Here at the Beckham house we are excited that Justin got a full-time job, working for a package delivery company. (Not sure how that works on actually naming employers. This is a private site, but still...)
It's been tough with him gone all day, and it will only get worse as we get closer to the holiday season. He's been training all week, and today was his first day out on a real route in a real delivery truck. Unfortunately, it was also a very rainy day, and the brown coat the issued him didn't have a hood...hmm. Hope he didn't get too soaked (he's still at work).
Friday, September 26, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
stage 3: the middle of Arizona
After the Grand Canyon, we took the long way (the only way) up and around, almost all the way back up to Utah to get around that big-freakin' canyon and across the river:
We took all day to make a six-hour drive to Phoenix, because there were just so many cool natural and Native American sites to see on the way. One place we stopped on the Navajo Reservation there were dinosaur tracks in the red rock:
Juma was in heaven. We also stopped at a couple sites with 1000 year-old ruins from Native American populations who thrived in this desert for centuries:
We took all day to make a six-hour drive to Phoenix, because there were just so many cool natural and Native American sites to see on the way. One place we stopped on the Navajo Reservation there were dinosaur tracks in the red rock:
Juma was in heaven. We also stopped at a couple sites with 1000 year-old ruins from Native American populations who thrived in this desert for centuries:
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
the case of the missing car
Last night, Justin tied on his shoes, packed up his sports bag, and headed out to play basketball with some friends. I didn't expect him back for a couple hours. But a couple minutes later, he walked back in...
"Sarah," he asked, "Did you move the car?"
Realizing the implications of that question (either we are really, really forgetful about where we park, or the crime rate in this town finally got to us personally), and was reluctant to answer, "No...Did you?"
"We parked it right outside, right?" he continued.
"Yes." But a case of a whole car gone missing takes some time to settle in, and my brain wasn't ready to accept the suspected truth. "And you put the club on it last night, right?"
"Yes."
We started to go through all the possibilities. Housing sometimes tows cars for not having the right sticker, but we just put ours on a few days ago...We weren't parked illegally or in the way of snowplows (no snow yet!), so they wouldn't've towed it for that...Could it be?...Stolen?
Now, we don't use our car that often. We use our feet, bikes, and buses to get around town. But for a weekend away, or to shop for non-grocery items (we get our groceries delivered), it is pretty much essential. Still, to have the car stolen--UGH. It's a violation of our right to property.
And we like that car. It's taken us on two cross-country trips; it has a ever-so cool rack recently installed on the top; and when we call it a grandma car, we mean it affectionately: It actually was owned by Justin's grandma.
Just look at our trusty, faithful, cool car, here serving us well in Lousiana:
Naughty words ran through my head.
After standing outside staring at the parking lot, which didn't magically bring back our car, we went inside to call the cops.
The cops informed us that, thankfully, our car had not been stolen, it was just impounded after all. By the tax department. Apparently, our property tax statement had gone to our old address, and we never got it...And since it was due two and a half months ago, the city saw fit to impound it. ("Failure to receive a notice is not a reason to fail to pay taxes.")
And get this--the tax department stays open until 10pm. What government office stays open until 10pm? The kind that tows your cars, I guess. So Justin (my hero) rode his bike downtown, paid the taxes and overdue fee, then rode to the car lot and got the car back for another hefty fee. Sheesh.
But at least we have our car again.
"Sarah," he asked, "Did you move the car?"
Realizing the implications of that question (either we are really, really forgetful about where we park, or the crime rate in this town finally got to us personally), and was reluctant to answer, "No...Did you?"
"We parked it right outside, right?" he continued.
"Yes." But a case of a whole car gone missing takes some time to settle in, and my brain wasn't ready to accept the suspected truth. "And you put the club on it last night, right?"
"Yes."
We started to go through all the possibilities. Housing sometimes tows cars for not having the right sticker, but we just put ours on a few days ago...We weren't parked illegally or in the way of snowplows (no snow yet!), so they wouldn't've towed it for that...Could it be?...Stolen?
Now, we don't use our car that often. We use our feet, bikes, and buses to get around town. But for a weekend away, or to shop for non-grocery items (we get our groceries delivered), it is pretty much essential. Still, to have the car stolen--UGH. It's a violation of our right to property.
And we like that car. It's taken us on two cross-country trips; it has a ever-so cool rack recently installed on the top; and when we call it a grandma car, we mean it affectionately: It actually was owned by Justin's grandma.
Just look at our trusty, faithful, cool car, here serving us well in Lousiana:
Naughty words ran through my head.
After standing outside staring at the parking lot, which didn't magically bring back our car, we went inside to call the cops.
The cops informed us that, thankfully, our car had not been stolen, it was just impounded after all. By the tax department. Apparently, our property tax statement had gone to our old address, and we never got it...And since it was due two and a half months ago, the city saw fit to impound it. ("Failure to receive a notice is not a reason to fail to pay taxes.")
And get this--the tax department stays open until 10pm. What government office stays open until 10pm? The kind that tows your cars, I guess. So Justin (my hero) rode his bike downtown, paid the taxes and overdue fee, then rode to the car lot and got the car back for another hefty fee. Sheesh.
But at least we have our car again.
Monday, September 15, 2008
stage 2: Grand Canyon
We said good-bye to our families in Utah and headed south down 89 to the Arizona and the Grand Canyon. None of us had seen the Canyon, so we were excited. On the way, we stopped at Fremont Indian State Park
and saw some amazing petroglyphs (carvings in the rock) and pictographs (paint on the rocks). None of which you can see in this picture unless you click on it to see the bigger version:
In the evening we made it to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. It was amazing and gorgeous, and a little scary. Parents of a budding scientist that we are, we took the chance to talk geology, the power of water on rocks, geologic time, and in which layers exactly could trilobites and sharks be found. (Juma's on a trilobite and shark kick lately.)
and saw some amazing petroglyphs (carvings in the rock) and pictographs (paint on the rocks). None of which you can see in this picture unless you click on it to see the bigger version:
In the evening we made it to the north rim of the Grand Canyon. It was amazing and gorgeous, and a little scary. Parents of a budding scientist that we are, we took the chance to talk geology, the power of water on rocks, geologic time, and in which layers exactly could trilobites and sharks be found. (Juma's on a trilobite and shark kick lately.)
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
school
By the way, both Juma and I started school last week, so we've been busy. (Justin is very busy applying for jobs and getting the house unpacked and in order.)
Juma is thoroughly enjoying first grade (yes, first grade already!) and has kids in his class he already knew from before, so that helped a lot. We got him into the school we wanted him in (it's not just a matter of going to the local neighborhood school here), and it's within walking/biking distance, so we've been getting lots of exercise.
As for me, I write my first paper tomorrow, and am trying to find time to learn Arabic, read two scholarly books a week, write the occasional paper, work on my thesis, and still be a good mommy and wife. And not go insane through all of that. So far, so good. But it hasn't even been a week yet.
Juma is thoroughly enjoying first grade (yes, first grade already!) and has kids in his class he already knew from before, so that helped a lot. We got him into the school we wanted him in (it's not just a matter of going to the local neighborhood school here), and it's within walking/biking distance, so we've been getting lots of exercise.
As for me, I write my first paper tomorrow, and am trying to find time to learn Arabic, read two scholarly books a week, write the occasional paper, work on my thesis, and still be a good mommy and wife. And not go insane through all of that. So far, so good. But it hasn't even been a week yet.
Sunday, September 07, 2008
stage 1: Utah
Our trip started out with a long day's drive from California to Utah, but we had the time to stop out in the middle of the salt flats west of Salt Lake and write our initials with rocks:
The first overnight stop on our two-week road trip across the country was Utah, where all of my family and some of Justin's family live. There, Juma had a great time playing with cousins, such as the day we went rock climbing (except for the whole part when Juma has a complete melt-down five-minutes in):
and the day Juma "flew" a helicopter at a children's museum, with cousin Mariah:
We also did a little fishing in Provo Canyon (no luck actually catching anything):
and, along with a bunch of cousins, rode ponies at the petting zoo:
There was also the party for my sister, Jody's, recent marriage, where Juma got to play with all of his Wilson cousins--especially the two boys his age, Ammon and Ethan:
And, of course, he got to act his age with his closest cousin, Ammon:
The first overnight stop on our two-week road trip across the country was Utah, where all of my family and some of Justin's family live. There, Juma had a great time playing with cousins, such as the day we went rock climbing (except for the whole part when Juma has a complete melt-down five-minutes in):
and the day Juma "flew" a helicopter at a children's museum, with cousin Mariah:
We also did a little fishing in Provo Canyon (no luck actually catching anything):
and, along with a bunch of cousins, rode ponies at the petting zoo:
There was also the party for my sister, Jody's, recent marriage, where Juma got to play with all of his Wilson cousins--especially the two boys his age, Ammon and Ethan:
And, of course, he got to act his age with his closest cousin, Ammon:
Saturday, August 30, 2008
home again
After nine days of driving, some camping, and some staying with friends and family, we finally made it back to New Haven. It feels like coming home to us, since we lived here for four years before. We have a new apartment in the same building, and the layout is exactly the same so it feels that much more like home (we're just a floor up and a stairwell over).
Later, I'll post some pictures and stories from our exciting road trip across the country, but for now...unpacking.
Later, I'll post some pictures and stories from our exciting road trip across the country, but for now...unpacking.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
in utah
We've been in Utah for a few days now, enjoying our stay with Justin's sister and visiting with my family.
Juma is the only Wilson cousin (out of 13 of them) who doesn't live in Utah Valley, so it's a real treat for everyone (except the four youngest who are too young to have any idea who he is) when he comes to town. He was greatly concerned about being bombarded by excited cousins saying, "Juma, come play with me!" "Come play with me!" "No, come play with me!" As he said, "I just can't take all that pressure! It's just so much! I don't know if I can take it, Mom!" So we tried to take it easy and see just a few cousins at a time to ease him in. Still, the first stop was Rus and Kelly's, where there are four kids (plus a neighborhood kid who also, apparently, loves Juma), but Juma handled being surrounded by five very excited kids quite well.
The next day, we saw some of the smaller cousins in the morning, and then in the afternoon we were off to The Big Event of the trip: my sister Jody's wedding party. Yes, Jody eloped recently, with a man named Kaerlek (that's a Swedish name), and they had a party in the canyon to let everyone meet each other. We had only met Kaerlek the night before; it's pretty strange to have a new brother-in-law, but he's cool, and Jody is quite happy.
Later, we took Juma rock climbing with his cousin, Ammon, and uncle, Patrick. Five minutes in, Juma had a complete and total melt down--screaming, hitting, kicking, stubborn tantrum, and we realized we pretty much hadn't really fed him food all day...So we got free passes to come back to the climbing gym and took Juma to dinner where he happily ate naan, mango lassi, lamb kurma, and not so happily ate saag paneer (spinach and cheese).
Sunday, we hit the special exhibit, Monet to Picasso, at the U of U art museum, where Juma's favorite piece was Rodin's The Thinker. His cousin, Mariah, was with us, and she contented her two-and-a-half year old self by following Juma around and ushering him to the next painting by putting her tiny hand on his back and gently pushing. Later we took the kids to the Discovery Gateway Museum, where they had a grand time playing house, builder, grocer, farmer, life flight operator...Afterwards, we tried to find a replacement pair of sandals for Juma since he lost one of his flip-flops in the river at Jody's party. In typical kid fashion, he cried mournfully about not being able to find his right size in a style of shoes he didn't know existed 10 minutes before.
Monday, we took Juma back to the climbing gym, where he actually climbed a wall (to about 10 feet up) and joyfully played Tarzan while Justin and I climbed a few walls. Today, we have his bff cousin, Ammon, all day, so they can have one last hoorah before we take off tomorrow (on to the Grand Canyon!).
Juma is the only Wilson cousin (out of 13 of them) who doesn't live in Utah Valley, so it's a real treat for everyone (except the four youngest who are too young to have any idea who he is) when he comes to town. He was greatly concerned about being bombarded by excited cousins saying, "Juma, come play with me!" "Come play with me!" "No, come play with me!" As he said, "I just can't take all that pressure! It's just so much! I don't know if I can take it, Mom!" So we tried to take it easy and see just a few cousins at a time to ease him in. Still, the first stop was Rus and Kelly's, where there are four kids (plus a neighborhood kid who also, apparently, loves Juma), but Juma handled being surrounded by five very excited kids quite well.
The next day, we saw some of the smaller cousins in the morning, and then in the afternoon we were off to The Big Event of the trip: my sister Jody's wedding party. Yes, Jody eloped recently, with a man named Kaerlek (that's a Swedish name), and they had a party in the canyon to let everyone meet each other. We had only met Kaerlek the night before; it's pretty strange to have a new brother-in-law, but he's cool, and Jody is quite happy.
Later, we took Juma rock climbing with his cousin, Ammon, and uncle, Patrick. Five minutes in, Juma had a complete and total melt down--screaming, hitting, kicking, stubborn tantrum, and we realized we pretty much hadn't really fed him food all day...So we got free passes to come back to the climbing gym and took Juma to dinner where he happily ate naan, mango lassi, lamb kurma, and not so happily ate saag paneer (spinach and cheese).
Sunday, we hit the special exhibit, Monet to Picasso, at the U of U art museum, where Juma's favorite piece was Rodin's The Thinker. His cousin, Mariah, was with us, and she contented her two-and-a-half year old self by following Juma around and ushering him to the next painting by putting her tiny hand on his back and gently pushing. Later we took the kids to the Discovery Gateway Museum, where they had a grand time playing house, builder, grocer, farmer, life flight operator...Afterwards, we tried to find a replacement pair of sandals for Juma since he lost one of his flip-flops in the river at Jody's party. In typical kid fashion, he cried mournfully about not being able to find his right size in a style of shoes he didn't know existed 10 minutes before.
Monday, we took Juma back to the climbing gym, where he actually climbed a wall (to about 10 feet up) and joyfully played Tarzan while Justin and I climbed a few walls. Today, we have his bff cousin, Ammon, all day, so they can have one last hoorah before we take off tomorrow (on to the Grand Canyon!).
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
packing
We are finally packing to move away from California and back to Connecticut. In a couple days we'll drive up to Utah, stay for a few days, then head south for an adventure through the Grand Canyon, El Paso, Houston, New Orleans, and a bunch of other southern places we've never been either.
Yes, it's the long-way round to Connecticut, but we've already done the I-80 route through Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. Justin's done it twice. And I-80 can only be interesting for about...5 minutes.
This way, by taking I-10 most of the way, we'll get to see parts of the country none of us has seen before. And feel the sticky-hot humidity of the South, and get to know the many, many species of giant insects as they smash into our windshield in Alabama. Good stuff.
Yes, it's the long-way round to Connecticut, but we've already done the I-80 route through Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. Justin's done it twice. And I-80 can only be interesting for about...5 minutes.
This way, by taking I-10 most of the way, we'll get to see parts of the country none of us has seen before. And feel the sticky-hot humidity of the South, and get to know the many, many species of giant insects as they smash into our windshield in Alabama. Good stuff.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
crawdad fishing
Justin introduced Juma to one of his favorite boyhood pastimes: crawdad fishing. His favorite spot on the creek is top secret, and I better not reveal his best type of bait, either. It'd be no good if you all converge on the creek and take all the good fishing.
Juma loved it, and looked right at home with his homemade fishing pole. They caught about 30 crawdads! They took me back for their second try, and together we caught around 70. (No crawdads were harmed, and we threw them all back in the water at the end.)
I caught the biggest one of the day.
This picture was from a different day, but I thought I'd throw in a picture of Justin to show off how hot he is.
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