Summer Recap

So long time no post.  We've been traveling for my work, and busy with Hannah, and she's started sleeping through the night (yay) but winds up getting up at around 6 most mornings (not yay).  Which means that I kind of have to rethink my whole sleep schedule, getting up early to write, how I'm going to fit in The Artist's Way etc.  Our babysitter likes to talk about how she "puzzles" things together, and that's what I'm trying to do.

I was thinking back on the summer, and how it didn't work out at all the way I'd planned.  I had planned to go to Sweden for my best friend's wedding, and North Carolina for my stepbrother's wedding.  Neither of those things happened.  Instead, the following happened.

Memorial Day Weekend: the Saturday morning of Memorial Day Weekend I went to the doctor and got meds for my bipolar disorder.  I took them that Saturday night, felt like a freight train hit me, and slept for 13 hours without waking up once.

Hannah moved into her own room Memorial Day Weekend as well.  It was a big weekend all around.

The week after that I was in New York for BookExpo where I met a lot of publishers, took lots of long walks through the city, revisited some of my old haunts, and ate a lot of Pret a Manger sandwiches.

In mid-June the shit hit the fan with our neighbor when he came pounding up our steps swearing at us (he has some anger issues).  We should have called the cops for disorderly conduct, but we were too shellshocked.  Next day the County comes out and says that:
- we have to tear down the cat shed
- we have to get an inspector out about the home office
- we need to rehome half our cats.

That night I escaped to Seattle for the launch of the Amazon Fire phone and met Jeff Bezos the next day.

When I got home we decided that we were moving back to Pennsylvania by the next summer.  We would swing seriously into Moving Mode, which meant getting rid of stuff, fixing up the house, and yes, rehoming our cats.  I stopped feeling safe in our home thanks for the asshole next door, who also started coming up more often.  Before The Incident we'd seen him twice in 7 years.  Now he's up like every week.

Ok, so we spent tons of time and energy calling cat places and trying to find homes for older cats, which is a tough sell.

Then I went to Vegas for ALA Annual.  It was hot.  That's all I can say about that.  Oh, and the Bellagio fountain show is amazing.

We started Mommy & Me swim lessons the last week in June.  Hannah had a blast with the kids in the water, and even went off the diving board.

By the 4th of July we had homes for the cats lined up, and we were delivering them.  J took down the cat shed, but it took a week because he was doing it carefully since we might wind up reassembling it in our driveway.

The inspector comes in mid July and says that J has to tear down the home office, and has 2 weeks to do so.

I work part time so he has time to disassemble, and Hannah and I spend a lot of time together in the afternoons.

We had our first yard sale on August 2, and made around $70, and got rid of 2 carloads of crap.

The home office was mostly torn down by her birthday, on August 7.  Which she spent in the ER with strep throat.  A 15 hour overnight ER visit.  I'm still recovering from that.

Sometime in there I went up to San Mateo and got pissed off at the summertime tourists clogging up the airport.

After all this, the idea of going to Sweden - just the idea of it - made me nauseated.  I just couldn't do it.  So I bailed on my best friend and his wedding.  So sad.  I also bailed on my stepbrother's wedding.  Too many people got married in August.

Hannah took her first steps August 9.  She was really seriously walking by around the 19th.  Now she's a pro.

This past week we were up in Santa Clara for a big event I do there each year.  The drive through the Central Valley with an antsy 1 year old who can walk was pretty rough.  I had told my boss back in mid July that I was moving, and was going to be working for myself.  I might still stick around with my current job on a consultant/contract basis (and in fact I think it makes sense for me to do so, at least for a year or two), but I'm also hustling for other work next year, and will be going to the Pa Library Association meeting at the end of September.

And today, to nicely wrap up the end of summer in a neat little package, we had our second yard sale and made around $250.  I sold the Asus tablet I bought in 2011 at Best Buy in Upland.  J sold his first guitar.  We're seriously getting rid of everything.  It's awesome and freeing and amazing.

This summer I also started practicing daily meditation, daily writing, and using the loseit app.  I'm within 7 pounds of my pre-pregnancy weight.  I walk around the lake at least 4-5 days a week, with smaller walks the rest of the days.  It's great to start feeling healthy again.  I'm fairly well adjusted to my meds - they don't make me feel like I was hit by a freight train anymore, though I do still need 8 hours of sleep each night to not feel like death.

Hannah is on a good schedule, and I get time in the evenings to myself these days.  Also the mornings, if I can drag my ass out of bed early enough.  Now that it's getting light so much later, the 5:45 alarm seems even more like a medieval torture instrument.

And I've read a ton of books on Oyster.  I heart Oyster.

So that's where we are.  Nothing went as expected, but that's kind of how life goes, and I'm really excited about the future.  Working for myself, however that will go.  Moving back home (which sort of fills me with dread, but is also exciting at the same time - plus J is really excited, so it's great to see him like that).  Really committing to a number of big changes, which I think will be for the best for our family, and for Hannah.  It's been a crazy summer!

How to Not Piss Me Off When Flying This Summer

I went up to San Mateo today for a meeting about the future of our ebook project, with our partner library, Contra Costa County.  It's all good; just some restructuring and redefining roles after some departures from CCCL.  But the bad news was that I had to travel in the summer time.  I think most people who fly often will agree that summertime travel sucks.  So many badly dressed people who have no clue what they're doing.  So many people who are unprepared to go through security.  So many children who are also clueless because they are traveling with clueless people.

There should be a lane just for frequent travelers.  Oakland used to have that lane, but it was on the honor system, and the queues were always shorter, and so people took advantage of it and you'd see 75 year old grandparents in pink cotton capri sweatsuits trying to figure out where they last saw their license, and if maybe they dropped it at church bingo last week.  Meanwhile I'm standing with my laptop out of the bag, shoes off, liquids ready, waiting for Myrtle to fish through her stack of Depends for her wallet.

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Depends per se.  In fact, I wore them for a good 2-3 weeks after Hannah was born.  I still think how awesome they are when I sneeze and sort of pee my pants.  But seriously.  Get your damn license out before you get in line.

And for the love of God, do not wear capri sweatsuits.  To start with, anyone under like 5"9' should not be wearing capri pants, period.  Very few people can pull them off.  They break up the line of your leg at the widest point of your calf.  And do not ever wear a velour jumpsuit.  Just don't.   If I see you in an airport in a velour capri sweatsuit, I will put on a very smug look, and make snarky comments about you.  Which I did about the woman herding two children to a dance competition this morning.  She had clearly spent hours on her look.  Her toenails matched her shirt.  Her sandals matched her bag.  And she had overhairsprayed the worst short hair style I've ever seen.  She put way too much effort into looking like something off of that Toddlers and Tiara's show.

You don't see shit like that in airports during the rest of the year.  It's mostly business people who are wearing business attire.  People who are in a rush to get somewhere, have a productive meeting, and get home.  And do it looking somewhat professional.

Next, have your damn shit together before you get in the security line.  Seriously people, it's not that hard.  You need your license, or passport if you're traveling internationally.   Then, once you get past the security person who checks to make sure that you're on a flight today, you do some fast emptying of stuff, which is much easier if you plan ahead.  You put your liquids in a bag.  You take the bag out.  If you have a laptop you take that out.  You take off your shoes.  If you're a man, you have a little extra work because you have to take off a belt.  I know, for some men this might just push you over your cognitive limits, but if you practice at home, it's not that bad.  Empty your pockets.  Take off your jacket.  Put them all in the nice little bins.  Boom, done.

Next, after you go through the scanning machine, please don't stand on the other side of the xray machine getting your shit together.  They have chairs and benches for that.  You may not realize this, but you're holding up the rest of us, who want to get past you to collect our stuff that is piling up coming out of the xray machine.  Please.  Just get your stuff, and go.

Now, we're in the airport.  We need to check the gate that our flight is leaving from.  It's not rocket science.  You don't need to stand ten feet away from the monitors blocking the aisles for the rest of us who need to navigate around you like a stone blocking a creek (bring your glasses if you do!).  You know where you're going.  Look for that city.  Then you know what time your flight is.  Find it.  Done.

Please do not carry giant quilted bags that include pillows stuffed inside for a 45 minute flight.  People, overhead space is precious.  You don't need your damn pillow.  You aren't going to sleep anyway.  You know you aren't.  You're way too excited to sleep.  I can tell.  I was behind you in the Starbucks line wondering why the hell you were getting even more caffeine.

Ok, cell phones.  I don't care what cousin Harry did to Aunt Joan, and if she's going to be at the family reunion or not.  I know you're hard of hearing, so you think everyone else is, and consequently you scream.  Stop that.   I'm thinking about my meeting.  Not your reunion.

Children.  Look, I get it.  I've traveled with Hannah, once to New Zealand.  It's a bitch.  And in general, I don't have much of a problem with children if their parents are being responsible about them, and watching them.  I'm not their jungle gym.  If they try to go through my bag, like the three year old in Oakland did today, and you don't stop them, I swear to God, I will smack them for you.  I don't believe in hitting my child.  But yours is fair game.   A little bit of planning goes a long way.  Have some toys.  Have some snacks.  There are literally hundreds of articles on how to travel with little ones.  Google them and read them.

Car rental counters:  I don't care if you're from Philadelphia, and neither does the lady behind the counter.  Look, I hate to be harsh, but nobody here cares.  Really, they don't.  It's great that you're excited to see the Pacific Ocean, and I hope you have a great time doing that.  But I'm trying to get to a meeting, and I'd like to not have to race across the San Mateo Bridge to get there, so can you please hurry your story up a little bit because the lady behind the counter is wearing a fake smile, and she's too polite to tell you to shut up.  I'm not.

Look, the Soup Nazi had a very efficient system going.  And during most of the year, those of us who travel for work a lot abide by a list of unspoken rules, and we all get along efficiently.  In the summer it all goes haywire, and I really hate it.  So until they get airports and planes specially made for frequent travelers, have some respect for those of us who do this all the time.  This may be your vacation, but this is our life.  We know this airport like we know our own home.  You're in our space now, and you should have some respect.

That is all.

Favorite Places in England: Golden Cap, Dorset

I regularly read Dorset Life on my ipad.  It's a local magazine all about Dorset, which I first picked up on a trip to Bournemouth a few years ago.  Completely opposite to men who read Playboy "for the articles," I freely admit to reading Dorset Life for the pictures.

In each issue they have a Dorset walk, and some history, and some other fun features.  Right now, they're doing a feature looking at "Dorset's Jurassic Coast - Bexington to Lyme Regis" and a highlight is the Golden Cap.  Incidentally, the Jurassic Coast exposes a continuous sequence of Jurassic, Triassic, and Cretaceous rocks, spanning 185 million years of history.

It's the highest piece of coastline on the south coast (626 feet high), and offers views for miles, which would have been important around 1000 years ago.  The first Viking raid on England (which wasn't really England then, since it was a collection of kingdoms like Mercia, Wessex, etc) was in the 8th century on the Dorset coast, so they probably would have used the high point to watch for Vikings coming across the "narrow seas."

If you head down the western slope, there's a stream called St. Gabriel's Water, and a little upstream are the ruins of the 13th century St. Gabriel's church.  The water goes back into the sea at a secluded beach that was used by smugglers for centuries to bring in contraband goods.

Completely unrelated, other than the viking connection to Dorset, apparently Viking warriors used to file their teeth.  To look tough.  Or have dental bling.  According to skeletons found in a Dorset grave, these guys filed their teeth to have horizontal marks, possibly to scare their enemies.  It just sounds painful to me.

Amazon Geekery (or, 24 hours in Seattle)

So on Wednesday I got to go to Seattle to the launch of the Amazon smartphone.  It's the first launch ever where they've had customers, and about 120 of us were chosen, about half of whom (myself included) were flown in from out of town.

I have no idea how I was chosen, so don't even bother to ask.  I did talk with one of the "hosts" about how they decided to who invite, since over 60,000 people applied, and he said there were over 40 criteria.  Among them; do you own one of their devices, do you write reviews, do you buy different types of things (yay for having a baby and being too lazy to go shopping, so using Subscribe and Save with Amazon Mom for everything).

For whatever reason, at 8:00pm I got into Seattle, where there was a driver with a town car waiting for me with a poster that said Amazon Event, H. Teysko.  No kidding.  I got to my hotel (pretty swanky) and in my room was a copy of the Mr. Pine's Purple House book that Jeff Bezos had sent to all the press before the event (it's about a man who lives in a row of white houses, and does all this stuff to try to differentiate his house, eventually painting it purple, and then the rest of the neighborhood gets the idea to paint their houses red and green, etc., and suddenly it's all colorful).  There was a note on it saying how they were glad we would be there the following day, and enclosed is Jeff Bezos' favorite childhood book; and he thinks we'll agree that things are better when they're just a little bit different.

At 8:45, I was downstairs in the lobby waiting for our shuttle to the launch event, which was about a 20 minute drive away.  We were dropped off and there was a line of press on one side of the check-in barricade.  I talked to Jo from Fox Business News first.  There were lots of geek press - people from Mashable, Engadget, etc.  I checked in and got a blue wristband, which apparently differentiated me as a super special Amazon customer.

At 10am the doors opened, and we all were ushered in together.  We were in a studio, and the place was all dark.  The walls had screens with pastel blues and reds, like twilight and the early morning sky, and there were little lights which I thought were shooting stars, but now I know were probably meant to be fireflies.  The press was all on risers in the back, with giant cameras and such.  And there was club-like music playing.  I suddenly felt very unhip.  The Spice Girls were blasting.  I thought we were supposed to get up and dance or something.  I wasn't dressed for a club.

The number of people who applied to be in the audience. #lucky

At 10:30 on the dot, Jeff Bezos himself comes out and starts talking about how much people love Amazon Prime, and how great it is, etc.  He goes through a powerpoint presentation slide by slide, and I'm starting to get bored.  I was tweeting everything on my ipad to try to stay awake.  Eventually, like 20 minutes in, talk turns to the phone.

Then we get to see a demo, and he walks us through the technology behind the 3D stuff, and we see firefly, and he talks about the headset, and on and on.  I was seriously falling asleep,  I needed more coffee.  Plus I was hungry.  There was breakfast outside while we were waiting, but I went for the coffee first, and by the time I got to the food table the press had eaten all the fruit.

After the presentation, we were given some lovely snacks to tide us over until lunch - mixed nuts with bacon, which is an interesting combination.  Then we were shuttled over to the Amazon campus, where we were given lunch at a restaurant below it.

I thought it was an interesting mix of people.  There seemed to be a lot of people who were in awe of the phone.  The 3D stuff is pretty nifty, but they were going on and on about Firefly, and I was kind of like, "isn't that just sort of like Google Goggles?" but they didn't want to hear it.  And the song lyric thing - that's just sort of like Shazam, right?  So there were a lot of people who were super impressed with the phone, going on and on and on about how great it was.  I was sort of like, "meh."  I guess I'm too jaded.

And I'm really kind of freaked out about the 4 infared cameras that are on you at all times.  I get that's how they have to do it to get the 3D portion (they need to know where your head is at, and not make you wear weird head gear - a clear cut at Google Glass) but it still freaks me out.

Hanging with Bezos

So at the restaurant we all file into tables where there is an Amazon Host who is there to help us make small talk (we're supposed to talk about things that make us peculiar) and also get us pumped up about the phone.  We are ushered into private rooms where we can play with it.  I peppered them with questions about privacy, and did ask about it being like google goggles, and I wasn't duly impressed enough, I don't think.  I'm particularly unimpressed with the AT&T exclusive.  It's 2014.  We seriously still do exclusives?

But the best part was when Jeff Bezos himself came in.  Whatever I think about their phone, I love Amazon and I love Bezos (I read my first biography of him in like 2000), and I got to meet him and get a picture taken with him.  And I think it's awesome that the founder and CEO of such a huge company would take the time to meet with each of his customers who were there.  He just came up, "hey, I'm Jeff," like we didn't know that already.  My phone decided to not work while trying to take the picture, and I cleverly quipped, "you should use this as an ad for your phone," which made him laugh.

After lunch, we were all given goody bags, and then we were shuttled back to the hotel.  I walked up to the Seattle Public Library where I saw a friend of mine from Lancaster County, who I hadn't seen in 12 years.  Then back to the hotel where my town car picked me up for the flight home.

All in all, it was a pretty awesome 24 hours, and even though I'm not super excited about their phone, I'm totally excited about what they do for customers, and I still love you, Amazon.

Geeky Girl

So apparently I'm hip.  I scored one of only 120 invitations to go to Seattle to attend the launch of the super-secret gizmo that Amazon is launching on Wednesday.  I'm not exactly sure what I did to deserve this free flight and free hotel and presentation by Jeff Bezos himself (and maybe I'll score a freebie?) but I'm not arguing.

Most of the press think it's going to be a smartphone.  Either way, I'll be live blogging and tweeting it (they said we could blog, but not take video).  I'm super-stoked, and I wonder if I'll be as excited about it as these people are...

Throwback Thursday to the Webster Apartments and 2003

I've been traveling a lot lately; to BookExpo in nyc and then to visit my family (sans baby) in Pennsylvania.

In New York I stayed at the New Yorker on 34th and 8th, a block over from where I used to live at 34th and 9th at the Webster Apartments.  

The Webster, I was pleased to see, has a historical marker outside on the street.  And it deserves it.  It's a magical awesome place.  Started by the Webster family (of dictionary fame) the Webster Apartments opened as a women's residence about 150 years ago when there was an influx of single women working in the fashion district, and in stores like Macy's. 

So they started this women's residence where single women could live in midtown, close to work.  Now it's a non-profit.  I lived there in 2003.  I was 26.  I paid $200/week, which included 2 meals a day.  It was the most amazing experience.  There were no boys allowed anywhere besides the first floor and dining room.  My dad had to have a security guard to come see my room on the 7th floor (though in fairness that was largely because they needed to warn the girls running around from the shower in their towels).  

The first floor had a library with a huge fireplace, large sitting room, garden sitting room (lots of glass looking out on the gardens), a piano room with plenty of room and a ballet barre for dancers to practice, and these bizarre entertainment rooms for single women to entertain their gentleman callers.  They were in a hallway, about 8 or so of them, closed on three sides but open on the main hallway side (no funny business or unwanted pregnancies) and each had a sofa, armchair, and coffee table.  There was always a demand for the last one in the row because the chances of someone passing by and catching you mid-make-out-session were low.

The rooms were small, but functional.  They had a single bed, chair, desk, dresser, sink, and closet.  One

large window.  They were cleaned each week as part of the deal.  

We also had an amazing roof garden with panoramic views of midtown. I used to go up early in the morning to meditate and write in my journal and watch the sun come up over the river..

My best memory of the Webster was during the 2003 East Coast blackout.  We all slept up on the roof because it was so damn hot.  They made us peanut butter sandwiches and juice boxes because there was no electricity or water.  I felt so taken care of,  It was always like stepping back in time - you'd be bustling along 34th street, fighting your way through commuters and tourists, the wind whipping through the canyons, and suddenly you'd step into this oasis of peace where they would call you Miss Buettner (that was my name then) and ask me what kind of soup I wanted.  

I have a rule.  Hannah is allowed to live in New York if she lives in the Webster.

Down Under Travels With a Teething Infant

Hannah and Mama in Auckland's Vulcan Lane

I haven't blogged in a while.  Because I've been on a Girls' Trip with Baby H and my mom in Auckland.  Like, New Zealand.  I'm actually kind of amazed that I pulled that one off, and I still have some non-gray hair, and I'm not completely crazy.  

Baby H had some serious separation anxiety, which was kind of tough to deal with.  I couldn't leave her with my mom at all, really.  So we were pretty much attached at the hip.  She also only napped when I walked her around in her stroller, so we went on a bunch of really long walks.  I've heard people talk about needing a vacation after their vacation, and now I finally understand it.  I'm exhausted.

But, I managed to get through two 12 hour flights, jetlag, and travels by ferry with my girl, and I'm not too much worse for wear.  All in all, I call that a success.

I managed to learn a ton about how to travel long distances with her (you really don't need as much as you think you need, and packing too much is a serious pain in the ass.  Oh, and you won't get a chance to read those magazines you put on your ipad, so seriously, just leave it at home) which I think will be really useful when we go away to NYC and Sweden this summer.  I just learned it all the super hard way - like getting thrown in at the deep end.

Hannah is thrilled to be back home, and I'm thrilled to be able to have a moment to breathe again.  At some point I'm going to collect all my thoughts into a Compendium of Infant Travel.  I'd read a lot of different information on long haul travel with babies.  Some of it was useful.  Some was less so.  So I'm going to write down what worked for us.  As soon as I get some more sleep...

Yoga and tips for baristas

My yoga teacher tonight didn't seem to realize she was teaching a beginner/intermediate yoga course.  Spider downward dog?  WTH?  Shakira's hips don't lie.  My hips haven't moved like that since the pre-Monica Lewinksy Clinton administration.

But it was good practice, and inspiring to me to watch her move like that, like it was no big deal.  If I come to yoga often enough, and practice at home, and come to the mat at least several times a week, someday, God willing, I will be able to move like that.

I booked an airbnb in New Zealand today.  The ladies will be staying in a garden flat underneath a yoga studio five minutes from the beach.  I'm totally excited.  It's turning into a very different trip than I had anticipated.  It's becoming a yoga/beach retreat.  We're a ten minute ferry ride from downtown Auckland, so we'll be out of all the hustle and bustle and noise.  Baby H should sleep like a log.  One hopes.

In other news, the barista in the Starbucks across the street from yoga flirted with me.  I guess he probably flirts with all the old mom's to make them feel good, but he got an extra big tip from me, so it worked.  If you're a barista at starbucks, and you're under 25, here's a free piece of advice: flirt with tired old mom's who don't have the energy to put on makeup.  You will get big tips.  I promise.

Adventures in packing simply

In three weeks Babygirl and I will be in New Zealand.

I am using my "pump money" and taking Hannah (with my mom) to see one of my dearest friends, from when I lived in London.

Right in the middle of teething.

I may be insane.

But I really want to go, and I can't see being without her for that long (she's been outside of me for a shorter time than she was inside me still) so she got a passport, and an infant bulkhead seat, and we're heading off to Auckland.

I've started my packing list, and am trying to keep things as simple as possible, taking inspiration from Project 333.  If you haven't seen it yet, it's a challenge to dress with 33 items or less for 3 months (and put the rest in storage in your attic).  And "items" includes shoes and accessories.  Every 3 months you get to pick a new 33 items (ie sweaters for winter).  

So here's a brief story of my own journey to simplicity:

Our bigger closet is in what is now the nursery.  Once Hannah was on the way, I had J build a new closet in the laundry room section of our bathroom.  We had switched over to a stackable washer/dryer, so we had all the space sitting next to that combo which had, at one point, been where the dryer had sat.  I designed a custom closet (one narrow row for shoes, one wider one with 7 shelves for folded shirts and jeans, and two hanging racks).  I got rid of a lot of stuff while moving clothes over to that closet last spring, and again once I got rid of my maternity clothes in the fall.

Then, a few weeks ago, our washer broke.  The repair man needed to get behind it in order to fix it, which necessitated taking the dryer off, which in turn led to the dismantling of the closet.  I wondered why I had a lot of the things I did.  Why do I need a Blink-182 tshirt?  I mean, yeah, I love them, and I like remembering their concert, but surely I don't need a shirt taking up space to remember that I saw them?  And back when Stephen Colbert started a SuperPac I bought a tshirt.  Why am I keeping that?  These are all taking up space in my house, which isn't large, as well as mental energy when I'm going through my closet wondering what to wear.

I've been keeping the thrift shop busy lately.  

I always think back to the time when I was 24 and my most prized possessions fit into three suitcases.  Somehow I've accumulated all this crap since then, and I'm all emotionally attached to it.  Why do I need to keep earrings I bought 15 years ago, which I don't wear, and would probably give me an ear infection even if I did?  Looking at my collection of earrings gives me angst.  So many beautiful dangling sparklies, and yet after thinking about it for five minutes every day I always wind up wearing the same pair for simplicity's sake.  Honestly, couldn't that five minutes be spent doing something more productive?

That's the point of Project 333, and while I haven't yet accepted the challenge of living with only 33 items or less, I am down to only 8 pairs of shoes and 5 pairs of earrings.  And most of my clothes are now sitting on top of the washer, folded in three piles (trousers, long sleeved shirts, short sleeved shirts) with about a foot's width of hanging things (dresses, etc) in Hannah's closet.  The rest is either at the thrift store (6 pairs of shoes went there yesterday) or in the attic.

I'm spending less time thinking about getting dressed, because I have fewer options.  When I go shopping, I don't get distracted by clothes and shoes, because I don't want to think about what would have to go in order to make room.  If I should come across something truly fabulous, I can figure that out later.  

And, the point of this post to start with, my packing list for Hannah is a breeze.  I'm taking laundry detergent (woolite comes in travel packs) so can wash things.  I'm packing for three days, and just planning on doing laundry every few days.  Plus an extra outfit in the carryon.  Diaper stuff (diapers, skin protectant, wipes and pads to lay on the floor).  Travel Mustela products (love).  Some tylenol (for the aforementioned teething).  A couple of toys (following advice on traveling with infants, I have purchased three new toys to distract her on the plane).  Books.  Blankets.  Formula.  Bottles.  Travel bottle dryer.  Done.

Well..."done" in theory.  We'll see how it actually works out as we get closer to the time.  Once I get it all sorted out, I'll take a picture with the final packing list.

Mommy Daughter Culture Day: Huntington Library

A few months ago I started doing regular Mommy Daughter Culture Days on Sundays with Hannah.  It was mid-December, I'd just figured out how to pump while driving (hands free bra and car adapter) and I was ready to stretch the pumping tether that had me staying close to home from the time Hannah had been born.  So we went to LACMA, where Hannah got a free kid's membership that entitles her to go to the museum free with an adult until she's 18 (yeah, I sniff out culture deals).

So that got us started on Mommy Daughter Culture Day.  It's a nice time for us to go do something special, it gives J a break at home, and it gives me a chance to go out and do stuff in my city that I wouldn't normally do.

Since that LACMA day in December she's been to the Norton Simon in Pasadena, the Getty, the California Heritage Museum in Santa Monica, the Riverside Art Museum, and some other places which I now forget.

We welcomed Spring with a trip to the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens in San Marino.  I've been wanting to go to the Huntington for ages - they have an amazing collection of old maps, and it seems like every time I look at a map in a history book, it's courtesy of the Huntington.

They have the most amazing gardens - 120 acres divided up into gardens from lots of different countries.  So there's a Shakespeare garden, an Australian garden, a Japanese garden (with a bamboo forest - amazing to hear the trees blowing in the wind), a Chinese garden, and a jungle garden.  Kind of reminded me of the first time I was ever at Longwood Gardens when I was about five or six, when we were walking around for what seemed like hours, and I thought I was going to die of thirst.

Anyway, that's just the grounds.  Then they have like three buildings full or art and old maps and other cool stuff.  I'm considering buying a membership so I can go more often - I can't imagine that I could ever get sick of that place.

A special highlight was that Hannah sat in grass for the first time ever.  Up here in the mountains we don't have much in the way of fresh grass, and anyway, it's been winter.  So she had a good time sitting in the grass, pulling on it, trying to eat it, etc.  And I had a good time trying to keep her from eating the grass, etc.

The Week From Hell (aka Major Travel Fail)

I remember when I was in college, they used to call Finals Hell Week.  At the time it seemed appropriate, but after the 10 days I just had, the idea that college finals could be Hell is just funny to me.

So I had this genius idea that I should mix a business trip to Philadelphia for a 3 day long conference with a family visit in Lancaster, 60 miles west of Philadelphia.  Hannah would get grandparent time, I could commute on the train, and all would work out just peachy. Great idea, right?

Ok, so the train rides was fun.

But other than that, it was one of those things that are a good idea in theory, but not so much in practice.

Hannah was uncomfortable in a new place with new smells and new people and a new pack and play, so she was waking up every 90 minutes or so through the night and refusing to go back to sleep.

The polar vortex came back and I was freezing my ass off waiting for the train and trudging around Philadelphia when I could have just stayed in the nice warm Marriott attached to the convention center, and never have had to go outside.

All the stress of being with family was mixed with the stress of trying to be professional throughout the day after my commute and trudge through the snow.

And then Hannah got croup.  I took her to urgent care, they scared the shit out of me telling me her oxygen levels were low and I needed to go to the ER, and we couldn't travel on our planned day, and were stuck in Lancaster for a few extra days.  Oh, and they took her temp rectally and gave her a steroid shot, so she was a real joy that evening.  Poor baby.

All of this while I was trying to work on a huge IMLS grant (Institute of Museum and Library Services) that was due this past Monday at 2pm.

When I finally did fly back I was in one of Dante's outer circles of hell.  The way out I had Hannah in her own seat which was great.  But because of all the changing of flights and the last minute cancellations, that was a little pricey to do for the two of us, so she sat on my lap.

Rather, she squirmed on my lap.  And cried on my lap.  And threw fits on my lap.  And pooped on my lap.  And threw up on my lap.  And on my shirt.  And in my hair.  And of course she wouldn't eat when we were sitting in our seats doing nothing.  Nooooo, she had to eat when we had 45 minutes to change planes in Chicago so that mom (me) couldn't get any food.  Clever girl, she is.

Meanwhile my husband was at home getting Alone Guy Time and doing all the things he can't do when we're here.  Like sleeping all night.  Interrupted night sleep.  God, how I do miss you, uninterrupted sleep.  Not like I'm bitter or anything.

So I'm officially owed several nights of Alone Time now, and I'm planning how to best spend them.  So far the top two ideas are going on a spiritual retreat at a monastery by the ocean, and just getting a hotel room on the beach for a weekend.  Mama needs Alone Time to recover after that!

And I'm NEVER trying to mix family time with work time again.  Ever.  Never.  Never ever.

Oh, and in positive news, for those following the torture that my boobs have been going through, I'm officially not pumping any longer.  Hannah is on formula and that's all there is to it.  She'll be starting solids soon, we still have about 150 ounces of breast milk frozen, and other than that she's on Enfamil Gentlease and I've returned the pump to the rental store (though I had some sort of Stockholm Syndrome with it - I hated that damn Medela Symphony.  But I couldn't part with it without tears.)  Yay for no more pumping!!

Internet Archive Love

Earlier this month my organization had our annual board meeting at the Internet Archive in San Francisco.  We have  a relationship with them through their Open Library project, though I've been a fan of them for years because of their awesome Wayback Machine.   Since one of the Internet Archive's goals is to archive every page of every website, you can check out what sites like Yahoo looked like back in the day.  Remember Lycos?  Here's a nifty screenshot from 1999.  Remember Beanie Babies?  And how everything used to be curated by subject? 

So anyway, you can have hours and hours of fun on the Wayback Machine, and I highly recommend it for fun on a rainy day.  It's also useful.  I had a geocities website on Colonial America that I started right after college in 1998.  I got lazy and stopped updating it, and eventually geocities deleted it since it hadn't been updated in ages.  I thought all my essays and links and everything were gone, until I found it on the Wayback Machine and was able to save a copy.  So cool.

The Internet Archive also does all kinds of crazy stuff in addition to the web archive.  They digitize and archive home movies.  They record TV from countries all over the world to have an archive.  They digitize and lend out digital copies of books, the Open Library.  They are, in a word, awesome.

And they do it all from a church in San Francisco.  And we got a personal tour from their founder, Brewster Kahle.  The main offices are in the basement; the Sunday School room.  They have people scanning books in a separate scanning facility.  They have DVR's recording TV from all around the world.  

But the coolest part of the Internet Archive is the sanctuary.  It's huge and could easily hold a couple hundred people.  Every Friday they have a free lunch where anybody can just go in and learn about what they do.   And when you work with the Internet Archive for three years, they make a statue of you, that sits in one of the outer two rows of pews.  It's incredibly freaky, but so awesome, too.

   

Spot the real humans... there are two of them in this picture.

If you live in San Francisco, you should totally go to the Internet Archive some random Friday to meet them and see the awesomeness that they create.

How to feel 19 again, in a bad way

When I was a teenager, after I got my license, I went on a lot of road trips.  My poor parents never knew exactly where I was.  I drove to California, I drove up the east coast of Canada to Novia Scotia, I drove all around.  Sometimes I slept in rest stops in my car, a giant Oldsmobile Cutlass Ciera that let me stretch out quite comfortably in the back seat with my big comforter over my head so people couldn't see I was a girl alone.  Other times, if I was feeling particularly flush (or had a new credit card), I'd spring for a hotel.  It was never nice hotels, though.  Not like the kind I stay in now for work, with stocked mini-bars, name-brand toiletries, and Sleep Number beds.  Nope, I stayed in the beat down cheapest places in towns you've never heard of like Groom, Texas.

(Speaking of which, I will always have a bone to pick with Groom, Texas.  Picture this: you're driving along the freeway at night, half asleep because you got in the car somewhere around Kingman, Arizona, and you get to Groom, Texas, which is famous - if you can call it that - for having a 19-story cross.  It's Texas, so it's flat, right?  And at night they light this thing up so the astronauts can see it.  But think about the shape of a cross, especially a white one, lit up, at night.  As you're driving along, bleary-eyed, listening to too much Lyle Lovett, sipping your coffee, suddenly you perk right up, because, holy f*ck, that's a tornado up there!  ShitCrap what are you supposed to do?  It's getting bigger!  It's getting closer!  Are you supposed to get out of the car?  What if you get out and the car lands on you?  It's coming right towards you!  Holy shit.  Who can you call quick to tell you what you're supposed to do with a giant tornado - sheesh, it must be 19 stories!- coming your way in Texas?  There's a ditch by the side of the freeway, are you supposed to go in there?  It keeps coming closer!  Should you stop?  

But, hang on, it looks like...what the hell?...is that a giant...seriously?...somebody built a giant cross that looks like a tornado and lit the thing up in the middle of Nowhere, Texas?

I have no idea how many people have thought that the cross in Groom, Texas was a tornado, but it scared the shit out of me, and for that I refuse to ever stop there...I stop in Amarillo.)

Anyway, where was I?

Cheap hotels.

It's been a while. 

Monday night I stayed in the worst one ever (I was paying - it wasn't for work - so I thought I'd be cheap).  I had no idea that Pasadena could do "creepy" so well.  The Swiss Lodge in Pasadena is hands down, the most godawful place I have ever been in my entire life. And that's saying a lot, because the Super 8 in Kingman is pretty bad, too.  

Here's how to tell if your hotel is super-ghetto:

-  They don't keep the tv remote control in the room, but instead give it to people when they check in.  What could be the reason?  If they're afraid of people ripping them off, surely they still can?  I don't get it.  Either way, it's weird.  Even once you get into the room, the channels don't work right.  It's an old tv with the DirecTV box sitting on top, and you have to set the tv to be on channel 13 or something before the DirecTV channels kick in - it's like in the old days with a VCR box when you needed to have it on channel 3.  This would be ok, except nobody tells you that.  So you have to figure it out on your own.  

- There are spiders in the toilet.  This is just gross.

- There are no deadbolts or chains on the doors.  I solved this by jamming a chair under the doorknob - just like I did when I was 19! - but it didn't inspire a lot of confidence.

- When you check in, the guy at the front desk keeps asking you whether you're there alone.  You finally make something up about your husband maybe joining you, just because he's creeping you out so much.

- In the middle of the night, people are screaming in the parking lot.

- The ringer?  There are leftovers in the refrigerator.  Maybe it's the maid's lunch?  I don't know.  

The moral of the story is:

- read the reviews of a hotel before you book it.  If there are a ton of bad ones, and only a few good ones to try to skew the average, assume that those are employees.

and...

- When you're 36, things that were ok when you were 19, ain't ok any more.

Pictures from Monterey (and funny local news)

We were up in Monterey for our anniversary weekend - 6 years (says the girl who never wanted to get married in the first place...sheesh...).  I was at the Internet Librarian conference, which they always schedule conveniently in a beautiful place over my anniversary weekend.  So thoughtful of Information Today.  So by day I went to sessions on eBooks and web design, and then got to get all romantic with hubby in the evenings.  Sweet!

We went to a monarch butterfly sanctuary in Pacific Grove.  It's along the butterfly's migration track, so it's kind of like a giant Pilot Travel Center, and by late November, the trees are just covered with them.  The early ones were already starting to scope out the area when we got there.  In the pregnancy-loss world, lost babies are called Butterfly Babies, and we had fun trying to pick out which one was Baby T.  We think we caught him showing off his flapping skills here.

I took pictures of the ocean and hummed Enya's "Caribbean Blue" over and over, much to the chagrin of my husband.

And the waves.

While J showed off his rock-climbing abilities.  His neck is still intact.

And we watched it get dark over Monterey Bay while eating Pinkberry.  The 30 Day Sugar Detox is over, but it was the first dessert type of food I've had since September 16.  Crazy.

--

So today my mom left on a group tour of Scotland.  She parked in the shopping center where everyone was meeting to get on the bus to the airport, and promptly locked her keys in the car, along with all her bags.  Being prone to panic (it's where I got it from) she decided the best option would be to break her window, so that she wouldn't have to make the bus wait for her.  Never mind that she is in Pennsylvania, where a massive hurricane is set to arrive early next week.  Nope, she thinks it's a good idea to take a hammer to that sucker, and break her window.  Only thing is, the window doesn't break, despite the fact that she has biceps molded by years of working at UPS.  Eventually the tour operator saw the commotion, came over to see what was going on, and called triple A, who got her keys.  But the whole episode made J think of this funny local news video.  Breaking into a car is harder than it looks, I guess.   This has the bonus of being a funny bit of local news, as well as an informational instructional video. 

How to "Do" Iceland in 2 Days

Take an Obligatory Tourist Photo in the Airport.  When the passport control person stamps your passport, and you notice that it's really light so you can't see the "IS" easily, go back and ask politely for a fresh darker stamp, and they will look at you like you're a funny American, but they'll give you one.  So now you have two Iceland stamps.  Sweet.

Rent a car.  Get a map.  There's only one paved road around the country, and you need funny kinds of insurance.  Like Gravel Insurance because the roads are - well - gravel.  And Ash Insurance because of all the volcanoes.  The lady at the car rental counter will tell you that if you drive around the southern part, you'll feel like you're in the middle of nowhere.  You look around at the tiny airport and think that you already are in the middle of nowhere.  It gets more nowhere-y than this?  Wow.

3)  Take the first obligatory picture of yourself.  You want to go to the Blue Lagoon first, because it's close to the airport, but if you get lost, you'll wind up in downtown Reykjavik, which is cool because then you can say you saw it.

Wow, you think, Iceland looks a lot like the desert around Victorville.  I came all this way to see Victorville?  Really?

Turn back around and get to the Blue Lagoon.  Ok, so they don't have this in Southern California.

Take a picture of yourself in front of the milky blue water.

Take a picture of your husband holding Cool American Doritos while being a Cool American.

Pay a lot of money to swim in the Blue Lagoon.  Yeah, it's overpriced, but it's the only place in the world that is what it is.  So you go by yourself while your husband waits in the cafe using their free wifi (the only thing that's free at the Blue Lagoon).  Just beware of your hair.  Cover it up with a shower cap, or don't get it wet.  Because all the minerals are great for your skin - your skin will feel amazing - but do a serious number on your hair.  Your hair will feel like straw for days afterwards, and it will take lots of hair masks until it comes back to normal.

After the Blue Lagoon, drive to the coast and see the sea.

You might find a fish carcass.  In which case you should hold it up proudly.

This lady watches out for all the vikings on their voyages.

The thing about Iceland is that, since it's right where two plates collide, the scenery changes drastically from minute to minute.  One minute: Southern California (only with red-roofed houses and full riverbeds)

The next?  Niagra-freaking-falls.

Get up close to the Falls at Gulfoss, but not too close.  There's not really any guardrails.  People will be right up on the edge, dangling their feet in, and you think they're pretty crazy, because if you fall into that swirling mess of water, you are not coming out alive, that's all I can say about that.

Take another picture of Gulfoss.

People like to pile rocks up for good luck.  It's pretty neat.

At midnight, if it's summer, go out and look at the daylight.  Kids have soccer matches at midnight.  I guess it makes up for the fact that they probably hibernate all winter.

Stay in a little tiny cabin next to a campground.  They have kitchenettes, so you can buy food at the grocery store and cool, because Iceland is 'spensive.

Pet an Icelandic dog.

Pay about $15/gallon for gas.

Drive the southern part of the Island.  It takes about four hours to go to Glacier Bay, where you'll see lots of glaciers floating around. 

Get a view of a Glacier.  Lots of busses will stop by here and you can go walking on the glacier.  But if you go a bit further, you'll be rewarded.

This was my first view of a glacier.  If it's your first time seeing a glacier, you might cry, too.  I bawled my eyes out like a little baby.   Words don't describe it.  Words can't describe it.  You think it's so sad that people will never see this in their lives.  People need to see this.  It's amazing.

J stacks up rocks like locals.

It's amazing, these little delicate flowers that grow in the tundra.

Check out more glaciers in Glacier Bay.  Stand next to a tour bus tying to pick up their wifi signal so you can check in on 4Square.

There are tons of these waterfalls coming out of the ground, just hanging out, waiting to be looked at.

Play in Skogafoss, another waterfall.  Are you ever going to get jaded of all these waterfalls?

Go right up to the bottom, because there aren't very many other tourists, and get splashed by all the spray.

Bond with cows.  Seriously, get out of your car, and go right up to them, and lay in the grass, and pet them.  They might snort at you.  But they might also lick your hand, which scratches.  You feel slightly smug being vegetarian, because you know you'll never eat these babies.

See another waterfall.  By the way, it's about 10pm right now. 

Go home, try to sleep through all the light.  If you have a hard time sleeping in daylight, take tape.  We stopped at a store and bought some to tape up the blinds.  

The next morning, drive back to the airport.  And start making plans for your next visit, which will, undoubtedly, last longer than two days.