Hey, y'all -
In February, your dad and I celebrated Valentine's Day like we celebrate all romantic holidays: by doing something really unpleasant in the elements (your dad may deny this, but I know I spent my honeymoon installing fiberglass insulation in a crawl space). Your dad took me to Georgetown Lake, because he wanted to go kite skiing.
Ah, kite skiing...that sport where you buckle long slippery downhill skis to your feet and strap yourself in a harness attached to a huge kite in the middle of a frozen lake so you can be propelled forward, backward and sideways at 15mph while the wind hands you your ass. Middle-aged dudes get that good low-deductible insurance and start thinking of new ways to try to break a leg. I'm just there in my six layers of clothes to take pictures when it happens. Don't say the magic's not alive.
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Laney started the year in fifth grade, where she took up both the violin and dressing like a 20 year-old publishing intern on her way to a meeting on the Upper East Side. She's amazing and smart and kind and independent and adventurous as all get-out, and every day I think she's going to come home and tell me she's signed a lease to live elsewhere.
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Hagen. Well, second grade was more of a roller coaster for ol' Hagey Bagey.
After much discussion and testing, the truly lovely and devoted professionals at his school informed us that Hagen is on the autism spectrum, which explained SO MUCH. I remember describing him to his preschool teacher when he was three by saying, "He's going to invent the next iPhone if he can just find his damn shoes." After the diagnosis, at his first meeting with an occupational therapist, the therapist asked, "Hagen, can you tie your own shoes?" and Hagen said, "No. But I don't own any shoes with ties, so it's mostly a non-issue."
The school specialists gave him an IQ test, and I won't tell you the results because that's tacky, but I will tell you he can explain how electricity works, the role of DNA, and how bats use echolocation to navigate through the world. But he can't possibly find two socks that match or find his way home from two blocks away, because he's too busy thinking about lizards or Pokemon or lizards that should be Pokemon. He wants to invent a household robot that helps senior citizens. He asks for index cards for every gift-giving holiday. He has the most incredible imagination and way of seeing the world, so if the loss of a little hand/eye coordination and executive function are the price we have to pay, so be it. We think he's the coolest.
One of the characteristics of kids on the spectrum is that they have a hard time lying - and they don't understand small talk. Last Christmas, he made his teacher a card that read "I like you more than broccoli." "HAGEN!" I exclaimed, "That's not very nice." He shrugged and said "She doesn't know how much I like broccoli."
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BEFORE! AFTER!
We bought a house a few years ago that's a charming 1930's bungalow that the previous owners added an enormous rear addition to in 1968. From the front, it looks like a cute little cottage and from the side, it looks like a never-ending sister wife compound. The front third of the house was hardwood floors and vintage charm and the back half was wood paneling and shag carpet and linoleum and one architectural head-scratcher after another. It was a Very Brady Nightmare.
Your dad had been promising me that we would work on interior projects as soon as it was too cold outside to work on exterior ones. The loophole there is it's never too cold for your dad, but I finally put my foot down, dragged your grandpops in from the lake and set to work on our upstairs bathroom.
BEFORE:
So much baby blue. So much wood paneling. So many innovative choices, like flooring as wall covering.
DURING:
Your dad and grandfather are amazing sports, and have never once told me that I couldn't have my vision. There is a special spot in heaven reserved for men who ask no questions during remodeling.
AFTER:
So, that's February.
My dear friend Clay Mercer once said about me, "Damn - when your plate is full, you just go on and get a bigger plate." SO TRUE. Stay tuned for the rest of the year. It gets weirder.
Love,
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