Weekend away

We went away for the weekend, the first time since New Year's? Is that possible? It was great. To be away from the phone, computer and what had been mounting pressure, was rejuvenating.

Friday I spent much of the day cooking since my dad was coming for a visit. Spinach with tofu and miso, hijiki with kidney beans, carrots and onion, flank steak (marinated and frozen by Takai a couple of moons ago), fresh strawberries, roasted asparagus, cucumber and seaweed salad, and latkes. Mmmm.

Dad arrived in the afternoon bearing Japanese Thomas trains for the kids and a treasure trove of Japanese books for me---books of traditional games and activities, a Frances book and The Three Billy Goats Gruff, both translated into Japanese. Although the time spent with him was relatively short (we saw him again for about an hour Sunday night in Walnut Creek), the energy, love and joy that passes between Kinder, Pre and Jiji, is just amazing to watch. Makes every second worth it a hundredfold.

Saturday, we drove down to Oakland after lunch to spend the night at Barbra and Audrey's. I was a bundle of nervous energy as I spilled out my torrent in response to Audrey's "how are you doing?", but a lovely dinner, a very intense movie (The Squid and the Whale), a nearly uninterrupted eight hours of sleep, a so-completely-real-repeated-wave-of-the-trunk greeting by an elephant and a dreamy carousel ride with Pre and rollicking roller coaster ride with Kinder later, I was a new woman.

Sunday we lingered in a bookstore (Backyardigans books for the kids, a Kumon maze book for me...to check out before using with the kids, and for Cap, some time spent checking out adolescent literature---he recently found out he'll be teaching about it in the fall) and then relaxed at Jiji's place waiting for him to return from his day. The kids and I played Gulo Gulo and Roads, Rivers, and Railways while Cap snoozed on the couch. Cap and I were treated to Indian take-out for dinner which was yummy---a stroke of luck since we picked the place out of the Yellow Pages.

Today, I woke with some of the calm still with me. Instead of feeling burdened, I just got going, doing what seemed to be needing attention. Got the kids' sheepskins washed, stripped the beds, and got caught up with balancing the finances.

The finances took a long time, what with breaks for lunch, snacks, and reading to the kids. I am still finetuning my system of record keeping. We ended up in the red by about fifty dollars after the first half of the month (for now, the months are divided according to the twice a month paychecks that Cap brings home). In the space of a week, we went from having what I thought would be a surplus of a few hundred dollars to going into negative-land. I ain't licked, though. I am very motivated to keep at this, to begin to feel a rhythm of chipping away at our debt.