We got to San Francisco on Thursday and have been headless chickens ever since.
Friday: threw our stuff into a borrowed apartment and had keys made for 2 other apartments we'd need to access. Had lunch with Jack, babysat his son Marco that night.
Saturday: dropped Sadie off across town prior to wedding downtown. Dropped Olivia off for babysitting by Jack & Patrice in a third, and inconvenient, part of town.
Friday: threw our stuff into a borrowed apartment and had keys made for 2 other apartments we'd need to access. Had lunch with Jack, babysat his son Marco that night.
Saturday: dropped Sadie off across town prior to wedding downtown. Dropped Olivia off for babysitting by Jack & Patrice in a third, and inconvenient, part of town.
That night, dressed up in our glad rags, attended the really lovely, moving and fun wedding of John & Keith in the penthouse of the Fairmont Hotel in Nob Hill. Back to Jack & Patrice's to pick up kid. Crash in Cole Valley where we have warehoused the not-to-be-left-alone Sadie at a friend's house.Sunday: walk Sadie and her buddy Rio in some really godawful rain. Olivia wakes up with a sticky, wet cough and runny eyes and nose in time for her christening at 1PM. Drive south of the city to Brisbane to pick up Mike, Olivia's new and dear godfather.
Baptism by Father Tom, who had married us in the same church 2 years ago, was terrific. Got to use the Holy Water we had purchased on our honeymoon in Jordan.
Lunch afterwards at the Beach Chalet. 
That night Olivia wakes up every 10 or so minutes thrashing and in tears. Her hands and feet burning, her face splotched red. Strip her down to her diaper, pat her with cold cloths and rock her all night.
Monday: realize it is a holiday and we have no obligations. Have lunch with LA-living Jon, who is still in town from the baptism. Finally buy a proper raincoat since apparently this wet weather is not letting up. Return to downtown borrowed apartment. Olivia has duplicate unrestful, miserable night.
Today: 2 year wedding anniversary! Aaron staggers the 30 miles north to work in Petaluma. We are so tired and behind on everything we vacillate between doing nothing and celebrating somehow. Olivia was still sick and feverish all day and I was not sure whether we should go out or not. But we went to a favorite Vietnamese restaurant and then shopped for much-needed groceries on the way home. After some Tylenol, Olivia noticeably improved. I don't know if there is anything more heart-rending than your kid being sick. Hopefully tomorrow brings an uptick in our collective circumstance. Aaron brought me a lovely bunch of flowers this evening and we exchanged cards, marvelling at all the life events that have been squeezed into the span of our marriage.
We are trying to move our little ship forward and feeling as though we are in a whirlwind. At different points in the last few days both Aaron and I have confessed to feeling overwhelmed. And yet there doesn't seem to be anything that we can slack on -- it all has to get done and done now: keep Olivia alive another day, keep Sadie from decompensating, find a place to live, find work, get the goddamned health insurance sorted out once and for all, stay connected to each other when we are both exhausted and overwhelmed.
I know earlier generations confronted this circumstance and got through it, and that countless immigrants live our experience every day, yet I am confounded as to how to navigate all the pressing have-tos without succoming to hopelessness or bitterness. I find I am angry often and forgetful, neither of which are characteristic of me.
My Auntie Donna called today to wish us a Happy Anniversary and I was so happy to hear from the CT clan. There was already too much to communicate.
Monday: realize it is a holiday and we have no obligations. Have lunch with LA-living Jon, who is still in town from the baptism. Finally buy a proper raincoat since apparently this wet weather is not letting up. Return to downtown borrowed apartment. Olivia has duplicate unrestful, miserable night.
Today: 2 year wedding anniversary! Aaron staggers the 30 miles north to work in Petaluma. We are so tired and behind on everything we vacillate between doing nothing and celebrating somehow. Olivia was still sick and feverish all day and I was not sure whether we should go out or not. But we went to a favorite Vietnamese restaurant and then shopped for much-needed groceries on the way home. After some Tylenol, Olivia noticeably improved. I don't know if there is anything more heart-rending than your kid being sick. Hopefully tomorrow brings an uptick in our collective circumstance. Aaron brought me a lovely bunch of flowers this evening and we exchanged cards, marvelling at all the life events that have been squeezed into the span of our marriage.
We are trying to move our little ship forward and feeling as though we are in a whirlwind. At different points in the last few days both Aaron and I have confessed to feeling overwhelmed. And yet there doesn't seem to be anything that we can slack on -- it all has to get done and done now: keep Olivia alive another day, keep Sadie from decompensating, find a place to live, find work, get the goddamned health insurance sorted out once and for all, stay connected to each other when we are both exhausted and overwhelmed.
I know earlier generations confronted this circumstance and got through it, and that countless immigrants live our experience every day, yet I am confounded as to how to navigate all the pressing have-tos without succoming to hopelessness or bitterness. I find I am angry often and forgetful, neither of which are characteristic of me.
My Auntie Donna called today to wish us a Happy Anniversary and I was so happy to hear from the CT clan. There was already too much to communicate.
WE MISS YOU TOO!! Olivia best not be forgetting her New England roots :)
ReplyDeleteLove you guys,
Jonathan