Niece/nephew visit

Last weekend Nick and I popped up to Vermont for a visit since Karin and the kids were visiting. I still forget I'm an aunt since Karin became my step-sister later in life when I was an adult. 

It was great seeing them. Marianna is almost one and is full of personality now. Last visit she would just sleep and eat and sleep. We all would take turns holding her (when needed) since she's a heavy one. A good work out!  She's wearing 24 months to give you a sense of how big she is. She loves waving and I don't know what it is with phones and babies but she loved seeing herself. I'll try to post a video which captures this wonderfully. Apparently the tongue is fascinating. 

Mateo is four and has boundless energy. We watched a circus show Saturday (cirque d'soleil style gymnastics - no animals). It was engaging for him at first but hard to sit still for three hours. After we got done he literally did laps around the big quad outside at the college the event was held at. The performance was impressive and I had a hard time when they would drop from the straps or ropes and catch themselves at the last minute just before they hit the ground. 

On Sunday, nick and I spent a chunk of time playing soccer with Mateo. We thought it would wear him out and he just kept going and going until finally he laid down in the driveway exhausted. Only to be up running again five minutes later. I hate to say it, but it was nice to see Nick was more worn out than I was after our weekend visit. Kids are exhausting especially if you're not conditioned like the parents. 

On Monday I met up with them again in Boston before they flew home. We grabbed lunch downtown and checked out the Common, Boston Gardens and the infamous Ducklings statues. 

And of course, a mark of a good visit, on the ride to the airport Mateo states he doesn't want to go on the plane. The route reason is because he didn't want to leave and wanted to hang out more. And even Marianna started to cry as they left when she realized I wasn't joining her. Warms one's heart. 

I'm on my way home now, looking forward to a weekend home and catching up with errands and chores. I signed up for a workshop tomorrow on Time Management. I'm hopeful it's helpful. 

And as I'm reading my book (The Why Axis) on my commute home I'm getting wicked déjà vu. And then it dawns on me that it's not déjà vu it's repetition. I haven't read the book before but some of the studies and findings were on a recent fraakonomics podcast I listened to while I was commuting by bike this week. Interestingly I didn't buy this book - Nick gave it to me as a birthday gift. About 20 minutes after he received it for free in his mail pile from dad. Talk about regifting - it was a promotional mailing. Interesting book but I enjoyed the podcast more. This book is one of those you feel should be an article or two and they stretched it out to be a book. 

The last book I finished I loved and highly recommend. It's called "Born to Run". I think it was a best seller. Very interesting, easy read and full of intriguing tidbits. Like, had the percentage of running injuries gone up or down since the introduction of sneakers in the 70s?  Yup - up. There's no studies that sneakers provide any benefit. This is just a side point in the book but I found fascinating since apparently I never questioned all the marketing over the years. 

Actually the last book I was reading was The New Jim Crow". Also another really good book. But it was making me so mad about our country and our false advertising of a democratic society. The sad thing is when I got frustrated I could just put the book down but for so many people, this is their reality and they are faced with this frustration of injustice daily. I think everyone should read this book. It's really written, not preachy and good research points. 

Of course my reading has gone down with the bike riding but my podcast listening has gone up. I gobbled up a bunch of podcasts when I was driving to and from Albany this week for a project. It was interesting on the ride back yesterday, since my boss joined me (he had flown in for the meeting but we couldn't get direct flights back). Good discussions. And don't ask me why's hotel in New York makes Texas waffles!

Looking forward to my upcoming trip to Phoenix for my cousins graduation and seeing some of the family (on mom's side)!