Home vs Away ... or TMI

I've made the comment before, but it bears repeating.  I can't get over the number of blogs that are out there.  Really well written, fun to read blogs about parenting.  I sometimes wonder if I would have been one of those well read blogs if I were more careful with my writing and had kept it up while the blogsphere was exploding.  I'm glad that my blog continues to fly under the radar--I like being able to write something that will be online for a while to come and only 6 people regularly know about it...if they even check.

E has gone back and forth about facebook posts.  Sometimes he asks me to take a photo of something and share it on facebook or if I laugh about something he or his sister said or did, he asks, "you aren't going to put that on facebook, are you?".  I feel badly for some of the kids whose lives are laid bare online.  I get that it is cathartic for the parents/writers and even better for the readers who learn that they aren't alone, but I wonder about what I read on another blog:  this generation of kids is growing up being blogged about.  When you google your friends, you'll be able to learn all sorts of things about their life.  It's a weird thing to know that instead of telling your spouse the same story about your dog peeing on your back so many times, said spouse memorizes it too, but spouse will be able to read about it themselves and so many other stories.

How will it work? It is kind of creepy to think of the amount of stories of your life people will be able to access.  I like that I documented J and E's life as babies, a time they obviously won't remember.  But I was so dry with it because I was trying to be careful not to lay bare my soul.  I didn't confess my deepest thoughts online (most of the time), nor did I get into the weeds about much of anything and in some small way, I wish I had.  I wish I had told tons more hilarious stories about them being babies, toddlers and on up.  I wish I'd chosen my words more carefully so it was fun to read, but I guess that is what their baby scrapbooks are for...if I ever do them. 

Insightful comments

Tonight as Eddie hugs me goodnight, he says, "Happy Birthday, mom, enjoy your last night of being in your 30s".  Yikes!  I told him I was a little sad about it.  What I didn't say was that it felt like I had one foot in the grave :)

Josie was a chatterbox.  She said that she hadn't noticed the chickens near our house and wonder if they had died.  She then proceeded to list all the things that could have happened.  She told in great detail about an incident at school where she saw a friend in the hall with 2 teachers with the child ultimately sent to the Principal's office  :(

She was just going on and on with really insightful comments as we drove to and from the super store.  I wish I could remember everything.  In fact, as we drove along, I thought about how I felt I should just hit 'record' to remember it all...should have on my phone :)

Frequent travelers

We are just back from two back to back trips and as we were driving home from the beach yesterday, I couldn't help but think of how much I have learned about travel with kids and how we used to pack compared with how we pack now.  How at ages 6 and 8, J and E are so much easier to travel with, both from a sheer volume of stuff, but also just in general how easy they are.   I've got to play around with all the new blogger features to see about what I can do in a post, but I want to make one that is all about travel with kids....coming soon.

In the meantime, we had 2 great trips.  Wisc to visit those grandparents was over the July 4th week.  The weather was amazing.  Mid to upper 70s, no humidity and it was very relaxing.  Sadly a dear friend of the family died after a long illness as we were coming home.  I didn't know him nearly as well as D did, but I'd gotten to know him over 15 years of visits to Wisc. and he was the type of person to always have a smile and a laugh when you saw him.  He always took us out for pontoon boat rides and Den and I enjoyed hanging out at their lake house with them and their youngest daughter and her family.  RIP.

While we were in Wisconsin, the kids got great time with the grandparents and our usual host of shopping and activities.  The kids used their first sprinklers and saw at home fireworks.  Everything, including sparklers is illegal where we live, so it was pretty funny to see their reactions.

While we were traveling home, there was a delay in our flight and we thought for sure that we wouldn't arrive home until the following day.  When we got home as scheduled on Friday night, we decided that rather than wait until Sunday to drive to the beach, we'd set off the next day.  Otherwise, we'd have 24+ hours of 'undoing' the house and then have to be ready to be gone again, and it just made sense to not use dishes and just get on the road.  All was on schedule until around noon time when Den was starting to pack the car and noticed the tire of my car was flat.  Fast forward 2.5 hours and we had a patch for a hole that came from a nail.  We first tried going to NTB, but that worker refused to wait on us, so we went to Jack Taylor who took great care of us and instead of the quoted 1.5 hours, had it ready in 30 minutes.  We still got to the beach late, but missed a ton of traffic.

E is calling incessantly for me to come hang with him....

Spained Ankles

When I was a freshman in college I went to visit my high school friend for Spring Break.  I traveled to DC and while we were talking, I stepped off a curb badly and twisted my ankle.  Instead of taking care of it right away, I walked ALL OVER DC on it.  I was so foolish.  It was black and blue and swollen from my toes to my knee and required 4 months of physical therapy to recover. 

When I got to my 30s, little things started to 'fail' me, and my ankle started having little rolls, but nothing major.  The second week of kindergarten, when I was walking E to school, down the hill, I rolled it badly.  I limped home, happy to have J in the stroller so I could lean on it for support.  Den was of course out of town.  It has been a saga ever since and E just finished 2nd grade.  For 2 years on and off, I was in pain and couldn't walk.  I have had so many rounds of PT that at this point, I just call up and they squeeze me in.  This time I made it 5 months, which is almost a record since the whole ordeal began.  Before that it was Jan. of this year, then Oct. of 2012 and then I think May of 2012, when I had finally 'graduated' from PT.

I feel like I know a thing or two about how to care for an ankle.  RICE is the best thing.  As soon as I rolled my ankle today, I iced it immediately, got on the crutches and got the compression sock on, all the while elevating my foot.  Also took advil to address the pain and swelling.  I also start to do small mobility exercises.  To be honest, if I would just do my exercises more regularly, I would probably last longer.  EVERY.SINGLE.DAY of my life that I am not on crutches I am thankful.   I don't always try and get the closest parking spot when I'm well.  I am happy to be able to walk from the one that is halfway down the row. Being able to walk and stand on two feet is nothing I will ever take for granted.

We were on vacation over spring break I walked too much so soon after my January injury and I had to buy a set of crutches.  I now have 2 sets.  I have a collapsible cane that I keep in my car. Today's injury will impact our big family vacation later this summer, as I will not be recovered enough to walk and hike much.  I am hopeful I can last a mile and maybe with a crutch or cane I will.

What I want...

Both kids are on playdates...at other people's homes.  I am so thoroughly enjoying the peace and quiet.  I could be working, doing laundry or any number of household chores, but instead I am using my hour to just bask in being in an otherwise empty house.

I love planning trips, I love taking them too.  I also love my kids.  But what I would like is 1 weekend, or even just 1 full day and a night with just Dennis and I in the house.  The number of projects we'd complete...or maybe we could have a movie marathon and sit and eat bbq potato chips.  I have such a long list of projects that take a couple hours and when we do them with kids they take all day.   I know that in a few short years we'll start sending the kids to summer camp overnight and then I'll long for the noise.

That's why I'm enjoying my hour today. 

Slowly returning

I feel like I"m slowly re-emerging, returning to a time when my time in front of a computer was focused on chronicling our lives whereas lately it has been to shop and plan trips, play on social media.  Den hasn't been traveling nearly as much as he used to and we've developed a nice little habit of him putting the kids to bed while pretend to be productive, but instead get sucked into the computer.  In an effort to be more productive, I thought I'd give the blog a whirl...at least I'd have something to show for it.

So classes I want to take: writing, photography, sailing, parenting, scrapbooking. J is 6 now and keeps changing her mind of what kind of party she wants.  It's killing me a little bit.  Every time I think I have something worked out, she changes.  At this rate, she will be 7 before she has a party!  Ed is now 8.  And I'm ready to take them to EUROPE!!  I'm actually ready to take them this summer, but Dennis wanted to wait another year.

So bring on your tips for France.  We'll see where else we go from there.  I want to visit friend in Brussels and England, but Ed wants to hit Italy.  We only have 19 days, so I'm not sure how we'll do this and not be super worn out.  I wish we could go for more time.  If Den gets another conference there...

Trips I'm planning for this year:  Black Hills, Philly, Boston (speaking of which today is the when the bombs went off at the Boston Marathon).  I'm sure looking back, that will be a moment in time.  We'll also hit the beach and Wisc to see the grandparents.  The kids and I will hit Georgia to see the other grandparents, who have now become the GA grandparents. 

In the last couple years I developed a goal of taking the kids to all 50 states before Ed graduated high school.  I have 10 years and 25 states left.  Eddie is in on the deal, trying to plan travel only to places he hasn't been and Josie seems game to go anywhere new.  I think they will get 4 or 5 this year. 

Den is now downstairs from putting the kids to bed, so I think I'd better tie this post up with a bow...

It has been so long since I posted that I have forgotten my login info and Blogger has added features that make me feel like it's been 20 years! Nearly 8 years ago I started this blog--primarily so that daddy could see photos of his kids while he was away on his often back to back trips.  Now there are so many mechanisms that I can use...facebook, twitter, instagram, and that doesn't even scratch the surface of all the hipster social networking sites out there. 

I'm amazed too at the number of the blogs, so many of them well written and helpful.  I'm stunned at how thoroughly people will bear their souls, with varying degrees an anonymity.  I've spent my 30s growing up and growing into my own.  The clarity I have now in my life makes it easier to age.  I think about all that I know now about myself and the journey that becoming a mother has been.  I don't want to bear my soul, I don't want to share intimate details of my life for all to read.  I will continue to write the dry, minutiae blog this has been because it's fun like a scrapbook to look back and see what has been.

Crazy Times

Why is it when I'm most stressed and pressed for time, I feel the need to write.  I think it helps me clear my head and regain focus.  If I get all these things out there that I've got floating around, I can sit down and work on what I need to do.

I read an article about memory today (tweeted it I liked it so much).  It talked about people who have incredible recall of their day to day life events.  I have a pretty good recall, but not the level these folks do.  Part of why I like to scrapbook is that it preserves for me those memories. I use the memorabilia as a tool to jog my memory, along with the photo and hopefully with most trips and events, with some notes I've made.  This article reinforced for me why I always feel the pressure to work on events that are about 6 months old.  Somehow I can't remember so much from when Eddie and Josie were babies, yet I never got their baby books done.  So many parts of their lives that they can't recall have slipped away and I'll never get them back...well except for from this blog :)  And all the pictures and all the crap I've saved.  But I've not always done a good job of noting the mundane, or the sort of phases.  I do, I guess but not in the way I'd like.

Lately I've been telling myself that when I don't have a job anymore I'll have the time to organize my craft area, get my sewing table up and be productive.  I'm going at such a high rate of speed these days, that I actually had to sub-contract the ironing.  I love to iron.  Not the actual act, but that I get to be productive while watching a TV program and I am usually by myself. 

So, I agreed to stay on with my boss for another 2-3 months, until around Thanksgiving.  Eeekkk!  It will be a great experience, but I'm not sure if I'm fully prepared for all the work that it will entail.  I'm going to have to become more efficient and do less web surfing.  Do more work after the kids are in bed.  Grocery shop at another time of day, I don't know.  Ugh.  I did learn that Sunday night is not a good night to go to the grocery.  Everything was picked over.  Tuesday and Wednesday meanwhile are supposed to be much better.  That is when I will focus in the future.  I've done mid-week shopping most of the time, but we were really low...

Today the following things happened in our lives:  Eddie comes downstairs in the first pair of long pants he has worn in about 4 months (except for 1 day this summer) and the are floods.  Not just the skim above the top of your shoes floods, but FLOODS.  They are a good 3-4 inches above his shoes.  He doesn't want to take them off.  It's time to leave for church.  Shamefully I tell him the one thing I KNOW will move him with speed.  "Your pants look like capri's, and boys don't normally wear capris."  He was changed out of those clothes so fast you could barely blink.

Josie didn't realize she had school tomorrow.  Whoops.  This is her first school weekend.  She was a little sad.  She was also crazy tired tonight.  I don't understand why. It wasn't an overly taxing weekend.  Hopefully getting her to bed around 7:30 will do the trick. 

Eddie and Josie earned more money for Walt Disney World today by helping us clean out the garage.  Surprisingly, Eddie stuck with it most of the time and was willing to do the work.  Course we were paying him $20, but it was a lot of not very fun stuff:  carrying stuff out of the garage, washing it off, drying, and then bringing it back to the garage.  And there was a lot of stuff. He thinks J should only earn $5 because she did a fraction of the work.  He's kind of right.

I made Cookie's rice again tonight.  It was a hit again.  Eddie is already eating more food than me.  He said he was so hungry today and didn't know why.  And he was.  He was just devouring everything.

Okay, head is more cleared, back to work.

First Day Back

I remember being in kindergarten.  I don't remember my first day -- but I remember being super tiny and having to stretch to climb the steps of the bus.  Our bus driver was Mr. Jackson, a thin, older black man who always seemed so calm and had something nice to say to everyone.  I can't imagine how long the bus ride must have been, because to drive to school by car took at least 10 minutes. 

Josie and Eddie started school today--J in Kinder and Eddie in 2nd grade.  It's definitely been harder on the parents than the kids.  Don't get me wrong, we are excited for the kids and happy to have them reach this milestone, as that is the point of parenting--to set them free and help them get there, but at the same time...

No more babies, no more preschool, no more detailed daily reports from school about what happened during the day.  It's an adjustment. 

Both came home full of smiles and stories from the day.  Josie played with a little girl named Ava.  Eddie found his friend Jake at recess and the two set out to find a 3rd friend, Tanner who was in yet a different class.  Josie got to see them on the soccer field from her spot on the kinder playground during recess.  Makes me happy that they get to see each other during the day.  As they walked home from the bus stop, Josie asks Eddie, "did you have a good first day of second grade?" and the answer was Yes!

While Time Passes By

I used to write on here religiously--mostly when Dennis was away to update him on the kids.  I've since printed most of those into books, which I love.  In the time since I have started this blog about 7 years ago, so many blogs related to parenting have popped up that it is impossible to track or know them all.

I used to fancy myself a decent writer---back when I was in college writing all the time.  Someday I'd like to get back into it, revive the ability to convey my thoughts with language that is fun to read.  I suppose I should read some more to get closer to that goal, but gosh, being a mother, a wife, and having a part-time job sure makes that difficult.

Eddie and Josie--where to begin---fortunately I've been sort of tracking their progress on family calendars, but wowee, J starts Kinder this year (I can't spell kindergarden, so you'll never see me call it that) and Eddie starts 2nd grade.  I'm trying to embrace these years and enjoy them---I'm doing a better job of it day by day.

They are a really fun age right now and I figure we have about 6-8 years more of really good travel opportunities before we'll have to be more limited, so I've of course made a long list of my travel goals.  And...then I realized it was after 1am.  Goodnight!