My Name is Wakefield.

it’s a pumpkin eat pumpkin world

katherine — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:42:34 +0000

So hey there! I’m alive! The thing about blogging is, it’s really easy to blog when life is going well and things are smooth and easy, but it’s tough as shit to do it when things aren’t as great. We’ve been back nearly 3 months now, but it feels like 6. Don’t get me wrong, we are LOVING being back. Totally loving it. We’ve even managed to get babysitters and get out fairly regularly. Score for Team Wakefield. But man, this working two jobs and balancing kids/social life/married life stuff is really hard. I’m grateful for the “extra” money that we haven’t even been paid yet, because helloooo teachers’ get paid once a month — at the end of the month. BOO (says the pumpkin too).

I guess what I’m saying is, we are all a little bit worn out. We just have to get used to our lives going in all sorts of directions and demanding a lot of us. And somehow we still have to love each other through that, which is easier said than done. One of my friends was saying the other night that her family doesn’t have “to do” lists on their fridge. All it says is “SURVIVE”. I think that about sums things up for me. Pull the weeds in the back yard? Survive. Fix the broken tile on the wall? Survive. Repaint our house? SURVIVE. But really that’s not all we have to do. We also have to pay our bills and remember the permission slips, the homework needs to get done and we actually need to send our kid to school every day WITH a lunch. Did I mention that I forgot to pay my car insurance for three months? Yep, moving is awesome. Did I also mention that our sewer bill wasn’t forwarding to our Portland address? Let’s just move again, now that will solve everything.

While it’s easy to complain about all the little things that are sucking the life out of us, I need to focus on the good stuff. Like good friends who will watch our kids in a pinch. THANK YOU. We have a safe home and car to drive, fabulous friends and good jobs to earn money. Often in life I find myself saying, “things will get better” or “it will all work out someday.” Someday I will take that vacation or do the things I am unable to do right now. But the hard reality is that it might not get better (I’m so uplifting!). Maybe I will take the vacation but who the hell knows what life will bring us even five minutes from now? So instead I am trying to find the silver lining now, the best in the current times. Are you with me? Then I read this and cried. There’s that too.

Hello Seattle!

katherine — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 04:50:25 +0000

Overdue! I know. Where do I begin? My life has been topsy turvy the last month, and I am still reorienting myself. I live in Seattle now for starters. I am sure some people are wondering, didn’t they just move to Portland? YES WE DID. Then we decided to up and move back to Seattle, so deal with it people. We are actually getting quite good at moving. Although, I am fairly certain that is not an enviable skill. This was the best move by far, the boxes were extremely organized, the furniture saran wrapped and padded up nice and safe. We know how to get a moving truck, and load it, dripping with sweat in the middle of the summer without hiring any help. So what does that make us? Officially insane. Then we got a really brilliant idea. Wouldn’t it be fun to pack up the moving truck one day, then have Andy drive that moving truck to Seattle, THE SAME NIGHT? Then I could just pop on over to work for another shift, after no sleep, little food and LOTS of sweating. Sounds like a dream. Well it was a dream, the kind where you wake up screaming and shouting for the torture to stop. It doesn’t stop there, though! We got ANOTHER brilliant idea. We decided, wouldn’t it be easy for Andy to move in all by himself and watch the kids by himself while I stayed in Portland to work three more shifts???? Wouldn’t that just be a peach? No. It was not a peach. Well, for me it was. All I had to do was sleep in my brother’s guest bedroom and go to work, and I only got locked out once (ha, love you guys). Andy on the other hand is just now starting to speak to me again. We are really nice, very cool people, but not always the smartest. We will not be moving again for a very long time. (just slap me if I ever talk about moving again, anyone?)

Other than that. Ahem. We are doing great. We are feeling really, really happy here. Our friends have been a balm to a semi lonely last year. We are been bathed in sunshine; drank many a beer on various patios, houseboats and lakes. It’s been wonderful, especially after the moving debacle of 2011. I think Andy and I might even stay married after that, now that is some dedication. Now, that is not to say we don’t miss Portland. I miss my brother and sister in law and my sweet little nieces that have become so dear to me and my kids. I miss my job, my old coworkers with their great jokes and endless warmth. I miss the familiarity of our routine. Our life feels a bit of a mystery here. Andy started working this week, Adalyn heads back to school next week and Owen starts daycare next week as well. It’s a lot to manage and plan, I am looking forward to settling in and hunkering down here. I am trudging along in my new job, getting to know my surroundings and hoping to find a friend or two. Time will tell.

In closing, can I say this: Every box is unpacked. Every single box. And it only required a small amount of freak outs and tears and one painful trip to Ikea that I still shudder about. Adieu.

Blueberries

katherine — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 23:51:19 +0000

I’ve been missing writing here, but I also haven’t. I love what goes down here, when I am able, but sometime you just gotta LIVE life. You know what I mean? The recording is great, but it doesn’t make the experience any more valuable. So instead of writing I’ve been working, playing, boating and soaking up the precious hours of sunshine. We blueberry picked today and my dusty feet are so so happy.

Goodbye Portland

katherine — Sun, 31 Jul 2011 07:03:30 +0000

Five days, 16+ hours of yard work, 72 hours of packing and cleaning and NOW we are officially done. The house is clean and barren, our landlord miraculously came by to do a final walk through (don’t even get me started), and our kids are waiting for us in Seattle happily swimming in a hotel pool. Today we packed our moving truck and said our final goodbye to the little house in Portland. I feel emotional today – probably, or definitely, due to exhaustion. I have loved this city, the amazing food, our little house and the quiet life it afforded. We made a great deal of memories here, yet it feels sort of like a dream. I think that is the worst part, that this year may not feel real after a while. So in an effort to remember and preserve, here are a few of my favorite memories from this year.

August — September — October — November – December — January – February — March — April — May — June – July

Is this the way to find the answers?

katherine — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 06:03:46 +0000

I love having a daughter, she is so much fun to be around — she’s kooky, silly and totally lovable. I would definitely say there isn’t much difference between my parenting style with A or O, I tend to treat them both the same. They play dress up in the same clothes, we paint our fingernails bright pink; I seldom restrict certain activities to boys or girls. My philosophy is that they will draw their own distinctions about gender at some point, and I don’t want to be an early influence on specific gender roles (I think PBS kids has got that cornered for them at this point). ANYWAY, the reason I’m writing: I read a Babble article a couple weeks, err months, ago that made me pause. The whole article was about how we treat little girls and what that impact has on their body image, etc. She said her gut instinct when she meets a new little girl is to comment on the cuteness of her appearance by saying, “look how cute you are!” Which I totally related to! Because kids are adorable! Little girls are awesome! But it made me rethink things a bit. What is the image I give to Addy or to all girls I meet? I think it’s a good one, overall, but I can always evaluate things a bit. You know, make sure my messages to her are about being smart, confident, driven and beautiful. Particularly now that she is at an age where everything is about dresses, bracelets and “looking pretty”. I want my words to help her understand the complexity of beauty; so that by praising her reading skills or her thoughts, or discussing her interests, she will understand the deeper side of life, eventually. It’s never too early, right?

Fourth of July

katherine — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 05:38:58 +0000

Makus

katherine — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 14:00:05 +0000

This is my older brother Mark. Isn’t he cute! He still wears that shock wave t-shirt. And he wears his hats the same way, it’s good for his hair, which is totally NOT getting gray in it. Just kidding. He is a very wonderful person; he’s hardworking and kind, and today happens to be his birthday. He’s a real cute kid don’t you think? (He’s not to shabby as an adult either). I was hoping to embarrass him by writing this, but I’m pretty sure he may not read this. In the event that you do read this, Happy Birthday. Love you Mark.

Memorial Weekend

katherine — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 04:07:25 +0000

Driving down the 101, beautiful even during stormy weather.

Lots of ladder golf. She became a professional, a 6 year old professional.

A camping trip is nothing if there are no smores, so we had them nightly. The kids are still asking for them.

A handmade computer/piano for those that aren’t able to infer this picture.

This is all I got people. I love my family. I love vacation. The End.

Working moms

katherine — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 09:55:22 +0000

Don’t get me wrong, I love being a working mother, but it’s easy to see why I would miss my kids (hello adorable!). Inevitably I have to miss out on activities with them and most of the time, I’m ok with it. But then I look at cute photos or hear about fun adventures and my heart melts into a little puddle of heart goo.

While this is most definitely not a statement about which is harder, (staying at home or working), I will say they both have losses. You can add ‘em up and compare them till you are blue in the face, but it doesn’t matter. They are both hard and sometimes good. (At least Andy can drink on the job!) Sometimes I want both, I want to go to work to escape the screaming, crying and fighting and then turn around and run home and hug and tickle my kids - thanking my lucky stars that I have such adorable and bright spirited lovelies.

garden

katherine — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 06:21:00 +0000

Today I opened my phone, looked at an app and breathed a huge sigh of relief. Phew, one less thing to do. You know what that thing was? Ready for it. I didn’t have to water my virtual garden, since it rained last night in my virtual garden world. PEOPLE, that’s what being a parent is all about. You do so much shit that you never would do before. You water your kids FAKE plants that are growing on your phone, and you actually sigh with relief when you don’t have to do it. It reminded me of some tweets I read on Twitter by a very funny lady/mom. Here they are for your enjoyment (also, watch Louis CK’s stand up about his kids –amazing!). I swear I will post some pictures and thoughts about our fabulous camping trip, sometime soon. That is, when I get my shit together and water my virtual garden again. Till then, read the tweets from the bottom up…