At long last...

Our camera decided it was done with Boston for a while and took a much needed vacation to Long Island tucked away in our dear friends' stroller. At long last it has returned to us. I can no longer use my missing camera as an excuse to put off recording all that needs to be recorded of our time in Boston.



We collected our keys


Welcome to Soldiers Field Park!



These guys keep me smiling


My kitchen

I miss my big kitchen in San Diego and my gigantic island. I had so much room to cook and bake. Our kitchen is so small that we can't open the dishwasher all the way. It can only open to a 45 degree angle because it hits the fridge.

Jack's room

I'm in love with the view out his window. Jack and I sometimes lie together in his bed reading books and watching the giant oak tree as it's leaves start to turn yellow and red.

Our living room/dining room/office



The view from our balcony

It's a bit hard to make out in this picture, but we do have a view of the Charles River right on the other side of this street. We can sit in our living room/dining room/office and watch the crew teams practice.

The park and field practically steps from our apartment





Our new car


Zack gets a kick out of the fact that when we are all sitting down for dinner, my chair is in both the dinning room and the kitchen. Conveniently, I can reach over and get spare napkins from the drawer without leaving the comfort of my chair at the table.

Jack has heard Zack and me comment on the fragrance of our apartment so many times that now he walks into our home and says, "huh, it sure does smell like curry in here." I don't even think the child has any idea what curry even is!

I am at times overcome walking around with how beautiful it is here and that I get to spend two years of my life living at Harvard. Don't I make it sound inviting? Now don't all of my dear friends and loved ones want to move here to be with us????

So much newness. More to come...

The longest post ever

This Summer has past in a whirlwind of visitors and activity. The summer started with the arrival of our visitors from Tahiti. Amiria came out to live with us for seven weeks to complete an internship, and Maima came out, well, to shop! :) Here is a recap of our summer fun.


We introduced them to Fish tacos




They tried to introduce me to fish, Tahiti style...


We introduced them to American barbeques, and Smores.


Rachel and her friends joined us for the "Base Tan" Weekend. The weather didn't permit much tanning, but we loved having them around.


Zack picked up two bikes off freecycle to help Amiria get to work and back.


We shopped...


and shopped...


and shopped...


and shopped...


then we thought we'd do some more shopping...


Maima fell in love with Ross. We no exaggeration probably spent at least 6 hours in Rosses all over town that week.


We introduced them to the joys of In-n-out


...and froze them at Southern California beaches






Ate coma inducing nutella and banana crepes, loaded with so much butter and sugar that y body had no other choice but to go to sleep and allow it to concentrate solely on digesting and not contracting diabetes.



Had to pick up Amiria on several occasions all over town when she got lost attempting to ride her bike home. The first night she rode her bike, she left work at 4 and waited until 7 when we called wondering where she was to admit she was lost.



We said our goodbyes to Maima and dropped her off at LAX with 4 massive boxes stuffed with all the spoils of our many, many, many days of shopping. Besides one cold 20 minute trip to the beach, Maima only saw the inside of stores in San Diego. She couldn't have been happier.





We said our hellos to the Earnest cousins and Annee fresh from Korea. George claims the only thing he likes about Korea is the cheap dvds. :)



We played at Sea World







Sent Amiria down her first real roller coaster ride. George and Henry had fun too...



Reconnected with old friends from Santa Clara in Oceanside




Went to the Zackrison beach week which despite my evident lack of photo documentation was full of beach days, yummy food, family home evenings, movies, cousins, sand and tons of fun. Jack cried so hard when he had to say goodbye to his cousins. We sent Amiria to Utah and Idaho with her new friend Kristen for a week. While we were gone Zack's cousin and aunt and three kids came to San Diego and used out house as a landing spot. (less you think our poor home might have gone unoccupied this summer!)

Two days after beach week, our dear friends from New York came out for a visit along with their three kids. Zack and I have a theory that having friends makes us fatter. I was 4 pounds heavier when their week trip was over thanks to two birthday cakes, decadent chocolate crossaints, an extravagent nearly $400 French meal out for the adults, and theme park goodies.

We played at Disneyland



**Monica, I can't wear my headband without thinking of you now... :)



Jack was reunited with Autopia


My 29th !!! birthday cake arrived from LA


We stuck candles in it, made a wish and ate it anyways...




Put our cars up for sale


We sold Zack's and totalled mine (opps)

We opened our home up for staging and realtors of San Diego to help our landlords sell the house from afar.


We played in the pool (lots)


Made repeat visits to SeaWorld, the Del Mar Fair, and the SD Zoo on Amiria's farewell tour. And the back to SeaWorld for fireworks with Jen, Anthony and Emily. Too bad they didn't start till 10pm!



Then we packed up our home, said "till we meet agains" to our friends and loved ones and moved to Boston.

The end.

Stuff

Why is it that with each move I find myself at this very point -- staring down random bits and pieces of stuff that we evidently valued enough to decide to bring with us to 700 square feet of living space, but for the life of me I can't imagine why we have it or where it should go now?

I have had my fill of unpacking. Jack has been an angel and has pretty much spent the last week playing on his own in his room while we try to put our home back together. Zack has been busy finishing up his required HBS tutorials, and completing his last day of work for Intuit while I scour catalogs in search of tables, desks and bookshelves to fit our small home. Jack and I have also been lost all over Boston. Today however, I successfully drove us all to Target, Bed Bath and Beyond, Pottery Barn and home. It was a minor miracle in my life.

Another minor miracle worth mentioning -- Jack is now old enough (or maybe just our home is small enough that I don't imagine him walking out the front door downstairs) that I feel comfortable letting him play on his own in the morning while Zack and I sleep in a bit. Yes, we do get woken up incessantly, but somehow those last few stolen moments of interrupted sleep are worth their weight in gold. So is my family. Despite the fact that these boys drive me more crazy at moments then anyone else in the world, they also make me more indescribably happy.

I promise pictures. That darn cable is still lost somewhere (despite the fact that all boxes have been emptied...)

Seven Years

I remembered today a story Dorothy shared a story with us about her time living on campus at Harvard. She had a neighbor who was from India who had never made a cake before and asked her to teach her how. The story goes that the two of them baked in Dorothy's apartment a delicious cake and her neighbor went home eager to try one on her own. Once she had baked her cake, she brought it over for Dorothy to sample. One bite and Dorothy realized that the cake tasted like curry. Her pans and kitchen were so infused with curry that the cake stood no chance. Today, I remembered this story as Zack and I spent our seventh anniversary scubbing our kitchen with clorox wipes, Ajax, harsh sponges, and 409 in a battle that I am sure we lost against curry. The highest concentration of smell was coming from the kitchen and when Zack pulled out the stove, we were met with all sides of the stove, sides of the counter, and back wall all stained with curry. It is really a shame because after a year away from Santa Clara (where countless experiences of running in a gym, inhaling curry) I had almost nearly repressed the memory deep enough to be ready to try Indian food again. Sadly, now I can't imagine a world where me and curry will make up.

As I was scrubbing our petite bathroom, I was both relieved not to have three bathrooms to scrub anymore, and at the same time, overwhlemed by the age of this bathroom and all it must have seen. I realized how depressing it could be to be scrubbing a bathroom on an anniversary, but I realized that all I was was grateful to be spending our anniversary making this apartment into a home for my family. I love you Zack. I have loved you for almost half of my life and I will love you for the rest of it and throughout eternity. Forever and a day...

**We drove all over Boston today and the houses were beautiful. I think that the drive from the airport must have taken us through some shaddy streets, because since then I have pointed out one beautiful house and neighborhood after another.

**Zack and I do spend a fair amount of our time out here feeling like people think we must be from outterspace. Yesterday, much to our waitress' disbelief was the first time we had heard of, let alone tried a Hoodsie, and today while at Friendly's the lady had to explain at least three times to us what frizzles were. I guess to a lot of the country Californians probably are akin to aliens.

** Sometimes I look around and realize that I am surrounded by some of the world's brightest people and it can feel a bit intimidating. That is until I realize that the guy walking down the street with his pants unzipped is a Harvard student and suddenly I don't feel quite so intimidated any longer. I at least knew enough to zip up my pants. Score, double score.

Boston with Zack

Jack and I have decided that Boston with Zack is a much nicer place. Zack missed his ferry yesterday which left Jack and I on our own for the majority of Saturday. We had a good morning, shared a waffle, went to the pool, and then we both got eaten up by the couch for hours. I have never in three years turned on the tv to a show for me when Jack was awake, but yesterday Jack and I sat on the couch, snuggled up together, watching cooking shows and playing the I-phone. We were so drained that even the thought of chocolate chip cookies downstairs in the lobby was not worth getting off the couch. I contemplated calling room service to bring us up some, but my pride kept me from it. Then, Zack arrived :) and brought cookies and 5 Hershey Bars to us (he knows the fastest way to our heart). He collected us and we went to see our new car for the first time. It was great! He drove us over to our new home. It too was perfect. Tiny, smelled like curry/cat/urine and you can hear traffic noise, but perfect. It was a strange mix of feelings. Part of me was wondering where the rest of the house was, but at the same time my heart was so full thinking of our small family living so physically close together again. I took lots of pictures and even a video tour but until our camera cord arrives in Boston with the moving truck the pictures will remain securely stuck in my camera.

After day two, I will concede that all the old brick buildings out here are gorgeous. I still don't like the old dilapidated buildings and wonder if a nice new luxury apartment building with central air and a gym wouldn't be more of an asset to the city, but the brick now has a place in my heart.

Boston

So, Zack is sleeping in New York tonight and Jack and I are sleeping in Boston. Adam and Monica called and asked for my inital reaction and although I fully admit that my reactions prove just how uncultured I am, I still feel they are worthy of recording if only to laugh at later when I am a cultured Bostonian.
-People out here talk like morons. I say this fully recognizing that I may sound like a California girl, with my likes, bummers, dudes, and cools, but I mean how hard is it really to say Hershey Bar? I overheard a man today on the plane ask his wife if she wanted a Hershey Baah. Really? I mean I acknowledge that Hershey bars are super important in my life, but honestly, Hershey baah?
-The buildings out here are really old. I know that there are plenty of people in the world that this would be a good thing for, something on the why Boston is so cool list, and being a history major and all (stop laughing Zack) I really should be one of them, but I unfortunately am not.
-We drove by the Charles river on our way to our hotel and it triely was beautiful. The sun was setting and there were couples sitting watching the sailboats sitting on benches. It looked like a scene out of a romantic movie. I wanted to be sitting on that bench with Zack by my side instead of in New York.
-It hit me the other day when I was telling someone that this was our sixth move in the seven years we have been married (this Subday!!). There is no one else in the world that I would rather be following around the country then the man I married. He is worth it all and a million gazillon times more. I was reading in an old journal from about a year and a half ago, and I found an entry where I wrote that I had been pettioning my Father in Heaven to help Zack get into grad school because I knew that he was putting Jack and me first and I worried that his priortization might be the thing to stand in his way. I am so grateful to have a husband that truly does stand as a husband and a father first each day. I see the next two years as our turn to give back and strengthen our family bonds as we share in one united goal in this adventure.
Tomorrow we go see our apartment for the first time. I am worried that despite my unbelievably low expectations I am still going to be disappointed. I now look at every new piece of laundry as existing to offend me personally.

Home

We just got back to Dani and Sean's house after spending the evening saying goodbye to Bobby, Dani and Nicky. It hit me tonight as we were driving away, what it was I have been mourning the loss of. It isn't the house, although we were very happy there, or even sunny San Diego for that matter - it was the people who filled our home with friendship and love. It was living right next door to our best friends. It was the late evenings, the nights playing in the ally, the small knocks on the door of Nicky asking if Jack could come out and play, it was overhearing the two little guys talking through the front window screen. It was Zack's "second dinners" that he would happily devour anytime Bobby knocked on our door. It was having a friend that I could laugh and cry with and know that it was okay either way. It was having neighbors who you knew you could call up in the middle of the night for help and they'd be there no matter what. It was knowing that Jack would be safe and cared for by them just as he would by us. It was watching and learning from Dani how to better enjoy being, not only a mother to Jack, but also a friend.

San Diego is home because of the Chirco family. Go 92127.

All for a pickle

On Tuesday I totaled my Passat for a pickle. Yes, a pickle. But not just any pickle, no, a McDonald's sliced pickle that comes on the top of a kids cheeseburger, which means it is covered in ketchup, mustard and perfectly cut mini onions. I know this sounds ridiculous and needs some explanation.

I don't eat at McDonalds. Maybe once in a blue moon...I think the last time I ate there I was 70 pounds+ pregnant with Jack, bursting at the seams and the thought of waiting another minute for food seemed unimaginable (I guess there-in lies the answer to why I was 70+ pounds pregnant) so I ate at McDonalds. Even though I don't eat at McDonald's, Jack does. More often then I care to admit, I grab him a cheeseburger (one of the rare places he will actually eat meat from - I know, I know) and fries. I generally watch him eat this meal and refrain from eating myself so I can someday be skinny. One of the tiny pleasures I allow myself at these moments is to eat the pickle off of his cheeseburger. I purposefully don't ask them to make him a cheeseburger without a pickle so that I can have it all to myself.

On Monday, the movers came and moved us out of our house, so we were staying at Dani and Sean's new home. So we woke up Tuesday morning and I decided to take Jack out to run some errands. We were on our way back and Jack was hungry and asked for a cheeseburger from McDonald's. We were in a hurry because I wanted to get him home so he could swim with Sean a bit and then, cross my fingers, take a much needed nap. So I pulled into McDonald's and thought to myself, I'm in a hurry...should I say no pickle? I decided no, I wanted my pickle. Heck I deserved that pickle being homeless and all. I almost waivered at the window, but I pushed on. I had the thought I that I should pull over and get Jack's food (and my pickle) ready, but I remembered I was in a hurry and that would only slow us down. I called Zack on my way out of the drive-thru on my hands free device. I had Jack's cheeseburger in hand, trying to fish out the pickle that was glued shut to the cheese, literally saying to Zack, "I fell like a turkey running around without it's head, no, that's not right, a chicken, that's it...see how confused I am...Oh no I'm going to crash..." WHAM. When I hit a stopped 4Runner at a red light. I mean, there seriously is no excuse for that. I can blame myself in a million little ways. The man at the repair shop three weeks ago said I needed new brakes. Truth be told, he was so concerned that he even offered to let me borrow his car which had his four year old's car seat in it so I could make an appointment and he could fix my breaks, but I thanked him and told him I was selling my car to Carmax in three weeks and I would wait. All week I was thinking, something is going to happen before I sell my car, and noticing how crummy my breaks were, but now I was only 3 days from selling it, so I would wait. That morning Zack put Jack in his car seat and had the impression he should double check that he was securely buckled in his seat, which he did. I wish I had listened to my promptings. I am grateful that Zack listened to his, and that through it all, Jack was completely safe and minutes later eating his cheeseburgers, sans pickle. It's all a bit hazy and clouded over in my memory, but I think after I crashed into the guy, I stuck the pickle in my mouth and ate it before I pulled my car off to the side of the road. Honestly.

All for a pickle. I am so ridiculous.

Newer Beginnings

I am still working on recording all the happenings this summer, but our move to Boston has pretty much taken over our lives. It's too soon. In the short moments when I allow myself to think about the fact that we are leaving, I am heartbroken. I have fallen in love with our life here. It was at this moment that I remember writing about my heart hurting almost eleven months ago to the date. I reread the entry and thought about how circular life is. I remain hopeful that if so much could change in eleven short months, that I will be sitting down two years from now, again brokenhearted, at the prospect of leaving our life out there.

September 11, 2008
New Beginnings
Today, as Jack and I boarded our plane holding one way tickets from San Jose to San Diego it hit me. We are not coming back here. At least not back to our Home. It was a perfect take off. We flew right over Safeway, right over the park where Jack went on the swings and down the slide for the first time, the bagel store where Jack ate more mini cinnamon raisin bagels with cream cheese then I care to admit as we discussed our favorite cars, colors, and why the sky is blue, the school where we went to make baskets each evening, and then more recently to race cars, then over Archstone and finally over Nantucket and the park that I looked out on for the last three years. It was a fitting end to a wonderful four years in Santa Clara.

I woke up the other morning at Dani and Sean's house. Zack had already left to catch his airplane and use his one way ticket to San Diego. Jack was still asleep and I just kept thinking over and over again, "My heart hurts." Believe me, I know it's not the end of the world, and I am aware that San Diego is wonderful, but it's not Home yet. Home is something real, and essential in my life. It's a safe haven from the world that I can't control. So, leaving Home is a big deal to me. The only thing making this possible is my faith that Home is where Jack and Zack are (if only I could convince Dani and Sean that they have to attach themselves to us then I'd be set).

I have also been thinking about my grandmother, Baba, a lot. She and her sister Bosa lived in a duplex with their families in Milwaukee. Baba and Deda had three kids, and Bosa and Deka had four kids. I have grown up hearing all about the mischief those seven kids got into growing up essentially in one home. After a few years Baba and Deda moved their family to California and Bosa and Deka remained with their family in Milwaukee. I asked Baba a few years ago, when I was getting ready to move away from Dani for the first time and get married, whether it was a hard decision to make. She told me absolutely not. That it was the right decision for her family and that she and Bosa would always be sisters whether they lived in the same house or across the country.

The truth is I am not me without Dani. I guess that's why we came as a pair. I just have to keep reminding myself that we will always be sisters whether we live in the same house or across the country.

Americans

Last week we bought Jack two Star Wars action figures to play with. He is getting more and more into creative play and has had a ton of fun making the guys "bam" each other. (Better the dolls then other kids in nursery right?). However, Jack soon learned that these dolls heads can pop off (arms, and legs too). He was playing in the back seat while we were running errands and I overheard him saying, "Ouch, now I'm an American." We have been working with him on the idea that we live in America, and that California is a state in America, as is Massachusetts and that Boston is a city in Massachusetts, so I was glad to hear that he got something out of all of this. He then held up his guy and said, "Look Mom, now he's Skywalker and now (popping off the guy's head) he's an American." I was horrified. Had we somehow taught our child that Americans don't have heads, or worse that Americans loose their heads???? For about a week he showed lots of different people his "American" guy and we tried to figure out where we had gone wrong in our explanations, explaining that I'm and American and I have a head, and Zack's an American and he has a head. Finally, last night while we were at the mall, Jack walked by a store and says, "Look, another American." It took just a minute to put it all together. Jack was pointing at a mannequin. He was trying to tell us that his guy looked like a mannequin without his head, not an American.
...and out goes the collective deep sigh of relief...

Overwhelmed

To say we are overwhelmed would be the understatement of the year.

I have so many pictures, so many memories, so many stories to record, but they will have to wait.

We have had loans to apply for, housing to be found in Cambridge while sitting in San Diego, cars to sell, a car to buy, movers to be scheduled, a house to be packed up, all the while with a house that has been busting full of wonderful visitors since May 22nd.

I know two years from now when Zack (cross our fingers) is a Harvard MBA graduate (that sounds so awesome....) I will look back and know how worth it it all was. But until then I have to wonder...

Do you think anyone ever looks back at their life and says, "aha, I can pinpoint where it all went wrong - the day we decided to stop working and go to grad school." It's hard to not be scared taking this leap given how much we love our life right now. Could we even dare to hope it could get better then this?