Fond Farewell 2009 and Happy 2010!

After moving to SF in late summer 2008, we continued settling in here. The startup that I had been part of right after moving here didn't survive the financial crisis of fall 2008, so by the 2008 holiday season I found myself looking for a new job. It took a few months to convince them they needed me, but in March 2009 I started my dream job doing sustainability strategy consulting with Blu Skye. I am loving being part of the team there and feel so lucky to be doing exactly the work that I want to be doing.

At the end of May, I fulfilled a longtime dream: Eric and I climbed Mt Shasta, a 14,123 ft peak in northern California. It is not a technical climb but it does require crampons and an ice axe, so you can look and feel like a badass without actually having to be one. We had a great time climbing, camping "overnight" (8pm-1am) and summitting around 7am, with the sunrise. It was simply amazing and very satisfying to finally do it.

In August, Eric asked me to be his wife and I thought that sounded like a lot of fun, so we got engaged and planned a small, private wedding ceremony for late October.

On October 25, 2009 we were married in a hot air balloon over Sonoma county. The captain of the balloon performed the ceremony, with punctuating bursts from the propane jet to keep us aloft and on course. With us in the balloon were our parents and my brother. We learned later that everyone had been terrified of the balloon ride but us, but they all rose to the occasion and hopefully even enjoyed themselves. It was an extraordinary day and a totally perfect wedding.

Shortly thereafter, everyone who had suspected that maybe this was a shotgun wedding was proven right when we announced that we are expecting our first child - a son - at the end of March.* We have been calling him Belvedere just as a fun interim nickname, and I think there is a significant danger that it is going to stick. We will see.

In November we moved to a larger apartment in a more neighborhoody part of San Francisco - Potrero Hill - and we're getting settled in there, ready to add one more to our family in a few months.

So here we find ourselves: happy, pregnant, grateful and embracing whatever expected and unexpected adventures 2010 brings us.

With much love,
Ellie, Eric & Belvedere



*I think it is worth saying that while Belvedere may have impacted the timing of our nuptials, he was not the impetus for them. And the wedding itself was in no way diminished - it really was our dream wedding (though I am looking forward to finally drinking a very large glass of celebratory champagne when I am able to do so responsibly at some point in 2010)

Hasta luego amigos!

We're off to Mexico tomorrow and I'll be on vacation from blogging as well as from everything else. If you miss me while I'm away, just picture me here.

Ice ice baby

At childbirth prep class last night we learned some pain coping techniques and then practiced them.

Our teacher used ice as a simulation of the contractions. We would each hold a handful of ice in our bare hands for a full minute, then we'd get to put it down until the next "contraction" started. I didn't find it that painful but apparently some people in the class found it extremely uncomfortable, which I guess is kind of the point.

We also spent most of the three hours of class sitting on the floor, which for some folks* was more than enough practice in coping with pain and discomfort.

During each icy contraction we practiced the different techniques we were learning. One of them involved mooing like a cow. I actually found it quite effective as getting my mind off the pain and even kind of fun. I also liked the one where Eric held one of my feet and just gently squeezed it.

Am I preparing for childbirth or for getting a pedicure at a petting zoo? I think possibly both.


*Eric

Secret Santa

Either our cleaning people have switched to old-fashioned feather dusters, or my Secret Santa this year is a pigeon.
(My skylight was closed when I left last night and when I came in this morning.)

Lost and found

I went to the bathroom during a meeting today at my client's offices and was perplexed to discover a pair of panties left in one of the stalls. The panties were bikini style, black with white dots along the seams. They were laying on the seat as though casually misplaced by their owner, like an umbrella or a scarf might be forgotten when they aren't acutely needed.

How do you accidentally forget your panties in the bathroom?

When I went back an hour later they were gone. It remains unclear whether they were reclaimed by their original owner or sent to the landfill by the cleaning staff. Or perhaps they were adopted by a particularly forgiving and opportunistic woman.

How to tell your downstairs neighbors that you are expecting a child

Just 5 easy steps:

1. Happen to take the same bus as downstairs neighbor in the morning, but don't acknowledge each other or say hello.*

2. Also happen to take the same bus as a friend who lives across the street who is also pregnant.

3. Sit next to pregnant friend and within earshot of unacknowledged neighbor.

4. Discuss pregnancy with pregnant friend.

5. Observe shocked and horrified look on neighbor's face when she realizes she will be getting a new, very small and probably very noisy neighbor this coming spring.


*Eric took the bus with me this morning and he is the one who has met her before and recognized her. I didn't know she was our neighbor.

200 thoughts for the bus

I realized late last night that I was going to have to take the bus early this morning and neither Eric nor I had any single bills or more than a few stray pennies in our wallets.

I took a moment to wander aimlessly around the apartment in search of inspiration or some pile of small bills I had put down and forgotten about.

I didn't find any small bills. What I did find was a jar of pennies.

So I counted out 200 pennies, put them in a plastic baggie and put them in my coat pocket for the morning.

Epilogue:
The bus driver gave me a quizzical look as I hauled the sack of pennies out of my pocket.

"I'll just be a sec. You can go ahead - I'm balanced." The last thing I wanted was a busload of glaring non-morning people blaming me for making them late to work, or wherever they were all going.

The bus driver looked at me, may or may not have sensed the potential rage of the other passengers, and decided that driving on would be a good idea. Everyone went back to their reading, napping, or vacant staring, as desired.

It took me two stops to get all of the pennies funneled into the machine. The full fare "beep" was a great, great sound to hear.