this woman’s work

Madison was worried before we got here because she’s developed a fear of sharks. And crabs. So we told her that sharks don’t come to Oregon beaches because it’s too cold and that there aren’t any pinchy crabs here anyway. And we decided to put away the ocean book before she got to the jellyfish. She’s very nearly four, which means she’s just figuring out that she’s mortal and she worries.

The ocean is, of course, pretty darn big even if you’re not a very small person so she stood on the sand and just started. Noah took off to leap into the waves but she was afraid to even put her feet in the edges and the foam spooked her, too. So she built sand castles while Noah and Brett ran in and splashed around. She’d look up to see what they were doing and shake her head.

Then we walked down to the rocks (where the sea lions sun themselves but they weren’t out today — there was one out in the waves bobbing his head but that was it). And she was grossed out by the seaweed until I got her to touch it and then she was more brave about touching things. She started gathering shells (really shell fragments) and I led her bit by bit closer to the wet sand, close to the waves, until one came up and pooled around her feet. It surprised her but she didn’t run this time. She stopped and we watched it come in again, pooling around her feet again and this time she laughed. Then she shouted, “I did it!” and then she started to dance.

Pics of these events in the next entry. (Written without coffee after sleeping crammed into the bed with two wriggly children. Typos are a given.)

We’re at Newport Beach for the next two nights. Theoretically we’re right on the beach but there’s a very long flight of stairs to get down to it. Still we can see it and hear it from our room, which makes for nice sleeping. (Although there’s only a queen size bed and they may have given away the roll-away we reserved so nice sleeping could go by the wayside. We’ll see.)

The Easter candy onslaught continues. The good people at the hotel handed over goodie bags (along with sand pails) when we checked in. I told the woman, “Thank you, that’s so nice! Only I don’t think my kids deserve this after their behavior on the drive over here.” And the woman said, “Oh just give them to them — it’ll improve everyone’s mood right off!” So I did and she was right.

Madison was afraid of the ocean at first but warmed up a couple hours into it. (Pictures coming up in the next entry.) Noah put on his swim suit and headed out with Brett even though March on the Oregon coast is no place for swimming.

Oh and we hit the Hanna Andersson outlet! I could have spent a lot more but a girl has got to be thrifty!!

I’ve got a newer version of MS Office and the Powerpoint templates are oh so pretty!

I have a rough version that may be darn close to the final version. Once it’s done I’ll finalize my notes so that I know what I’m talking about over ‘em. Mostly I want the Powerpoint to pull out some interesting stats and make ‘em more compelling.

Other things to do before we leave:

• Finish that assignment due Monday;
• Do a couple of book reviews so they’re not hanging over my head;
• Change my voicemail message;
• Figure out how to handle my feeds without unsubscribing OR needing to clean ‘em out several times a day;
• Laundry;
• Panic, I mean pack;
•  Buy Easter Bunny goodness (we’ll get in at 9pm Portland time the night before Easter);
• Get Noah to my sister’s (or my sister over here) to bleach his roots (if he won’t cut it, he’s got to at least take care of the roots!);
• Buy snacks and travel size personal hygiene products;
• Get ahead on a weekly client job I don’t want to do over my trip;
• Hang out with Pennie on Friday;
• Answer those pressing emails I’m ignoring;
• Gather invoices that need to go out while we’re out of town.

That ain’t too bad. And I’ve got two more days to do it!

And we’ll be in Portland for a little more than a week. Well, we’ll be in Oregon a little more than a week because we also need to get to Eugene and Cannon Beach. I’m trying to figure out how to see everyone — most of my mom’s family is there (my grandmother, two aunts), my brother, Brett’s brother, Wick, and Wick’s family. Also friends galore! Should be hectic. But fun, yes, definitely fun. We’ll be there for Easter, Madison’s fourth birthday and our anniversary (18 years together, 14 years married). Did I mention hectic?

I really need to get some work done before I head to — you guessed it! — another meeting. Ohio has its own share of hectic.