Winter to Spring 2023

We've been busy with the usual life things. School, work, extracurricular activities. Nothing of note happened in February, at least if my picture roll is any indication.

I was not on top of St. David's Day this year, but did manage to make pice ar y maen, which M just called "Welsh yum-yums". I need to practice making them more because I don't have a griddle and making them in the non-stick pan led to some burnt ones. Nothing was inedible, but I need to figure out where to set the heat to get the optimal cook on them.

My clinic team put together a tea party, complete with tea gloves and finger sandwiches, to celebrate RD Day. 

And I found the creepy baby cousin to our clinic's creepy baby (named Maybelle, if you recall) in the oncology RD office, just peering out from behind some Ensure. I'm guessing this baby's head doesn't fall off as easily as poor Maybelle's.

We had a slew of work fun in March-April - an RD/GC/SW sleepover where we watched a bunch of Lindsay Lohan movies, a few happy hour outings including one to celebrate social worker day, a bunch of us went to see Sarah Silverman (Ryan joined us for this one), and we went to take awkward family photos to give to the MDs for doctor appreciation day - they turned out amazing. We had a 90s theme, denim on denim with those plastic bracelets and chokers. Our photographer was very excited about our goals for the photoshoot. We are planning a holiday edition of the awkward photos.

Back at home, we finally finished the nightmare of getting the deck re-done. The guy we used was so difficult to work with and the whole process was a constant stream of issues and sob stories and I spent months stressed on and off about having to deal with him. One of the big ones was they found a drainage pipe that needed to be moved and expected us to find someone, get a quote, and have the pipe moved within 2-3 days, lol. I was impressed that we were able to get it done within 1-2 weeks, but they threatened to start charging us some exorbitant daily amount for "delays", supposedly because we'd already had delays due to weather (we hadn't, it had been beautiful weather since they'd started our project and there had been multiple days that no one from their team showed up to work). They backed down on that pretty quickly at least once I called them on it. But everything was them trying to find ways to charge us more money. I think the deck quality turned out fine (but also how can you really know until you see how long it holds up?), but will never recommend this person to anyone else. And I need a good long break from dealing with home repairs, except we have lots more that needs doing. It is nice to not have the deck be rotting away anymore though. We cut off the side that wrapped around the house and was useless and pushed the deck further out at the back. Now we just need to find outdoor furniture so we can actually use the space.

M had a birthday and requested ramen for dinner and German chocolate cake. Unfortunately, they weren't feeling well on the day we'd planned to celebrate, so we spent that evening just taking it easy and opened presents; we were able to take him to dinner and eat cake the next evening instead. 

I messed up when making the cake and put half the chocolate in that I was supposed to - I blame the Baker's chocolate company for changing the thickness of their baking bars a few years ago and ever since I've had the hardest time getting the correct amount! I didn't realize my mistake until the layers were already baking and the result was interesting, with a slightly different color to the outside and inside of the cake. It also didn't have much flavor - just vaguely sweet but bland:

I remade the cake, because no one wants a bland German chocolate cake, and the second one was much better.

Went on my first bike ride in a while - along the Interurban Trail over to the Burke Gilman with a stop at UW to see the cherry blossoms. They weren't at their peak yet, delayed by the cold weather, but still quite lovely.

G has been loving pole vault. Like, excitedly will get up for 9am practice on a Saturday loving it. His PR so far is 8 feet at a meet, but he's made it over 8'6" in practice and I think is hoping to make it to 9' before the end of the season. We've signed him up for a pole vault day camp during the summer and will likely do some occasional trips down to Tacoma for some sessions with a coach down there (they've done a couple as a team, but sounds like we could do them a little more frequently if desired). It's been a lot of fun to see him this excited about something that isn't video games.

I don't love Easter and have largely abandoned most of the holiday, but we do usually do an egg hunt. Every year I'm on the fence about the egg hunt, but the kids always want one and I do usually end up happy I've done it. However this year I ended up down with a stomach bug in the days leading up to Easter. There were no plastic eggs left at the grocery store when I went Easter day and so we just got some candy. And because it was spring break for the kids the week after Easter we did a candy hunt (inside because it was rainy) the next day. I have to say, hiding individual candy is so much more fun than hiding eggs - especially if you're inside because there are just so many options for where to hide things! This was one of my favorites, which took the kids a long time to find:

My coworkers then asked me if I would hide candy around the office, so I did - and left them all chocolate bunnies on their desks. I did make sure to write down where I hid the candy so we wouldn't be finding candy in random places months later. Which is good, because they definitely didn't find it all on their own - I sent them the list of spots today so they could collect it all. 

G had a birthday as well. I got sick again (exactly a week after the stomach bug hit, ugh) but thankfully just with a cold, not covid or another stomach bug. So it wasn't exactly fun to make his cake since the cold was at its worst on those days, but I was very excited about it because I've been meaning to make this cake for years and he just happened to pick it out as what he wanted. I baked the layers and made the frosting the day before his birthday so that the day of I could just make the filling and put it all together. 

Mine is only 3 layers because my pans are 9 inch instead of 8 inch and I don't have room in my kitchen for a set of both.

Letting the layers/filling firm up in the fridge before doing the crumb coat

It was delicious. Will definitely be making it again. The recipe can feel overwhelming, which is why I hadn't tried it yet, but none of the steps are all that hard really. We are letting G upgrade one of the computers as his birthday present, so there wasn't much in the way of presents to open. But Ryan also drove him down to Tacoma the day before for a pole vault clinic, so I think that can count as a present as well. Even if we did make him drive one way because he needs the practice.

Next week I'm off to Metabolic University for the week - I'm very glad I got sick early enough to be over it before the trip. I've been wanting to go to this training for 2 years and am really excited for it, nerd that I am. Even if I do have to wear actual business casual and not Seattle business casual.

January

January has been more positive than the fall, so the new year is off to a decent start. I got a fancy dress to wear to our first ever burlesque show to start the year off. It has pockets!! Seattle is so casual generally that I may never have an opportunity to wear this again, but it was fun to dress up for a night.

People who attend this artist's shows go all out in their dress, though there were a few people who kept to the typical Seattle dress code. It was an awesome experience, great energy from the audience and incredibly impressive line up of artists.

G completed the youth strength training series at our gym, so now he feels comfortable in the weight room and is allowed to use it on his own - much needed to build strength for pole vault which he is trying out in track this year.

I went on a closet purge, removing all the items I've been holding onto but am finally trying to accept will never fit me again. Some were hard to give away, but I had fun reminiscing over the shopping adventure to get this top for my Debussy performance my senior year of college. My sister went with me (I still need her help picking out my clothes). It was a fun but exhausting day because trying to find something to wear that evokes Debussy is not easy. Made even harder by ridiculous modesty rules. But this worked well in the end - and became a thing that I've never worn again because what else would I wear it for?? It was too fancy for anything else in my life back then. It's felt good to clear out some space.

This is a bittersweet, if somewhat silly, one - a patient is moving away and they handed me this crumpled up bit of sticker paper at our last visit - they were so excited about giving it to me. One of the great things about working outpatient is that you get to develop deep relationships with your patients, share in the ups and downs and celebrations of progress. But it's a double-edged sword because sometimes you have to say goodbye.

Ryan and I went to another play, I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, and it had this gorgeous set:

Also, that is a person in the casket on stage. They were in there before the doors opened, which means they had to lay there perfectly still for at least half an hour before the show started. I know my nose would start to itch as soon as the doors opened if it were me, so we were very impressed by this feat. Excellent play which is based on a novel. I haven't read the novel, but think I'll pick it up based on this performance.

I finished Still Life, which was recommended by my sister (who, in addition to advising me on clothes, also has stellar book recommendations - which makes sense given that is literally her job).

This is the second book I've finished this year (the other was one of the Heartstopper graphic novels), which means I'm already closing in on the number of books I finished in 2022, haha. Time for reading has not been plentiful in recent years, but I'm trying to change that. Anyway. I don't really know how to describe the book, but it was much-needed in my life. It contains passages such as:

They go together. It's what we've always done. Left a mark on a cave, or on a page. Showing who we are, sharing our view of the world, the life we're made to bear. Our turmoil is revealed in those painted faces -- sometimes tenderly, sometimes grotesquely, but art becomes a mirror. All the symbolism and the paradox, ours to interpret. That's how it becomes part of us. And as counterpoint to our suffering, we have beauty. We like beauty, don't we? Something good on the eye cheers us. Does something to us on a cellular level, makes us feel alive and enriched. Beautiful art opens our eyes to the beauty of the world, Ulysses. It repositions our sight and judgment. Captures forever that which is fleeting. A meager stain in the corridors of history, that's all we are. A little mark of scuff. One hundred and fifty years ago Napoleon breathed the same air as we do now. The battalion of time marches on. Art versus humanity is not the question, Ulysses. One doesn't exist without the other. Art is the antidote. Is that enough to make it important? Well yes, I think it is.

But also:

When I call it a day, I'm going to be in my Land Rover with Poppy by my side and I'm going to drive straight off a cliff.

Poppy know about this?

Not yet, said Des.

Best tell her.

Maybe you're right.

If I had to try to sum it up, I guess I'd say it's about chosen family and lives lived and the million tiny, beautiful moments in those lives.

Finally, I've discovered that puzzles are similar to quilting fabric for me. If I'm around them I can't help wanting to buy some. We went to the toy store while the cleaners were at the house and found these. This first one was so apt for Seattle and made us all laugh, but we opted not to get it.

Because we were more interested in these two as far as actual puzzling goes. I don't think we'll make these anytime soon, but I really just couldn't help myself.

And that brings January (almost) to a close!

Holidays

We've been excited for the holiday season at the office since Halloween ended. We decorate our small area of the office year round, but the level of decor has been steadily increasing through the year. My coworkers also noticed I had yet to bring in family photos near my desk, so I walked in one morning to find some excellent photos of them up above my desk, titled "BC Gang Family Photos" - Ryan was so happy to hear I finally have a family, lol. (For the record, this did prompt me to bring in pictures of Ryan and the kids, but I'm definitely keeping the BC Gang photos as well.)

The genetic counselor pod was also highly decorated, with a cardboard fireplace, stocking, lights, etc. It's been delightfully festive.

We got our Christmas grapefruit a week or so before Christmas and have been enjoying it as usual.

Then we got more snow! We've now had two snowstorms and that's two too many. There eventually was enough that I actually had to shovel and then it was supposed to get really cold, so had to put salt down as well.

As things froze, we had our usual circus of folks getting stuck at our corner. This car actually ran into the neighbor's fence and required a tow truck to get unstuck. Minutes after the tow truck took this car away, another car came along and almost hit the fence as well. 

And none of that was the worst of it yet - the next morning we got freezing rain. You can find all the videos of cars, bowls, people, and pets sliding all over the roads and sidewalks on tiktok, youtube, or whatever your preferred platform is. I became the designated person to take out the trash/compost/recycling given I have yaktrax - they work really well, by the way! Thankfully fewer people attempted to drive on the roads after that, but there were still some, none of whom fared all that well.

Of course, all of that put a serious damper on holiday shopping and shipping. We still managed to get almost everything in time because on Christmas Eve we warmed up from the teens/twenties to the 50s and switched to regular rain, which cleaned up the roads and sidewalks beautifully. 

I got to baking. I actually did some prior to having days off because we had a cookie exchange at work. I always have to make Magic in the Middles as these have been designated the official BCG cookie, but also wanted to make cranberry macadamia bars. However, couldn't find the recipe anywhere - thankfully my sister had it and texted it to me. I had several recipe cards I was missing and realized I must've put them somewhere odd the previous Christmas. 

The next week, I discovered they'd all been used as bookmarks in our cocktail book the previous year! Glad they aren't permanently lost at least!

I do highly recommend the cranberry macadamia bars. We made those, magic in the middles, and gingersnaps - it's probably been a decade since we made gingersnaps and I'd forgotten how much I like them. Ryan made toffee. 

For Christmas Eve dinner Ryan made beef and broccoli stirfry and we had bok choy and Korean lettuce salad as sides. As usual, the George C. Scott version of Christmas Carol preceded bedtime.

Christmas was pretty simple and small this year. M got books and games and rock stuff - a rock tumbler, identification book, etc. G got a chess board, video games, and books. It was a lovely relaxing day. The next day I got started on one of our two new puzzles this year and completed it a few days later. 

New Year's Even I started on our second puzzle and got the frame done before it was time to focus on our evening prep. We also got to see the progress of M's first batch of rocks going through the rock tumbler as they'd completed their first stage.

Rinsing off the grit - you don't want to do this at the sink as it can damage plumbing

Rough edges smooth and ready for stage 2 of tumbling

I've struggled to find dried currants at our grocery store for the past year plus and finally remembered to check on Amazon, so was able to prep some - soaking with brown sugar, tea, and orange zest overnight - to make bara brith.

We watched the second Thin Man movie with my sister's family - the last good one since after that they try to go sober and the characters aren't nearly as funny when they're not drunk it turns out. So we'll have to come up with something else for next year's movie. Maybe Auntie Mame. Or How to Steal a Million ("Leland Davis. Or was it Davis Leland?"). We've got a whole long list of Golden Age movies to share with our kids and spouses, so I'm not worried.

New Year's Day included more work on puzzle 2. M helped with some of the mushroom caps.

And I made the bara brith! The first time I made this I followed a suggestion in one of the recipes to use raisins and currants - that batch really solidified that I just don't like raisins in baked goods or in anything generally. So now I use just currants. The fruit/orange/tea flavor can be a bit of an acquired taste, it's grown on me and now I love it.

We all had one last day off after New Year's. I got the ornaments off the tree and worked on the puzzle more. G joined in for the very last bits, where I was just working on the pieces with tiny hints of mushroom and the background with no mushroom at all - the hardest parts of the puzzle. All done - just in time to go back to work and school!

Autumn Updates

Getting our Autumn updates in just before we switch to Winter!

The kids started back to school. G participated in cross country, though much of their season was disrupted by wildfire smoke - smoke season was delayed this year so instead of landing in the summer started in late August/early September and lasted into October/early November, aided by our unusually dry fall. Don't know about you, but I'm not loving the effects of climate change.

We finally managed to get M into swim lessons! We adore his teacher - she used to be a school teacher and has taught many different ages and special ed classes and immediately knew how to connect with him, cuts right through his avoidance techniques, and got him from terrified to enter the water to not wanting to get out of it in a matter of weeks. I wish she could be his teacher for everything. 

I've been busy with orchestra leadership - I somehow* ended up being the president of the board this year and it's been a huge time commitment, more than expected, as we try to get back to a semi-normal state. I'm exhausted and it's having a negative impact on my mental health - I've felt depression creep in in a serious way for the first time since leaving Mormonism. I plan to step down from the board entirely after this season. The fact that there is an end date to it is the thing helping me make it through right now. That and Heartstopper, which brings me joy and so I re-watch episodes anytime life is feeling a little too much. Though I'm super nervous for the characters in upcoming seasons because obviously they're dealing with some serious things (bullying, hints at eating disorders, etc) that I'm worried will get worse and I just really want them all to be okay. 

Work is busy as usual, but would feel manageable if I didn't have the orchestra stuff on top of it. RSV and influenza have kept the hospital full and made on call weeks extra busy. I presented at an online conference in September - the same topic I presented at the conference in March. My team has started buying stuffies from the gift shop semi-regularly as part of our coping strategy, so I have Ollie and Alonzo and Sam the Eagle at my desk. We give them different hats for the holidays. And Alonzo was joined by a new, yet-to-be-named friend a couple weeks ago. 

We made it to the pumpkin farm/corn maze again. Weather meant there weren't all that many people there when we arrived, which was delightful. M wasn't too interested in carving his pumpkin afterward - to be fair, October weekends were packed and I think we were all a little exhausted - so kept it simple. We did get him out trick-or-treating this year. And got way more kids at our door this year than last year and actually got rid of almost all the candy we got!

M was disappointed that I wouldn't let him get these for decorations this year. But we did, for the first time ever, get some outside decor for the holiday (aside form jack o lanterns). We put up some cobwebby stuff and he picked out some large spiders to go with that. It looked quite good until the wind got to it, but we were too busy to get pictures.

Adding to the just general overwhelmed-ness of the fall, there was a shooting at G's school in early November. It was targeted, but has left everyone with a lot to deal with emotionally and mentally. The shooting happened on a Tuesday and they closed the school for the rest of the week. The student who was shot died and two other young students were arrested. Just incredibly sad for all of those families. Thankfully I happened to check my phone and saw G's texts first - otherwise I would've first seen a bunch of texts from friends asking if things were okay. It's funny how everyone responds to things like this. I was between clinic patients and felt kind of frozen - they weren't releasing kids yet so it's not like me rushing off anywhere would be helpful, but it also felt weird to just keep going about my day. I went and saw the last patient and then went and packed up my stuff and left for the day. It was going to take so long for them to release the kids that Ryan ended up driving to the hospital to pick me up and bring me home. Then he stayed home to get some food and work while I went to wait for G to be released and got to talk with my mom on the phone while waiting. We had so many friends from all our communities reach out to us and support us in a variety of ways. A close friend called me and stayed on the phone while I waiting for Ryan and as all the emotions finally started to hit. Orchestra friends checked in by text, arranged a sub for me the next day, and ordered us dinner. Work friends stepped up to cover my call and offered resources. I really appreciated the reminder that we have built robust support structures for our family here. And my sister sent the most thoughtful care package, filled with items for comfort, warmth, confronting, processing, distraction, etc. The teachers eased the kids back into school the next week, but I know a lot of teachers, staff, students, and parents are still dealing with the fallout from such a traumatic event.

We got an earlier than usual snow. I appreciated that it turned into less of a storm than initially predicted, though we still had slick sidewalks for a few days.  

Ryan survived the initial layoffs at work. Of course they always say they hope there will only be the one round, but I don't trust that, so we're kind of assuming it's only a matter of time before he's laid off. That's definitely added some stress to work life for him as more pressure gets put on everyone who is left, but I'm so glad we're not solely reliant on his income. I would be much more stressed right now if I were a stay at home parent still. I feel really badly for those here on H1b visas who have been laid off - as usual, immigration rules are stupid and they have a very limited time in which to find new jobs which is very stressful.

Ryan and I went to a play for the first time since COVID! We saw Mr. Dickens and His Carol. While not my favorite play that I've ever seen, it's always fun to admire the acting, sets, costuming, etc. And just felt really good to be going out again.

We had some lingering Halloween decor up until last weekend, when I finally put it away before we went to get our tree. I adore the tree we got this year. So well-proportioned all around. Pretty proud of us that we went to get this in the afternoon, got it put up, lights on, and decorated all that evening. And we got a wreath this year as well! 

Ryan is off for the next couple weeks and I've got some days off here and there, so we can finally start getting into Christmas!

*Somehow = you have to have been on the board for at least 1 year before you can be president and everyone else on the board had either done it for too many years already or were having to take a break from the board because they were starting new jobs or couldn't take it on because they were going to be having a baby so I felt bad saying no when I had slightly less going on than others. Or less new things at least.  

Whidbey Island

Last year while the kids were at camp we opted not to go anywhere aside from some day trips, because we'd just spent a bunch of money on our family vacation. We instantly regretted it upon arriving home, so made sure not to repeat that mistake this year. 

Somehow, despite our decade plus in the PNW, we have never made it to the San Juan Islands or Whidbey Island. I had found what looked like a nice Airbnb on Whidbey the previous year and it was available for our dates still, so booked that - our first time ever using Airbnb. We dropped the kids off at camp successfully and and took the requisite picture of the beach at camp before heading toward Whidbey. 

We took some time to stop at Deception Pass State Park along our way. Walked partway across the Deception Pass Bridge and took this picture while feeling terrified of both the long fall down in front of us and the highway traffic just inches away behind us:

Then we walked down to the beach and just soaked in the beauty from what felt like a safer footing for a while. And took this picture from the path down, which felt like a much more secure vantage point.

We could've done a lot more hiking in the park, but I had my clarinet with me (and I never leave my clarinet in the car unattended) and we needed to be getting on to our rental, which was on the southern side of the island.

As we drove up, Ryan was dubious because it looks so tiny. And, despite having looked at the pictures online and making the booking myself, I had a moment of doubt:

But no. The cottage extends back/below what you can see as you pull up and really was perfect. I'm not particularly into hunting/fishing lodge decor, but I get why they chose that. And all of the details that matter where comfortable and well-thought out with this place. The owner left breakfast items for the next morning and the cabin is the only place on the multi-acre property, so you feel really secluded even though you're not far from town. The kitchen allowed for plenty of cooking and the bed was comfortable.

As usual, Ryan immediately got to work figuring out the TV and how to connect for streaming.

Most ridiculous photo, but the toilet is a Toto and automatically opens when you walk near it, heated bidet and dryer. Ryan was sad to leave the toilet behind, lol

One of the two decks - we ate breakfast and dinner here most days/nights

There was a grill that we made sure to use

And a pond

Ryan brought his wok and cooked us a stirfry the first night

We enjoyed the firepit, roasted marshmallow, and stargazing

Our first day we headed into town and meandered/window shopped a bit. Unfortunately, our timing being there Sunday-Wednesday was a little weird - clearly the town runs a little more on the weekend crowd. But we found a decent place for lunch and enjoyed a wine tasting before heading back to the cabin to relax and make dinner.

The next day we took it easy in the morning since I hadn't been feeling great the night before - watched some shows and I practiced a bit. Ryan had booked us a kayak rental for the afternoon. It had been ages since I'd kayaked, but the rental place was great about getting us set up. It was way more tiring on my arms than I remember from when I was a kid! But fun to see the water and shoreline that way. Some people wrapping up as we arrived were very excited about having seen a whale. Sounded like the whale had moved on, but I kept an eye out while we were out anyway. Partly because it would be cool to see but also because I really didn't want to accidentally get too close to a whale. Not only are you supposed to leave them lots of space, but a close whale encounter in a kayak seems like it would be mildly terrifying. We did not see any whales, or much wildlife at all, while we were out. But just as we were pulling back in, the woman helping us saw the whale at a beach not far from where we were coming in! She ran and got us all binoculars - it's out of season for whales, but this one grey whale has been coming close in to lots of the harbors this year, enjoying more of the ghost shrimp. It was really cool to see and I'm glad we enjoyed it from the shore. 

We headed out to dinner at a local restaurant, Prima Bistro, which was excellent (and one of just a few restaurants open on a Tuesday evening). The next morning we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast before packing up and heading to the ferry to go back home. It was a thoroughly relaxing few days and we'll likely stay at the cabin again in the future - there are a lot more parks and little towns to explore on the island, but honestly the cabin is also a great place to hole up away from everyday life for a bit as well.