Ellin's Blog

I’m in a bad cycle of not posting until we do something major and then posting a chaotic update, so in an effort to avoid that, here’s a post from BEFORE we do something.

The last month has been good, homey and productive. We got the house painted, and now we’re the Big Green House, which I like better than the Big Yellow House. The pool is a bit of a mess, but Jer is plugging away at it. We lost a tree in the storm yesterday, but it was a sad, sick tree, so it’s probably for the best. I’m slowing chopping away at it, and it’s still semi attached to part of the roots, so I’m calling it the Murphy tree because I push it over to access the branches, and then stand it back up so it’s not blocking the sidewalk when I’m done.

Miss M had her big ballet show, which was very exciting, and a lot of work for all of us, her with rehearsals and me with driving her around and being the Backstage Mom for one of the shows. Unfortunately, that was the show were an excess of girls in an unused basement dressing room caused the humidity to rise enough that a smoke alarm was triggered, and we got to spend an hour standing on the lawn mid-show while the fire department cleared the building. So that was something!

Smiles is registering for high school classes, which is terrifying but kind of exciting. There’s a lot of “where do you want to be in 5/10/40 years” and I hate that because I have never had an answer to any of those questions!

Teddy has started jiu jitsu, which he absolutely loves, and that’s amazing because he is not a kid who is enthusiastic about extracurriculars. But he’s getting his energy out and (they claim?) learning discipline, so that’s positive.

Grammy arrives tomorrow, and next week Jer and I leave for a couple’s trip. We haven’t been anywhere since the big cruise in the fall, so we’ve been looking forward to this. Wish us luck!

Time flies. We had Christmas, with the Widows, as we do, and I did not kill any of them even though I thought about it a little bit. We did the Train of Lights (a hit) and the Deacon’s house (which I love but only Teddy and Daddy would do with me) and made our Wellington for Christmas. For New Year’s, D&L came and we did our very own wine pairing meal, elaborately planned with the fancy china, and by the last course it was miracle nothing got broken!

Over Christmas, Jer got an unexpected invite to fill in for a coworker at CES. Obviously he said yes, and we took the opportunity to do Miss M’s Seven Year Old Trip. Cousin Brett came (also very last minute, luckily his schedule is flexible) to stay with the boys, and the three of us jetted off to Vegas. We got a room with a view of the Sphere (the first time any of us had seen it) and Miss M and I had a fabulous time, helicoptering into the Grand Canyon, shopping and getting our nails done and eating ice cream every day. Jer was able to join us for dinners and sometimes breakfast, and a Cirque du Soleil show (Miss M’s second favorite event, after the helicopter). It was a great trip and I think we spent some really good quality time together. Memories were definitely made!

Unfortunately she had to miss school (CES is not planned around school schedules), which means that since Christmas, she’s only been back one day and the whole thing has felt like a very extended holiday. Tuesday (after MLK Day), we are back to reality again!

The Frosty Shop is a little “store” that we make at school, where the kids can buy stuff for their family. The two ladies who have been doing it for the past few years want to retire (one has a kid who is going to middle school next year), so another mom and I were recruited to take over. It was a LOT of work. More than I expected. But it was fun and the kids were ADORABLE. Here are a selection of my favorite anecdotes:

A TK-er came up with a mug and a ten dollar bill and was like “I REALLY want to get this mug!” So I’m like “sure sweetie, that mug is five dollars” and he’s on the verge of tears “but I only have this ten dollar I don’t have any five dollars!”

I was working the cash and H (who has a crush on Miss M) comes up to me with a “World’s Best Dad Picture Frame.” “Um, excuse me, is it possible to get this but with a picture of me and my dad in it instead of these people?” I almost died laughing!

A little girl wanted a “Football Mom” mug for her dad and we explained that is says “Football Mom.” She said “I know, it’s for my dad, because he loves football, and he loves my mom.” We let her buy it, of course!

“Do you have anything for GREAT Grandmas?” asked a fifth grade. “Well,” I said, “we have a bunch of stuff for regular grandmas, but nothing specifically for great grandmas. What does she like?” The little girl responded “Not much. She’s 98. And she’s not doing so well.” I think she ended up buying her a mug!

And finally, we had a dejected looking TKer complain that everything was too expensive and she didn’t have enough money to buy ANYTHING. This was confusing as we have items starting at 25c and also the PTA sponsors kids who can’t afford to shop otherwise, so I asked her how much money she had and she pulled out a $20 bill and said “I only have this twenty and the cheapest thing is twenty five [gesturing the the 25c sign].” I tried to explain dollars vs cents but it seemed like a lot for her, so eventually I just sent her off to pick some stuff and we figured it out later. Like I said, all adorable!

The days, and weeks, just fly by. We did Halloween (low-key and a little sad for me, as we didn’t do a family costume and the boys just went off on their own – they are so grown). But M&J’s Halloween party was epic, so that was something special. And then we (immediately) had another bout with covid (Teddy) – and absolutely no one cared, and I felt like a bit of an idiot notifying all his friend’s parents only for them to respond “oh, uh, okay.” Covid is officially over!

There’s been a fair amount of time off school, with a PT day and Veteran’s day and then a full week for Thanksgiving. I always feel like nine straight days is too many, but then it absolutely flies by. We cooked and ate and hiked and then after Thanksgiving (at MB’s – which is looking great after all the decorating I’ve been helping her with) we bought the world’s largest Christmas tree. We had seen it first, but it was so big Jer couldn’t really lift it, and he almost had me talked into a very reasonable seven footer, when he made a tactical error and tried to justify the smaller tree with “besides, the kids are getting older…”

I FREAKED at the idea that this could be our last magical Christmas, and soon enough we were cramming this ridiculous tree into the back of the Model Y (it fit fine, with the lift gate open). We got it into the house no problem, with four of us lifting and Miss M working the gates and doors for us. So really no issues, plus we gave the tree lot employees a good chuckle.

Now the house is all decorated and we have made an early start on the advent calendars, deciding that the 12 days of Christmas lead into the 24 days of Christmas, so we started the former mid November. It’s complicated. We have a weakness for buying advent calendars, clearly genetic because Miss M is in on the game and has made one for me. Every day I get a slip of paper promising “foot rub” or “jugeling show” (she’s into juggling) or “snugles.” It’s lovely. So glad I get to savor this (hopefully not last) magical Christmas.

We are home. Everything is great. We had a minor bout with covid (only Jer tested positive, but the rest of us all had sniffles) but it was very mild and allowed us to ease back into reality after the trip.

It looks like no one is going to fail middle school (at no point was I worried about Miss M in second grade, she’s basically a genius, ripping through Harry Potter, not even phased by “tumultuous” and “disapprovingly”). Conferences were good, Miss M got her ears pierced (she was SO BRAVE), we took Christmas card photos, and went to an open house at our local science-y facility (super cool but I’m not sure I’m allowed to talk about it. I certainly wasn’t allowed to take any pictures!). The boys went to the first Middle School Social of the year (Teddy’s first ever) and both had a blast. Smiles is back at crossfit, Miss M is doing chess club, run club, ballet (twice a week), and girl scouts, and Teddy has Shakespeare and tennis (which turns into Karate next month, and then basketball the month after).

Jer is settling into his new role at work (fewer meetings, more flexibility, which is nice during the day when we can have lunch, but means I sometimes find him in his office late in the evenings, engrossed in something he is working on). He’s trying to work out more but I’m not sure if it’s happening much, between covid and him being in Seattle this week, but fingers crossed. I am prepping for the fundraiser I am co-leading (Frosty Shop, woo!) and have picked up knitting again. I’ve been doing the strength barre classes, which I like (on top of regular gym) and am trying to get back in the habit of walking most days.

There is nothing tremendously eventful to report, and it’s lovely.

Well, I have a whole month to cover, and it’s been eventful. First, we rebuilt our chimney, which was an un-fun surprise. Our trusty contractor, Sean, was over doing some minor jobs for me and happened to look up and say “hey, what’s wrong with your chimney?” which kicked off a whole chain of events involving wood rot, carpenter bees, and an end to the mystery of the leak in the roof of Jer’s office. There was much ado about a scissor lift, some drama with paint colors, and in the end we had to strip off all of the siding and rebuild it from the ground up, freshly waterproofed and hardi-boarded. We’re assured it will outlast all of us now.

Shortly before that finished, annoyingly, we were due to leave for our very-delayed European Cruise. And having already cancelled it once, we were pretty determined this time! Well, spoiler alert, we made it! And it was great! We flew to Marseille, spent a night there, then boarded our boat to Cannes, Livorno (Pisa), Salerno, and Civitavecchia (Tarquinia), then had a couple of sea days, and then two more nights in Marseille.

We saw some stunning sunsets and French Riviera beaches, gorgeous churches (and a crypt in Salerno that absolutely had to be seen to be believed), climbed the Leaning Tower of Pisa (crazy cool and totally not as tourist trappy as I thought it would be), ate wonderful pizzas and pastas (carbonara for Teddy, always, but Smiles had a duck bolognese in Tarquinia that I think was the standout dish of the trip), and had ice cream/gelato twice a day, almost every day.

No one vomited, no one bled, and we didn’t have to pay for damage anywhere. Every time we bring the kids to Europe, they get better at it!

And excitingly, our second last night in France, Jer was able to do away the dressing over his lipoma-hole. He grew new skin! It’s weird new skin, but it’s skin! The human body is an amazing thing.

So now we are back, happy to be home in our freshly waterproofed house, and we had one last hot weekend to swim. Jer hasn’t been able to go in the water for literally months, so it was a real treat to hot tub with him today. Tomorrow, everyone is back at school and we will see how much of a disaster the independent studies will be!

Or lipo-n0-mas, gracias. Not huge fans, over here. Anyway, a lipoma is a benign lump of fat, just under the skin. Sometimes they’re in a sac, like a cyst, and sometimes they’re loose. They’re pretty common, and they usually don’t explode.

It’s been an unusual few weeks.

Jer’s has had a lipoma on his abdomen for the length of our relationship, so like 25 years, and he finally decided it was time to be removed. He saw a doctor, got referred to a surgeon, and booked the removal appointment for late August. Somewhere in there, amidst the appointments where it got poked and prodded, the lipoma started to hurt. Eventually it got so sore that he went to urgent care, where they put him on antibiotics, thinking it was an infection. His doctor wasn’t so sure and also put him on anti-inflammatories. But it got increasingly red and sore.

The kids started school on a Monday, mid-August, and all had wonderful days. Their teachers seem good and they’re happy to be back with her friends, and the school year is off to a good start.

On Tuesday afternoon, the second day of school, Jer’s skip ripped open and the lipoma came out (I am summarizing, because this started happening in our bedroom and ended on a bed in the ER and the part in between, and also immediately after, was pretty unpleasant).

So since then he’s been off work, and has had many dr’s appointments, and has formed some very strong opinions about different brands of medical tape. He lost a bunch of weight, which he is now attempting to regain (despite my best attempts to stop him), and he’s getting moving again. Yesterday he even did some work organizing the garage (at least the parts between waist and eye level, as bending over is still not ideal).

It’s been pretty unpleasant, stressful, and gross, and I am happy that it is (knock on wood) finally resolving and hopefully won’t impact our upcoming vacation plans. I don’t really have much else to say because it’s been pretty quiet outside of the all the lipoma drama (hard to do much given the circumstances). Hopefully the next post is more exciting (good exciting, not medical-mysteries exciting)!

The kids loved sleepaway camp! Teddy and Miss M say they would go back for TWO weeks next year (Smiles is aware he is close to aging out, so says a week is sufficient). They came home filthy and slightly sick (not covid, we tested!) and Teddy says he only brushed his teeth twice all week, which is disgusting, but doesn’t seem to have done him any harm. I think it was an excellent adventure for everyone!

After that, Miss M had another week of camp at her school (we rode the tandem bike there everyday), and then she and Teddy both did Movie Camp, which they loved (now we just wait for the final product). Smiles has done a very minimal amount of volunteering, but he got a certificate for it, so there’s that. And I gather he’s making progress in his video game or something.

Kelvin came to visit (hooray!) and now we have Kourtney and her bf here, so the weekends have been very full. Also our tummies have been very full, we may need to rein in our diets!

We saw Oppenheimer and Barbie (the latter for my birthday, and we followed it up with a BARBIEQUE, because I love puns). Summer has flown by, and we are so ready for school to start next week.

In slightly upsetting news (but not really), we realized this week that Smiles is officially taller than. It’s been coming for a while, but still, it smacks a little. I guess now I can have him reach all the high things for me though!

Korea is a pretty big thing to have to “etc,” but here we are. Jer and I went to to Korea at the end of June and it was crazy. I mean, it was awesome, but it was CRAZY. No one spoke English, there was a monsoon, and when there wasn’t a monsoon it 40 degrees Celsius. We ate super well, Jer had lots of meetings, and I had a FABULOUS day at a jimjilbang (very nude spa) where I got a steamed and soaked and sweated and scrubbed and pedicured and had a fabulous lunch all for under $100 USD (and that includes round trip cab fare because I hadn’t figured out the metro yet). We hired a guide who took us to the border with North Korea, and also to the main palace, and while Jer was at work I explored with another wife and daughter who were also on the trip. I went up one of the tallest buildings in the world, shopped, and got a new haircut. The hotel was lovely (especially the fabulous pool), the kids barely missed us, and we flew in the lay-flat seats which are absolutely as amazing as they look and meant we had minimal jetlag. 10/10

When we got back, we only had a couple of days to recover (but again, barely needed any), and then John and his lovely, energetic family descended on us. We had a week jam packed with swimming and biking and eating and eating and eating, and it is so cool to get to see the kids get bigger. The boys can mostly swim, and Juni even let me hold her this year!

Then we had a visit from Cousin Brett and his brother Adam and their (also very tall) friend Michael, and it is always a joy to see Brett (and any friends of his are friends of ours), who continues to be so sweet and polite and fun to have around. We were sorry we didn’t get to see them for longer.

While all this has been happening, the kids have been doing their various activities. Smiles has the library volunteer thing and crossfit (I think he lost interest in D&D, but I guess we’ll see), Teddy did pickle ball for two weeks and a week of fencing, and he did the school’s summer camp for a week with Miss M, who ALSO had Nature Camp and the ballet company (which she is loving).

This week all THREE of them are away at sleepaway camp, which is WILD. Jer and I have been away from the kids before, of course (see: Korea, Greece, Mexico, New York, Seattle, Vegas, Toronto, Vancouver, the UK, Hawaii, Hong Kong, India), but we have never been away from them in our own house. It was very quiet and peaceful, but also weird, so we left, and we’re at a Bed n Breakfast near the camp now, waiting to pick them up tomorrow and hear how it all went. I have missed them even more than I thought I would!

School is out, summer is in, but it’s a weird, cold summer and we haven’t been swimming nearly as much as we normally would have been by this point. It even rained a little bit on “field day” at school – which was fine as I wasn’t there, I was accompanying Teddy’s class on their end-of-elementary field trip to Boomers (I trounced him, his friends, and some random teenagers at laser tag, and one of them said to me “lady, your aim is killer!” and it made my month). Fifth grade graduation is a pretty big deal. In addition to Boomers, he had the traditional four day field trip to Science Camp (he had a wonderful time and says that he didn’t miss us even a bit), and a very impressive graduation party at school with burgers and a giant inflatable water slide, a private party at the community pool, and then his OWN class party at our house (we had more than half the class show up, which I think is pretty good given that summer had started by then and a bunch of people had left town).

Since then, he’s done pickleball classes (while Jer was in Seattle, annoyingly), and Smiles has been keeping up his crossfit (he’s too old for camps). Miss M had her big ballet recital this weekend, and Grammoe was able to be here for it, which was a nice treat! Miss M (of course) did spectacularly. We all watched the Saturday show, and then on Sunday I volunteered as Backstage Mom and had a really fun (if exhausting) afternoon helping out in the green room.

Grammoe left yesterday, and Grammy arrived (fun grandmother swaperoo at the airport), and now Jer and I are scrambling to get ready for our trip to Korea on Friday (I ordered new luggage but it isn’t here yet). Grammy is such a pro at handling our kids now that I’m sure it’ll be no problem, and hopefully they get some quality pool time if it ever warms up.

Teddy and Miss M are doing a camp at their school, and having a ball, and Miles is picking up volunteer shifts at the library wherever he can, and also learning how to be a D&D dungeon master (there are worse hobbies to have!). Summer is flying!