Hallo! The title of this blog entry has nothing to do with “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, it’s simply that I’m blogging pictures from August and August sounds a lot like Augustus. Right? Riiiiiight.

The rogs and I just went for a baby-free walk, during which time (one hour and seven minutes) I talked to my mother.

She’s still working at the same place she’s worked at since 2010, and they recently forced her back into her 40 hour work week. As someone who has had two back surgeries in the past two years, she’s unable physically to do her job, without any breaks, for 40 hours a week. 32 was manageable…barely.

Being a non-profit, they can get away with allowing her to not take any breaks or a lunch break on an 8 hour shift. They can force her into working 40 hours a week, and if she tells them she cannot, they can fire her. After working her ass off for them for 8 long years. 8 years of service, at a rate that’s barely over minimum wage.

She’s finally at the point, both mentally and physically, where she’s ready to stop. Finally. She’s going to keep the job until Thanksgiving this year…maybe. My father and I have been telling her to quit for months and months now, but they need the money. My parents are at the age when they should be retiring, but they can’t. It’s very sad, and should also be a life lesson for me. Am I saving towards retirement? Ah…nope. Not even close. I’m still paying off the IVF bills…and will be, for a while.

Hey, what happened to the tasteful wedding picture I posted on IG, celebrating our 10 year anniversary? It appears to be missing, but the bubble butt picture remains! Oh well, both are relevant. Bubble Butt and I celebrated 10 years this year! Can you imagine? Really? Could it be? We had sushi at our favorite place (maybe not any more–the sushi wasn’t that great this time around), and made plans to frame our Ken Loyd print from Maui as cheaply as possible…which ended up being more of a pain in the ass than we expected. Finding a frame isn’t that difficult, but matting a print IS. It’s still not done. But August isn’t over yet!

Just for posterity, here is the thoughtful post I posted on FB (I know, groan) on our anniversary:

This is going to be a bit long and sappy, but bear with me. Okay. First I have to thank God that Nico and I chose to move to Seattle and not Portland back in 2004. And I have to thank God again (and maybe that awful organic chemistry professor as well) that I changed my career from medical school to speech-language pathology. And then thank God yet again that I happened to land my first professional job at the same nursing home as a cute, tattooed and single occupational therapist named Josh Holcomb…because I hit the jackpot with this guy.

He hits all the marks: he’s funny, kind, loyal, adventurous, fearless, strong, intelligent, hard-working, loving, creative, and incredibly giving. He can mix records and do headstands on paddle boards. He can ski mountains and paint portraits!

We’ve had some gnarly lows and some incredible highs, been on so many wild adventures, and after struggling with infertility for 6 long years wound up with an amazing son.

His family is just as amazing as he is; I can’t imagine a better fit for me. He’s a wonderful partner and friend, and the kind of father I always knew he would be. I can say without a doubt that the best is yet to come. Happy 10th anniversary, Josh Holcomb.

Mawwww. And here’s what he posted:

10 years of marriage; Adventuring, laughing, growing, crying, maturing, adulting, being silly, trying, failing, trying again, working together, compromising, forgiving, loving 100%! I can’t imagine these past 10 years without you my darling. Love you forever.

Double mawwwwwww.

That brings us to Bob and Fleeta’s 50th wedding anniversary party, which was the day after our 10 year anniversary. Here’s baby and friend with their dueling bottles! Baby M has finally decided to start holding his own bottles after this trip…only took him 18 months. Heh.

The photos from the party are few and they are all in albums, so let’s see what I remember. I wore the exact same outfit I wore the weekend before to my art show. Josh and I took turns chasing the baby around during the duration of the party, so it was hard to carry on any conversations with anyone unless it was Josh’s turn. I had a great long conversation with Grandma Shirley about special jewelry. I had a great long conversation with Grandpa Lew about the group of 8 year old boys in my neighborhood who ride bikes to the park and chase snakes and frogs just like in the “good old days”. I had a great long conversation with Josh’s pregnant cousin Cori about the joys of babies. That’s about all for now.

I read a book during the vacation, amazing! An entire book in a week and a half! Pre-baby, same book would have taken me two days. But ne’er mind that, this is a good one. Feminist “Fight Club”, you should read it right away.

Onto the Priest Lake photos. We spent the week at what used to be Josh’s father’s father’s cabin (say that three times fast). The cabin was built by Josh’s grandfather and family, and they spent many years enjoying it before they were forced to sell it because it became too expensive to keep. Now it’s rented out.

We all had a wonderful time. Josh and his sister and his mother all became teary-eyed once they arrived at the cabin, because they had so many good memories there. I myself became quite nostalgic, because my family had spent so many family vacations in McCall, swimming in the lake and riding a pontoon boat much like the one we rented at Priest Lake. I was nostalgic for the cabin, and I had never been there before! It reminded me of Nico’s family cabin, and all the fun times I had there in my 20’s. All around Good Feelings.

I swear I didn’t just take selfies on this trip, it’s just that everything else is in an album. And! And! I have ACTUAL CAMERA PHOTOS to upload (for once). OOooooHHHHhh. Not now though.

The dogs came with us on the pontoon boat, of course. That was a fun day. Besides the pontoon boat, there was lots of lake swimming (Ronia and I did the most), taking the little wooden boat Bob built out, taking a canoe out, s’mores on the final night, playing in the sand, eating lots of cookies (maybe that was just me)…

Baby M would yell “HI!” every time we passed the squirrel statue and frantically wave.

Ronia and I swam out to a giant pink flamingo floaty a few cabins away and they let us climb aboard! We did it twice–the second time, Josh was able to document from the canoe. Because if there’s not a picture, did it even happen? (my shitty memory says no)

One of the nights Josh and I left the baby with the fam and we went on a “date” to a nearby resort for dinner. After dinner but before dessert, we strolled around the marina and I snapped this shot of a cute little green houseboat.

The last day we were there, one of Josh’s uncles visited the cabin with his wife. I didn’t get a chance to talk with them much, I was too busy swimming with Ronia or chasing after the baby. Ronia and I had a lot of bonding on this trip–it makes me so happy!

And even though the temps soared above 100 degrees, we still went on the road every single morning at 10 am to walk the baby for his nap. We are good parents.

Of course I documented the one and only “tan” I’ve had all year. Ta daaaaaa! Josh told me not to post this photo, as it was too “suggestive”. Well that’s just like, your opinion man.

Oops, my solo Sunday time is over. Time to hang out with my child again! Ta ta for now. Maybe I’ll even be back with some actual camera photos. How retro.