Baby, baby

She already loves to read (or toss books around...same difference) and spend time at the library:



She's thinking about becoming an FC Barcelona supporter:



Although she prefers a hat that's more her size:



She has great taste in toys (for some reason this vintage bit of memorabilia--which Gretchen will not allow in any public areas in our house--has become one of her favorites):



And at 11 months she still doesn't have her first tooth:

Anywhere but here

It's that time of year in DC...when things like this start showing up on your intranet:

Air quality alert today

Today's 90-degree temperature translates into the first Code Orange alert of the year. Please take precautions if you suffer from respiratory problems by limiting outdoor activity.

Also, you are encouraged to use public transportation, avoid using aerosol consumer products, and keep hydrated at all times.

To help reduce pollution in the air, commuters in Northern Virginia can ride buses free of charge on Thursday, including Metrobuses. Buses will charge regular fares in D.C. and Maryland.

Every year, the great fear is that we'll skip spring (which can be absolutely spectacular here) and launch right into summer (which is dreadful). Sure enough, it would appear that's the case this summer. And it's still only May! There's just nothing like walking outside your house into what feels more or less like a cross between a sauna and steam room (but with more polluted air). And the humidity is such that opening the windows at night would actually make things worse. The only hope for respite is a possible afternoon or evening thunderstorm, although preferably not when walking home. Of course it's not as bad here as it is further south (try New Orleans in July/August for fun), but that doesn't keep us from complaining. I'd say we're almost to double digits for the number of times in the past two weeks we've asked "why do we live here again?".

On the plus side, I got to ride the bus for free today because of the foul air. And the other night I saw my first firefly, which for a native Californian (we didn't have them there) is still quite exciting and one of the best things about summer here.

Pearl

I saw something about this in an article in today's NY Times...maybe it's because almost everything Will Ferrell does is funny, maybe it's because we have a small daughter, or maybe it's because we had kind of a wacky landlord in Basel, but for some reason this just cracked me up:

Family affair

One of the reasons we haven't been keeping up very well with the blog lately (aside from general laziness and having an 11-month old who seeks our undivided attention) is that we had a quick visit from my family (after Gretchen saw hers a few weeks ago). My Mom decided to fly up to see Baby, and we were able to convince my brother and his family to drive down from New York for the weekend. Not only was it great to see them all, but it also helped give us incentive to unpack a few more boxes (of which we still have several in every room and many in the basement). We also learned that if your house feels small with two adults and a baby, that's nothing compared to how it feels with five adults, one child and one baby...and just one bathroom.

Our nephew was born right after we moved to Basel, and the last time we saw him was over two years ago, so it was fun to see how much he had grown:


We also learned that the bond between a boy and his cars/trucks can't be overstated:



For my brother, it was the first time meeting Baby and they got along famously:



And my Mom was of course thrilled to get re-acquainted with Baby, who was much bigger than the only other time they saw each other:



We had fun playing in a local neighborhood park:



And while it was much too short a visit, we all had smiles on our faces when we said goodbye, hopeful that we'll see each other again soon (despite appearances, they didn't actually take Baby with them):

Places to visit

As much as we got a kick out of some of the funny-sounding names of places in Switzerland, I've realized we're not exactly short of them here, either. The other day I was browsing a map of the surrounding area and quickly came across the following places (which I'm sure just scratches the surface):

Backlick
Bumpass
Pohick
Pomonkey
Bleak
Cuckoo

All is forgiven?

I'm still worthless when Baby wakes up in the middle of the night, but at least my missing wedding ring finally turned up so I think I'm back in Gretchen's good graces.

Alas, my clumsiness continues. The other day I had to run an errand during lunch. It was a warm and sunny day, I had something upbeat playing on the iPod, all was right with the world...when I all of a sudden tripped on nothing in particular, and while I luckily didn't do a face-plant, I nevertheless careened down the sidewalk with windmilling arms trying to stay upright. Then, for good measure I did a lower-key version of the same thing about 25 steps later. Good times.

Clumsy oaf

I don't know if I can blame it on my allergies, the Bush administration, global warming, or a weakening housing market, but for some reason I've been even clumsier than usual lately (which is saying something since I'm a threat to injure myself on the best of days). To wit:

--While eating dinner with friends, I tried to pass something to Gretchen and knocked over her beer in the process. Minutes later I dropped lettuce while serving her salad, then when I tried to put dressing on her salad it spilled all over the floor instead.

--While walking upstairs at work to get a glass of water, I stumbled on a step. When trying to catch myself, I tripped on the next step and ended up sprawling on all fours (thankfully no one was there to witness it, and my glass wasn't yet filled so I didn't leave any evidence).

--When grabbing a City Paper out of a box on the way to the bus, my iPod headphones unwittingly got caught on the handle so when I closed it the headphones went flying out of my ears. I tried to play it cool, but since it was rush hour at a major intersection I'm guessing at least a few people had a good laugh on their evening commute.

--While waiting for the bus, I pulled a stack of papers out of my bag to read, only to drop them...just in time for a gust of wind to send them flying down the sidewalk. At least three people waiting in line helped me gather them up before they blew into the street.

--Tonight Gretchen offered me a bite of her couscous, and while handing the container back to her I inexplicably dumped it all over the dining room table.

Yep, I'm smoooooooooth like that...

Missing Switzerland

We had been warned about the challenges of reentry back to the US after living as an expat overseas. That being said, I have to say that my adjustment has gone fairly smoothly... at least so far. Of course there are things I miss (mainly my friends), but in general I am very happy being here. I absolutely LOVED my three year experience in Basel and wouldn't trade it for anything, but now I'm enjoying lots of good things here as well. Friendly people, convenient shopping, lots of good ethnic food, being closer to family, a big washing machine, real Diet Coke... these kinds of things. It's home, and it's comfortable.

Just a few minutes ago I was struck with a huge dose of "I miss Switzerland". While listening to Baby crying in the next room as she struggles to fall asleep for a nap, I decided to take a look at a few blogs. I haven't read blogs in months. I don't think I've looked at some of my favorite expat-in-Switzerland blogs since we left Basel in March. And you know what? I couldn't do it. I started to read one or two entries, and all it took was seeing some pictures of mountains and hearing some stories about travel, or Swiss food, or a beautiful sunny day, and I had to stop. It was weird. It's like I'm just not ready to read about what my life used to be like. Instead I'll continue working on keeping myself happy in what my life is now.

Safe and sound

One of the things I wasn't looking forward to upon returning is the heightened security in the D.C. area. Post-9/11, much of the city basically became an armed encampment. Much of this is understandable, of course--Washington is a likely target, and anyone who experienced 9/11 either here or in New York would never want to go through something like that again--but at the same time, there's something a little disturbing about the prevalence of barricades and armed guards in the capital of the country that is supposed to be a paragon of freedom (insert your own joke here). So, here are some of the reminders of the joy of living/working in our nation's capital:

--When we arrived almost 2 months ago, some of the first things we saw were signs all over the airport reminding us that the current threat level is Orange (High). Same thing when I've made a few trips to the airport over the past few weeks--big signs on the access roads announcing an Orange threat level. Maybe someday I'll understand how exactly this information is supposed to be of any use, beyond creating a climate of perpetual fear (which is, perhaps, the whole point).

--I just looked out my window and counted at least eight armed guards. That's in addition to the Jersey barriers and the permanently closed street (accessible only by VIPs in motorcades) that I can also see.

--Yesterday I heard the loud whoosh and roar of a nearby jet, and I about jumped out of my seat (the 9/11 thing again). Luckily it was a jet fighter (we were told later that the Thunderbirds would be buzzing around D.C.) and not anything threatening. But it was a reminder of how your mindset can change when you live with a particular sort of threat. Sort of like how to this day I don't like to have anything hanging over the bed because of growing up with earthquakes in California.

--Our internal website has information explaining "the difference between safe havens and designated refuge areas."

--In our pre-Basel days when Gretchen was working, we had multiple contingency plans for how to get out of the city and where to meet up in the event of another attack.

--A few weeks ago I had a friend in town who I was going to meet for dinner, and since he was across town at the time the easiest place I could think of to meet was in front of the White House (again, insert your own joke here). There was just one problem...I forgot it happened to be the day that Queen Elizabeth was here and they were preparing for a state dinner that night. Sure enough, while I was waiting several police cars came screeching up and everyone was yelled at to back far away from the fence (which, by the way, is still quite far from the entrance), while heavily armed men in dark sunglasses patrolled the area and the street was eventually closed even to pedestrians. Thank God for cell phones so we could figure out alternate plans. (And no, we didn't spot either the Queen or the President.)

Trouble with a capital T

The big mystery right now is whether I'm in bigger trouble for:

(a) Having Gretchen wake me in the middle of the night when Baby was hysterically crying and asking me if I could go downstairs and get her some milk and water, saying I would do so...and immediately falling back to sleep so soundly that she had to do it herself; or

(b) Losing Temporarily misplacing my wedding ring.

Yep, if it weren't for the paycheck I bring home I think I might be sleeping in the backyard these days...

Before and after

I realize that, from the pictures Kirk posted last week during my recent trip to Florida, one may think that we spent the entire week relaxing on the beach and playing in the pool. I wish. If I do have any sort of golden brown tan, it's only because I spent so much time walking out to the dumpster from our condo trying to get rid of all the furniture boxes and garbage we accumulated! Despite the beautiful weather and the Gulf of Mexico just outside our door, we unfortunately spent most of the week inside the condo or shopping.

I must say that my sister and I make a good team. Somehow we managed to take a totally empty 2 bedroom condo and make it into a totally furnished and decorated place (ready for renters) in just 5 days. Because I often had to stick around the condo because of Baby's nap schedule, I did most of the furniture assembly and my sister ran most of the errands (which was not easy for her considering she usually had to drive 45 minutes into Pensacola just to get to any stores). I even had to overcome my fear of putting together Ikea furniture. One day I put together 3 dressers and 3 night stands!

So here it is, before:



And after:



By far the best part of the week was having a girls week with my sister and her 10-year old daughter. I hadn't seen them in over a year, which was WAY too long. Baby just loved playing with her cousin Natalie and Tante (Aunt) Kris! As Natalie taught me years ago, girls rule and boys drool...

Ticked off

I'm guessing most people have things in their past that, in retrospect, are inexplicable and perhaps embarrassing but ultimately harmless. For me, one of those things was a country-and-western phase in high school. It wasn't enough to listen to the music; I also chewed tobacco and even owned cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. To this day I'm still not sure how or why that happened to a kid living in a very un-country suburb of San Diego where surfers and athletes prevailed, and I probably never will. (And at least I finally quit chewing tobacco...10 years later.)

I'm occasionally reminded of those days when I'm flipping radio stations in the car, because Gretchen insists on having a country station as one of the pre-sets. In the past few weeks I've stumbled across a couple of songs that embody all that's funny and absurd about double entendres in country music. First, I heard a guy singing about how seeing a woman take a drink makes him wish he was her beer...which roped me in just long enough to hear him sing that he'd like to check her for ticks. (Further research revealed that the song is actually called "Ticks".) Really, is there any other musical form where declaring your desire to check someone for ticks would be acceptable? (Although who knows...maybe Gretchen would have found that very romantic when we first started dating.)

Then I heard someone sing about how tequila makes her clothes fall off, with perhaps my favorite line being "Them panty hose ain't gonna last too long / If the DJ puts Bon Jovi on" (which I think I enjoyed in part because while much of my high school time was spent in cowboy boots, Gretchen was similarly listening to bad '80s hair bands).

I may just have to start pausing more frequently on the country station during my forays around the FM band just to see what other gems I might have been missing...

Mmmmmm good

Every now and then I'm reminded that there is really no combination of foods--no matter how seemingly unappealing/unhealthy/unnatural--in the States that can't be put together and widely marketed. The latest reminder was when we took Grady to the vet and walked past a Domino's Pizza outlet prominently advertising the Oreo Dessert Pizza. I'm not sure what's more disturbing: that someone actually decided that since people like pizza, and since people like Oreo cookies, the two would therefore make a great combination...or that the combination is actually popular enough to merit a national ad campaign.

Momz

We had the following conversation a couple of weeks ago:

GRETCHEN: "Don't forget to buy a Mother's Day card for your mom soon."

ME: "I haven't forgotten, I'll do it soon."

GRETCHEN: "And you know that you're supposed to get something for me now that I'm a mother, right?"

ME: <<>> "Oh, yeah, yeah...no need to remind me about that, I'd never forget something like that..."

So now it's Mother's Day and I'm happy that Gretchen and Baby got back yesterday so we could spend the day together. I'd like to say I did all sorts of things to pamper her...but hey, at least I got a card so that's gotta count for something, right?! Seriously, the past 10+ months have been a real challenge for Gretchen in a lot of ways but she's been an absolutely fantastic mom and now she gets to enjoy the result of all her frazzled days and sleepless nights as Baby blossoms into a sweet, charming, smart, headstrong young girl (not unlike her mother, come to think about it).

And in the end, not only did I get her a card, but Baby did too...

Working hard or hardly working?

Gretchen keeps telling me how hard they're working at getting the condo in shape, but then she sends me pictures like these and I have to wonder...

Missing my girls

It was strange to come home to a quiet, empty house tonight. See, Gretchen and Baby have abandoned me to go to Florida for a few days. That may sound decadent (and I couldn't help but be a little jealous when Gretchen called this afternoon as she was walking down to the beach), but in truth it's a work trip. Three years after being heavily damaged by Hurricane Ivan, the condo we never really wanted but inherited anyway is finally inhabitable. So Gretchen and her sister get to spend this week furnishing and decorating the condo while I play bachelor here. While I like to think I'll take advantage of the situation and go out every night this week, realistically I know what will most likely happen is that I'll come home, unpack a few boxes, go to bed early and be perfectly happy with that.

Mr. Fixit

I really wish I was handy, especially at times like this when our house is in disrepair. I would love to be one of those guys who can fix anything in the house. But alas, I just don't have the touch. Why, you ask? Let me count the ways: (1) I'm afraid I'll do even more damage than there was to begin with--that's one reason I especially won't touch plumbing. (2) I grew up in a relatively new house in a pre-fab suburb, so I really don't remember things actually needing to be fixed very often...I literally don't have a single memory of my parents or a handyman having to fix anything in the house, so I guess I just never learned. (For a kid from the SoCal 'burbs, moving into a 50-year old house was quite a shock.) (3) Between work and Baby, who has time? (4) Perhaps more importantly than having no time, I'll be the first to admit I'm lazy.

All of which is to say I felt oddly vindicated when I read this article (to the extent I could get through it without feeling nauseous). I've never messed around with electrical things for the very reason that I'm sure I would electrocute myself, now I feel like my lack of effort on most other projects can be justified on personal safety grounds.

(At least I'm willing to work in the yard, where my crowning achievement was building a small retaining wall and steps a few years ago...)

Changes

More reminders of how different my life is now:

Gretchen googles the lyrics to Ernie's "Rubber Duckie" song from Sesame Street so that I can sing to baby more effectively...

I'm afraid I'm going to be in a meeting at work and, when someone says something smart, I'm going to enthusiastically clap and say "YAAAAAAY!"!...

I find myself thinking that Nina from The Good Night Show on Sprout is kinda hot...

Who's the real baby here?

Gretchen and I are both cranky and mopey because we've got bad colds. There's something about getting a cold when the weather turns warm that really sucks. Anyway, we're walking around sniffling and coughing and griping and moaning. In the meantime, Gretchen took Baby in for a blood test today and she made nary a peep (Baby, that is...Gretchen turns white as a sheet at the mere thought of a needle), much to the amazement of the nurses. If Baby is a tough cookie, she obviously got it from her grandparents and not from us.

Mixed bag

On the one hand...Our stuff is all here! I'm typing this at a desk instead of on the floor! I can finally pack my clothes away and stop living out of a suitcase! Our car is here with Swiss plates so we can drive around looking like Eurotrash! No more crappy, expensive rental car!

On the other hand...We have waaaaaaay too much stuff and not enough space for it! We have no time to unpack! The hardware to assemble our futon frame got lost/misplaced in the move! Our shower head is spewing water all over our bathroom! Our air conditioner doesn't seem to be working! Our lawn could better be described as a prairie!