Peru!

Click through for larger images, complete with captions.

I didn't get to spend very much time at all sightseeing, but the little bit of Peru that I did see was really nice. I was able to get out of the hotel for a few hours before the conference started on Wednesday and after it finished on Friday, otherwise all my time was spent networking and listening to presentations on various aspects of the international produce trade. My own presentation was the final one of the day on Thursday, and it went really well. I was a bit nervous - sweaty palms, a few mispronounced words, one flustery moment when I lost my train of thought - but everyone I spoke to afterwards kindly said that it didn't show. The best compliment I received was from an older gentleman from one of the large conventional growers, who approached me after my presentation and told me that he understood organics for the first time, but it had never made any sense to him (as a market or a production method) before. My goal at the conference was to present organics as a legitimate, logical, and profitable global market segment - to counteract the perception that it's run by wild-eyed hippies who want to turn the clock back to stone age agricultural technology - and I think I succeeded. :)

Update: If you're interested in the current state of the US organic market (or just a fan of power point) my presentation is now available online.

Travel

I'm sitting in the airport at SeaTac, waiting for my flight, thinking about Conan. I'm heading to Peru (Yes, Peru!!) for a business conference. While I don't usually get to go to such exotic locales, business travel is an increasingly frequent occurance for me. I enjoy it, for the most part, but it's without a doubt the most difficult part of my career to balance with motherhood. Luckily I have a wonderful husband who does a great job holding down the fort, but it's still hard on all of us.

I've learned not to tell Conan about upcoming events too far in advance, because he doesn't really grasp the idea of waiting for more than a couple days of future time to pass. So I waited until last night, when I was doing my final packing, to tell him I was leaving. "Mama's going away for a few days, on an airplane, for work. Then I'll come back!" He's always taken this in stride before, but it's been less than a month since my last trip, so he remembers it clearly. This is the first time he's really understood what it meant that I would be gone.

He seemed OK with it at first, asking some questions about where I was going, and what kind of airplane ("A big one? A really REALLY big one?") I would be flying on. He played normally while dinner was cooking, but then he refused to sit down and eat. That in itself is (sadly) not that abnormal these days, but he didn't even want to play "hungry Tyrannisaurus-T-Rex", which usually gets him to eat like a charm. He really started to act out - yelling "You don't talk to me!" and "Don't look at me!" whenever I spoke or looked at him, stomping his feet, throwing toys, and generally being as bad as he knows how to be. So, as is our practice, we declared dinner time forfeit and moved straight to bedtime.

He continued to misbehave, physically trying to push me out of his room, crying and demanding that Papa ALONE handle bedtime. Somewhat confused, I stepped out and shut the door. I stood in the hallway, wondering what was up, and feeling sad that on my last night at home this week I wasn't going to get to spend any nice time with my baby. Then, with one of those sudden 180 degree reversals only a preschooler can manage, from inside the bedroom came shrieks of "I WANT MAMA!"

In that instant I realized what was going on. This was not a standard dinnertime meltdown. This was "my mama's going away and I'm mad and scared so I'm pushing her away but I also want her and this is NOT getting me what I want but I don't know what else to do." I went back in the room, got down at eye level with him, and asked him "Are you mad and scared because I'm going away?" "Yes" he wailed, and colapsed into my arms. So we cuddled and hugged. We talked about the things we would do together when I got back. He calmed down, and we got his teeth brushed and jammies on, and then we cuddled some more and he went to bed happily.

This morning I kissed him goodbye, and he waved happily as he drove off with Papa on the way to Preschool, his fears and insecurities banished, at least for now. But it was a real wake-up call for me, that as he's understanding more ane more about how the world works, some things which didn't previously cause anxiety are now pretty scary. I'm not sure what I can do to make my travel easier on him, other than to make sure I tell him very clearly that I'm coming back, and that I love him more than anything.

And bring him presents, of course.

Philly Blogging

Yep, I'm in Philadelphia! I don't mention my work much on the blog here (because this is supposed to be about my house) but it involves the international shipment of organic produce, much of which enters the US through four ports on the Delaware river: Tioga, Packer Avenue, Holt and Wilmington - collectively refered to as "Philly" in the trade, even though two of them are technically in New Jersey and Delaware. Despite having worked in this position (Import Coordinator) for nine years (whoa!) I had never, until this week, actually VISITED the area! And it's not like I only occasionally talk to folks out here - we're talking daily bossing around of these guys. So it's been a real pleasure to actually meet, face-to-face, people I've gotten to know over the phone throughout the last several years. Really, they're an all-around great bunch of guys (and I do mean guys, there don't seem to be many women in this field. But then, I grew up around loggers, so that doesn't really faze me.)

Philly itself seems really neat. I have not yet had a chance to check out any of the museums or historical attractions, but I hope to have some time either tomorrow or Friday to do so. For now all I can say is that it's rained steadily the whole time I've been here, which I'm sure is just to make me feel at home.

I have not yet eaten a Cheese Steak. (I'm not sure I'm up to it, frankly.) I did have some kick-ass cuban food though...

Cary's New Job

This isn't really house related, but I thought I'd post a little about it anyhow...

Cary started his new job as a groundskeeper at the Bayview Cemetary on Monday, and so far it's really going great (despite the cold & rainy weather). The first couple of days were mostly orientation, equipment maintenance, and the like, but yesterday they got out and started cleaning up the piles of windfallen branches that came down during the winter. The cemetary has a big industrial chipper, and the crew spent almost the whole day chipping branches - they filled their dump truck up twice!

Once they get past the branches, it sounds like the job will entail a LOT of mowing, trimming, edging, and otherwise caring for the grass in the cemetary, along with gravedigging and setting up headstones. Cary actually dug his first grave yesterday, just a little one for a cremation burial. For a die-hard fan of the show Six Feet Under (which he is, even if he tries to deny it) it's a pretty sweet situation. Plus, he's working outside, right next to his favorite park (whatcom falls)... and since it's a city job, it's stable, pays well and has a nice benefit package. I'm so happy for him!