Boobs to blogs: 2005 in review

Since I'm a follower and not a leader, and others are summarizing their 2005, I'll do likewise. In my own special way, of course.

G and I started off 2005 having recently weaned at the grand old age of 4.75, a fact that never fails to make Liz flinch. It sounds cruel, but we stopped nursing on Christmas Day. It was good to make it a significant day, easily recognizable and so forth. From that day on, he soothed by reaching his hand up my shirt and gently rubbing a mole I have under my left breast. Big improvement, you say? Better than another friend of mine, whose son transitioned to a habit of shoving both hands up her shirt to touch her boobs when he was feeling unsure. O'course, G would have been the recipient of an unintentional smack had he tried that. (whoops)

In January, I started using my Gmail account in earnest. You get 2.5+ gigs of storage so you really never have to delete. The search function is decent and it is nice to go back to see what happened etc. I'm using it to recreate this Year In Review.

Around that time, I received 11 bound volumes of Cook's Illustrated, and an index, from Freecycle. I have made a ton of recipes from them, almost all of them absolutely killer, including a deviled egg recipe that has become my mainstay. It was nice to rediscover that I adore cooking, especially baking.

I also started my first pair of socks, which are still on the needles and are horrible, and if I ever finish them, may still be horrible, as for some reason, I chose green and purple. Bright green and purple. It's super soft yarn, but I think I'll rip it out and make G some purple socks. Or something.

Still in January, Karen Bechtel took some killer action photos of our hockey division. Hm, thinking back, this was the middle of my first full season, having dropped out the previous season from a skiing injury (and that's IT for skiing--not worth endangering my hockey season!).

For my birthday, I went off to Osento with Samantha, after first shopping at Rainbow Grocery in SF, both of which I adore (well, all 3 of which). My ex, Nancy, met us for dinner at Fina Estampa for Peruvian food, which was as terrific as always. (I always end up getting the chicken in green rice dish, which is just amazing.) We went across the street for a little drinky-poo, then back to Osento for steaming together. I splurged on a massage which wasn't terrific, as I have some strange tenderness in the middle of my lower back and she just couldn't get that it was painful each and every time she rubbed hard there. Oh, well. I believe I went in the Cold Dip for the first time ever. And probably last. Interestingly, I have no idea whatsoever what I did with G that day.

In February, I got to meet Dale from the moms list. Our Family Coalition had planned a schools forum and as G was about to start K in the Fall, it seemed like a good time to think about school issues. Dale planned to go and we met up. It was great to get at least a little chance to chat face to face with someone whom I've known for something like 8 years online.

Also in February, I freaked out about the paucity of summer and aftercare options for G. It is criminal how little is available to a working parent. But I ended up having him transition to the summer program his preschool fed into, and the before/after-care onsite at his school has been fine. Thank God.

In March, we got to go to Disneyland with Sarah Rose and Ryan and their families! We stayed with Debi, whose pool was not being heated over the winter, and G gave it a try anyway (shudder). When we got there, Debi was sick and I made myself busy by cooking up some chicken soup with rice. We set off for Disneyland in overcast and rainy weather, taking a suggested circuitous route around LA and making awesome time by way of Pasadena. Who knew?

We stayed at the Hyatt in terrific rooms with wonderful views if uninteresting coffee. G and I ate breakfast in the room and packed a lunch each day, continuing our streak as the Cheap Family. I had bought 5-day Park Hopper passes for each of us, and sold the 2 days we didn't use on eBay (ahead of time) for easily 2/3 the original cost. All in all, it was a very affordable vacation and it was SO great to see JoAnne and her partner Mary, and Debi and her partner Rita, again. We were supposed to also meet up with Liz's Last Coaster Hurrah and her posse, but I fucked up and it really didn't work. When Murrita is born, maybe we can try again.

We started reading The Hobbit at home. It can get scary and graphic, but I think in the end, was too old for G. We quit after about Chapter 5.

On March 13, my kitty, Sylvester, died. He was 2 months shy of 19 years old. I saw him around corners for the next 3 months. I was at peace with his death, since I'd seen him decline, first slowly, then quite rapidly. In his lifetime, he had gone from Skittish Kitty to Ghost Kitty ("You have a cat? Really?") to Noisy Kitty to Old Man Curmudgeon. Interestingly, a sibling but not litter mate of his had died 2 months earlier, at exactly the same age. Long-lived stock. Sly was kind enough to die in my arms. He is missed.

Sue's son Eric was very sick. Their baby-by-guardianship Isaiah was sick, but got better.

G's discussion skills blossomed. We had discussions about cremation (Sylvester), reanimation (the Lazarus story), and conflict resolution (what to do *instead* of calling someone a poopoohead).

Grcontemplated my death. At one point, h e turned to me and tearfully said, "What if you and Auntie Faiah [his name for my sister] *both* die? Anna [his cousin] and I will need to find someone to take care of us--" (now choking back the sobs) "AND I DON'T KNOW HOW TO DRIVE!!!"

My sister and her kids visited for Easter. It was fun to dye eggs and hide baskets for all the kids.

G and I read "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and talked about choices and how maybe some of the things Willy Wonka does are just plain mean. And how a glass elevator could fly out of a roof.

In early April, I discovered that my lawnmower had been broken. When my ex, Nancy, heard about it, she offered to have her yard-clearing guy clear our back yard in preparation for G's birthday party. I accepted her very generous offer and G's party was a success. As with previous parties, I planned more activities than actually happened (this year, 3 vs. 1). I made a castle cake by request and it turned out pretty darn good, if I might say so myself.

Then I took advantage of a county program and turned my gas-powered mower in for a big discount on an electric one. Eliminates pollution and is much quieter. All I have to do is manage not to run over the extension cord!

Had my first Mammogram in April. It was not awful.

I signed G up for the neighborhood school, about which I wasn't terribly enthused, and then found out from someone that we had a good chance of being bumped to the school a notch below this one. Fortunately, we weren't bumped, and the school turned out to be just fine.

In May, I hosted a Mother's Day potluck for my single-mothers-by-choice group. I had a house full of moms and their kids, and it was exhausting and terrific. It is so great to see all these moms who are doing just fine raising kids as a single parent. And great for G to see families just like ours, too.

Also in May, G and I participated in a fashion show at his daycare. It was really an excuse to have a party, as we all modeled the clothes we already had. G and I wore matching camping clothes and emergency whistles. It was pretty funny, especially the kids who were just born to be in front of audiences!

For Memorial Day weekend, we went to my sister's in Ashland, OR.