Welcome Elodie!

Elodie Grace Markley was born at 7:53 on Monday, February 23rd. She was 8 pounds, 5 ounces and 21 inches long. Kelly had her water broken by the doctor at about 8:30 am, she began labor naturally at around 2, and things went smoothly, quickly, and drug free. She is recovering well, she said it's much different (and better, I'm sure!) than recovering from the c-section. Elodie was greeted by both sets of grandparents and one uncle. Another aunt (Kate) will meet her today, while her other aunties are anxiously wishing they could be there. Bennett went to meet his sister this morning, and was enthralled. If they feel ready and the doctor gives the ok, they may go home tonight, or they may stay over one more night and go home in the morning. Elodie was up a lot during the night, Kelly said, and is likely to sleep most of today. Hopefully soon she will be able to flip flop her schedule! We are all so happy that she's here, and I can't wait to meet her next week! Here are some pictures I received on my phone, the first taken in her first hour or so of life, and then 3 from this morning:

This Time Last Year...

... I got a tattoo! Well around this time last year, anyway. Some of you have seen the pics, some of you have not. Let's face it, I just like strolling down memory lane with you guys. I plan to do it on a regular basis, since there isn't always a whole heck of a lot going on in the present. This is the experience:

On the way:


Brittany was excited too:


Denise was my tattoo buddy:


Brittany got me a corsage for the occasion:


The adorable puppy in the shop:


Krissy was there for moral support:


My scared face:

(Denise brought me a lollipop - apparently it's good to keep your blood sugar up)

This was the tattoo artist:

(Not a dainty flower)

Within the first moments:

It's not so bad!


Ok, it's a bit irritating.

At the end:

I wish she would stop doing that now.


Yay, all done!


"I belong to the Lord"

Denise is an old pro:



Paz y Amor (Peace and Love) - and pretty flowers!

The end.

I Heart Modern Technology

Today my roommate dropped her cell phone in the toilet. That's right, friends. Cellular telephone. Toilet. Not a good combo. When she got home, there were actually tears in her eyes as she discussed this event. Let me tell you, she is not an emotional girl. I have learned a fair amount about her in these few weeks, and she's pretty much a tough cookie. (She credits this to her gymastic instructors, who were basically militant drill sergeants who took no issue with making little girls cry - and for every spilled tear, they could add more onto their exercise for the day. Thus, she learned not to cry.) She, meanwhile, has probably seen me cry fifteen times since we've lived together, since all it takes for me these days is a commercial about something like a lost puppy. Definitely any show where anyone: a) reunites with anyone else, b) gets something they deserve, or c) discovers something meaningful in their life, is guaranteed to push me over the edge. I haven't dared to watch Extreme Home Makeover in Erin's presence yet. Anyway, the point of all this is to say that, Erin's emotion over her injured cell phone made me ponder (yet again) how much we all rely on technology. And this made me remember a blog entry I wrote on myspace (the only one, in fact), so I thought I would include it here, since people actually read this blog (well, at least a few do.) It was almost exactly 3 years ago that I wrote it, but a lot of it (sadly) is still true in my life. If you happened to have read it before, feel free to stop reading now. :)

***

"I Heart Modern Technology"
February 8, 2006
I realized today just how ridiculous is my relationship with my cell phone. (Whose name, by the way, is Atticus Steptoe.) And yes, it is a relationship. There is love, trust, not to mention ringtones. About halfway through my 9am class this morning, I checked in my backpack in fear that I had forgotten to put Atticus on silent. Then... to my great horror and chagrin... Atticus was nowhere to be found! So what did I do? I spent my hour break between class and work (when I should have been eating breakfast and studying) driving home to get Attie. I spent 20 minutes looking for parking, because there is next to none at this school, got to work 20 minutes late, running on very low blood sugar, only to discover the 2-year-olds that I work with akin to bumble bees on crack. Who's brilliant idea must it have been to remodel the structure in the yard, so that every day at the children's center is like a rainy day (because all the kids are stuck inside and have nowhere to run around)? So I spent four hours saying in my loudest indoor voice "Stop smacking Suzie upside the head!" and "Put down the razor blade!" (Ok, I'm exaggerating a little bit, but I do have bite marks on my arm as evidence of the horror of it all.) After all this, I had to trek up to the ends of the universe where I illegally parked my car in the freshman dorm lot, (thankfully discovering it without a ticket) and moved it across campus to a different lot, luckily making it in time to grab a snack before my 3:00 class. All this, because I could not go 12 hours without my cell phone. If I am ever as needy toward a person as I am toward my cell phone, somebody kill me please.

***

Yep, good times. And for the record, I do believe there is such a thing as healthy dependency, with technology and with other humans. I also think if there is something or someone that you can't get through 12 hours without, it just might be cause for concern.

Speaking of 12 hours... that was how long I worked today. Not fun! I wish I could share funny stories about the kids I work with now, but the events and quotes that stick out in my mind at the end of the day aren't necessarily appropriate for all audiences. Ha. I'm still enjoying it though. Just preferably in smaller chunks than 12 hours. I'll leave you with a quote from my professor: "If life gives you lemons, it gives you lemons. No one said anything about sugar, so how are you supposed to make lemonade? I say, if life gives you lemons, just don't squeeze them in your eyes." :)

Roommie

I promised that I would write more about my roommate, so I will stick to my word. Her name is Erin, she's 23, from small town Wisconsin, and she's a pretty cool girl. She did a combined program and got her Bachelor's and her Master's at the same time, I think the program was called Rehabilitation Services. Something like that. Now she is doing an internship in Milwuakie (a suburb of Portland) in preparation for her career, which involves helping people with disabilities (mostly developmental and mental health related) to gain employment. I think that's pretty cool. Obviously we have some similar interests. It's been fun having a roommate again. I was a bit surprised, to be honest, because I got used to the luxury of living alone for 2 and a half years. I know some people don't think of it as a luxury, but roommate situations can often be sticky, and I enjoy having my own space. With that said, things have been incredibly easy and smooth. I actually find myself disappointed when I get home and she's gone or asleep. It's nice to have someone around. She likes the dogs a lot, which is awesome, because they aren't the most mellow or behaved dogs you'll ever meet. ;) She's not a neat freak, a gourmet chef, or a big health nut, so she doesn't judge me for my sloppiness or my simple tastes. We like to watch reality tv together, and make fun of the silly people. I'm learning a bit about Wisconsin (she was raised on a farm) and she's learning about Portland (and California too). When she arrived with her boyfriend, it was 30 degrees outside, and snowing, and he said, "is it always this warm here?" I looked at him strangely. She is not used to the diversity, or to homeless people, she had never heard of In & Out, Baja Fresh, or Trader Joe's, and she asked me after about a week whether I thought she had an accent (which I noticed in the first five minutes.) She seems to be dealing really well with the big change though. It was never really awkward between us - we've just been getting to know each other naturally. She was raised Catholic, but is not particularly religious herself. She's not strongly political, but very open minded and accepting of all kinds of people. We have easy and interesting conversations about politics, religion, and psychology, which is not always possible with people. So far, our only problems have been that she's not used to manual heaters, so she sometimes leaves the heat on all day, and her long curly hair is clogging the shower drain already. Ha ha. But I think we can hurdle those issues. :) We're both pretty easy going people, so things are good.



Oh also... she's a gymnast. She stands on her hands a lot. But as I have a best friend who does that kind of thing on a regular basis, it doesn't seem that strange. :)

Always a Bridesmaid...

My good friend Kayla got engaged last weekend, and I have the honor of being a bridesmaid in her wedding. She was my first friend at FCNI, and we bonded over discussing our shared clients, who were a handful, to say the least. She is always there to listen and be supportive, she volunteered herself to clean my bathroom when I moved out of my apartment in AG, she loves my dogs almost as much as I do (sometimes I think more) and she made plans to come visit me in Portland almost the moment I left SLO. She is a great person, and an amazing friend, and I much appreciate her in my life. I love you Kayla, thanks for making me a part of your special day!

With that said, on March 7th, I will head down to SLO county and I will don my 5th bridesmaid dress. I'm working my way toward 27. ;)

While I'm on the subject, I just got a cd of the photographer's pics from my friend Jenny's wedding in September of 2007. Jenny was my roommate our sophomore year at Cal Poly. We had a lot of laughs and good times that year, and it was a pleasure to be a part of her wedding. It was a beautiful day, and so much fun. Take a look:

And in unrelated news.... Happy Obama day! 

Back in the Land of Port

Well, I made it back. The drive here was much much easier than the drive down. I spent the night at Kelly and Rob's new house in Castro Valley on Friday night and did the rest of the drive on Saturday. The total drive time was about 13 hours, as it should be. (Including the various potty, food, and gas breaks during which the dogs and I always got out to stretch our legs). My visit home was lots of fun, outside of being sick the entire time. Here are some highlights of my time in the Golden State:

• Taqueria, my favorite Mexican restaurant in all the world
• Watching Jeapordy and Wheel of Fortune with Mom, Dad, and Grandmother
• Seeing Leah after almost 6 months - she is sober, happy and healthy, and I could not be happier for her
• Visiting Candy Cane Lane
• Seeing my SLO girls again - especially Corinne, who I hadn't seen since I left - laughing about silly inside jokes ("duh-ber", "bar-rack")
• Eating Upper Crust, my favorite Italian restaurant in all the world
• A relaxing Christmas Eve at the Markley's, watching the Family Stone and eating freshly baked chocolate chip cookies
• Meeting the Randalls' Golden Retriever puppies, Maddie and Buddy, the snuggly, pudgy balls of fluff with precious faces attached
• Christmas morning, all the joy and wonders of the holiday written across the kids' faces as we sat around the tree
• New clothes!
• Watching Bennett and Tommy have lightsaber wars
• Reading with Ally
• Going to the movies with the family - a rare treat! - even though it turned out Marley and Me wasn't really the best choice, in light of recent events in the family (but a great film otherwise)
• Feeling Elodie move
• The generally lovely and precious holiday season and my beloved family
• Nine pairs of jeans donated to me by my generous and fashion forward friend Brittany :)
• Spending time with Arletta, getting Bagel Bakery, wandering aimlessly around the mall, and driving by the beach, just like old times
• Fun at the Kilzer's and the Running Iron on New Year's Eve
• An oceanfront lunch with Kimi and Mike
• Seeing Jenn and discussing possibly living together in the future :)
• Dinner with the Markleys (including Kate and Tom)

I went to church this morning, and as luck would have it, the Christmas service had been cancelled, and they had it today! (Which was great, because we were all too sick to go on Christmas day.) So I officially celebrated the reason for the season. Thanks for being born, Jesus!

I am glad to be back, but I'll miss everyone, and won't get to have as many CA visits in the winter and spring. :( So if you feel like seeing the snow, we have that here. (It just started up again about half an hour ago.) Come see me. I hope you all had a great holiday season!

Oh - also - I have a roommate! She moved in today. From Wisconsin! More on her later, but it should be a good thing. 

I Made It

It was the longest, hardest trip of my life, but I made it home alive. From Portland to Carmel total, it was 19 hours. 19! Thursday it took me 8 hours just to get to Ashland. I sat in 3 hours of stopped traffic while a bunch of truckers took up the road putting their chains on. It was snowing hard almost the whole time. By the time I was nearing Ashland, it was almost dark, and there were 3 more spots where chains were required on the road ahead. The snowy, icy, mountainous roads are scary enough, and putting chains on is enough of a challenge without the dark. So I stayed at a hotel in Ashland (where my mom and I stayed on the way up). Friday morning I had someone put chains on for me, because I was having too much trouble with it. There was only one zone to get through where I had to have my chains up, and then the weather started to warm up and the roads cleared. I was sort of having an out of body experience when I was lying on the side of the freeway underneath my car taking the chains off, with a steep drop on one side, and semi trucks barreling past me on my other side. It was special. It took about 9 hours on Friday. But once I got through Redding it was such a relief to be done with the insane weather. I am definitely going to consider taking the coast home. Remember how I was concerned about the 3 extra hours it would take me? Ha ha. That was funny.