(no subject)
In spite of my best intentions, it's been awhile.
Funny story. Last week Larry and I went to Montreal for a conference. Some surgical association, I don't even know what it was, I wasn't paying attention to the details. It was just for a couple of days. We went Wednesday and came home Saturday. Montreal was chilly and gray, but it was just warm enough for the mounds of snow to be melting, so the sidewalks were always wet. I could tell it's a lovely city, but not so much last week.
The people, however, were most delightful. They were just so nice, warm, and welcoming. And also the food. I've been running quite a bit, and trying to "eat like an athlete." I'm not sure athletes eat crepes with bananas, strawberries, and chocolate for breakfast. Or smoked salmon eggs Benedict. Or poutine for lunch. Or gnocchi with lobster, champagne, a cheese board, fresh oysters, and wine for dinner. (That was my birthday dinner.) Or mushroom and duck leg confit risotto, fried calamari, and vanilla tarts, again with wine.
Before we left, Larry said we'd have my birthday dinner in Montreal, and I should also go shopping for a present while we were there. There's not much at all that I need, or want, but I said, sure, I'll look around, see if I see anything I can't live without.
So, here's the funny part. (Like our children all said, this story is just so Dad.) He's had a coffee can in his closet for years, where he keeps leftover foreign currency from places we've visited. You know, change, bills too small to exchange for US dollars. The day before we left he decided to look and see if there was any Canadian money in there. The last time we were in Canada was when Ash lived in Toronto, which she left in 2007. But whatever, he decided to look. And he found some Canadian dollars.
$1200 of them. There were 12 hundred dollar bills in his coffee can. He has no memory of why they were there or when he put them there.
So that was very exciting, to have that much found money to take with us. To play with! Like meals and birthday presents felt like they were going to be free!
Until I realized, halfway through the trip, that his goal was to bring back as much of it as he could and put it back in the coffee can.
He didn't want to exchange it, because the Canadian dollar is so weak, and we can't spend it here in the States. But he still wanted to put dinner on the credit card until I convinced him that was just dumb. When I mentioned giving some of it to Erin and Nic, since they're only two hours from Montreal and sometimes go up there, he got really indignant. Why would we give it to them? Why was that money burning a hole in my pocket??
Because what good was it going to do anybody in a coffee can omg??
I convinced him to pay for our food with it, and I grabbed some of it and went shopping. I was *determined* to spend it at that point. I mean, seriously.
The other funny part is that a saleswoman in a department store told me she hadn't seen a $100 bill like that in years. They've changed them, apparently. So not only is Lar hoarding Canadian money, he's hoarding OLD Canadian money.
We had a nice time in spite of his being so weird about something that should have just been fun, so that was good. But it was our relationship to money in a nutshell. I want to spend, he wants to save. I get that, but why save THIS money?? What a weirdo.
Erin is still pregnant. (Adam asks me that every time I talk to him. Like we wouldn't tell him if she has the babies.) She's been dilated 3 centimeters for a couple of weeks now. The babies haven't turned and it doesn't look like they're going to, so she's going to have to have a c-section. She has contractions now and again, nothing regular, and her doctor told her the other day not to pick Sebastian up anymore, or anything heavier than a gallon of milk. The goal is to get her to at least the beginning of April. I've been waiting, trying to decide when to head up there. I'm planning on going to Atlanta to see my stepdad and spend a few days with my brother, on March 25, coming home the 28, but I've been waffling about canceling that in case I have to zoom off to Vermont. It was making me anxious.
And then Nic informed Erin last week that oh, by the way, he's going to a conference in Atlanta March 30-31, so maybe I should come up on the 28th so she's not alone in case she goes into labor.
She's so mad she says she hopes she has the babies while he's away. So now, instead of going back to Cbus on the 28th, I'll just fly to Vermont from Atlanta and hang out until Lucas and Isaac show up.
Nic is such a maroon.
Erin is completely freaking out about the logistics of all of a sudden going from one kid to three, which is understandable. She's really focused on how she's going to get them all in the car, for some reason. It's pretty adorable. So I'm going to stay for most of April. Larry will drive up probably on the 23rd, see the babies, and then take Sebastian and I back to Cbus on the 28th. Seba'll stay here a couple of weeks, then Ashley and I will either drive or fly him home.
I can't wait to get up there, really. I want to see Seba, see what these babies are going to be like, see Erin. I'm feeling anxious all the time, waiting. Erin says Seba keeps asking to go to Nana's home, and whenever he sees a silver car he says, "Nana's car." She was taking some stuff to the guest room the other day and he asked her why. She told him she was getting the room ready for me, because I was coming, and he ran to the window and started looking for me. That story killed me. She said she yelled at him the other day and he started to cry and said, "Nana home." We FaceTime a lot, but it's not nearly enough. I try not to be sad they're so far away, but sometimes...
Here's another funny story, which I think may explain a few things about Nic. His mom owns three giant Schnauzers, which she got in Germany. She does obedience trials with them. (This is a woman whose knees - or maybe her hip, I don't really pay attention - keep her from doing anything with Sebastian other than sitting on the couch and saying, "Come here, Seba. Come and sit with me." And then looking at me and saying, "well, I guess he likes you best." Yes, because I actually interact with him.) Anyway. Last year when they all went to Nic's sister's in St. Louis for Thanksgiving, Kathy and Dave drove there from San Antonio with the dogs - there were only two at the time - and the dogs spent the entire weekend in the car, in the garage, with the engine running to keep them warm.
Yes, they really did that. They took them out for walks once in a while, but otherwise they were in the car. So weird.
SO, Erin is going back to work mid-summer, and Nic is taking paternity leave all of fall semester. Seba will be in daycare, but to get leave, Nic has to be the one taking care of the babies. So Kathy says she'll come the month of August to help him out.
With her three giant Schnauzers.
She wants Erin to find her a place to rent for a month that will accommodate the dogs. If she can't, Kathy's going to rent an RV and drive herself and the dogs FROM SAN ANTONIO TO VERMONT and park in Erin and Nic's driveway for a month. Either way, she'll be driving those dogs from Texas to Vermont. Why she can't leave them home with Dave is beyond any of us. Dave doesn't want her driving an RV, so he's pushing Nic to find her a rental place. I guess the internet doesn't work in San Antonio, or they could maybe find a place themselves.
Erin is beside herself. It's just mind-bogglingly asinine and rude and beyond ridiculous. But that's Kathy. And her attention means a lot to Nic, so he's not going to tell her no, because then she won't speak to him for a month and refuse to come see his new babies. I'm not sure if Erin will tell her no, either. I think she may be getting close, though.
Ashley just tore out the kitchen in her house. She bought a new sledge hammer for the occasion, and she enjoyed it very much. Her contractor just fixed the walls and electrical...stuff, and now she's ready to start building cabinets. She has a brand new sink in the garage waiting for her to install, and she's almost decided on flooring. All of which she's going to do herself. She's beyond excited, and it turns out she's quite the skilled carpenter. Who knew?
I spent TWO HOURS on the phone with Adam the other day, listening to him figure out how to establish his brand. I was like, what? But he'll be a bonsai master in 18 months and needs to figure out what to do then. What his niche will be. He's going to work on a digital footprint. "totally dope-ass bonsai dot com" may not be the way to go, though. He's thinking of calling himself "The Politics of Bonsai." He needs a hook. There are five Americans - well, he'll make the fifth - who've become bonsai masters, and there are two of them still in Japan. He's looking for an angle to make himself known and to make some money.
Totally dope-ass bonsai might just work!
Funny story. Last week Larry and I went to Montreal for a conference. Some surgical association, I don't even know what it was, I wasn't paying attention to the details. It was just for a couple of days. We went Wednesday and came home Saturday. Montreal was chilly and gray, but it was just warm enough for the mounds of snow to be melting, so the sidewalks were always wet. I could tell it's a lovely city, but not so much last week.
The people, however, were most delightful. They were just so nice, warm, and welcoming. And also the food. I've been running quite a bit, and trying to "eat like an athlete." I'm not sure athletes eat crepes with bananas, strawberries, and chocolate for breakfast. Or smoked salmon eggs Benedict. Or poutine for lunch. Or gnocchi with lobster, champagne, a cheese board, fresh oysters, and wine for dinner. (That was my birthday dinner.) Or mushroom and duck leg confit risotto, fried calamari, and vanilla tarts, again with wine.
Before we left, Larry said we'd have my birthday dinner in Montreal, and I should also go shopping for a present while we were there. There's not much at all that I need, or want, but I said, sure, I'll look around, see if I see anything I can't live without.
So, here's the funny part. (Like our children all said, this story is just so Dad.) He's had a coffee can in his closet for years, where he keeps leftover foreign currency from places we've visited. You know, change, bills too small to exchange for US dollars. The day before we left he decided to look and see if there was any Canadian money in there. The last time we were in Canada was when Ash lived in Toronto, which she left in 2007. But whatever, he decided to look. And he found some Canadian dollars.
$1200 of them. There were 12 hundred dollar bills in his coffee can. He has no memory of why they were there or when he put them there.
So that was very exciting, to have that much found money to take with us. To play with! Like meals and birthday presents felt like they were going to be free!
Until I realized, halfway through the trip, that his goal was to bring back as much of it as he could and put it back in the coffee can.
He didn't want to exchange it, because the Canadian dollar is so weak, and we can't spend it here in the States. But he still wanted to put dinner on the credit card until I convinced him that was just dumb. When I mentioned giving some of it to Erin and Nic, since they're only two hours from Montreal and sometimes go up there, he got really indignant. Why would we give it to them? Why was that money burning a hole in my pocket??
Because what good was it going to do anybody in a coffee can omg??
I convinced him to pay for our food with it, and I grabbed some of it and went shopping. I was *determined* to spend it at that point. I mean, seriously.
The other funny part is that a saleswoman in a department store told me she hadn't seen a $100 bill like that in years. They've changed them, apparently. So not only is Lar hoarding Canadian money, he's hoarding OLD Canadian money.
We had a nice time in spite of his being so weird about something that should have just been fun, so that was good. But it was our relationship to money in a nutshell. I want to spend, he wants to save. I get that, but why save THIS money?? What a weirdo.
Erin is still pregnant. (Adam asks me that every time I talk to him. Like we wouldn't tell him if she has the babies.) She's been dilated 3 centimeters for a couple of weeks now. The babies haven't turned and it doesn't look like they're going to, so she's going to have to have a c-section. She has contractions now and again, nothing regular, and her doctor told her the other day not to pick Sebastian up anymore, or anything heavier than a gallon of milk. The goal is to get her to at least the beginning of April. I've been waiting, trying to decide when to head up there. I'm planning on going to Atlanta to see my stepdad and spend a few days with my brother, on March 25, coming home the 28, but I've been waffling about canceling that in case I have to zoom off to Vermont. It was making me anxious.
And then Nic informed Erin last week that oh, by the way, he's going to a conference in Atlanta March 30-31, so maybe I should come up on the 28th so she's not alone in case she goes into labor.
She's so mad she says she hopes she has the babies while he's away. So now, instead of going back to Cbus on the 28th, I'll just fly to Vermont from Atlanta and hang out until Lucas and Isaac show up.
Nic is such a maroon.
Erin is completely freaking out about the logistics of all of a sudden going from one kid to three, which is understandable. She's really focused on how she's going to get them all in the car, for some reason. It's pretty adorable. So I'm going to stay for most of April. Larry will drive up probably on the 23rd, see the babies, and then take Sebastian and I back to Cbus on the 28th. Seba'll stay here a couple of weeks, then Ashley and I will either drive or fly him home.
I can't wait to get up there, really. I want to see Seba, see what these babies are going to be like, see Erin. I'm feeling anxious all the time, waiting. Erin says Seba keeps asking to go to Nana's home, and whenever he sees a silver car he says, "Nana's car." She was taking some stuff to the guest room the other day and he asked her why. She told him she was getting the room ready for me, because I was coming, and he ran to the window and started looking for me. That story killed me. She said she yelled at him the other day and he started to cry and said, "Nana home." We FaceTime a lot, but it's not nearly enough. I try not to be sad they're so far away, but sometimes...
Here's another funny story, which I think may explain a few things about Nic. His mom owns three giant Schnauzers, which she got in Germany. She does obedience trials with them. (This is a woman whose knees - or maybe her hip, I don't really pay attention - keep her from doing anything with Sebastian other than sitting on the couch and saying, "Come here, Seba. Come and sit with me." And then looking at me and saying, "well, I guess he likes you best." Yes, because I actually interact with him.) Anyway. Last year when they all went to Nic's sister's in St. Louis for Thanksgiving, Kathy and Dave drove there from San Antonio with the dogs - there were only two at the time - and the dogs spent the entire weekend in the car, in the garage, with the engine running to keep them warm.
Yes, they really did that. They took them out for walks once in a while, but otherwise they were in the car. So weird.
SO, Erin is going back to work mid-summer, and Nic is taking paternity leave all of fall semester. Seba will be in daycare, but to get leave, Nic has to be the one taking care of the babies. So Kathy says she'll come the month of August to help him out.
With her three giant Schnauzers.
She wants Erin to find her a place to rent for a month that will accommodate the dogs. If she can't, Kathy's going to rent an RV and drive herself and the dogs FROM SAN ANTONIO TO VERMONT and park in Erin and Nic's driveway for a month. Either way, she'll be driving those dogs from Texas to Vermont. Why she can't leave them home with Dave is beyond any of us. Dave doesn't want her driving an RV, so he's pushing Nic to find her a rental place. I guess the internet doesn't work in San Antonio, or they could maybe find a place themselves.
Erin is beside herself. It's just mind-bogglingly asinine and rude and beyond ridiculous. But that's Kathy. And her attention means a lot to Nic, so he's not going to tell her no, because then she won't speak to him for a month and refuse to come see his new babies. I'm not sure if Erin will tell her no, either. I think she may be getting close, though.
Ashley just tore out the kitchen in her house. She bought a new sledge hammer for the occasion, and she enjoyed it very much. Her contractor just fixed the walls and electrical...stuff, and now she's ready to start building cabinets. She has a brand new sink in the garage waiting for her to install, and she's almost decided on flooring. All of which she's going to do herself. She's beyond excited, and it turns out she's quite the skilled carpenter. Who knew?
I spent TWO HOURS on the phone with Adam the other day, listening to him figure out how to establish his brand. I was like, what? But he'll be a bonsai master in 18 months and needs to figure out what to do then. What his niche will be. He's going to work on a digital footprint. "totally dope-ass bonsai dot com" may not be the way to go, though. He's thinking of calling himself "The Politics of Bonsai." He needs a hook. There are five Americans - well, he'll make the fifth - who've become bonsai masters, and there are two of them still in Japan. He's looking for an angle to make himself known and to make some money.
Totally dope-ass bonsai might just work!