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Day 1045: On Energy and Age
Sep. 29th, 2012 03:22 pmI have discovered this: I am too old to run around acting like a teenager. Even though it's insanely fun.
So...last weekend I went down to SLC to see the fam - mom and dad are heading back to China, and it was my niece's first birthday. I finished her present and drove on down to crash at my sister's place. We stayed up late watching reality TV (the SyFy show about making a hot set was kinda cool) and then I slept in gloriously late, because I've been pretty sleep-deprived lately. I got to get my niece all dressed up, and after breakfast I took her to the park. The grandmother of an adorable baby boy neighbor was there, too, and we pushed the kids on the swings. Apparently I am the only person for whom my niece will not cry when she is put on the swings. Win.
It was the first time I'd ever been out alone with anyone under the age of, er...eight? Nope. Probably older than that. Like...ten. Or possibly thirteen. Nope. First time ever with someone who was a minor when I was not. My sister hung out the front door and sounded a bit panicked, reminding me to call if anything went wrong. Seriously. I'm technically a responsible adult (I have college and grad school and a job as a lawyer all going for me on this score), and the park was only a block or two away, so I figured I'd be fine. It was weird, pushing the pram and having no one to talk to. So I started talking to my niece, who said nothing in reply, and it sort of felt like I was talking to myself, or when I'd have one of those moments and have a serious hear-to-heart with one of the Chihuahuas.
Go figure. But we had fun at the park, and then my parents arrived, so we all went out to lunch together. There were political debates and lots of fun, and best of all, I got to see my parents again, so I was pretty excited. After mum and dad left, I got to help put my niece down for a nap. I wasn't so good at that. She doesn't like me nearly as much as she likes her dad, so I held her, and I rocked her, and eventually she fell asleep on my shoulder, but as soon as I moved to put her in her crib, she woke up and started crying. There was an awful lot of crying. Eventually I gave up and fell asleep on the chair in her nursery, and she fell asleep with me, only because she had her head on my shoulder my head was at an awkward angle, so when I woke up to try to fix the crick in my neck, she sensed movement and fell to crying once more. Eventually my brother-in-law intervened and told me that I'd just have to put her in the crib and let her cry it out, and it wasn't horrible abandonment or anything.
And she totally fell asleep. Then I hung out with my brother-in-law and we talked, and it was fun. He's a really nice, patient, funny guy, and we just had fun conversations (tips about being married, being a parent, talking to mom). Then I met up with Angela, BenTen, and her man Kitty for half-off sushi, which was awesome. While we were eating Sushi, BenTen and I resurrected our dream of starting our own publishing house. It's looking more and more like Cody and I will move to Utah for Grad School (at least, that seems to be his preference at the moment) so I'd be near my friends and we could start up a company. We could totally do it.
We talked schematics, legal frameworks (thanks to Angela's business law savvy), capital contributions, marketing strategies, everything. It'd take a lot of work and we'd all have to maintain day jobs in the meantime, but...we could do it. We totally could. It's a brave new world out there, and we want our own piece of it. And we're willing to do the work it takes to carve out our niche and set out our shingle. (And too many metaphors have been mixed). Once we got done with the business dreaming, we went to this pretty awesome family fun center (except at 10 pm they kicked out everyone under 16) and we had a blast. Played DDR and air hockey and Guitar Hero in the Dimecade. Had waaaay too much fun shooting each other in the blast balls pit (which had the best slides). We pummeled and wrestled teenagers in the bounce castle. And then...we went roller skating. BenTen was the best (she has her heart set on competing in roller derby), and I was a close second. We lost Kitty and Angela for part of the night, so I'm not sure how well they did. But we had awesome times.
And then I drove home.
Also, I did some cool calligraphy for this picture book my mom made for my niece - full of pictures of family and also nursery rhymes. And...according to Sensei Herbie, I'm about ready to test for my next belt.
I'm terrified. And better get to it soon. He made some noise about the test going down in October, when I have both a week-long business trip to San Antonio and also SPN Con in Chicago (ridiculously excited; Season 8 of SPN starts this week, as does Season 5 of Merlin).
But hey, a business trip means new job duties means possible raise, so life is good.
Also, Cody and I are creeping up on our eleven-month anniversary, which means I need to start planning for our one-year anniversary. And also I need to start making Christmas presents. Grrr.
But I am excited. I love this time of year.
So...last weekend I went down to SLC to see the fam - mom and dad are heading back to China, and it was my niece's first birthday. I finished her present and drove on down to crash at my sister's place. We stayed up late watching reality TV (the SyFy show about making a hot set was kinda cool) and then I slept in gloriously late, because I've been pretty sleep-deprived lately. I got to get my niece all dressed up, and after breakfast I took her to the park. The grandmother of an adorable baby boy neighbor was there, too, and we pushed the kids on the swings. Apparently I am the only person for whom my niece will not cry when she is put on the swings. Win.
It was the first time I'd ever been out alone with anyone under the age of, er...eight? Nope. Probably older than that. Like...ten. Or possibly thirteen. Nope. First time ever with someone who was a minor when I was not. My sister hung out the front door and sounded a bit panicked, reminding me to call if anything went wrong. Seriously. I'm technically a responsible adult (I have college and grad school and a job as a lawyer all going for me on this score), and the park was only a block or two away, so I figured I'd be fine. It was weird, pushing the pram and having no one to talk to. So I started talking to my niece, who said nothing in reply, and it sort of felt like I was talking to myself, or when I'd have one of those moments and have a serious hear-to-heart with one of the Chihuahuas.
Go figure. But we had fun at the park, and then my parents arrived, so we all went out to lunch together. There were political debates and lots of fun, and best of all, I got to see my parents again, so I was pretty excited. After mum and dad left, I got to help put my niece down for a nap. I wasn't so good at that. She doesn't like me nearly as much as she likes her dad, so I held her, and I rocked her, and eventually she fell asleep on my shoulder, but as soon as I moved to put her in her crib, she woke up and started crying. There was an awful lot of crying. Eventually I gave up and fell asleep on the chair in her nursery, and she fell asleep with me, only because she had her head on my shoulder my head was at an awkward angle, so when I woke up to try to fix the crick in my neck, she sensed movement and fell to crying once more. Eventually my brother-in-law intervened and told me that I'd just have to put her in the crib and let her cry it out, and it wasn't horrible abandonment or anything.
And she totally fell asleep. Then I hung out with my brother-in-law and we talked, and it was fun. He's a really nice, patient, funny guy, and we just had fun conversations (tips about being married, being a parent, talking to mom). Then I met up with Angela, BenTen, and her man Kitty for half-off sushi, which was awesome. While we were eating Sushi, BenTen and I resurrected our dream of starting our own publishing house. It's looking more and more like Cody and I will move to Utah for Grad School (at least, that seems to be his preference at the moment) so I'd be near my friends and we could start up a company. We could totally do it.
We talked schematics, legal frameworks (thanks to Angela's business law savvy), capital contributions, marketing strategies, everything. It'd take a lot of work and we'd all have to maintain day jobs in the meantime, but...we could do it. We totally could. It's a brave new world out there, and we want our own piece of it. And we're willing to do the work it takes to carve out our niche and set out our shingle. (And too many metaphors have been mixed). Once we got done with the business dreaming, we went to this pretty awesome family fun center (except at 10 pm they kicked out everyone under 16) and we had a blast. Played DDR and air hockey and Guitar Hero in the Dimecade. Had waaaay too much fun shooting each other in the blast balls pit (which had the best slides). We pummeled and wrestled teenagers in the bounce castle. And then...we went roller skating. BenTen was the best (she has her heart set on competing in roller derby), and I was a close second. We lost Kitty and Angela for part of the night, so I'm not sure how well they did. But we had awesome times.
And then I drove home.
Also, I did some cool calligraphy for this picture book my mom made for my niece - full of pictures of family and also nursery rhymes. And...according to Sensei Herbie, I'm about ready to test for my next belt.
I'm terrified. And better get to it soon. He made some noise about the test going down in October, when I have both a week-long business trip to San Antonio and also SPN Con in Chicago (ridiculously excited; Season 8 of SPN starts this week, as does Season 5 of Merlin).
But hey, a business trip means new job duties means possible raise, so life is good.
Also, Cody and I are creeping up on our eleven-month anniversary, which means I need to start planning for our one-year anniversary. And also I need to start making Christmas presents. Grrr.
But I am excited. I love this time of year.
