Today Olliepop turned 2 -- much to the surprise of many. How on earth can that much time have passed from when she was a little peanut? She got lots of lovely gifts and, predictably, seemed to have the most fun with a large cardboard box.
Last weekend my dear friend Jon was in town from LA so we had a little birthday 'do for Olivia in the city and went to the park on a beautiful sunny day. Olivia got to do some urban west coast sledding on a piece of cardboard down an asphalt slope.
Today was an ice cream cake with Mike, Olivia's godfather, and lots of calls from the east coast wishing Miss O a happy day. She still has chocolate smeared on her, so we have to assume she's happy. Twice today she said the word "brontosaurus" clearly. No one believes me, but she even pointed to the dinosaur with the long neck, and anyway you weren't there and I was and I heard it.
In the background of birthday festivities Olivia's parents are in a fierce struggle to stay present. My back hurts me all the time now, my shoulders are up by my ears, and Aaron sleeps anytime he is not actively engaged with something. We are embodying the old "rearranging the deck chairs on the Titantic." Not to say we aren't taking practical steps to change our circumstance, we are. But it is with the sense that it's too late, we've taken in too much water, so may as well enjoy some cake with our daughter.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
The Waiting Game
Aaron's interview went really well and he is expecting an offer. His time in Charlotte was spent meeting people who were selling him on the place rather than interviewing him, which is very hopeful.
The folks he met with said to expect an offer but also expect it to take about 5 weeks. So he kind of had whiplash from the excitement of a prospective job offer combined with the anxiety of how will we make it until then?
Since his return we have been full-bore plotting our escape from the Bay Area. We are both lighter just at the idea of it. We've already told Olivia that she cannot develop a southern accent. We haven't yet told Sadie that she might get to return to snow; she'd never forgive us if we reneged.
Meanwhile, as we await clarity I advance this project I am working on by baby steps. My focus isn't there. It's on what to pack, what to ship, what to sell.
The folks he met with said to expect an offer but also expect it to take about 5 weeks. So he kind of had whiplash from the excitement of a prospective job offer combined with the anxiety of how will we make it until then?
Since his return we have been full-bore plotting our escape from the Bay Area. We are both lighter just at the idea of it. We've already told Olivia that she cannot develop a southern accent. We haven't yet told Sadie that she might get to return to snow; she'd never forgive us if we reneged.
Meanwhile, as we await clarity I advance this project I am working on by baby steps. My focus isn't there. It's on what to pack, what to ship, what to sell.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
And a-one and a-two
We are trying to dance with our situation and not combat it. We realized that we were exhausting ourselves trying to prevent catastrophe and it might be less jarring to take a Tai Chi approach.
Aaron is in North Carolina interviewing for a job in Charlotte. He interviewed for a position in San Francisco yesterday which went really well. It gave him some of his confidence back before he left for Charlotte this morning, which he well needed.
Perhaps predictably, the company Aaron is interviewing with did not front the expenses for the trip and will instead reimburse him. They already warned him that the reimbursement process takes a very long time, which put us in a true quandary, as we haven't had any cash reserves for ages.
With a sense of pulling the ripcord we maxed out our last card and bought a ticket, hotel and rental car for North Carolina. Only time will tell us if this is a free fall or a jump off a cliff.
We are really excited at the prospect of being back on the east coast, even that far south, and are trying to not count our chickens before they are hatched. Especially hard for me to sit still and let things unfold. I am 10 steps ahead worrying about background checks and relocation packages; I already made up a flyer to post in our complex for the stuff we would sell.
Yet this week is one of mundanity. The project I am on is stalled, waiting on someone else's deliverable. Olivia had a severe reaction to a penicillin she was taking for an ear infection and we had to make an unscheduled visit to the pediatrician. She looks like a walking pomegranate, her skin is so livid with rash.
We had to leave the house at 4AM this morning to bring Aaron to the airport. It completely messed with Olivia's sleep schedule, she slept late, took no nap and went to bed at her usual time after coming undone the hour previously. We were both strung taut this afternoon.
It's quiet now. The hoodlum at the front parking lot, blasting his car stereo for blocks, has finally moved on. It's just me and the hum of the various computers, the snorting and wheezing of my dog, the stirrings of my anxieties and hopes.
Aaron is in North Carolina interviewing for a job in Charlotte. He interviewed for a position in San Francisco yesterday which went really well. It gave him some of his confidence back before he left for Charlotte this morning, which he well needed.
Perhaps predictably, the company Aaron is interviewing with did not front the expenses for the trip and will instead reimburse him. They already warned him that the reimbursement process takes a very long time, which put us in a true quandary, as we haven't had any cash reserves for ages.
With a sense of pulling the ripcord we maxed out our last card and bought a ticket, hotel and rental car for North Carolina. Only time will tell us if this is a free fall or a jump off a cliff.
We are really excited at the prospect of being back on the east coast, even that far south, and are trying to not count our chickens before they are hatched. Especially hard for me to sit still and let things unfold. I am 10 steps ahead worrying about background checks and relocation packages; I already made up a flyer to post in our complex for the stuff we would sell.
Yet this week is one of mundanity. The project I am on is stalled, waiting on someone else's deliverable. Olivia had a severe reaction to a penicillin she was taking for an ear infection and we had to make an unscheduled visit to the pediatrician. She looks like a walking pomegranate, her skin is so livid with rash.
We had to leave the house at 4AM this morning to bring Aaron to the airport. It completely messed with Olivia's sleep schedule, she slept late, took no nap and went to bed at her usual time after coming undone the hour previously. We were both strung taut this afternoon.
It's quiet now. The hoodlum at the front parking lot, blasting his car stereo for blocks, has finally moved on. It's just me and the hum of the various computers, the snorting and wheezing of my dog, the stirrings of my anxieties and hopes.
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