After an entire morning of YW church meetings Saturday, Gunnar was ready for some milk and major nap. I was ready for a sandwich and a major nap. And Chris was ready for some - skateboarding? Yep, skateboarding.
There's a skatepark not too far from our apt. It's a pretty good one. It has a nice half pipe and lots of other cool thingys to do tricks on that I'm not cool enough to know the names for.
Chris has been skateboarding since he was a little kid and even skated the same parks with famed Tony Hawk (there's a name drop for you). He's good - but he hadn't been on a halfpipe in almost 2 years! So, I think he was a tad bit nervous at first.
After warming up he got right back into the swing of things and even dropped into the halfpipe a couple of times. He did fall once and bruised his wrists up pretty bad but not as bad as Halloween last year when he fell on his stilts as witch-man.
Gunnar, on the other hand - loved it. Chris hopes to have him up on a board in the next couple years. I hope to have every part of his body padded and helmuted beforehand.
We had a great time.
But . . .
As we were walking home we ran into an old man I sometimes see in the grocery store. He's a nice guy but of the elderly sort that likes to yell at shoppers in the dairy aisle about the dangers of cheddar cheese.
When he saw Chris walking along with 2 skateboards he immediately went into a rant about how he should wear a helmut (which he does) and how 2 kids just died skateboarding on Riverside Drive last year. Followed by something along the lines of, "you punk kids are gonna kill yourselves on those dang skateboards!"
A woman who saw the exchange took one look at Chris and began laughing hysterically. Probably because she realized that he was 35 and not a 'punk kid'.
"I guess you're never too old to be scolded!" she said. I think Chris was secretly thrilled that someone confused him for being subversive. He doesn't get that as much these days as an obispo.
Sometimes you just need a little variety.
But, variety is hard when you are, well - let's not say lazy. Maybe more along the lines of, 'not especially motivated'.
When you are someone who is 'not especially motivated' at times, it is much easier to forgo variety and stay within a certain routine.
Like, for example, the routine that Gunnar and I have where we go to the same exact park 2 blocks from our house and play with the same kids on the same slides and swings and the same semi-nasty sandbox for an hour or two and then go home. It's fine and good and fun, but let's face it - even lazy people appreciate a little variety.
That's why we went all the way down to the bottom of Central Park and met up with my friend Caroline, who is amazing, and her 2 kids, Elijah (2 1/2) and Claire (4 months, I think?). The park down there is GINORMOUS. The sand box alone has got to be as big as our apartment. And there's a huge water park, tons and tons of swings and several items to scrape your knees and elbows on. It was great company and so much fun! Gunnar and Elijah played while Caroline and I talked and Claire slept the entire time.
After the park, I talked to my lovely sister Rhonda in Hawaii because when you're in the mood for variety - she's the one to talk to. She and I had a great conversation about diabetes, acupuncture, her fiance, Eitan and the labor intensive process of her conversion to Judaism.
A little proof for all of you who think I never answer the phone.
For those of you who don't know, my sister is an inactive Mormon who considers herself to be Taoist. She's only converting to Judaism now so that her future kids can be Jewish and her future in-laws appeased, not because she's found Elohim. (Although, I totally think He's finding her right now - but don't tell her I said so). She's getting married in Israel next summer so we're saving our pennies to go. Can't wait!
Rhonda, showing her awesome guns.
We did more things, but I used up all my motivation writing this post and I really need to finish doing laundry right now. Someone in our family is out of clean underwear so it's kind of a laundry (routine) emergency.
I guess there's a time for variety and a time when there's no getting around routine - unless you don't care if someone goes 'commando' for a few days.
That's the name of Gunnar's newly formed one-man rock and roll tween disney-esque pop group . . . of one.
He does the singing, song writing and drumming.
All he really needs is someone to play 'saxomaphone' and the sound will be complete.
Please, no applicants. We only want to look on craigslist.
Chris and I had only been married four months and were still in the bliss of newlywed-ism. I think the phone rang around 8:00 am? Maybe it was earlier. . . I remember lying in bed while Chris answered and thinking, "this better be an emergency. Who calls before 9?!"
All of my annoyance disolved the instant we turned the tv on and saw the the unimaginable tragedy befalling NYC. And our entire nation. We sat close on the couch and watched in complete silence and total shock.
Now we can see the 2 pillars of light they shine each year on this day from our front windows.
I don't think either of us ever thought we would live here, and once we got here we never imagined we would stay so long. But we really love NYC. We love the restaurants and the opportunities, the culture and the 'cool factor'. But more than all of those things - we really love the people. How could you not?
Gunnar has some mean uncles. We're teaching him body parts.
His mean uncles saw opportunity.
"Gunnar, where's your nose?"
"Gunnar, where's your mouth?"
He ate boogers.
10. Hang out in my bathrobe for an hour this morning instead of going up to the deck to water the plants. (As my sister, Rhonda would say: "Thank you Universe!")
9. Put on my really cool sleek rainboots and go to the grocery store with Gunnar. We needed laundry detergent, dishwashing detergent and lots of antibiotic hormone free organic whole milk. Also, I just love wearing rainboots. Something in me secretly enjoys stepping in the garbage juice, toxic, urin filled mud puddles without becoming contaminated.
8. Finally start using my Facebook account, or as my brother likes to call it: "The Facebook".
7. Watch a segment on the Today Show about a friend of a friend/fellow blogger (Nie Nie) and her family. I'd only been reading her blog for a few months when she and her husband were almost killed in a plane crash. Right now they are in the hospital recovering while their 4 children are with family members. Heart wrenching. Both of these women are amazing and they write blogs that are clever and inspiring and wholesome - something I'm much too whiny to ever do for more than one post in a row on LosPeterson.com. By the way, the pistol weilding Lucha Libre fighter on the top left corner isn't helping. (Am I the only one who hates that image?! Chris LOVES it.)
6. Cook and eat spaghetti at 10:30 in the morning and then have carnation instant breakfast banana smoothies at 4:00 pm. Followed by a radio dance party in the living room (of course). Welcome to Gunnar's world.
5. Allow Chris to record my voice for use on our website. Believe it or not - I actually have a pretty decent narration voice. My singing voice however, sucks. This has always puzzled me. How can someone have a good speaking voice but be a terrible singer? Conversely, how can someone with a squeaky, dum speaking voice sing beautifully? I'm sure only Scott Wiley knows.
4. Have a Young Women's presidency meeting in mi casa. It's the perfect excuse to make something with chocolate in it plus it's always fun hanging out with the women I volunteer with.
3. Vote in the NY primaries. I would do this if I weren't registered as an Independent. They discriminate against us here and don't let us do anything until November. It stinks but I just don't feel comfortable being tied to either party right now. (Apologies to my mom and dad and all the many people of my faith for not being a Republican. And apologies to my Aunt Linne, Harlem and all of my social work friends for not being a Democrat.)
2. Talk to my eccentric and authentic little brother, Jordan for the last time! Well, the last time until Christmas. He's entering the Mormon MTC tomorrow afternoon to start his 2 year mission in Las Vegas Nevada! Go Jor!
1. Blog. It's not really the #1 thing to do on a day like this, but it's what I'm doing right now.
