On Outgrowing

No, this post is not going to be about my weight. Certain people have actually mentioned how svelte I look lately. This post is about outgrowing our apartment, or as we affectionately call it these days, The House of Plague (everyone except *me* seems to have a cold).

I thought it best to illustrate how we are outgrowing our apartment with some visual aids which, incidentally, contain images of Christmas cheer! But first, some background. Peter is a curious child. Curious and fearless. Not a great mix unless you have 24-hour supervision, and Erika tries her best but... At any rate, we have one room in the house (my new favorite room, where I now spend 90% of my time) that is off limits to Peter. We call it The Forbidden Room. It contains such curiosities as the always-on gas fireplace and the very tall bookshelves. It also now contains my cat food, my water, and my litter box because these three objects posed too great a temptation to Peter and after much heart ache and yelling, it was decided that everyone would be better off this way.

The Forbidden Room also happens to be our living room. It is adjacent to our dining room/play room/Erika's "office"/guest bedroom. Yes, those are all one room. I told you we were outgrowing this apartment. The living room is traditionally where one puts a Christmas tree. Our house is no exception. So, we did a bit of re-arranging and the Forbidden Room is also now the Room of Christmas Cheer.

Here is a picture of Erika taking a picture of the Christmas stockings, hung by the "fireplace" with care.

And here is Peter (with beloved lovey), next to our Christmas tree!

Oooooh, Christmas tree!

Luckily it is in the Forbidden Room.

Nice little Christmas scene, eh? Except that if you draw back or pan right just a tad, you might notice my food and water...hmm, that's not too Christmasy.

But even worse, if you draw back just a little further or pan left, you might notice...a...box... next to the artfully weathered couch arm. Hmmm, whatever could that be?

Oh NO! That doesn't smell like pine needles and Christmas cheer! Well, at least we have the Christmas-themed dustpan to sweep up the stray bits.

I don't mind sharing the Christmas room.

However, Erika and Martin are OVER it. Over the cramped digs, over the lack of heat in appropriate places (like maybe the bedroom and bathroom instead of the hallway?), over the schlepping a 28-lb child and his 28 lbs of STUFF up and down several hills because there was no parking spot within 2 blocks of the apartment, and OVER paying rent in the second most expensive rental market in the country. (Sorry, Andrew, but at least you get to live in my favorite city on the planet.)

Yes, I may finally say with all of my toes crossed and a healthy dose of cautious optimism...Erika and Martin are finally buying a house. Well, at least they are in the very beginning stages of buying a house (made offer, accepted counter offer). This is farther than they have ever gotten before, hence the cautious optimism. It's the one with the giant sun room and the resident rooster, so I've given my seal of approval. Next step: inspections and blah blah blah. Will probably happen between Christmas and New Year's. The house is in Nevada City, for those of you who have not been following along. It's the one that Erika fell in love with on sight. Ok, better not say too much. Don't want to jinx it.

Happy Holidays!

Grateful

Ok, so this would have been especially appropriate around Thanksgiving, but I've been, uh, Busy. And with this cold snap, I have even more to be grateful for. Like the gas-powered fireplace that I spent all day in front of yesterday. And today. And the extra comforter that Erika put on the bed last night. 54 degrees in the house this morning! BRRR. (For all of you midwesterners and east coasters reading along, anything below 50 outside is very cold for Californians, and we don't like our houses to get much below 68 degrees.)

Erika has her own list of things she is grateful for, starting with opposable thumbs. Ever tried changing a diaper filled with liquid poop on a wiggly toddler using only one hand and four fingers on the other hand? Didn't think so. It's hard. Erika sliced off the tip of her thumb this morning making mushroom barley soup for said toddler. The soup was delicious (or so I hear) and free of thumb bits, for those of you who were wondering.

Speaking of kitchen tools, Erika is also EXTREMELY grateful for her new Kitchen Aid!!! It's one of those things she wonders how she ever survived without. Baking bread is now a breeze. It's almost too easy. Instead of kneading for 25 minutes and trying to dissuade a whining toddler from climbing up her leg for 23 of those 25 minutes, she merely presses a button and voila! Play time with Peter while SIMULTANEOUSLY "kneading" bread dough! Amazing. It's a whole new level of multitasking. Stay tuned for Christmas cookies.

On a more serious note, Erika is thankful for her dear husband, Martin, who managed to watch TWO toddlers (favor to an ailing mother in Peter's play group) for much of this past weekend while Erika frolicked in Santa Cruz at Tina Wong's 40th birthday extravaganza. And what an extravaganza it was. Sand candles, exotic dancing aerobics, wine and cheese and home-made soy chai, and the company of some of the most extraordinary women she has ever met, which led to some intense emotional conversations about some other things that Erika is grateful for, like her mother. Some of these women sadly no longer have their mothers around, which made Erika appreciate her mother even more. She feels awfully lucky to have a happy, healthy mother who loves her and who she actually enjoys spending time with.

And while we are on the topic of being grateful for family members, Erika wants to be quick to mention that she is ALSO very thankful to have a happy, healthy father too. And, well, uncles and aunts and and cousins and nieces and nephews and in-laws, and of course we don't want to forget Peter George. Erika is awfully grateful for having him around as well.

But she is also very thankful to have Ashley the Wonder Nanny come for a visit every Thursday, to take Peter AWAY for the whole day so that Erika can do things like go to the dentist. And sit, undisturbed, with a cup of tea for 20 minutes or so. But of course Ashley would not be possible without the other mothers and boys who we share her with, and so Erika is also thankful for Peter's little buddies and their sweet, down to earth mothers who preserve Erika's sanity. Life would certainly be harder without them. But not as hard as changing a diaper with only one thumb.