Michelle & Cindy

When Alison and I went to Seattle in October an amazing thing happened.

We were shopping in the Free People store, and I was trying on a great skirt and sweater, and when I walked out of the dressing room to show Alison, I looked over and there was another woman trying on the exact same thing. We both laughed and got to talking and it turned out that this other woman was on a girls trip with her friend as well, and they both had two kids each, and were out to have some kid-free fun. Well, after a few minutes talking like we had all been friends forever, we decided that we had to take advantage of the coincidence and decided to hang out. Thus our weekend in Seattle with Michelle and Cindy began.

We got lost in the International District looking for an awesome restaurant recommended to my by my friend Lara who used to live in Seattle, and then spent time kicking around the Fremont Market with them. It was so much fun, and such a great chance to meet two cool new friends.

A belated thanks for the great weekend Michelle and Cindy!

Jingle Bells or My House on A Tuesday Afternoon

The holidays are coming, you can feel it in the cold, winter air, the Christmas lights, the busy stores, and all the baked goods and chocolate that seem to be mysteriously making their way into my kitchen (okay, I may have something to do with that). But the true sign of Christmas, above any other, is hyper kids (okay, the chocolate and baked goods may have something to do with that). Here's what a bunch of them look like at my house on a Tuesday afternoon:

Happy Holidays!

Amsterdammit!

When I was living in London I saw a black cab with an Amsterdam ad on the side that said "Amsterdammit!," and I've been wanting to use it ever since. And now, ten years later, my time has finally come.

I guess I'm just doing some catch up with all we did in the past year, and I realized that I totally missed our time in Amsterdam. So sad, considering that Amsterdam is my favorite city in all the world. A new addition since my last visit was the Iamsterdam sign on the Museumplein. Not only is it clever, it looks cool and was a great place for the kids to play. Well, that and the half pipe where they made quite a few new Dutch friends.

I was surprised how much fun Amsterdam was with the kids. I had only ever been there with grown-ups before, but there was a ton of fun for kids (including a great play center called Tun Fun). Steve and I are planning on returning this spring for a performance of one of his pieces, and while I am looking forward to going to nice restaurants and staying up late (as well as sleeping in a bit), I will miss the bike rides in the Vondelpark and hanging out on the Museumplein with Max and Jack.

Well, maybe just a little bit.

It's So Funny, How I Don't Blog Anymore...

Oh, the reasons, there are many, including a stressful summer (more about that in a minute), school starting, a Halloween party that pretty much took over my life for, like, a month, and then 23 people for Thanksgiving, and now that whole Christmas thing lurking over my shoulder.

Whew!

So, I want to be back at it. I want to share. Even if you'd rather not read what I have to share. So there you go. It's all about me, I guess.

So, back to my stressful summer. I just want to get it out there, be done with it, move on. Basically, I had some health concerns while we were living in France last year. I would have these strange muscle spasms and, for the first time in my life, was dealing with anxiety at an almost debilitating level. I was still functioning and getting everything done that I had to do, but I would wake up at night with a racing heartbeat and fear of nothing and everything at the same time. It wasn't pretty. But I love Paris, and the students, and our experience there, and I chalked up the aches and pains and panic attacks to a absolutely crazy year.

For those of you just joining us, let's recap what I experienced in the span of about 9 months or so. First, we FINALLY finished building our house, and let me tell you, building a house has been one of the most trying experiences of my life. And one of the most amazing opportunities. But the time August rolled around and the moving trucks pulled up with the last boxes, I was spent. And just a month before that we found out we were going to be moving to Paris for a few months, which was amazing, but, as you can imagine, a little stressful. I tried to do too much, and the fall was filled with me running from one place to the next trying to fit in my regular life stuff with additional French classes and getting our house organized and then packed up to leave again.

Oh, and then there was the pneumonia. So much fun. And almost a year ago to the day we were taking off to San Francisco to get our French visas, with me still on antibiotics, Max getting over the stomach flu, and all of us limping along feeling things had to get better.

They did, and Paris was also one of the most trying times of my life and one of the greatest opportunities. Seems to be a running theme here.

Anyway, back to the health issues. I got back home and decided that if I didn't feel better I was going to go see my doctor and find out what might be up. Well, she ran some tests, and they came back "funny," (and I don't mean ha ha), so she said to wait 8 weeks and then take them again. So, two months of worry and then I took them again, and they still came back SLIGHTLY POSITIVE (whatever that means) and she wanted me to see a specialist. Well, to make a long story even longer, I had to wait for over two months to get into see a rheumetologist, and when I finally did, guess what? He wanted to run more tests. So, three more weeks of waiting.

Needless to say, I've learned a lot about patience in the past year.

Finally, the day came to get my FINAL ANSWER on the tests, and I knew they feared I had Lupus, which is a terrible and debilitating disease. Steve and I went to see the doctor together, and he told us that I didn't have Lupus (big sigh of relief), but he ran a genetic test on a hunch, and found out I have a genetic disorder that causes me to have a type of arthritis called Ankylosing Spondylitis that I've probably been suffering from since my late 20's or early 30's. And it could be treated with simple anti-inflammatory. I never thought I'd be happy the hear I have arthritis, but I was overjoyed to find out what the problem really was and that it could be treated.

So, after my diagnosis, thing have been looking much better. I am actually seeing some huge improvements in my neck and shoulders that I thought were just the ABC's of being me, but have almost disappeared due to the medication I'm taking. And while I do feel a bit geriatric taking arthritis medication, I'm feeling better than I have in years.

So there. That's the reason. Really, I just didn't want to talk about it, but now I have and, luckily, things weren't too serious, and I can move on. I do have to say thank you to all my friends and family who were a support to me while I was going through the hellish waiting this summer. I couldn't have done it without you.

So, look for more posts, I am planning to make them as often as possible, hopefully every day before long. I really do miss acknowledging the simple, beautiful things in my life, like the paper star I started this post with.

I bought them 10 years ago in a outdoor market in York, in the United Kingdom, and I love them, and have made them a part of my Christmas decorations every year. They make me happy, like so many other simple things in my amazing life.

And I just wanted to share.

And I want to share much more in the many days to come.

Sleeping in Seattle

I don't know what it is about my birthday, but it always makes me want to get out of town. So, this year, I went to Seattle with my wonderful friend Alison, and it was just about the best birthday trip ever. We chose Seattle because it was the cheapest flight we could get to a place Alison had never been, but it was such a good choice. It had been over 15 years since I had been, and I forgot how much I love it. After my first visit back in the 90's I was ready to move there, and even applied for a few jobs (which didn't pan out), so I guess it just wasn't in the cards. But luckily I can still visit, eat fantastic food, and shop to my heart's content. Check it out.

My birthday breakfast, Eggs Benedict with crab and avocado. Great way to start the celebration.

Signs of fall in the city.

On the ferry to Banbridge Island (a.k.a obligatory tourist shot).

Lunch at the Streamliner Diner.

Wall of gum at the Market Theater in Post Alley.

It had to be done.

Pike Place.

Shopping is F-U-N.

The craziest balloon animal maker I've ever seen. Seriously, click this image to enlarge to see what I mean.

Table of tags from a million past gas station workers. And, amazingly, no Max in the bunch.

Nature's perfect food, falafel. Not quite as good as it was in Paris, but the best I've had in the US.

Happy Birthday to me!

Why I Became A Mother

When I decided to have children, my main motivation wasn't because I had a lot to offer, or that I thought I could raise human beings that could add something to the world.

It was because I wanted to make holiday cookies.

Seriously.

I just love making holiday cookies, and the coming of Halloween welcomes my favorite time of the year. That means lots of get togethers with friends to decorate baked goods. And it started yesterday.

So, maybe I do have a lot (of baked goods) to offer, and who ever said that decorating cookies doesn't make better human beings to add something to the world?

Nothing's Gonna Change My World

I'll admit, I've had a lot on my mind lately. Mostly I've been thinking about how much I love my life and how, right now, it seems absolutely perfect. And I never want anything to change that. And then I heard this song yesterday and realized that nothing ever will: