How can it be that SEVEN whole months have gone by since Peter was born? He is managing quite well, working very hard at rolling and scooting and otherwise locomoting himself around. Luckily he can't yet crawl, and I am fairly easily able to stay just out of reach. Erika put him on the swing for the first time -- it took some getting used to -- and brought him to the beach for the first time during one of our warmer November weekends (again, sand took some getting used to). Peter was a reluctant pilot for Halloween (vintage Red Baron style, in honor of Martin getting his plane back). I was just glad to avoid a costume. One of the office dogs that Erika works with came in as Ebi sushi (nigiri), and another one was a "fairy dogmother". Dogs. So easy to humiliate.
Things have been busy around here. I'm busy training Peter not to pull on my ears, Martin is trying to keep his job amid all the lay-off threats, Peter is learning eight different ways to avoid eating solid food, and Erika has been working so hard that her ears are vibrating. Or that might just be the massive amounts of caffeine she has been consuming in order to finish a big project at work.
Speaking of caffeine, Erika would like to expound upon the virtues of the Peet's Coffee Shop at 16th and Bryant. First of all, it's Peet's coffee, which is just plain really really good. Even better, it's officially "Holiday Time" for Peet's, which means that eggnog lattes are back. Peet's uses real, honest-to-goodness, 4000-calorie Eggnog in its lattes, which makes them unbelievably delicious and rather, um, fattening if you are keeping track of that sort of thing. Yes, I know, it's a Starbucks link, but Peet's wisely does not post nutritional information for their lattes. Last year Erika had to limit herself to one a week during the month of December. This year she has already blown the one a week rule, and it's not even Thanksgiving. But I digress.
The best thing about this particular location of Peet's coffee, is how it manages to be a perfect microcosm of San Francisco culture. On any given morning, you will encounter highway patrolmen (quite frequently), African-American/lesbian employees from the nearby vegetarian food co-op, a wide range of homeless people (Peet's serves them all with the utmost respect), yuppies like us, tattooed bike messengers, hippie mamas with babies in adorable hand-knit hats and sweaters and ergonomically correct baby wearing devices, annoying businessmen on their cell phones (very rare, luckily), aging hipsters with ginormous designer leather purses, and truly everyone in between. It's fascinating, and quite a pleasant reminder of what an interesting and diverse place San Francisco really is.
Sadly, Erika spent quite a chunk of the last month NOT in San Francisco, which is not all bad. She got to visit some of her favorite people in the whole U.S. (the Briggs family) in Omaha, Nebraska while she was on a business trip. And she and Martin and Peter (I stayed home with Jana) got to visit equally wonderful people (and look at some pretty nice houses) in Nevada City. Erika has been wanting to move to Nevada City since college and it looks like it finally could happen, if the stars align and Martin can find work that allows him to live there. Or find work period. It's pretty bleak here, folks, even in Golden Silicon Valley. The economy is HURTING.
But today, life is good. We are all doing what we love. I am napping in a sunny spot on the flannel comforter. Peter is babbling and playing with a toy after attending his very first birthday party (for his one-year old buddy Liam). Martin is getting covered in grease with two of *his* buddies, getting the plane ready for her annual inspection. Jana is out exploring and discovering the weeds of San Francisco, taking a much-needed break from her nanny duties. And Erika is relaxing after a stroll through the neighborhood where she ran into no fewer than three different friends, feeling at home in San Francisco and at peace with the world as she watches her beautiful 7-month-old baby crack himself up and dissolve into the most adorable baby giggles.
