The Doings Report

After our trip to an unschooler party in British Columbia, we welcomed nephew-son Jerry, his wife, Cori, and their 2yo daughter, Molly. They were up from New Orleans and stayed with us for two weeks. It was SO FUN to live with a 2yo again. Molly and I played and played and played, and we looked at my collection of treasure boxes (many of which have something inside!!) about a million times. We also did a bunch of sightseeing (the beach house, the Children's Museum, Pacific Science Center, Twin Lakes), rested up some during the weekend they spent on the Peninsula, and then...

We welcomed niece Lori and her husband, Bobby, also up from New Orleans. The big group of us did more sightseeing (Pike Place Market, downtown, Space Needle, Mariners game) in the 100-degree weather with no air conditioning, and then...

We drove down to Manzanita, Oregon, a lovely little coastal town, for the long anticipated Maier Family Reunion. It was a long and busy weekend, but the weather was good, the people were convivial, and it mostly came off like it was supposed to. Each of the 8 branches of the family were represented, and we had the special treat of having almost all of Marty's (Frank's) branch up from New Orleans and Houston.

We got to pick up our copy of the Maier Family Cookbook, 2009 edition, which cousin Sonya and I have been working on (her for TWO YEARS, me for a few weeks), with some extra inning page-breaking relief from MJ. It turned out really nice, with lots of family stories and humor tucked in around the recipes, in addition to the more formal memory sections people contributed. And the photo section Sonya put together is GORGEOUS.

Sunday, we and our houseguests made our way north again. We had one last dinner together, and then went to bed in preparation for the 4 a.m. airport run. UGH.

Monday, I had a little phone interview; Tuesday, I signed a contract; and Thursday, I started work. It's a five- or six-week project, which means the final deadline will probably coincide with Good Vibrations. BUT... it's some work and some income.

Last night, MJ and Chloe and I went up to Randi and Kauleen's to finally (FINALLY!) meet baby Rudy. It was a lovely evening, and he is perfect.

Today, we head south again to Portland to visit Golds and Winklers and one Book. We'll also retrieve Chloe, who went from Manzanita to Corvallis to hang out with Qacei.

This week, our next wave of houseguests arrives, with my dad and his wife, Renee', coming up for his 50th high school reunion. We haven't seen them in more than a year, so it'll be good to get caught up.

Will I have more time for blogging after that? I only think so in my most optimistic moments...