High-Fives from 2009

At first, I didn't want to remember 2009 at all; after my lung issues that started last June and are ongoing, it's a year I'd rather forget in some ways.  But I like to put a positive spin on things (plus geekymummy tagged me with this great meme) so here are my 2009 high-fives:

1. My kids gained independence

The one good thing that came from my being sick is that my kids learned to self-manage on an all new level.  At no point were they ever unsafe or unsupervised under my care, but, especially in Vermont over the summer, I wasn't bouncing around doing tons of things with them; I was lounging on a chair, couch or bed while they played.  And play, they did.  When I felt too tired to drive them to the pool or wherever, they grabbed fishing nets and caught frogs in our vernal pool.  They climbed trees.  They played tag and chase.  They did somersaults.  They drew pictures.  They laughed together, had a summer-long sleep-over and became the best of friends to each other -- not an easy feat for kids over four years apart in age.

In other words, for one brief summer, their childhood mirrored mine at Dash's age, when I was on a farm, surrounded by few toys but lots of nature and some other great kids (in my case, cousins) with whom I'd play.   I love that my childhood was so carefree, and I love that my kids had a taste of that this summer -- and love that we've kept our house in Vermont so that they have a direct contrast in lifestyle compared to their always-on Silicon Valley one.

2. BlogHer

I perked up this summer just long enough -- barely long enough -- to make it to my first BlogHer conference in Chicago.  I had seen a pulmonologist at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center who gave me some super-strong, amazing drugs that almost saw me through the whole conference, until I started reacting to them halfway through.  Yeah, that splotchy girl at BlogHer?  That was me. 

But oh, was it fun.  It was a giant party.  (I posted about it here, here and here.)  Yes, I learned some valuable things about blogging/writing; most valuable to me was a session on op-eds given by Katie Orenstein.  But mostly, I just had a blast, meeting bloggers from my Silicon Valley Moms Group sisterhood, a whole lot of funny ladies, and I slept (not much -- these gals party late!) in my own hotel room, totally on a vacation from my real life, for three whole nights.  It was heaven.  Next year: BlogHer in NYC!  Start spreading the news!

3. Unpacking the last box

In our seven years in NJ, we never unpacked all of the way ... perhaps a sign that we weren't meant to stay there.  (Of course, it could also be a sign that I had two kids and, at one point, a full-time job and full-time graduate school.)  In late-2009, we unpacked the last box in our Silicon Valley home.  I think it was our declaration that we're here to stay!  We all love it here ... the weather, our tons of friends, proximity to Stanford and to a great downtown, the Guv's five-minute bike commute ... Life is good here in CA!

4. Experiencing Tahoe

We are used to snow; after all, we live part-time in Vermont!  But I've never ever seen snow in my life like that in Tahoe.  Wow.  We spent a couple of nights there and, on one of those nights, slept through an eighteen-inch snowfall.  Unlike New England or New Jersey, it didn't shut down anything; you just put on your big-girl panties tire chains and deal.

The tire chain fiasco is worthy of a whole separate blog post, but, in short, we did it, and the kids skiied Sugar Bowl.  Dash could've cared less about skiing and, instead, wanted to throw snowballs all day, every day.  Petunia, however, could handle intermediate runs there.  Apparently, if one has learned to ski on "asphalt" (what Tahoe folks call Vermont's snow), one can ski rather well.  We watched our girl go over some light jumps at the end, reach the bottom, and pump her arms in the air.  I always wanted my kids to ski because it's something that I couldn't do and felt left out sometimes because of (those high school and college ski trips didn't accommodate non-skiers with fun stuff like tubing in my day).  Mission accomplished!

The bummer of it all was that I would have loved to snowboard in Tahoe.  Oh, how soft those landings would've been in all that fresh powder!  But, alas, I couldn't breathe.  2010 is the year my bum lung gets fixed, because I have to get back up to that mountain and ride. 

5. Last but definitely not least: the puppy

I never thought I'd be dog-less for as long as I've been, but the timing never seemed right.  When we decided that we're almost definitely positive that we weren't having any more kids, I started researching dog breeds (pretty much immediately after Dash's birth).  Criteria: small enough to ride inside the cabin of a plane with us, fun, kid-friendly, non-shedding, no-dander.  We ended up with our Havanese puppy Lola, and she is just the best dog ever.  She doesn't bark unless someone comes to the door.  She has ways to tell us when she needs to go outside.  She doesn't bite, and she loves to play.  Our favorite thing is to take her to the beach or to a park where the Guv chases her in circles; she runs super-fast.  We all love her to pieces, and she loves us right back -- and even the Guv, never a dog lover, will be caught letting her lick his face.  Lola's addition to our family was the highlight of 2009 for me.

Thanks again to geekymummy for tagging me with this meme!  It was lots of fun!  Have a great 2010 everyone!