Lesson Learned

Last week, I was done working for the day and KLC wanted to go out for a run during the kids' naps. Sure, I said. What could be easier? I was even somewhat proud of myself for changing their diapers when they cried about 15 minutes into the "sleep" and got them successfully to at least to pretend to lie down. When KLC returned about a half an hour later, we were chatting when we heard some unusual noises from their room. When we in there, we saw this. Actually, this photo doesn't do it justice. They had gotten into their closet and taken *every single item of clothing they could reach* and dumped it into a giant pile. Underwear, shirts, pajamas, dresses that were hangers, you name it. They had even managed to secure a roll of wrapping paper and it was strewn throughout the room.

The moral of the story? Make sure that the closet door is *locked*, not just shut during their naps. That's one I won't forget any time soon.

What's a Shadow?

It's my profession to explain scientific concepts to the public, and this includes kids. However, I am at a loss how to tell a 3-year-old that shadows created by the moonlight are harmless. If I try, it starts to sound like an intro physics lecture on light and how it's blocked, blah, blah, blah. It's been a few nights since this has been a problem -- knock on wood that this stays true -- but who knows when it will return. In the meantime, this experience has made me realize that in certain settings, my career experiences are close to useless.

In other developments, KLC and I are working on shifting sleep patterns. I'm finding out how a change for anyone in the house has a cascading effect on everyone else. In other words, if anyone -- usually under 3-ft tall -- happens to wake up before 5:00 am, this can mean a whole different take on the day for the rest of us ...

Mini vs. Minivan

After 3,000 miles and 2+ weeks, the Mini has arrived in Seattle. Even though it was a bit terrifying just handing my keys (and car) over to some random truck driver, the Mini appears as good as when it left the East Coast. While it certainly isn't a useful car for the twins, it will be nice having a little extra flexibility for getting around.

Playing Without the Kids

This weekend marked the first time KLC and I had some time without the twins (who were spending Saturday morning through Sunday evening with their Co-Parent, aka CP). The arrangement will be that this is the case every other weekend. While I do miss the kids when they are gone, it was also a great opportunity to get out and do some adult activities.

On Saturday, we went to the Mount Rainier National Park, which was my first time there. For an East Coaster, there is something just unreal about seeing mountains this big. Also, I would never associate a summer hike with snow -- even on Mt. Washington. On Rainier, on the other hand, there are year-round glaciers, and -- as you can see from the pictures -- they extend fairly far down. The wild flowers are spectacular and I even got to see my first marmot (which until last weekend, I simply thought was the name of a jacket, not an actual animal.)

Once back in Seattle, we ventured into the 90+ degree heat to bike around on Sunday and get me slightly more oriented. There are few things I enjoy more than exploring a new place on a bike. Seattle has tons of bike trails, including the famous Burke-Gilman we rode on that goes for miles. I'm planning on taking advantage of more of these trails while the weather is so good. If it remains this hot, however, I might just have to plot my rides from beverage stop to beverage stop ...

A Different Trader Joe's Experience

Yesterday, I went grocery shopping for KLC, the kids, and myself. This is the first time I've done this solo and thankfully I had a list. I realize shopping for four people rather than just one should be a simple multiplication exercise. The truth is for the past few years, I've struggled to do much cooking for myself and many meals involved take-out or 'cooking' by raiding the prepared foods section at Whole Foods. So gathering up enough food to cover meals for all of us over the course of one week was different. Let's just say it was the full push cart vs. the little basket I used to use.

Not that there is anything monumentally wrong with my eating habits in Boston, except I felt like it was wasteful (money-wise) and didn't always involve the healthiest choices. For some reason, it was really difficult for me to break out of that cycle. (OK, one reason might be that I lived in a neighborhood that had fab restaurants and other things within walking distance of my condo.) I had a hundred false starts in cooking and eating in more, but it was just really hard to motivate for putting in the effort just for myself.

While I still enjoy going out to eat, I also really like being at home and cooking for myself in addition to KLC and the kids. And when I do get something outside of the house, I appreciate it that much more. Again, I knew this would be the case, but it has taken a shake-up of my life to really force a change for me. This is a relatively minor improvement in life since moving to Seattle, but I think an important one nonetheless. Besides, maybe one day I'll learn how to make sushi at home, but until then I will reserve the right to occasionally fall into my old ways ...

Sunny in Seattle

It's a well-established cliche that people who live in Seattle try to keep an unwanted influx of people moving here by perpetuating the story that it constantly rains here. From what I understand, the whole rain-for-many-consecutive-days-on-end thing is true, but that's during the winter and spring. (For a native New Englander like myself, any definition of "winter" where rain is the worst precipitation is a whole new world.)

I might be breaking the Seattle resident's code of conduct here, but the weather right now is spectacular. Apparently, it rarely rains from 4th of July until September. And, the best part? Virtually no humidity. Just sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s and 80s. Combine this with my work-at-home status, and let's just say I'm getting a bit of Sun while the house and yard are quiet with the kids at their swimming lessons. There are worse situations to be in, to put it mildly.

The Routine

Having lived on my own for so long, I have apparently developed habits that I didn't even notice. This shouldn't be terribly surprising. After all, I managed to eat, go to work, work out, go out, etc., for all of my 36 years. Somewhere along the line, I probably did these things more than once.

All of these habits come to light, however, when you try to mesh them with someone else and 3-year-old twins. It's not that my old ways were better, they were just different. There are the little things: the coffeepot that completely defeated me the first time I tried to use it, how and when you take out the recycling. There are also big things: how much time do I have for myself, how much do I not.

In just one week, I think KLC and I have made major strides in sorting through our previous habits and coming up with a new Routine. (It's contains a capital letter not for some rogue grammar lapse, but because I'm beginning to realize it deserves it.) We'll continue to experiment and adapt -- for example, my heading to the gym this morning at 5:45 am so I can work out before starting work -- until we get things down so it works for everyone. It's interesting and a bit of shock to realize that I have been more habit-oriented than I thought all of these years ...

Hating IKEA

It's been a while since I've moved, and even longer since I've had to assemble furniture. This, however, did not seem to deter me from the seemingly simple task of buying a basic desk from IKEA and (trying to ) put it together.

Not so much. I think I can sum up the success of this experience by saying that when I tried to put the two drawers in at the end, they fit. Except only upside down. That, and the fact that I failed to tighten most of the joints sufficiently so that the desk was in danger of falling down under the weight of my laptop.

Luckily for me, KLC is one of those who sees IKEA assembly as a completely reasonable and manageable activity. She saved my desk from imminent collapse -- and probably my sanity.