Friday, September 24, 2010

My life list

I've been working on this for a little while and I have to give up making it perfect or complete. Because that is not the point of a life list. It is also not a to do list. It's a list of things I want to do someday somehow. Things will be added and erased and crossed off. Here is it:

1. Sail in the Greek Islands
2. Learn how to can fruits and veggies
3. Successfully grow vegetables
4. Learn to hula hoop
5. Visit the Grand Canyon
6. Visit all the National Parks in Utah
7. Learn to meditate
8. Take the kids on a canoe trip
9. Do another adventure race
10. Have a plot at a community garden
11. Take a multiday bike trip with the kids
12. Cook dinner every night for a week
13. Decide on a Monday to take a fabulous vacation on Friday
14. Go back to Paris
15. Go to Spain
16. Rent a house in Italy for at least two weeks
17.Go to the full moon swim at Barton Creek pool again
18. Own a piano and learn to play again
19. Restore an old house
20. Own (and wear) cowboy boots
21. Cook at camp with my sister
22. Take my nieces on a trip
23. Go to Africa
24. Wax
25. Pose nude
26. Go on a trip with Ada, Mel, Tasha and Sara
27. Get a massage once a month for a year
28. Run an off road half marathon
29. Have a family portrait taken
30. Visit Stonehenge
31. Try stand up paddleboarding
32. Host an over-the-top dinner party
33. Eat at all the (non-mexican) food trailers in Austin (This is not to be food-ist. It's just that there are hundreds of taco trucks. I don't want to try all of them.)


Things that I've already done that were on my (not written down yet) list:
Run a marathon
Do an expedition adventure race
Make cheese
Go to NYC
Knit myself a sweater
Do a multiday sailing trip
Own a beautiful house
Have a dog
Take a french cooking class
Take a painting class

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Seven months

Owen turned seven months old two days ago, but it took me awhile to get around to writing. Graeme has been away for over a week so my chances to sit and write are very few.

It's been a month of big changes, as all months are at this point. New teeth (he now has four. The first top one came in on the 11th and the second one yesterday. The bottom two arrived four days after he turned five months old.), new sounds, food.

He loves food. He mostly has pureed fruits and veggies but also enjoys Cheerios and small pieces of fruit and meat. He hasn't tried a food that he doesn't like. He eats a lot and enthusiastically. It's very fun. I think it's more fun that when we did it with Kate because the first time we were a bit worried about it. Now it's just fun and no stress at all.


Owen has also started to express frustration and anger if he loses a toy (usually because *someone* takes it). He has developed an intense love of the bath. He is 95% of the time a happy, smiling baby. He makes everyone else smile too. He loves loves loves his sister. She thinks he's ok.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Date nights

We decided that this fall we would start having weekly date nights. We haven't done this before and now that we have two kids, it seems really necessary. We arranged to have a sitter every Tuesday from 5-7:30. That means we can have an early dinner (at happy hour prices), Ashley will feed the kids and we will be home for bedtime. Today was our second week, and it's been great.

We have also decided to try a new place each week since we intend to go back to our favourite places. I'll be posting about where we go here, mostly so that I can remember.

Last week we went to Sago which is very near by in the Triangle development. We actually got takeout from there once, but that was awhile ago. They have apparently recently changed the menu, although since we didn't know the old menu, that didn't mean much to us. We had a selection of appetizers, which were all really good. Our favourites were the mexican chicken wings and something I've forgotten the name of (the website doesn't have the new menu) but it was seafood in a lemon-grass/coconut broth. Vaguely thai and delicious.

Tonight we went to Simplicity Wine and Eats. It is a new place where the schick is that it is an unpretentious wine bar and it produces less non-compostable, non-recyclable garbage than a family of four. Their menu is tapas and we had a few good things. The samosas were great (although not Spanish by any stretch). The food wasn't as good as Sago, but the happy hour special of $4 glasses of Malbec made up for it.

The next two weeks G will be out of town, so no date night. I will still get a sitter and go run or bike, but no reports of new restaurants for a few weeks.