The days and weeks are going past too fast. California winter to California summer in one week with a trip to Chicago slammed into the middle of it. I'm all discombombulated.
The Easter weekend summed up the entire season in Tahoe by being cold and stormy. We braved the lifts, since we had guests determined to ski, and were glad that we did. Despite blizzard visibility at the end of April when we were expecting sunshine, beers and bands on the deck and the sight of teenagers skiing in bikinis, the fresh powder made for nice skiing. Geekygirl has transformed into a skiing daredevil, seemingly overnight. "I am faster and better than you, mummy" she informed me casually.
Monday was our semi annual advisory board meeting at work, and I was presenting data for the first time since I've taken this new job. I was almost hobbled by a dysfunctioning Maddona style headset mike, but I think I did a reasonable job. Tuesday I headed out to Chicago for the second time in a month. You know you are traveling a bit too much when the guy in the O'Hare airport gift shop recognizes you and points out which items in the store are new. Around midnight on Wednesday I was back at SFO, and Thursday, despite mentally being somewhere between Central and Pacific time, I was back in the office.
Sunday was the day of the Big Sur Marathon Relay, an event I had signed up for months ago as part of a team of coworkers, so we garnered enough energy to pack up the car and head down the coast on the Friday night. In startling contrast to the previous weekend this one was stunningly bright and warm.
We stayed in Monterey, and took the kids to the incredible Monterey Bay Aquarium for their first time. It turned out to be a wonderful family weekend. I'm not sure which the kids enjoyed most, the aquarium with its sea horses, sea otters, sharks and jellyfish or the motel room with its two double beds, close enough together that they could leap from bed to bed squealing hysterically when they should have been sleeping.
On Sunday I got up at 4.15am to be bused to my relay start point along with several hundred other equally insane individuals. I ran 6 miles along the most beautiful stretch of coastal road in the world, and felt on top of the world.
We all slept extremely well back in our own beds on Sunday night, despite the kids plotting to move some of our beds closer together so that they could continue their bed bouncing fun. You can only imagine how big the laundry pile was after a week like that. I think this weekend I might just crawl into one of those solitary flotation tanks for a day, especially if I can find a volunteer to come round and do my washing.
