Terrible Blogger
I'm terrible at posting things on this blog. Lots has happened since my last post, include a visit from my styling' NYC sister EMK, and in my head I think, "Oh, I should write about this!", but it never happens. It's just plain laziness.


Winter Over?
So, unless this year is an anomaly, methinks the rainy season here is much exaggerated. We're at the end of February, and we've had a long stretch of gorgeous weather. Every morning I wake up expecting to see streaks of rain on the window. And every morning since mid-February I've been gladly disappointed!

SK and I have decided that if this is as bad as it gets in Portland, it's something we can definitely live with.

Awkward Politics
Portland is by far and large a liberal city. People here are passionate about the environment and left-leaning politics. When the weather is warmer, there are all kinds of people standing on corners passing out leaflets, asking for donations, and trying to persuade you to sign their petition. Anyway, there are Republicans here as well however, but mostly in the suburbs. Interestingly enough, SK's co-workers pretty much fall on the Republican or Democratic side depending on where they live. Party affiliation by geography. Or so we thought.

So this past week, SK and I went to a casual dinner party at one of his co-worker's homes in the suburbs. Another co-worker and his wife were there who lived in the same suburban town and we knew to be staunch Republicans. All was going swimmingly until SK innocently said, "How exciting is this election!?" He only meant to comment on the increased political engagement of the American public this election.

This launched a heated political debate. Unfortunately, little did we realize that the host and hostess were actually Democrats. And not just any run-of-the-mill centrist Democrats. They are dedicated enough to the Democratic party that they are hosting a fundraiser for a Democratic senatorial candidate in March! Ugh. It got ugly. And both SK and I found excuses to leave the table to help out in the kitchen or tend to Elise (our babysitter was unavailable).

House Hunting
As you know, we are in the midst of a house hunt these days. And as I've mentioned before, it's been a little discouraging at times. The homes in our price range are either out in the boonies (and since we're in Oregon, this is the real boonies we're talking here) or fixer-uppers. I keep having to remind myself that this will not be our dream home and that we're lucky to even be able to buy something.

The other side of this impending move is that since the owner of our condo unit is selling, we have buyers and realtors coming into our current apartment as well. It's been a pain getting Elise out of the apartment in time. The up side? The apartment is certainly cleaner these days!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

It seems ESK is going through separation anxiety. Which is a total bummer because she was such a social baby before, and we were crossing our fingers and toes she wouldn't hit this stage. But alas, it's here and it doesn't seem like we can do much about it. Here's a picture of her losing her cool when I walked too far away from her in our apartment:



I let her stay on the floor for awhile to see if she was faking. But she cried pretty hard for a few minutes. I guess her tears were for real.

As long as we're in close proximity however, ESK is a very happy baby. She squeals with glee when we come chasing after her.

Unwelcome Change
We've also started the weaning process with ESK. She has taken to it quite well actually and doesn't seem to miss the bonding time. I thought I would be so happy to stop breastfeeding, but I actually miss it. It's sad to think she doesn't miss those special cozy moments.

So besides losing special bonding moments with my baby, I think I've actually gained some weight back! AAAGH! This totally sucks. I remember my sister telling me that she gained some weight when she weaned GMK and it's happened to me as well. No more second servings of dinner. No more muffins at the coffee shop. Sigh...