slippery slope

Last weekend, Ethan and I traveled to Michigan for a visit with family and friends. Friday, we arrived at my brother's to visit with him and his son, Emery. Parallel play has finally ended, and they acknowledged each other by name and Ethan tried really hard to sort of, kind of share. Luckily, Emery is laid back and is more then willing to give you a toy, while Ethan is much more territorial.

Saturday, we went to visit Uncle Seth at his dental practice for a cleaning that I have procrastinated on getting, for an impressive amount of time. My hygienist was not as impressed nor pleased, and sprayed me liberally with topical numb-er as she went to town on my mouth with a zeal that I can't help but think was a bit aggressive. I was reprimanded and reminded that I should try to get in a bit more frequently and that two years was pushing it, especially when there are two dentists in the family.

Saturday afternoon, we drove to see Ethan's other bff Owen. It was pretty hot that day, and Uncle Frank rigged up the slip and slide so that it butted up to a toy car ramp on their sloping backyard. Never fear, neither child actually got the gusto up to go down it, Owen got off the car soon after this photo was taken. It was not quite the death trap that it may have appeared to be, so no need to call child services.

They spent a good hour running around and sliding down. Ethan did the full blown slide on his belly several times, cute and endering would be an understatement. It was a nice day, followed by an evening with a few bottles of wine and a chat on the back porch with my old friend.

a boy named sue

Happy father's day to my daddy-o and all the other proud papa's out there. I have liked writing this blog, partly because I know my dad reads it and it makes me feel like it is a way for him to keep up with me and his favorite grandson. One point, technology.

In other fatherly news, my brother announced the birth of his second child, a little boy, whose name is still yet to be determined. I was able to catch up with him and got to hear all the gorey details of the birth story. I am happy to report that the everything went pretty well and that mother and baby are doing well.

gone fishin'

It is now down to myself, two cats, a sleeping little boy and a glass of wine. Not a terrible roster for a Tuesday night. The only thing missing is B, who left tonight to go do some serious male bonding with the men in his family (father, uncle, two cousins and a grandpa), way up in Canada for a week; of what I understand to be fishing, eating, drinking, and jumping in a lake to wash off. This rigorous itinerary is to be repeated daily. To be fair, I am sure that B would be much more excited if beef was being dehydrated instead of fish being filleted, but then he may never come home.

His absence is already felt. I sit here and can't help but to notice how eerily quiet it is, just the traffic on the highway going by. No throat clearing, or video game noises, no hand drumming or burps, yelps or phlegm being emitted. And I hate to admit, it is a little unsettling.

I have known about this trip for months and I know that B has been looking forward to it with nervous excitement because like all things it could go either way. But my bets are on a enjoyable week spent getting to know his family better and recharging by having some time away.

As for me, my plans are to hopefully paint a little, finish my book, see some friendly faces and enjoy the time I have to do things, that I never quite get around to doing. Relationships have a habit of taking you away from things that you enjoy, by no means completely or in a bad way, but in a different way. I certainly enjoy nothing more then our time together, spent alone or with Ethan. But dependency is a tricky thing, and something that is always a work in progress. Hopefully this week will be remind us both, to appreciate what we have and to remember who we are.

great white north

This past weekend B and I ventured up to St. Paul, Minnesota, for a visit with my three closest girlfriends and their significant others. We all fit under one roof, compliments of a new beautiful house bought last year by Aimee and Ryan. The sod was truly an amazing sight...

We arrived Friday evening after an uneventful drive up. It was just like driving through Michigan but with a few bluffs thrown into the mix. We listened to some audio books, napped and I counted the minutes until we would get there.

We arrived and I am not sure I waited for the car came to a stop, before I leapt out to say hello. We got a tour of the house and a lengthy explanation as to what a feat the backyard was, and soon settled in for some drinks and burgers and Mandy's famous bean salad. After dinner, the ladies went and split a bottle of wine and caught up on all things female, while the men fondled bottles of alcohol and did some male bonding of sorts. We were still missing one puzzle piece, who arrived ready, willing and very able, Frank the Tank. And soon the party came together as did the beer and glasses of whiskey. I recall a short lived dance party and awoke the next morning with my contacts still in and all of my clothes still on, not knowing where I was. A surefire sign of a good night, but a not so fun day ahead.

Later on into the morning, we were treated to some delicious egg bake and after coordinating shower times, set off, the girls went shopping and the men folk went to the race tracks. We went and had some amazing pizza for lunch, went into a few shops and capped it off with a cup of coffee. I think we all sat there not wanting the time to end, enjoying each others company; such a wonderful and rare time that the four of us are all together, sans our men (and our little men).

We met up later with the our other halves and hung out and ordered some dinner. There was some hockey game on, which I found difficult to watch because my eyes kept closing. But later on we watched some comedy and the night sort of petered out, as did we.

The next morning, we awoke, refreshed and without hangover. We all agreed, that it was sort of an odd sensation, our breakfast banter was much more lively and the food didn't involve copious amounts of bacon. The afternoon was spent walking at a fairly fast clip and no one complained of headaches or severe dehydration. It was a new improved us. Maybe we are getting older and a little wiser, or maybe we will just make up for it next time. Stay tuned.