silly hats

I'm pretty sure he's covering up his baby dreds' in his grandpa's hat.

Here are a few more California things I'm pre-mourning:

1) cool foggy mornings walking the dog, looking at the riotous roses, and poppies that spring up in our neighbors yards.

2) In n' Out Burger

tuesday

Just got back from a loverly week in CO, looking at daycares, neighborhoods, eating too much ice cream and drinking a wee bit too much red wine with my family. I'm getting excited about moving! The agonies of packing up and the bedlam of unpacking are still far enough away that I can enjoy the idea of change without all the messy reality. Gabriel, as always, had a blast with his grandparents. I think he actually remembered them from the last visit at Christmas. He followed my dad around the yard, helped with "projects" like feeding the birds and putting gravel in a bucket. I came home from lunch with my grandma to find him alternating banging a piece of wood with a ball peen hammer and licking the same hammer. It does make me wonder what goes on in that head.
On the daycare front, I must say it's a leetle less nerve-wracking than last time. At least, I know that the idea of daycare is not wholly untoward. It's the specific ones that you have to watch out for: like the one just down the street from the hospital where I'll be working, where, in the 15 minutes we were there, we witnessed a teacher opening a gate into a little girls face, scolding another for wetting her pants, and the same girl getting bashed in the head with a truck by a little boy who wanted her seat. Umm, no...
We did find a nice montessori daycare, where the kids seemed content, busy and noticeably unviolent. There is a designated Spanish speaker in each classroom, and a diverse kiddo population which, frankly, is rare in CO. It's too expensive, of course, but I think we'll just have to do it.
So, that's my small life. I sent G off to daycare so I can get things done. Hmm, shall I go to the coffee shop first, or take a nap. Life is so full of a number of things....

Starting a list

...of everything that I will miss about California:

1) the ocean, even on days windy enough to pumice the skin right off your face

2) fruit, figs, plums and oranges in the backyard.

to be continued, perhaps

Howdee do?

So, I'm trying again. It's been a wild winter, in some ways. In others, I have seriously gone to seed. I've given up exercise and sunscreen. I do know how to live on the edge, clearly.
I've finished my last rotation of medical school. I graduate in two months and will be a doctor. Frightening and terrible to behold. Of course, the big joke is that I still know diddly caca about life, medicine or anything else of import, but now I shall trade in my short white coat for a long white coat and pretend like I know my ass from my elbow. Filled with confidence in our medical education system? I don't blame you a bit.
I'm moving back home! Well, to Colorado, anyhoo. I matched with a family practice residency in Denver and am looking forward to living so much closer to my family. And not JUST for the free babysitting. I'm sure we'll all drive each other crazy in short order, but it's really time to be, you know, more connected. It's hardly a revelation, but we're getting older all the time, and it just feels right to be with the people you really love in life.
Enough senti-mental babble. The babe is doing great. Walking, running, jumping, climbing, talking (after a fashion) and generally engaged in every possible mess-making scenario the house has to offer. A picture to follow, though he presents a photo challenge these days. I delete half the pics because he's either left the frame by the time the digi-shutter snaps or I have captured nothing but hugely enlarged baby nostrils. Not unlike photographing a dog, frankly.
M is good, too. Excited about the move one moment. Dreading searching for a new job the next. It's a lot to ask of someone you love. Wish us all lots of luck!