A day at the park

Well, here they are, my friends and their babies. I can't believe we are these people, moms!
When did that happen? Seems like we were just booze swillin' 20 somethings yesterday, and now we are all rounding the corner to 40. (some of us are already there, wink, sj)
Unbelievable.
Yet, we are all still feeling unsettled and unsure if the bay area is the place for us.
I asked these guys today what it would take to make Oakland our permenant homes and it all came down to being able to afford a house with a yard in a decent neighborhood.
Believe it or not, even if you make a good living, you still cannot afford a home in the bay area. Unless you are willing to buy a major fixer upper, a very tiny two bedroom or live in a sketchy neighborhood somewhere in the heart of Oakland.
So as our conversation swirled around the places we have talked about moving (Portland, Seattle, Vermont!) I just felt a sense of sadness that we cannot raise our children here without serious sacrifice. If I had known 15 years ago that this was the place I was going to be in, facing a possible move after building a community and connections or moving into a "rough" neighborhood with no yard and leaky roof, I would have settled somewhere else.
But for now we raise our kids and play in the sunny parks and ignore that we may need to pack it all up and move someday in order to give our kids the life they deserve.

Day 75

Today is Coopers 75th day in this universe, it is my 13,616th day.
It's 1:20 pm pst, Cooper is sleeping next to me in his car seat, Tyrone (our cat) is asleep on top of the green cabinet in the dining room and I have been up since 5:30 a.m.
I'm feeling a bit sick, like I have a cold, and I'm worried Cooper will catch it, although I have no idea what to do if he does.
How do I take his temperature? What temperature is too high? What do I do if he has a temperature? What can I give him? Will he have a sore throat too? Will he feel achy like I do?
I don't think it's fair that he should have a cold on this 75th day so I'm doing all I can to combat my cold so he can continue to only worry about when he is going to eat and sleep.
My goal is to get out of the house each day, some days it's really easy, like yesterday for instance, and other days, like today, it's like the front door is a huge wall and I have to muster up the energy to get over it.
I try and remember I will never get this time back with him and want to take full advantage of each day. Before I know it I will be back behind my desk at work wondering what he is doing and how he is doing. And unless something changes (win the lottery maybe?), I will be doing that for the next 20/30 years. So each day is really precious, even when I feel like my feet are in quicksand.

Reinspired

Well, I have been thinking about doing a blog about our/my days with Cooper and it just slipped to the wayside, until today, when I received an invitation via email to check out Dawn's blog http://aurorasruminations.blogspot.com/.
This made me think if Dawn could do this with a newborn AND a two year old, I really had no excuse.
I have four months off with Cooper (two are already gone) and my days are like none I've ever had, so writing/blogging seemed like a good place to capture all the feelings, emotions and daily excitement and boredom that is new parenthood.
Now, whether or not anyone wants to read this or not is another story, but I thought I would put it out there and let people know they can catch a glimpse of what is going on over here at 4275 Howe anytime they want, especially if I haven't been able to call them back!