Spring in Pictures

I’ve been rather silent here lately, feeling a lack of time and “space” to put up any kind of content. But it doesn’t mean I/we haven’t been having fun! Spring, according to my calendar, is nearly over; here are some glimpses (swiped from Joann’s FB page) into what we’ve been up to in this season of new life.

I don’t know if you can tell, but I’m crying. Joann made me laugh so hard I was crying and even having a little trouble breathing. That’s really all I’d better say in this venue. It was funny.

I blogged several weeks back about the Dragon Boat race preparation and implied some broader applications to the principles of effective dragon boat racing. You can see some of Joann’s extended family in the bottom shot, come to cheer us on, and one of the actual races in the top photo. That’s our team in the back—in last place. We raced three times against three competitors each race. We lost every race. Once we were way behind and caught up; another time we were in the lead, and then must have gotten overly giddy and lost focus, as we ended up in last. If winning is everything, then we did not experience “everything.” We did have fun.

Joann’s so good to me. She’s very tolerant of my obsessive Mariners fandom. I don’t usually watch the games, though we occasionally go to El Sarape to catch one (she usually brings something to craft or grade). I guess this is my game-watching face. I’m not sure what’s going through my head, or if I’m just kind of entranced, not really thinking about anything. If there was a thought bubble with this picture, it’d probably say something like: “Oh no…I’m simultaneously aware that we’re probably not going to score that runner from third, and that I forgot to ask for guacamole.”

 

And a real game! Thanks Mom, for a great birthday present. They lost. The weather was nice. I drank expensive beer.

Baby clothes and toys! Joann and I have an ongoing lighthearted feud about the value of acquiring baby clothes, especially so early. She, of course, feels it to be VERY important. Don’t worry, I know I’m wrong.

Our now-preferred branch of our favorite Olympia coffee, Batdorf and Bronson, next to the Farmer’s Market. And amazing, homemade oatmeal cookies Joann made later that day.

  

Out with the old, in with the used-but-new-to-us. My parents, concerned for us but more for the well-being of their coming grandchild, decided we needed a vehicle upgrade. We’re now driving an 03 Saturn Vue. It’s been a lot of fun…so many little conveniences that I didn’t know I was missing, including the ability to put down the back seat and take naps. We actually took our second car nap today, driving over to the marina and parking for an hour or so.

We continued (and likely concluded) a now two-year tradition of a Memorial Day trip to Ocean Shores. Here we are outside and inside the car, parked on the beach, likely waking up from our first nap in our new toy.

It’s official! I had been accepted a few months ago, but had to send this official document in as an “acceptance of my acceptance.” Been spending a lot of my free time apartment/rental house shopping in the bay area (heavily considering Alameda) and doing some preparatory reading to ready myself as much as possible for the program. My excitement for the move and life change has been a bit overshadowed by my emotions surrounding that other big life change happening…but…I’m ecstatic. It’s really a dream come true. Two dreams coming true. Actually…three dreams. My third dream is that pregnancy would end as soon as possible, so that my wife can return to some kind of normalcy. I’m sooooooo over pregnancy. J

My pregnant cutie.

My cutie again, doing something that she’s not as good as me at. Not to brag or anything.

I thought we’d miss them but we didn’t! My grandma’s lilacs were in full bloom during our last visit to Woodland, with their wonderful aroma and variety of colors. Joann made me do the muscle pose. I’m really not normally a muscle pose guy. I swear. I’m more of the frolic, jump-in-the-air type. Those bottom two shots were my creative choice. J

We did it…all six seasons of “Lost.” Started at the beginning of Spring, just finished a few days ago. Fun to take the “journey” again; definitely a different experience watching it all in about two months rather than six years.

So proud! Joann’s play—The Pirates of Penzance—was nominated for several awards by a Washington State awards program organized by a professional theater company (5th Avenue). More significantly, she herself was recognized with a nomination for best direction. Because, she’s awesome at what she does.

Some of my guests at the show—my mother, and a group of my English students on a “field trip.”

An early spring jaunt to Portland, down at the waterfront. I like this picture a lot.

Prom! We didn’t go to Tumwater’s prom; it came to us. Our early evening picnic at Capital Lake received a welcome interruption from a group of Joann’s theater students. We didn’t dress up, so…we…ate each other’s sandwiches.

My latest, favorite food discovery—Quinoa. Which I’ve been pronouncing like “Kee-oh-na” like an idiot. That’s not even a reasonable mispronunciation, given the letter order. It’s of course, “keen-wah.” And it’s one of the healthier things you can put in your body…and versatile!

And finally…tree-climbing. I whimsically climbed up the tree, enjoying a moment of nostalgia. Until I began to distrust both the tree and my flip-flops and proceeded to climb back down. I’m really intrigued by the way we perceive people and how that’s different from how we perceive ourselves. A co-worker today was shocked to discover how messy my desk was (WAS…I gave it a good tidying today and it now looks pristine) with papers unorganized and haphazardly stacked—it didn’t fit her polished image of me. I wonder how many people I know would feel a bit of cognitive dissonance at knowing I climb trees. Or, differently, who would feel the same in discovering I’m pursuing a PhD. Or that I love to cook. Or that my desk was so messy. Or that I support gay marriage. Or that I love baseball statistics. I guess it’s a fascinating thought—the possibility that every person who knows me has a slightly different picture of me, just as I perceive you, if I know you, differently from how others perceive you. I don’t know what it means…maybe nothing significant. I just find it interesting.