Category: friends

Nothing makes Neko happier than when someone plays dress-up with her. During playgroup she conned Aaron into dressing up like butterflies and running around the yard. Susie was a good sport and ran around with the butterfly net, trying to catch them.

This picture doesn’t really do it it justice, and perhaps that’s good, because you might not be able to handle the immense amount of cuteness the whole scene was exuding.

Tonight was Gregory’s birthday. Perfect weather and a fabulous get-together. After my children ate nearly the entire snack buffet, they ran and played and romped until Shep started getting that crazy look in his eyes and we knew if we didn’t go home soon, this would end in bloodshed. Or at least a really large bruise.

And now they are sleeping so soundly that I almost feel like it’s my birthday.

Chris and Dan have come to join us for a few days. This is totally the way to do vacation—a few days with just your family, then a new batch of people come rolling in just as you start to get bored with one another.

Neko has been in heaven because they totally play with her and listen to her stories and romp on the beach. And Dan has so many neices and nephews that he offers to hold Ellery even when she drools buckets all over him. But most of all it’s just been really nice to spend evenings together when the kids are sleeping. We never get this kind of quality time, so it’s been really fabulous.

Well, except for that part where Chris taught Neko it was fun to draw on other people with markers. Now everyone is sporting strange-looking marks all over their bodies and her career in tattooing is pretty much a sealed deal.

I should mention that the camera got left on the weird settings from when we were trying to capture the sunset last night, so the top two photos are totally blown out. But the first is Chris being the letter V and the second is Dan and Ellery trying to out-cute each other. I declare it a draw.

Paul and Amy and their daughter, Anna, came down for Memorial Day. She’s deliciously cute and Neko had a great time trying to tell her exactly what to do.

Bill the Amazing Cabinet Guy came today to install the first part of the cabinetry in the new wall. I always get excited when Bill comes, because it means our house is about to become a whole lot more organized and more attractive. He built the mudroom cabinetry which still makes my heart beat a little faster when I enter that room.

But today we had even more reason to be excited. He brought with him the latest project he’s been working on in his spare time—a bass which he made out of a hollowed-out piece of wood he found while hiking. He did very little to alter the wood other than clean it up and refine the neck. It’s beautiful. And I’m still kicking myself for not taking a picture of the case, which was equally as amazing.

He says next he’s working on a stand-up bass…

I’ve always hated goodbyes. If I had my way, I’d go to the big goodbye party the night before, whoop it up, and then conveniently be stuck in traffic during the goodbye itself. I just hate those last words and then turning to go, knowing you probably won’t see those people again for a long time. It’s just all very sad and depressing.

So instead, I put my friend denial to work. I have decided that Zoe’s family is just going on vacation or some other getaway. Before we know it, Zoe will be zipping back into playgroup in a tu-tu, just like before.

As a little gift to the parents, we had a playgroup that I would almost describe as “blissful” in Jodi’s back yard. No big fighting or arguing, and loads of independent play. (Although, we were missing Gregory and Akiko.) The moms got to sit under the trees, eat muffins and actually talk.

What a great way to celebrate Zoe, Kate and Paul’s upcoming vacation.

Today was the potluck to say goodbye to Kate, Zoe, and Paul since they leave next weekend for a moving tour, which ultimately ends in Denmark, sometime after they have a new baby. I give them big points for undertaking multiple moves and an expanding family all in one shot. I’m excited for all their big changes, but we’re sad to see them go. I feel like we were just really getting to know them. Hopefully, Kate will keep us up-to-date through the magical internet.

It should have been an idyllic evening—perfect weather (sunny and warm), fabulous setting (thank you Molly and Jeff), and good company (playgroup friends and family). And from the photos, you’d think it was, except for the fact that we seem to have no pictures of Zoe, Kate, or Paul. But, then, we thought we’d be staying longer and would have a chance to take some parting shots.

I have no idea what cosmic entities aligned, but Neko was at her worst today. Playing cooperatively with others is a challenge for her on a good day. She just doesn’t fully understand that playing includes give and take. In her ideal world, she makes up all the rules, and everyone follows along behind her like a litter of eager puppies. But playing involves cooperation, give and take. So instead, she just gets mad and storms off. Add to this that she’s starting to become sensitive to what other people think of her, and is easily hurt and frustrated.

So there she was, stealing toys and refusing to play with others or share. When Andrew got sick (arg…I hope we didn’t give him our disease) she ran around like the town crier, spreading the news, without the thought that it might embarrass him. She wanted to play ball with me, but just me, getting mad when Gregory wanted to join in, and then getting mad again when I suggested we take turns hitting the ball.

By the end, she was delighting in her misbehavior, smiling out of the corner of her mouth when I spoke with her. Several unheeded warnings later, we had to go home. Kicking and screaming, we carried her to the car. That’s the thing no one tells you about parenthood, sometimes doing the right thing for your child means you get screwed out of having a good time yourself.

By the time we got home, she was a wreck. Tired and sobbing, we tried to talk through the evening, about how she had hurt people’s feeling and that it can be more fun playing with your friends than by yourself. When she was still sobbing, I asked what was wrong. “I didn’t get to say goodbye to Zoe. And now she’s gone.”

Despite all the bad behavior, I’m thrilled to see her conscience is at work. I think she was sad about leaving the party early, but on reflection, she was most sad about missing her opportunity to say goodbye.

This parenthood thing is so hard. Just when we get in a groove, someone gives the snowglobe of our lives a big shake and everything gets tossed upside down and I feel like I’m starting from scratch again.

Tom had a late day and David is in China, so Beth brought the kids over for playtime and dinner. Since mayhem was already running rampant, we decided to throw all caution to the wind and give them all a bath together, too. This resulted in lots of splashing and lots of me yelling, “Neko. Neko! NEKO!” And Shep almost got booted for throwing full cups of water out of the tub.

Okay, so we’ve been taking showers for a while. And it shows. We’ve completely forgotten all bathtub etiquette. But they did have a really great time, the evening flew by, and everyone was sound asleep just a few minutes after their heads hit the pillow.

I have known my friend Beth since the beginning of freshman year, which, according to my shaky math, is nearly two decades. Almost half my life. In fact, I probably have Beth to blame for some of my shaky math, since we took some mid-level math class that year with Professor Ali Lari-Lavassani. This was the class where we became known as the rowdy ones, which is a dubious title, considering it was a several hundred person lecture. I think he secretly liked us, though, because we were having a great time, and really, who ever whoops it up in Math 110?

Then there’s the hot dog vendor I almost mowed over with my bike, and someone convincing me to skip Econ in lieu of ice cream, never living down sleeping all the way from spring break, and Holy Tampax! and getting ejected from bars in Put-in-Bay and the list goes on.

Beth is one of those people who can walk into a room of strangers and walk out making everyone feel like they just made a new best friend. We were sad to see her run off to California, but when you land a job where you get to see George Clooney on a semi-regular basis, you can hardly blame her for hanging out there that long. But then she came back home. And met Dave. And I can’t imagine any better way for the story to end.

So when it was the morning of their reception and Shep started puking, I couldn’t imagine worse possible timing. Ultimately, it all sorted itself out and we made it to the wedding, with Ellery in tow. We’re so happy to see Beth and Dave get hitched, and seeing all our friends is such a bonus. Now I just need to sort through the 600+ photos I took.

Congratulations B&D.