with its usual severity.
With a bow to the original author,
Samuel Taylor Coleridge, I would say this weekend was the embodiment of that statement.
Saturday, we entertained a new Nanny candidate at home (more to that story, but back to the main point); then we went to Aunt Danielle's house for a yummy brunch & fun in her sunny backyard (photos of us, then of Danielle & Peter, then Danielle & the cutest 8-month old in my world); followed by toilet-shopping @ the local plumbing supply store (yep, we're gonna do it - we're gonna have that 2nd bathroom put in!); a trip to
Rainbow Grocery - the uber-hippy-all-organic-and-sustainable-Co-op-so-socially-conscious-they-don't-even-sell-meat-and-Daadi-loves-it-because-she-gets-10%-off grocery store; the Park; and home again to go to bed before everyone had a meltdown.
SEEKING NEW NANNY
We love our current Nanny. However, she's pregnant, so we are off again full-tilt into the wilds of
Craigslist and
GGMG mailing list resources to find another Mary Poppins. This time is a lot different from mid-2007 when we were searching the first time:
- I / we know MUCH more about what we want & need, and
- The economy has put LOTS of good candidates on the street, taking the candidates' bargaining powers away.
I don't want to sound like a harda$$, but we are good employers: We pay full-time, legally (only 25% of parents in the Bay area do!), a good wage, vacations, sick time, holidays, even full public-transport fare, so we aren't willing to suffer fools. We think we've found a kind, gentle new gal to replace our current beloved nanny - so fingers crossed that things work out with her.
SUNDAY AFTERNOON
Today, we visited Aunt Carolyn, who was in town with friends of hers Connie & Reddy in Los Altos - they have a pool, so we spent a charming afternoon outside in the heat and then having yummy "California Cuisine" dinner on their back patio.
Deven practiced Aunt Carolyn's name on the way down, so by the time we got there he was saying "Aunt Caaaareen"... and by the time we left, he was able to say "Bye Aunt Car-o-lyn" (this was after we'd turned the corner after leaving of course...but that's what we have learned to expect from our little Deven).
We went into the pool straightaway, Rohan with giggles and Deven with his usual skepticism about the whole water-thing...until I did a cannonball off the diving board, that is. Then he screamed with delight and wanted me to do it again (sorry kid, it hurt!).
While we were splashing in the pool, Reddy commented how much both boys look like Uncle Helly. I agreed - some of you may recall that I was very excited to opine on the idea that
Deven looked like Uncle Helly back in late 2007 - and it's nice to know someone else who knew Uncle Helly thinks both Deven & Rohan look like him, today. :)
At dinner, I had fun getting to (re)tell just a bit of the story of Uncle Helly's life. And we thought of Uncle Helly again, when we were talking about the bread we were eating. See, in the Sherwood-Sharma family, Yogesh likes the nose/heel of the bread & I like the small-inside pieces, so all is well. However in Aunt Carolyn & Uncle Helly's family, they were always fighting over who would get to eat the nose because everyone liked it. So, while Aunt Carolyn was slicing more bread, I commented that Uncle Helly was looking down on us and smiling. She smiled wistfully, and said he was likely not smiling, but drooling. :) I think we all missed him terribly at that moment.
Driving back to San Francisco, as we left the warm 80-degree late-afternoon of Los Altos and came back to the cool 65-degree evening of the City, we realized how lucky we are to live where we do. While Daadi and I sometimes want more sun, we really can't complain about summer here in Northern California...when it's sunny!
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