the good, the bad, and the ugly

well, four days have passed since the thanksgiving weekend, and my house is still a mess. (and by house, i mean apartment, but it's always easier to just say house...) i've just been too tired and too lazy, and slowly picking away at it. but. i DID read two very good books, so i don't feel that bad about it.

thanksgiving went a little different this year, in that we didn't go to portland to be with greg's family, which is the usual. the usual also being 6 hours, in the rain, in bumper to bumper to traffic...which this year, with all that's been going on, (i'll get to that later) we just couldn't stomach. we decided to go up on friday, hoping that everyone would be at the malls and there wouldn't be any traffic. and we were right!

we spent thanksgiving with our family-less east coast friends: karen and kevin, stephanie, and stu, and it was really fun. we weren't meeting up with them til 4:30-ish, tho, and i wasn't going to start my cooking until 3, so we had some time to kill, in which we thought: what shall we do? we have no traditions, really, for thanksgiving, other than to be with family. so what do we do with our OWN family,when we are just us? our own traditions? well, first we had a big breakfast of waffles, scrambled eggs with cream cheese, and of course, my stovetop lattes. (that was to stretch our stomachs for the evenings feast. i have tried not eating, in preparation for the gorging, but it always ends up backfiring. i get too full too quick, so we've learned to eat a big brunch, and then we're nice and starving for the big meal.) it was gorgeously sunny outside, so after that, we decided to go walk around our neighborhood. maybe head to the park. what we didn't realize until halfway there, was that it turned winter overnight, and it was ab-so-lute-ly F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G!!! so the grand plan of frollicking as a family in the park was cut a bit short due the fact that i coudn't feel my ears and my teeth hurt all the way to my gums. francis didn't seem to mind, tho. he and greg played catch all the way to the park, until i almost got hit in the head, and then they had to stop. (it's always, always, the mom who gets hit with the ball.) the streets were deserted, but there was still plenty of local people walking about, walking their dogs, walking their selves...enjoying the sunshine. i hate to admit, i enjoyed it much better back inside the apartment. it's really cozy in there, especially when the sun is shining. (check out more photos on my flickr...)



we then met up with our friends at stu's new abode, for our thanksgiving meal. it was really fun, and yummy, and way too much food for the 7 of us. greg had dug out the atari and brought it for some laughs for later in the evening, only to discover that stu had no tv. apparently, there are people like that. so we were forced to get creative and play charade-like games, and karen and stephanie taught us some games too. hot-potato-like winking games, and another one where, you know, someone is the killer and you have to figure out who the killer is. without being killed. kind of like clue, but without the board. i have to admit, it was a bit slow going at first. we all looked and felt like what we really wanted was a nap (except francis of course) but felt bad about crashing at 7:30 at night. they apologized and said: "really, it's a fun game! just imagine it with like 17 people". i also imagined it with gin and tonic! (haha) but, in the end, we perservered, and ended up having loads of fun, laughing ourselves silly for approximately 4 hours, until we, the nyssens, unfortunately had to go. go to bed. getting up early. to drive to portland in the morning.

the drive to portland was a breeze. yay! and we spent the whole weekend with greg's brothers, dave and brad, and their families, just relaxing and hanging out. francis got major cousin time, which he just loves. sunday was sunny again, so we got all the kids outside and to the park only to discover that it was, yet again, unbearably freezing. (i guess it really is winter now!) but greg got a little baseball game going with the boys, and they were having so much fun (i think) that they kept saying: "one more inning!" whenever we suggested going back home. they were such troopers, and we got them all hot chocolate afterwords at the minimart across the street to warm up. such fun! then it was off to nickolas' 14th birthday party (crazy! i can't believe he's 14!) and then our drive home in the dark, with thankfully, no rain and no traffic. me driving, listening to "the life aquatic with steve zissou" soundtrack, (which is a really great soundtrack, by the way. especially for driving.)



so that was the end of our week. but i meant to tell you about the beginning of our week, where francis had no school, and the part where we bought a house. before you start jumping up and down--we changed our minds and said: no. basically, to make a long story short(er), we've been looking at houses. looking IN houses. for awhile now. we took the plunge and put an offer on this house, this cute little house, built in 1920's: one that's semi-still in our neighborhood, where i could still walk francis to school, and greg's commute wouldn't be that much longer.



the seller accepted our bid. we went to our loan officer and got the paperwork rolling. and then we got the house inspected. it was after this, where we said no. it's hard to say, when you're looking for a house, what will be THE factor that would make you say no. i mean, all the houses that we can afford are given fixer-uppers. so we start tallying the items the inspector is telling us... new pipes, since these ones are leaking and pre-50's? um...okay. new heating unit, since this is a forced air octopus downstairs in the crawl space that is pre-50's? yikes! new siding, because the steel siding is rusting, perhaps from the inside? perhaps covering up rotting wood? ummm... (add, add, add...numbers adding up) what number makes you draw the line? the line that says: this house is not worth the fix? well, our decision was made easy for us when the inspector came upstairs after a long visit to the crawl space under the house, and said the foundation was terrible. greg said: "by terrible, what exactly do you mean? on a scale of 1 to 10, ten being the worst?" and the inspector said instantly and without hesitation: "oh, 10, definitely. in fact, i haven't seen a house this bad in a long time." and went on in great detail, with pictures, about the beetle infestation the foundation crossbeams had that could collapse at any minute, the additions on the house where someone had put up the crossbeams on: stacked bricks and jacks. i kid you not. jacks. you know, the things with which you prop up a car when you're changing the tire. i'm pretty sure in the directions there is, or should be, a disclaimer that says "not for propping up houses". this house was resting on jacks. multiple jacks. rotting logs secured with jacks. a shanty on jacks. kind of put on new spin on that old hymn: 'on Christ the solid rock i stand, all other ground is sinking sand. all other ground is sinking sand...'

so, that was the deal-breaker for us. we got our money back, and are back to square one. looking at houses...looking IN houses. it is amazing, the things you see, when you are looking IN houses. for example, you might come across a completely empty house where someone had lined all the walls with "art" they were selling. for 10 dollars. to prove i am not kidding:





i especially liked the house that had posted these signs inside: (unfortunately i didn't get pictures, but greg and our realtor and francis are witnesses)
"INDOOR PLUMBING!!" and "ELECTRICITY IN EVERY ROOM!!"

it's like those motels that advertise: CLEAN ROOMS!!

so, anyways, that's where we are these days. and to end on a slightly sad note, i will tell you that one of our little froggies bit the dust. he went to froggy heaven. food for worms. he had been a bit sickly, and by sickly i mean, he was missing a foot and in its place was a ball of fuzz. mold? infection? bacteria? did the other one bite it off? i took them both out the other day and cleaned the tank, and francis and i googled: "frog leg fungus", hoping to come up with something, but nothing looked like what our little guy had. francis was speculating maybe he had a brand new disease. we did find out that little african dwarf frogs are pretty hardy and will usually recooperate with clean water, and time. either that, or they die. so, i told francis that. he was shocked! he said we needed to take him to the vet!! i tried to explain to him that things like frogs, and fishes, don't go to the vet. dogs and cats, yes. frogs and fishes, no. and he said: but MAMA! he is part of our FAMILY!!!

so, we did the best we could. we cleaned their tank. and francis prayed that night for God would make him all better. and the next morning? belly-up. (now how do you explain that to a kid?) i made parental mistake #571 when i informed him of little froggy's death in the night, driving on the way to school. (a car day for me means driving francis to school, driving greg to work, and then my errands. greg then takes the bus home...) i looked back and his lips were trembling, and tears were streaming down his face, and greg and i both (embarrassed to admit), tried our best to keep from laughing. it was just too cute. so when we dropped him off, we both got out and gave him hugs, and a tissue, and said froggy had been a good little frog. he lived a nice long froggy life. and then: have a good day at school!

after school, i decided that it seemed more fitting to bury froggy rather than the uncerimonious trip to the garbage can, and that it might do some bit of good for francis. some proper pet closure. it was pouring down rain, fitting. so we scooped him out of the tank (i had left him there all day, hoping maybe he wasn't really dead, but,...he really was dead.) francis said: "can we make him an R.I.P??" i was like: oh?!! so we got toothpicks, and fashioned him a little cross. we went outside, and francis picked out a spot under the hedgebush and dug a little hole in the dirt. we carefully placed little frog's lifeless body in the dirt, and carefully covered him up, and placed the cross on the mound. i said: "usually francis, one says some words, do you want to?" he said no, that i should. so i said: "here lies floppy..." and francis immediately cut in: "um..mama? that was HOPPY!" what?? how can you tell? he just rolled his eyes at me. very matter of fact. no more tears. all business. so i finished with something like: "God, take this creature of yours, back to the earth, back as nature intended, and may he rest in peace."



(and may his poor little diseased self not infect the creature that digs him up. amen.)

lookouts and cabins and yurts, oh my!

when it's sunny out, you always get a little hopeful. like, it's sunny today, and even tho it poured rain yesterday, as i research possible getaway destinations, it's hard to keep in mind that it could just very well end up raining the whole time. in fact, it's very likely.

francis has the whole week off from school next week, a new thing this year, (to accomodate for parent/teacher conferences before thanksgiving) so we thought: maybe we could do a little family excursion somewhere. so i've been googling. i have to admit: i love googling. i had some friends stay in this treehouse rental near mt. rainier, and thought: that'd be fun! but, alas, no kids under 10. apparently due to insurance reasons and safety. oh well, maybe next year. i've heard of people staying in little rental cabins, yurts, and teepees. we're not really a camping family. we're into the "idea" of roughing it, but not actually doing it. hence, the cabin sounded perfect. until i realized it's just a glorified tent: a roof with a bed. cooking dinner? outside. bathroom? outside. fireplace? outside. running water? bring your own. and no coffee! not exactly what i'm looking for. especially in the end of november, where it could rain all weekend. i want all those things: inside!

when i was younger, i did alot of adventurous things, and i thought myself outdoorsy. greg also did alot of adventurous things, and when we met, we thought eachother quite adventurous! traveling thru europe, freeclimbing big giant rocks that you really shouldn't be, finding yourself on mountaintops in waist-deep snow...so i guess it was just assumed that these crazy antics would continue once we got married. but it wasn't so. and strangely, it wasn't a bummer. i realized that, left to my own motivations, i was lazy and preferred to be comfortable. sleeping in a warm cozy bed is important to me. so is my morning coffee. and so is indoor plumbing...

luckily for us both, greg has been discovered to be much the same way. and we're ok with it. we tried to summon all our enthusiasm last october for francis' cub scout camping trip. we decided to go because francis really wanted to, but mainly because we felt guilty that we didn't take francis camping more often.(ie: ever) we even went out and bought a bigger tent. i made a checklist of everything we needed to bring, which was long, and it took us hours to gather, buy, and load everything, and then more hours to get to our destination. and then more hours to unload everything, set up camp, and cook dinner. i think it took about an hour to boil a pan of water, because we only had a tabletop propane grill, and by the time we got our paltry mac and cheese and hot chocolate, everyone else was off exploring. that night in our tent, we remembered why we didn't do this more often: we froze. and francis woke us up about 15 times in the middle of the night in a panic of terror that the sasquatch was trying to get into our tent! he heard it!! trying to undo the zipper!!!( damn campfire stories. who's brilliant idea was it to tell scary stories to a bunch of 3rd graders??)

on the plus side, francis hasn't been begging us to do it again, so our guilt has been somewhat alleviated.

but that was last year, and this is this year, and again, i'm caught in the position of trying get my city-boy outside: something fun and outdoorsy and maybe not so rustic. and i had a new thought which i posed to greg: "hey, remember that fire lookout cabin we spent the night in way back when? i bet francis would love that! we should do that!" (way back when: was 1995, when we were just friends, or i should say, barely friends, because even in my tomboy-guy's-best-friend ways, i still managed to revert to girliness sometimes, and at that very moment, i wasn't speaking to him for some grand transgression, but he didn't know it. we went to the three fingers lookout cabin with matt snyder, his sister lisa, and brian glenney, and it was definitely a trip to remember, and completely a whole 'nother story: just ask me about it sometime.) greg, in answer to my grand idea said: "HA! are you crazy? that hike was over 9 miles! and have you forgotten the glacier we had to cross?" well, yes, i forgot about that, but i googled it anyways because i wanted to see if there was anything about it, and there was. (just click on the cabin to see the collection of pictures) and then i googled all fire lookout cabins in washington, because i thought, if three fingers was too hard and too high, maybe there was an easier one. but i had forgotten a few key things. one: they are high on mountaintops for a reason: they once really did contain people looking for fires. and two: they were mainly a summer residence. i forgot that in the mountains, in the winter, you get snow.

so right about now, a motel is looking mighty nice, and i'm back to square one for the next nyssen adventure. if you have any ideas, or places you've heard about or stayed in, i would love to hear about it and completely copy you.

thankfully, we're not so urban that francis doesn't get to experience the glories of fall right here in seattle. he asked me last week if i would make caramel apples, and i realized i never have. he's almost ten and i've never made caramel apples??!!what's the deal? so we did. and he loved them.








the leaves have been beautiful and our lawn covered with them, so my most recent idea to get my city-boy out into the great outdoors was to get him to rake them.





i posed it as a money-making venture, a chore of old: boys of every generation have had to do this, and as a double incentive, once he had a big enough pile, he could jump in it. as long as he raked it up again. i posed the idea to zoran, our former-neighbor/friend and current bldg. manager/friend and asked for the rake and if francis could do it. he was thrilled (saved him having to do it) and offered to pitch in money as well. so francis got to learn a lesson, earn money, and have fun all in one. he was a little disappointed at first that it took him a lot longer than he thought it would. also, that leaves kept falling as he worked and messed up his many organized piles. he thought he would be done in one shot. but it gets dark so early now, than he only had time to rake afterschool for one hour, and it took him three afternoons and he still wasn't done! (however: we did spy on him, and he did spend quite a bit of time looking at pretty leaves and setting them aside, and then a little raking, and then: oh! another leaf! and setting it aside, etc etc. it was a painfully slow process but we stayed out of it.) on saturday morning, it was sunny, and he had his friend august over (from a sleepover the night before) and greg was going to take them to the park. i said: why don't you ask if they want to rake and earn some money? they both chose earning money! apparently, you can still buy good manual labor these days for 2 dollars...and it's always more fun when you get a little help from your friends...





so, i posted some more pics of the raking on my flickr page, because i was just that tickled about it. and there's still leaves on the trees, and they're still falling, so lucky him! he'll get to do it all...over...again...