Past Surgery, Onto China

Thankfully, KLC is through her surgery and on the mend. When I say that, I think it somehow minimizes how painful and involved this surgery is. I had surgery last summer to repair my torn meniscus, but that was nothing compared to ACL reconstruction. We both have family members who have had worse surgeries (ie, knee replacements), so let’s just say we’re going to do everything we can to avoid that for us if at all possible.

Anyhow, it’s a good thing that KLC is healthy and a quick healer (not to mention a committed PT patient.) That’s because we are less than two weeks away from our trip to China. Yes, China. I am giving a talk at a conference in Beijing, which means my flight and the hotel are covered by work. So once we found a relatively reasonable flight for KLC and their Co-Parent said she could watch the kids, we’re off.

We’ll have a few days after the conference on our own and we just booked flights from Beijing to Guilin for a long weekend with frequent flyer miles. (Don’t even get me started on their hidden fees, etc. in these airline programs, but it was still cheaper than buying the tickets. I think.) I am super excited about Guilin, but this is just based on a handful of websites that I’ve looked at in the past few days. We’ll have to see if they just have a really good photographer who works for the chamber of commerce.

First up, however, about six days in Beijing. I think we’re going to have too much to see and too little time – especially since we’ll try to keep the walking to somewhat of a minimum because of the new ligament in KLC’s knee. We’re extremely excited for this trip. I’ve never been anywhere in Asia and KLC has always wanted to go to mainland China after spending a year teaching in Taiwan.

I’ll try to update everyone back home on our whereabouts on the blog so you may want to skip the entries beginning on October 8th if travel write-ups bore you.

Now we just have to take of seemingly a thousand or so details for our usual lives before we can head out a week from Saturday …

Out With The Old (Sooner or Later)

We try our very best to keep the house -- and our lives -- as decluttered as possible. This can be an uphill battle. For everything we get rid of, it seems like there is some toy or piece of clothing that is already there to take its place. And that goes for the kids' stuff as well as ours.

One area that we are pretty vigilant about are the shoes for the kids. The goal is that have one pair of whatever they need per season. For example, we try to have one pair of sandals, one pair of sneakers, and one pair of winter boots in the right size for each kid at any time. (KLC and I say one day we might hold ourselves to the same standard, but so far we give ourselves a lot a little more latitude for footwear.)

This works, more or less, until it comes time to actually get rid of last year's pair. This is a picture of the twins' shoes that they wore virtually every day last fall, winter and spring. They spent most of the summer in their sandals, but these were really their every day pair for a year. They just got their new pair so it's time that these get tossed, but they are super cute and they do remind us of their year of being three.

In other news, this will be a busy week for us because KLC is heading in for a little ACL reconstruction. It was a fluke injury -- especially for someone who works out as much as she does. I had surgery on my knee last summer (torn meniscus), and then Zeek, the cat, had essentially the feline equivalent to KLC's surgery last spring. After this, we're hoping everyone in the house can avoid joint issues for at least a year ... or ten.

Goodbye Mingo

While the East Coast deals with Hurricane Irene today, we are enjoying some rather spectacular weather here in Seattle. It's been a bit of a sad day, however, because this morning we lost our first chicken.

Mingo -- or, more properly, Flamingo -- was part of the second pair of chickens we got. (The two original chickens were part of the package deal that came with the coop when we bought it.)

She was always a little bit different than the other chickens, including having some odd feet that didn't have any claws. This made it harder for her to sit on a perch and sleep with the other chickens. She also went through a few weeks of brooding not too long ago.

For those of you like me who had never heard of this term before, brooding is when a hen stays in her nesting box. Sometimes it's because she wants to sit on an egg, but not necessarily. In the case of Mingo, she didn't have an egg, but just spent most of her time in the nesting box. Brooding is normal behavior for a chicken, but in hindsight, maybe there was something else going on.

Anyhow, KLC and I noticed that something wasn't right with Mingo on Friday night when she was sitting on the ground at dusk. (For the non-chicken people out there, they will instinctively go inside as it gets close to being dark.) Yesterday, she was acting very lethargic and barely reacted when we picked her up. We put her in the yard and let her wander as much as she wanted. Sadly, she barely moved, though she did stand up for a while.

This morning, we found Mingo in the coop. We explained to the kids that she died, which led to a bunch of questions about death in general -- not the most light-hearted way to start a Sunday morning. Of course, this is what happens when you have animals, and, as we explained to the kids, chickens often don't live that long.

So thanks, Mingo, for being a good chicken -- wherever you are.

Summer Update

It's been just over a month since I last wrote on this blog and I feel like I have a lot of catching up to do.

First, the twins are now 4 years old. They will readily tell you this -- both verbally and with a display of their fingers (sometimes with the correct number, sometimes not.) We had a backyard BBQ for them in mid-July, with lots of kids and adults. Let me just say, it was a lot of fun, but much more exhausting when you actually do the hosting of one of these things versus just showing up, which I've done for the first 37 years of my life.

The next major event was our vacation back to Massachusetts. We were back East for almost two full weeks. This meant the following: the kids' first airplane ride, meeting a slew of my family and friends, and living in humidity that just doesn't seem to exist in Seattle. They got to swim in the Atlantic Ocean, visit the Swan Boats and ducklings in the Boston Public Garden (twice), and generally get exhausted by a ton of new experiences.

It was great because KLC and the twins both got to meet many of the people that are so important to me in my life. (KLC had met some of them before, but others were just the subject of stories until last week.) It was by no means a complete census of all of the people I miss from back East, but it was a good start.

I think I'm a little extra thankful for this because almost to the day of our getting on the plane for Boston, I heard some horrible news. A friend of a friend of mine in DC, who I had dinner with several times and spent a few quality days in Maine with, had a completely random, tragic accident on her bike. The bottom line is that she is gone, through absolutely no fault of her own -- or really anyone else's as far as I know. It was just one of those unexpected, unpredictable events that takes someone out of this life before anyone who knows or met them wants to accept.

So, in honor of this extraordinary person, I want to say how grateful I am to everyone in my life wherever they might be. You never know how much time you or the people you love have, and I hope I can make a decent -- even if sporadic attempt -- to remind my friends, family, and friends who are family ("framily"?) how much they mean to me. And I am particularly glad that we had an opportunity to go back to Massachusetts this month so that some of those important people to me could at least start to get to know each other.

Doe Bay

This past weekend, KLC and I were sans children and were finally able to use our thrice-changed reservations since October at a place called Doe Bay. (The relatively uninteresting reason why we had to change the reservation three times involved moving and some other domestic duties.)

Doe Bay is an area and the name of resort on Orcas Island in the San Juans. For those of you are unfamiliar with the San Juans, they are a chain islands just about 1.5 hours north of Seattle. To get there, you need to drive to the town of Anacortes and then take the ferry. (BTW, the whole Washington State Ferry system is very extensive. It's not like the couple of ferries to Nantucket and the Vineyard. There are ferries leaving from multiple land locations and going to a slew of different islands and other parts of the region -- including Canada.)

The bottom line is that we had a great time and Orcas Island is beautiful. Doe Bay itself is a resort that's been around for decades. It definitely retains some of its original semi-hippie vibe, with some modern updates. For example, the hot springs are apparently a little more formalized with a new sauna to boot.

One nice thing about Doe Bay is that they have a range of options for where to stay. You can rent a house or a cabin on the higher end, or just stay at one of the many campsites. They even have a group kitchen if you want to save money on meals. I do have to say, however, that the Doe Bay Cafe is one of the best reasons to go. We had two dinners and two breakfasts there and it really is fantastic.

As far as where we stayed, we went the middle of the road and slept in a yurt. There is a bed and chairs, but no electricity. Or heat. You would think this wouldn't be a problem in July, but I will say that it gets a little chilly at night in the San Juans. We also had some sort of critter(s) scurrying around the outside of the yurt, but other than that, we slept great. Plus the view was fantastic. (My iPhone died so I never took any pics, but KLC did and I'll link to hers once they're up.)

So that's my plug for Doe Bay. They apparently eschew traditional advertising (again, the original mentality shining through) and rely on word of mouth from people who stay there. If anyone makes it over to this neck of the woods, I definitely think it's worth a stay.

An Unhealthy Habit

Many of you may not know this, but there is a deep dark secret that KLC and I carry. It's shameful and embarrassing, but it's time to come clean: every Monday night we watch every single second of The Bachelorette (or The Bachelor, depending on which season it is.)

I'd love to say this is KLC's bad habit and I just tag along, but that's no longer the case. While it's true she was hooked before I moved to Seattle, I have gotten on this terrible, terrible show's bandwagon wholeheartedly. Of course, this is one of the most ridiculous shows ever made, and there is no earthly reason why we should sacrifice two hours every week to this nonsense. Except we do.

I think I may have hit rock bottom last night because this season is even extra insulting. While the women on these shows are never portrayed in the greatest light, everyone (man, woman, host) is treated as superficial pieces of fluff so it's at least somewhat egalitarian in that regard. (BTW, if you want proof that this is the best worst show on television, I suggest you read one of the recaps. It's all abundantly clear after that.)

This season, however, the Bachelorette (Ashley is her name, for those not in the know) is so insecure and virtually apologetic for asking these guys to like her, that it's painful. KLC and I have contemplated making up a drinking game every time she says "Bentley" (again, a reference that only a Bachelorette watcher could appreciate), but we abstain since it's Monday and we're no longer 22 years old.

OK, the first step is admitting you have a problem, and now I've done that. I'm not saying I can give up this addiction easily, but I hope I will be able to one day. Or at least by the time another excuse to celebrate Monday evening on the couch comes along.

Spring Bounty

Word has it that spring is almost over and that summer is around the corner. We've heard these rumors here in Seattle, but have seen very little evidence that this is truly the case. Actually, I have seen kids being out of school and the temperature has cracked 70 degrees here -- for at least 15 minutes.

Now that I am involved with growing things in a garden, this new season means excitement in the form of vegetables. These pics show some of the bounty we're starting to reap. First off, the spinach has been great. We pick one of the rows every day or so, and then it's ready for more a couple of days later. Next up, the swiss chard should be ready to go, maybe even for a few meals starting this weekend.

With the delay in warm weather, our tomatoes are not really happening yet but we'll be patient. (I'm told this is atypical and that it should be a little warmer here by now. Really.) The peas -- solidly supported by KLC's trellis -- are visibly growing daily it seems. I'm not quite sure when we get to actually eat them, but I'm looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, the chickens continue to be a source of entertainment for the children (not to mention eggs, which are rather awesome.) Speaking of the twins, they had an end-of-the-year performance at their dance studio. I took a bunch of little videos on my Flip camera, but the blogger website doesn't seem to want to cooperate in letting me post them. Luckily, KLC has a bunch of pictures of the gala event on her blog so take a peek if you're interested.