what a post about something other than cancer?

Last Monday (July 5th) Todd and I celebrated 7 years of wedded bliss. This entailed gettin' the heck out of dodge and going to the Bay Area for a few days without the kids. My mom braved Katarina and Sebastian and also two of my 11 year old (adorable, smart, and helpful) nieces. While the cousins enjoyed each other, the science center, duck rides (the boat/car combination; not the animal), and swimming, Todd and I toured some of the Bay Area's more expensive towns. We had sushi in Berkeley, breakfast in Palo Alto, and lunch at In-N-Out. It was a great little getaway and we contemplated things like what we were going to do when Todd finishes his PhD. It was starting to get close; in fact I was sort of hoping that he would graduate May 2010. Then of course I derailed his plan by getting you-know-what. Todd has been a real gem. He banned me from dropping off and picking up the kids from school so I wouldn't pick up random cold/flu/strep. He cooks and cleans and is generally just about perfect. But being perfect at home also limited his ability to focus on writing a masterpiece of a thesis. So the only frustration I would admit to is that I've emotionally been putting things on hold waiting for Todd to finish school and start applying for jobs. I don't actually necessarily like to "do" things, but I like to pretend that I'm going to do them. Sort of like window shopping for life.

In preparation for this day we've *gasp* considered moving someplace else. There are so many benefits to Seattle, but there's something to be said for our other places as well. This weekend afforded us the opportunity to see my sister and really evaluate whether we wanted to move back to California. Being closer to family is a huge consideration. That, and I have been so sick and tired of the rain and gloom in Seattle that I was about to go bonkers. Somehow the gods of sunshine heard me cursing their name because it's been 90 degrees the past two days and today's supposed to be equally sweltering. I don't mind making decisions, but right now I'm feeling like Jack on 30 Rock when he was deciding between Avery and Nancy.

I think the end conclusion is that if we moved to the Bay Area we would want to be in Palo Alto, but since it's one of the top 5 most expensive places to live, we probably can't really afford it until/unless I make partner and/or Todd strikes it rich with a fancy invention.