Well, we’ve been in Fresno about a month now. It’s really hard to believe because on one hand it seems like the time has gone by so fast it couldn’t be that long already, but on the other hand, it seems we’ve been here for months. We’ve really hardly had a chance to breath as I jumped right back into work, Keana started preschool, and either I’ve been out of town or we’ve had visitors just about every other weekend. So without any time to establish a pattern with those crucial free moments on the weekends, the weeks just fly by.

Last weekend (5/13-18) Iana, Ryan, and their new dog Janie (sp?) came up for a visit. We were super-excited to see them, and Iana’s belly is ripening nicely with the new baby. She’s only 5.5 months, so there’s a ways to go. Janie was a new addition though and seemed pretty sweet right off the bat. Unfortunately the second day here though, the neighbor’s dog bit Janie’s paw and she had to have surgery and be under constant care the rest of the visit, so that really put a damper on things. But that’s the way with new “babies”—just can’t have everything fall into place as neatly as you’d like sometimes. At least Jani was okay in the end, and both girls, Maia especially, definitely had dog fever when they left. I don’t know, might be a dog happening some day here for Team Hokama. Maybe when we move out to more space.

Practically every day Keana asks to visit Grandma Jennie and really hates the fact that Grandma has to actually work. She definitely got her wish this weekend though, because I got food poisoning. That’s right, the Master of Disaster. We went to Sarah’s best friend Mary’s 30th birthday party on Friday night, which was fun, but kept us out late, and at 3:30 a.m. blissful sleep was interrupted by gut wrenching badness. Don’t think it came from Mary’s party, but I was almost in a daze of discomfort and fluid loss on Saturday, so all our great holiday weekend plans were foiled. Luckily Grandma was there to save the day and Sarah took Maia and Keana over to her house to play and hang out Saturday through Sunday morning while Papa excised his demons. Nasty. Luckily I’m on the upswing now and it appears Sarah and Maia only have a slight touch of whatever I got.

So those are more of the details of what we’ve been up to in the last couple weeks. We have a trip planned to the Sacramento area to visit with the Peterson Clan, hosted by Uncle Vic, Aunt Kristie, and The Cousins, so we’re definitely looking forward to that. Grandma Linda and Grandpa Sam are flying out from Texas as well, and if we’re really lucky, Uncle Peter will come too, to complete the whole clamb bake. One good thing is we’re used to “their” kind of weather now, as our weather here in Fresno has reached into the hundreds already; record temperatures for May I guess. It’s amazing how fast you acclimate. I still don’t like the heat, but 70 almost feels chilly to me now and if it stays 90 or under, our house remains a cool 75 with no AC required. Even running the AC when we want, not stressing about it too much, our PG&E bill was only about $100, so this whole thing may be doable after all!

Sarah has been amazing with the unpacking on top of taking care of the girls and the house, and has joined a nice gym not far away. There’s so many classes to choose from that she hasn’t found her “thing” yet, but will probably end up rolling with yoga, aerobics of some sort, and her own whatever. I’ve taken to running through the hood three days a week and lifting weights, and trying to find a consistent time before/after it gets too hot. I figure if I run fast enough my shoes won’t melt to the asphalt.

Hopefully these nights will continue to stay relatively cool because they provide the perfect backdrop to Giants Radio, and some much needed relief from the hot days. The upcoming months will be heating up though, and hold some camping for us, a baby shower for Iana, hopefully a trip back to the bay, visits from friends, more settling in, some tasteful decorating, some tasty bbq, and we’ll top it all off by not being the only one’s with rug-rats, as Iana and Ryan’s baby is due at the end of September! (I guess that last one isn’t really something we’re doing, but I think “the rules” specify that an event that big can be roped in by anyone hovering around.)