Many many things have happened in the past three years. That shouldn't be all that surprising. Three years is a pretty long time in the life of a growing family.
It would be take too long and be pretty boring if I tried to tell you everything, but I think we have to at least hit the milestones.
- Unsurprisingly, the girls got bigger. Lots bigger.
- My dad lived for just over a year after being diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme - a very aggressive brain tumor. My sister, his girlfriend and I held his hands as he died.
- I started a new job. I did not like it much. After almost two years, I quit. I do not have much interest in working another 9-5 job again. I am not sure what is next, but I will figure it out eventually.
- I started riding a bike. A big bike. One of these. And that means that I joined a club of slightly insane folk sometimes referred to as 'mama bikers'. I would almost always prefer to bike than drive around DC, especially with the girls in tow. But I can do the grocery shopping on the bike too.
- We took the girls to Mexico. We stayed in a villa over a beautiful secluded beach. The girls jumped and played in the waves, and Darling Husband surfed. The surf teacher also took Fletcher out on his board, and rode her in on the waves. She loved it. Oh, and we swam in a brackish lagoon with phosphorescent algae. That was incredible.
- Both girls learned to ice skate. Pretty well actually. Fletcher now plays ice hockey, and Gryphon is spinning and starting to jump like a good little figure skater. I spend entirely too much time at the ice rink.
- I was elected to the board of the newly independently incorporated parent association of the girls' school. Though I had high hopes at first, my term will be up this fall and I cannot wait.
- My mom died. This is still quite raw and hard to think about, much less write about. She fought the cancer like the bold woman she was, and made the decision to stop fighting with grace and beauty. The very last time she came out of her room and down the stairs was the day that the girls and I arrived to stay with her until the end. She wanted to see them in their new treehouse. I will make sure that they always know that she gathered the strength to come out into the world one more time just for them. She died in her home on the Fourth of July last year. I still feel lost without her.
- Two months later, our third daughter was born. Eaven Viola was a little quick on the draw, making an appearance just a couple of hours after I realized I was in labor. She was born at home (planned), while the midwife was stuck in notorious DC traffic talking on the phone with Darling Husband. I caught her myself (not planned), and she is beautiful.
- We took the girls skiing for the first time. Gryphon and her friend Lily conquered the mountain like big girls - I wrote our names and phone numbers on their forearms in permanent marker and sent them on their way. (Having big kids is fun!) I took Fletcher down the mountain with me, and every time I told her to slow down, she fell. When I finally just told her to go for it, she pointed her skis down the mountain and took off. I caught up with her at the bottom. Swimming, skating, skiing - my six year old is officially an adrenaline junkie.
- I've worked on some local political campaigns. I've become a little too active in issues of urban planning and development, and local politics and governance. Between mama bikers and politics, I've found a couple interesting communities, online and IRL, that I thoroughly enjoy being a part of.
- We are going to do a major, overwhelming and long overdue renovation of our house this year.
So, I'm writing again. But what am I going to write about? The girls of course, our adventures in cycling, and our road into and hopefully out of renovation hell. But I expect to include a healthy dose of hyper-local politics and development as well. Hopefully I'll still have something interesting to say.
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