Favorite ride

Yesterday morning Keith stayed with Luke so I could do my favorite bike ride, for the first time since we moved back.

It's a 20-mile roundtrip ride up Emigration Canyon, with a consistent 5% grade and an elevation gain of 1478 feet. That means it's a hard climb on the way up, and a fast coast back down, which is sublime on a hot Utah summer day.

I went early so there weren't many other riders out yet and the light was beautiful at that time. It was a great ride except for two things:

1. I'm out of shape.

I used to ride Emi several times per week, so I know exactly how long it typically takes (or, took) to reach the top (50 minutes; one crazy day I did it in 48). Yesterday it took me 61 minutes = pitiful. I'd better find a way to get out there more often.

2. I spit a big phlegm ball on my leg... twice.

I've been a bit congested for two weeks now so it wasn't surprising that I had to choke up some phlegm a few times on the ride. I tried spitting to the side, but two times the gooey blob landed right on my leg. Gross.

But all in all, being out on that familiar ride reminded me, again, of why it's nice to be back in Utah.

Here's the view at the top:

Water boy

We just re-joined the club that we belonged to when we lived here last time and I have a feeling that we'll use the pool way more than we ever did before. I've taken Luke a few times now and he loves it. In fact, we went this afternoon... here are a few pics:

Friendly neighbors, for a change

This is, far and away, the friendliest place we've ever lived!

When I lived in Cambridge for six years (3rd floor walk-up) my Mom couldn't believe that I didn't know/ regularly socialize with the neighbors. She and my Dad visited often and she definitely knew everyone in the building better than I did.

In Vancouver, the saying goes - everyone is friendly but no one wants to be your friend. And for the most part, we found it to be true. People said hi on the street or in the elevator but it ends there. And that's fine; it's what we're used to.

Even when we lived in SLC last time, a few blocks away, we never met any of the neighbors.

Well, that's not exactly true. We did quickly meet the cranky biddy next door when she left a note explaining that our standard central air conditioning unit was keeping her up at night. The note was followed by a second note, and then she asked us to come over to discuss "the problem". We had the unit serviced, trying to accommodate her, and offered to plant some bushes between it and her fence. We were new to the hood and wanted to keep the peace.

But, unsatisfied, she filed a noise violation, which the police apparently dismissed/ laughed at right away, because our A/C unit was an appropriate size, in an appropriate location.

I think we finally ran her out, because she moved out about a year after we arrived, before A/C season kicked in.

When a new couple moved in, we were determined to start off on the right foot and welcomed the newbies with a pumpkin bread... they seemed annoyed and we sort of felt like idiots.

SO, we have been shocked/ pleasantly surprised/ shocked by the warm welcome we've received here on Harrison Avenue!

The first day here our next door neighbor, Julie stopped by to say hello and offer any help, tools, or babysitting (she has two teenaged kids) we needed. And she must be one of the nicest people I've ever met. She seems like the perfect next door neighbor.

Then there's Mitch from across the street, who is often out working on his beautifully manicured yard. Since our yard needs a little TLC right now, when we met him on our way out to a friend's BBQ we apologized for its appearance. He said we could borrow his lawn mower anytime, to which Keith replied "I just might do that tomorrow." When we returned a few hours later, the lawn was mowed! Another great neighbor.

Sunday morning I was in the front yard greeting the moving truck and several people stopped by to introduce themselves as they walked to the Mormon ward around the corner. Including Kelly, a nice older gentleman who just had Mohs surgery with one of Keith's colleagues and stopped by to tell me about the couple who used to live here and gave me the scoop on other families on the street.

Then there's the nice family from a few doors down, who brought us a huge fresh-picked zucchini from their garden. And Wade from across and a two doors down, who came over to welcome us. And it keeps going - John from across the street just came over with homemade chocolate chip cookies. Honestly, is this a joke?

For the first time, it really feels like we're living in a community, not just a city or a town. I guess this is what it was like years ago, when people were friendly and helpful and involved. It has been a really nice way to start our new life here. When the house is all together we'll have to host a party.

Three weeks later...

Well, I have easily-accessible Internet access for the first time in three weeks!

We've had a busy past three weeks including closing on our house, moving out of our Vancouver apartment, going on a wonderful 10-day Alaskan vacation with my parents, moving into our new home in SLC, receiving all of our belongings, which were scattered around the country, Keith starting his new job, and finally starting to settle in.

I wish I could have filled you in along the way, but since it wasn't possible, first a recap of our Alaska trip.

Our cruise left downtown Vancouver on July 2 and it was a little bittersweet sailing away from our adopted city. It had been rainy and/or very overcast for over a week but the day we sailed out was beautiful. Highlights of the trip (brainstorm list), followed by a few photos, include:

Gorgeous Alaska scenery (when it wasn't raining and clouded in!)... Luke had lots of quality time with his Grammy and Grampa... Luke established himself as prince of the ship-- all of the staffers knew him by name... We had a July 4th visit with Uncle Bill and Aunt Janey at their waterfront home (and to the 4th of July parade) in Ketchikan... We sailed very close to the Hubbard Glacier and saw lots of calving, including a HUGE chunk of ice, which fell into the water and caused a large wave!... Keith and I enjoyed a rainforest hike in Juneau and saw the Mendenhall Glacier... We also enjoyed "the world's longest zipline"-- which was really cool!... Alaskan crab... We learned about the different types of Alaskan salmon... We spent an afternoon at a dog musher camp, where we were pulled by a dog team and learned about the Iditarod... We stayed in a lovely resort in the village of Talkeetna, where we were fortunate to see a perfect view of Denali National Park and the entire Alaskan range, including Mt. McKinley, which is apparently only seen about 10% of the time... We took a flight seeing trip in a small plane over the range, circling McKinley--it was stunning and Luke slept the whole time... We enjoyed a trip through interior Alaska on a glass dome-topped railroad... We wrapped up the trip with a day in Denali.

And one low light -- on the last day of our trip, while in Denali, Luke came down with a high fever. After a trip to the local health clinic, the doctor determined that he likely had an ear infection. We'd never seen him so lifeless, the poor little guy. He has never been sick like that, so we were a bit worried. But after a few days, he started feeling better and now he's back to normal.

So, the trip to Alaska was a really nice way to wrap up this stage of our life before settling down in Salt Lake City. It was a great experience.

Now that I'm back online I'll start posting about the house and settling down in SLC, etc.!

Childhood influences

This isn't a post about a favorite pet or teacher, or a life-altering experience... no, nothing like that; it's about a shower curtain.

My Mom taught high school social studies, which included history, geography and current events --from remedial to Advanced Placement levels. And if all that wasn't enough, she also became my school's leader on teaching students how to write a research paper. Including me.

Her area of expertise/ interest was an childhood undertone for Me and Chris-- the national news was on every evening, several newspapers arrived on our doorstep, and many trips and outings included a history or current events angle. As my Mom often tells, when she and Dad would tell us we were going away somewhere, Chris would ask in a suspicious tone "is this going to be a history thing?"

Of course there was always, like a pool or amusement park or shopping excursion involved. M&D were clever about working in the educational part.

So anyway, we got a gentle reminder of the world around us every day, while showering enclosed in a world map shower curtain. You pick up more than you'd think by just looking at something day-in and day-out. It included major cities and capitals, so I knew all of the odd ones like Tegucigalpa (do you know the country?*). Big-time party conversation in high school. But I was the co-editor of the school paper, so maybe that wasn't so far off. Speaking of that, my fantastic co-editor and friend Chris Donovan is now a producer of this TV show ...my Mom was one of his influential teachers, but he must have had a world map shower curtain too.

But that shower curtain is one of the things that I remember and love from childhood--Chris too. And I just LOVE maps in general. I got that bit from my Dad. I can (and do) pore over an atlas for ever and ever. Ask anyone who has ever lived with me.

So, as we get ready to outfit our new house, of course I'm planning to buy a world map shower curtain for the upstairs bathroom that will be Luke's daily showering, tooth brushing and toilet using place. Something like this, compliments of Target.com:

...ooooh baby, one of the perks about moving back to the USA = Target!

Though I haven't mentioned this design choice to Keith yet (and he does care about decor; we're already heatedly debating pendants for the dining room--no joke!), I know he will approve. He appreciates world geography, AND, he's a capital whiz - US and worldwide. What a geek.

That's why I think the world map shower curtain will be a perfect conversation piece with Luke and perfect addition to our new house.

But this brings me to another decorating dilemma that we will face in our new house: we have too many maps. We have traveled a bit and like to pick up a map of meaningful places when we're there, then frame it. Wonderful memories, yes, but as a result, if we hang all of them, PLUS the shower curtain, our house will look like the Rand McNally headquarters. Oh, that and all of the mountain pictures/paintings. We love mountains and gathered lots of different mountainy wall hangings before leaving Utah incase we never lived near mountains again.

In general, we really need to branch out with our artwork. But that will be the fun part of being home owners again.

Stay tuned for before and after photos of our new house.

*Honduras

Milestones

Today was a day of milestones - some large and some small.

The large ones included:

1. Keith's final day of 11 years of medical training.

And he went out on a high note... literally. At the staff's request, he brought in his bagpipes and --to the great joy of the office and patients-- played a few tunes (the joy part is amazing; it's a small office and those things are LOUD)

Also at the staff's request, Luke and I visited the office to say good-bye. Everyone there has enjoyed Luke's visits since we arrived in Vancouver last summer. This time they marveled at his curls and super walking skills.

Every single person in the office, from Keith's two surgeon mentors to the nurses and front office gals, showed their true sadness about Keith's departure. It was very sweet and certainly a year he'll remember. They all wanted a photo with him and the bag pipes. Those pipes have always been a crowd favorite.

So, big monumental day and all, I expected to hear trumpets playing and fireworks firing as he exited the building. But no... it was just another Friday. Except that we were able to go out for happy hour overlooking the setting sun at Kits beach with a bottle of champagne and a chilled seafood platter:

Lovely adult time thanks to Renee, which brings me to large milestone #2...

2. Luke's final day with our wonderful babysitter Renee.

Renee has been watching Luke for a couple of afternoons per week since January and has been a fantastic caretaker and playmate for him. She is the first non-grandparent person to watch Luke, so we have come to really trust and appreciate her. When we walked in today, she had him laughing hysterically about a toy that we've had for months and I've never seen him even notice. But that's what she's like - she does whatever it takes to make him happy. We'll miss Renee. Here she is with Lukey:

And, not to be forgotten -- the small milestones:

1. I completed a big writing project and my to-do list of moving prep tasks.

I'm glad this is our last significant move, for sure... at least for the foreseeable future. The moving topic deserves it's own blog post, and since I didn't have a blog when we moved the last three times, I think I'll work on one. It will include things like how a second-rate moving company (which I selected because they were the cheapest) lost a few things like our bed, our college diplomas, Keith's medical school diploma, and other important bits & pieces. Let's just say I learned a lot about moving long distance). Stay tuned for that post... probably after we complete this move, incase there are a few more rich anecdotes to add.

2. I got a haircut.

It's only a milestone because it's my first cut since the day before Luke was born! Since my hair always (and only) looks nice when I get a salon haircut and have it professionally blown out, I asked Keith to take a photo of Luke and me on our balcony. Because who knows when it will ever be blown-dry again. Then again, we're moving to Utah, where the dry climate makes every day a good hair day for my thick and wavy mane!

Clean windows

This morning I found a man dangling in front of our window washing it.

At first Luke was confused but intrigued (you can just make him out hiding in the corner peeking out at the guy):

After a few minutes he thought it was pretty cool and got right up in the poor guy's business. He was standing inches away from the window, just watching, when the nice man started waving at Luke. He got quite a kick out of that. Then he plopped down on the floor and kept watching:

And then, when the guy was gone, Luke turned around and did this (you've seen this trick before):

I wonder if that window washer guy can come over and clean the inside widows?

Ready to pack

Soon we'll start the undesirable task of packing for our move to SLC.

Luke thinks he is helping by emptying his bookshelf.

I guess we're moving at a good time, since Luke can make a day of putting things into boxes.

The bad thing is, he also likes to take them out and --as I have reported before-- hide them around the apartment.

I actually just found his current favorite book in the freezer. Now he's walking around with my wallet and sure enough, my license is not in there. I'd better go check the toilets.

Looking for fun

We didn't show him how to do this; he just figured it out. And since we laugh every time, guess what - he keeps doing it. And it's still funny every time.

Two-man band

I had my very own two-man band perform last night.

As you can see, Luke is pretty good on the rattle, even if not in perfect beat with Keith's guitar playing. You'll notice Luke look away/ stare into space a few times. That's because game 7 of the Celtics vs. Lakers final was on and obviously he didn't want to miss a second!

So sad that the Celts lost, as most readers of this blog will agree. I was so bummed that I refused to watch the Laker post-game celebration and interviews. Yeah, I guess I'm a sore loser.

For those interested, Keith is playing:

"There Ain't No Bugs on Me" We know it from the Advantix commercial, which has puppies singing. We think it's hysterical.

"Pinball Wizard" by The Who

"New York, New York" by Ryan Adams

We have very eclectic taste over here.

...and Luke is rattling to his own wonderful tune.

The No era

Yesterday I realized that we've begun the era of saying "No" to Luke, like all the time.

This struck me after about the 100th time I said it to him yesterday. It takes different forms - the stern "NO Luke"... the "No Lukey baby"... or the "NO! NO! NO!"

Then there's the "That's not for you", or the customary "That's dirty, No" when he goes after the toilet, garbage pail, or various other filthy places like the parking garage floor.

Of course there's the "that's dangerous", which he obviously doesn't understand or care about.

Straying from the No theme a little, there's the "get away from there" which I usually begin with Please, but by the third time in a row, the please is gone.

Anyway, what a bummer that there are just so many things that he wants to do but can't or shouldn't right now.

The little guy probably thinks I'm a total bitch for saying No all the time!

Maybe some day he'll thank me for keeping him safe. But then again, as Keith said the other night when I wondered this aloud, "when have you ever thanked your parents for saying No or keeping you safe or giving birth to you?"

I guess I've never thanked them for those exact things, so I shouldn't expect that Luke will either :-)

Totally unrelated, Luke has been napping for longer than usual so I just peeked in his room and he's peacefully snoozing in his usual and favorite position:

It's funny because that's the way I like to sleep too. Must be hereditary. And he has proven for months now that he's fine sleeping on his belly, so at least I won't say "No" to that.

This time, last year

On this day last year it was our first weekend home with Luke and I took this photo, which is still one of my favorites.

Beach party

We had beautiful weather in Vancouver this weekend and it's getting dark pretty late now.

So, last night we headed out to the beach around 5 pm (that's what you do when your husband is a dermatologist - you have to wait until the evening to go to the beach).

We brought a blanket and chairs, a bottle of wine, and some snacks (now mandatory for any outing) and toys for Luke. Though Lukey is a very steady walker on solid ground, he found the sand to be a little tricky.

He loved watching us toss stones into the water and cackled each time we exclaimed "kerplunk!"

As expected, he thoroughly enjoyed his very first ice cream (vanilla). We know this because he kept saying "yum, num, num, yum" like a broken record after each bite.

And we saw two cruise ships heading out to see, which is exactly what we'll be doing in three weeks. I hope we depart on a night that's as lovely as last night was.

Singing animals

I may have written before about Brigitte's laughing fits (Barbara and Kim get them too, so I think it's hereditary). Anyway, it's quite funny to experience. One very memorable laughing fit took place on a street in Chicago last year. She was laughing so uncontrollably that she was doubled over and we had to stop walking until it subsided. People were looking and wondering what was wrong with her. When she says (as she often does) "geez I was only laughin' me ass off" it's almost not an exaggeration; she really does laugh that hard.

Anyway, one thing that will always get her going is a singing and/or dancing stuffed animal. She has one that sings show tunes, a little dog that dances and flips around on the ground, an angel that says a prayer in Spanish, and I'm sure there are others that we haven't seen yet.

So, we weren't too surprised when, on Luke's birthday, she pulled out a Happy Birthday singing bear. Over Skype this bear sang and sang and sang to Luke. And not only was Brigitte laughing (her ass off) but Bill and Keith and I got going too. And Luke, for the first time, started bouncing up and down. We've seriously never seen him bounce or shake or dance to music, so we thought this was very cute.

All you need is a box

It's great being a one year old, when an oversized box can keep you entertained for hours.
Luke has been enjoying this Pampers one for a week now. He climbs in and out, collects things in it, turns it upside down hiding things like my Blackberry, and in this shot, apparently his dump truck has crashed into him while he was just sitting there playing.
I can only imagine how crazy he's going to go when we have an apartment full of big moving boxes. Good thing my parents will be here to keep those little paws out of my packing!

PS - there are socket covers on that outlet right there in full reach of the little guy; they're just clear so you can't make them out in this photo.

One with the pots and pans

Back when Luke started exploring, who can remember how many months ago, we put drawer and door locks in the kitchen and bathrooms. But since he loves opening and closing drawers/ doors and rooting around inside, sometimes I permit entry to one of the three that include only things that [most likely] won't him. Keith still doesn't like that I let Luke do this, but as I always say -- you try to keep him entertained all day long.

So, earlier this week the ever-nimble Luke graduated from reaching into the pots and pans drawer to CLIMBING into it. I wish I had seen him figuring out how to get in, but didn't notice until he was right in there. He eventually got stuck kneeling in a pot and I had to rescue him. It was hard not to laugh.

Crayons

We just came from Luke's 12-month check-up where the poor little guy had three big shots - one in each arm and one in the thigh. The doctor said he's most likely going to be a little sore and grouchy all day. Great.

She also went down the development check list, asking if he is doing this and that. The last thing she asked about was whether he was marking on paper with crayons. I paused, said "uhhh, I don't think he has tried it. We don't have any crayons" and then I immediately wondered if I was impeding his development and picked up a pack on the way home.

I assumed crayons were for older kids, but hey, why not try it.

I should have known.

The first thing he did was chew on the box and rip the top off. I took a few out and showed him how to scribble on the paper, then helped him do it. For a child a very strong grip, his hand was like a wet noodle with the crayon.

Then of course he drew a few lines on the wood floor, but since I bought the washable crayons, it wiped right off. Though he didn't understand how to scribble with them, he sure enjoyed carrying them one-by-one to the couch, then putting them all into a tupperware container, taking them out, putting them back in. He was quite entertained for about 20 minutes, which was worth the $2.30 for the pack. When I saw him gnawing on one of them, however, I decided to put crayons on hold for a while. They're non-toxic, but still. I don't want to clean up a waxy diaper.

And even with the washable kind, I'm thinking that I may want to spare the newly finished floors and freshly painted walls in our new house. But we'll see.