Shift Happens

August 13, 2014: First day of First Grade at a new school--my new school, where I will be teaching third grade 2 days a week this year.  Also our 9th wedding anniversary.

August 18, 2014: Matthew's first (and last) day of preschool. They wanted him three mornings a week from 9-12. Mark and I insisted on only two.  He cried at drop-off but quickly recovered. He was social and used his utensils at snack. He was content when I picked him up.

And then we never returned.

Mark and I looked at Matthew's schedule, which would be preschool followed by a nap, followed by Isabella's school pick-up, followed by homework and then dinner-- two days a week, then a full day in day care, then a full day with my mom. Even though we feel very lucky to have so many loving people take care of Matthew, we felt it was too much time away from us and home. The Preschool staff didn't seem to agree with this logic, but that's why we're the parents. :)  Preschool will happen, just not now, and we are very happy with that decision.

August 21, 2014: At one in the morning Isabella wakes up with a 102 fever and sore throat. She has only been in school 6 days and ends up missing the 7th and 8th day (which I know because she was keeping track) due to strep throat.

August 23, 2014: The Whittons come to town for a wedding. They are good friends who used to live in Napa and we got to meet  up with them for a short time Saturday morning in downtown Napa. Natasha and Theo (mutual friends of the Whittons) also joined us. Theo, Naomi and Isabella used to have play dates as babies, when us moms were in survival mode and needed the sanity of being surrounded by other brand new moms. Now they are 6, and in the first grade, and each have siblings, and play dates are as beneficial for them as they are for us.

We ate a Sweetie Pies, walked along the river, and I even popped into the Running store for a brief moment to dream about all the thing I want to buy.

August 24, 2014: 3:20 am - Mark and I were awakened by a horrible rumbling and shaking from a 6.0 earthquake. While it was a scary 10 seconds of wondering how long or how bad it would be, the realization of what happened wasn't truly felt until 4 am when we started talking to friends who were hiding out in their cars or commenting on the disarray of their homes. A few hours after that, when the power returned, we saw pictures and comments posted to Facebook about the severity of the quake. While we felt it something fierce, we did not experience the movement and jolting that other parts of Napa felt. We live on rock, as does most of those who live on the East side of Napa. I don't want to make light of the situation but the picture above, shows the extent of damage in our house: a picture on the mantle knocked over. There were a few books fallen over on some shelves; a few pictures fell off the walls; some items shifted in our closet. In other words, there was no damage. We were so lucky.

Two days later we explored downtown Napa to see the damage to the buildings--the very area we visited with the Whittons. The Running store windows are now boarded up, streets are taped off, huge trucks for clean up and restoration are now parked along the curbs and the media is all over the place. So much can change in an instant!

August 28, 2014: My anxiety kicked in on Thursday evening--not from having a new job or from a decent sized earthquake (although I admit I woke up terrified at one this morning from yet another 3.4 aftershock) but because I managed to get our family involved in some weird scam on Craigslist, and for about an hour that evening I was pretty much convinced that someone was going to show up at our house and quite possibly do bodily harm to one or all of us.

I posted our table (above) to sell on Craigslist and foolishly passed on my name and address to some guy with an LA based number, who claimed to be an oceanographer working at sea, but was willing to pay me my asking price plus shipping, without ever seeing the table in person. (yes, the question begs to be asked: what does an oceanographer need a pine farm house table for, anyway? And why in the WORLD did I fall for it?!) A counterfeit check was sent, followed by several text messages pressing to know what happened to the money. When I didn't respond, I received a phone call from a Napa based number. It was a man asking for me, wondering what happened to his money. The reception was awful, which bought us some time to get the sheriff over to our house. He was awesome and put our minds completely at ease when he explained that this was a common scam and the guys involved weren't local; they purchase disposable phones and patch calls through local numbers, etc, etc. The sheriff took the check for us, traced the numbers, which were untraceable, and that was the end of it.

Needless to say, it's been an eventful two weeks.  But today is August 31 2014, a day of rest, and I am gladly relishing in it.

Summer's End

A surprise visit from an old friend! Kate Stiefvater came to town visiting with a friend. We managed to squeeze in a quick breakfast at Sweetie Pies and got caught up! The last time we saw each other was 7 years ago, in NYC when she bought our couch some other furniture because we decided to move to California. 7 Years?! That is waaaaay too long!

Isabella's fancy footwear: matching colored or even types of shoes, not required. Not during summer and not when you're riding  your scooter.

Our last summer outing was to Sonoma. We had a picnic in the park and then headed over to Train Town.

 Isabella made her first solo flight. 

Matthew took his first train ride.

Which includes a stop at a little model village where the kids can get out and visit the old school, saloon and jail. Funny how both my kids just love the jail. And look like twins.

 Isabella, age 15-28 months??, on her first trip to the Train Town jail.  (circa 2009)

A Couple That Bowls (with Seniors) Together, Stays Together (Summer Date #5)

 1. Must have matching bowling shoes.

 2. Must coordinate lip gloss and nail polish with bowling ball.

 3. Must wear Hawaiian shirt and have mad bowling skills.

4.  Must eat a post-bowling breakfast at Napa's greasiest dive. It reminded us of the Brook Ave diner in the South Bronx. We used to go there on occasion for a greasy, cheap breakfast. But it was good, or maybe we were very hungry and stressed out from our jobs, so it tasted good. This? Not so much.

A Couple That is Annoyed Together (ahem, at each other) , Stays Together. (Summer date #4)

All dates can't be stellar. Especially when it's hot. We ate breakfast out and met some man named Jack, who was taking a break from a bike ride to Yountville.

Great idea for a date, we thought.

Jack recommended a bike shop in town, so Mark and I went to check it out.

I recently accepted a new teaching job at an elementary school 3 miles from our house. I am increasing my teaching days to two days a week this coming year, which has not been an easy decision for me because it means finding care for Matthew. But there are a lot of great things about this position--one being that I might just be able to ride a bike to work!

So Mark and I looked and made plans and took the back roads home to find a bike route to school, and that was a lot of fun, and then we weren't so annoyed with each other.

On to new adventures (and maybe a new bike in the future??)

A Couple that Looks for Wild Boars Together, Stays Together (Summer Date #3)

There are no pictures because I forgot the camera, but this was a good one. We ate breakfast at Grace's Table, a global kitchen that served us lox and bagels and a scrambled egg smash up that was out of this world. The giant fly/bee that entered into this indoor/outdoor restaurant almost chased us out, but we switched tables and we were fine.

Next, we went to a Napa wilderness park for a hike. We were warned of wild pigs, mountain lions, rattlesnakes, ticks and poison oak. We saw baby lizards and a few wild turkeys (from a distance). The views from the hills were incredible (we think we were able to see Mt. Diablo) and the weather was perfect: warm sunshine and cool breezes.

We made a nice loop back to our car, unscathed from the wild life that Napa boasts. And we think Mick Jagger missed the mark with the lyrics to one of his songs.  It should have been: Wild boars couldn't drag me awaaaaaayyyy. Now that's romantic.

A Couple That Looks for Dead People Together, Stays Together (Summer Date #2)

Mark and I went to the Tulocay cemetery in Napa for our second summer date. We don't know a soul who is buried there, but it is a beautiful, old cemetery that reminds me of one you'd find on the East Coast.

We sat under the shade of a big tree on a stretch of lawn and looked through a box of old photographs and papers from Mark's family. I've started doing family history for his side, which I have absolutely become addicted to because Mark knows so little about his family.

The photograph above is of a double wedding of his father's parents, Lillian and Henry Holsten  (on the left) and another relative (maybe a sister?) and her husband.  Henry was an asbestos worker and worked on ships. Lillian (Humphreys) lost her parents at an early age and was raised by an uncle and aunt. By researching records and reading old letters, I learned that after Lillian's death, Henry married again, and some family members were not happy with his new union. This was something that no one knew and I love, love, love, knowing their stories! It makes the roots of our family feel deeper and I love being able to connect Mark to his past.

Post Script: I was able to track down a distant family member from the Humphreys' family line who had done a bunch of genealogy for the family. He then put us in touch with another distant relative named William Humphreys who is a distant cousin of Mark's.  We spoke with him on the phone (he lives in West Virginia). He actually knew Mark when Mark was a baby and filled in a bunch of gaps in his family story that I'd been curious about. Turns out Mark's great-great grandfather fought in the Civil War and his great-grandfather remembered the sounds of the battles he heard as a child.  I couldn't be more excited to learn these details, and it's not even my own family!!

A Couple That Posts Bail Together, Stays Together... (Summer Date #1)

Mark and I went out on a date for the first time in ages.  We are finally taking advantage of the respite service that Matthew gets through the county. A lovely woman named Patti comes once a week to watch the kids, so Mark and I can get out.

Our first stop was the courthouse to post bail for a red light violation. (We went incognito with our transition lens eye wear, and all.)

"Criminal" seems so harsh. Shouldn't it read: "Napa County 'Innocent Until Proven Guilty' Courthouse"? But let's call the Kettle what it really is: Mark is guilty as sin. In his defense, he ran the red light on our way home from our week-long stay in the hospital with Matthew. Mark too, had some random health issues that same week, causing him to miss work and camp out with us in the tiny hospital room. We were so exhausted on our drive home, I didn't notice that he ran a red light, either. But the camera did. And you can't argue with the camera. Or can you...

The very nice woman who collected our $612.00 did not dissuade us from setting a court date. Perhaps, we thought, we could ask for a reduced fine, given the extenuating circumstances??? The very nice woman advised us to head up to the courtroom right then and there to watch a few trials.

Our date suddenly got interesting.

We witnessed 4 traffic violation trials, and were told by the judge herself, that it was not within her jurisdiction to reduce fines, so forget asking. Then we had a post-trial conversation with the bailiff, who did not dissuade us from keeping our court date, but smashed all hopes of mercy on the judge's part--even police officers who get caught running red lights on camera, she told us, don't get any breaks.

We headed back downstairs to take our names off the court calendar.

But then the very nice woman who had previously taken our $612.00 (did I mention how much the ticket was?), balked when we told her what the bailiff had said. "Of course that's what a bailiff would say!" she said.

Mark and I looked at each other and decided to stay in the fight.  After all, if a police officer--a human being--had stopped us, they might have had more compassion.

Court date is set for July 21. Most likely Mark will leave with a little egg on his face. But on the off chance that the officer who signed the ticket doesn't show up, we may have a chance.

We ended our date at a local bakery to eat some (humble) hand pies. 

Post script: California's got this video camera thing down. They send their big guns to the courthouse. There's no escaping it, no chance they'll be too busy to show up. That's fine. We tried. Now you will find Mark and I driving around Napa slamming on the brakes at every yellow light we encounter. We may not get another ticket, but we might have to replace our car's brakes soon.