Grownups

Okay, I'm officially Blogging while Sad. I had a fantastic time with my family in Arkansas, and within one week I got to see three of the best friends I've ever had, and the last bunch just left. After the frenzy of catching up and overeating it's back to the baby and me, at least until our hero Dave/Daddy returns home from work.

But let me back up. Ah, March 6: it was an auspicious evening. That's an inside joke I'm not going to elaborate on, intended strictly for the people in these photos. These people are Stacey, Debra, and Richard and his wife Crystal and smart, sweet, well-behaved twins (okay, the twins don't get to hear about March 6 until they're older. maybe.). I suppose you could say my core group of college friends coalesced on March 6, 1993. We all knew and loved each other when we were young and stupid. Now Stacey is a CPA who is learning Italian, Debra is a special ed instructor who knows kung fu, and Richard is a high school teacher who plays the drums and a host of other instruments. I felt instantly comfortable when I met his wife Crystal yesterday--Richard and I agreed that we're two highly conversational women who just kind of merged conversations upon meeting. And of course, Arkansas being the small state that it is, Crystal is friends with a number of cool people from college I would love to reconnect with. Dave and I met Debra and Stacey for dinner and Hot Springs, and Richard and co. crashed at our house while on a cross-country trip.

So yeah. Good friends. Really good friends I can still call on and am proud and grateful to know.

Luckily consolation is abundant. I just opened an email from my sister-in-law coordinating the details for my mother-in-law's birthday dinner here in town. Oh yeah, and there's the aformentioned husband and child. And many now-old friends here in Portland. I think to cheer myself up I'll give one of them a call in a little while.

 
 

Africa hot

In Arkansas in July you'll often hear people proclaiming, "It's Africa hot!" And indeed it is. I think I noticed it more this trip because I (of course) worried about the baby in the heat, and because I am, ahem, carrying a few more pounds than when I was a slip of a girl at age 23. Anyway, you cope with the heat by scurrying from one air-conditioned room to another or to the nearest body of water. The saving grace of the summer swelter is that there are so many lovely ways to beat it. To that end we spent some time in the pool and plenty of time at The Lake.

 
 
 
 

Happy Family

Finally some photos of the three of us together! My sister snapped these on the veranda of the Arlington Hotel in Hot Springs.

 

 

 

 

A thousand words

I'll blog about our trip to Arkansas soon, but in the meantime check out these shots my fourteen-year-old niece took when we handed her the fancy camera. My niece is poised, intelligent, and a keen observer. These are the kind of photos I aim for but usually miss because I am busy fiddling around with the whistles and bells on said camera.

 

 

 

 

Tallgirl

 
 
 
Tallgirl and her family (otherwise known as Peanuts' Parents) came to town!
But first:
I'm the one who dropped the ball on our friendship years ago. or let us fall out of touch. We met way back in the day in Little Rock in a friend's climbing gym. She was bold, funny, pretty, smart, and so much fun, PLUS she was the first female engineer I had ever met. We hung out and climbed together a lot. She was a seasoned outdoorswoman and I was a spazz, and we both talked too much to get much bouldering done at the local crag. I could go on and on--suffice to say it was such a fun, refreshing friendship. Around the time she and I met she also met the future Mr. Tallgirl. They were a great couple from the start.

So I moved to Portland and became a lousy correspondent. She and Mr. T got married, and I tried to google her a few times to no avail. So my fault.

Enter Facebook! I was so excited to stumble across her page, and so we got back in touch close to the time our babies were due and she and the fam were planning a trip to Portland. So last night I saw her for the first time in almost nine years, and it was so nice! I met their two kids--ages two and two months. We all walked to Hodas for dinner and back here for dessert. I was so happy to see them and catch up (neither of us climbs anymore). Here are some pictures of the two of us back in the day, and last night at the playground. If they moved to Portland they would fit RIGHT in, but sounds like they have a great life in Little Rock. At any rate, I'm so glad to have reconnected with an old friend and plan to be better at staying in touch, with a little help from Blogger and Facebook.

Four months old!

 

 

 

 

And now, a word from our kitties:

 
 
For the record, we don't get all the fuss over the new cat.

Cutie Pie

Anneke has been working hard on her cuteness skills. I think she's ready for the cuteness Olympics, but her dad and I think Beijing is too, too far away.