was actually a little ringlet in front but as it's so dark you can't really tell in the pictures.

Then we started playing with it. If only it were Halloween he could have gone as an 80's rocker.

Now the after. Nice and short, just how he likes it. This is also a shot of his lovely new glasses that took forever to come. Here's the story. After getting the eye appointment at Sears, we went to Lens Crafters for the glasses. Sears said it would be a few weeks because they were backed up because of a sale they were having (two pairs for $99, everyone was getting two pairs). Unfortunately, when we walked in, the lady looked at his prescription and said she didn't think they would be able to make them there and depending on his frame, they would most likely have to be sent out. Naturally they did have to be sent out which takes 7-10 business days. Grr! Then after the 7 business days they called to say they had gotten the glasses but they weren't up to their quality standards and they sent them back to be redone but they had put a rush on it. Double Grr!! But now they are here and look snazzy so I guess it was worth the wait.

Together Again

WE GOT OUR TRUNKS BACK FROM INDIA!!!!

Sorry for the shouting but I was excited. For those of you who don't remember (and I can't blame you seeing as it's probably not something you think about daily) we had to leave some stuff in India and we are just now getting it all back. I'll spare you all the details but in the end we managed to send the office in India money (no small feat in and of itself) and they got the trucks underway.

It was especially exciting because it was unexpected. The office was supposed to email us the tracking number so we could follow them but they never did. We assumed that meant that they hadn't sent them yet. Not so. Apparently all that meant was they were too busy to do it. So yesterday I had gone shopping with a friend and was gone all day and when I got home, there they were. Jason (who was home, thankfully) said they were taped, then encased in styrofoam, then taped again, then wrapped in kind of a burlap bag. When the delivery guy came to the door, he had no idea what they were.

I was so excited that I wanted to open them up right then and go through all of our long lost stuff. I was mostly able to refrain because Anna would have had too much fun with it all. So after taking just a couple of things off the top, we waited until after she went to bed to really dig in.
It was great remembering all of our stuff that we hadn't seen in so long and in some cases had forgotten about completely. Seeing the Indian stuff that we bought there was a little bit strange. Kind of like when you see a friend from school at church and two different parts of your life collide.

We had fun trying on the clothes that we had gotten for ourselves and thinking of when we can wear them. Of course nothing of Anna's fits. I was able to squeeze her into a pair of 9 month overalls today. They're a little short but doable.

When we went to bed last night we realized that in taking everything out, we mostly just put it all in piles around the living room. Of course we were too tired then to do anything about it so we have been working today to get things put away. In doing so, we realize that we now have a ton of some things. When we went to India, I didn't know how much of some stuff we would need (6 months sounded like a long time) so I brought lots. Things like deodorant and razors. Then there were the spices. I wanted to take those with us but since it has been so long, they have pretty much been replaced. So now I have a TON of things like turmeric, garam masala, cardemom. We may need to up our Indian food diet from once a week to several times just to get through it all.

In spite of all of that, I am so glad to have everything here and not have to worry about it anymore.