December 3rd, 1999:
Michaela and her Mom waved goodbye to California including a few very good friends
and Aunt Renee (sniff!) and flew to "Green Acres" - aka Grandpa & Grandma
Conklin's farm in Iowa. WITH the kitties no less taking their own plane.
Wonderful homecooked meals but homesick for Bay Area wine!
Four new kitties for Michaela to play with...and Ziggy and Charlie to avoid.
December 15th, 1999: Michaela saw her first snowfall;
more followed a week later so Michaela & Mom both had their first White
Christmas! Mommy discovered
sandbags do wonders for keeping a Chevy S10 from sliding off the road in snow too.
New Year's 2000: What's a millennium celebration
without a "Millennium Babe" banner for Baby Michaela to pose in. Thank her
Mom for that one too. No doubt Michaela won't be thanking anyone for that when she's
older!
January 2000: More snow and ice and learning to drive
in both. House and job-hunting, interviews and hikes with baby. LOTS of playtime
catchup...and Martha Stewart. Unemployment never felt so good! Ok, ok...I'm
feeling a LITTLE guilty...
February 2000: Michaela is learning barricades CAN be
moved...or climbed over. Starting to take her first steps and experiment with real
food...i.e. pasta, pasta |
and MORE pasta and what a mess one can
make with a chicken bone! Mommy finally decided to take a job offer: Grandma's now
babysitting and suddenly Michaela's learning to take "no!" more seriously (her
Mom's too much of a pushover) March 9th,
2000: Michaela celebrates her first year!! A brand new set of Royal
Doulton "bunnikin" dishes (English china - yikes!), toys (yep..one had to be a
Teletubbie, but so far no big purple dinosaurs) and clothes to grow into. A
teary-eyed photo session at Sears and whipped cream cake with candle (ALMOST got her
finger singed) and a huge cow-shaped floor pillow her Mommy sewed.
In the works...We found a HOUSE at
last; although a little old (lets say the year 1855 old!), still sitting on a foundation
built of logs, very near the town square of Winterset, IA, population around 5000.
Smalltown and Midwestern charm, covered bridges and backyard childcare but still close
enough to grandparents' farm. Big, fenced back yard - plenty of room for
Michaela and all her future adventures (and house projects her Mom loves to dream up).
Becomes "home" as of 3/25/2000...have already gathered some local antique
furniture to take with us! |
