I do all my own stunts

It's Oscar/Mommy Day

I have deemed today Oscar/Mommy Day.  With a relatively clear schedule and nothing that can't be pushed out until tomorrow, I thought we would have a special day together.  The recent home improvements we've been engaged in, and our utter disaster of a household during the kitchen project, have made poor Oscar a little on edge.  

We started the day by sitting in his favorite chair by the window; Oscar watching the joggers and dog walkers pass by and I checking my email.  We then set out on our (what seems like daily) trip to Home Depot for some serious head hanging out the window and wind-in-the-face action.  Next, Oscar and I walked to the dog park.  Various butts were sniffed and a selection of trees and bushes were perfumed.  Oddly, the dog park was virtually empty and at one point we were the only pair there.  I suppose it's not surprising at 11:00 AM on an overcast weekday in January (Is it a sign that the unemployment rate is going down?), but we had a great time just the two of us.  We then had a delicious t-r-e-a-t and he is currently engaging in one of his other favorite activities: snoozing/twitching under my feet while I work at the computer.  

Oscar also loves to read books and take naps on the bed, so we might do some of that later this afternoon.  Maybe we will take a little trip down to the lake for some more sniffing and perfuming the bushes.  I don't know, we will have to discuss it.  

This is one of my favorite pictures of Oscar and I.  It was taken on another overcast day last May.  There is nothing remarkable about the photo, but I just love the way he is looking up at me;  his intense, adoring eyes, always so eager to please.  The truth is, we adore each other with the same intensity.  I've never thought of myself as a very warm or 'maternal' person, but I have to say that I love being his mom.  He and I have a special bond; different from his or my relationships with anyone else.  He trusts me profoundly and I love him unwaveringly.  I wasn't lying when I said we discuss things together.  We speak each other's language.  

Here is a sampling of some of my other favorite photos.  

I feel like I should definitely mention that Oscar shares a special bond with his dad as well.  Aren't they adorable together?  

Thank you, gentle reader, for obliging me my super self-indulgent gushing and fawning over my little love bug.  Oscar/Mommy Day doesn't happen very often, so I figure I'm allowed.  

MIA

It always makes me a little uncomfortable when people apologize for neglecting their blogs.  I get a pang of guilt for having hungrily checked for new content over and over and over.  It's easy to forget that, of course, this person has a life.  A real life with triumphs and failures, tragedies and victories.  Family, stress, career demands.  

I won't apologize for being MIA for the past few weeks.  I don't want it to seem like posting is some sort of a chore always accompanied by a long, exhausted sigh.  It's not.  But I will offer an explanation:  I've been uninspired.  (Here, a sigh is appropriate).  I have been doing a little crafting, a few home improvement projects here and there, some baking.  But I'm just stumped as to how to make it all sound interesting.  Can someone provide me with an angle to write about cinnamon rolls?  I replaced all the doorknobs in my house with beautiful glass ones I bought on ebay.  But it's hard to imagine a more mundane object than a doorknob.  

Additionally, I've been preoccupied.  My real life, my personal life, has changed dramatically in ways that I'm not comfortable expressing publicly.  It's a shame because, ironically, this change represents the biggest 'stunt' I've ever attempted in my entire life.  

Thirdly, and most triumphantly, I'VE BEEN IN MEXICO!!!

Yes.  Brian and I traveled to Tulum for our friends, Evan and Adrienne's wedding.  It was a beautiful ceremony - intimate, tender and romantic.  The Mayan god of rain, Chaac, undoubtedly approved of their union, because the tropical storm/hurricane he had been threatening us with all week decided to stay away for the entire afternoon.  

Here is the lovely couple.  Post kiss.  

Here is one of the devastatingly handsome groomsmen.  

The wedding was held at the rustic and elegant, Milamores Tulum.  Brian and I also stayed there for the entire week.  The hotel's decor is eclectic and inspiring with soaring ceilings and funky details like this hallway of chandeliers made from sea shells.  I am in awe.  

The romantic vibe continued as we all ate dinner in a gorgeous space entirely lit by candlelight.  

Evan and Adrienne are so thoughtful and lovely.  There was a special vegan menu just for me.  It was the best food I ate the entire time I was in Mexico.  

I thought it was a misprint on the wedding invitation where it indicated that the wedding festivities would take place from 3:30 to 1 AM.  But, the celebration and revelry continued all night long.  

Eventually, of course, the Lucha Libre mask made an appearance on the dance floor.  

Congratulations friends.  Thanks for inviting us to celebrate with you.  I wish you all the happiness and love in the world.  

I have so much more to share about our Mexican adventure.  I will post more in a bit as soon as I have a chance to sort through our pictures and weed out all the ones where I'm blinking.  

My intent was to be craftier

I've been busy.  

TRAINING FOR A TRIATHLON!  

For the last few weeks, every ounce of my creative energy was involuntarily repurposed as actual, physical energy.  I didn't once heat up my glue gun, for I was otherwise engaged in swimming, biking, running my tail off.  Literally.  

Oh, the anxiety.  7:30 AM, icy cold lake and 15.5 miles ahead of me.  I would have been less terrified were I staring down a firing squad.  Thankfully the actual triathlon scenario allowed for a much happier ending than the firing squad scenario.  I lived to tell the tale and finished in 01:50:41.  

When I don't feel like cooking

We have a picnic.  

We are lucky enough to live within a few steps of Lake Washington.  But, to be clear, we are not in one of those uppity, snobby, ex-microsoft-exec lakefront neighborhoods.  No, our house is smack in the middle of a 3 mile long, public waterfront park, and we love it.  Plenty of jogging, swimming, biking, boating and people watching to be done.  

We try to take advantage of our proximity to the lake as often as we can.  One of our favorite, low-maintenance activities is having a picnic.  There is something wonderfully satisfying and restful about spreading a blanket, pouring some wine into a plastic cup and just watching the world go by. 

Restaurants being so stubborn and aggressive in their 'no dogs' policy, Oscar usually doesn't get to join us when we go out for dinner.  But picnics are a family affair.  That is a major part of the appeal.  

 

The picnic basket was a wedding shower gift from my mom who is so thoughtful and invariably selects the most charming gifts.  It is stocked with all the essentials: cutlery, plates, salt and pepper, cutting board, cloth napkins (!).  I always insist that we take our picnic basket with us.  It can get heavy and it is kind of awkward to carry, but it adds a little bit of formality and tradition to the feast.  I love it.  

This picnic was especially appropriate and bittersweet to us as it seems that we are desperately clinging to the last few easy days of summer.  I truly love the fall with its changing leaves, football games and the ubiquitous new school clothes (a concept to which I persistently adhere despite the fact that I've been out of school for more years than I care to count).  But I always get a little sad when the air starts to turn cooler and the sun goes down a bit earlier.  

Living vicariously

The Mr.

So rugged.  

A week or so ago, Brian spent some time in Alaska with his buddies.  His fantastic, long-time friend, Brian Schade, invited him up for an Alaskan adventure on a Nordic Tug.  Based out of Juneau, Nordic Tug Charters is a fleet of Nordic Tug trawlers available for charter for fishing and cruising around the Inside Passage of Southeast Alaska.  

I stayed at home - I guess my invitation got lost in the mail, right Schade? - and made this.  It was fun, but sometimes boys and girls have different interpretations of the word 'fun'.  This trip seemed to involve a lot of fishing, poker, late nights and debauchery.  Boy fun.  

They had an amazing time.  The weather and the company couldn't have been better.  Alaska is supremely gorgeous.  I wanted to share some of Brian's photos here and do a little living vicariously in the process.  

 

The boat.

The captain.  Mr. Schade.  He's single, ladies.

Whales.

Sunset.  

Nightfall.  

You can see they ate really well on the trip, though Brian is not nearly as obsessive about food styling as I am.  California rolls!  How cute is that?

Looks amazing, right?