Tomorrow I am off to Vietnam with the family for two weeks. I have not had a second to prepare myself and have noooooooooooooo idea what I am in for. As long as I don’t break or misplace Cooper’s camera I will surely have a lot of photos to share. To Vietnam and beyond! (actually, we are only going to Vietnam). Until I return….
long and lean, dog park, 2007
Today I woke up on the wrong side of the bed…no doubt. Cooper let me sleep in and when he came to say “good morning!” I responded, “I am grumpy.” I thought a shower and a great meal out would do the trick (which it semi-did) and the trip to the dog park was pleasant, but as of 7:16pm tonight, I couldn’t shake the grumpiness. Spending a day in a bad mood is just a waste of a day and no fun for others to be around. I am so sorry Cooper. Naturally, the boy didn’t do anything. It was all me.
My first few words with a call to my mom were “I am grumpy.” Her response was “Me too and I have been this way all day.” Just those few words made me feel 2599875928752093857928357 times better. Thank goodness for group grumpy days.
stress causes overeating which goes straight to the caboose (as exhibited in the photo above)
I am feeling a little stressed. I leave on Thursday for Nam (Vietnam that is) and have so much to do before then my mind won’t stop going over the list in my head. While doing dishes I started to have hot flashes thinking about all that I need to get done. Serious hot flashes. My sister knows that when I get stressed I am prone to keep listing all the things I have to do that I spend too much time listing and don’t actually do the things I have to get done (remember my move out of the dorms sista? I would never have been able to get out of there if you hadn’t been around to help me stop listing). Maybe I should joing listers anonymous or something.
Orrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, maybe Cooper and I should go out for a drink.
Ben and Nicks. New Year’s Eve partying on the 2nd of January, 2007.
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Last night Cooper and I went to our friend’s apartment for a dinner party/engagement party (he just got engaged!). This was no mac and cheese out of a box dinner party, no sir. This was a multi course, several fork, 98759875 different wine glasses, butter in a little cube, salad after the main course to cleanse your palate sort of dinner party. It was AMAZING and Justin just may be my new favorite cook (in addition to Cooper and my mom). The most exciting part was his “breakfast for dessert” dish…dulce de leche ice cream (the egg white) with incredible stewed peaches (which looked like egg yolks) pound cake (the toast) and candied oranges (little bacon pieces). If only we had a camera. Justin is such an awesome person. We love him.
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY EMILY!!
Cooper Carras…my favorite photographer
The days I enjoy the most (in addition to playing with my niece and dogs) are when you have no place you have to be so you spend your time going on walking adventures and taking photos of the random things in this big wide world. Most of the photos I took today were not that random…360 of the 370 photos were of Cooper Hans.
The goals of our day were 1.) For me to play and experiment with his camera and 2.) To attempt to find something new and suitable for his “about” section on his website. It was the most amazing first of the year I have ever seen (weather wise) so we got really lucky. Most of the shots were outdoorsy, but we also spent a little time in a laundromat where they had incredible old-school chairs (which I would love to have a set of in my dream home some day).
old-skool…just the way I like it
The only minor hazard during our “photo-shoot” was while we were on the Cal campus…some high school boys somehow were able to get onto the roof of the building where we were shooting and found a rope to ride down the side. The rope almost landed on Cooper’s head as he was posing (he is a good poser by the way). The guy didn’t land on us, but of all places in this big little world, it was funny that he almost shimmied right down on top of us.
our new friend rapelling onto our heads
soggy dog
butt sniffers convention
What do you do on a Saturday when you had just recently spent a week with four attention-craving dogs and you are now in serious dog withdrawal? Go to the dog park of course! Cooper was teaching me a couple photography techniques with the new camera he bought for me/his business…so I thought I would put the camera to use take photos of some new dog friends. Me being the shy paranoid girl I am thought the dog owners might not appreciate me acting in a dog paparazzi sort of way…but surprisingly many were really excited about it. I think I might have to make it habit!
Luckily it was a busy day at the park and so many dogs were out…obviously I had a hay-day with photos.
My snow-filled days have passed…I am back in California in 50 degree weather where you almost look silly wearing a heavy coat, scarf, and mittens. Some people are not snow friendly, and I wouldn’t necessary call myself a snow lover, but there is something about having a winter with snow that can’t be beat.
I also couldn’t imagine a holiday season without our house in Boulder filled all of us Beckord kids (plus the dogs and baby). If the storm had prevented everyone from getting home, my Christmas would have been soooooo quiet and minus the usual chaos. I think I either somewhat love the chaos or am partially immune to the realization of how crazy some moments really are. Surprisingly, our family and extended family survived Christmas day with all the dogs and varying personalities fairly well. It was actually fun to watch home video of my dad and his brothers and sister when they were kids (even though there was no sound). And we had those funny grandma moments…where she ate an orange glazed carrot and insisted that it was a “little wiener” even though it tasted like a baby carrot and had the texture of a cooked carrot. The “non-gift” Christmas wasn’t really as my mom declared it to be. She did a pretty good job of filling our stockings with extremely thoughtful stocking-sized gifts which took more energy and effort than was laid out in her “No Christmas Gift Rules.” My dad did a glorious job of finding treasures at the Hallmark store that was going out of business. My older bro got a nice ceramic dog doorstop which was missing a glass eye. And Nathan surprised us all with gifts from my mom’s recycled gift drawer. His gifts included: a bed-wetting contraption for my little brother (who during the gift giving time was dressed in yellow pants, a hockey jersey, and a braided/beaded Jamaican Rasta hat…and proceeded to wear the bed-wetting contraption as we opened our gifts), a cutting board my older brother gave to my grandmother which she returned back to him as a gift and was again recycled and given to my mom, a wooden penis bottle opener for my dad (I don’t know where this came from), and pot holders for me and my sister. I don’t think most families have a Christmas quite like we do in the Beckord home…I sure hope my sister’s husband and brother’s wife can some day appreciate the odd Beckord humor.
Beyond the snow, the holiday events, all the family, the dogs, and the traditional mass amounts of food…I would have to say that the baby made my trip home the most enjoyable. Amelia was such a different little human than she had been a month ago at my brother’s wedding. She actually now seems to be understanding and has an interest in what is going on around her. She really bonded with all of us…gosh…I miss her! I have come to terms with the fact that I will never have a child who is as precious or as cute as Amelia, which is ok. I just have to enjoy her as much as I possibly can!
Now it is back to work and life in the bay area. Ho hum.
The Thursday after my cancelled flight I went to work to a surprise bacon and waffle breakfast as a consolation prize for not being able to go home. Thanks friendly boss and fellow co-workers!
Midway through my day my mom called to see if I could immediately fly to Vegas and drive through the night with my dad to Boulder. Why the heck not?!? I didn’t have my perfectly packed suitcase with stocking stuffers from Trader Joes or my birthday present for my dad…but I guess I didn’t reallllllllly need any of my clothes or underwear, or knitting projects, or swimsuit (which I wouldn’t wear anyway), or down vest, or jeans, or sweaters, or makeup or my freshly purchased chapstick which I was so excited about, or books, or Cooper’s brand new digitial camera which I was going to play with and take really good pictures of my family, etc. Nope, I didn’t need any of this stuff. Instead, I hopped on Bart with my beatup yellow North Face backpack and headed out with nothing more than the clothes on my back and workout clothes in my bag.
I met my dad in Vegas with visions of winning $298759283752 on the slots in the airport casino…but instead we made a quick getaway and started for Colorado. A highlight of the drive: getting monster tacos from Jack in the Box with my papa. He craved the same tacos that I was drooling over in my head so we made a taco stop and had a taco eating contest. I love my dad.
Luckily papa Bruce was wired and wanted the drive for the full 12 hours so I got to sleep. The roads were clear all the way until we hit Golden and Boulder, thank goodness! The snow was beautiful and bright and the ony signs of the disastrous storm were the stranded cars stuck under several feet of snow. We made it home at 9:00am and immediately started dancing with Amelia to the singing santa decoration.
My big and little brother along with my little big brother’s new wife arrived this morning at 3:00am with their monsterous dog Finney. We now have a full house of two “non-committed” kids, two married kids and their spouses, the two parentals, four dogs, and a baby. It is going to be the Christmas we had intended all along! No big storm gets in our way!
If anything, I suppose I wish I had a few more clothes to wear. My late 90’s high school jeans and sweaters look a little funny, but I guess it isn’t as bad a wearing black jeans (which Cooper Carras was reported to have been seen in recently).
Merry Kwanzaa, Happy Valentine’s Day, and don’t forget to do an Irish car bomb.
p.s. Greg…did you make it?!?!
This is how I feel right now. Dummy from the 2006 TPR Holiday Party
Oh my gosh…what a day. My life is really very good and I am not complaining (too much), but today was a complete waste. I went to bed last night at 9:00pm…planning for my early 3:50am wakeup to catch a 7:30am flight. The trip to and through the airport was pretty much a breeze, only minimally painful. But, I certainly had a hunch at 5:30am that today could potentially be bad when I saw that the 6:00am and 10:30am flights to Denver were cancelled (which made me wonder why they hesitated to cancel the 7:30am flight?). Nonetheless, I waited patiently at the gate for the final word. When our flight was officially cancelled (due to the severe snow storms in Colorado)…the mass chaos and extreme grumpiness of everyone around me began. Looooooooooong lines were formed with hundreds of unhappy customers and it took an average of approximately 18min 45 sec to help one set of travelers (yes, a few of us timed it while waiting in line…we needed something to entertain us!). Of course the check-in agents had already helped the 6:00am and 10:30am folks…so us 7:30am travelers got the brunt of the bargain. I didn’t actually get to the ticket counter until 11:30am at which time everything was taken. The only thing the ticket lady (who had already worked through 3 hours of her break) could give me was a late flight on Saturday…which cuts my time at home in half. Whatever. Yes, the tears began to flow. I was so tired, felt like crap, and was so utterly frustrated. Back to Bart I went. When home, I cried a little more. Took two long and extremely hard naps. Didn’t really know what to do with myself. Watched the entire season of Project Runway. Ate lots of bad food. Decided to knit a bit. Was shakin’ in my booties when a 3.7 earthquake rattled the apartment (is the world coming to an end?!). Read about how to prepare for and survive an earthquake. Called United to see if by any sweet chance I could get a different flight…and have now been on hold for 58minutes and 32seconds with the nauseating United Airline theme song playing in the background (which really does make me nauseous…ask around….people who know me know this is true).
My mom is home alone in the middle of the snowstorm. My dad should be home. My sister and Amelia should be in Boulder. We should all be at home playing with dogs and a baby. Cooper is in Washington without power (which his family has not had for a week). I just was rocked back and forth by an earthquake. Maybe I should put my helmet on, get my emergency blanket/food/flashlight and hope for the best.
Um…I guess…Happy Holidays?!?
Who would have thunk it…at 10:35pm last night my hands were crafting mass amounts of cat poo (cookies). While others were out having fancy dinners, or watching TV, or reading their books, or painting a picture, or sleeping…I was creating cat feces. The best part was thinking about what sorts of mix-ins would look most realistic…corn and coconut were my final two conclusions. I wasn’t just making cat poo for fun, oh no! Our office is having a holiday party with an elaborate scavenger hunt followed by broomball at a local ice rink. The cat poo is for a “Clean or Dirty” challenge. Teams pick either clean or dirty…if they choose clean, they have to clean a classroom from top to bottom. If they choose dirty, they simply eat cat poo. This decadent kitty litter dessert idea came from the lovely Marcy Swiatek at her honky tonk murder mystery party last year.
Speaking of honky tonk…I am still not quite over this song.
three heads…found in Rockridge, CA
Oh man, my head is spinning. Actually, I feel like I am growing three heads. This past weekend my dad called and invited me to go to Vietnam with him for two weeks in January…and I needed to let him know whether or not I could go by the end of the day on Saturday. I had not planned for a trip on such short notice and I wasn’t sure how I was going to hack it with my job (or if I would lose my job). But, as of yesterday…I am going! My mom said it will be the last big family trip for the “non-committed” kids. 2006 was a hard year for my parents so I think they need a little change of pace and enjoy life a little. Still not sure about how the job scene might pan out, but I suppose I will take it as it comes. Now I just have to deal with that nervous excitement/unsettled feeling in my stomach. Whoo weeeeee. Gotta take a deep breath.