This is what happens when you leave your lipstick on the bedside table where certain toddlers can reach it. Thankfully, I got to him before he started coloring on the bed! I’m going to have to tell Andrew to be a little more careful next time…
It has been a great first week so far! As I walk to and from school every day, I have time to really think about what I appreciate. Here’s a partial list in no particular order:
Andrew and I felt like true jet-setters this past weekend as we flew down to Scottsdale, Arizona for a friend’s wedding at the Four Seasons Resort. Griffin stayed with Grandma Pam and Grandpa Jeff Friday night through Monday morning. While we knew it would be a fast trip, we were hoping it would feel like a mini-vacation. Boy, oh boy, did it ever!
As I’m sure you’re aware, I’m not historically a resort and spa kind of gal. I tend to camp my way across the country, and while I’ve been known to indulge in a massage or pedicure, I have always poo-pooed resorts. Especially ones out in the middle of the desert. But it looks like I’m going to have to revise my stance. I’m going to tell you a tiny little secret: it was fun to be pampered for a weekend. Orange infused water, chilled towels, frozen treats every hour while I sit by the pool under my umbrella for uninterrupted reading time? Don’t mind if I do! Giant king sized bed with luxury linens, sleeping in ’til eight? Twist my arm. The wedding was beautiful, the resort was fantastic, and it felt like we escaped for longer than the 36 hours we were gone. It was FUN!
With the busyness of moving this summer, we haven’t really had much time to kick back. The cabin was the remedy to our desire for a bit of a getaway! We managed to escape for a few days in the middle of the week before Andrew started his new job at SPA (and the move into our new apartment!). Since it was a bit on the cool side, we filled our days with picking the last of the blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries, reading, napping, exploring the woods with Griffin, listening to the loons, and watching the lake. It was a perfect trip, and we weren’t even sad when we left this time knowing that we can zip up there any weekend we want! Ahhh…
(Click on any photo to link to the whole gallery)
Griffin had his first encounter with a leech this weekend at the Stocco cabin. He liked wading in the shallows which, as this photo attests, is not without peril. The sucker (ha ha) didn’t actually get a good bite, so Griffin’s little foot was unscathed. (And, once you get beyond the ick factor, leeches are pretty harmless.)
More photos will follow in due course (most of which aren’t gross). Tomorrow we’re moving into the new apartment which doesn’t have internet yet, so there will be more of a delay than we’d like. We’re pretty excited to finally settle into the new place!
Until moving back here I had forgotten one of the very best things about the midwest: sunset. In fact, I will broaden that to include the sky at all times of day (and night). The sky is huge. I always used to think that the apparent bigness of the sky was due to the flatness of the terrain. I still think that is part of it, but I also think that the clouds are often at a much higher altitude and the layers provide a lot of vertical perspective. I often feel dwarfed by the sky in a way that I never felt in the Bay Area. In California, I was often stunned by the physical landscape — come around a bend on the road and catch a glimpse of the bay or of Mt. Tam or Mt. Diablo. Here, that is rare (for me anyway). The landscape is fairly consistent: mostly flat, mostly agricultural (which has its own beauty, but doesn’t usually cause one to gasp). The sky — as if to make up for the relatively sedate landscape — is totally out of control (or, “out of pocket,” as my former students might say). I frequently see clouds that make me gasp, and of course the weather itself is mercurial and violent.
Last night, driving back from Saint Peter to Courtland, I experienced one of the most awesome sunsets of my life. The western horizon had a strip of clear sky, brilliant red-gold with the sun already out of sight. The clouds above were fringed with crimson, and on its own this would have been a lovely scene. But then, marching toward us and fading into the blackness of the eastern horizon was the most tremendous roof of clouds. They were dark and angry, with bizarre whorls and striations, a different pattern in every direction. Flickers of lightning occasionally illuminated the gloomy landscape, but mostly it was dark and ominous — think Donnie Darko, or some cheesy meteorological thriller where sixteen tornadoes might descend from the sky at once. Behind us, the world was swallowed up in the stormy darkness and it seemed like we were fleeing into the gleaming west. Truly amazing.
We visited our new apartment in Saint Paul yesterday to take some pictures and measure a few things. The current tenants are unbelievably friendly and welcoming. I’ve included a few images below, or click here to see to full gallery (a dozen photos that walk you through the place). Note that the furniture and decor are not ours, but check out the floors, built-ins, and colors!
See the full gallery for more!
We rolled into Minnesota on Thursday, July 29, in time for dinner. We spent Friday setting up the fabulous new guestroom in the basement of the Stocco’s house. Today (Saturday) Sarah and I left Griffin with Grandpa Jeff and Grandma Pam so that we could drive up to St. Paul to start scouting out possible apartments. We figured we would see some places today and then setup more appointments for Monday and Tuesday. Our fingers were crossed that we could sign a lease by next weekend to have this big hurdle behind us.
At 10:30 we arrived at our first appointment. The Craigslist ad sounded good, but didn’t have any pictures so I was skeptical. The outside of the duplex was nothing special, though we liked the neighborhood. As we reached the top of the stairs, however, we were blown away. It was fantastic… beautiful woodwork, a great layout, lots of storage, updated appliances, free laundry… everything we were looking for. This seemed too good to be true, so we decided we had better look around at some other places. They sucked. And they cost more. And they sucked. We called the landlord and signed a lease.
We have no pictures yet, but here is the original post from Craigslist:
Perfect 2 bedroom
Date: 2010-07-21, 11:30PM
awesome upper duplex. wood floors and all woodwork recently redone. walls painted in subtle yet fun colors. classic st. paul style with sunroom, living room, dining room with gorgeous built in buffet, updated kitchen with dishwasher and huge modern fridge, good sized bedrooms and closets, updated super clean new bathroom with oversize new tub with jets, free garage parking with opener, FREE washer and dryer just for your unit in clean basement, tons of storage space in basement and attic, cute yard with patio and grill….this is a great home for a family, or for roommates… close to st kates, mac, stthomas…email if you would like more info or to set up a showing. 1200 a month, landlord pays water and garbage.
Feels pretty unreal to have walked into our dream apartment on our first try!
After a long first shift in the car today, we exited in North Platte, Nebraska for a lunch break. We had sandwiches and then asked if there were any parks, playgrounds, or McDonalds Playplaces around. We were directed to the other side of town where instead of a playground, we found a community pool. On a whim, we decided to go swimming (it was a blazing hot day, perfect for a dip). The kiddie pool was awesome. When we left, Griffin ran back to the fence and made it very clear that he wanted more swimming and less driving! (But he fell sound asleep in his carseat within three blocks.)
