A Little Bit of Yard Work

With final sign off in the books and the raining season officially over, we are finally able to start landscaping Timber Cove! First up, the steps for the deck towards the ocean and putting in some flagstone on the south side of the house for a little patio with a BBQ, an outdoor table and maybe two wooden chairs for Martin and I to enjoy our coffee.  We were planning to outsource the steps and flagstone, but I figured I could manage the landscaping... it was only 400 square feet. I had it covered.

Or at least I thought so. The project began with grading the two areas last week and we decided to head up for just a night to check it out and get the materials ordered for the steps and patio. Somehow my 400 square foot area of grading by the house became 3,300 square feet over three terraces. And worse, or at least more shocking, those 3,300 are now just leveled off spans of bare dirt in the midst of a lush meadow and forest. It looks like a scar to our otherwise natural environment.

Martin can’t stop looking at the scar and sighing (and may or may not have shed a little tear in a moment of quiet by himself). The kids love running in the dirt, kicking up dust every time. And I keep trying to figure out a way to fix it. Because we need to get this fixed ASAP and unfortunately plants take forever to grow here due to the winds, fog and salt water air. This is way too much for me to handle alone: in terms of time, cost and expertise. I need to bring in an expert.

So like all things in life, I have thrown money at the problem.  I just signed up for Yardzen (which fun side note, I actually know the founders from right after college, but didn’t realize it until after signing up), and am anxiously awaiting both their plans and for the grass to start re-growing.  We have a few weeks before heading back up there so hopefully something will magically change by then. 

Fully vaccinated!

On April 9, one week before California opened up appointments to all residents over 18 years old, I was able to secure a last minute appointment to get my first COVID vaccine shot.  I had to drive to across the city, and while I waited the 15 minutes post-stab to ensure no adverse reaction, I cried tears of relief.  The stress from the last 13 months was starting to ease up.

On May 7, I had my second shot, and anticipating a rough reaction, I had the house to myself to recover.  It was a good thing that Martin and the kids were up at Timber Cove for the weekend; I was more than a little tired and achy (although the headache might have been from the margaritas I ordered with dinner on Friday night).  Thankfully I was back to my old self on Sunday, Mother’s Day, when the family came home with fresh picked wildflowers and beautiful homemade cards.

And then two weeks later, I became officially and fully vaccinated! I know, I know, I can’t go too crazy yet, since Martin is still in the process and there is no current date on the horizon for when the kids will be eligible, but I am feeling a lot more positive overall.  And if my reaction to the second shot was just a taste of what an actual infection would feel like, I am extra thankful for avoiding that situation!

No rules weekend!

After 14 months of lock down and a few solo weekends away by yours truly, Martin finally got to have a few nights to himself. Before you judge me or assume I haven’t let Martin leave, I would like to state for the record, that I have in fact encouraged him on multiple occasions to take some time for himself to get away and relax.  And any delays or hold ups have been solely on his side.

So on Friday he drove up to Timber Cove leaving Oskar, Alva and me alone and at home in San Francisco until Monday morning. With Mama, in charge it was a no rules weekend!

• We had take out for dinner two of the three nights (sushi and Nepalese)
• And for the one night I “cooked” we had my favorite dinner from growing up when my parents went out for the night: fish sticks and tater tots (okay, so I am not a babysitter, but Oskar requested it)
• We snuggled on the couch while watching more than one movie.
• We rode bikes on the playground and had lunch outside with Grandma and Grandpa.
• We played Legos, read books, had fun crazy bath times and stories in bed.
• We FaceTimed with Blake and Dana and looked at Blake’s lego collection.
• And we FaceTimed with Anj and Lilah which turned into a show and tell of their favorite toys and subsequently turned into a toddlers book club.

Overall it was super fun. The more I let go of the rules and the less stressed I was, the more they listened and were willing to help. Dinner table manners might not have been up to Martin’s standards but the basic rules were observed and each meal was super relaxed with lots of giggles. Bedtimes might have been a little later, pajamas might have been worn past lunchtime, screen time might have hit an all-time high and we might have spent a lot on takeout. But we had fun, we had a lot of snuggles and I got to take a break and just enjoy being a mom with no other obligations or distractions for once.

How in The Hell is it May?!

I am not sure what happened, but all of a sudden it is May and I haven’t posted in over three months!  That isn’t to say I haven’t been thinking about writing… I actually wrote four blogs over the past three months, but never quite found the time to finish them or post them. 

With a few minutes to spare this weekend, I decided to finally wrap them up and share.

Enjoy