2017 in review

This year was our first complete year at home.  There was less stress and more fun. 

Friends and Family and Pets

• babies born:   Hazel to J&S, Libby to E&R, Graham to R&A, Finley to T&J, Evan A&J, Skylar to M&M, Jakobi to F&B  (5 of 7 are second kids)
• After labor day weekend we adopted Luna and Toru,  who were born at the end of the school year.

• Both Jack’s mom and step dad had surgeries over the summer, and both recovered well.
• Jack’s step mom retired from Boeing.
• After a long year of writing for her last post-doc position, my sister Becky got another post-doc job at UW, which she will start in January.
• The only wedding we attended was Jessica and Adam’s in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
• Jessica visited Seattle in March and she, Rachelle and I went wedding dress shopping.
• Rachel visited from Alaska in August.
• My Texas relatives (mom’s two brothers and some of their families) visited in August during the eclipse.  D met his cousin who is only a couple of months older.

• Our poor older cat had a UTI for a lot of the summer, so she was leaking pee in her sleep, while we were on our first foray into night time potty training with D.  Oh the laundry!  We’ve been lucky to not go to the vet much, but this year made up for lost time between Emo’s infection and the new kittens.
• Jenn and Andreas visited from Boston in July.  We went sailing with my parents and kayaking on Lake Union.

• We became good friends with another family from D’s school and had lots of good times and adventures with them.

House

• We planted got lots of new trees: our Japanese snowbells, an indoor Meyer lemon tree from Jack for my birthday, a lilac tree and our second living Christmas tree, which we hope to keep alive in its pot.  Its collaboratively chosen name is Lefty Righty North Tip.

• The biggest projects we did were planting outdoor plants, fixing the master bathroom lights and building the laundry chute, which are described here and here, along with some other smaller projects.
• We finally got the king sized mattress I’ve been wanting (from Avocado Green Mattress).  We also bought a twin mattress for D on craigslist, so now I can sleep easily because along with our futons, all of our mattresses are natural fibers that are free of flame redardant chemicals. 

Travel

• January: White Pass, near Mount Rainier
• February: We spent another holiday weekend in a yurt at Pacific Beach State Park, while Jack’s parents and nephew stayed there in their trailer.  It rained but had some good beach time nonetheless.  We got to take a long rainy beach walk while D veged in the warm trailer.

• March: We had a sleepover with our friends who moved up to Anacortes, including a nice little hike to Rosario beach, near Deception Pass.

• April: Jack and I made a quick overnight trip to Portland to meet our friends’ new baby, leaving D with grandparents.
• May-June: We headed to Michigan for eight days for Jessica and Adam's wedding 
• July: Our Deception Pass camping trip continued, with three other families.
• July – August: My extended family on my dad’s side put together three sprint triathlon teams for the Whidbey Island triathlon.  LINK
• August: We did *not* go camping in Eastern Washington as planned because of the massive forest fires and smoke.  We set up the teepee in the living room though.
• August: With my mom’s side of the family visiting from Texas, we spent a few days at Fort Worden.
• August: Friday Harbor
• September: The three of us camped at Liberty in the last weekend of the month.  There was frost in the morning and Jack learned that our sleeping bags really are not three season bags.  I enjoyed my new warmer, woman-specific sleeping bag.  Don’t get me started on that subject!     Despite the cold we squeezed in another October day trip with friends before winter.  The 90 minute drive was well worth it, without the hassle of packing all the camping gear.

• October: Scotland, for 2/3rds of the family
• November: We convinced our friends to join us at Seaquest State Park over Veterans’ day weekend, where we went last year as well.  It was chilly, but we had some awesome fires (with some wood we brought from Liberty) and a cold and wet, but rewarding, hike.  We saw two garter snakes!

Recreation and Food

• Fit4Mom – In September I started a high intensity interval training classes with some of my PEPS friends.  It’s great exercise (in my last workout I burned over 700 calories and had an average heart rate of 159 for 50 minutes) in a fabulously supportive environment.  It’s fun to see other women a few times a week and I even have a carpool friend.
• Jack had a good baseball season, where his team finished in a close second place, for the second time in two years.

• D did several sessions of swim lessons and moved in to the three year old class in December where it’s three three-year-olds with one instructor and no parents in the pool.  He also took pre-ballet with a great teacher at the nearby community center.  Kids’ activities that we can walk to are such a treat.

• We joined the Instant Pot (a popular electric pressure cooker) bandwagon.  I’d say we’re using it a couple of times a month and we still have some more to learn.  We’ve made lots of beans, cooked chicken without defrosting it, made soy yogurt, made some delicious vegan soup and even cooked a 6 lb leg of lamb in 90 minutes!
• Volleyball kept going though I stopped going when my PEPS groups started and Jack had a lot of conflicts due to baseball league meetings.
• D started eating grapefruit after his birthday because “when you’re three you like grapefruit.”  We got some serrated grapefruit spoons and have really enjoyed having them for breakfast.
• Our oven worked for most of 2017, which was a treat :)
• I raced in the spring with my dad and often with my sister too!

• We did some hiking.  Distances were pretty short, but D was either walking or being carried on our shoulders so it’s progress.

Reading, Watching and Thinking

• In January and February I took a weekly mindfulness class through Swedish.  It was interesting and powerful and I hope to get around to incorporating more of it in to my life.
• D did winter and summer music classes.  He’s one of the older kids in class now, but still has a blast.
• Best Books
• Jack: The Wind Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
• Cari: This was my best reading year since D was born, so I’m going to pick two books and say What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty and Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt, recommended by my sister.
• D: The Magic School Bus books
• C+J read-aloud: we only finished two read-alouds so it’s not a close race, but I’d say it was the umpteenth book in a series we have read together for a long time, Revolt at the Beach by CD Payne.  Note that this doesn’t constitute an endorsement :)
• Best movies and TV:
• Cari: Hidden Figures and Big Little Lies
• D and Jack: Moana!   We watched that, The Lion King and Frozen and Moana was by far the best.  We expected more from Frozen after the hype of a few years ago so we were pretty disappointed.

Work and School and Community

• D reduced his days at the neighborhood daycare/preschool and started a few mornings a week (minus the summer months) at a French immersion preschool.  We’re really happy with the school in general and having fun with the limited French he’s learned.

• Jack designed an apartment building for the first time.  Sadly its financiers pulled out so it will probably never be built.
• I talked myself in to speaking up at work about raises and promotions and got a raise that I am happy with, which may or may not be related to speaking up.
• Jack served as the commissioner for his baseball division and did a good enough job to get to do it again next year.
• I volunteered as a PEPS leader for a 12 week evening newborn group with some awesome new moms and dads.